This drama is about the female lead's story of being a pearl diver slave to becoming a successful jewellery merchant. Alongside her journey, we also follow the male lead, a ruthless businessman out for revenge after the tragic death of his family.

POSITIVE:
- Strong-willed, badass and street-smart female lead.
- Morally grey male lead.
- Business politics focused, with romance as a subplot.
- Fantastic storytelling: this truly felt like “her” story, as we follow her journey from a slave with nothing to a powerful merchant.
- Feminism vibes. Women supporting women and showing they can be powerful leaders.
- Beautiful kiss scenes.
- Lovely OST.
- Nice fight scenes. Not a lot but what we do see is really good.
- Beautiful jewellery and costumes, especially Zhao Lusi’s styling was top notch.
- Emotional and baby angst vibes. It has that realism feel to it, with a mix of revenge and scheming around the business side.
- Zhao Lusi: phenomenal acting performance. From her raw underwater scenes, to her angsty slave scenes, to her transformative portrayal of a powerful business woman. This role feels like her best yet, and she truly brought the character to life.

NEGATIVE:
- The second half felt repetitive at times: the antagonists constantly tried to sabotage the female lead’s business. Different scenarios, yes but it was the same thing over and over, which made parts of the drama feel draggy.
- Basic plot: honestly the plot was not that deep, just straightforward business politics with basic villains. Having said that, the drama was still very enjoyable.
- Annoying second female lead: I literally couldn’t stand the character even though the actress was so beautiful. I hated everything she did and everything she said and I was not satisfied at all with how her ending was written.
- Ending: I was not fully satisfied as the writers decided to do a powerful scene off screen, which made it less emotionally impactful.

OVERALL:
This drama isn’t about romance, although there is romance. It’s not about angst, betrayal with dazzling action scenes, even though those elements are there. This drama promised a story about a pearl diver slave, who faces many hardships and rises to become a powerful jewellery merchant - and it absolutely delivered exactly that. For me, this is Zhao Lusi’s best role to date. If you want to see a drama with the strong message “Women can conquer the world,” watch this one.

FAVOURITE QUOTE:
“One tear of a mermaid, so rare and bright, is brought with the blood of countless divers."