Country of origin China | ||
Genre Martial arts, Romantic Comedy Directed by Cui Bao Zhu 崔宝珠
Wang Zi Ming 王子鳴 Starring Wallace Huo 霍建華
Miriam Yeung 楊千嬅
George Hu 胡宇崴 Opening theme Strong Hearted Woman 坚强女人心
by Miriam Yeung 楊千嬅 Ending theme In My Heart 在我心中
by Xu Song 許頌 | ||
Love At First Fight (Chinese: 武十郎; pinyin: Wu Shi Lang; Jyutping: Mo Sop Long) is a 2007 Chinese martial arts and romantic comedy television series, starring Hong Kong actress singer Miriam Yeung, Taiwanese actor singer Wallace Huo, American-born-Taiwanese actor George Hu, Chinese actress Zhang Meng, Bai Xue and actor Jia Nai Liang. Filmed in the summer of 2006 at Qingsheng Studios located in Shanghai, China. The drama was also dubbed in Cantonese for the Hong Kong market. It began airing on Chinese channel Haikou 海口電視台 HKBTV in 2007 and aired on Taiwanese channel FTV in 2008. The story is set in early Republic China era, where the main character Wu Shi Lang has to tackle friendship, dreams, family relationship, and first love with a gender twist.
Contents
Synopsis
Fearing that her husband might leave her due to her inability to bring a boy to the family, Mrs. Wu declares her tenth daughter her "tenth" son, who is later named Wu Shi Lang. The goal is for Shi Lang to win as many martial arts competitions as possible, as that's all her father seems to care about. Conflicts arise when she finds herself falling for her childhood friend, Li Ya Shou, who is determined to marry the rich. To stop him from marry the wealthy Lei Xiao Yu, Shi Lang defeats Ya Shou in a martial arts competition. Xiao Yu is greatly impressed and insists on marrying Shi Lang. Things further complicates, when Xiao Yu's younger brother, Lei Sheng Da, encounters the dress-wearing Shi Lang and falls head over heels with her. Shi Lang realizes she is in deep trouble so she skips town after telling everyone she is a woman. Sheng Da follows her to the new town. Although, Shi Lang and Ya Shou are becoming more than friends, Sheng Da's persistence begins to touch her heart, too.
Summary
The story begins one early morning at the Wu residence, Wu Ding Dang is dressed up for his marriage procession with an overweight lady (which was arranged by his mother). On the other hand, Wu Ding Dang's wife is about to give birth to her tenth child. Wu Ding Dang's mother was frustrated with her daughter-in-law for laboring nine granddaughters but no grandson for her, therefore she strongly persuaded her son to marry a concubine into the family. Meanwhile, Wu Ding Dang's wife, Wu Liang Shi who nervously wanted to bring a son to the family was surprised when she delivered another baby girl. Afraid of what was going to happen, she quickly changed the baby girl with another baby boy to overwhelm her mother-in-law and husband. They named their new born baby Wu Shi Lang.
In order to hide her true gender from her father, Wu Shi Lang lived as a boy until she became an adult. She dressed, walked, talked and behaved like a boy and everyone in the family and the entire town believed she was a boy. Her childhood friend was Li Ya Shou and she admired him a lot. Li Ya Shou was an orphan and the son of Wu Ding Dang's best friend so he was taken in the Wu residence.
Later on the Lei family arrives at the town where the Wu family lived. The Lei family were wealthy and powerful. Lei Lao Hu is the matriarch, she has exceptional martial arts skills. Lei Xiao Yu, the eldest and only daughter of Lao Hu's two children is a beautiful young lady that her mother uses to lure people into signing up for their fighting competitions. Lei Sheng Da, the youngest and only son of Lao Hu's children is good looking, tall, and good at martial arts like his mother, but his flaws are childish, spoil and lazy. He also always gets lost when he ventures out of his home as he never bothers to memorize directions to get back home and depends on the Lei family butler Chang Ling Lu to bring him around places.
