Love Contract
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Love Contract (愛情合約 Ai Qing He Yue) is a romance Taiwanese drama airing from June 29, 2004 to August 24, 2004 on TVBS-G. It is 20 episodes long and stars Ariel Lin and Mike He, which makes it the second time they had starred together since the 2004 drama Seventh Grade.
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[edit] Summary
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Xiao Feng is a tomboy who has never believed in love, but her true wish is that she really wants to fall in love. For her upcoming birthday, her friends decide to pair her up with someone. They choose Ah Ken, the captain of the swimming team, for his conflicting personality with Xiao Feng, and for the fact that Ah Ken might cut them some slack during training practice. They force Ah Ken into a Love Contract, requesting him to date Xiao Feng, while promising new members for the swimming team. Unfortunately, Xiao Feng and Ah Ken already hate each other, causing friction in between their relationship.
After many unexpected encounters, Ah Ken and Xiao Feng start becoming good friends, and eventually realizing their feelings for each other. While the goal of the Love Contract is somewhat accomplished, Xiao Feng's friends start realizing how hurtful relationships could be, thrust into a twist of love triangles, heartbreak, and one-sided loves...
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main characters
- Cheng Xiao Feng: 21 years old. Captain of the kendo club. Xiao Feng is outspoken and is often rude, even to her friends. She enjoys teasing and picking on people, but her intention for torturing others is because she doesn't want anyone to fall in love with her. On the contrary, Xiao Feng soon finds love in Ah Ken, whom she initially hated, but denies it. She also has a scar on her back and around her neck that was caused by her father years ago when he threw a lit match towards her mother, only to have Xiao Feng intervene and take the brunt of the attack. Xiao Feng doesn't want to have plastic surgery to have the scars removed, and she hates it when her parents fight. She is also afraid of the water because of an incident where she nearly drowned when she was pushed into a swimming pool. She doesn't like anyone to know her problems and keeps them inside. Xiao Feng also has no idea about the Love Contract.
- Ah Ken: 23 years old. Captain of the swimming team, a major in art, and a part-time worker at Doris' bar. Ah Ken's Chinese name is Liu Jian Dong, but everyone calls him by his real name, Ken. Ah Ken is from Japan, but he moved to Taiwan with his mother at a young age. He often scolds his mother for leaving home despite her sickness, but he truly cares for her and doesn't want her to be hurt. Ah Ken is aloof, calm, and doesn't like to socialize, but he really does have a good heart. He is generous, well-mannered, and treats everything fairly. He is also trains brutally, and is independent. Ah Ken initially disliked Xiao Feng at first sight, but after Xiao Bai and Ah Kai forced him into signing the Love Contract, he became closer to her and fell in love with her. Unlike Xiao Feng, he admitted the feeling to himself and continued hinting that he liked her. Ah Ken is also aware of the fact that Mu Tou loves Xiao Feng as well and tries to be kind to him, only to be spat back.
[edit] Xiao Feng's friends
- Ah Kai: 23 years old. Ah Kai is one of Xiao Feng's friends from childhood. Although he shares many of the same beliefs with Xiao Bai, he tends to not act as impulsively. He was originally in the kendo club, but quit when Xiao Bai convinced him to try out for the swimming club, angering Xiao Feng; however, he rejoined the kendo club and took part in both clubs until he finally decided to solely remain in the swimming club after he broke up with Xin Lei. Ah Kai, along with Xiao Bai, also continues with much effort enforcing the Love Contract towards Ah Ken, as he believes that Ah Ken and Xiao Feng are a match. Ah Kai was dating Xin Lei for a while, but when Mu Tou made him realize that he was romantically interested in Xiao Feng, he broke up with her. When Xin Lei refused to shake him off, their struggle resulted in Ah Kai accidentally pushing Xin Lei down the stairs, breaking her arm.
- Zhang Yuan Bai: 22 years old. Nicknamed Xiao Bai. Xiao Bai is Ah Kai's best friend, a member of the swimming team and kendo club, and was the one who came up with the idea of the Love Contract. He, along with Ah Kai, continue pressuring Ah Ken about the Love Contract. Xiao Bai is idealistic and very persistent, but his train of thought tends to lead him into trouble. Xiao Xiao, Xiao Bai's friend from kindergarten, has a crush on him; everyone is convinced that they are a pair and believe Xiao Bai is denying his love for her, but in reality, Xiao Bai actually likes Xin Lei instead.
- Mu Tou: 21 years old. Mu Tou is Xiao Bai's roommate and often speaks in different languages, such as English and Portuguese. Unlike Xiao Bai and Ah Kai, Mu Tou is very serious, down-to-earth, and cynical, always thinking through actions rather than acting on impulse. He also sometimes chats with Xiao Feng online using the name Shui. He is the only one of Xiao Feng's friends who opposes the Love Contract, mainly because he is in love with Xiao Feng himself. Mu Tou's feelings for Xiao Feng led towards an anmosity towards Ah Ken, in which he refused to join the swimming team and wished to solely remain in the kendo club. He became jealous when Xiao Feng and Ah Ken became closer to each other, and even resorted into severing their relationship. When he finally realized how much they loved each other, he gave up and gives them his blessing. Not only did he support Xiao Feng's decision, but he also encourages Xiao Xiao about her relationship with Xiao Bai.
