After watching 2 Chinese costume dramas in a row, Under The Power and Dr. Cutie, it is time to go back to modern dramas with contemporary themes for a change. So, I decided to go with this one – Find Yourself (下一站是幸福) because the plot centers around a common dilemma of age gap faced by some couples. Not many dramas try to explore this issue in detail as most romance stories tend to fall back to the typical rich guy meets poor girl or boss-employee themes. But does being different work for this drama then? Check out the Find Yourself review below for my take on this romance offering.
My rating: 7.5/10
Episodes: 41
Type: Romance
Aired: January 2020
Images Credit: MGTV
The Main Cast Of Find Yourself
Victoria Song Qian as He Fan Xing
Fan Xing is 32 years old and a director of a small interior design company called Amazing Decoration. While she is career-minded and independent, she is also a novice when it comes to dating and relationships. She still yearns for romance in her life and a man who can make her heart flutter. Fan Xing is also a filial daughter and comes from a loving family.
Song Wei Long as Yuan Song
Yuan Song is a 22-year-old intern and Fan Xing’s subordinate. He is a designer and has plans to study abroad to be an architect. He is mature for his age and knows what he wants. Yuan Song also used to be a student of Fan Xing’s brother. Being good-looking, he has a lot of female admirers. His parents divorced when he was young and his father has since remarried. Yuan Song has a close relationship with his stepmother but distant with his father. He comes from a very rich family but prefers to keep his background hidden.
David Wang Yao Qing as Ye Lu Ming
Lu Ming is a 37-year-old successful businessman with his own advertising agency. He is shrewd and domineering. With age catching up, he is often pressured by his elder sister to settle down.
Zhang Yu Jian as He Can Yang
Can Yang is Fan Xing’s twin brother and a university art lecturer. He is never serious with the girls he dates as he often moves from one relationship to another. Can Yang used to be Yuan Song’s lecturer and they are now good friends.
Esther Yu Shu Xin as Cai Min Min
Min Min is a 20-year-old student in Can Yang’s art class. She comes from a rich family and is also Lu Ming’s niece. Min Min is still innocent and a little immature but cute and lovable. She has a crush on Yuan Song who is her senior.
Supporting Cast
Katherine Yang Zhi Ying as Cong Xiao
Cong Xiao is a salesperson at Amazing Decoration. She has interest in Chang Huan but her goal is to look for a husband who is financially well-off so that she can have a comfortable future.
Miles Wei Zhe Ming as Chang Huan
Chang Huan works at Amazing Decoration as a designer and often partners Yuan Song for projects. He is quiet and laid-back. Chang Huan has feelings for Cong Xiao but knows he isn’t her type as she is looking for a rich husband.
Mary Ma as Shen Hong Mei
Hong Mei is Fan Xing and Can Yang’s mother. She is a typical Asian parent who hopes her daughter will be able to find a good husband.
Fu Jia as He Qing Feng
Qing Feng is Fan Xing and Can Yang’s father. He is a retiree who often tries not to give pressure on his daughter to find a boyfriend.
Elaine Cai Ya Tong as Yang Xiao Xue
Xiao Xue is one of Fan Xing’s best friends. She is married with a daughter with another baby on the way. She is a housewife.
Jocelyn Zhou Qi Qi as Song Xue
Song Xue is a university professor and Can Yang’s colleague. They used to date years ago when they were studying but are now good friends. She is also Fan Xing’s best friend together with Xiao Xue. Song Xue has been is a long term relationship with Zheng Dong Yang but they have no intention to get married or have kids.
Synopsis
Fan Xing has no experience in dating and has high hopes of starting a relationship with an ex-schoolmate who has pursued her while they were studying. But her hopes are dashed when the guy comes back to inform her that he is getting married. Yuan Song witnesses her disappointment and his feelings for Fan Xing starts to grows despite their large age gap. He pursues her and they quickly begin a relationship. However, Fan Xing wants it to be kept a secret while Yuan Song feels otherwise. So, they make a deal to keep it hidden for 3 months.
In the meantime, Lu Ming also starts to fall for Fan Xing. He knows she is in a relationship with Yuan Song and acts as a friend to advice her on her love problems. As Fan Xing is 10 years older than Yuan Song, she has a lot of insecurities regarding their relationship and misunderstandings also start to creep in. Neither does she want to hold Yuan Song back from studying abroad and achieving his dream. Since Fan Xing is keeping her relationship with Yuan Song a secret from her family and good friends, she could only turn to Lu Ming as her sounding board. But Lu Ming is also taking that opportunity to pry Fan Xing away from Yuan Song.
What will happen to Fan Xing and Yuan Song’s relationship at the end of the 3 months? Will Lu Ming succeed in wooing Fan Xing? Who will Fan Xing choose in the end?
Find Yourself Ending (Spoilers Alert!)
Does Find Yourself have a happy ending in the last episode? Yes, definitely! Who does Fan Xing end up with? Yuan Song, of course! Love and passion triumph over practicality and suitability in the end. Although Fan Xing tries her best to give her relationship with Lu Ming a try, the romantic feelings just aren’t there to make it work. She is just forcing herself to do what a girlfriend should do while still unable to completely put away her feelings for Yuan Song. The main reason why Fan Xing is willing to date Lu Ming with a view on marriage is to alleviate her parents’ worry over her future. This takes on an added urgency when her father is diagnosed with early Alzheimer.
