- Drama Title: Debit Queen
- Also Known As: 小财迷, Little Fortune Fan, Xiao Cai Mi
- Genres: Romance, Drama
- Director: Tian Li
- Cast: Zhao Yi Qin, Li Jia Qi
- Episodes: 24
- Date of Release: August 29, 2024
- Original Network: iQiyi
- Where to Watch: iQiyi
Dear readers… How are you today? I hope you are well. The weekend is finally here and I’m going to give you a review of a Debit Queen drama for your binge-watching moment. This drama was considered a short drama with only 24 episodes. Surely it won’t make you lose your beauty sleep or end up with dark circles under your eyes. So, without further ado. Let’s get started! Happy reading!
Debit Queen Drama Synopsis
Ling Se had a dream to escape her loveless home and live a free life. With her passion for business, she wanted to set up a shop and support herself and her maid. However, things didn’t work out the way she planned. Ling Se met Xu Zi Lu, the young master of the Xu family. Xu Zi Lu had snatched her dream shop, and to get it back, Ling Se agreed to be his contract wife for one year.
The Xu family is a famous business family. They run an incense shop and the quality of their products has reached the royal family. This time, Xu Zi Lu needed a wife for two reasons. His mother and the imperial merchant selection. He met Ling Se by chance, and since she had no feelings for him and was not attracted to the Xu family background, he chose her as his wife.
Ling Se and Xu Zi Lu made an agreement for their marriage. They would live together as husband and wife for a year, and then they would separate amicably. Although they were only contractual spouses, Ling Se and Xi Zi Lu went through thick and thin together. Every hardship brought them closer to each other and sparked love between them.
Debit Queen Drama Review
Harmony brings wealth. This is the foundation of prosperity.
(A wise thought from Xu Zi Lu to Mr Tao)
I was waiting for the new episode of Melody of Golden Age when I came across Debit Queen drama. This drama and its cast were not very famous. It seemed that social media was mostly talking about Wang Chu Ran and Zhang Wan Yu’s Are You the One drama (you can read this drama review and ending explained here at Are You the One drama review and Are You the One ending explained post).
I hardly heard any news about Debit Queen until I browsed the iQiyi platform. I thought I would just watch the beginning and drop it after 2 episodes. But oh boy, was I wrong.
People say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. And I said I shouldn’t judge a drama by its title. Debit Queen was quite funny and entertaining. The story was light, so you don’t have to think too much about the plot and conflict. However, this drama is far from being boring.
You might like some parts and curse the rest. Some parts of the story were full of holes and some characters, including the female lead, were so annoying. Still, I enjoyed every episode. Probably because I didn’t have to use my brain while watching 😆.
Debit Queen tells the story of Ling Se and Xu Zi Lu. They were involved in a marriage of convenience, but later it turns out to be true love. Xu Zi Lu proposed because he needed a wife, while Ling Se accepted the arrangement because of the financial benefits Xu Zi Lu offered. Each of them has their own agenda, and they were supposed to get divorced in a year. However, shortly after their marriage, the love blossomed.
This kind of trope was all over Cdramaland. For example, You Are My Secret (You Are My Secret drama review and You Are My Secret ending explained), The Princess Royal (The Princess Royal drama review and The Princess Royal ending explained), The Princess and the Werewolf (The Princess and the Werewolf drama review and The Princess and the Werewolf ending explained), She and Her Perfect Husband (She and Her Perfect Husband drama review, She and Her Perfect Husband ending explained, and She and Her Perfect Husband episode recap), Destined (Destined drama review and Destined ending explained), or The Starry Love (The Starry Love drama review and The Starry Love ending explained).
I wrote the reviews for these dramas, so you might think that I should be tired of this trope, but no, I’m not. Cdramas are my weakness. I was very tolerant of them. I could accept all kinds of tropes, even the worst ones, and always find a reason to watch them. Well, people work hard to make them. We should at least respect their hard work. Don’t you agree?
A Good Pace and Plot
The pacing of the story was good, not too slow nor too fast. It started with Ling Se’s struggle to live independently by setting up a stall, to her meeting with Xu Zi Lu in her own home. The marriage happened in the 3rd episode. Pretty fast indeed 😉 .
As they went along, Ling Se and Xu Zi Lu met new people in the form of friends and rivals. There was happiness, sadness, and jealousy. I must say that this was enough to make the drama interesting. The conflict was not only about relationships, but also about business and the royal family members.
