Love or Bread
Encyclopedia
Love or Bread is a 2008 Taiwanese drama
starring Joe Cheng
and Ariel Lin
. It was produced by Gala Television
and driected by Lin He Long (林合隆). This marks the third drama that Cheng and Lin have co-starred together, after It Started With a Kiss
in 2005 and its sequel They Kiss Again
in 2007.
It was first boardcast in Taiwan on free-to-air China Television (CTV)
(中視) from 16 November 2008 to 8 February 2009, every Sunday at 22:00 and cable TV GTV Variety Show/CH 28
(八大綜合台) on 22 November 2008 to 14 February 2009, every Saturday at 21:30.
) is a young man who wears designer labels and thinks he's rather suave when he is actually poor. He had a tragic past and (both his parents died), he doesn't know how to handle money. He borrowed money from the loan sharks but ended up with a gang coming after him. He considers pawning his mother's wedding ring, the only thing he had left of hers, but he couldn't do it.
Zhen Shan Mei (Ariel Lin
) is a poor but very loving, caring, and hard working girl. She has a boyfriend, but he moves to mainland China for university and promises that they will get married after he graduates. Shan Mei goes after him to China in the hope that they will finally get married. Shan Mei's family is against her decision because they need her to support them, but her father literally holds off the rest of the family while yelling to Shan Mei that she should go and be happy. She meets Frank while he's running from the gangsters who loaned him the money—in the ladies bathroom. Thinking that he's a pervert, she reports him to the police and he gets arrested. The ring fell out of Frank's pocket in the girl's bathroom and the policeman stuck it into Shan Mei's bag. He meets Shan Mei once more, this time on the road. He tries to get his ring back from her but she has no idea what he's talking about and she still thinks that he's a pervert. He doesn't get his ring, but he does get to drive her to the airport. When she reaches her destination, she meets her boyfriend and casually mentions "Xiao Bo," his best guy friend. Eventually, her boyfriend cannot take the guilt and admits to Shan Mei that he betrayed her and fell for Xiao Bo, who is actually a girl.
Shan Mei returns to Taiwan with no place to go. She cannot go home because her mother said when she was leaving to China that if she went then she wouldn't be considered a member of the family anymore. Her best friend, Wang Ling Long (Zhang Yu Chen) was constantly nagging at her not to go and even said "don't come crying to me." Shan Mei decides to rent a place by using Frank's ring that the policeman had found. Her neighbouring tenant just happens to be no-one other than Frank.
When they both want money and they are complete opposites. Time came that Shan Mei thinks of ending her life because there is no hope of getting back her boyfriend.
That's when Shan Mei and Frank meet numerous times. But both of them are having money issues so the decide to live together. Little do they know that they both started falling in love with one another.
Insert songs:
In July 2008, GTV announced that lead actress Barbie Hsu
will be replaced by Ariel Lin
. GTV stated that the drama, which was schedule to start shooting in August, had originally casted Lin for the role of Zhen Shan Mei, hence it has now returned to the actress for whom it was originally intended.
Taiwanese drama
Taiwanese Drama refers to dramatic programming of television programming extended stories usually dramatizing relationships through the general range of ten to forty one-hour episodes. They are produced in Taiwan and have gained increasing popularity in the Mandarin-speaking community...
starring Joe Cheng
Joe Cheng
Joseph Cheng, also known as Joe Cheng, was born on 19 June 1982. He is a Taiwanese model, actor and singer. Although he started his career as a model, Cheng is well known for his role as Jiang Zhishu in Taiwanese drama serial version of Japanese manga Itazura Na Kiss, It Started with a Kiss...
and Ariel Lin
Ariel Lin
Ariel Lin |Hakka]]: Lim2 Yi3 Sen2) was born 29 October 1982. She is a Taiwanese actress and singer, who won Best Leading Actress in a Television Series at the 43rd Golden Bell Awards...
