Stand or Fall (2023) [+]
Apr 15 2026
Stand or Fall is a Chinese romance-drama running 32 45-minute episodes.
Guan Wen (Qin Lan -- The Rational Life, 2021) is a Business Development Director at fashion brand TL when she is forced out by her new boss. She gets a commitment to be hired by a small mall to head their Business Development department. Ding Ning (Wang Yang) is a rising corporate executive of a conglomerate but his boss sees him as a dangerous rival and so has Ding Ning sent to manage the same small mall that Guan Wen will work for. Turns out they were college sweethearts but she broke up with him for obscure reasons.
Ding Ning is forced to hire Guan Wen and makes it hard for her to do her job (Business Development at a mall is getting companies to open stores there and existing companies to renew for more money). But Guan Wen is rather ruthless doing her job (and one reason she was forced out previously is because she's not a good team player) and as she continues to succeed and work with Ding Ning he realizes he's never gotten over her, changes his heart and decides to win her back.
Meanwhile Guan Wen's two best friends also have their own fairly developed subplots.
Jing Zhi Qiu (Alina Zhang) is a former rising actress who quit, got married to Wang Li Ren (Zhang Duo), and is now a housewife and mother. Her first plot is her husband's pretty assistant is trying to romance him and subtly sabotaging their marriage. After that's done Jing Zhi Qiu realizes she's kind of lost her identity and decide to secretly enroll in a celebrity talent contest with her husband finding out.
Chen Xuan Xuan (Liu Yun) is younger than the other two with a long-time boyfriend Lin Hao (Shawn Wei). She's been dedicated to supporting him and outwardly he's the perfect boyfriend but there are enough audience hints that something is up with him and it's more obvious that his aunt and sister are quite greedy. Meanwhile Chen Xuan Xuan opens up a coffee shop (at Guan Wen's mall) and it becomes a success after she recruits graduate student He Yi Fei (Lawrence Wong) who is both handsome and a great barista. He Yi Fei develops feeling for Xuan Xuan though she doesn't notice because of her boyfriend.
The main romance has two good leads and suitably dramatic. The two other subplots are their own stories and complement the main plot (mostly contrasting the relationships of the three women to their men). All three women are independent and strong (Xuan Xuan a bit less so at first but once crisis hits she becomes determined) and the heroines of their own stories.
Overall very nice series and I quite enjoyed it. MyDramaList indicates there will be a second season (the first season has a good standalone ending no plots left dangling).
Guan Wen (Qin Lan -- The Rational Life, 2021) is a Business Development Director at fashion brand TL when she is forced out by her new boss. She gets a commitment to be hired by a small mall to head their Business Development department. Ding Ning (Wang Yang) is a rising corporate executive of a conglomerate but his boss sees him as a dangerous rival and so has Ding Ning sent to manage the same small mall that Guan Wen will work for. Turns out they were college sweethearts but she broke up with him for obscure reasons.
Ding Ning is forced to hire Guan Wen and makes it hard for her to do her job (Business Development at a mall is getting companies to open stores there and existing companies to renew for more money). But Guan Wen is rather ruthless doing her job (and one reason she was forced out previously is because she's not a good team player) and as she continues to succeed and work with Ding Ning he realizes he's never gotten over her, changes his heart and decides to win her back.
Meanwhile Guan Wen's two best friends also have their own fairly developed subplots.
Jing Zhi Qiu (Alina Zhang) is a former rising actress who quit, got married to Wang Li Ren (Zhang Duo), and is now a housewife and mother. Her first plot is her husband's pretty assistant is trying to romance him and subtly sabotaging their marriage. After that's done Jing Zhi Qiu realizes she's kind of lost her identity and decide to secretly enroll in a celebrity talent contest with her husband finding out.
Chen Xuan Xuan (Liu Yun) is younger than the other two with a long-time boyfriend Lin Hao (Shawn Wei). She's been dedicated to supporting him and outwardly he's the perfect boyfriend but there are enough audience hints that something is up with him and it's more obvious that his aunt and sister are quite greedy. Meanwhile Chen Xuan Xuan opens up a coffee shop (at Guan Wen's mall) and it becomes a success after she recruits graduate student He Yi Fei (Lawrence Wong) who is both handsome and a great barista. He Yi Fei develops feeling for Xuan Xuan though she doesn't notice because of her boyfriend.
The main romance has two good leads and suitably dramatic. The two other subplots are their own stories and complement the main plot (mostly contrasting the relationships of the three women to their men). All three women are independent and strong (Xuan Xuan a bit less so at first but once crisis hits she becomes determined) and the heroines of their own stories.
Overall very nice series and I quite enjoyed it. MyDramaList indicates there will be a second season (the first season has a good standalone ending no plots left dangling).