Temptation of Wife

Foreword
A woman’s best friend causes her husband to decide not to remain
married to her. He tries to kill her. She is presumed to have drowned
and died. How will he react to a girl who looks exactly like his
presumed dead wife? Will he be tempted by her?

Story/ Introduction on characters – plus my personal awards
for each of them

1. Ju En Cai – Jang Seo Hee
She is a kind and filial person. She majors in fashion design at a
prestigious university and starts preparing to study fashion in France
as a post-graduate student. One night she gets drunk and Qiao Bin
takes this opportunity to take advantage of her. She becomes pregnant
with his child and then marries him, upsetting all her career hopes.
Their marriage is not a blissful one after she has a miscarriage.

Her in-laws look down on her poor family but En Cai tries to get along
with them during seven years of her marriage. When she becomes
pregnant again after a long wait, she is overjoyed. She puts up with
all Qian Bin’s nonsense, thinking that he will return. She has not
wanted a divorce but is forced to sign the papers. Her failed marriage
leaves her shattered when Ai Li and Qiao Bin wrong her for altering He
Na’s rights to the land that Mr Zheng plans for her. She is sent back
home.

While nursing her broken heart on an island, Ai Li demands her to
abort her second pregnancy and move to another country. Qiao Bin also
confronts En Cai and takes away the wedding ring he gave her and
throws it into the sea. En Cai jumps into the ocean to try to retrieve
the wedding band because it means a lot to her. But she can't swim and
Qiao Bin doesn't try to rescue her. She is lost at sea. The two hide
the terrible secret of causing her disappearance. They return home and
tell the family that En Cai has committed suicide after faking her
suicide note.

Meanwhile, Jian You is near the island to search for Xiao Xi. He spots
En Cai floating unconsciously at sea and rescues her. After she loses
her baby in another miscarriage, she decides to seek revenge. She
doesn’t even inform her family that she is alive. Not willing to owe
Jian You hospitalization fees, she does the cleaning chores and also
works at night as a dish cleaner at a stall.

So starts the Cinderella story – she keeps tailing Ai Li or Qiao Bin
to give them the creeps. Once, she is nearly discovered by Qiao Bin
and jumps down from the second storey of a building. She lands on a
burning charcoal stove and is seriously scalded on her left knee. This
stupid woman still insists of working. If not for Jian You discovering
her fainting in the room, no one will know of her injury.

Even plastic surgery will not help as the scar will stay with her for
life. She tries pedaling handmade soap on the streets with little
success. Jian You pities her and buys from her secretly. Jian You gets
so drunk that he sleeps in her room. That sets tongues waging and En
Cai leaves the hospital.

En Cai participates in a make-up contest. Recalling Jian You’s words
that Xiao Xi is dead, she uses her name for the contest. Mdm Min is
stuck by her name and En Cai tells her how she wishes to use make-up
to conceal her pain. True enough, she looks differently after make-up.
Mdm Min later marvels at how En Cai uses make-up to cover up her scar.
So she emerges as the winner.

Mdm Min is puzzled that En Cai doesn’t wish to further her studies in
Paris as the prize. That is because she doesn’t have her passport. She
only wants a place to stay so she arranges her to move to her home.
Jian You feels betrayed as he thinks that she has used Xiao Xi’s name
to gain sympathy and cause agony to Mdm Min instead. He gives her one
day to tell Mdm Min the truth.

He gets mad when she doesn’t listen to him. She maintains that she has
her reasons. He argues with her and Mdm Min overhears everything to
throw En Cai out. En Cai stays outside in the cold and has to be
brought in. In order to stay, she steps on broken glass to tell her
whole story.

En Cai is taken care of by them. She then assumes the name of Xiao Xi
after telling them her sad story. She transforms herself to be a
beautician. She starts to wear short mini-skirts and sexy stockings.
She also cuts her hair shorter, removes her moles on her body, golden
teeth and also the black nail from her small finger to conceal her
past. She adds a mole under her eye and cuts her hair shorter. She
also picks up dancing and swimming. Thus, Qiao Bin can no longer tell
that she is still En Cai.

En Cai deliberately shows him the scar to disperse his doubt. She even
lures him to the dance studio to watch her dance, asking him out for
drinks at night and also lure him to a hotel. She sees how Qiao Bin
tries to drug her as the same method that he uses many years ago to
violate her so she exchange the drinks to cause him to be drunk
instead. She then calls Ai Li to come for him, leaving him alone to
face the music.

She becomes Ai Li’s bitter business rival when her customers start
coming to her. She even deliberately shames her when she sends some
back to her. She also splashes a cup of water at her face when she
blames her for seducing Qiao Bin. She is no longer afraid of Ai Li. Ai
Li is mad when her business is affected so she adds poison to En Cai’s
products. Thus the national federation refuses to let En Cai endorse
their products. They offer the contract to Ai Li instead.

En Cai knows that Ai Li isn’t as capable as her so she checks on her.
True enough, Ai Li imports Paris products to claim them as her own. En
Cai doesn’t stop her from signing the contract. Qiao Bin is annoyed
when Ai Li deceives him to become the guarantor as this involves Tian
Di Construction. If anything happens, she has to fork out 9 billion
won to pay back.

So it is En Cai’s turn to cause her to breach the contract and she has
to pay for the damages. Not willing to lose the beauty salon, Ai Li
steals Xia Zhao’s gold bars to pass to En Cai as a mortgage. She has
wanted to exchange it with cash but no one dares to get them. Qiang
Cai is framed of stealing them when Xia Zhao finds them missing.

En Cai smells a fish upon getting the gold bars and pass them to Xia
Zhao. Zheng whole family is disillusioned and chased her out of the
family. En Cai keeps seducing Qiao Bin but obstructs him of going to
bed with her. She gets Qiao Bin to divorce Ai Li. She is engaged to
him and even gives up Jian You’s love for her. She is willing to move
into his house even though they have not registered.

En Cai is very revengeful. She recalls how Mei Ren causes her
miscarriage. Thus, she prepares the ice cakes Mei Ren dislikes and
also imitation jewels as engagement presents. That was what she did to
En Cai when she first married Qiao Bin. Mei Ren is enraged when she
learns that she is deceived as she buys the real gems for her. En Cai
even pretends that she doesn’t know how to cook to avoid doing
housework for her. Qiao Bin sides for her now that annoys Mei Ren. She
no longer wants to be Mei Ren’s slave anymore.

Qiao Bin is appalled when she buys two single beds to put inside their
room. En Cai puts up with Ni Nuo’s behaviour although she resents his
presence for causing her to lose her baby. She is also thankful to him
as Ni Nuo sleeps with them in their room. He can never accept her as
his stepmother. She causes Qiao Bin to lose a lot of money in gambling
and gets his money.

His debts snowball further and she urges him to hand over Mdm Min’s
family land deed as mortgage. Qiao Bin is the main cause of Mr Zheng’s
downfall. Knowing that Mdm Min’s friend has discovered her identity,
En Cai makes sure that she gets hold of all Zhengs’ properties before
telling the truth. She returns to her family and continues working for
Mdm Min.

