"The Prince Who Turns into a Frog"?
Upon hearing the title, Jiang Ling's spirits immediately lifted.
This was an idol drama classic among classics, a divine existence.
She remembered that when this drama first aired, it captivated everyone, its ratings exploded, and it shattered the highest viewership record set by "Meteor Garden."
It wasn't until three years later that it was surpassed by "Fated to Love You."
Even so, "The Prince Who Turns into a Frog" remained the second-highest-rated television drama in Taiwan's rankings.
The classic aspects of this drama were innumerable.
However, what audiences most frequently praised, and what Jiang Ling considered the most classic, was the portrayal of the male lead, Shan Junhao, as a domineering CEO.
Idol dramas were the dreams of young girls.
Every girl who dreamed hoped to meet a Prince Charming.
And in today's world, where monarchies have been widely abolished in most countries, the domineering CEO was an alternative embodiment of Prince Charming.
In the entertainment industry where idol dramas flourished, domineering CEOs emerged one after another, but each portrayal was more cringeworthy than the last.
Many celebrities, relying on their looks, donned suits and genuinely believed they were domineering CEOs, unaware of how greasy they appeared, how disgusting their words and actions were.
When it came to a textbook example of a domineering CEO, Shan Junhao was the top recommendation.
"Destiny has already decided, it was my impulsiveness, your sweet talk pushed me into a trap, how can I muster the strength to open my eyes to you, to fall for you..."
As this familiar song "Bewitched" played, the image of Shan Junhao in the drama, stepping out of a car in a black suit, involuntarily surfaced in Jiang Ling's mind.
No extraneous accessories, no complicated attire, and no messy, flashy embellishments.
A simple, pure black suit perfectly showcased Shan Junhao's cold handsomeness.
This aura of nobility, radiating from within, was what a domineering CEO should possess.
Many male actors today playing domineering CEOs adopted a uniform poker face, as cold as ice, with a constipated expression as if the world owed them billions, believing this made them appear domineering and stylish.
They failed to realize that domineering coldness stemmed from a powerful inner self, not from an unapproachable, expressionless facade.
The reason Shan Junhao was hailed as the textbook of domineering CEOs lay in his multi-faceted and complex expressions—sometimes confident, sometimes aloof, sometimes gentle, sometimes deeply affectionate—making him appear incredibly vivid, three-dimensional, and lifelike.
Even more so, in the drama, his every word and action, the quality and upbringing he displayed, made him seem like a noble gentleman.
No matter how much he disliked someone, he would not spew insults or fly into a rage, but merely look at them with a disdainful yet polite smile.
In contrast, some so-called domineering CEOs, not only had expressionless faces but also frequently yelled at the female lead, even resorting to physical violence to demonstrate their dominance.
They mistook rudeness, lack of manners, and poor upbringing for domineering coolness and individuality, making viewers' blood pressure spike.
And precisely these types of men were the ones Jiang Ling detested the most, the ones who disgusted her.
Shan Junhao's portrayal of a domineering CEO cemented "The Prince Who Turns into a Frog" as a classic.
When Jiang Ling watched "The Prince Who Turns into a Frog" back then, she was truly captivated by Ming Dao's portrayal of Shan Junhao.
Like other lovesick girls, she too dreamed of having a Prince Charming like Shan Junhao.
With the exemplary domineering CEO Shan Junhao as a precedent, she truly couldn't stand other domineering CEOs.
At the time, it wasn't just her; many people online were complaining that domineering CEOs no longer acted like domineering CEOs.