My Treasure (2021)

Solid Production with an Exceptional cast!

A lighthearted and not too serious dramatization about family & work life, My Treasure is one of the better directed & grounded tv shows in terms of family drama standards. It does not feel like a typical sitcom. All the sets and places are real which creates that real ambience city-life workplace setting. The heart of the story is Dong Na, the main protagonist who is a fresh out of college student finding employment in a professional work environment at an accounting firm.

Vicky Chen is charming. One of the more skillful actresses her age even with a cast of veteran actors, her acting ability holds up so well. She has an incredibly good onscreen presence with her costars. She portrays Dong Na with a lively energy without it being over the top & has a natural presence both in acting & line delivery. Vicky Chen hits every beat. Dong Na is great example of a proactive protagonist, not just reactive who is up for any ventures. She is headstrong, smart, stubborn, and goodwilled who always finds a plausible solution to everyday problems in her life. She draws strength & knowledge from people around her, specifically her mother Qiu Xiao Xia.

Roy Chiu is charismatic as an unconventional type-boss figure, both in mannerism & speech to his appearance. He conveys emotions well through body gestures & facial expressions. He knows how to sell that image of Gu Fei who’s rational, capable, and honest who knows how to handle and take care of business and people, specifically in regards to Dong Na. Although Gu Fei falls into the trope of a male character with a tragic past, his trauma doesn’t hinder his efficient work ethics and professionalism in the workspace.

The drama builds ups great relationship between female characters. One of the major core relationships of the story is Dong Na & her mother Qiu Xiao Xia. Vicky Chen and Liu Min Tao portrays the daughter and mother relationship duo so well it is believable. Dong Na’s relationship with her boss Cheng Fan Yang starts from a cold-shoulder iciness to a warm almost maternal-like bond between the two. Her love-hate ‘frenemy’ relationship with Chu Ning, her college classmate, is hilarious & somewhat endearing. Their bickering towards each other is great throughout.

Dong Na forms a significant relationship with Gu Fei. There are memorable scenes between two from amusing banter and in-depth conversations in casual settings that doesn’t feel hollow, repetitive, or redundant. Dong Na & Gu Fei has a great momentum onscreen together with witty, heartfelt, & engaging dialogue. Their mentor-mentee relationship is a standout, both navigating through their uncertainties & trouble all while consoling the other when needed. I was wholeheartedly surprised by the chemistry and their unconditional support for each other. Dong Na and Gu Fei’s mutual and platonic sides of their relationship is more intimate and profound than any romance. The relationship develops & unfolds with such a natural progression. It has been a while since I enjoyed a relationship between a female and male character onscreen that does not make me want to pull my hair out.

My only gripe-issue is the romance. I don’t have anything against romance between the characters themselves but because the age difference between the actors. WenQi was a minor and Roy Chiu was an adult. The presentation of the romantic apsect towards the last few ep was awkward to watch. The story could have gone easily without any romance.

One of the strong suite is the dialogue, specifically in the conversations. The writer did a fantastic job creating a natural essence between the characters in the way they act, feel, and talk. Even with their appearances, nothing is overdone or gaudy. Besides the exceptional cast, the directing style is great. It is shot from a distant and at certain times from a wide-panoramic like angle which allows an immersive viewing of the characters within the environment they are placed in. It does not have those near close up shot that feels overly melodramatic. The comical sound effects is befitting to the drama’s humor. The last few episodes were a bit lackluster, in terms of its direction of the story. I like where the story was heading but not necessarily the execution in its writing. Cheng Fan Yang’s storyline in relation with her husband is the weakest since it is stagnant throughout the drama up until the end.

All in all, the drama had great moments between the characters. If you enjoy a more character driven-relationship type of drama with a hint of slice of life and humor that ends on a positive note, this is a good one to watch. There are definite tropes here and there but its not done in an overt exaggerated way in the usual family drama fashion.

