Down With Love

Xiang Yu Ping (Jerry Yan), a renowned lawyer, is seen by others as cold and ruthless. After Yu-ping’s older brother dies in a car accident he has little choice but take in his brother’s two orphaned children, Yu Fei and Yu Ting (their mother having abandoned them soon after their birth). Every nanny he hires to care for them is either scared off by the mischievous children or ends up trying to seduce him. Fed up, Yu Ping asks his secretary, Yang Duo, to find a nanny that meets his requirements. Having lost all their wealth when their mother died and being abandoned by their father after racking up heavy debts; Yang Duo can not ignore the fact that she needs the money and recommends her younger sister, Yang Guo (Ella Chen), for the job; assuring Yu Ping that her tomboyish sister will not fall in love with him by lying that she is a lesbian. Yang Guo struggles to get along with Yu Fei and Yu Ting at first. She often gets into trouble and costly predicaments due to the pranks that the two kids play on her. However she senses that the children are only acting out to get attention from their uncle. After convincing Yu Ping to play a bigger role in the children’s lives, the children’s behaviour dramatically improves. Meanwhile, Yu Ping has been in a secret relationship with superstar Hui Fan for the past 7 years. Due to the nature of her work, Hui Fan is often away for months at a time. On her most recent visit, Yu Ping gets fed up with the secrecy and the two fight. The two eventually reconcile and Yu Ping proposes, however Hui Fan feels smothered and breaks up with him. She immediately regrets her decision but her manager persuades to focus on her career, and she leaves the country. Yu Ping is heartbroken at first, but is cheered up by Yang Guo and the children. After an altercation with a client’s greedy son, Yu Ping, Yang Guo and the children are kidnapped and blackmailed into releasing confidential files. The thugs place a pressure-sensitive bomb in Yu Ping’s mouth and leave, thinking that the explosion to will all evidence of their crime. Yang Guo saves Yu Ping by throwing the bomb out the window, and the police is soon alerted of the location of the crime. After this event, Yu Ping realises that he cares for Yang Guo, and is falling in love with her. However he is stopped from making an advance by the arrival of the children’s mother. Yu Ping has a low opinion of her, and refuses to let the children see her. Yang Guo manages to persuade him to let the children spend a few days a year with her, but after a car accident, Yu Ping realises that the children’s mother really does care for them, and so he gives her full custody. The children move away with their mother, leaving Yang Guo without a job. Yu Ping’s best friend, Ke Zhong, a talented interior designer, offers her a job as his assistant. Yu Ping is a little jealous of this, and often drops in unannounced just to keep her in his life. From this, Ke Zhong figures out that Yu Ping likes Yang Guo. He supports this at first, but changes his tune when Hui Fan returns. Ke Zhong has been in love with Hui Fan since high school, but she chose Yu Ping over him, and he’s stayed her friend out of love. Hui Fan wants Yu Ping back, and begs Ke Zhong to help her. He complies and asks Yang Guo to be his girlfriend, thus taking out Hui Fan’s main competitor. Yang Guo is confused at first, but agrees after Ke Zhong makes a heartfelt (but fake) speech about how much he cares for her. Hui Fan uses this opportunity to tell the media that Yu Ping is her long-term boyfriend, much to Yu Ping’s chagrin. Yu Ping thinks that Ke Zhong genuinely loves Yang Guo, so represses his emotions and supports them. He is unable to rekindle his love for Hui Fan and rejects her. Hui Fan refuses to accept this, and falls ill due to the stress of the situation. Yu Ping feels guilty for causing her decline in health and looks after her. After Hui Fan recovers, she goes to a photo shoot nearby. Yang Guo goes to visit her but accidentally overhears Hui Fan telling her manager that Ke Zhong only asked Yang Guo out so she was no longer in the way of her reconciliation with Yu Ping. Realising that she has been deeply betrayed by someone she thought cared about her, Yang Guo breaks things off with Ke Zhong and disappears. Yu Ping finds out what happens and fully rejects Hui Fan. He takes off to find Yang Guo. He eventually finds her and comforts her. After their breakup, Ke Zhong realises that he actually does love Yang Guo, and tries to win her back. But Yang Guo tells him that she needs to put herself first for once, and rejects Ke Zhang. Yang Guo eventually finds out Yu Ping is in love with her, and realises that she feels something for him too. They finally get together. After a while, Yu Ping proposes and Yang Guo accepts. The series ends 6 years in the future. Yang Guo and Yu Ping have a son, and is pregnant with another child.