Wealthy Woman Reportedly Cast Herself Opposite Young Actor In Self-Funded Drama; Added 60+ Kissing Scenes

People spend money to make their dreams come true all the time.

One wealthy woman in China allegedly used hers to star opposite her favourite actor — and kiss him more than 60 times.

Yes, really.

Director Meng Xing said her production company had been hired by the investor to produce a customised microdrama starring... the investor herself.

The woman not only cast herself as the female lead, but also personally selected 23-year-old actor Zhong Yufei, a rising star in China's booming microdrama industry, to play her on-screen love interest.

Her age has not been disclosed.

According to Chinese media, Yufei played a down-on-his-luck prince, while the investor cast herself as his princess.

If that wasn't unusual enough, the woman allegedly insisted on including more than 60 kissing scenes in a drama spanning just over 50 episodes.

The two leads kissed so frequently that crew members joked there was a kissing scene every few steps.

Things later took a more serious turn.

Yufei posted a video alleging that the investor repeatedly crossed his personal boundaries during filming.

He claimed he found himself increasingly uncomfortable as more intimate scenes were added to the script.

Ironically, viewers never even saw all 60-plus kisses.

After filming wrapped, the streaming platform reportedly removed more than 20 kissing scenes, deeming some of them too intimate.

The edits reportedly disrupted the storyline so much that some viewers even assumed the two leads had secretly fallen in love off-screen.

As the story gained traction online, rumours began circulating that director Meng Xing herself was the wealthy investor.

She has since denied the speculation, explaining that her company had simply been commissioned to produce the customised series.

Meng further alleged that after the platform removed many of the kissing scenes, the investor refused to pay the remaining 30,000 yuan (S$5,700) production fee.

She said she only decided to speak publicly after the payment dispute arose.

According to Meng, she had also tried to persuade the investor to reduce the number of kissing scenes during production, but was unsuccessful.

When the drama later received poor reviews, the investor allegedly blamed the editing team instead.

Meng's production company has since apologised to Yufei and said it will introduce clearer contractual protections for actors and better define responsibilities for future customised productions.

For many Chinese netizens, the saga brought back memories of the infamous 1998 Taiwanese drama Ximen Wuhen, in which investor Yang Jungjun, nicknamed "Auntie Ximen", cast herself opposite much younger leading men.

The series became notorious for its awkward on-screen romances and remains a pop culture reference whenever wealthy investors cast themselves as the romantic lead.

Only this time, there was a lot more kissing.