- Xin Lei: 22 years old. Xin Lei is one of the members of the kendo club (and later the swimming team) as well as Ah Kai's girlfriend. Xiao Bai has a crush on her, although he continues to hide it. Even though Xin Lei is not as persistent in enforcing the Love Contract, she sometimes lends a helping hand towards Ah Kai and Xiao Bai, assisting them in their goal. Later, Ah Kai broke up with Xin Lei, leaving her very distressed. Xin Lei refused to let Ah Kai go, and their struggle led to Ah Kai accidentally pushing her down the stairs, breaking her arm. This act convinced Xin Lei not to stay with Ah Kai anymore, raising tensions between them.
- Xiao Xiao: 20 years old. Xiao Xiao is Xiao Bai's spunky friend since kindergarten, but doesn't come by often. On the occasions she does, she tries to become closer to Xiao Bai, but is always told by Xiao Bai himself to leave him alone. Still, she remains in love with him and doesn't have the courage to confess to him, even with Mu Tou's encouragement.
[edit] Xiao Feng's family
- Cheng Xiao Yun: 25 years old. Xiao Yun is Xiao Feng's beautiful older sister and is a make-up artist. She cares about Xiao Feng deeply and always helps out whenever she has time to. Xiao Yun was also involved in a relationship with a famous actor named Simon. They had sex, and it was then that Xiao Yun found out that Simon already had a wife and a daughter. She broke up with him and still laments over her mistake. When she became pregnant with his child, she left Taiwan.
- Cheng Xiu Ying: 47 years old. Xiu Ying is Xiao Feng and Xiao Yun's mother. She always gets into disputes with her husband and plans to divorce him one day. She's still guilty over Xiao Feng's scars caused by a heated fight between Zheng Jie and herself; Xiu Ying tries help and convince Xiao Feng to get a plastic surgery to discard the scars. Xiu Ying also becomes great friends with Mei Li, Ah Ken's mother, and believes that Xiao Feng and Ah Ken would make a good pair.
- Cheng Bao Tai: 49 years old. Bao Tai is Xiao Feng and Xiao Yun's father. He is always away at work. He used to have affairs in the past and also constantly gets drunk. These problems eventually led to arguments between his wife and himself even until this day. In the past, Bao Tai's ongoing disputes with Xiu Ying escalated to the point where he threw a lit match towards her, only to have Xiao Feng intervene.
[edit] Ah Ken's family
- Mei Li: Mei Li is Ah Ken's sickly Japanese mother, but unlike her son, she is much more playful and optimistic. Despite Ah Ken's warnings, she always leaves home whenever he isn't looking, and eats unhealthy food, much to his disgust. She originally wanted a daughter, and treats Xiao Feng as her own. She also becomes friends with Xiao Feng's mother and believes Xiao Feng and Ah Ken should be a couple.
- Gan Jiu: 37 years old. Gan Jiu is Mei Li's spunky little brother, and Ah Ken's uncle. He came to Taiwan from Japan just to progress on his aspiring dream to become a photographer as well as picking up girls. Gan Jiu is very cheerful and even takes a job in Doris' bar, becoming a friendly "rival" with Jin Gang over Doris. He becomes friends with Xiao Yun and even starts developing a romantic interest in her, even though he first claimed to like Doris. He sometimes speaks Japanese and is aware of the fact that Ah Ken is beginning to like Xiao Feng.
[edit] Other characters
- Doris: 31 years old. Doris is the owner of the bar that Ah Ken, Jin Gang, and Gan Jiu work at. She often comes into the bar and requests it to be closed whenever she is unhappy. Doris has a boyfriend named Tom, but he usually sends her depressed one day and happy the other on the occasions of her appearance. In truth, Tom had already died two years ago in a car accident when speed-driving to the airport for his flight to Japan from America; Doris refused to let it go and convinced herself that Tom was still alive. She takes a liking to Xiao Feng and sometimes teases Ah Ken about her.
- Jin Gang: 35 years old. Jin Gang works at Doris' bar along with Ah Ken. He is a good chef and considers people's feelings first. He likes Doris a lot and even becomes "rivals" with Gan Jiu over her. Although they compete against each other over Doris, they are still good friends.
- Simon: 32 years old. Simon is a famous actor, and a playboy. He already has a wife and a daughter, yet he continues to cheat on his wife by continuing to go out with other women. He wants to divorce her, but can't because of money issues. His recent relationship with Xiao Yun was exploited by the media, and when Xiao Yun found out about his family, she broke up with him.
[edit] Theme songs
- Opening theme: Middle {中间 Zhong Jian) by Jasmine Leong
- Ending theme: Lonely Northern Hemisphere (孤單北半球 Gu Dan Bei Ban Qiu) by Ariel Lin
[edit] Cast
- Ariel Lin as Cheng Xiao Feng
- Mike He as Liu Jian Dong (Ah Ken)
- Zhang Rui Jia as Ah Kai
- Lai Zhi Wei as Xiao Bai
- Zhong Xin Yu as Xin Lei
- Lin Yi Hong as Mu Tou
- Phyllis Quek as Xiao Yun
- Yan Pei Ting as Xiao Xiao
- Mary Hsu as Doris
- Yi Zhe Li as Mei Li
- Toyoharu Kitamura as Gan Jiu
- Zheng Jie as Cheng Bao Tai
- Li Feng Hua as Cheng Xiu Ying
- Jin Gang as Jin Gang
- Liu Han Qiang as Simon
[edit] Additional credits
- Producer: Liu Fu Ting
- Director: Xu Zhao Ren
- Original script: Jiang Shu Hui
- special guest star*Nimrod Albert Yasay
[edit] External links
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