Well-Intended Love Review (2019) - An Honest Review for Chinese Learners

Well-Intended Love (2019) – Everything Chinese Learners Need To Know

Bored doing exercises from a school book? Sick of writing lines of characters in a notebook over and over again?

I’ve definitely felt like that. I love learning new languages but I get bored very easily so I am always looking for more interesting and more fun ways to learn Chinese.

• Listening to Chinese songs: Check ✅
• Listening to Chinese language podcasts: Check ✅
• Sticking post-it notes all over the house: Check ✅
• Practicing with language learning apps: Check ✅
• Learning new vocab through blogs: Check ✅
• Alright then, what’s next?

Something is very clearly missing from the list… films and TV shows!

You’ll find Chinese dramas of every genre, rom-com dramas being the easiest for beginners to learn Chinese.

Endearing characters, beautiful scenery, huge plot-twists, simple dialogues, cliff hangers… What’s not to like?

In this blog I will introduce the 2019 Chinese drama Well-Intended Love that ticks all of the boxes above and more!

#1 Well-Intended Love Review – Introduction

#2 Well-Intended Love Review – Characters and Cast

#3 Well-Intended Love Review – Useful Vocabulary

#4 Well-Intended Love Review – Where and Why Watch?

#5 Well-Intended Love Review – Season 3?

#6 Well-Intended Love Review – FAQs

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#1 Well-Intended Love Review – Introduction

Well-Intended Love (奈何老板要娶我 nàihé lǎobǎn yào qǔ wǒ) was released in early 2019 on the Chinese streaming platform Sohu, and a few months later on Netflix.

The story is about Xia Lin, a struggling actress diagnosed with leukemia.

She needs a bone marrow donation, but the only donor compatible is Ling Yizhou, a rich, arrogant young man who doesn’t want to help her.

That said, Ling is being pressured by his family to get married even if he doesn’t want to.

SO, they finally find an arrangement they could both benefit from: a marriage 💍

Surprising, eh?

The show promises lots of plot-twists, complex characters, an interesting story line and of course, a romantic story (but between who…).

BE AWARE there is a LOT of unexpected plot-twists that many viewers didn’t appreciate (episode 10!!), and what started as a lighthearted, sweet and romantic story slowly turned into something, well… more intense that raised a lot of questions.

👉 If you’ve seen this drama let us know what you think in the comment section, if you are curious about the show head on to Netflix to start watching!

The first season of Well-Intended Love has 20 episodes of about 45 minutes each, so for a Chinese drama, it’s not much!

And there is a second season of 16 episodes BUT it does not continue the story from before.

Instead it takes the same characters and actors, same base story, but adds different events and developments, as if the story happened in an alternate reality.

Yes, very odd, I know, but the first season was such a hit fans wanted more, so the producers served. I personally watched the first season only, I am happy with this version of the story.

Watch the first season trailer on Netflix 👈

#2 Well-Intended Love Review – Characters & Cast

There are several recurring characters in this drama, but I will focus on the lead cast, which includes five characters.

Xia Lin

Xia Lin (夏林) is the lead female character.

She is an actress, struggling to land big roles, and is diagnosed with leukemia in the first episode.

She is a very sweet character with a strong will and doesn’t let other people belittle her.

She agrees on marrying Ling Yi Zhou, her only compatible donor, in exchange for a bone marrow donation.

Xia Lin is played by Wang Shuang (王双) also known as Simona Wang. She has had several small roles in dramas (Go Go Squid!, Swordsmen) but the role of Xia Lin is her first lead role.

Ling Yizhou

Ling Yizhou (凌异洲) is the lead male character.

He is the CEO of Lingshi Group, who donates bone marrow to Xia Lin in exchange for a marriage contract.

Even though this is already a bit shady, he is depicted as a nice, caring and respectful person.

But don’t be fooled, his true personality will turn out to be more complex and darker through the show.

Ling Yizhou is played by Xu Kaicheng (徐开骋). The actor appeared in numerous TV shows but really gained recognition thanks to Well-Intended Love.

Chu Yan

Chu Yan (楚炎) is a famous actor and Ling Yizhou’s best friend.

