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The Story of Pearl Girl with Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning One Ups a Lackluster Run with a Terrible and Dumb Ending

A Koala's Playground Posted on by

If I were a professor I would absolutely be an easy grader. If you try hard sincerely and the output shows that effort I would acknowledge it, in that sense I’m not very black/white in life or in entertainment offerings. I’ve liked plenty of objectively bad movies and dramas because I enjoyed certain elements of it enough to overlook the deficiencies. I needed to preface with this because the entirety of C-drama The Story of Pearl Girl was so lackluster it saddened me but didn’t elicit any further stronger emotions, until now because the ending is so bad IT NEEDS TO DIE IN HELLFIRE. I can’t believe a drama this un-exciting can actually one-up itself in the wrong direction at the very end and deliver one of the worst endings in recent drama memory.

Basically Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning still tried to give some semblance of a romance for the last few episodes but it was as lame as the thumb almost kiss scene above, talk about foreshadowing. He’s still got an incurable poison in him and leaves her to go die somewhere else I presume, but not before they have one night together on a tiny boat and she begs him not to leave and then scene cut and she’s standing in front of her entire jewelry company announcing that she’s leaving others in charge and going to travel the world (i.e. “live life” in that Eat, Love, Pray mantra). Then scene cut to a desert caravan with an older woman narrating that Zhao Lu Si’s character LIVED LIFE for 40 years and had no regrets and hopes that commerce and exploration and jewelry making continues to thrive. THE END. If I could punch a drama in the face it would be this one for wasting two stars I love, and also the investors who allegedly watched the drama and loved it so much to pump more investment into it. They are either money laundering or absolutely addled in the brain.

Comments

The Story of Pearl Girl with Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning One Ups a Lackluster Run with a Terrible and Dumb Ending — 78 Comments

  1. Ah no wonder they promoted it as female empowerment story lol, so they really didn’t end up together. But why would they make the romance so halfhearted? It would be better to make it intense then bam he died it would be much more memorable ending

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    • It’s probably the silly obsession with “big female lead” stories at work. Like they want to make it seem like the FL is independent, but they can’t find a way to make it work without the ML giving her all sorts of help. Then they have to find a reason for the ML to want to help her and they can only think of romance as the reason. But to “save face” they keep the romance to the minimum. LOL.

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      • I do wish C-ent can stop with the fake female empowerment dramas. I still can’t get over my major disappointment with The Legend of Mi Yue because the original Mi Yue from the novel is a true independent FL, but the drama version changed her to the usual kind righteous pretty damsel who rose to the top with the help of her romantically involved men who were willing to sacrifice for her.

    • This is really a huge shame. I believe many if theur fans really looked forward to this drama. But bad endings is becoming very common in Cdramas. I dont understand why…really dont.

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      • There are C-dramas with good endings, it just so happens that the recent two dramas LGIEF and TSOPG have unsatisfactory endings (though personally I’m satisfied with LGIEF’s ending).

      • I have yet to watch Fangs of Fortune, I read that ending is not great too. However that drama does not interest me.

  4. Is that why she sent nearly 100K RMB worth of red envelopes to her fans?? LMAO!!! Just so funny. There’s this one international fan who keeps insisting this drama is affirmed by renowned experts or academia for being a great drama *eye roll*

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      • I thought that was partly due to the bad ending of the drama, and the other part was in reaction to Esther’s Cosmo cover (300000+ issues sold; 14.09M rmb in 24 hrs) which became the #2 in domestic entertainment (second to WYB) and #1 among the female artists surpassing Reba’s September 2024 cover.

