Love Blossoms is the fifth long-running drama, that is being produced by Singapore's free-to-air channel, MediaCorp TV Channel 8. Part 1 was aired from 28 May 2008 to 15 August 2008. It is a loose remake of Double Happiness. Part 1 consists of 58 episodes. Part 2 will start on 2 December 2008.
Cast
*Chen Shucheng as Tao Dashun
* as Tao Zijing
*Felicia Chin as Tao Haitong
*Zheng Geping as Yun Kaiwang
*Constance Song as Tao Linglan
*Koh Yah Hwee as Tao Wenzhu
*Terence Cao as Yu Wenhao
*Zhang Yaodong as Ma Daji Machi
*Chen Tianwen as Lu Gua
Supporting Cast
*Adam Chen as Guo Zipeng
*Ben Yeo as Wang Zhigang
*Patricia Mok as Yun Caixia
*Rayson Tan as Kang Qingxiong
*Priscelia Chan as Ruan Erbo
*Eelyn Kok as Yu Meiwei
*May Phua as Xu Yanning
*Darren Lim as Huang Yezu
*Huang Wenyong as Yu Dong Cheng
*Jin Yin Ji as Su Bao Zuan
*Ng Hui as Gu Xiaolei
*Chen Chuxuan as Lu Yiling
*Hong Huifang as Yu Miaochang
*Lin Meijiao as Pan Qiulian
Minor Characters
*Chen Huihui as Nancy
*Damus Lim as Jason
*Melody Chen as Amy
*Hong Guotuo as Wang Fa
*Renfred Ng as Zhiyang
Cameos
*Pornsak as Himself
Sypnosis
Guilt of the Father
Widower Tao Dashun runs a floral nursery business Tao Garden . He has four daughters; however, he is not expressive with his affections and his daughters become very distant from him as they grow up.
Dashun has been estranged from his eldest daughter Linglan ever since he personally sent her to a drug rehabilitation centre when she was 18. The rebellious Linglan did not return home after her release. She gave birth to a daughter Yiling and after her boyfriend abandoned her, both begin living with a bookie Lu Gua who often looks for opportunities to violate Yiling .
Yiling becomes good friends with Dashun by coincidence and through this Linglan is reunited with her father. Linglan is indifferent to Dashun's good intentions to make things up to her. Lu Gua on the other hand takes advantage of Dashun's guilt to reap benefits out of him.
Gambling woes
Dashun's second daughter Zijing is married to a flower vendor Yun Kaiwang and they have a daughter. Due to financial constraints, she has decided not to try for a son – a decision that places her at odds with her mother-in-law Su Baozuan . Kaiwang's sister Caixia moves back home with her husband Kang Qingxiong when his business fails and becomes a bankrupt. As Caixia is not on cordial terms with Zijing, this further fuels the existing bad blood with her mother-in-law.
Qingxiong instigates Kaiwang to get a second wife overseas to bear him a son. Kaiwang is tempted and his indecisiveness causes Zijing to leaves home. While trying to win her back, Kaiwang discovers that she is an incorrigible gambler and even owes huge debts to loan-sharks. In a fit of anger, Kaiwang suggests a divorce and insisted that she quit her habit before reuniting with him.
The cheats and the cheatings
Qingxiong's second wife Ruan Erbo arrives from Vietnam to look for him. He forces Kaiwang to be his scapegoat and the latter reluctantly agrees to protect his sister's marriage. However, Erbo falls in love with Kaiwang and Zijing misunderstands that Kaiwang has really taken a second wife. She goes to Malacca to nurse her bruised feelings. Kaiwang follows in pursuit and an opportunity to reunite is interrupted by an accident which leaves Zijing unconscious. Thinking that Zijing has given up on him for good, Kaiwang returns to Singapore.
