The Debt of Love

This film (drama)Also known as情之债，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At2008Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin Chinese，Current Douban rating5.8(For reference only)。

Professor Lü Yeping, nearing forty, is about to leave his single life behind. He encounters the famous stage actress Cong Yafen during a heavy rain, and they fall in love at lightning speed, planning to reap the rewards of their love through marriage in less than two months. Ye Ye, Cong Yafen's 16-year-old daughter, firmly opposes her mother's remarriage and hopes for her parents to reunite. She attempts to prevent it with a fierce and almost violent approach. Lü Yeping's mother, Huang Qiuchan, also disapproves. This respected painter believes that her son marrying a woman with a child will not lead to a good outcome, and it extinguishes her hopes of having her own third generation. Although Lü Yeping is a filial son, he believes that love must endure trials to appreciate its beauty. He, with tenderness, tolerance, humor, and even a bit of tact, breaks through the obstacles with Cong Yafen and steps into the realm of marriage. However, Lü Yeping is unaware that his marriage is fraught with immense crisis stemming from another family. This family has the surname Li. The son of his wife, Shang Xuejuan, Li Yongchun, is not the biological child of her husband, Li Zhichang, but the result of her and Lü Yeping's love from their university days 17 years ago. Lü Yeping is unaware that she was already pregnant, and he lost contact with her while studying abroad due to unforeseen circumstances. Li Zhichang is an extremely rough and lazy man. Since he discovered that the son is not his own, he has brutally abused Shang Xuejuan and her son for 17 years. The simple and honest Shang Xuejuan knows her fault and endures it; however, Yongchun's young spirit faces severe trauma, bringing him to the brink of mental breakdown. Shang Xuejuan's in-laws, simple retired workers, forgive their daughter-in-law's deception, feeling that the child is innocent, and they love Yongchun dearly. Yet, faced with their son’s bullying and the inability to afford medical treatment for Yongchun, they fear the child may perish and urge Shang Xuejuan to send Yongchun to the Lü family. Consequently, Lü Yeping's family falls into extreme chaos. Lü Yeping perceives Shang Xuejuan as a schemer and desires to cover up Yongchun's identity from Cong Yafen. However, Huang Qiuchan, with her artist's intuition, firmly believes Yongchun is her grandson and cares for him attentively. Cong Yafen, suspicious of Yongchun, investigates his background through her ex-husband, who works as a security guard at the university, and other means. Ye Ye, who has always wanted to sabotage her mother's marriage, is also secretly investigating. Lü Yeping witnesses Shang Xuejuan's desperate plight and the abuse she suffers from her husband, which deeply troubles him. In an incident of domestic violence, Shang Xuejuan, in self-defense, accidentally injures Li Zhichang and turns herself in to the police. Lü Yeping verifies through a paternity test that Yongchun is indeed his son and feels he has committed an unforgivable sin against both his son and Shang Xuejuan, leading him to seek repentance. With everyone's help, Shang Xuejuan is released from prison. Upon learning the truth, Cong Yafen feels deceived and directs her anger at the Lü family. Ye Ye also seizes this opportunity to launch a fierce attack on Lü Yeping’s character and morals at his school, putting him in a difficult and awkward situation. Despite his troubles, Lü Yeping finds some comfort from the young and beautiful Huang Xiaoyi, a distant relative studying painting under Huang Qiuchan, who secretly loves him. Before she has the chance to confess her feelings, Lü Yeping marries Cong Yafen. Using her clever skills, she comforts Lü Yeping while simultaneously instigating further misunderstandings against Cong Yafen and Ye Ye, exacerbating the family chaos. For the sake of money, Li Zhichang frequently causes trouble at the Lü home, leading Cong Yafen to believe there is an affair between Lü and Shang. Yongchun, frightened, flees to another city, and to prove her innocence, Shang Xuejuan takes poison and commits suicide. This deepens Lü Yeping's sense of guilt. Ignoring Cong Yafen's feelings, he stubbornly continues his acts of atonement and gratitude, offering significant help to Shang Xuejuan and her in-laws. Cong Yafen is deeply hurt, and coupled with Huang Xiaoyi’s disruptions, misunderstandings between her and Lü Yeping grow deeper, escalating their conflicts… By the time Lü Yeping realizes he wants to reconcile with Cong Yafen, it is too late; she files for divorce. Unfortunately, on the very day of the divorce, Li Zhichang brings people to the Lü home to rob them. Lü Yeping risks his life to rescue Ye Ye, allowing Cong Yafen and Ye Ye to feel his genuine love for them. For the first time, Ye Ye acknowledges him as a stepfather. However, Cong Yafen bitterly tells her daughter that they are already divorced. Lü Yeping is again single, and now three women—Cong Yafen, Shang Xuejuan, and Huang Xiaoyi—are before him; who will choose to be with him?