      • DD fans and EY fans fought, it’s a fact. Not only coz of magazine sells, also coz of shading the acting skills.DD fans couldnt take it anymore. The black HS of XK counted as LGIFE drama data. That fandom fought with WYB fans coz EY fans claimed 9521 WYB title. Now they bought HS about WHD and ZLS cooperation. But their fandoms united and promoted their fav dramas
        What popularity…it’s a huge IP which cant reach 37 mil/ep as TLI had, about that fandom said it flopped. If it was hyped doesnt mean it really is a huge hit. Lets be real, when 3-4 most awaited dramas are aired in the same time, audience is split. None drama exploded
        Do I look mad?:) I enjoy the show

    • @ace: how can fish fans surpass DD fans? magazine sells show fandom power. DD not only has a bigger fandom than EY, but many ppl buy her magazines coz she’s a real beauty. Very…fishy.
      That fandom stepped on XK, DD, WYB. I wonder if they are really silly in their arrogance or they received orders to keep the heat. Fandoms are fighting for a couple of days.
      That drama ended airing +3 mil/ep ahead Pearl Girl (yunhe Nov 22nd)
      What that fan said about the good reviews Pearl Girl received is true.

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      • Oh please. Yes Reba has a huge fan base, but passersby bought the magazine too due to Love Game’s popularity. Her fandom contributed as a birthday gift, costars, staff, and friends did their parts too. The fandom did not “step on” other fandoms. You should be happy there is growth in China’s domestic entertainment instead of being suspicious. Reba fans and YSX fans were getting along well because they all knew which fandom was trying to sow discord lmao. Don’t be sour grapes just because Nov 2024’s cosmo cover didn’t get traction even though that fandom had more time to prepare to buy their idol’s magazine. What a joke.

      • There’s no stepped on between ysx fans and reba fans. They both are queens w/ fandom respect each other. You know who are the ones that tries to meddle other fandom affair.

        Typically fandom w/ full victim mentality.

        Treating other that more popular w/ contempt and adamant that their fave is the best, nobody could surpass her, the data is bought, fake etc.

        Newflash, lgief domestically really more popular with many viral merch and moment. Show me your fave viral video when campus doing flashmob dance and song for the drama.
        They always talking about sabotage and karma that ysx will get. And guess what, ysx only get more popular, breaking many record and getting more fans, proving the good karma ysx got after years of misunderstanding and hatred she got.
        The bad karma that they wish will only got back to them coz of the imagenary agenda that their fave is cinderella with many enemy try to suppress her growth and not makes her take the responsibility as the ones that choosing her own script.

      • There’s no stepped on between ysx fans and reba fans. They both are queens w/ fandom respect each other. You know who are the ones that tries to meddle other fandom affair.

        Typically fandom w/ full victim mentality.

        Treating other that more popular w/ contempt and adamant that their fave is the best, nobody could surpass her, the data is bought, fake etc.

        Newflash, lgief domestically really more popular with many viral merch and moment. Show me your fave viral video when campus doing flashmob dance and song for the drama.
        They always talking about sabotage and karma that ysx will get. And guess what, ysx only get more popular, breaking many record and getting more fans, proving the good karma ysx got after years of misunderstanding and hatred she got.
        The bad karma that they wish will only got back to them coz of the imagenary agenda that their fave is cinderella with many enemy try to suppress her growth and not makes her take the responsibility as the ones that choosing her own script.

      • The thing is, other fandoms like DD are chill about it. Of course Alice would only congratulate Reba but that’s given. They don’t shade on anyone and just focus on their idol which is good.

  5. It’s probably the silly obsession with “big female lead” stories at work. Like they want to make it seem like the FL is independent, but they can’t find a way to make it work without the ML giving her all sorts of help. Then they have to find a reason for the ML to want to help her and they can only think of romance as the reason. But to “save face” they keep the romance to the minimum. LOL.

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  6. I also think the ending is dumb. If you want to kill the ML and have a sad ending, just have the gut and do it on screen. And I find it unbelievable that she got voted as the head of the jewelry guild but passed it on to someone else so casually, and no one object to it??

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    • I hated the ending too. If we saw all the deaths before onscreen, why not the male lead’s? I’m going to be disappointed for a long time with how weak the second half was for the ML’s character, and the plot holes, although overall I liked the characters and the story. ZLS and LYN have good chemistry, and it feels there could have been a good romance and her success…it feels like a wasted story line. I agree about the jewelry guild and her handing it casually over….so everyone voted yes, is this her empowerment? Then she spends 40 years wandering? And we don’t know where he died, with her or not? Koala is right, this is one of the worst drama endings in some time. I still think I Will Never Let You Go, which has the honour of being my first Chinese drama ever, has the worst ending ever in a drama. TSOPG ending rates slightly higher.