She is about to marry Jian You when Xiao Xi returns to ruin her
wedding. Xiao Xi gets Ai Li’s help to lock En Cai up so that she can
hold her own wedding with Jian You. Not willing to agitate her
further, he chooses to leave Jian You. She removes her mole and picks
herself up again. After winning the make-up contest, she is about to
represent World National Federation Cosmetics to go for an
international contest. Upon knowing that Ai Li is dying, she gives up
her chance and is willing to take care of her.

She also plans to buy over Min Total Beauty to boast her career with
Ai Li. Knowing that Qiao Bin will never dare to injure Xiao Xi, En Cai
is persistent that the police should reinvestigate the case. She even
plans their final honeymoon together. She helps in their funeral and
promises to treat Ni Nuo like her own child as requested in Ai Li’s
suicide note.

Xiao Xi later feels remorseful for breaking En Cai and Jian You up.
She leaves a pair of rings for Jian You to pass to En Cai at the
beach. En Cai put the ring that Xiao Xi gives her in Jian You's finger
and he does the same. They are at sea to pour Ai Li’s ashes. After
wearing the rings and hugging each other while crying, they see Ai Li
and Qiao Bin smiling. They look happy in the nether world.

Most revengeful character – she is firm in seeking her revenge. Nearly
becoming a mother herself, she doesn’t feel bad separating Ni Nuo from
Ai Li by wrecking her marriage. She wants the Zhengs to be left with
nothing to be down and out.

2. Shen Ai Li – Kim Suh Hyung
She lives with En Cai’s family after her parents are dead when she is
a little girl. She blames En Cai’s family for causing their deaths as
they drive in the rain to their home. The truth is Ai Li is unwilling
to visit them and throw tantrums. She throws the doll intended for En
Cai into the driver’s seat and obstructs her father from driving. Her
parents and her unborn brother die in the accident.

They do not receive any compensation but Ying Xiu lies to her that
they do so she resents them, thinking that they have taken the money.
She is close to En Cai but is jealous that she marries into a rich
family. Although Qiang Cai is in love with her, she chooses to seduce
Qiao Bin for 5 years instead. Qiao Bin is the one who finances her
studies in Paris. En Cai later finds out that Qiao Bin cheats on her
with Ai Li.

They fooled behind her back 5 years ago. Even though En Cai is with
Qiao Bin on holiday, she will book a room next to theirs. When En Cai
is hospitalized due to her unstable pregnancy, she comes to cook at
Qiao Bin’s home. She even ruins their wedding photos.

En Cai is shocked to learn of her friend's betrayal because she thinks
she will marry Qiang Cai. Ai Li pleases Mei Ren with her cooking. She
is also a very revengeful woman. When President Zheng ruins
everything in her flat, she also spreads negative rumours about his
company so that his business will dip. On top of that, Ai Li had Qiao
Bin's child, Ni Nuo a five-year-old boy.

Mr Zheng keeps harping that she is only a mistress who ruins her
friend’s marriage. Even though Ni Nuo’s DNA result proves that he is
Qiao Bin’s son, he still doesn’t acknowledge the fact. He only plans
to give his asserts to En Cai’s baby. She then tries to get Mei Ren’s
approval and becomes nasty to her when Mei Ren is forced to take care
of Ni Nuo for her so that she can be alone with Qiao Bin.

Ai Li wants En Cai to abort her baby so that Ni Nuo will have his
share but she refuses. She witnesses how Qiao Bin tries to drown En
Cai at sea and helps him to clear all the evidence. Before her
marriage, she gets En Cai’s wedding photo and nearly goes mad.
Thinking that Qiang Cai is behind it and determined that they should
not affect Ni Nuo anymore, she chases En Cai’s family out of their
house. She pretends to be pregnant in order to get married.

She has planned to have a grand wedding. But it backfires – En Cai
steals her bouquet and flushes it down the toilet. En Cai also uses
cosmetics to ruin her face in the wedding photo. Mr Zheng sees how Ai
Li flares up when she throws the substitute bouquet aside, yelling
that the secondary colour doesn’t fit her. He tries preventing Qiang
Cai from ruining the ceremony by getting men to trap him away in a
van.

He manages to stagger back and stands on a table to reveal the
adulterous couple’s deeds. As if this is not bad enough, Mr Zheng also
disallows them to go on honeymoon since she is pregnant. When she and
Qiao Bin are cuddling each other in bed, He Na suddenly charges in
with a pail of water to splash on them. Their consummated night is so
much less expected indeed. After En Cai’s death, Ai Li doesn't find
her married life comfortable because her father-in-law looks at her
with disdain.

Ai Li feigns morning sickness to escape doing housework. She also
pretends to be pushed by Mei Ren to have a miscarriage. En Cai is
baffled when Mdm Min asks her to join Qiao Bin and Ai Li for lunch.
She doesn’t appear some time to hide in the toilet. Ai Li is conceited
as she finds the winner of Mdm Min’s contest is too rude. En Cai is
there to pour a pail on her from outside.

When the lies are uncovered, her in-laws nearly throw her out of the
house if not for Ni Nuo. After that, they simply ignore her. She
coaxes Mei Ren to invest in Bella Centre with En Cai’s condolence
money but Mr Zheng gets to learn about it. He demands for it so she
fakes crying in front of Qiang Cai to lie that they have received the
money.

Even though Qiao Bin begs Ai Li to pay money to the nurse who
witnesses how he kills En Cai, Ai Li will not do it. She prefers to
keep money for her salon and Mr Zheng has to settle for them. Her
career matters to her than anything else. Their marriage sours and
that is why Qiao Bin also refuses to help her when she needs more
money to buy over Bella.

In the end, President Zheng settles the case by paying the nurse but
all do not know that En Cai later get the money from her and donates
the money to charity. She also gets a new job for the nurse after
knowing that Ai Li tries to lock her up in the asylum. It is strange
that she is inferior to En Cai in skills although she receives
education from Paris.

Ai Li starts to find lipstick marks on Qiao Bin’s shirt. His so-called
present that he lies shopping for Ni Nuo is actually a doll from En
Cai. She learns that En Cai is the woman that he sees regularly. She
comes to create a scene at Mdm Min’s salon and is shocked to see En
Cai. Thus, she checks on her background. She becomes like the past En
Cai, tracking Qiao Bin down like a dog.

Knowing that she is losing support from Qiao Bin, she starts to treat
Mei Ren better to buy her nourishments, citing that she is thankful of
her to take care of Ni Nuo. She even tells Mei Ren to keep the
condolence money meant for En Cai’s funeral which should be given to
the Jus. She has plans to use the money to expand Bella then. However,
Mr Zheng finds out and demands her to return the money.

Although En Cai doesn’t go to bed with Qiao Bin, she deliberately
leaves trails like her stockings or lipstick. Qiao Bin starts to find
Ai Li old. The nurse and gold sagas cause the two to drift apart
further. Mr Zheng settles her debts but wants her to divorce Qiao Bin.
Ai Li has to fend for herself, staying in a rented apartment. She is
jealous upon knowing that En Cai is the new owner of Bella and she has
to work as her subordinate in order to clear her debts. But she isn’t
a person who will give up easily.

