After watching a couple of serious dramas in a row, I decided to binge on Hello, I’m At Your Service (金牌客服董董恩) for something more lighthearted for a change. This is just another typical rom-com with no new surprises. However, this kind of dramas does have its time and place. They work well as fillers as you await better titles to come along and ideal for stress-free entertainment. So, I can tell you upfront in this review of Hello, I’m At Your Service that this is not going to be anything remarkable. But it does have its positives to give viewers a light and fun drama.
My rating: 7/10
Episodes: 24
Type: Romance
Aired: September 2023
Images Credit: iQIYI Facebook
The Cast Of Hello, I’m At Your Service
- Lulu Xu Lu as Dong Dong En / En En
- Miles Wei Zhe Ming as Lou Yuan
- Liu Run Nan as Wang Zi Jian
- Baby Zhang Bo Jia as Cao Ya
- Guan Zi Jing as Ke Mao Xu
- Leo Li as Han Chun
- Liu Hao Yan as Ma Cheng Shu
- Hu Yu Xuan as Xie Yi
- Wang Yi Tian as Lu Ke Wei
- Showna Xie as Zhu Li
- Cui Yi as Lou Mu Dan
- Yang Gen as Su Qi
- Jiang Yi Chen as Zhang Jia Mu
- Yang Shu Yi as Lan Zhen Zhen
- Fan Meng as Li Li An
Main Characters
Dong Dong En / En En
En En is a customer service representative for a small advertising agency called Ba’er. She is a very cheerful and optimistic young woman. En En is also smart and quick-thinking with a glib tongue that could usually keep clients happy.
Lou Yuan
Lou Yuan is the CEO of an established sauces production company called Peony which is founded by his mother. He is a strict boss who likes to keep an eye on his staff. Lou Yuan has a sharp mind and is business-minded. As such, he can be hard to please.
Supporting Characters
Wang Zi Jian
Wang Zi Jian is the Marketing Director at Peony. He is also Lou Yuan’s best friend and ex-college mate. Wang Zi Jian is a playboy. He is easy-going and appears as someone who likes to fool around.
Cao Ya
Cao Ya is the R&D Director at Peony. She is best friends with Lou Yuan and Wang Zi Jian as they go back a long way. In fact, Cao Ya and Lou Yuan tried out a relationship while in college but it didn’t work out. Cao Ya is a career-minded and liberal woman who doesn’t like to be tied down to one man.
Ke Mao Xu & Han Chun
Ke Mao Xu is the owner of Ba’er while Han Chun is the Vice President. Ba’er is a small advertising agency that is struggling to survive. But Ke Mao Xu and Han Chun share a close bond with their staff as they treat each other like family.
Ma Cheng Shu & Xie Yi
Ma Cheng Shu and Xie Yi is a graphic designer and copywriter at Ba’er respectively. Xie Yi is a fat guy who likes to eat while Ma Cheng Shu is the ex-boyfriend of En En’s bestie.
Lu Ke Wei
Lu Ke Wei is En En’s best friend and housemate. She works as a model and live streamer. Ma Cheng Shu is her ex while she is now dating another.
Zhu Li
Zhu Li is an admin executive at Peony and takes orders from Lou Yuan.
Lou Mu Dan
Lou Mu Dan is Lou Yuan’s mother. She is the founder and Chairwoman of Peony. Lou Mu Dan is retiring and transferring the management of the company to her son. She is a fun and bubbly woman.
Su Qi
Su Qi is the COO of Sanjiao which is Peony’s main competitor in the sauces market. He is a scheming man who would resort to unethical means to get ahead of Peony. He knows Lou Yuan from their college days and the 2 men have never got along.
Zhang Jia Mu
Zhang Jia Mu is En En’s ex-boyfriend. He is the COO of Xianling which is an electrical services company. He is an opportunistic man who had dumped En En for a rich girl.
Lan Zhen Zhen
Zhen Zhen is Su Qi’s cousin sister. She is close to Su Qi but naive and gets easily manipulated by others.
Li Li An
Li An is Lou Yuan’s friend from childhood. Their mothers are good friends and go back a long way. She is an opportunistic and ambitious woman who has just returned from abroad.
Synopsis
En En is a customer service representative of a small advertising agency whose contract with a client has been abruptly terminated. The termination is ordered by the new CEO, Lou Yuan, who has taken over the position from his mother. Therefore, En En has to try to get Lou Yuan to give her agency a chance. However, Lou Yuan is not impressed with her devious ways and glib tongue to get the contract reinstated. In order to prove that the agency is capable and serious about being a service provider, En En volunteers to work at Peony.
En En’s effort makes Lou Yuan change his mind although she always needs to be witty while working for him. With the continuation of the contract, their interactions increase and they begin to see each other’s good qualities. He starts to pursue her as they develop feelings for each other. But En En wants to keep their relationship a secret due to the sensitivity since he is her client.