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    • This script is major flawed and the ending not good obviously but aleast check it out for the good performance the actors did with their roles , If u love any of them. U don’t have to watch it now with all this noise but let it be on your watchlist just in case. It all about preferences, u might actually like it, who knows.

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    • According to her fans, she is apparently the most victimized woman to ever exist. Everyone is out to get her for no reason other than her being too outstanding lol…

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  9. I dont wanna hear anyone blaming LYN for this failure drama, saying he doesn’t have any chemistry with her when they clearly didn’t intend to make any.

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  10. I will be the lone voice here and say I enjoyed the drama, even though the last half hour was badly edited WTH, even though his death was telegraphed for episodes. There was just no emotional payoff because they made everything happen offstage. Even the final villains’ comeuppance.

    Terrible execution. I had a good chuckle at your outrage this morn, Koala.

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    • I wonder if there was a outrage online with the ending in China? Do you know if the rating was good? I guess it is the end…ratings or not…it no longer matter. Very unprofessional.

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      • Anything over 10,000 on Youku is a hit. I read that it’s 10,400 heat index today. So, no matter how it’s denigrated here, it’s what the heat index says (I’m not going to add on to the incoming “but it’s all bought” comments). Also, it’s on the top of many current Netflix index internationally, so it’s making money and not exactly a flop. I’m rewatching it on Netflix and it’s beautiful on a big screen.

      • I think there was a trending topic about the ending but I didn’t click on it and read comments because I wasn’t interested in the first place so I’m not sure if there were dissonant voices in the sea of most likely positive comments from her fans. Also, her giving out red envelopes was the most eye-catching so it was probably done to drown out any discussion of the ending (not that I think any passersby was interested how it ended). Interesting though that Douban ratings fell from 6.3 to 6.1 yesterday, and I checked just now it’s 6.0 already.

    • @Ace I was just using it as a reference to drop in ratings due to the ending. I don’t see why not since it did happen the way I described it.

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  11. Just wondering but these terribly tragic ending dramas or open ending dramas is it a trend now in China? You know like how Korea will make a bunch of dramas once a season with similar themed dramas. Also is there another restriction on kisses for main actors or something because lately some dramas have limited kissing or none at all but for some reason side characters can? Something is off in cdrama land. Just my observation.

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      • Yes but lately the newest ones or currently airing ones have been following this trend especially the most anticipated ones airing.

    • agree, the three recent drama, fod, lgief, tsopg all have minimal romance, like for what?? Are they gonna get banned for more kissing scene??

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    • Under almost every so called plot hole ppl complain on social media there are explanations. You would like to read convs on MDL (documented from books about Tang Dynasty. You can also find maps)
      Unfortunately, there are several cut lines, cut scenes that makes plot weaker. Drama fans found them and brought them up in their comments
      Drama is a good one overall. It’s a good watch

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  13. Does it that bad? For me i already like it and I’m on episode 5. But other than the leads suporting cast is not es engaging as the two leads. Wonder if it will change.

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      • The villain so far take me out of the drama. So thanks for the info. I find this drama is quite sincere. but i just wish they make the villain is more engaging. The story so far s quite brutal. Do chinese drama often showing this kind of dark scene?

        Since This website contain ton of Spoiler, thanks for the info so i can prepare lol

    • No, this drama is unique in its portrayal of the brutality. Idol dramas are often more fluffy and have more romance. Pearl Girl is hiding behind an idol drama cloak, with just enough romance scenes to pull in romance/CP fans of C-dramas.

      There are actually two sets of villains. Cui ShiJiu and Sheng JiHeng is the first obvious set. Their character arcs grow more interesting as the story progresses. However, the other villain, the one who is always hidden, is very, very weakly written/portrayed. They could have done so much more with it and then at the end, the payoff of getting justice was short and unsatisfactory.

      You’ll find the first 15 episodes progress quite quickly. And then the second half is much slower as each character works out his/her arc. Then it picks up again in the last ten episodes. I really think the drama suffers from the China government rule of limiting dramas to only 40 episodes because so many dramas seem to just finish like a limp noodle because they ran out of “time” to tell the story.