Ai Li seizes all the gifts back from Mei Ren when she is about to
attend Qiao Bin’s and En Cai’s engagement. Have a good laugh when she
even stripes her of the hanook that she wears as it is from her too.
She tries all means to prove to Mei Ren that the Xiao Xi she sees is
actually En Cai. She even tries bribing Mdm Min’s friend to prove En
Cai’s identity. This woman can be inconsistent in her statements as
Mdm Min also bribes her.

When the Zhengs are down and out to be forced to exchange their house
with En Cai’s house, she moves in to stay with them. This place gives
her ugly memories. This is the place she urges to get out urgently but
is shoved back in reluctance again so she vows to make a comeback. She
has wanted to get her status back. However, the most important thing
to her is still Bella.

Knowing that En Cai intends return Mei Ren’s house deed to her, she
sneaks into En Cai’s office to steal it beforehand. She accidentally
knocks Xiu Bin out and causes her to injure an eye. She frames En Cai
for the deed and can’t wait to see her in jail. Qiang Cai is about to
expose her scam in hurting En Cai when she lies that Ni Nuo is his
son. Seeing that Xiao Xi is back, she joins forces with her to deal
with En Cai.

Ai Li uses Mdm Min’s identity card to borrow money from the loansharks
using the land deed. Knowing that Mdm Min wants to find He Na, she
gets 10 billion won from her. Xiao Xi even helps Ai Li to head Bella
again after she traps En Cai from stopping Jian You to marry Xiao Xi.

The Zhengs move back into their home but they do not welcome her back
after knowing what she has done. She is still thick skinned to work
like a maid in their home. She has frequent stomach pains and is
overjoyed that she is pregnant again. After being cheated too many
times, Mei Ren wants a pregnancy test to prove it. However, Qiao Bin
is still unmoved and wants her to abort her baby. She is determined to
use the unborn baby to return to them. However, the elders do not side
her this time.

Qiao Bin even wants to trick her to go to the hospital for an
abortion. Just then, she learns that she has stomach cancer. She
rejects the abortion suggestion and refuses treatment in order to keep
the baby. With this sickly body, she still wants to participate in
Asia Cosmetic Beautician contest. She gets into the second round with
En Cai.

The chief judge is National Federation Chief. She still hates Ai Li
for causing her to incur losses over the contract. Ai Li knows that
she can never win En Cai in using natural products. Thus she gets Xiao
Xi’s help to bribe the judges by mortgaging Bella. Little does she
know that the money comes from Xiao Xi. She lures En Cai’s model away
after so that En Cai will be left with a model with sensitive skin to
plants.

Ai Li is not in any better situation as the chief judge changes all
the judges last minute. En Cai remains calm to use her own home-made
natural products. Although she has not used National Federation
products as one of the criteria, the chief still admires the haste way
she handles the situation well. But Ai Li is still declared as the
winner.

After learning about what Ai Li has done, En Cai emerges as the
winner. The chief judge disqualifies Ai Li and declares En Cai as the
winner. Xiao Xi later chases her over the debt. The model also
appears, accusing Ai Li of deceiving her that a French modeling agency
is asking for her. The chief also learns that Ai Li sabotages En Cai
over the earlier affair. Thus she wants En Cai to write a report.

Ai Li also loses her license as a beautician besides having to answer
about the bribery case. The report costs Ai Li her salon as Xiao Xi
sells it away. So she loses her cool to fight with En Cai, resulting
in her miscarriage. Ai Li is enraged when En Cai gets her two France
tickets as she can’t stay in Korea anymore She still puts the blame on
En Cai and wants to deal with Xiao Xi before hospitalization.

This woman is surely atrocious to rather choose to deal with her
rivals rather than seeking treatment first. She can’t endure others
pitying her upon knowing her illness. Xiao Xi has caused her to be
detained by the police station in front of Ni Nuo. Ai Li has kept Qiao
Bin’s GM name card all along so that she can help him to make a
comeback. She drags a drunk Xiao Xi to Han River and abandons her
there. She has not realized that she has dropped the name card on the
floor. She then gets hospitalized, hoping to get cured.

She never expects her to be hit on the head by someone else. She is
willing to lie to the police that she is the culprit so that the
police can let him off. Touched, Qiao Bin surrenders himself instead.
Thus, she goes on the run with Qiao Bin when Qiao Bin takes the rap
for her. It is too late when the police naps the real culprit and En
Cai calls her as she is already dead. In her suicide note, she hopes
to take care of En Cai’s miscarried child if she manages to find it in
the nether world.

Most cunning character – She has too many things in her sleeves. All
have been tricked by her at least once.

3. Zheng Qiao Bin – Byun Woo Min
He is En Cai’s husband. After En Cai’s miscarriage, she is childless
for 7 years and hopes that Qiao Bin will go for a medical checkup with
her. However, he has lost interest in her and has been fooling around
with other women. He tries hard to reject Ai Li’s advances as she is
En Cai’s friend but succumb to her later. He is unable to leave Ai Li
due to her beauty and also her connection with rich people. He gets an
apartment for her after tricking En Cai’s allowance. How low can this
man go!

He allows Ai Li to be in his home after knowing that she bores him Ni
Nuo – even in front of En Cai’s presence to hurt her. He doesn’t say a
thing when En Cai is chased out of his home. After getting beaten up
by Qiang Cai, he files for divorce and forces En Cai to agree to it in
exchange for his release. He is mad with En Cai for rejecting an
abortion as he intends to leave everything to Ni Nuo.

He thinks that he is successful in killing En Cai at sea and has
nightmares over it. Yet, he can still lie to her family that he has
never met her. He marries Ai Li happily and helps her to lie to his
parents so that he can keep on going out with Ai Li. Months later, En
Cai is back for revenge but she presumes the identity of Xiao Xi, who
has killed herself.

He gets tense when seeing her at a party. She dances so well and he
gets scared when looking at her face. She swims well and seduces him
at the pool. She also lures him to see how she dances at the studio.
Seeing her so confident of herself makes him dismiss the thought that
she is En Cai.

She keeps appearing in front of him and cooks him food when he stays
in the company overnight. She even gives him a portrait. She also
pretends to have a sprain so that he can bring her home. En Cai gets
Mdm Min and Jian You to take a family portrait with her. The scarf
that Jian You puts on En Cai’s neck to prevent her from catching a
cold is transferred to Qiao Bin’s neck. Jian You gets so mad that he
damages it.

The two only make up later when she gives him a pair of gloves. She
pretends to get scared of Ai Li and wants to break up with Qiao Bin.
Qiao Bin begs her to return to him. Qiao Bin gets tired of Ai Li as he
finds her looking old. He can never stop liking other women so En Cai
and Ai Li despise him. If not for Ai Li’s part of knowing how he
murders En Cai, he could have divorced her.

There is a part which is funny indeed. Qiao Bin is frightened when En
Cai’s family discovers that he tries to kill her. He has wanted to
flee with Ai Li to France at first but En Cai manages to change his
mind by locking him in Mdm Min’s cellar. The poor man is hungry and
wets himself. When he is released, all can hardly recognise him as he
becomes so firsty.

