Wild Flower Blossomed

The Chinese title of this series is Fa Hoi Fa Lok (lit. translation: flowers blossom, flowers fall). I don’t know how the English title applies to the series but the Chinese title is quite meaningful. The flower represents love in this series. Love can blossom beautifully like a flower and can end like a flower fading and falling from the branch.

Anyway, enough with the title. “Wild Flower Blossomed” unites three famous stars of Taiwan small-screen: Chin Han, Yue Ling and Vincent Jiao En Jun.

In this summary of the series, the name of the actor/actress will be used since I have watched this series a few years back and cannot seem to recall all the names of the characters. The series begins with a fine weekend day when Yue Ling’s character is busily preparing her children, Xiao Fam, and Xiao Lan for a day out to the zoo. She cheerfully wakes up her husband who is not very happy to go and apparently he forgets that he has made a promise to the children to take them out. They then proceed to an argument however, Yue Ling does not really want to put up an argument with him. Yet the husband then admits that he no longer wants to live with her and that his heart is elsewhere and demands that they should be separated.

Yue Ling for one moment is so shocked since she always thought that she has a happy family, a perfect life. She has never doubted for one moment that her husband could do something like this to her. Yet he even goes on to admit that she is not passionate as she was before. Yue Ling demands to know the name of the third party and it turns out to be her best friend whose husband has died and left her a furniture shop. She also has two children of her own. Yue Ling also learns that her best friend is pregnant. In one day, Yue Ling’s life is shattered. All she ever lives for is lost. She is faced with the prospect of caring for two children, looking for a place to live and finding a job. Though she did graduate college with high rank, she had quitted her job to take care of her two children and to provide support to her husband.

As a quite dependent, submissive, gentle woman, Yue Ling is faced with the challenge of being independent again. Her sister, whose husband is an owner of a big company, helps her along the way. Yue Ling moves to a new place and her apartment is in the same building with Chin Han who is a computer engineer. He has a son of his own and is living with a de facto. His wife has died few years before, however, they have been separated before she died. Yet his son, being told by his mother and his grandmother that Chin Han left his wife because of his current girlfriend so he would do anything to break up the relationship of Chin Han with his girlfriend.

Yue Ling finds it difficult to have to explain to her two children why they are moving away from home and why they cannot live with their father anymore. She is looking for a job, however, as she has not been working for many years, it is hard for her to find a suitable job.

During this time, Vincent Jiao comes back from overseas. He is a close friend with Chin Han and Yue Ling’s brother-in-law. They decide to co-operate in a project producing computer parts or programs to export. In a house party organised by Yue Ling’s sister in order to introduce her to a college professor, Vincent accidentally runs into Yue Ling and is captivated by her beauty right away. He is determined to court her. He even convinces Yue Ling’s brother-in-law to hire her as his assistant. Though he is relentless in his pursuit of her, Yue Ling is too reluctant and too weary to enter a new relationship. She sees herself as unsuitable to him since he is from a rich family, single, quite impatient, hot-tempered while she is divorced and has children. But she is flattered by his charm and attention towards her.

Yue Ling’s children befriends Chin Han’s son and the two families become quite close with Yue Ling who takes care of his son or he takes care of her children if one of them is busy. His son, a really rebellious child, refuses to stay at home with his girlfriend and even attempts to run away from home.

Though she is reluctant to enter a relationship in the first place, Vincent Jiao’s determination has finally moved her. They have finally found comfort and love in each other’s company. Yet life is not like a dream, for Yue Ling’s children dislike the idea of Vincent taking their father’s place and their mother’s attention from them. They prove to be a challenge to Vincent’s impatient and hot-tempered nature. Meanwhile, Chin Han also encounters problems in his relationship with his girlfriend and his son since both of them demand his sole attention. It is until a point that they agree to be separated from each other for a while. Vincent’s family returns to Taiwan and objects to him marrying a divorced woman. Yet they are backed down by his determination to marry Yue Ling. However, Vincent reunites with his childhood friend during this time. His childhood friend has grown up to be a cheerful, pretty, quite stubborn but very caring woman who is helplessly in love with him. In one moment of feeling confused and frustrated, Vincent feels defeated by problems created by the children in his relationship with Yue Ling, Vincent commits an unforgivable act. He has to marry his childhood friend. Yue Ling is devastated but she understands that they are not meant to be together as he will not be able to deal with her children if they are married. Vincent loves Yue Ling but he feels ashamed of what he does and also his new girlfriend is pregnant.

Due to their circumstances, Yue Ling and Chin Han become very close friends. Yue Ling’s husband returns to Taiwan informing her that he has stomach cancer and will not have long to live. She finally forgives him and her best friend.