Li Ya Shou was attracted to the Lei's family wealth and Lei Xiao Yu's beauty, because of this he signed up for the Lei's fighting competition to win Xiao Yu's hand in marriage. On the other hand, Lei Sheng Da meets Wu Shi Lang one night when she dressed as girl and he asked her for directions. Shi Lang got annoyed at Sheng Da for asking too many questions and started fighting with him physically, it was during the midst of their fight that he fell in love with her. Sheng Da goes to the Wu family house the next day to look for Shi Lang and was met by Ya Shou, since Ya Shou is not aware that Shi Lang is a girl he thought Sheng Da was in love with Mrs. Wu. One day while Xiao Yu is venturing out in town alone she is harassed by a group of men, Ya Shou originally wanted to save her but took too long imagining his hero outcome so Shi Lang ends up saving Xiao Yu instead. Xiao Yu falls in love with Wu Shi and ask her mom to automatically sign Shi Lang up for their fighting competition.
Ya Shou takes Lei Lao Hu by surprise with a Kung Fu move she recognizes and beats her during the competition to win. During Ya Shou's celebration on winning Shi Lang is overcome with jealousy imagining Ya Shou's life with Xiao Yu and enters the competition at the last moment to beat Ya Shou and win the competition. Xiao Yu is extremely happy because that would mean Shi Lang has to marry her since she is the prize for winning the competition. Sheng Da is confused since Shi Lang looks so much like the girl he had fallen in love with. After the competition Shi Lang goes to the Lei residence to tell them that she can't marry Xiao Yu because she is a girl. Lei Lao Hu and Xiao Yu does not believe Shi Lang and locks her up in a room at their house. Each of the Lei siblings goes into the room they locked up Shi Lang in individually to question her gender. When Sheng Da asked Shi Lang if she is a girl or boy Shi Lang tells him that she's a boy and was only dressed as a girl to catch a pervert. When Xiao Yu asked Shi Lang if she was a girl or boy Shi Lang tells her she is really a girl, but she doesn't believe her and still insist to her mother and brother that Shi Lang is a boy.
Due to the Lei family incident Mrs. Wu comes clean to her husband about Shi Lang's real gender in order for him to rescue Shi Lang from the Lei family house. Upon arriving at the Lei house Wu Ding Dang and Lei Lao Hu realize they had both met each other years ago. According to Lei Lao Hu they were each other's first love but according to Wu Ding Dang she was a girl he had regretted rescuing from an abandon well since she would stalk him non- stop and couldn't take a hint that he didn't like her. Wu Ding Dong knows that Lei Lao Hu is very powerful in martial arts, knowing he is no match for her and not wanting to offend her he lies to her that if Shi Lang marries any one of her children then it would mean they can't be lovers. He tells her to release Shi Lang and that they will meet up later to discuss their relationship. Lei Lao Hu being selfish chooses her own love life over her children's and releases Shi Lang thinking her and Ding Dong will be married later on. Once the Wu's return to their home they realize they cannot win Lei Lao Hu so they decide to pack up and skip town that same night. The Lei's find out the Wu's had skipped town when each of them later that night individually goes to the Wu family house to look for the person they love.
The Wu's settle at Qing Mao town, because their niece A Hao lives there. A Hao grew up as an orphan but she currently runs a noodle shop that serves very bad tasting noodles. She takes advantage of all the perverted men in town that comes to her noodle shop to watch her make noodles. She is a very stingy girl who loves money and plans to marry a rich man. She has a childhood friend, Lin Chi that is an orphan that grew up with her and works as a carpenter. She actually is in love with him and knows he loves her too but because he is poor and she loves money more she ignores her love for him and his love for her.
The story becomes interesting, when everyone reaches Qing Mao town. Lei Xiao Yu begins to accept Li Ya Shou, while A Hao wants to marry Lei Sheng Da because he comes from a wealthy family. Only Wu Shi Lang felt lonely, because Li Ya Shou is now with Lei Xiao Yu, from there on she begins to accept Lei Sheng Da as her friend since he is so devoted to her. Lei Sheng Da not being able to tell the difference between love and friendship thinks it was the first move to win her heart.
The story ends with Wu Shi Lang and Li Ya Shou becoming lovers, while Lei Xiao Yu found her true love in Chang Ling Lu and they got married. A Hao finally realized that money is not everything and accepted Lin Chi as her husband. Only Lei Sheng Da ended up alone because he only wanted to bless Wu Shi Lang happiness, to make Wu Shi Lang happy was to let her be with the one she loves the most which is Li Ya Shou.