Hello, I’m At Your Service Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)
Hello, I’m At Your Service has a happy ending. En En is ready to spend her life with Lou Yuan. They propose to each other at the same time in Ba’er’s office. The drama ends with congratulatory celebration from her co-workers as the couple shares a kiss.
Prior to that, they manage to take down their competitor by catching Su Qi’s ex-boss who is attempting to transport smuggled poor quality meat to Peony. Su Qi cooperates with Lou Yuan for this purpose as he has already fallen out with his ex-boss who is the bigger criminal in the overall scheme of things. Hence, he gives Lou Yuan the necessary information to catch his ex-boss who is then arrested and jailed. In return, Lou Yuan will not hand over the evidence of Su Qi’s past misdeeds to the police.
When Did The Leads Start Dating?
En En first kisses Lou Yuan while drunk in Episode 11. This is after he asked her to be his partner to his company’s annual dinner. However, she couldn’t remember what she had done the following day. So, Lou Yuan asks En En out for a date in Episode 12. When he kisses her, she recalls what happened when she was drunk earlier. He confesses his feelings and asks her to be his girlfriend. But En En turns his down. She is hesitant due to the problems that may arise as he is her client.
Lou Yuan continues to be persistent on his friend’s advice. He asks En En to give him a chance in Episode 14 when she mentions that their relationship is becoming awkward after her rejection. En En admits that she likes him too but is afraid others might think that she is sleeping with him for business purposes while he might be accused of being partial towards her. Hence, she agrees to be with him but wants their relationship to be kept a secret.
The couple announces their relationship to En En’s colleagues in Episode 16 and Lou Yuan proposes to her in Episode 19. Lou Yuan’s mother is eager for them to get married and arranges for an engagement party for them in Episode 20. During the engagement ceremony, Lou Yuan proposes to En En again to which she says yes.
Is There A Breakup?
There is no breakup but En En asks for time to calm things down when she is being cyberbullied due to Li An’s doing in Episode 22. She feels that their relationship is no longer within her control as the quick progress to marriage is being foisted on her. In Episode 23, En En again asks Lou Yuan to give her time to think through how to move forward with him as she needs to learn how to overcome the gossips that will arise with their relationship.
Lou Yuan asks for another chance and the lovers talk it over after En En saw the post-it notes that he has written about her on a restaurant notice board. He knows that he has given her a lot of pressure by pushing their relationship forward before she is ready. He is willing to wait for her to catch up with him and hope that they could face problems together. En En is agreeable to Lou Yuan’s request and they remain a couple.
Is There A Love Triangle?
Li An returns from abroad and is hired by Lou Yuan’s mother to be Peony’s Planning Director in Episode 18. Li An and Lou Yuan were childhood friends. She is jealous of En En who has Lou Yuan’s love. So, she tries to manipulate the public’s opinion and makes En En the subject of online discussion with the latter’s engagement to Lou Yuan. In Episode 22, she arranges for online attacks against En En which causes En En to face the wrath of netizens.
Li An wants Lou Yuan to consider her for mutual benefits since she could help him in his business. But Lou Yuan rejects her straight away. He also knows what Li An has done to En En and asks for her resignation. Li An tries to buy off En En in Episode 23 when Lou Yuan sues her for defamation. But En En refuses to take her money. Li An then leaves Peony to go to France to take up a new job and get married with another man there.
Second Couple
Cao Ya and Wang Zi Jian slept with each other on an impulse in Episode 7. A drunk Wang Zi Jian then seeks out Cao Ya and they have sex again in Episode 10. He starts to feel something for her and asks if they should date since they match well together. But Cao Ya doesn’t like to be tied down and tells him not to fall for her as they are better off as friends.
Cao Ya rejects Wang Zi Jian again in Episode 11 and he tries to pretend that he doesn’t care. But Cao Ya is touched by the way Wang Zi Jian takes care of her while she is sick in Episode 15. Now, she wants to get close to him but he is insistent that they revert to being platonic friends since she doesn’t have feelings for him for a permanent relationship.
In Episode 16, Wang Ji Zian makes clear that he doesn’t want Cao Ya to be with him if she can’t give him her heart. A drunk Cao Ya then tells Wang Zi Jian that she doesn’t want to lose him and wants to be together as a couple. The next morning, Cao Ya confesses her feelings to Wang Zi Jian and says that she now understands what love feels like in Episode 17. In Episode, Cao Ya discovers that she is pregnant and Wang Zi Jian is ecstatic to be a father.
Third Couple
Ma Cheng Shu and Lu Ke Wei broke up due to a misunderstanding but they still have feelings for each other. He woos her back and they reconcile in Episode 12. Ma Cheng Shu is battling mysophobia after the break up and Lu Ke Wei is eager to help him to overcome the ailment. So, she moves in with him in Episode 13.