He later signs the divorce papers with Mr Zheng’s help and is engaged
with En Cai quickly. He is annoyed when she doesn’t even allow him to
touch her. Even though En Cai has revealed her real identity later and
rejects him numerous times, he still finds her attrractive and woos
her repeatedly. That is wishful thinking on his part. He is reduced
to a pauper but is still choosy on jobs. He is a heartless person –
how can he expect them to love him deeply?

Although Ai Li sticks with him, he doesn’t appreciate her efforts. He
even tries to stop En Cai’s wedding from taking place. He dreams that
En Cai will return to him and will not share his bed with her. Not
wanting him to remina jobless, she gets him to work in Bella. Ai Li
attempts to help him to become the GM again by luring Jian You away
for signing an important contract.

Even after moving into the big house, he forces her to sleep on the
lliving room sofa – insisting that En Cai is the only lady owner of
the house. He is a person who dislikes being tied down by children.
That is why he wants En Cai and also Ai Li to abort their babies. He
is so happy when Ai Li has a miscarriage so that she will not bother
him anymore. He doesn’t visit her to console her although En Cai
chides him.

He even goes for mathmaking, hiding the fact that he has a son. He is
dismayed that his prospective match is a plump divorcee with 3
children. But he will still rather choose her than to be with Ai Li.
Only when he discovers that Ai Li loses her baby due to cancer that he
softens. His attitude towards her changes.

Instead of Ai Li, Qiao Bin surrenders himself to the police officer
when he knew that Ai Li has cancer. He wants to protect her. He tells
Mei Ren that he is going to America. Qiao Bin is given days to be with
her during her remaining days. They have a family picture taking and
go to the restaurant with the police officers looking far behind him.

It is time for him to leave but she has an attack. He has no choice
but to run away with her. They keep running away and they find a small
place to stay near the sea. It is her wish to see the sea before she
dies. She commits suicide and he dies with her at sea after failing
to pull her back as he loses all his strength.

Most lustful character – he is over obsessed with women. He even
thinks that all will fawn on him despite his wrongdoings. But when we
look at him, he is just like an ordinary uncle and we will never
understand why the two women fight over him.

4. Zheng Xiu Bin – Song Hee Ah
She is Qiao Bin’s younger sister who is an interior designer. She is
busy at work and has no intention of settling down. She envies En
Cai’s nimble fingers in making beauty soap and has wished that she
hasn’t married Qiao Bin to launch her own career. She feels sorry for
En Cai’s plight but she has no say over it. Mr Zheng intends to pair
her with Jian You and wants her to work for his company.

We can see that she is actually interested in Jian You but still helps
him to get a pair of earrings for his beloved. She is astonished to
see En Cai wearing them. Upon knowing that they are siblings, she is
speechless. She doubts En Cai’s love for Qiao Bin after knowing this
and warns both of them.

When she is blind in one eye, her trust in En Cai is ruined. But upon
regaining her eyesight partially, she gets to see Ai Li hiding the
land deed and realizes who has harmed her. She still pretends to be
blind to gain more evidence. She exposes the truth and clears En Cai’s
name. Even though she dislikes Ai Li, she sympathesizes with her as Ai
Li only wants a father for her son to do all these evil deeds.

The fairest character – she knows that her family members have let En
Cai down so she has no complaints.

5. Min Jian You – Lee Jae Hwang
He is the adopted son of Madam Min. He doesn’t know that his ‘younger
sister’ has loved him over the years. Although Madam Min has hoped
that Jian You will help her out in her cosmetic company, he prefers to
carry on with his architectural career. Seeing Mei Zi working hard as
a cleaner at Madam Min’s company, he helps her to carry a heavy pail
and she has a good impression of him.

President Zheng hires him right after his interview. He has a shock of
his life upon knowing that Xiao Xi loves him. He tries very hard to
avoid her but she still kisses him. Leaving him no choice, he moves
out. But she still comes to look for him openly at his company.
Knowing that she will not give up easily, he hastily agrees to marry a
woman, Min Jing.

Xiao Xi arranges a priest to plan her wedding with Jian You. Jian You
is troubled but he still goes ahead with the wedding. He has thought
that Xiao Xi will return home after that. He has not expected her to
kill herself. He saves En Cai but he finds her similar to Xiao Xi.
Thus he gets clothes and necessities for her besides paying her
hospitalization bill.

En Cai will not tell him his name but he visits her daily. His heart
nearly stops when he finds her leaning at the hospital rooftop. She is
not trying to kill herself but she is hanging some wet laundry to dry
there. That thought has across her mind earlier but she will not give
up. He is puzzled on why Mdm Min wants him to resign from Mr Zheng’s
company but later asks him to stay on.

Jian You is bitter when En Cai gets to stay in Xiao Xi’s room. He
feels that she has deceived him to gain his sympathy. Upon learning
her story, he feels sorry for her. He starts falling for her but she
rejects him as her mind is only on revenge. Mdm Min also stresses that
both are her children now. He starts to understand how Xiao Xi feels
then as she is forbidden to love him too.

He gets lovers rings for each other to wear. His persistence wins her
over as he doesn’t mind her past and pities her instead. Qiao Bin
keeps reminding him that En Cai is his wife while he openly declares
his love for her. The mild-mannered man even punches him.

After Mdm Min has seized Tian Di company, he is made to become the GM.
It takes a long time for both families to accept the fact. His plans
are stopped when Xiao Xi returns. Although he loves En Cai, he notices
that Xiao Xi is mentally ill to create constant trouble for En Cai and
accepts his fate sadly. After their marriage, he can’t bring himself
to touch her and finds excuses not to return home. He is cold towards
her and can’t take repeated questioning from her anymore.

Upon knowing that Xiao Xi is quarreling with En Cai, he rushes to
witness how terrible Xiao Xi becomes. He drags En Cai away, missing to
sign an important contract. Qiao Bin signs on his behalf. He resigns
from his post and wants to become an architect again. He doesn’t want
to be controlled by Mdm Min anymore. After seeing how Xiao Xi ill-
treats En Cai and how he learns that Xiao Xi has cheated Ai Li of
Bella by the bribing tactic, he has no hesitation to sign the divorce
papers.

The two part amicably. Upon knowing that Qiao Bin is on the run, he
feels sorry for him and Ai Li so he lends them his car. He sees that
En Cai is very distressed over the couple’s passing so he accompanies
by her side quietly. Still, he has no courage to woo En Cai again.
Xiao Xi has to do the pushing to make him pass the rings to her again.
He has saved En Cai in the past so he hopes that she can save him this
time.

Most easily manipulated character – just a few threats will do to
change his mind. He will agree to anything to repay Mdm Min’s kindness
and protect En Cai from harm to go through the wedding ceremony with
Xiao Xi. He should be firmer.

6. Ju Qiang Cai – Cui Joon Yong
He is En Cai’s elder brother who is a manager at the same nightclub
with his father. He relies on his fists to settle his problems. He
regards his Ai Li as his girlfriend. He is as die-hard as En Cai in
love to think that the person they love will never have a change of
heart.

His whole life is centred around Ai Li. He pesters her when she
reveals that she has another man. He even has the urge to kill
himself. Even though he is dragged away by the police, he doesn’t give
up. When he learns about Qiao Bin's indecent past with Ai Li, he
physically assaults Qiao Bin till he nearly kills him. Due this
incident, Qiao Bin and his mother pressure En Cai to sign the divorce
papers.