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  14. ML was dying in this drama beginning with ep3. In ep 18 ML knows he has no chance to survive as far the single person who could heal him was murdered. Screen writers gave you 37 eps to prepare yourself, to understand he is dying. So I dont understand why you dont like the ending. This drama never promised to be a fairy tale.
    ML ended his arc fulfilling his aims: cleared his clan name, took revenge, FL is powerful and successful
    Even romance is about 20%, they served an intense love story. I guess we should be happy coz they spent together all his days.
    I appreciate screen writers didnt let us see his last moments
    As for the FL, she gave away her business, traveled for 40 years, doing what she ever wanted (to be a paddler)
    “40 years of traveling represents a symbolic period of purification, trials, and spiritual growth, during which an individual or a group overcomes obstacles to reach a promised goal, fulfillment, or peace.”
    So FL also ended her arc in a beautiful, symbolic way
    This drama has one of the best cinematography i saw lately, beautiful sets and acting was good.
    The story of Pearl Girl came on Netflix on Nov 16th and 22nd and already has double points than LGIF. Ppl are watching it.

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      • Yeah, another perspective is the theme of freedom. All the main characters asked for freedom on their terms and they achieve it. Yan was finally free through revenge. Duan Wu got the kind of freedom she yearned for. And Cui wanted freedom to run a business on her own terms.

        For a quick chuckle, I imagine Jin Ran also got the freedom to follow/chase Duan Wu because he finally understood her and his love was not just the idealistic “cure the mermaid” kind. He actually followed through with her answer–he has joined the mermaid’s world instead of trying to change her. So, in that sense, in those 40 years, Duan Wu and he could have had a relationship…you never know, heh.

      • Okay, scratch that. Found out TSOPG just have 1 more country. I guess it’s win-win that LGIEF did better domestically while TSOPG did better internationally?

      • Nov 22nd yunhe LGIEF 33mil/ep, TSOPG 29.9 mill/ep- the day Youku released the fast track (yunhe doesnt include tv views, only platform views)

      • @MAC Kuyun which encompasses TV views also shows LGIEF as higher for Nov 22nd. We also have to take the drama genres and budgets into account. LGIEF is xianxia/isekai which appeals to a smaller and more specific demographics while TSOPG has the advantage of bigger budget and appealing to larger demographics, yet LGIEF still did better than TSOPG.

      • @Lilith. Yup, it did better in views, but Youku gained from distribution rights. Next to Netflix, Viu bought it, also several TV chans from dif asian countries. Drama ranks in top 10-50 MDb (global movie database), TDM
        Youku publicly declared they are pleased with sells.

        There are some things that really count for actors after airing of a drama: popularity, endorsements, how industry insiders see them (producers). I saw some producers insights on several chinese platforms. Very interesting…very interesting

      • Yep, LGIEF is better domestically(has almost equal or higher playback volume despite being fewer in episodes), TSOPG better internationally(consistently top 10 in netflix).

    • My new Macbook broke down in 3mths…I am so angry. Now whilst waiting for it to be repaired, I have to use a old laptop which has such a low quality screen resolution. It will do the drama so little justice…I will wait till my Mac to be fixed before I continue where I stopped. I like some of the cinematography and sets I see in earlier eps..

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  15. Okay so won’t be watching this then. To think that I waited for this show for so long so I could binge watch. What a waste of LYN and Lusi chemistry. So mad

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    • The most watched movie ever has SE (Titanic). There are tons of good series with SE or OE with billions of views
      I knew Romeo and Juliet has a tragic end. But I love it.
      TSOPG isnt a love story, but it’s a good drama. If you like good dramas, give it a try