Qingxiong uses Kaiwang's name to operate a match-making agency. With that as a front, Qingxiong encourages his clients to source for second wives overseas and even organizes lustful escapades for his male clients. Kaiwang, too distracted and depressed with his family problems, leaves the business in Qingxiong's care. Unbeknownst to him, what Qingxiong is doing is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode…
Flower Nursery Fight
Dashun's third daughter Haitong is an aggressively enterprising and achievement-oriented young woman who runs a hamper cum floral business with her boyfriend Guo Zipeng .
Dashun sells his nursery to American-born Chinese Ma Daji to clear Zijing's gambling debts. Knowing nothing about nursery operation, he is manipulated by Haitong into signing a contract which not only provides flowers to her company at a low price but also hires Dashun at an exorbitant salary. Daji is helpless when he realizes that he has been taken advantage of.
When Haitong discovers that Zipeng is two-timing her, she gives up the relationship and business to return to the nursery. Her determination and enthusiasm changes Daji's perception of her. As the nursery's business grows under their cooperation, so do their affections for each other. Daji's parents decide to venture into the China market and suggest that he sell off the nursery to join them in their business. Daji hopes that Haitong would ask him to stay but she does not want to use their relationship to tie Daji down. Dejected, Daji leaves for China.
Self-referencing of Mediacorp
Dashun's youngest daughter Wenzhu is an undergraduate with countless suitors but she only has eyes for Daji. Talent-scouted by the to act in a drama, she inadvertently offends a popular actress Xu Yanning who makes things difficult for her. Wenzhu's conflict with Yanning and her close friendship with image consultant Wang Zhigang become a talking point for the media. Worried that her public image will be affected, Wenzhu distants herself from Zhigang, unaware that he has already fallen in love with her. When the media brands him a sissy and even a gay, Wenzhu breaks off their friendship for the sake of her career.
Dashun realizes he also has a son Wenhao from his affair with Liang Miaochang 20 years ago. Miaochang eventually married Yu Dongcheng and lied that Wenhao is her foster son. Both have a daughter Meiwei . Unhappy with her marriage, Miaochang furthers her studies overseas, leaving Wenhao and Meiwei in Dongcheng's care. When Miaochang returns and realizes that Wenhao has not been well taken care of by Dongcheng, she decides to acknowledge Wenhao and bring him back to Australia.
Lu Gua's henchmen come to seek revenge on Wenhao, injuring Wenzhu accidentally. The injury leaves her with a clot in her brain which causes her severe headaches and affecting her acting career greatly. The once-cheerful girl retreats into seclusion.
The path ahead
Miaochang is killed in a road accident and her death throws Wenhao into a stage of despair. Dashun could not bear to see his son like that and decides to come clean about his relationship with him. He announces his decision to acknowledge Wenhao and his intention to take care of Linglan's family. Dashun believes that the family reunion will be a new beginning but little does he realise that Wenhao and the vindictive Linglan's return will pose unimaginable challenges to his life and to Tao Garden...
''''
Trivia
*Part 1 was initially scheduled to be 55 episodes, but extended to 58 episodes due to overruns in filming.
Response
*Despite this show having less quarreling scenes compared to the last two long running Mediacorp serials, and Portrait of Home, many watchers feel that this drama is boring and draggy, and like its predecessors, copied a lot of Yi Nan Wang, a Taiwanese long running drama's story and plot.
*This drama has recorded the lowest viewership rating of all 5 long running dramas produced by MediaCorp. Average viewership was at a low of only 660 000.
*Many viewers like the pairing of Haitong and Zipeng.
*Many watchers think that there is no chemistry between Ivy Lee and Zheng Geping, and feel that Mediacorp should not have casted them as husband and wife.
*Many watchers feel that the story involving the triangle relationship between Huang Yezu , Xu Yanning and Yu Meiwei is out of place.
*Other watchers feel that this drama has a touch of humour added to it, and makes it a very light-hearted, funny serial.
*This drama managed to get its all time highest viewership during its last week with about 788000 viewers