When knowing that Ai Li has a son, he gives up all hope and doesn’t
mind getting jailed. En Cai has to give up her own happiness in order
to get him out. Upon knowing how much she has suffered, he changes for
the better. Mdm Min later sets up an office at his home, wanting them
to store up bricks for construction. He has a headache when He Na
keeps turning up at his home and falling for him.

He starts to love her when teaching her how to read and write. Both
get married despite opposition from his parents initially as they are
worried that He Na needs to be taken care of. The young couple gets a
food van to start their rice cake business. His parents get jealous
when he gets food home secretly for her. He is overjoyed when she is
pregnant and treats her like a queen.

Most gullible character – there is a saying - twice bitten, twice shy.
It is not the case for Qiang Cai. He often lets Qiao Bin away right
under his nose. He gets cheated by Ai Li more than once. First is on
kidnapping En Cai by mistake. Then to think that Ni Nuo is his son. He
even thinks that Ai Li has produced a fake DNA report in order to
marry Qiao Bin. He has not thought that Mr Zheng will never let Ni Nuo
into the family unless he is sure that he is his grandson. He is
stupid indeed.

7. Min Xiao Xi – Chae Young In
She is Madam Min’s younger daughter. She has loved Jian You when he
moves in 15 years ago. Her persistence doesn’t pay off as he only
regards her as his younger sister. She takes matters into her own
hands to arrange their wedding and also believes that he loves her –
the only obstacle is only his filial piety towards her mother. She
waits in vain for him to arrive but he doesn’t turn up. Thus she walks
into the sea.

She survives and returns after a long period of time to treat her
depression. Upon reaching home, she is sour when knowing that En Cai
has replaced her in the family photo and assuming her name. Her last
straw is to know that she is marrying Jian You. Thus she forces Jian
You to marry her. She tries to get close to him and even decorates
their room for their future baby. She keeps tabs on him and En Cai.

Yet, Jian You can’t forgive her for being nasty to En Cai for
destroying her art works and humiliating her. He decides to walk out
from the marriage. Xiao Xi sobs upon overhearing how intimate Qiang
Cai and He Na are while Jian You locks himself up in his room, avoid
seeing anyone. He is normally a polite gentleman but doesn’t walk out
to greet the young couple when they are leaving to stay with the Jus
right after their wedding night.

Xiao Xi is displeased to know that He Na is her half-sister. She is a
moron to her and she treats her badly. She learns from Ai Li on how to
become selfish and vindictive. She helps Ai Li in all her schemes to
discover that she is being made used of. Thus, she wants her to pay
her back.

Jian You is very cold to her after marriage. He is past caring about
his future as he has never been happy. He does not look at the ties
she chooses for him to go for work. She demands to know why he wants
to make her so miserable. Even though she threatens not to eat her
pills, he just ignores her to go for work!

He can no longer treat her as family after knowing what she has done.
Even Mdm Min doesn’t side her and asks her to move out. So she takes
it out on Ai Li who has ruined her marriage. She is assaulted on her
head and her wallet goes missing.

Mdm Min gets her to sign the divorce papers. She recalls how unhappy
Jian You becomes due to her. She also realizes that she loves herself
and only wants to possess Jian You. Unlike her, Ai Li truly loves her
family and Qiao Bin despite all she has done. She envies He Na for
being happily married.

Xiao Xi plans to go to America with her mother after finding a job.
She writes a letter to En Cai with two rings. One for her and another
for Jian You. She wants them to continue their love and so they did.
They both love each other and can’t part now.

Most unreasonable character – she pesters Jian You like a pest. Very
irritating indeed. But you must salute to her as she is the only
person to able to deceive Ai Li besides En Cai.

8. Bai Mei Ren – Geum Bo Ra
She is En Cai’s mother-in-law. En Cai’s first pregnancy ends in a
miscarriage due to her. She wrongly accuses her of lying to be
pregnant in order to marry into their rich family. She orders her to
do all the chores at home while she can go for gambling sessions with
her friends. She hates En Cai when her gambling session is discovered
by President Zheng.

Even though En Cai is pregnant the second time, she still makes her do
all the housework as En Cai’s family keeps on borrowing money from
them. She is a tough woman to put up with as her tongue is very sharp.
But upon knowing that she has a grandson, she is very nice to Ai Li.
She even helps Qiao Bin to frame En Cai that she changes He Na’s
rights to own a piece of land.

President has prepared a sum of money for En Cai even after her death
but she keeps it for herself. Ai Li knows of her doing that and forces
her to acknowledge her as her daughter-in-law. News spread far and
wide on how she ill treats En Cai and how Qiao Bin forces En Cai to
kill herself. Ai Li has forgotten her help and treats her like a maid
after that. She grumbles but dares not scold her often as she isn’t En
Cai.

She gets scared when seeing En Cai again at the beauty salon. More so
when En Cai moves to stay with her and keeps giving her frights after
Qiang Cai’s divorce with Ai Li. Her good fortune ends when Tian Di
company goes into bankruptcy. She is never used to stay in a small
house and keeps blaming Mr Zheng for it. Under Ai Li’s coaxing, she
gets Xiu Bin to persuade En Cai to return the house deed to her.

She spoils Qiao Bin rotten so he becomes a rascal. The house that the
Zhengs stay is actually dowry from her late father. She is a rich
man’s daughter and has never undergone hardship. She abandons He Na to
seek revenge on Xia Zhao for being unfaithful to her.

Upon knowing that He Na isn’t Mr Zheng’s sister but eldest daughter,
she feels cheated. It takes her a long time to forgive him. She wants
to be as He Na’s mother by changing the name to officiate the wedding
but Mei Zi will rather die than to be in-laws with her.

After having two daughters-in-laws, she doesn’t reflect her mistake.
En Cai finds Ai Li very pitiful for trying so hard to be with this
family. Ai Li has sacrificed everything but she gets nothing in
return. Upon knowing that He Na is Mdm Min’s daughter, she treats her
well but He Na doesn’t repay her as she still recalls how she deserts
her.

The couple’s demise deals with her a hard blow. She blames Ni Nuo for
causing this – this will not happen if he isn’t back from France. But
when he is nearly knocked down by a car, she realizes how important he
is to her. He is the final present to her from Qiao Bin. Thus she
promises to take care of him and He Na’s unborn child after birth
since Mdm Min will be away.

Most nagging character – she often sighs the same words and makes the
same gestures – what have I done to deserve this?

9. Zheng He Na – Oh Young Shil
She is Qiao Bin’s aunt who is retarded. Mei Ren dislikes her and En
Cai as she deems them silly. She often sides for En Cai when she gets
bullied and she is the only person that President Zheng will listen
to. She is sad over En Cai’s demise and often pulls Ai Li’s hair when
she sees her. She likes Qiang Cai and keeps pestering him. In
reality, she isn’t Xiao Zhao’s sister but eldest illegitimate
daughter. He is won over by her simplicity and marries her.

She has difficulties doing business as she has no concept of money.
Her in-laws find her a glutton for eating too much. But they are
overjoyed when she is pregnant. She goes to Qiao Bin’s wake,
regretting always hitting him when she is angry.

