Okay, I actually liked The Story of Pearl Girl, and obviously my husband Liu Yuning is here, which automatically gave it some extra help. 😂❤️
But that ending??
Excuse me???
After FORTY episodes, you are really going to make me sit there trying to figure out whether this man is alive or dead? 😭
The Story
Duanwu starts out as a pearl diver trapped in an absolutely horrible pearl farm where the workers are basically treated as disposable slaves.
She eventually escapes and crosses paths with Yan Zijing, a wealthy Western Regions merchant who is carrying around approximately seventeen tons of trauma, revenge plans, secrets, and Liu Yuning height. 😂
Duanwu joins his merchant caravan and slowly works her way up from having basically nothing to becoming a skilled and successful jewelry merchant.
And this is probably what the drama does best.
Duanwu actually earns her growth.
She doesn't magically become brilliant because the script suddenly announces that she's brilliant. We watch her learn, fail, suffer, adapt, negotiate, and become stronger.
Zhao Lusi was really good here. ❤️
Duanwu
I loved that Duanwu wasn't helpless.
This woman gets thrown into one horrible situation after another and somehow continues going.
She is smart, stubborn, ambitious, and extremely resilient.
And after everything that happens to her caravan, she basically rebuilds herself as Su Muzhe and starts again.
I really liked watching her become successful on her own rather than having the entire story revolve around whether she gets the man.
That said…
I still wanted the man. 😂
Yan Zijing ❤️
HELLO HUSBAND. 😂
Liu Yuning plays Yan Zijing exactly the way I like these morally questionable historical men:
- mysterious
- powerful
- traumatized
- ridiculously capable
- slightly terrifying
- secretly very soft toward one woman
Unfortunately, Yan Zijing also suffers from one of my least favorite male-lead diseases:
“I must hurt you and push you away because I'm protecting you.”
Sir.
COMMUNICATE. 😭🤦♀️
I understand why he does it. The Black Dragon Bandits are targeting everyone around him, and he knows he is dying from the poison in his body.
But intentionally making Duanwu hate him instead of telling her the truth still irritated me.
The Romance ❤️
The romance is important, but this is definitely not primarily a romance drama.
Duanwu and Yan Zijing become a couple around Episode 16, and their first kiss comes around Episode 17.
And then…
Episode 18 happens.
Because apparently happiness was getting dangerous. 🙄
The caravan is attacked, several people are killed, Duanwu misunderstands what Yan Zijing did during the attack, and Yan Zijing decides the perfect solution is to deliberately let her believe the worst about him.
He basically forces the breakup because he thinks she will be safer without him.
I understand the reasoning.
I still hate the trope. 😂
And it lasts WAY too long for me.
Duanwu doesn't learn the truth until around Episode 29, and they don't really start becoming romantically close again until around Episode 31.
That is a huge portion of a 40-episode drama spent with the main couple emotionally separated.
No thank you.
Chemistry & Kissing 🔥
Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning have good chemistry, especially once Yan Zijing starts dropping some of his cold-master act.
Their quieter emotional scenes actually worked better for me than some of the straightforward romance.
But I wanted more romantic payoff.
The relationship gets established fairly early, which I liked, but then the breakup/separation wipes out so much of their actual couple time.
Give me my husband being affectionate!
I did not hire Liu Yuning for suffering only. 😂
The Caravan 😭
The Episode 18 caravan attack was BRUTAL.
This is where the drama suddenly decides that emotional stability is overrated and starts murdering people we have spent half the drama getting attached to.
Little Shrimp especially. 😭
The deaths completely change Duanwu and the direction of the story.
After that, the drama almost feels like it enters an entirely different phase.
The first half is more adventure, survival, caravan life, revenge, and the developing romance.
The second half becomes much more focused on Duanwu rebuilding herself, jewelry businesses, political schemes, and uncovering the truth behind the past.
I preferred the first half.
The Breakup 🙄
Yes, there is an actual breakup/separation.
This isn't just an argument.
Yan Zijing intentionally pushes Duanwu away after the caravan attack because:
- enemies are targeting people around him
- he believes she will be safer away from him
- he knows the poison in his body may kill him
- he doesn't want her tied to someone who may die
Romantically noble?
Maybe.
Still annoying?
Absolutely. 😂
Especially because Duanwu spends so long believing he betrayed her.
The Ending 😐
THIS is where the drama lost points for me.
Yan Zijing's poisoning gets worse.
There is no successful antidote.
He starts preparing for his death.
He arranges for his possessions to go to Duanwu.
Duanwu knows what is happening.
They spend some genuinely beautiful final time together, including walking through the night market while people wish them a long marriage and children.
Which is honestly CRUEL considering what the writers are about to do. 😭
And then…
Yan Zijing basically disappears.
We do not see him die.
We do not get confirmation that he survived.
We do not get some miraculous cure.
We do not get an elderly Duanwu and Yan Zijing together.
Instead, the story eventually gives us Duanwu continuing her travels and then a narration from her decades later.
Yan Zijing isn't mentioned.
So technically the drama leaves a tiny opening where you could tell yourself maybe something happened off-screen.
But come on.
The implication is pretty obvious.
Ending Status
⚠️ Ambiguous/Open Ending — strongly implied tragic for the main couple.
Yan Zijing is never explicitly shown dying, but everything leading into the finale points toward his death, and the drama never confirms that he and Duanwu grow old together.
For me, that is NOT enough romantic closure.
If you're going to ruin my life, at least have the courage to tell me exactly what happened. 😂😭
Final Thoughts
I liked The Story of Pearl Girl.
Zhao Lusi was excellent as Duanwu, Liu Yuning was obviously very welcome in my household 😂❤️, and I really liked watching Duanwu grow from an enslaved pearl diver into a powerful businesswoman who could stand completely on her own.
The first half especially had me.
But the romance loses momentum after the caravan attack, the forced breakup lasts much longer than I wanted, and then the ending refuses to give me a clear answer about Yan Zijing.
And I am sorry, but I do not watch forty episodes to play Choose Your Own Ending. 😭
Either let my couple live happily ever after or tell me you killed the man.
Don't leave Liu Yuning floating around in narrative purgatory. 😂
⭐ Final Rating: 3.5/5
