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A Lot for a Little

My Little Happiness is a c-drama that will likely become a classic romance, thanks to a clever script, nice plotting and actors who did not phone it in but portrayed their characters with affection and depth.

The series has a big cast, and several subplots surrounding the primary romance between childhood friends Cong Rong (Xing Fei) and Wen Shaoqing (Tang Xiaotian). Rong is a fiesty little girl who can't stand seeing shy, chubby Shaoqing being bullied, and stands up for him. They quickly become best friends, but then Rong's father passes away, and she leaves the school, promising to return and see Shaoqing again, but never does. Twenty or so years later, a very short but quite cute Rong returns from abroad to China for an internship at a law firm, and is assigned to the hospital where the towering and now very handsome Shaoqing works as a neurosurgeon.

There's a lot going on in this drama, from Rong's mom not wanting her to become a lawyer to Shaoqing's poet uncle being unable to move on after being dumped by his first love. Rong also has a rich best friend who is a one-woman wrecking ball, and of course falls for Shaoqing's quiet, thoughtful uncle. There are two rivals for the leads as well, one on each side, and these subplots were handled really well -- always there, but not muddling the story.

The romance happily always takes center stage, and has a surprising sensuality to it for a state-censored production. This is mainly thanks to Tang Xiaotian's smoldering intensity as the hero, and a really surprising amount of skinship throughout the series. There's also the visual surprise provided by the mismatched heights of the leads -- Rong is about two feet shorter than Shaoqing, which always makes them interesting to watch together. If you like realistic kissing scenes, this is the one to see.

I liked this drama enough to watch it every day until I got to the end, which is quite satisfactory, too. I thought the way they handled the final couple of scenes was absolutely adorable, too. Available on Viki.com.

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