In this drama, Ling Se was trying to build a business, while Xu Zi Lu was trying to maintain the Xu family’s status as imperial merchants. It was similar to the plot of Are You the One. Liu Mian Tang tried to start a business just like Ling Se.
Meanwhile, Xu Zi Lu and the Imperial Merchant status conflict was similar to He Zhen and the He family. However, although business is the main background in Debit Queen, they didn’t intend to make it a business drama. They made it as if the business part was just passing by. Unlike Are You the One, where they portrayed the business part more seriously.
Eye Catching Drama
The visuals of this drama are beautiful. However, I found that the lighting was a bit excessive and the face was too poreless. Maybe because they use filters instead of thick makeup. The shooting angles were perfect. It was dynamic and the director often used close-ups to emphasize something like the wine bottle or the incense pouch.
I really enjoyed seeing the detailed sets and the little details in the clothes. However, I was curious if the patterns on the men’s clothes were embroidered or printed. I have been into pastel colors lately, so I found the colors of the costume pleasing to the eyes. 😍
Known Casts and Characters
This is the second time I have seen Zhao Yi Qin as the male lead after Hard to Find drama. In my opinion, his acting in Hard to Find was better than in Debit Queen. But I thought he looked more dashing in Debit Queen, and I actually like his chemistry with Li Jia Qi in this drama.
Before Debit Queen, I watched Li Jia Qi in several dramas, and I watched her in Meteor Garden in 2018, and I watched her again in A Romance of the Little Forest. In both dramas, she played a supporting role, and this is the first time I saw her as the main lead. And in my opinion, she had quite good acting skills, so she could probably do better in the future.
Besides Ling Se and Xu Zi Lu, there is also another couple in this drama. Ping Er, who was Ling Se’s maid, and Wang Zhu Jue, the son of the city governor. They made a strange combination because Ping Er, despite her status as a maid, was much smarter than Wang Zhu Jue, a student at an academy. However, they made a great loving couple throughout the drama. 🥰
I did not like some characters in this drama, especially Ling Se and Wang Zhu Jue. Their characters were so annoying that I wished the scriptwriter could write some character development for them in the end. However, they stick to the initial setup.
Ling Se and Wang Zhu Jue were impulsive people who liked to act first and think later. That was fine for certain situations. But they often sabotaged other people’s plans with their reckless actions. Fortunately, Xu Zi Lu and Ping Er were people with a calm and reserved nature. They were able to control any situation that arose as a result of their impulsiveness.
Familiar Storyline
Debit Queen somehow reminded me of Love Like Galaxy (Love Like Galaxy drama review, Love Like Galaxy ending explained and Love Like Galaxy episode recap). Ling Se and Cheng Shao Shang found a mother figure in their mother-in-law (well, let’s just think of Empress Xuan as Ling Bu Yi’s adopted mother). Ling Se was born to a concubine mother. Mr. Ling despises Ling Se because of her mother’s low status. He really is a worthless father. I hate his character.
Ling Se’s marriage didn’t start like a fairy tale either. She was bought by Xu Zi Lu. Yes… her stepmother sold her for 500 taels. 😠 But Ling Se hit the jackpot. She married a good and wealthy man. She also got a mother-in-law who treated her like a real mother. To good to be true indeed. And I really enjoy watching Ling Se’s interaction with Madam Xu.
I think this drama has some loopholes in the story. For example, Ling Se realized that her maid, Ping Er, was different from an ordinary maid. Ping Er was literate and knowledgeable. She lacked the skills of an ordinary maid. However, Ling Se didn’t seem to be curious about her at all.
And there was a time when Ping Er spent a night at the academy to help Wang Zhu Jue. She didn’t tell Ling Se that she wouldn’t be coming home. How is that possible? Ping Er is Ling Se’s only maid. Ping Er should know that if she is absent, no one will serve her mistress. So I thought that Ping Er did not take her role as a maid seriously. She didn’t care if Ling Se was worried about her or looking for her.
Another thing was the way Xu Zi Lu fell in love with Ling Se. It was a bit strange to me. An aloof character like Xu Zi Lu did not fall in love easily. He used to not care about women. But it didn’t take long for Xu Zi Lu to fall in love with Ling Se after a few close encounters. I still found it hard to believe.