In Episode 18, Lu Ke Wei receives an offer to be an actress which makes Ma Cheng Shu feels conflicted. He is repulsed to see her kissing her co-star during filming in Episode 20. His mysophobia flares up again and they break up in Episode 21. Lu Ke Wei loves him but she also loves acting which makes a break up inevitable.
Hello, I’m At Your Service Review – Sweet But Don’t Expect Much
Hello, I’m At Your Service is just standard rom-com fare. The cliches are obvious and there is only so much value you can get out of recycled plots of a rich CEO falling in love with a poorer employee or in this case, service provider. For this kind of stories to gain high marks, the romance has to be super sweet and fluffy. After all, that is what we all signed up for when we choose to watch this kind of productions. It is not the plot that will get you enthralled but the characters and their romance.
So, be prepared for the usual tropes of a witty and pretty female protagonist who doesn’t really like the handsome and rich CEO whom she has to serve at the start before love struck. A past connection, drunken kiss, harassing ex, and toxic third party are all there in the story. This is how you get to stretch the drama to 24 episodes. But don’t expect any depth to these subplots. In fact, the ending for some of the supporting characters is kind of infuriating with a wishy-washy closure.
Irritating Villains (Spoilers Alert!)
While there are good romance dramas out there with no villains such as Hidden Love and Road Home, Hello, I’m At Your Service is not one of them. Thus, be prepared for a few villains which include a business competitor, an ex-boyfriend, and a jealous third-wheeler. The upside is they don’t take up a lot of time in the drama. Their appearance is limited to a few episodes and their selfish and criminal intentions are clear.
However, the problem with these short subplots is that they are so quickly dispensed with that there is no depth to the stories. Personally, I think some of these subplots could have been done away with. As the scriptwriter tries to squeeze in more happenings, the ending for the villains also become sloppy and overly simple to ensure everything fits within the short 24 episodes.
As a result, 2 of the villains do not get their just punishment. What they did is obviously criminal. But their story is just conveniently closed off without them having to pay the price for what they did. In the end, they are just annoying characters that you wish could be better written or maybe, even left out altogether.
Positive Aspects
On the positive side, Hello, I’m At Your Service does not have any toxic parents like Fireworks Of My Heart or a horrible boss like Master Of My Own. The rich guy’s mother is such a lovely and fun woman who dotes on her son’s girlfriend. So, there is no snobbish upper class behavior to make the girl feel small. If there is any objection at all, it comes from the girl’s father. He is not against their relationship but is just worried that his precious daughter might get hurt.
As for the male lead himself, he is not a bully although he may be domineering and stern as a boss. He has his standards but he is not mean to those beneath him. He grew up poor, so he doesn’t have the typical arrogance of the upper class. In fact, the guy is a very sweet, loving, and understanding boyfriend once the romance starts. He is the type of ideal boyfriend that only appears in dramaland. But it is precisely this type of male protagonist that a rom-com needs to make viewers swoon and feel the sugary effects.
Apart from that, the plot is simple without too much details. So, there is no long-winded business scheming. One may even say that the business side of things is so amateurishly done especially towards the end. But then again, you are not watching this for the business plot but the romance.
Acting & Chemistry
This is not the first time both Xu Lu and Miles Wei have played this kind of role in a romance drama. At times, I even think that they really need to get out of their comfort zone and take on more challenging characters. Xu Lu has starred in Love Scenery and Sunshine Of My Life while Miles Wei is the lead in Perfect And Casual as well as Unforgettable Love. All these are sweet romance dramas which means both of them are experienced enough to handle their characters in Hello, I’m At Your Service with ease.
So, both leads are able to deliver what is required to give viewers enough fluff and sweetness in the romance. They don’t hold back during the kissing scenes which number quite a few in the drama. Although their acting may not be award-winning stuff, their chemistry is palpable and strong enough for a simple rom-com to make a difference in its watchability.
My Verdict – Nothing Special
Overall, Hello, I’m At Your Service is really nothing special. So, it is not going to be a must-watch Chinese drama. This is only good for those times you want something light and easy to digest without any high expectations. Be prepared for a simple story with cliches and a substandard script. You may also find that the female protagonist takes some getting used to as she talks a lot. But one thing you can learn from her is how to flatter clients and butter them up! So, it is fun in that sense as the leads have a cute battle of wits at the start of the drama.
This is also where the leads’ interactions and their subsequent romance should draw in viewers. To me, I think this critical part is done well enough because you can feel the sugary effects from their scenes together. The characteristics of the ideal boyfriend is well played out by the male lead which should delight female viewers. If you can ignore all the other subplots of the drama and just focus on the leads’ romance, this may well be an enjoyable watch to the end.
For this review of Hello, I’m At Your Service, I would give it a rating of 7/10. It is pleasurable to watch since there is nothing angsty about it unlike melodramas like South Wind Knows. So, it is okay while it lasts but it won’t stay in your mind once it is over. The script quality and dialogue is just not good enough to make it memorable.
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