- Title: Hi Venus
- Also Known As: 我可能遇到了救星, I May Have Met a Savior , Wo Ke Neng Yu Dao Le Jiu Xing
- Screenwriter: Wang Xiong Cheng
- Director: Wang Zheng
- Casts: Joseph Zeng, Liang Jie, Zhou Ji Han, Li Lin Fei
- Genres: Romance, Comedy
- Country: China
- Type: Drama
- Episodes: 24
- Original Network: Youku
- Where to watch: Viki
Hello dear readers, another review post for you. This time I would tell you all my musing about this 2022 Chinese romance drama, which just ended in January 2023. Hi Venus was a 24 episodes drama. The story was well-written and it was quite entertaining. But first, let’s start with the synopsis.
Hi Venus Synopsis
Ye Shi Lan was a young pediatrician at Anxing Hospital. She was sent on a public welfare project to a small clinic in Taoyuan Village. One afternoon, Ye Shi Lan lost her baby goat, Cuihui. She searched for it under the heavy rain and found the goat was carried by a man named Lu Zhao Xi.
Lu Zhao Xi was on a fishing trip when his car was caught in a landslide. Ye Shi Lan took the goat and Lu Zhao Xi to the clinic. Because of her prejudice towards him, Ye Shi Lan treated him with hostility. Her prejudice was proven when a villager identified Lu Zhao Xi as a swindler who sold fake medicine wine to the villager.
Lu Zhao Xi refused the accusation, he told her that he was the new President of Anxing Hospital, an exclusive and modern hospital. Ye Shi Lan did not believe him and Lu Zhao Xi could not prove it. His phone was left inside the car, and the car was buried by the soil from the landslide. Lu Zhao Xi tried to use the land phone but to no avail because the signal was lost. He also could not leave the village because the only access road was blocked. Therefore, he was stuck in the small clinic with Ye Shi Lan for three consecutive days.
Those three days were torture for Lu Zhao Xi. He was given menial chores, things that he never did before. He must grit his teeth to face the stubborn Ye Shi Lan. However, a drinking night made them close. Lu Zhao Xi learned what made Ye Shi Lan could not return to the hospital. Therefore, when he returned to the city, the first thing he did was to get Ye Shi Lan back to the Anxing Hospital.
Lu Zhao Xi and Ye Shi Lan met again at Anxing Hospital, as superior and subordinate. It was an awkward situation for Ye Shi Lan since she believed that Lu Zhao Xi was holding a grudge and tried to get back at her. Her fear was proven when Lu Zhao Xi asked her to be his temporary assistant. Ye Shi Lan was reluctant to accept the offer, but at that time, her immediate superior, Dr. Huang, did not give her any work shifts. Her best friend, Yao Jia Jia, told her to accept the offer because she had to face the challenge instead of cowering behind the table.
What Ye Shi Lan did not know was that when she accepted Lu Zhao Xi’s offer, she just opened a door to her heart, past, and future.
Hi Venus Review
I stumbled into this drama a long time ago. But it was ongoing and I really had no time (nor patience) to wait. But then I forget about this drama. The thing with Cdramaland was there was always a time when there was too much good drama to watch but there was too little time to spend. And sometimes, it was the other way around. You would find that it was hard to find a good drama, and you have to drop several titles in a row.
The newest title that I drop was My Lethal Man. Fan Zhi Xin in glasses was pleasing to my eyes. But after two episodes I did not feel like watching it anymore. Then I remembered this drama after I scrolled several streaming apps on my phone. With no expectation, I clicked it and half of my beauty sleep was gone that night.
My first impression of Hi Venus was quite negative. Its poster on Viki was boring and unappealing. But I believe in Liang Jie, I quite like her on the Side Story of Fox Volant. Beside, I do realize that if I did not like the drama, I could just drop it again. However, Hi Venus was beyond my expectation.