Most simple-minded character – she will believe whatever others tell
her but all of us will be baffled by her instinct to recognize En Cai
right at a glance while others don’t.

10. President Zheng Xia Zhao – Kim Dong Hyun
He is a stern father who has accumulated his wealth throughout the
years by using Mdm Min’s father’s money. He has no hesitation to kick
Qiao Bin out of his company when he discovers his infidelity. He is a
traditional man and wishes En Cai never to divorce his son as she
accepts her money. However, his trust over her is shaken over He Na’s
land issue incident. When he discovers that En Cai is wronged, he
tries to make amends. He is mad with Qiao Bin still eating expensive
fish after her death as he shows no remorse.

He reluctantly allows Qiao Bin to marry Ai Li upon knowing her
pregnancy. He is startled to see Mdm Min alive at his wedding. Xia
Zhao treats Ai Li like dirt and has never acknowledged her as his
daughter-in-law. Upon seeing Hena wearing a white dress pretending to
get married reminds him of a young Mdm Min. He Na is not his younger
sister but his daughter with her. He has stolen her home land deed and
makes a lot of money out of it.

He takes He Na away to stay with his mistress. He Na becomes slow-
witted after a high fever. Thus, Qiao Bin thinks that he has no ground
to chide him for being lustful as he isn’t a model himself. Xia Zhao’s
mistress then becomes his wife, Mei Ren who has no clue about his
past. She helps him to bring He Na up and is only puzzled why both
have such a big age gap.

He also handpicks a rich man’s son as He Na’s husband but she only
wants Qiang Cai. This gives him a headache as both families are
enemies. He is very thick-skinned to get Qiang Cai to take care of her
when she is ill. Although Xia Zhao loses everything in a night, he is
still calm as it is back to old times for him again. He washes cars at
a garage.

Xia Zhao doesn’t even think of returning He Na back to Min Zhu as she
is his own flesh and blood. Out of the three, he dotes on her the
most. He has felt remorseful towards her for separating her from her
mother.
When times are bad, Mei Ren gives He Na away to a charity home. Xia
Zhao and Min Zhu are worried sick upon knowing this. Xia Zhao even
cries at night and blames himself.

He has wanted to hide this fact from the others but can’t as Min Zhu
reveals everything to them. His two children find it hard to adjust to
the fact that their aunt is actually their eldest sister. When Xia
Zhao manages to help Min Zhu in a business deal, she gets him back to
become an advisor and Qiao Bin becomes his chauffeur. But there is
nothing more than this as Min Zhu is still bitter towards him.

Ai Li takes Ni Nuo away when Qiao Bin chases her out. Xia Zhao demands
to have Ni Nuo back as he is his grandson. He is angered to know that
Qiao Bin intends to get married the fourth time. This son has
disgraced him continuously. Min Zhu and Xia Zhao are on better terms
after Qiao Bin’s funeral. Min Zhu hopes that he can help Jian You in
the business when she is away with Xiao Xi in the U.S.

Most convincing liar – who can hide a secret for 40 years? If not for
En Cai and Ai Li, he could have brought this secret to his grave
without anyone knowing.

11. Ju Ying Xiu – Kim Yong Gun
He is En Cai’s father who dreams of becoming a star. He is a nightclub
singer. As like a spendthrift like Qiang Cai, he also often gets into
debts. The worst time will be injuring a popular singer and he has no
money to pay the medical expenses. After getting into trouble, he
works at the construction site to get money to pay off his debts. He
is upset that both children fail in their love lives but committing
suicide is never on his mind as he has been strong-willed.

He later helps Mdm Min to purchase the bricks to store in a warehouse.
This is tougher than his previous job but he has no regrets as he is
grateful to Mdm Min. When he wins shoe vouchers in a singing contest,
he passes the vouchers to Mdm Min. After she buys over Tian Di
company, he becomes a security guard there and likes his job.

When Qiang Cai mentions that Ni Nuo might be his grandson, he is as
gullible as him to think there might be a possibility as Ni Nuo treats
them well. He and Mei Zi help He Na with the eatery van business after
that. Before Ai Li dies, Ying Xiu and Mei Zi bring Ai Li home, cooking
her favourite dishes. Ai Li is in tears, treating them as her parents
again.

Most unrealistic character – he should have given up his singing dream
long ago when he doesn’t get famous. He can save up a lot of money and
not sponge on the useless stage clothes then.

12. Madam Min Xian Zhu – Jung Ae Ri
She owns a cosmetic company and hopes to that Jian You will be her
successor. But after knowing that Xiao Xi likes him, she keeps a
distance from him. She also decides to send Xiao Xi to the U.S. as
she can’t accept the two of them to be together although they are not
related.

Although she hires Mei Zi as a domestic helper, she is kind to Mei Zi
and is sorry to hear of En Cai’s divorce from her. She meets He Na
once and finds her familiar looking to her dead daughter that she has
with Mr Zheng. After Xiao Xi’s death, she blames Jian You for not
telling her earlier. She also intends to terminate her adoption but
later changes her mind to reconcile with him.

She has adopted him after the death of her first daughter, Xiao Xing
within 100 days, wanting to shower her love to another child. Thinking
that Mr Zheng has neglected Xiao Xing to let her die, she starts her
revenge plan. She buys bricks to store during dinner.

She loses her judgment to be overly kind to En Cai upon knowing that
her name is Xiao Xi. She later feels betrayed but later takes her in
after knowing her sad story. She trains her well and she intends to
take over Bella with En Cai’s help. Her motive is not only in helping
her but also seeking her own revenge. Jian You has doubts on this
although En Cai doesn’t mind being made used of.

Her hatred for Xia Zhao has not reduced all these years. That is why
she wants to leave him with nothing. After knowing that He Na is their
daughter, she then realises why both of them have affinity. She loses
her judgment and has to depend on En Cai and Jian You to support her.

She is overjoyed that Xiao Xi returns but seeing how serious her
condition is, she forces Jian You to marry Xiao Xi regardless of the
numerous mistakes that she has created. She can also do anything to
make He Na happy – to request the Jus to accept her too. She intends
to set up an eatery shop for the couple but they prefer to be
independent to draw business through their eatery van instead.

The poor Jian You is suffocating and asks for her forgiveness as he
can’t put up with Xiao Xi anymore. She also discovers that Xiao Xi has
learned from Ai Li to be vindictive. She cancels all her credit cards
and tells her to leave Min Total Beauty. She has not been doing a
proper job all along and she has to be dependent from now on to earn
her own money. She even asks her to move out.

She finally knows how Jian You is going through. Jian You agrees with
her and she also supports his decision to divorce Xiao Xi upon seeing
him so unhappy. She is overjoyed to know that He Na is pregnant and
gives her the best food. Mei Ren is thick-skinned to tag along,
claming that she has brought He Na up like a mother for 40 years.

She later follows Xiao Xi to America so she leaves her office to
President Zheng. Before that she thanks Mei Ren for taking care of He
Na all these years. Mei Ren promises that she will show her love to He
Na’s unborn child too.

Most selfish character – she will do anything to please her two
daughters. She is too much to get Jian You and En Cai to give in to
Xiao Xi all the time.