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Wholesome Story, Excellent Acting, Great Pacing

Where do I even start? I came across this show serendipitously after watching Roy Chiu in Man in Love and boy do I not regret it.

The story follows the life of Qiu Dong Na who despite having grown up poor is aiming to become a certified accountant. We follow her ups and downs as she joins the corporate world as an intern after college, and hopes to make a name for herself.

First, let’s talk about the characters as a whole and then we’ll take a look at the two main characters, Qiu Dong Na and Gu Fei.

Before this one, I’d never seen such a humanistic take on characters in C-dramas. Every single character has very honest and realistic flaws. No character is shown as being perfect or as having it all together. No one is cancelled for making a mistake or for coming short. On the contrary, we are shown what it looks like to grow and to learn alongside people who are willing to support and love us despite our fallibilities.

This show doesn’t present this frail and incapable female character who relies on her boss in order to obtain what she wants. Instead, we are introduced to Qiu Dong Na who is nothing less of a brilliant, capable, creative, and hard-working genius. She is young, and yet she knows exactly what she wants, how she wants it to look like, and the lengths through which she will go through in order to achieve it. Qiu Dong Na is like a sponge, willing to absorb all the knowledge she can get from those who are more knowledgeable than her. She is strong and has a deep set of values that she is unwilling to trade for all the gold in the world. She is kind, introspective, curious, funny, helpful and immensely reliable. She’s deeply involved in all of her interpersonal relationships and doesn’t favour one relationship over the other. Qiu Dong Na is most definitely not the type of friend who will ditch you for a guy! She is a great friend, a great girlfriend, a great colleague, and even a great daughter.

This very well-written character could not have been brought to life without a great actress. Vicky Chen who I believe was only 17 when she filmed this drama is most definitely an actress to look out for. If this is what she’s able to do at 17, I cannot wait to see how her skills will evolve in 10 years!

As for our male lead, Gu Fei… Ah, what a good, and posh-looking man. I was swooning for this man during the entirety of this show. Gu Fei is obviously a genius, he’s kind, helpful, and witty with just the right amount of sassiness. Fei is a great mentor who knows when to get involved and when to let Dong Na learn for herself. He constantly pushes Dong Na to give her all and always knows how to encourage her. I love how assertive Fei is. He always says what he wants to say and there’s not a single word that he’s ever spoken to Dong Na that he hasn’t meant. He always shows up for Dong Na and truly is her biggest cheerleader. As much as he leads and teaches, he’s also open and willing to learn from Dong Na. I love that he doesn’t dim her light and that instead, he helps her shine brighter. He has never been inappropriate towards Dong Na as her mentor, and he has never used his position to take advantage of her. He respects her boundaries and also respects her pace.

I truly and honestly do not think that anyone could have done a better job at portraying Mr. Gu than Roy Chiu himself. He brings so much life to this character who could have been one-dimensional despite the great writing for his character. The emotions that constantly play behind his eyes… Man does it draw you in!

The last thing I’ll address is the reason I’m deducting 1 star, which is the age gap between the leads. I’ll speak solely about how it affected the show because the transition from friends/ mentor/mentee to lovers ended up being a bit lacklustre for me. The whole appeal behind Dong Na and Fei’s relationship before it evolved into a romantic one was the intimacy behind their banter, their serious talks, and even at the office. It was so clear that Fei had a soft spot for Dong Na. I was disappointed to see that that same level of intimacy and affection during their somewhat platonic days was unable to be carried into their romantic relationship. Obviously, Roy Chiu is an adult and Vicky Chen is not so that’s understandable. Yet, I felt like the casting folks compromised the romance aspect which is honestly not a huge deal since it’s such a small component of the drama itself.

Overall, this is the best C-drama I’ve watched. My Treasure will keep you engaged throughout all of the 35 episodes and will probably make you laugh, cry, swoon, and smile, but most definitely, it will remind you that the best thing in life is the people who love and support you during your best and worst hour.

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