I thought that Hi Venus would be a boring drama, well, the pace was quite slow. However, if you were patient enough, the story would unravel itself in a timely manner. Sometimes, there was a time that I thought this story was too sweet, just like when I watched Romance in The Little Forest. But, I’m a sweet tooth so it did not really bother me at all.
The acting was good. Liang Jie and Joseph Zeng were a cute couple. Their chemistry was quite strong and their bonding seemed natural in my eyes. Yet, the star in this drama was Ye Shi Lan. You could see clearly how her emotional state changed as their relationship progressed.
She was still stiff as she was a reserved person, but you could see small changes like her lips always holding small smiles and her eyes starting to twinkle every time she saw Lu Zhao Xi. Liang Jie did it best. 👏
Joseph Zeng also worked hard in this drama. However, his character’s life was less problematic than Ye Shi Lan’s. Therefore, I did not see too many changes in him. But every time he smiles, my lips would follow suit. And I must admit that I fell for his round eyes. Soooo cute!
The Cinematography
The thing that I noticed for the first time, was the sets tend to be a little bit crowded with too much stuff. Ye Shi Lan’s apartment was full of green plants and small trinkets. Lu Zhang Xi’s apartment had 4 stacks of books that were piled on the floor. Well, it was quite good and artistic, but sometimes I feel that it was too much.
On the contrary, all the costume in this drama was simple. Sometimes you would see a modern drama with over-the-top costumes. Such as the rich woman would always wear stilettos or dresses everywhere they go and men would always wear suits like they did not have any sweat glands on their bodies. But Hi Venus was not like that. The costume was casual and looked comfortable, very suitable for young doctors who were active.
However, I hope this drama did not overuse the makeup. I could see the foundation was too thick. Ye Shi Lan always wore makeup even when she was in bed and she would wake up with neat makeup on her face. Can we just please have some natural face on a drama, please?😣
Yet, the director surprises me with the cooking scenes. They took many close-range shoots and it was appealing. Why did Chinese drama food always instantly make me hungry? After watching this drama, I feel like grabbing a cup of coffee and eat a lot of cup noodles…🤤
The Character
Lu Zhao Xi
I was quite fond of Joseph Zeng’s character, Lu Zhao Xi. He was gorgeous and well-dressed. He seemed like a rich second-generation spoiled brat who only knew how to make trouble. But in reality, he was the one who helped Ye Shi Lan to open up to the world.
Lu Zhao Xi lived his life to its fullest. He was childish but full of wisdom. He was playful but also serious and rational. He was impulsive but knew how to make plans. He was humble, sensible, and kind.
Lu Zhao Xi’s relationship with his parents, especially his mother was good. No wonder he treated Ye Shi Lan nicely. He courted her slowly and he let her take her time to open up to him. The Lin family was harmonious. Although they were rich, the parents were not arrogant and the son was sensible. They lived in a good house, but Chairman Lu was still willing to sit on the roadside and eat skewers sold by hawkers.
His parent’s nature made Lu Zhao Xi a good person. He did not play around with girls since the only ex-girlfriend present was only Qiao Yu. He was humble and treated his subordinate nicely. He only loved to make fun of Ye Shi Lan. Even Assistant Lin would categorize him as an Elementary School Chicken, a person who liked to annoy his/her love interest. Lu Zhao Xi was stunned when he heard that. He then realized that he was attracted to Ye Shi Lan.
Ye Shi Lan
Liang Jie had a cold expression but it suited her character very much. Ye Shi Lan was the opposite of Lu Zhao Xi. She was a pessimist person but tough. She was timid but upright. Ye Shi Lan hated office gossip which was why she kept her distance from her colleagues. She did not want to be a bootlicker at work, but she could not refuse when she was being bullied by her superior.
However, everything was different when Ye Shi Lan was with her best friend, Yao Jia Jia. Ye Shi Lan was more relaxed and less prejudiced. She would listen to Yao Jia Jia’s advice and regarded her as her life coach. Ye Shi Lan was also livelier when she was in Taoyuan Village Clinic. There were only three people there, the director, the deputy director, and her. No office politics, no ex-boyfriend, no perfunctory dinner, and no annoying superior.
