My Bargain Queen Review

I was not really sure what My Bargain Queen (我的砍价女王) is all about but the title surely caught my eye. Neither am I a fan of the leads and I actually gave up watching Princess Agents halfway through a while back. That was one of the most popular dramas starring Kenny Lin and it didn’t impress me then. Anyway, I’m pretty flexible when it comes to genres and actors. So, I can easily move on from one drama to the next. This current one got my attention as it is being made available on YouTube and I just took the plunge. After completing all the 40 episodes, My Bargain Queen review is as per below.

My rating: 7/10
Episodes: 40
Type: Business, Romance
Aired: September 2021
Images Credit: Youku

The Cast Of My Bargain Queen

• Kenny Lin Geng Xin as Sheng Zhe Ning
• Wu Jin Yan as Xia Qian
• Nicky Wu Qi Long as Qin He Bo
• Rain Wang He Run as Fu Shuang Shuang
• Kido Ma Si Chao as He Zhi Jun
• Song Yi Xing as Sheng Ning Meng
• Chen Xi Jun as An An
• Jia Yi as Mu Xiao Yan
• Tian Miao as Dou Li Ping
• Ai Xiao Qi as Qi Lin
• Wu Ming Jing as Chen Man Hui

Main Characters

Sheng Zhe Ning

Zhe Ning is the General Manager of the luxury Evergreen Hotel. It was established by his late father and the family is a major shareholder. His life revolves around work and he has never dated. Zhe Ning is astute and capable.

Xia Qian

Xia Qian is a commercial bargainer and owner of a small bargaining company called Worth Or Not. She is struggling to keep the company’s cashflow going but is a stubborn and determined woman. She is also smart and gutsy.

Qin He Bo

He Bo is the Deputy General Manager of Evergreen Hotel. He is also Zhe Ning’s close friend and has his trust as his deputy. Zhe Ning’s younger sister also regards him as an elder brother. However, He Bo is spying and working for Lihe Capital’s Mr. Xue behind the scenes.

Fu Shuang Shuang

Shuang Shuang is Xia Qian’s good friend and colleague at Worth Or Not. She is simple-minded and trusting in nature. She has romantic interest in He Bo.

Supporting Characters

He Zhi Jun

Zhi Jun is a psychiatrist and Ning Meng’s soon-to-be husband. He is also Xia Qian’s ex-fiancee who left her on their engagement day.

Sheng Ning Meng

Ning Meng is Zhe Ning’s younger sister. She is deeply in love with Zhi Jun. She tends to be insecure and clingy.

An An

An An is Zhe Ning’s personal assistant. He is loyal and sees Xia Qian as an ideal girlfriend for his boss.

Mu Xiao Yan

Xiao Yan is Xia Qian’s subordinate at Worth Or Not. He has a secret crush on Xia Qian.

Dou Li Ping

Li Ping is Xia Qian’s mother. She is always pressuring her daughter to date and get married. She runs a BBQ restaurant.

Qi Lin

Qi Lin is a senior financial consultant at Lihe Capital. She has just returned from abroad. Qi Lin and Zhe Ning are childhood friends and she has always been interested in him.

Chen Man Hui

Man Hui is Ning Meng’s good friend. She has interest in Zhe Ning and is manipulative in order to get close to him.

Synopsis

Xia Qian has split up from Zhi Juan for more than 2 years after he dumped her on their engagement day at Evergreen Hotel. On that day, she also picked up a quarrel with Zhe Ning who is the General Manager of the hotel due to a misunderstanding.

2 years later, Xia Qian is now the owner of a small bargaining company which helps clients to get land good deals for their purchases. Ning Meng is getting married and wants to hold the event at Evergreen Hotel. However, the hotel refuses to accept her order. Ning Meng then engages Xia Qian to negotiate on her behalf. Xia Qian ends up having to cross swords with Zhe Ning again. However, Zhe Ning could see Xia Qian’s talent and employs her to take on other buying contracts for the hotel he owns.

While Xia Qian is unhappy when she learns that Ning Meng’s fiancee is her ex and Ning Meng herself is Zhe Ning’s sister, she does her part to try to fulfill her part of the contract. But during the wedding ceremony, someone sabotages the event by putting up a clip of her happier times with Zhi Jun. Evergreen Hotel faces negative publicity as a result. As Xia Qian and Zhe Ning spend more and more time together to investigate the case and working as business partners, he begins to develop feelings for her.

