Work-Love Balance (2025)

Familiar plot but gorgeous visuals (shots + cast) and charismatic leads made this fun watch!

This drama came to my radar through subreddit CShortDramas. I was intrigued by the first minute and after seeing a positive review, I decided to watch it on iQIYI. I enjoyed this drama.

What I liked:
1. Editing - Wow I must say that the shots were beautiful. This drama looked like a traditional long-form Chinese dramas with the colour gradation and set-up.
2. Acting - This is my first time watching Zhan Ni and I really liked her acting. She gave this elegant, understated but punchy performance. Wang Yan Xin was good in his role too. Zhan Ni and Wang Yan Xin had good chemistry too.
3. FL characterisation - I liked that FL was quick thinker and able to protect herself from bullies. The last scene with her family was bittersweet and I understood her conflict.
4. Styling - Gorgeous outfits from hotel employee uniforms to FL's casual work and night gown. ML looked dashing in his work clothes and even pyjamas but I wish he hadn't worn the glasses. Made him look like an uncle. SML's outfits were gorgeous and I also liked Xiao Xiao's styling a lot!
5. Romance - The romance was slow but there were good kisses and sweet moments, mostly initiated by ML. I wish there were more scenes of them bonding as a couple.
6. Supporting characters - I ❤️ Xiao Xiao! Her honest remarks about FL's relationship cracked me up. I also liked Shen Yu despite his attempts to woo FL.

What I disliked:
1. Antagonists - Lin Yao Yao was annoying and incompetent. Gosh I loved it when she was demoted from ML's secretary to hotel staff - she was too nosy in other people's work. FL's mother was a surprise to me - I thought she was FL's stepmother but no she was her biological mother who treated FL badly. Glad they got retribution.
2. FL's action - It was frustrating when FL kept mentioning that they were in fake marriage numerous times. For someone who is great at anticipating customer's needs, she wasn't good at reading her husband's actions. Honey, you got a fine looking with good characteristics man whom you knew from school and why not take advantage of the situation since both agreed to that arrangement.

Favourite scene
When FL hung washed sheets on the rooftop

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Surprisingly good

I caught some of these short vertical dramas and most of the modern contemporary stories are very uninspiring. This one is surprisingly good for several reasons.

Overall, this drama moves fast and has all the tropes (boss-employee, childhood connection, nasty half-sister, greedy mother, no-good stepfather) so there are really no surprises. But you aren't watching this for a surprise. You want hot kiss scenes (you get a shower, under the bedsheets while listening to coworkers discuss you, and some bedroom scenes) and this show delivers this with a likeable hero who defends his lady and gets jealous when required, as well as a capable career woman female lead.

While there is some aggressive boyfriend maneuvers (lots of wrist grabbing, shoving her against a wall) since the female lead comes across as capable (and the end twist makes it okay), I didn't find it irritating or morally gray. Only hot. LOL. A hero who looks hot with glasses? Yes. This guy is really a cinnamon roll and despite the wrist grabs, he does think he might be scaring her so backs off (slightly).

The two leads have good chemistry and I found the acting pretty good. Even the villain came across as someone you might know (though her insistence that the ML was going to marry her got old, but she's an idiot so what can you expect?). I really liked the dynamic of the main couple relationship which was him respecting her intelligence, and her leaning on him for emotional support.

The producer/director made some smart moves here which elevates this drama:

1.) The sets. The backdrop is a hotel so while there are myriad scenes it all stays in one general location which actually had furniture, frames on the wall, coffee tables, couches, chairs, computers, carpet etc... which gave this little drama a good amount of realness. Most of these modern vertical dramas seem to be taking place in an empty gray room without any set design at all so using a hotel was a smart choice.

2.) Costumes. Because of the hotel set up the women were all styled in the traditional black jacket and skirt. This probably helped a lot with the budget for costumes and it made them all look well-groomed and professional. This is a big improvement over most of these vertical modern-set dramas where the clothes looked like they were bought at the local cheap off-the-rack department store.

The dresses by the half-sister and the female lead during the gala event were all very nice. Even the mom with the blouse that had a big rose on the shoulder looked well-dressed when she was holding her purse in front of her face to block the female lead from filming her.

3.) Story flow and continuity. I REALLY appreciate that when it flipped to the next app, it picked up straight from the end of the previous episode. This maintained story continuity and there weren't any odd jumps in the story like you find with these other vertical shows. If you pay attention to the framing, this was a very well thought out show for a vertical format. Everyone is in frame, the actors are balanced in their positions, and the close-up and cuts all flow seamlessly. Well done!

4.) Female empowerment. Our female lead, and the others she knows (the actress, and the hotel fixer) are all women and professional. You won't find the poor-Cinderella trope here. Thank goodness!

This would be a rewatch for me. It was fun, they had chemistry, good acting, good sets and costumes, and the dialogue, and while not breaking the mold, it was a solid show that made sense and was visually appealing (and hot!).

I found it on IQ but only through the app (look at the tab for vertical shorts). If you try to find it via your TV it doesn't show up on search.

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