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| Fans Stunned To Learn Love’s Ambition And The Unseen Sister Came From The Same Book |
The drama world has just thrown fans a curveball: Zhao Lusi’s hit series Love’s Ambition and Zhao Liying’s film The Unseen Sister are actually adapted from the same source novel.
Since its premiere, Love’s Ambition (許我耀眼) starring Zhao Lusi and William Chan has been steadily climbing the ratings chart, with audiences praising its emotional depth.
Zhao Lusi, despite being caught in the middle of an ongoing agency contract dispute, has gained a cheeky nickname from netizens — “Xifu returns to the palace.”
The nickname is a nod to her old role in Untouchable Lovers (Liang Shi Bu Ke), where she played a concubine entangled in palace drama. Fans joke that her intensity on screen now feels like déjà vu.
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But what really sparked buzz recently is the discovery that Zhao Lusi’s character Xu Yan (許妍) in Love’s Ambition is essentially the same as Zhao Liying’s Qiao Yan (喬妍) in The Unseen Sister (喬妍的心事).
Both are drawn straight from Zhang Yueran’s novel Big Qiao, Little Qiao (大喬小喬) — a layered story about two sisters whose lives spiral in opposite directions.
In the book, the elder sister Xu Yan grows up unloved, raised by her grandmother, while her younger sibling Qiao Lin is the family’s pride.
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Jealousy and rivalry fuel their childhood, but adulthood flips the script: Xu Yan finds success as a TV host in Beijing and enters a high-profile romance, while Qiao Lin struggles with school dropout, a difficult pregnancy, and ultimately tragic decline.
The novel explores envy, love, resentment and, eventually, reconciliation.
The two screen adaptations approach the same material differently.
Zhao Liying’s The Unseen Sister leans into the rescue arc and emotional bond between the sisters, giving a bittersweet spotlight to family ties.
Meanwhile, Zhao Lusi’s Love’s Ambition zooms in on Xu Yan’s transformation — from being defined by a failed marriage to standing tall as an independent, radiant woman.
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Zhao Lusi’s performance has been singled out by audiences and colleagues alike.
One standout scene sees Xu Yan break down after being forbidden to sit for the college entrance exam.
Senior actor Feng Hui, who plays her father, publicly praised her delivery, saying the emotion felt raw and moving.
With both versions running side by side in fans’ minds, audiences now get to see how two of China’s biggest stars — Zhao Lusi and Zhao Liying — interpret the same heart-wrenching material, each in their own way.