. It was produced by Gala Television
Gala Television
Gala Television Corporation is a nationwide cable TV network in Taiwan that is operated by the Gala Television Corporation, established on June 13, 1997.-GTV Channels:GTV currently operates three commercial cable television channels:*GTV One / CH 27...
and driected by Lin He Long (林合隆). This marks the third drama that Cheng and Lin have co-starred together, after It Started With a Kiss
It Started with a Kiss (TV series)
It Started with a Kiss is a Taiwanese drama starring Joe Cheng, Ariel Lin and Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit. It was based on the first 10 volumes of the Japanese manga series Itazura na Kiss written by Kaoru Tada...
in 2005 and its sequel They Kiss Again
They Kiss Again (TV series)
They Kiss Again is a Taiwanese drama starring Joe Cheng, Ariel Lin, Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit and Danson Tang. It is the sequel to It Started With a Kiss which is based on the Japanese manga series Itazura na Kiss written by Kaoru Tada. It was produced by Comic International Productions and...
in 2007.
It was first boardcast in Taiwan on free-to-air China Television (CTV)
China Television
China Television Company, Ltd. was established on September 3, 1968 by the then-ruling Nationalist Party of the Republic of China . The party owned the majority stake of the network...
(中視) from 16 November 2008 to 8 February 2009, every Sunday at 22:00 and cable TV GTV Variety Show/CH 28
Gala Television
Gala Television Corporation is a nationwide cable TV network in Taiwan that is operated by the Gala Television Corporation, established on June 13, 1997.-GTV Channels:GTV currently operates three commercial cable television channels:*GTV One / CH 27...
(八大綜合台) on 22 November 2008 to 14 February 2009, every Saturday at 21:30.
Synopsis
Frank (Joe ChengJoe Cheng
Joseph Cheng, also known as Joe Cheng, was born on 19 June 1982. He is a Taiwanese model, actor and singer. Although he started his career as a model, Cheng is well known for his role as Jiang Zhishu in Taiwanese drama serial version of Japanese manga Itazura Na Kiss, It Started with a Kiss...
) is a young man who wears designer labels and thinks he's rather suave when he is actually poor. He had a tragic past and (both his parents died), he doesn't know how to handle money. He borrowed money from the loan sharks but ended up with a gang coming after him. He considers pawning his mother's wedding ring, the only thing he had left of hers, but he couldn't do it.
Zhen Shan Mei (Ariel Lin
Ariel Lin
Ariel Lin |Hakka]]: Lim2 Yi3 Sen2) was born 29 October 1982. She is a Taiwanese actress and singer, who won Best Leading Actress in a Television Series at the 43rd Golden Bell Awards...
) is a poor but very loving, caring, and hard working girl. She has a boyfriend, but he moves to mainland China for university and promises that they will get married after he graduates. Shan Mei goes after him to China in the hope that they will finally get married. Shan Mei's family is against her decision because they need her to support them, but her father literally holds off the rest of the family while yelling to Shan Mei that she should go and be happy. She meets Frank while he's running from the gangsters who loaned him the money—in the ladies bathroom. Thinking that he's a pervert, she reports him to the police and he gets arrested. The ring fell out of Frank's pocket in the girl's bathroom and the policeman stuck it into Shan Mei's bag. He meets Shan Mei once more, this time on the road. He tries to get his ring back from her but she has no idea what he's talking about and she still thinks that he's a pervert. He doesn't get his ring, but he does get to drive her to the airport. When she reaches her destination, she meets her boyfriend and casually mentions "Xiao Bo," his best guy friend. Eventually, her boyfriend cannot take the guilt and admits to Shan Mei that he betrayed her and fell for Xiao Bo, who is actually a girl.
Shan Mei returns to Taiwan with no place to go. She cannot go home because her mother said when she was leaving to China that if she went then she wouldn't be considered a member of the family anymore. Her best friend, Wang Ling Long (Zhang Yu Chen) was constantly nagging at her not to go and even said "don't come crying to me." Shan Mei decides to rent a place by using Frank's ring that the policeman had found. Her neighbouring tenant just happens to be no-one other than Frank.
