Zhui xu

I watched this show out of curiosity about why it became the most popular TV show in iQiyi's history as of today. And I did see why - it has comedy, romance, brotherhood, tear-jerking moments, political maneuvering, bandits and... matrilocal husbands.

One thing I like about Chinese dramas is learning something new about their unique culture. This is the first time I've heard of matrilocal husbands, the main character Ning Yi (Guo Qi Lin) being one. He starts off as a modern entrepreneur but got transported to ancient China after being betrayed by a colleague. He finds out soon after waking up in his new environment that he is a simpleton engaged to be married to struggling cloth merchant Su Tan'er (Song Yi). As a matrilocal husband, he lives with his wife's family and goes to a school to learn to be virtuous and domesticated.

How Ning Ye becomes more than the expected servile husband of a businesswoman, helping not only his wife but the country, is a delightful watch.

Before we start, don't watch this show for historical accuracy. That wasn't what the show was originally intended for.

And...to the spoiler free review and summary.

A successful business man named JiangHaoChen time travelled to a historical world called WuChao (which doesn't exist in Chinese history. Hence, why you shouldn't watch it for historical reasons).

He woke up in the body of a man named NingYi who was about to get married to a woman named SuTan'er.

Because business women were despised and women "took" their husband's name when they got married. Instead of marrying into a man's family, she married him into her family to allow herself a chance to run the family business of selling cloth.

He helps her, and using modern methods, achieved great success.

Sure, you may need a little background in Chinese culture and history to understand certain parts. For example, the concept of marriage and also the Imperial governmental systems.

However... It's absolutely hilarious and the pacing is amazing. 36 episodes, so it's not too long or too short. A little warning is that this show will play with your emotions in the last 10 episodes or so.

Honestly one of the absolute best dramas I have watched!

Edit: Since my review I have discovered that the appaling translation is confined to Amazon Prime, other providers offer far superior translations, including the on screen comments. In addition, Amazon only offers 35 episodes whereas the series is in fact 36 episodes, so you never get to find out how it ends!

A fairly standard plot that nevertheless provides some light relief.

The story starts around a TV script writer who is forced to kill off one of his characters, but then comes up with the idea of having him knocked unconscious and transported back several centuries to become the husband of semi successful cloth merchant and to transform the lives of the people he meets on his journey.

Unfortunately, the production is badly let down by the translation, which seems to have been done using a very early version of Google Translate. Scenes that have one translation often have a different translation when they recur in flashback, and there are often Chinese captions appearing on the screen that are not translated at all.

I really like this show. It's gentle good quality family entertainment with a tongue firmly in cheek show which is makes a real effort to showcase gender mainstreaming.

There is a lot for British viewers to like and it reminded me of a 1990s CITV kids show mixed with some popular British 1970/80s comedy.

Watch it now before this goes and gets a cult following.

It started out alright - the usual transported back in time plot- in this case a man who is supposed to become a matriarchal husband to a woman who wants to be the sole owner of a cloth business. It has the feel of a comedy for the first few eps but then comedy disappears and the hero becomes a business adviser that makes her business very successful. There are the usual villains in the shape of a jealous uncle and over the top cousin who try dirty tricks to force her out of the business. I dislike the verbal breaking of the fourth wall by mentioning screenwriters and obvious knowledge of what happens next. The ego of the writer/s destroys the suspension of disbelief. Then suddenly the comedy disappears and it becomes an endless battle of politics and war - I felt like they had stitched two plots together and hoped nobody noticed. I felt the ML was not suitable for this part although he acted well enough. Far too long as is usual with Chinese dramas which leaves them struggling for plot development and forced to be repetitive.

I wasn't impressed by the writing and Amazon seems to have picked up the Netflix habit of missing episodes. To add insult to injury the adverts have increased exponentially and once again we are not offered any skip intros.

I think I am giving up on no name Chines "B" features,