With further internal sabotage as Evergreen Hotel is a target for acquisition, Zhe Ning has to sell all his assets to refurbish the old wing of the hotel. He takes advantage of his pitiful condition to move Xia Qian into sharing her flat with him.

My Bargain Queen Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

My Bargain Queen has a happy ending. The last 5 minutes is a summary of the characters’ lives after a time lapse of 2 years. Zhe Ning and Xia Qian are happily married with a baby daughter 2 years after their wedding. Everyone is getting together for the baby’s 100 days’ old celebration. Shuang Shuang and He Bo are also married and she is pregnant. Zhi Jun returns after 2 years to see Ning Meng who invites him to join in the celebration.

In the last scene, Zhe Ning and Xia Qian are strolling at night and end up at the same bus stop where he accidentally kissed her at the very beginning of the drama. They then kiss again at the same spot to end the drama on a sweet note.

Why Did Zhi Jun Leave Xia Qian?

Zhi Jun walked out on Xia Qian on their engagement day because Ning Meng tried to commit suicide then. This is revealed in Episode 24. Zhi Jun is actually a good man who wanted to protect people around him from getting hurt. In Episode 32, Ning Meng found Zhi Jun’s psychotherapy recordings which detailed what happened on the night of her father’s death.

Zhi Jun is suffering from immense guilt and stress and has been secretly undergoing counseling. This is because the fire lantern that he and Xia Qian lit ended up causing an accident that took away Ning Meng and Zhe Ning’s father’s life. Ning Meng was also in the car but was saved by Zhi Jun who was on his way home. Xia Qian has no idea what happened as they split up to go home after they released their lantern.

Ning Meng suffered from PTSD after the accident and got to know Zhi Jun who is a psychiatrist during her therapy. Ning Meng’s doctor was Zhi Jun’s mentor. Zhi Jun felt responsible for her especially after Ning Meng started to fall for him. So, Zhi Jun left Xia Qian without telling her what happened as he didn’t want Xia Qian to be plagued by the same guilt that he was having.

After the revelation, Ning Meng asked Zhi Jun for a divorce in Episode 37. Zhi Jun then left the city to help PTSD kids in a disaster area for 2 years. Ning Meng realized that Zhi Jun does love her after all and waited for him by keeping her cake shop open. They meet again at her shop when he returns 2 years later.

What Happened To Zhe Ning’s Father?

Zhe Ning’s father was killed in an accident because his car brakes had been tampered with. It was a coincidence that the fire lantern released by Zhi Jun and Xia Qian descended on his car windscreen. Ning Meng recalled her father had tried stepping on the brakes numerous times but the car failed to stop. Through hypnosis, she remembered that her father had a quarrel with Mr. Xue prior to the accident.

Mr. Xue and Zhe Ning’s father were ex-classmates and good friends. But Zhe Ning’s father found out that Mr. Xue was involved in illegal fund raising. To shut him up, Mr. Xue asked his driver to tamper with the brakes. Through Ning Meng’s recollection, Zhe Ning and He Bo worked together to gather evidence on Mr. Xue who was then arrested.

Is He Bo A Good Or A Bad Guy?

He Bo started out as a villain as he betrayed Zhe Ning to help Mr. Xue to acquire Evergreen Hotel’s shares. He did so to repay a debt of gratitude that he owed Mr. Xue. But He Bo started to change when he fell in love with Shuang Shuang and didn’t want to see her unhappy because of his misconduct. After he resigned from Evergreen Hotel in Episode 19, he turned over a new leaf and ended up quietly helping Zhe Ning towards the end of the drama. He Bo and Shuang Shuang become a couple in Episode 29 after his relentless pursuit.

When Did Xia Qian And Zhe Ning Get Together?

Xia Qian confessed her feelings for Zhe Ning at the end of Episode 14. He kissed her then and they started to become a couple from Episode 15 onwards. They slept together in Episode 30 after which Zhe Ning tried to propose to her. His efforts failed and she ended up taking the initiative to get him to propose instead in Episode 31.

After the revelation that she and Zhi Jun had indirectly caused Zhe Ning’s father’s death in a car accident, they broke up in Episode 33. This is because Xia Qian’s mother told Zhe Ning to do so as she didn’t want her daughter to always feel remorseful and guilty towards him in their relationship. But Xia Qian and Zhe Ning find it hard to let go of each other especially after her childhood friend re-appeared in her life and pursued her. They reconciled in Episode 38 and got married in Episode 40.