Few years later, Chin Han’s girlfriend comes back and tells him that she has a boyfriend while she is in Hong Kong. Yet she still has this strong feeling for him and hints that she would leave her boyfriend if he admits that he still needs her. However, Chin Han also realises that he cannot be selfish to trap her in a marriage to him since she is young, does not know how to deal with his son and that she would be happier if she marries her boyfriend. He gives her his congratulations. In the end, Yue Ling and Chin Han realize their love and their needs for each other much to the delight of the children.

THE CAST:
Yue Ling: she adopts a short hairstyle in here that gives her a very sophisticated and mature look. I could say that Yue Ling looks her best in here in comparison to her other modern series I have watched. The transformation from a dependent and weak to a career-minded and independent woman was done well by Yue Ling. Initially, she was naïve, and very dependent. Her reaction to her husband’s confession of adultery was one of disbelief and shock. She did not make a scene. Instead she just demanded to know who the third party was. However, it was also the crucial moment in her life when she realised that everything had always been arranged by her husband. She never really dared to object to any of his plans. At first, she did not talk to her best friend or her husband. Yet at the end, when her husband came back sick and wanted to spend his last few days with his children. Yue Ling finally forgave him and even forgave the woman who had betrayed her friendship and stole her husband. This point was important as it shows us how she has matured and that she has moved on, she is no longer concerned with what happened in the past. She has a new life now. Yue Ling portrays the pain, the shock of a deserted woman, the struggle between responsibilities toward her children and her love for another man, her reluctance to enter a new relationship very well.

QUIZ: what would you do if your partner leaves you for your best friend?
A. Scream the place down and make a scene?
B. Make it the mission of your life to ensure that he would not have a day of peace and happiness?
C. Move on and forget about him?
D. Take everything away from him, like Christine Ng’s character in “Hope for Sale”, she even took the toilette’s cover

Vincent Jiao: he was adorable in this series as he plays a rich, dashing, intelligent and passionate young man. The way he courts Yue Ling in the beginning of the series is a little bit ridiculous as he was too relentless. However, we must understand that he has found in her his compatible lover, the one that he always dreams of and the one that he would commit to spend the rest with his life with. He did not mind that she is divorced and she has two young children with her. He loves her and would do anything to be with her. However, his flaws were that he was too young to comprehend the parental responsibilities and the way children must be dealt with. He was also too jealous and too impatient. It was like he was competing with the children for her love. Yet it was not entirely his fault that they broke up. The children played an important role too. It was frustrating for him as he did all he could to please them but they still saw him as a threatened figure who would take their father’s place and their mother’s love away from them. With him, Yue Ling has passion and love, however, he does not offer mutual understanding and emotional security like with Chin Han. I was frustrated when Vincent Jiao fell for the childhood friend. He, too, realised his mistake but it was too late. However, she was a nice girl and was compatible with him. At the end of the series, Vincent had learned to love his wife as she was very devoted and loving. Vincent and Yue Ling look very compatible on-screen. Like any Taiwanese actor/actress, they were born to do romantic scenes. A passionate and loving relationship was portrayed nicely by the two leading characters and left the viewer with a wish that the two of them should have been together. If it was a real life situation, I don’t think that Vincent could have forgotten Yue Ling as when he looked at her, his eyes were filled with longing emotion and shame at the same time. When he went to buy a house with his fiancee, his mind was still filled of sweet moments between him and Yue Ling.

Chin Han: he proved himself to be a veteran actor who plays his role with ease and charm. I was surprised to see that he did not look as old as he is supposed to be. He was once a compatible on-screen lover of Liu Xue Hua, who now looks very old and does cameo appearances in some series. He and Yue Ling do not have chemistry on-screen. They look more like brother and sister. Yet it is understandable as their relationship is built on trust, mutual understanding, and friendship, but not passion, and love like the one between Yue Ling and Vincent Jiao. In the end, Yue Ling chooses a trusting, understanding and stable relationship over passionate love with Vincent though she obviously longs for the latter kind of love. Vincent adores her in a way that her husband has never showed. Chin Han was still obviously pinning for his girlfriend when she came back from overseas but he decided to let her go because he could see that she would not be happy living with him and his son. However, the scriptwriter lets a few years pass before Chin Han actually develops any feelings for Yue Ling. This is reasonable as both of them need time to get over their ex-partners.

Overall, the story is told nicely but not in a dragging pace. The series might not appeal to a younger audience since it deals with issues concerning marriage problems and single parents. It is just not one of those usual series telling a beautiful love story between two perfect people who are meant for each other. It is not also about reckless people who are so in love that they act without thinking of consequences. This is actually one of my favourite series of Yue Ling. She is paired with compatible on-screen partners and able to fully express her acting ability. The rest of the cast did an admirable job, especially the children. Yet it was a pity that they did not explore Yue Ling’s struggle to find a job after her divorce. It was too easy since her brother-in-law owned a big company. The series paid more attention to her love life which is what all of Taiwanese series are all about (however, the series is good in a way that the character did not spend too much time on crying like other Taiwanese series).

Image from http://come.to/yueling.