"Lean by Heart"

The Girl Who Strives to Lose Weight While Pursuing the Dreamy Businessman

Genre Romantic comedy and Family,

Heuy Ling, the youngest daughter of the top bakery factory, was on the verge of being kicked out by her genuine mother because she was stuck in a cycle of disappointment, surrounded by layers of increasing fat due to her lack of willingness to do anything. Heuy Ling had to survive by seeking out Wang Liwei, a wealthy businessman she once saved, but he didn't remember her due to his memory loss. The only way for her to survive was to compete in Unicorn Thailand to prove herself to her family and sell the only program in the world to the dreamy businessman.

Synopsis

Heuy Ling, a female programmer who wanted to start a small business and separate herself from the family business, opened an online art toy store with her boyfriend, Prinn, whom she had been dating for 6 years since university. They had planned to save up to buy a house and get married, but unexpectedly, her manager sent her abroad for a job opportunity.

During her time abroad, she unexpectedly met former high school classmates Nunn, who invited her to collaborate. This opportunity helped Heuy Ling and her boyfriend expand their customer base.

As Heuy Ling's work assignment neared its conclusion, she crossed paths with Wang Liwei, a renowned tech-startup idol. Battling insomnia due to obesity-related health issues and anxiety, exacerbated by Nunn's growing proximity to Prinn, Heuy Ling found herself struggling through sleepless nights. This led to a restless night where she coincidentally encountered a prominent entrepreneur and scholar. Recognizing her tendency to sleep alone, the mogul assumed her to be solitary. During a break, Wang Liwei accidentally bumped into Heuy Ling, leading them to a secluded part of the building. Suddenly, an esteemed businessperson experienced a panic attack triggered by Post traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) stemming from the tragic death of his wife. In a bid to maintain confidentiality, the tycoon's secretary implored Heuy Ling to keep the encounter discreet.

Upon returning to Thailand earlier than planned, Heuy Ling discovered she had been cheated on. She decided to quit her job due to exhaustion and spent her time playing games and watching movies. Her parents were frustrated with their daughter's lack of discipline, influenced by her difficult upbringing in a turbulent era. Despite the potential and supportive family, Heuy Ling struggled due to accumulated stress and strains in her past relationships.

Wang Liwei, a charismatic and forward-thinking tech executive in his forties, grappled with mental health obstacles arising from past traumas and life's hardships. While aspiring to scale his business worldwide, he wrestled with lingering personal issues. Seeking solace, he traveled to Thailand with his therapist and set up a foundation in memory of his late wife, supported by Zoei, a well-known businesswoman who was a relative to Melisa, constantly seeking investment opportunities. Zoei was a prominent figure in the Thai beauty business and planned to open a cutting-edge Wellness Center. She envisioned expanding her business globally and teaming up with Loofy, an exceptional physical therapist who had been recruited back to work with her.

Zoei looked for ways to gather ideas from young people through the project "Thailand Unicorn." Heuy Ling was dragged into signing up by her close friend, Loofy, even though Heuy Ling had been hesitant. Heuy Ling's parents and sister-in-law had planned to cut her out of the family business because she hadn't achieved enough outstanding accomplishments. However, Heuy Ling believed she didn't need to struggle because she had an old winning idea from a high school competition. She decided to visit Wang Liwei and threatened to reveal a secret. This allowed her to stay comfortably in the family's large bakery factory.

Unexpectedly, during a visit to the temple where Wang Liwei donated, Heuy Ling appeared, trying to disrupt things, but Wang Liwei didn't remember her at all. Heuy Ling coincidentally threw a divining stick to ask the gods how she could pass the family's test, but it landed pointing to Wang Liwei. Zoei, who knew everything about Wang Liwei and their encounter at the business conferences, caused a commotion that separated them. Heuy Ling felt challenged and misunderstood, not fitting in the same league as Zoei. This was combined with anger from an ex-lover claiming that their relationship ended because of Heuy Ling's excessive weight, leading her to dangerously lose weight with diuretics and fat-reducing pills.

Encouraged by her older brother and sister-in-law to recover, Heuy Ling realized that if she didn't try again, she would just waste her life, even though she wasn't yet 30. With support from her family and Loofy, Heuy Ling decided to compete in Thailand Unicorn to meet Wang Liwei once more and to sell her self-made application.

