Posted June 6, 2020 by lynlynsays1 Comment Drama Reviews

Three Love Stages: Thoughts on The World Owes Me A First Love

The World Owes Me A First Love (世界欠我一个初恋)

(Chinese Drama 2019)

The World Owes Me A First Love is a 2019 Chinese business romance drama centered on a young working-class woman, Xing Yun (Bai Lu), in which we witness her journey to romance with three guys.

The first guy that Xing Yun encounters is Chu Nan (Huang Ji Dong) during a blind date. Xing Yun only went on a blind date so that she can be assigned as the head planner of the dating game her company was developing. Xie Ke (Xing Zhao Lin) argues that she can’t be the lead project planner unless she has experience dating and so, she went on a blind date. Eventually, Xing Yun grows fond of Chu Nan and they end up in a relationship. However, Chu Nan only went out with Xing Yun to forget his true love, Shen Qing (Liu Ruo Yan), who happens to be Xia Ke’s older sister. Shen Qing and Chu Nan weren’t able to be together because Chu Nan’s parents disapproved of the fact that Shen Qing has a child from a previous marriage. Yet, fate brings Shen Qing and Chu Nan together again, giving them another opportunity at love.

The second guy that Xing Yun meets is Xie Ke’s best friend, the playboy, He Yu (Zhai Zi Lu). Their relationship is more of a friendship as opposed to a serious romantic one. He has unrequited feelings for Xing Yun, but she just considers him a good friend.

And finally, the last guy that Xing Yun interacts with and eventually ends up with is Xia Ke, her boss at the gaming company. Xie Ke had a secret crush on her ever since he recruited her for his start-up company. He views her as his “lucky charm.” My favorite scene in this entire series is when Xie Ke went to the restaurant that Xing Yun and He Yu were at because he was worried that He Yu might take advantage of her drunken state. However, Xie Ke and Xing Yun end up kissing each other in the women’s restroom. On the following day, Xing Yun doesn’t remember who she kissed: she believes she kissed He Yu instead of Xie Ke. It is at this point she realizes her deep feelings for Xie Ke, which was something I questioned because during the series it didn’t seem like she had any romantic feelings for him but rather she just sees their relationship as boss and employee.

Yet, what I like about Xie Ke and Xing Yun’s relationship is how they fell in love with each other. It was a slowly developed process that started from a business relationship to friendship, and then finally a romantic relationship.

Now, this series seems to follow the “three loves in a lifetime” concept. It is said that a person will have three major loves in their lifetime: the puppy love which is the idealistic love that comes from what you see in movies; the heartbreak love which is the love that teaches pain and the hard lessons about love and romance; and finally, true love which is the love that is unexpected and comes naturally. I think this series replicates that idea to some degree. Chu Nan represents the heartbreak love because this was Xing Yun’s first real boyfriend and he broke her heart when he confessed that he is still in love with his ex. He Yu is the puppy love. Even though He Yu’s feelings were unrequited, he courted Xing Yun with extravagant romantic gestures and promises that he will treat her like a queen. This type of courtship is unrealistic because these actions are what we imagined love to be from the fairytales that we read and watched. Xie Ke represents the true and unexpected love because Xie Ke and Xing Yun’s feelings developed naturally, and their foundation was already formed from a business partnership. They were already honest and loyal to one another as business partners and as friends; thus, they were able to easily trust each other as lovers. Although Xie Ke may seem cold-hearted and indifferent, he is actually gentle and respectful towards Xing Yun. In fact, he goes out of his way to make sure that Xing Yun is safe as evident when he went to the restaurant to check up on her.

I still consider Aaron Yan the king of business romantic comedies, but The World Owes Me A First Love is a good one that can compete with all of the Aaron Yan’s business romance dramas.

You can watch this series on Viki.

5/5