Taiwanese Drama - The Shrewd Wife 犀利人妻

Anybody following this interesting Taiwanese drama on Channel U? The plot focus on the kind and trusting housewife Xie An Zhen (Sonia Sui) who was leading a blissful married life with her only daughter and beloved husband until her husband cheated on her with her cousin. And the ensuing divorce became a battle of love and wits.

I discovered this drama by chance recently when i switched on the telly too early for the 11pm news and ended up being hooked to the drama as i enjoy watching the amazing transformation of the main character Xie Anzhen and wanted to see how this kind and naive woman can fight back to win the love of her ex-husband with the help of her family and friends. I can't believe the drama is ending so soon just when the plot is getting even more interesting. I'm planning to watch the initial episodes which i missed online after watching the final episode on 15 May 2012 on Channel U. You can also watch it at (http://www.mysoju.com/taiwanese-drama/the-fierce-wife/).

An Zhen has been living a blissful married life with her husband Rui Fan (James Wen) for the past 10 years before the arrival of her younger cousin Lai Wei En (Amanda Zhu) from the US who starts to wreak havoc on the family. An Zhen is a selfless person and 100% supportive of her husband and spends all her time and energy taking care of her family. She kindly agree to take in her cousin and welcome her to the family when she returns to Taipei and has no place to stay.

The trusting An Zhen also helps Wei En to get a job at Rui Fan's company and trust Rui Fan to take care of her. The kind and caring An Zhen truly treats Wei En as her own younger sister and trust and care for her without realizing that Wei En is envious of An Zhen's blissful marriage and family life and plotting to steal everything from her. Rui Fan also finds himself attracted to the scheming Wei En who pretends to be really helpless and innocent in front of him. He ended up being together with her and abandoning his family as he feels that Wei En cannot live without him.

An Zhen is devastated when she finds out the truth and can't believe the perfect world she has been living in has fallen apart. She is at a lost and does not not how to continue life without Rui Fan. Her sister-in-law cum best friend Wen Rui Xuan and her husband Hao Kang De side with her and provided her with the family support she desperately needs. They also provided some comical relief to balance out the sad and dramatic tone of the drama.

An Zhen managed to find a job at the same car company as Rui Xuan and her boss turns out to be Lan Tien Wei, a guy she had met previously and thought was a poor insurance agent. He is also Wei En's ex boyfriend and had dumped her when she became too possessive and he was not ready for a serious relationship. Tien Wei learns of An Zhen's marital problems and becomes a constant support and friend to her. He was there for her even while she wallows in self pity and decided to give up on herself. Tien Wei does not understand why he cares so much for An Zhen.

Rui Fan had hurt An Zhen deeply when he forced her to agree to a divorce while she was hospitalized after being injured in a car accident because he wanted to reassure Wei En of his love for her. Rui Xuan and Kang De feel helpless as An Zhen refused to listen to them and keep herself cooped up at home feeling depressed.

Tien Wei and An Zhen's mother ended up being the ones to snap her out of her  sadness after her mother reveals that she has been diagnosed with lung cancer and needs An Zhen's emotional support. Tien Wei helped to arrange for her mother to get treatment and also challenged An Zhen to transform herself and show her ex-husband that it is his lost for giving her up. He offers to help her win back the love of Rui Fan through transforming her into a stronger person. He helps her in her journey to transform herself into a knowledgeable, independent and sophisticated woman. I love how he taught her to learn to fight for herself and be stronger instead of wallowing in self pity. He pretends to constantly scold and criticise her so that she will be motivated to upgrade herself. However he finds that he enjoys being with her and slowly realizes that he has fallen for her. 

Life is not all rosy for Rui Fan and Wei En even though they are able to be together after the divorce as Rui Fan was forced to resign from his high paying job when news of his affair with Wei En reached his boss. He starts to resent Wei En for causing him to lost his job and family when he could not secure employment and is unable to stand her unreasonable demands and constant tantrum. The couple begins to realize that they are not really suitable for each other and Wei En decided to leave Rui Fan. He started to realize that he has taken An Zhen for granted and miss those simple and happy times when they were married. He starts to harbor hopes of reconciling with An Zhen and getting his family back.

Who are you rooting for An Zhen to end up with? Prince Charming Lan Tien Wei or the Heartless ex-husband Wen Rui Fan? Or should she take a break from loving someone and just enjoy her new found freedom and independence and focus on loving herself instead of always helping and caring for other people? I'm rooting for Prince Charming Lan Tien Wei of course and i'm sure he is the popular choice among viewers as he is always there encouraging An Zhen during her weakest moment. I feel that she should try to forgive Rui Fan but not forget the sufferings his betrayal caused her and waste the efforts she has made to change her life by returning back to him. She should move forward and start afresh with Tien Wei. Fellow fans of the drama can go to this blog after you have finished watching the drama as the blogger has a detailed recap of each episodes and i find the reviews really well written and informative :)

I also love the drama soundtrack which featured songs by 2 of my favorite Chinese female singers Yisa Yu and Freya Lim and have included MVs of the songs below:

郁可唯 - 指望MV

Karaoke Version - which i'm definitely going to sing during my next Karaoke session :)

郁可唯 - 暖心MV

 

Freya - 五天幾年

Freya - 這樣愛你好可怕 Karaoke Version

Freya - 重傷 Karaoke Version

More pictures from the lovely casts of The Shrewd Wife:

(Source: http://blog.iset.com.tw)
(Source: http://www.facebook.com/channelu)
(Source: http://endodo4ever.wordpress.com)
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6RRjf4Qo0k)
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(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5HXrU1vb0Q&feature=player_embedded)
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47on5lvh_rE&feature=player_embedded#!)
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFW2a1WIOZk&feature=related)
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXEjGMKjGZA&feature=related)