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  16. The drama started off with some pretty exciting scenes with the iron willed FL (ZhaoLusi)in the pearl mine and the appearances of two Big
    Shots LiuYN & TangXT in the glamorous Pearl auction. So far I was impressed with the script.
    But with a ‘bang’, the climax subsided into a mediocre pace midway with LYN cold shouldering his beloved ZhaoLusi for reasons I could not accept. Where is his so called love for her? Why is LYN cast as a ‘selfish cold hearted lover’ ??? ( He is already
    been scorned by some viewers in China for not been handsome enough! Why cast him in such an unbecoming role)??? 🤔.
    What is love? Shouldn’t he kept to his earlier promise to protect her and assist in her achieving her dream to open shop?The script should’ve him continue assisting her. With his love and backing, she succeeded, got the Zheng clan mad and jealous….blah, blah, blah…
    At this juncture, the plot left me with a sick feeling of betrayal and I agree that this romance is ‘lame’ (like what you have described).The romance between them should not be there if it has no good ending.😡
    LYN was cruel with his words (stupid script)!
    When Lady Huan was killed, why did he come back to protect her? That’s when I got a bad taste in my mouth, sick of the script, and decided to discontinue watching this drama.
    Reading other viewers comments, I presume the ending is a lousy one. Its a waste that two such good actors are cast in such in such a dissapointing script. The acting was superb. Even Daddi Tang put on a good show.

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    • I disagree, I’m happy that he took the role and majority from cnetz appreciate him more on this drama because of his acting skills ofc some will still comment abt his visuals but they’re more positive comments now than before. Drama isn’t bad as kllm,acting wise and plot wise.

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  17. It is the journey that matters,
    and I’d rather have an open ending than a bad ending. I would have rolled my eyes more if ML miraculously recovered for a happy ending.
    Anyhow, some ppl mentioned that in the book, the ML is not the endgame, so I do agree with drama ending. It also implies that she does not need him to have 40 successful years, he is just one part of her journey.

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  18. I am waiting for E11, but I am disappointed upon reading several comments that the romance of the FL and ML did not prosper at the end???

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  19. I felt this story was written quite well. I like how all the female characters are written to be empowered all having their growth and strengths. YZJ character came full cycle.. fulfilling his wishes and lived a life he never even imagined. I thought it’s quite a thoughtful show… the editing could have e been better but I have to say this drama is quite different.

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  20. you can really tell that some comments just want to hate,not even a Lusi fan and I only watch this for LYN.,but this is not a bad drama,there are questionable logic and flaws but it’s watchable drama. Good production and the leads acting is really great,they both give justice to their role. Yup ending is unsatisfying but it’s still watchable.

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  21. I’m glad I stopped at ep 14 and have no strong desire to finish the rest. Now I don’t think I’d miss anything if not going back to watch again. There have been so many old Kdramas giving me the maximum gratification from the best use of my spare time for entertainment.

    Storylines don’t have to make sense and even almost everyone looked hysterical in a cheesy black comedy/suspension like The Penthouse, excellent executions of plots will allow audience to sink in with the stories those characters want to tell. Compared with Kdrama The Penthouse the like, most C dramas are failures, huge waste of investment with zero artistic values, Pearl Girl included. No offense to C drama fans. I feel sorry for Zhao Lusi.

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  22. The Story of Pearl Girl was good until I found out that the leading male character was poisoned years ago and there was no antidote. When they found the doctor who treated him many years ago and there was hope of him working on antidote he was killed. As you got closer and closer to the ending you realized that he was going to die. Trust me I am a Zhao Lusi fan. I have looked at every picture she’s made but I feel thst the writers could have done do much better with an ending. The ending was not good at all and left me very disappointed. Her character went through so much from the beginning to the end and that’s how you end it with her traveling with narration behind it and him dying. Saddened how it was nor thought our better.

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    • I find the ending is unique as in its true to life. You can’t solve everything. Can’t have a perfect ending. The ML got his revenge and more. Yeah it suck that he can’t live longer but he did find love though. To me that’s quite wonderful and they stayed together till the end. Symbolicaly – the FL wore his ring at the ending scene.

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  23. Your terrible, this was a phenomenal series!! These actors were absolutely amazing at bringing their chosen characters to life. I will wholeheartedly agree with you that the ending SUCKED in every way, shape, and form that it is in fact possible for a literary, film, or any other piece of entertainment to SUCK, this cornered the market, but these actors were in fact amazing 😍😍😍. I could not have fallen more in love with the two leads, to say they were dealt a decidedly horrific hand by fate is indeed and understatement….they deserved to grow old together, get married, have children, not to have death separate them

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