Ye Shi Lan also had a painful past. Her father left her by suicide when she was young. Ye Shi Lan was angry with her father. She always felt that he abandoned her. And when her mother remarried and had a son. Ye Shi Lan thought that her mother’s family was not her family. Her mother’s home was not her home. Therefore, she worked hard for one reason only, to buy a house. She yearned for a home that she never had.
Lin Kai Wen and Yao Jia Jia
It was too bad that I did not have many impressions of these characters, especially Lin Kai Wen or Assistant Lin.
But I like Yao Jia Jia’s character. Yao Jia Jia (played nicely by Li Lin Fei) was Ye Shi Lan’s housemate and best friend. She was a lively person, an optimist, sensitive, and kind. As a writer, she was also creative and imaginative. Yao Jia Jia loved to interact with her customers and she often used their preferences as her character’s trait in her web novel.
Yao Jia Jia was an upright person and she loved her friend dearly. There was a time when Yao Jia Jia read netizen comments that vilified Ye Shi Lan. She used all her power as a writer to write back at those nasty netizens. When she wrote those comments, she was more serious than when she wrote her novels…😅
Yao Jia Jia’s habit to converse and observe her customers made her acquainted with Assistant Lin or Lin Kai Wen (Zhou Ji Han). Assistant Lin was Lu Zhao Xi’s, right-hand man. He was a serious and straightforward man. As an assistant, he was very capable, and smart, and he was good at reading people. Lin Kai Wen did not have many expressions and he always acts reserved. Nobody would realize that behind his cold bearing, he loved to read romantic web novels.
And then he met Yao Jia Jia. Yao Jia Jia was surprised when she found out a well-dressed man that exuded a business aura would buy a strawberry smoothie at her cafe. She started using him as an inspiration for one of his characters, Kevin.
Li Kai Wen had an unusual habit of fast eating. Well, he was an efficient person and he work in a fast pace environment. As a professional assistant, he should always be ready for his boss. His interaction with Lu Zhao Xi was quite funny, especially when they were conversing inside the car. And just like Yao Jia Jia to Ye Shi Lan, Lin Kai Wen was a love coach for Lu Zhao Xi. He gained all his knowledge about love from web novels.
The Story
Hi Venus focused on the romance between Ye Shi Lan and Lu Zhao Xi. Although the background was a hospital, it was more like an add-on to differentiate Hi Venus from other office romance dramas. The conflict inside the hospital was like a fleeting moment. I did not have much impression of it.
Yet, as a romance drama, I like Hi Venus because we could see the relationship progressed, and also the interaction between Ye Shi Lan and Lu Zhao Xi was cute and sweet.
The story began with Ye Shi Lan’s misunderstanding of Lu Zhao Xi. She thought that Lu Zhao Xi was a goat thief and a swindler who sold fake medicinal wine to the villagers. Well, she could not be blamed because an old lady recognized him as the swindler. Plus Lu Zhao Xi had an unlucky day when he got stuck in the village because of a landslide.
Well, technically, Lu Zhao Xi was not the only one who got stuck. He was lucky that was only stuck for three days while Ye Shi Lan had been stuck for three months. Ye Shi Lan came to Taoyuan Village as a medical aid volunteer. A three months community service program provided by the Anxing Hospital. Her return was delayed for three months because her superior, Dr. Huang, held a grudge against her.
Ye Shi Lan knew that the working environment at the hospital was bad. Yet, she decided to stay because she could apply for housing loans after 3 years of work. And the dream of owning a house was connected to her painful past. Contrary to Ye Shi Lan’s life, Lu Zhao Xi’s life was smooth sailing. He had everything that Ye Shi Lan wanted to have, a harmonious family and good financial support. That was why Ye Shi Lan grew up as a pessimist and Lu Zhao Xi was an optimist.