Ping-an, Heuy Ling's mother, was pleased that her daughter was back as a determined person to compete in the Zoei competition. She always felt guilty about being distant from her daughter when she traveled abroad to build a bakery factory during Heuy Ling's teenage years and a crucial competition. After failing to understand her mother, Heuy Ling started gaming and became withdrawn. She did not participate in the Olympic camp despite passing the exam and kept her ASMR work to comfort herself as her mother had little time to listen.

Wang Liwei had a nightmare the night before becoming a mentor on the Thailand Unicorn show, making difficulties for him to sleep. When it was time to choose a team to advise, he was left with only the team of Heuy Ling, which had the least advantage in the competition.

Heuy Ling, Wann, and Bright, three unfamiliar people, joined Thailand Unicorn as Team Panda to create a business model for a health business called Lean by Heart. It focused on individualized exercise and nutritional therapy using AI as a consultant. The other three competing teams brought popular businesses such as cosmetic surgery, investment, and matchmaking. Developing relationships with their coach and teammates allowed Heuy Ling to open up about family issues that arose from the generation gap between Gen X and Gen Z. Together, they solved health issues faced by Heuy Ling, sponsorship problems for Bright in the competition, and work-related stress for Wann. Heuy Ling's older brother and sister-in-law had opened their home as a retreat for supporting team Panda.

Wang Liwei's valuable presence helped three young entrepreneurs realize their dreams, advancing his mental health progress to the point of Exposure Therapy through AI via VR. This helped resolve lingering issues with his ex-wife, leading to increased emotional openness towards Heuy Ling. Wang Liwei used ASMR to soothe himself into sleep for years, unaware that the soothing sounds he enjoyed were actually made by Heuy Ling. Meanwhile, Zoei seized the competition opportunity to leverage her relationship with Wang Liwei for media attention to promote their project.

Nunn constantly teased and pressured Heuy Ling about her appearance, leading her to exercise intensely to fit the image as the owner of the Lean by Heart app. While Heuy Ling was working out vigorously, Wang Liwei planned to secretly conduct Exposure Therapy on his own. However, Heuy Ling fell out before he could do so. When he carried her to the infirmary, he discovered some repressed memories. They had met during a previous intense event, and when he looked at her from a different perspective, he saw beauty from within, particularly her rare sincerity and honesty, qualities hard to find in most women who approached him. After collapsing for a second time, Heuy Ling's family acknowledged her efforts and returned the redistributed profits. Health issues from accumulated fat and lack of rest prompted her parents to suggest withdrawing from the competition and investing the Lean by Heart business fund instead of the prize money. However, Heuy Ling believed she should step out of her comfort zone that her parents and older brother shielded, so she insisted on continuing to compete to build her own business.

In the final competition, Nunn had feared losing and prompted Prinn to sabotage the program of Heuy Ling's team. Wang Liwei was separated and played games with another team advisor to earn points. This led to a misunderstanding where other businesspeople believed he and Zoei were getting married. Heuy Ling and her friends managed to survive the hacker attack. Nunn's teammates had felt disgusted by the cheating, leading to media exposure. Nunn was banned by fans, causing a rift and separating from Prinn. Prinn realized his mistake of losing someone who loved and genuinely cared like Heuy Ling, so he came to apologize. However, things had gone too far when Heuy Ling and Wang Liwei both had positive feelings towards each other but hadn't opened up about it yet.

Prinn's plea to Heuy Ling had helped her resolve the lingering doubt that it wasn't love and made her admit to herself that she liked Wang Liwei because he valued and pushed her to grow. This competition had made her see an unspoken love that wasn't expressed in words but through actions showing care from family members, lifelong friendships, and new ties that had blossomed quickly due to facing obstacles together. Acknowledging her self-worth had helped her overcome the fear of falling in love, and she had finally mustered the courage to ask Wang Liwei out. Wang Liwei had opened up to Heuy Ling without holding back after clearing things with Zoei, stating he could offer only the care of a good friend and an elder brother. Their first date had involved a journey to the moon, symbolizing the value of Lean by Heart on its launch day called "to the moon."