My Bargain Queen Review – Too Long!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VJrixCjRGU&ab_channel=VikiGlobalTV

The first thing that pops up in my mind after watching all the 40 episodes of My Bargain Queen is that it is just too long. Many episodes are unnecessary. I think the whole drama would have much better pacing if the producers have cut it down by 10 episodes or so. For instance, it is pointless to introduce Xia Qan’s father into the drama for a few episodes and then have him fade away from her life again. Just like Sunshine Of My Life and Love Designer, you will have to be prepared for draggy patches after a fairly good start.

The plot itself is nothing new. It has the enemies-turned-lovers flavor with a smart and handsome executive falling for a professional bargainer with each wanting a different outcome for a deal initially. The good thing is he is not another cold and emotionless CEO like in Unforgettable Love and The Trick Of Life And Love. At least, My Bargain Queen moves away from those tropes. Apart from the romance, the story also has a business aspect to it which means it takes a more matured leaning compared to your usual rom-coms.

Romance Fizzles Out

If you like to watch a romance-heavy drama, I certainly don’t think My Bargain Queen is a good choice. This is because the romance seems to fizzle out for the next 10 to 15 episodes after the couple got together. It is rather bland to me in the middle part of the drama where the main couple’s relationship is concerned. They are not as cute like the couple in Forever And Ever and neither are they full of passion like Qiao Qing Qing and Yu Tu in You Are My Glory.

I see Zhe Ning and Xia Qian’s relationship as very ordinary. But it is also closer to reality with no over-exaggeration and hype. They have their sweet moments but nothing over the top. The downside to this is that their interactions don’t leave a lasting impression either once the drama is over.

With the main couple’s romance being largely stable for a substantial part of the drama, the focus also shifts to the side couples to fill the 40 episodes. This is another potential pitfall where My Bargain Queen is concerned.

Side Couples May Not Be Likable

There are 2 sides couples in the drama. Shuang Shuang and He Bo is a couple with a large age gap between them. While the age difference may not be a problem, I’m just not sure if viewers could feel the chemistry between them. Furthermore, He Bo started off as a villain and Shuang Shuang betrayed Xia Qian to help him out at one point. So, this couple’s story may not be one that viewers could feel invested in although it really depends on your taste for age-gap romance.

The other side couple is Ning Meng and Zhi Jun. Ning Meng is definitely an annoying character in the drama. Hence, I doubt anyone would be rooting for this couple. As the side couples are unlikely to appeal to a majority of the audience, the drama ends up being draggy with their stories especially when they occupy quite a big chunk of the screen time as the drama progresses.

The Leads’ Chemistry

Personally, I think Wu Jin Yan has better chemistry with Johnny Huang in Something Just Like This than Kenny Lin in My Bargain Queen. Her personality in these 2 dramas is kind of similar. So, if you enjoy watching her in Something Just Like This which is also a business drama, chances are you would also like her in My Bargain Queen. Wu Jin Yan brings out the gutsiness and enterprising spirit of Xia Qian’s character rather well.

On the other hand, Kenny Lin’s Zhe Ning has a calmer and more cautious personality. When you put both of the leads together, the chemistry doesn’t have that explosive feel. It is good enough for a romance-cum-business drama but nothing extraordinary to make the romance a really memorable one for me when I reached the end. The same goes for the side couples. Thus, I do wonder if they have got the casting right because with better chemistry, this could have been a much more enjoyable drama.

My Verdict – Watchable With Some Skips

I think My Bargain Queen is one of those dramas that you can watch with some skipping in between. For instance, you can skip the side couples’ story if you find them to be uninspiring. It is really a bore if you were to watch all the 40 episodes from start to finish. That is why the pacing could have been much better if the production team had not lengthen the drama unnecessarily.

While the plot is hardly unique, this drama is watchable for those who like a good balance of romance and business. It is also good if you prefer multiple couples in one drama. It has a few annoying characters and some sad moments but nothing too stressful or melodramatic. The romance has a more matured feel and a big plus is that the main couple has no trust issues and silly quarrels. However, the kisses are not of the sizzling kind despite the maturity of the couple unlike what you would find in Love Is Sweet. So, if you like plenty of passion in your romance, this drama would not meet that need.

For this My Bargain Queen review, I would give it a score of 7/10. It is not too bad overall if you don’t mind some boring stretches in between. At least, the story flows along logically and is easy to understand. The characters too are well-developed and there is growth in some of them by the end of the drama. The concept is great but it all boils down to how much boredom and skipping you can tolerate in the middle before the story picks back up towards the last quarter of the drama.