When Lu Ming unwittingly discovers that Fan Xing is still thinking of Yuan Song from her diary, he also starts to re-consider their relationship. Fan Xing also can’t help but feels jealous whenever she sees Yuan Song with another girl. So, Lu Ming and Fan Xing agree to break up and revert to being friends. Fan Xing finally gathers her courage to inform her parents of why she decided to part ways with Lu Ming and that she once had a relationship with Yuan Song and still loves him. To make up for her mistake for rejecting Yuan Song earlier, it is now Fan Xing’s turn to go after him. They reconcile and the last scene shows Yuan Song surprising Fan Xing with his presence after 1.5 years of studying abroad.
Other Couples
Can Yang still ends up with Min Min after a big disagreement with his family due to the complication of dating his sister’s boyfriend’s niece. He is also much older than Min Min and she used to be his student. His parents are against the relationship but he is not prepared to give it up. But there is no more reason for his parents to object when Fan Xing breaks up with Lu Ming and they are prepared to accept her relationship with Yuan Song despite their reservations.
Cong Xiao and Chang Huan become a couple. She begins to see that Chang Huan can be motivated and ambitious with the right encouragement. Chang Huan is also quietly trying to make more money and build his career because of Cong Xiao. Their feelings for each other start to get more obvious especially after Chang Huan’s hospital stay.
Xiao Xue divorces her cheating husband after giving birth to her second child. She sums up her courage to read her husband’s messages to his lover and decides that she couldn’t forgive him. Song Xue ends up getting pregnant despite having no plans for a baby. She wants to bring up the baby on her own as she knows it is not what her partner would have wanted. But her partner surprises her instead by proposing marriage and making plans for the baby.
Find Yourself Review – Be Prepared For Character Flaws
For this Find Yourself review, I would say that they have done a great job with the casting. It is hard to get a much older woman and younger man pairing that looks good and a pleasure to watch. But Victoria Song and Song Wei Long managed to do it and they did it well enough to make the whole drama highly watchable. They do have good chemistry despite the age gap. I wouldn’t say it is off-the-charts chemistry like those you get in K-dramas such as Her Private Life but it is good enough to make it sweet as needed for a romance drama.
For a young actor, Song Wei Long is certainly someone to watch out for. His good looks help which I’m pretty sure why some fans are driven to watch Find Yourself. In this drama, he does suit the character of Yuan Song very well with his boyish charm and teasing manner. David Wang gives Lu Ming a contrasting style to Song Wei Long’s Yuan Song with his maturity and life experiences so viewers can see the differences in the 2 men. Victoria Song’s portrayal of Fan Xing is a little bit more varied as she needs to portray the maturity of a 32-year-old woman in some scenes and the girlishness of a first time lover in others. I think she handles the different aspects of Fan Xing’s character rather well.
The Plot
Basically, Find Yourself is about the pressures faced by an older woman in a relationship with a much younger man. It explores how society and family members frown upon such relationships and do not expect them to last. So, it is not a rom-com that is heavy on fantasy such as Love The Way You Are but relates closely to the real world.
The relationship between Can Yang and Min Min also adds a great twist to the story. It becomes kind of funny in a way as it is then their turn to hide their relationship from everyone. But it also brings up the issue of hierarchy which is important in a traditional Chinese family. Overall, the plot is realistic and ties closely to modern life problems.
Not The Most Likable Characters
However, if there is one thing that could make you feel put off about this drama, it is the flaws evident in the main characters. Normally, you will root hard for the heroine but Fan Xing is not your typical perfect female lead. She lacks courage and conviction when it comes to loving her younger partner. You can say that she thinks of Yuan Song as a temporary fling as she doesn’t have confidence that their relationship will last. Hence, she has no intention to make their relationship public which is grossly unfair to him.
At the same time, Fan Xing spends a lot of time with Lu Ming and confides her love problems to him. She lets herself to be pushed into a relationship with someone more compatible. While the reasons are understandable, her character is shown to be indecisive and weak at times. She yearns for the love and passion that Yuan Song can give her but she ends up trying a relationship with Lu Ming as he is a more suitable marriage partner. Hence, Fan Xing has her flaws which not every viewer can tolerate.
Lu Ming too is not a sweet savior as he is domineering and cunning. He puts himself in a favorable position as a friend to Fan Xing with the intention to snatch her away from Yuan Song. Well, he is not all bad as a man needs to do what he has to do to get the woman he loves. He is a great uncle to Min Min and he does care for Fan Xing. But again, not everyone will like his character as his actions can also be seen as manipulative.
My Verdict
I am inclined to give a rating of 7.5/10 for this Find Yourself review. It is not as draggy and melodramatic as Here To Heart which helps to up its score. Fan Xing’s relationship with Yuan Song begins very early on in the drama to set the tone for what is to follow. The quick development of their relationship and the subsequent misunderstandings and insecurities she faced take up about half the show. It is not exactly boring but it does take a bit of determination to sit through all that time Fan Xing spends confiding in Lu Ming and being friends with each other. She is in a relationship with a guy but is seen spending a lot of time with another. That is the vibe that I got from the first 20 episodes.
The second half of the drama is better than the first. In the second half, the anticipation builds as to what Fan Xing would do and who she will choose as she considers her parents’ worries and old age. Would she listen to her own heart or go for the man that everyone is saying is the perfect suitor? So, I do recommend a watch for Find Yourself for exploring a topic that is often talked about. Perhaps if they have made Fan Xing more likable and the time she spent with Yuan Song a bit longer than she did with Lu Ming, this would would have gotten a higher rating from me. I guess if you want to watch it, you would have to be prepared for the possibility that the main characters would get on your nerves. Just concentrate on the plot then to enjoy the drama!
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