Love at Risk

Love At Risk (also called Love@Risk, Chinese: 爱情风险) is a Mediacorp Channel 8 romance drama that will broadcast from 5 August 2013 to 30 August 2013 and consist of 20 episodes. The main casts are Tay Ping Hui, Joanne Peh, Kate Pang, Zhang Yao Dong, Xiang Yun and Shane Pow.

Synopsis

The story begins at an old market with a history that goes back more than two decades. Wu Qishan (Tay Ping Hui), a stallholder selling fruits, is an ordinary “uncle” and a maths whiz. He never makes mistakes in calculating the prices of his fruits and he can solve any mathematical problems. The stallholders in the market nicknamed him “573”. In his spare time, Qishan helps out at his mother’s (Xiang Yun) vegetable stall but she is cold towards him.

It turns out that Qishan was previously holding a senior position at a finance company. At the age of 30, he became a high flyer in his field. Subsequently, Qishan sets up his own investment company. He identifies an investment product and manages to pull in a number of clients. However, short of $500,000, he discusses with his parents to mortgage their house to secure a loan for him. Both of them reject the idea. As Qishan is full of confidence in himself, he cons his father into signing the mortgage documents and invests the loan obtained.

Unfortunately, Qishan’s risk calculation did not involve being conned by his partner cum girlfriend, Lu Huiting (May Phua). Saddled with a $2 million debt, he is not only declared a bankrupt but has to serve a jail term. Qishan’s father, devastated that he has been deceived into mortgaging his house, falls ill and dies in hospital. As a result, Qishan’s mother does not forgive her son. After he is released from prison, Qishan goes back to see his mother but is driven out of the house. He is given shelter by Wang Li’an (Zhang Yao Dong), son of Chicken King (Chen Guo Hua), a stall vendor in the market.

Ever since Huiting left, and after he has been released from prison, Qishan often visits her grandfather at “Happy Canine Home”, a private shelter for stray dogs. One day, Qishan and Huiting’s dog meets with an accident. A female volunteer at the dog shelter took the dog to a vet. Qishan sees the handkerchief she leaves behind which arouses his curiosity about its owner.

Xin Sisi (Joanne Peh), a rich man’s daughter, is a risk management analyst who assesses investment risks for her clients. One day, she is hounded by a seller which ends up in a car accident. Thankfully, she is saved by a mysterious person. While looking for her savior in the market, Sisi gets into a series of misunderstandings with Qishan so both parties have a bad impression of each other. At the same time, Sisi mistakes Li’an for her savior. Upon finding out that Sisi is the only daughter of the Chairman of Xin Group, Li’an woos her aggressively. Sisi has no lack of suitors, however, she is careful about plunging into a relationship so she scrutinizes everyone of them. Sisi’s housemate is her good friend, Liao Meihao (Kate Pang). Unlike Sisi, Meihao is always seeking a relationship in the hope of finding Mr Right. She pulls Sisi in as a partner to set up “Meihao Marriage Agency”.

Meihao advises Sisi to accept Li’an, only to find out that he is Meihao’s “perfect one” in a previous relationship. Li’an is exposed as a love cheater.

Li’an thinks that he has a lot of ideas and wants to start a business, but he lacks capital. As a freelance fitness trainer, he meets many women. A lady killer with a glib tongue, he seeks out women with wealth and power to support his business. He is every bit a slick love cheater.

A chance meeting leaves Li’an and Meihao with a good impression of each other. Li’an starts courting Meihao after learning that she is the boss of a marriage agency. In time to come, he falls in love with Meihao. When Meihao later exposes his true colours, their relationship turns sour. They bicker upon seeing each other and frequently ruin each other’s plans.

In his new business, Li’an gets to know Beauty Foo (Hong Hui Fang), Sisi’s mother who manages a spa. With new capital inflow, his business prospers. Unfortunately, it goes bust and Hei-ge (Brandon Wong) harasses Li’an for repayment of loan. To reduce the debt, Hei-ge asks Li’an to introduce Qishan’s younger sister, Qiyu (Tracy Lee), to him. Qiyu helps out at the vegetable stall, but unwittingly becomes an advertisement star. She thus gets to know Yuanman (Shane Pow), an assistant director, who happens to be Meihao’s younger brother.

Qishan disapproves of Li’an’s behavior and the two buddies fall out with each other. Li’an steals his late mother’s jewellery. Enraged, Chicken King chased him out of the house. Down and out, Li’an meets Meihao. Seeing that Li’an is being pressed to repay his debt, she takes Li’an in out of compassion. With Meihao as mediator, Li’an apologises to Chicken King and Qishan. He manages to borrow money from Sisi to pay his debt. Touched by Meihao’s kindness, Li’an pursues her. Just when their love is blossoming, Meihao discovers that she has breast cancer, leaving her in a dilemma.

Qishan and Sisi meet again because of an upgrading project at a club. Sisi has the mistaken notion that Qishan and the site supervisor are teaming up against her. The site supervisor plays a prank on Sisi but it causes Qishan and Sisi to be trapped in a lift instead. It was then that Sisi realises that Qishan was the one who saved her life previously. In the dark, a strange feeling develops between them. Later, Qishan sees the amiable side of Sisi at the dog shelter and realises that she is the volunteer he saw on another occasion, and owner of the handkerchief. He develops a liking for her. As both possess a strong character, they rein in their emotions. But their union is predestined. Sisi finally decides to plunge into a relationship while Qishan takes another gamble in love. The two of them become an item.

At this juncture, Sisi meets Hao Jiyi (Wee Kheng Ming), a senior in school whom she had a crush on. Qishan and Sisi’s relationship is put to a test. Will their love be at risk?

Cast

• Tay Ping Hui as Wu Qishan a.k.a. 573
• Joanne Peh as Xin si si
• Kate Pang as Liao Meihao
• Zhang Yao Dong as Wang Li'an
• Xiang Yun as Shi Sanmei
• Shane Pow as Liao Yuanman
• Tracy Lee as Wu Qiyu a.k.a. 571
• Wee Kheng Ming as Hao Jiyi
• May Phua as Lu Huiting
• Hong Hui Fang as Fu Meili (Beauty Foo)
• Brandon Wong as Hei-ge
• Bryan Chan as Wang Yacai (Chicken King)
• Priscelia Chan as Peng Nana
• Ye Shi Pin as Xin Xiaotian
• Chen Tian Xiang as Xu Dadi

Trivia

• Zhang Yao Dong's 2013 drama after Joys of Life in 2012.
• Snippets of the next episode are shown during the ending credits of each episode.

Overseas broadcast

This drama is the twelfth drama on Malaysian satellite television Astro to be broadcast concurrently with Singapore, two weeks' behind the original telecast.^[1]

Country of Broadcast	Broadcasting Network	Premiere	Finale	Preceded by	Followed by
Malaysia	Astro Shuang Xing	22 August 2013 at 4.30pm, weekdays (encore on 23 August at 3.30pm, weekdays)	18 September 2013 (encore on 19 September)	The Dream Makers	Sudden

2014 Accolades

Love @ Risk is nominated for 2 awards in the Star Awards, for the Young Talent Award and Best Supporting Actress.

See also

• List of MediaCorp Channel 8 Chinese Drama Series (2010s)
• List of Love At Risk episodes

References