13. Jiang Mei Zi – Yoon Mi Ra
She is En Cai’s traditional mother who tries hard to support the
family. She knows that En Cai has a hard time with her in-laws so she
tries hard not to bother her. She works in Madam Min’s company as a
cleaner. She is bitter over what has happened and unlike others, she
sees no meaning to drag on with the Zhengs since they treat En Cai so
badly. She is badly affected by En Cai’s death and keeps waiting for
her return. She is only convinced that she is dead upon seeing her
suicide note.

Seeing En Cai even with the mole still makes her feel that En Cai is
alive and this isn’t Xiao Xi. She gets ill and En Cai can even
disregard this. But bravo for her when she throws salt at Ai Li for
keep coming to ask why they allow En Cai to break up her family. She
has tolerated her long enough.

Being down-to-earth, she isn’t used to stay at the Zhengs’ residence.
She doesn’t like sleeping on Mei Ren’s bed and prefers to sleep on the
floor. She is so happy to move back to her own home and decides to
help the young couple with their van food business.

Upon knowing that Ai Li is dying from cancer, she feels sorry for her
and brews seaweed soup for her. she also regrets not treating her that
well in the past as she shows favouritism towards En Cai. So she
readopts Ai Li as her daughter. She has wanted to put her altar at
home but Mei Ren decides that the two must be placed together at the
Zhengs so that Ni Nuo will not have problems paying respects to them.

Most long-winded character – she will keep on asking – why this
happens to us for every episode. Her dialogues are even longer than
Mei Ren’s.

14. Zheng Ni Nuo – Jung Yoon Suk
He is Ai Li’s son and is a sweet talker like her. Thus, Mr Zheng
doesn’t like him so much but Mei Ren adores him. I can imagine how
Qiang Cai feels when this boy tags with him when he loses his way.
Slowly, Mr Zheng accepts his presence when the DNA proves that he is
his grandson. He is very wary of how he should behave in the family
but it isn’t necessary as they only dislike his mother. I also dislike
this child as he repeats whatever his mother wants him to say to
others.

But unlike his parents, he is a kind boy. Seeing En Cai’s parents out
in the cold, he gets coats for them. He doesn’t look down on He Na so
He Na still treats him well although she resents Ai Li. He doesn’t
mind staying in a small house as long as family is together. He keeps
on asking his family to forgive Ai Li. He is her pillar of support but
it is a tragedy for him to lose his parents at such a young age.

Most non-adorable character – I hardly find him cute. He keeps saying
that his mother is a kind person but he hardly finds out what she has
done.

15. Secretary Yin

He is Xia Zhao’s capable assistant. Mr Zheng gets him to confirm Ni
Nuo’s DNA test. He also makes sure that Ai Li changes the guarantor
from Qiao Bin to the bank as Mr Zheng doesn’t want Ai Li to bring
trouble to Tian Di company. He also checks on En Cai’s background.
Luckily, Jian You manages to alert En Cai to forge Xiao Xi’s degree.
When Mr Zheng leaves the company, he can still stay on his job as he
knows everything well and Mdm Min trusts him.

Mdm Min even troubles him to look for an apartment for Xiao Xi when
she decides not to face her for the time-being. This man is really
very resourceful!

The busiest character –You will be amused on how wide his duties
cover. besides the company’s administrative work, he also needs to
handle his bosses’ personal affairs.

Songs
The theme song is ‘unforgiven’ by Cha Suk Sun. It is a fast paced song
that shows how a wife feels after betrayal. The subthemes are ‘buried
the pain beneath the heart’ and ‘a small wish’. Both are slow tracks
but also show sadness well.

Favourite character
None, I have wanted to choose Jian You initially but he is too weak.

Most hated character
Qiao Bin, he is a jerk. If En Cai has not gone for a makeover, I doubt
he will look at her carefully.

Interesting facts

This was Jang Seo Hee’s return to the drama scene after 3 years. As
this was another revenge drama, many people linked this to Ya Li Ying
of ‘Miss Mermaid’. However, she explains that there exists a
difference between En Cai and her. The latter has already planned to
take revenge right from the beginning due to her hatred towards her
father but En Cai only begins to do so after her happy life has been
destroyed.

Seo Hee was an unknown before shooting ‘Miss Mermaid’. She graduated
from 1989’s acting class and often ended up as supporting roles for 13
years. She was down and said that she was pampered at home but was
treated like a weed in the television station. She got the role as Ya
Li Ying in ‘Miss Mermaid’ in 2002 as her outlook was suitable to wear
a wig. But she did not mind it as she became popular after that. She
turned to shoot movies and also dramas in China but the result did not
turn out well. She returned to Korea in 2008 and this drama shot her
to fame again.

The shooting was very tough for her and she hardly slept well daily.
She had to cut her long hair after keeping it for 5 years. Like En
Cai, she was also afraid of water but the beginning episode had her
drowning at sea. She cried badly an all had to encourage her. Seo
Hee’s dressing in the drama set a trend for OLs. Whatever could be
seen on her in the drama would go out of stock soon. Although she was
from the dancing faculty in university, she still practiced again.

If given the choice, she would rather forgive the heartless cad and
not seek revenge like En Cai. It is still better to look for another
man who deserves loving. Many envied her good complexion and thought
her eyes were the most attractive. She did not smoke or drink wine to
maintain her figure too.

Suh Hyung acted as working professionals in ‘Green Rose’ and ‘Lovers
in Paris’. She had to ditch her past image to act as the vicious Ai
Li. This was not easy as she had lots of yelling scenes that drained
away all her energy. She lost 5 kgs and overworked till she had to put
on drip in hospital. Her meals were irregular so she kept drinking hot
tea to soothe her throat.

Suh Hyung tried not to talk too much outside work. This did not help
much but her efforts were paid off. She had many offers after filming
this drama. She was 34 and still single so she was worried that her
image would be ruined. She kept stressing that she was soft, feminine
and also kind in reality. She was amused when SBS cut clips of her
shouting and many comedians imitate her after that.

She was the second runner-up in Miss Korea 1992. That also set people
looking at ex-beauty contestant winners who went into acting too. Her
only regret was her father who opposed to her acting died of cancer
before she could show him her achievement.

The engagement jewels in the drama was stressed to be fake items but
they were actually real. The poor goldsmith shops had a lot to answer
when customers demanded to know why they were given counterfeit items.
This is quite a rare situation indeed.

Byun Woo Min came to Singapore to promote the drama. The reporters
adored him as he was early to reach the venue at 8.15 am although the
meeting time was 8.45 am. Korean stars usually gave others the
impression that they demanded a lot of attention but he was very
approachable.

He even took the reporters’ namecards to read their names in Chinese
seriously. He had acted as nice guys for 20 years and this was his
first time as a villain. He did a lot of homework and cried over the
development of the plot. How can a man be so evil? He believed no one
was born to be a villain. It was shaped through family upbringing or
circumstances. So educating from young was very important.

He isn’t a heartless man as in the drama. He was 100 % different as he
had never experienced adultery or divorces. His past 2 relationships
lasted for 5 years each time. He would not blame his exs as he
believed that girlfriends should be protected. He finally succeeded in
proposing to his girlfriend who is 15 years his junior and will get
married in 2010. No wonder he cried over Qiao Bin’s deeds.

