LayarHijau – Chinese drama Love O2O, starring Yang Yang and Zheng Shuang, returned to Chinese streaming platforms on September 24 with several major changes. The drama, originally released under the title Love O2O (微微一笑很倾城), is now streaming under the new title A Smile to Remember (一笑倾城), while the female lead Bei Weiwei, originally played by Zheng Shuang, now appears with actress Wang Zhuyue’s face using AI technology.
Love O2O first premiered in 2016 and became one of the most popular Chinese dramas of its time. However, after Zheng Shuang became embroiled in tax evasion and surrogacy controversies, she was subsequently banned from appearing in China’s entertainment industry. The drama was later removed from major streaming platforms in China.
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The drama is now available exclusively on Youku, with its picture quality upgraded to 4K. Aside from the change to the female lead’s face, the storyline and episodes remain the same as the original version.
The return of Love O2O immediately drew attention from Chinese internet users. On its first day back, the drama reportedly climbed to No. 5 on Weibo’s trending search list.
However, the decision to use AI technology to replace Zheng Shuang’s face with Wang Zhuyue’s has sparked debate among viewers. Some said the face replacement looked unnatural, particularly because the facial expressions appeared stiff and did not always match the character’s body movements.
On the other hand, some Yang Yang fans said they were not particularly bothered by the change because they were mainly returning to the drama to see the actor as Xiao Nai. Some comments on social media said that as long as they could still watch Xiao Nai in 4K, the change to the female lead’s face was not a major issue.
The reaction from viewers has therefore been divided. Some have questioned the quality of the face-replacement technology, while Yang Yang’s fans said the change did not affect their reason for returning to a drama that first aired nearly a decade ago.
Wang Zhuyue Confirms She Gave Permission
Wang Zhuyue, the actress whose face was used to replace Zheng Shuang’s as Bei Weiwei, addressed the controversy on September 24.
In a social media post, Wang confirmed that she personally gave permission for her face to be used in the drama. She also apologized because the final result may look very different from the version of Bei Weiwei that viewers have remembered.
“I was the one who gave permission for my face to be used. It may just be very different from the character everyone had in mind. I’m sorry for ruining the character you remembered,” Wang wrote.
She also clarified that the face replacement was not related to her company or the streaming platform. Wang said she has since moved into behind-the-scenes work.
At the end of her post, Wang asked viewers not to be too harsh in their criticism. She said she would listen to their feedback and work on improving any shortcomings.
With these changes, Love O2O has once again become a topic of discussion nearly a decade after its original release, this time because of the major change to its female lead’s appearance through AI technology.