To my surprise, there were some modern things found in this ancient story. For example, Ling Se called her foreign friend Pavarotti, she opened a milk tea shop, and the way her friends danced at the opening ceremony was quite modern. And don’t forget her clay version of God of Wealth. It’s cute, though. 🤩
The end of Debit Queen was a happy ending, as I predicted. There were some surprises about one character at the end. Which I also predicted. The road to happiness for Ling Se and Xu Zi Lu might not be far. But their business was involved in a bigger scheme and they have to work hard to save it.
Debit Queen Drama Characters
Ling Se
Ling Se’s main power is her creative mind. Though it sometimes goes too far, her mind has always helped her and those around her in dire situations. Ling Se (played by Li Jia Qi) is a kind girl who is sometimes quite logical, but often impulsive and relies on her emotions. Ling Se was semi-illiterate. She couldn’t read or write, but she was good at arithmetic.
At first, Ling Se didn’t have any feelings for Xu Zi Lu. But as time went on, and after a few close encounters, she began to feel attracted to him. I remember when Xu Zi Lu asked her what kind of man she liked, Ling Se replied that she liked a man who smelled of money. And probably because Xu Zi Lu was handsome and most importantly, not stingy, she started to fall in love with him. 😅
Xu Zi Lu
The Xu family dominates the incense business because of its high quality product. Currently, Xu Zi Lu (played by Zhao Yi Qin) is the head of the Xu family because he is the only heir of the Xu family. Master Xu passed away, so Xu Zi Lu only lived with his mother. There is also his third uncle who also takes care of the business. But all the decisions were made by Xu Zi Lu.
As a young businessman, Xu Zi Lu runs the He family business in a fast but careful way. He adheres to the principle of integrity. Therefore, he runs his business cleanly. No bribes or cheating. It was his Third Uncle who often made shady moves in secret. Xu Zi Lu is smart, cunning and talented, as if he was born to be a businessman. His mother doted on him and worried that her son was too cold to find a wife.
After Xu Zi Lumarried Ling Se, Xu Zi Lu secretly trained her to be a good businessman. He realized that her impulsive nature could destroy her hard work. Xu Zi Lu falls in love with Ling Se in the first place because she is the one who treats him casually, even though he seems to be afraid of being touched.
Xu Zi Lu probably didn’t have a phobia. He just didn’t like those who wanted to touch him…😆
Wang Zhu Jue
Wang Zhu Jue (played by Jiang Jun Han) is the son of the governor of Linchun City. He is kind but impulsive with an average intelligence. He never takes the longer view or uses common sense. Therefore, he was easy to fool. And sometimes (well, almost every time), his impulsiveness and emotional outbursts ruined everything.
Wang Zhu Jue was a student preparing for the imperial exam. However, he often became lazy because he was a spoiled brat who enjoyed wine, food, and the casino.
When he met Ping Er, Wang Zhu Jue was interested in her appearance. Slowly, he realized that she was smart and always helped him. Ping Er treated him well, and sometimes I thought that what Wang Zhu Jue needed from Ping Er wasn’t her love, but her maternal instinct. 😉
Ping Er
Ping Er (played by Pan Yue) is a mysterious girl whom Ling Se found and recruited as her maid. During their market ventures, Ping Er was always there to help Ling Se. However, she couldn’t do anything useful. All Ping Er did was eat, she really is a glutton. Ping Er is a kind and naive girl. Unlike her mistress, Ping Er could read and write and had good literary skills, and if you compare how they behaved in everyday life, Ping Er had more quality as a lady than Ling Se.
The Conclusion
Even though I have so many complaints about this drama, I still enjoyed watching Debit Queen drama. Mainly because the story was light, so I didn’t have to use too much brainpower while watching. This drama was worth your time if you need something light, short, and predictable. And if you decide to watch Debit Queen, I am sure you will be entertained by the beautiful visuals and amazing sets.
So, dear readers, did you decide to pick Debit Queen and put it on your watch list? Or did you want to pass it over and choose another drama? No worries, I have written so many drama reviews as references. Just surf around in the drama review section and I hope you found the one you were looking for.
And FYI, I also wrote the Ending Explained posts (including this drama) for those who were curious about the ending of the drama you chose. As usual, hope this Debit Queen drama review helps. Thanks for stopping by, dear readers. I’ll see you in another post. Ciao!