When they both want money and they are complete opposites. Time came that Shan Mei thinks of ending her life because there is no hope of getting back her boyfriend.
That's when Shan Mei and Frank meet numerous times. But both of them are having money issues so the decide to live together. Little do they know that they both started falling in love with one another.
Cast
- Joe ChengJoe ChengJoseph Cheng, also known as Joe Cheng, was born on 19 June 1982. He is a Taiwanese model, actor and singer. Although he started his career as a model, Cheng is well known for his role as Jiang Zhishu in Taiwanese drama serial version of Japanese manga Itazura Na Kiss, It Started with a Kiss...
as Frank/ Cai Jing Lai 蔡進來 - Ariel LinAriel LinAriel Lin |Hakka]]: Lim2 Yi3 Sen2) was born 29 October 1982. She is a Taiwanese actress and singer, who won Best Leading Actress in a Television Series at the 43rd Golden Bell Awards...
as Zheng Shan Mei 曾善美 - Bryant ChangBryant ChangBryant Chang is a Taiwanese actor.He won the award for Best New Performer at the 2006 Golden Horse Awards for his performance in Eternal Summer.-Filmography:*Eternal Summer 盛夏光年 *Summer's Tail 夏天的尾巴...
as Jin En Hao 金恩浩 - Zhang Yu Chen as Wang Ling Long 黃玲瓏
- Huang Wen Xing as Wen Xing (himself) 文星
- Lu Xiao Lin as Ye Ke Na 葉可娜
- Wu Jian Fei as Jing Rong 景融
- Zhang Na as Xiao Bo 曉波
- Guo Zi Qian as Zhen Huo Shu 曾火樹
- Lin Mei Xiu as Zhen Huang Shui Liang 曾黃水涼
- Wang Yue Tang as Zeng Xiao Bei 曾小貝
- Yue Yao Li as En Hao's foster father
- Zhao Shun as Wan Ye
Music
- Opening theme song: "億萬克拉的幸福" (Million Dollar Happiness) by Hwang Weng-Sing (黃文星)
- Ending theme song: "麵包的滋味" (The Taste of Bread) by Ariel LinAriel LinAriel Lin |Hakka]]: Lim2 Yi3 Sen2) was born 29 October 1982. She is a Taiwanese actress and singer, who won Best Leading Actress in a Television Series at the 43rd Golden Bell Awards...
Insert songs:
- "If I Could" - Babyface
- "歐兜水" by Hwang Weng-Sing (黃文星)
Production
- Director: Lin He Long
In July 2008, GTV announced that lead actress Barbie Hsu
Barbie Hsu
Barbie Hsu also known as Dà S |Mars]] with Vic Chou of F4. She has also acted in movies, her first being the Chinese movie The Ghost Inside. She also had a singing career prior to her acting career. She was in a duo group called "S.O.S." with her sister Dee Hsu. Their last album was called...
will be replaced by Ariel Lin
Ariel Lin
Ariel Lin |Hakka]]: Lim2 Yi3 Sen2) was born 29 October 1982. She is a Taiwanese actress and singer, who won Best Leading Actress in a Television Series at the 43rd Golden Bell Awards...
. GTV stated that the drama, which was schedule to start shooting in August, had originally casted Lin for the role of Zhen Shan Mei, hence it has now returned to the actress for whom it was originally intended.
International Broadcast
- Philippines - ABS-CBNABS-CBNABS–CBN Corporation is a Philippine-based media conglomerate. It is the Philippines' largest media and entertainment conglomerate. The corporation was the merger of Alto Broadcasting System which at that time owned by James Lindenberg and Antonio Quirino, and the Chronicle Broadcasting Network ...
, from June 15, 2009, every Monday to Fridayat 17:15.