Lu Zhao Xi was sent to Anxing Hospital by his father Chairman Lu, Lu Zheng Zhan. He was tasked to improve the management system. However, many board directors did not agree with the arrangement.
For them, it was absurd to have a hospital managed by a non-doctor. Plus they already had an internal dispute between two vice presidents, Gao Xuan, and Dr. Xu. The position of President was supposed to be filled by Dr. Xu. But, Chairman Lu had a different idea and sent his son to lead the hospital.
Lu Zhao Xi started his career as the president on three days delay because he was stuck in Taoyuan Village without any communication. However, why did Chairman Lu and his wife also Assistant Lin not panic because he was missing for three consecutive days? Did they not call the police? I was confused about this. 🤷♀️
Ye Shi Lan’s internal conflict with her mother was mostly because she was afraid to lose her just like she lost her father. That was why she strived so hard to ease her burden. However, a mother’s heart would always worry about their children. Ye Shi Lan’s mother was afraid because Ye Shi Lan lived alone in a big city.
She always urged her to have a boyfriend because of this. But the concern regarding the relationship weighed Ye Shi Lan down. She kept lying about having a boyfriend. Ye Shi Lan clearly did not like her mother bringing up the matter. She always tried to find a reason to end the call.
Between Ye Shi Lan and Lu Zhao Xi, the latter was the first one who realized his romantic feelings. Lu Zhao Xi wanted to test Ye Shi Lan’s feelings for him with the help of Qiao Yu, his ex-girlfriend. And it worked. Ye Shi Lan started to feel a bit jealous after Qiao Yu was in the frame. Yet, Ye Shi Lan always stated that they were friends and even encouraged Lu Zhao Xi to reconcile with Qiao Yu…😅
The Ending, beware of a little spoiler
Hi Venus ending was a happy ending. However, I feel some satisfaction and dissatisfaction altogether. I was happy because our two couple was finally together, but I was dissatisfied regarding the company’s problem. Yesss… Gao Xuan was finally defeated by Chairman Lu’s plan B. However, it was sooooo abrupt that I did not have the chance to mull over it.
Chairman Lu had an idea to deceive Gao Xuan and at the same time pulled Ye Shi Lan and her family away from the power struggle. He told Lu Zhao Xi to replace him on a business trip. While his son was away, Chairman Lu asked Ye Shi Lan to pretend that she broke up with Lu Zhao Xi and then apply for medical aid at Tongyuan Village Clinic. By then, Gao Xuan would not have any reason to involve her in his plan. Ye Shi Lan went there, while the Chairman annihilate the internal corruption with the help of Lin Kai Wen.
After the company matter was settled, Lu Zhao Xi quit his job. The position of the President of Anxing Hospital was returned to Doctor Xu. Then Lu Zhao Xi came to the Tongyuan Village to propose to Ye Shi Lan. They spent the night together in Ye Shi Lan’s bedroom at the clinic.
Meanwhile, Assistant Lin helped Yao Jia Jia to buy a cafe. Yao Jia Jia learned that she wanted to run her own café while still writing her web novel. With the help of Lin Kai Wen, she searches for the right place. Her excitement was multiplied when at the same time, she was notified that a publisher was interested in her novel. In the middle of the excitement, Lin Kai Wen was finally able to convey his feelings for Yao Jia Jia.
Everybody has a good ending except for Gao Xuan. I wrote more detail about the ending in Hi Venus Ending Explained post. You can check it if you curious how the drama ended .
The Conclusion
Although Hi Venus story was a tad too slow for me and the ending was predictable, I had a good time watching it. The story was heartwarming, easy to digest, and most importantly it did not spike my emotional distress. It feels like eating your favorite comfort food on a rainy day. Will I rewatch this drama? Probably yes, when I want to enjoy a lazy weekend.
If you looked for a drama that was full of excitement, stay away from this one. This was not a roller coaster ride, instead, this was a swan boat on a lake. It was not easy to ride, but it was always enjoyable. Especially if you ride it with the one you love. Well, that’s all for today. Happy watching, dear readers!
