Shen Xing Ren (Alice Ke) is a notorious penny-pincher. She saves every single cent she can squeeze out of her salary at a department store, so she can buy a house and have her mom come live with her. She is the ideal worker – punctual, always willing to take over-time, ready to pitch in wherever she’s needed, and a perfectionist. She lives in a little apartment with a friend and co-worker to help take care of the rent cost and never eats out or spends her money on non-essential items.
Quin Zi Qi (Roy Chiu) is the son of the department store president, and just back from studying abroad. He runs into Shen Xing Ren at the department store, and mistakes her for a temporary employee because she’s filling in for the store mascot, who called in sick. They get in a huge argument when he makes fun of her for having to wear a silly costume for money. she promises revenge if she ever runs into him again, but especially if she ever becomes his boss.
Quin Zi Qi has big ideas for where he wants the company to go in the future, but his dad isn’t buying into any of them. In fact, his dad tells him he is out of touch with both the customers and the store’s employees, and he needs to learn about the company from the ground up before any of his ideas will be worth anything. Plus Zi Qi’s spoiled to boot, and has no idea how to do a normal person’s job.
Zi Qi and his dad make a bet. If he can come into the company at the absolute bottom, and work his way up in the company for a year, without telling anyone about his connections, his father will reconsider some of his business plans. But, that means that Quin Zi Qi will have to live on a normal salary as a normal person without any of the perks he’s been used to. And if anyone finds out who he really is or starts to show him preferential treatment, the whole deal is off.
His dad gives him an advance on his first paycheck, and then to Zi Qi’s complete shock, does exactly what they’ve just agreed. The president cuts off all contact with Zi Qi and gets his secretary to find Zi Qi a cheap apartment in a crummy run down building outside the department store. Quin Zi Qi no longer has a car, credit cards, or most of his fancy clothes. His dad has changed the locks to the family house, and he can’t even get in to pick up any extra things or keepsakes. This puts a real crimp in Zi Qi’s plans to woo one of the assistant managers, Zheng Kai Er (Tia Lin), but he’s pretty sure he’ll still manage it somehow,
To add insult to injury, Quin Zi Qi gets to work, and Shen Xing Ren is not only in his department (and his senior at the company), but she also gets assigned to oversee his training. Which is perfect for exacting her revenge. Just when he thinks things can’t get any worse, it turns out the two of them also live in the same apartment building, so she bullies him around at home too.
Shen Xing Ren slowly starts to show Quin Zi Qi the value of hard work and living inside a budget, and Quin Zi Qi shows Shen Xing Ren it’s ok to have a little fun once and a while, even though they still kind of hate each other guts sometimes.
This is an incredibly fun show, and while not especially deep, manages to pretty much convey everything it has in the best light possible. It is also one of the rare shows where I liked all of the characters in it, and the supporting cast just made the show that much stronger. It lost me a little bit with relationship triangles in the second half, but managed to pull me back in and still have a satisfying ending. A good introduction to Taiwanese romantic comedies if you haven’t watched any before. Just as a side note, the opening theme song is one of those peppy songs that worms its way into your head and won’t leave it all day. Really fun.
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Office Girls aired on SETTV in Taiwan and has 25 episodes.
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