He cried for 3 scenes – Qiang Bin hitting En Cai, leaving her and
dying with Ai Li. In fact, he adopted 3 orphans. He also cried when
his supported son played a music piece for him on the piano as a
birthday gift after he taught him. The youth is now a piano teacher
and is also in charge of a symphony orchestra. The female reporters
were touched by him and some joked that he resembled singer Chow
Wakin.

Woo Min had promised his mother not to frequent the bars and had to be
responsible if he was involved in any scandal. Whatever might have
happened, the top priority is to protect the females. He had failed in
shooting movies before and wasn’t tempted by money. If the script is
good but the pay is low, he will still accept it. His most
unforgettable scene was Qiao Bin dying with Ai Li in the sea. The
temperature was only 5 degrees and they shot for 6 hours!

When this drama was shown in Korea, the viewership went up to 41%.
Many working professionals rushed home after work to watch it. Thus
temptation of wife was also known as temptation of going home. Byun
was famous after this drama. Whenever he visited restaurants, the
waitresses would serve him nice food. He was often second fiddle roles
in the past but he did not mind as long as the roles provide room.

The SBS 2009 Daesang award went to Jang Suh Hee for this drama. While
shedding tears, she thought she did not have a chance since the
category was a daily drama. She recalled that she hit a three year
slump but got back up because of the filming crew and her parents. She
also won Young People’s Star Award.

Oh Young Shil won New Star Award. She shared The Daily Drama Best
Supporting Actor award with Woo Min and Suh Hyung. Woo Min won the
Actor Award while Suh Hyung the Actress Award. The Supporting Actor
award went to Choi Joon Yong while Child Actor Award was won by Jung
Yoon Seok.

The drama was shown in Taiwan, China and Singapore. It was shown on
television in Korea at 7pm (same as Singapore.) Working adults rushed
home to watch it and the whole Seoul looked empty. Many called it
‘Temptation to return home’. All on the street were heard discussing
on the drama. Whoever did not watch it would lose out.

Why was it popular? The script was intense. It was said that the
script writer deliberately made a big change in the last five minutes
of every episode so that all would be glued to it. It had all the
ingredients of a soap drama – affairs, single parenthood, pregnancy
before marriage, siblings without blood relations, cancer etc. It was
very common to make you scold and laugh at it at the same time.

Suh Hyung and Seo Hee are the souls of the drama. Their characters are
direct opposites and dare to do what commoners do not dare to do. En
Cai is the goddess in most men’s eyes after transformation – knowing
many languages, swimming, dancing and painting.

Jae Hwang did not act for 2 years. Jae Hwang did not act for 2 years.
Many said that his performance was no different from ‘Please Come Back
Soon-ae’. That was why he was not nominated for any award as compared
to the other three.

However, he was a hit with middle-aged women. He was called ‘aunties’
romance’ and became his mother’s pride. Many of her friends asked for
his autograph and many greeted him when he went out with her. The part
where he sang well received good comments so he would cut an album
soon to fulfil his dream as he had no chance to do it in the past.

This drama had many wedding scenes – En Cai marrying Qiao Bin, Ai Li
marrying Qiao Bin, En Cai getting engaged to Qiao Bin, Jian You
marrying Xiao Xi etc. Many described that they liked the scene of
Qiang Cai marrying He Na most. The cute He Na was so tense that she
kept gulping wine. In the end, she completed the ceremony, half-drunk.
She woke up in the morning and yelled that she did not get married and
wanted a second time.

After the success, the scriptwriter wrote ‘Temptation of the angel’.
It talked about a husband being betrayed by his wife and vowed to seek
revenge. Isn’t this the same as ‘Temptation of wife’ in the story
line? It doesn’t matter to them as long as it also gets popular. Woo
Min was approached to take up the role but he declined, citing that he
didn’t want to repeat the whole process although the husband’s role
was like En Cai.

Conclusion

This drama reminded me of a movie ‘Cruel Lover’ by Lin Ching Hsia and
Leung Kar Fai. It had a similar storyline on how a husband tried to
kill his wife out at sea for insurance money. She was disfigured and
returned for revenge. She stole chances to meet her son. She arranged
for a gas leak in his home and it blew up with the greedy man in it.
That is already dramatic.

As for this drama, it combines all the misadventures together to the
greatest height where we can see all the worst situations that happen
in front of our very eyes. Yet, how much is the percentage of it
coming true? It has too much bawling and scrabbling. The characters
are robots to be thrown into different tests to see how they can last
from one terrible destiny to another. Having En Cai alone is enough
but why and how so many people are interwined in a way?

Qiao Bin is as plain looking as Yi Xi in ‘Please Come Back Soon-ae’.
He has no brains and is easily influenced by others. But like Yi Xi,
he enjoys the best of both worlds for having 2 women to love him. And
both are equally stunningly beautiful. I am not convinced by the
arrangement.

En Cai has a high tolerance level. It is unbelievable that a woman can
bear with so much physical and mental abuse by the in-laws. 7 years is
a long time – what if she gets killed brutally without knowing why?
And to think that Qiao Bin even asks Ai Li to bear with the same
treatment! En Cai is treated worse than a slave. I could not tolerate
the beginning scenes when she was so badly treated. If all married
Korean housewives behave like this, life will be tragic as some might
end up getting killed.

The beginning of this story is too Qiong Yao for me to bear so I
prefer to skip them. My blur father even thought that the serial ends
with the divorce as it takes up so much time. To me, this drama is not
on temptation but more on deception. These people are born liars and
we can learn a lot from them. Lets recap on the number of offences
that they have done :

Mr Zheng lies that He Na is his daughter from his family and Mdm Min.
Ying Xu covers up his assault court case from his family, except his
son till the whole situation goes out of hand. En Cai lies about her
identity in order to stay at Mdm Min’s home. Qiao Bin deceives his
family together with Ai Li over her fake pregnancy. Jian Yu keeps Xiao
Xi’s likeness issue towards him from Mdm Min and to the extent of
feigning to like Min Jing to get married hastily.

Although En Cai is known as the revenge angel, I feel that it is more
like her becoming the victim by getting hurt repeatedly. Being harmed
by all the women is bad enough – what more being ditched by Jian You
too. The way of how the house deed changes hand makes you feel giddy.
How the women fight at work can be quite attractive, though.

The part of seeking revenge is no different from ‘Heart of greed’ and
‘Moonlight Resonance’. The pace picks up after En Cai’s survival. It
is a joy to see how the cast pit acting skills against each other. But
it is like going through a very tedious roller coaster ride that not
many can take it. The ending can be overly melodramatic. I don’t think
all the villains can suddenly change to such nice people to repent
their mistakes.

The scriptwriter must have ran out of ideas to end it with an
unoriginal note. Many plots are unsatisfactory but the acting makes up
for it. I will still encourage all to watch the drama as it shows that
they deserve to be in the limelight after putting so much effort.

Sukting’s ratings :

On acting : ***1/2 (Scale of 5)

On story : *** (Scale of 5)

On songs : ***1/2 (Scale of 5)