Probably the funniest character of the show, he comes out as a very stubborn and strong headed person but is actually very kind and sweet.

Every scene with Chu Yan is a good scene.

Yi Pochen, more known as Ian Yi (易柏辰) plays this character. He is a Taiwanese actor, singer and dancer. Not only is he part of a boy band in Taiwan but he also appeared in numerous dramas and movies.

Wen Li

Wen Li (闻立) is Ling Yizhou’s personal assistant.

A workaholic and very loyal to his boss, Wen Li has a very kind personality and is a key character in the story’s development and characters’ relationships.

Wen Li is played by Huang Qianshuo (黄千硕), also known as Andy Huang, Chinese actor and model.

An Ran

An Ran (安然) is Chu Yan and Ling Yizhou’s childhood friend.

An Ran is the classic annoying supporting character.

From a very wealthy family, she is used to getting everything she wants but Ling Yizhou is now married.

She does everything she can to interfere in this marriage, nasty tricks and all.

An Ran is played by Chinese actress Sun Jia Qi (孙嘉琪).

#3 Well-Intended Love Review – Useful Vocabulary

Well-Intended Love is a great show to learn more vocabulary, slang and expressions in Chinese.

Even though the first episode contains a lot of medical terms, the rest of them are easier and more useful for daily life, with vocabulary about relationships or the entertainment industry for example.

Medical specific vocabulary

• 白血病 bái xuě bìng – Leukemia
• 骨髓 gǔ suǐ – Bone marrow
• 治疗 zhì liáo – Treatment
• 化疗 huà liáo – Chemotherapy
• 确诊 què zhěn – To diagnose
• 药物 yào wù – Drugs, pharmaceuticals

Entertainment and media specific vocabulary

• 媒体 méi tǐ – Media
• 广告 guǎng gào – Commercial
• 试镜 shì jìng – Casting
• 客串 kè chuàn – Cameo
• 电视剧 diàn shì jù – TV series, drama
• 演话剧 yǎn huà jù – Stage play
• 红毯 hóng tǎn – Red carpet
• 卡 kǎ – Cut

Episode 1 useful vocabulary

• 巨星 jù xīng – Super famous, superstar
• 巨富 jù fù – Super rich
• 眼熟 yǎn shú – Familiar
• 搭讪 dā shàn – To flirt, engage in conversation with sb.
• 老套 lǎo tào – Out of style
• 形婚 xíng hūn – Marriage of convenience (abbr. of 形式婚姻 xíngshì hūnyīn)
• 三角恋 sān jiǎo liàn – Love triangle
• 相亲 xiāng qīn – Blind date

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#4 Where and Why to Watch this Drama?

Where to watch Well-Intended Love?

Well-Intended Love is available on the Chinese platform Sohu under the name of 奈何BOSS要娶我.

However don’t worry about having to navigate an all-Chinese streaming website, since the drama is also available on Netflix.

Don’t forget to download the Chrome extension Language Learning with Netflix to be able to watch the drama with two subtitles and can highlight any words you don’t know to display their translation, pronunciation and more.

Why watch Well-Intended Love?

Well-Intended Love is a short Chinese drama that will allow you to develop your listening skills as well as learn new vocabulary and useful daily expressions.

Although characters can speak a bit too quickly for us Chinese learners, the level of speech used in the show is pretty basic.

Both beginners and advanced learners can benefit from watching it.

The story and major plot-twist mid-season will make you stick to your chair and click on “next episode” again and again. Or not because it’s too much… But there is only one way to find out!

#5 Season 3?

Well-Intended Love was hugely popular with fans and if you’ve made it to the end of season 2 already, no doubt you’ve been Googling when season 3 will be released.

Unfortunately we’re here to break the bad news, Well-Intended Love has officially ended 😔 Despite the optimistic rumous, there’ll be no season 3 coming to our screens.

So, season 1 re-run anyone?

Don’t forget to check on our Online classes programs if you’d like to study Mandarin with a native Chinese teacher 👩‍🏫👨‍🏫

Tell us what you think of this drama in the comments below! 👇

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