K-DRAMA FIRST LOOK: “A Virtuous Business” Bares Women’s Innate Grit

A woman’s tenacity in the 1990s was a successful opening pitch for A Virtuous Business.

Set in the 1990s in the rural town of Geumje, the series peeks at how women carve their path to being someone different from what society deems them to be. Starting an interesting business, they need to sell pleasure items and clothing considered indecent at that time.

abbyinhallyuland watches A Virtuous Business on Netflix

Opening Week Rating:


A Virtuous Business Opening Week Highlights

Once crowned a beauty in her youth, Jeong-suk (Kim So Yeon) has struggled to even buy her son a school bag. Her husband’s temper caused him to lose his job and even used the money she saved for their house rent.

Desperate for extra income, she found a job listing that turned out to be selling adult products. Driven by her financial burden, she signed up for the job with Young-bok (Kim Sun Young), a mother of four who also needs money.


“We had signed up already. We have to make it work somehow.”

Needing a house for the adult product sale showcase, Jeong-suk asks Geum-hee (Kim Sung Ryung), the owner of the house where she works as a part-timer, for the venue. Initially, Geum-hui declines because of her good image in the town. But rebelling on her husband, she relents.

When she goes to a salon owned by Joo-ri (Lee Se Hee) for new hair, she encounters the wife of Royal Club president to whom she’s not really close but her husband wants her to be acquainted.

On her way to Geum-hee’s abode, Jung-sook helped an elderly person who caused her to leave the bag of adult stuff needed for the sales event. She asks newly transferred detective, Do-hyun (Yeon Woo Jin) to chase after the bus pleading it is her last hope.

“How could you handle your hope recklessly. I thought you’d keep it more dearly.”

Despite not being able to convince the women of Geumje in their initial pitch, Jeong-suk perseveres due to the mounting expenses they have. But her effort was returned by her lazy husband with an affair she personally witnessed with her friend.

After grieving from the emotional setback, Jeong-suk proceeds to focus on selling adult products. She gets an idea from Joo-ri to research the items and completes the comprehensive research with the help of Young-bok and Geum-hee.

Getting an idea from Joo-ri’s son, Jeong-suk presents the product this time with Joo-ri and Young-bok modeling the lingerie in a tea ceremony themed event. She also shares how the vibrator is used. The showcase was a success and they sold a lot.

Celebrating the success, they paint the town red at the new pub. However, one morning, Jeong-suk wakes up to a text written boldly on one part of her house wall outside, calling out the nature of the new work she’s been doing.


A Virtuous Business Opening Week Musings

In a deeper dive into the women featured in A Virtuous Business, the series emphasizes the resilience of women, married or not, to overcome various difficult situations for their families.

Jeong-suk, Young-bok and Joo-ri are mothers who want to give their all for their children. Meanwhile, Geum-hui is trapped in an unhappy marriage.

Shedding light on how infidelity has long been a concern in marriage situations, the series also highlights the importance of choosing the one you will spend your life with. Red flags have existed even then, and women’s forbearance to tolerate irresponsible husbands is unfortunately thriving.

Week 1 of the series focuses on Jeong-suk’s disheartening life, which involves giving up a bright future to marry her first love, whose motivation does not match hers. It also touches on the love-filled but penniless marriage of Young-bok and the controlling marriage of Geum-hui. We also had a peek at Joo-ri’s single mom life.

Do-hyun is poised to bring the thrill to heighten the engaging narrative of this series. As the Bangpan sisters head to make the adult product business flourish, viewers can anticipate more ruminative situations featuring the triumphs and frustrations of being a woman.

A Virtuous Business streams on Netflix!


 

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