Mei Lian Chen is the sister of Honour Chen-Williams, wife of Meng Chye Leong and mother to Shing Lin Leong. In December 2022, Honour arranged for her son Mason Chen-Williams to speak with her side of the family over video call after Mason struggled with the East Asian-side of his identity. However, the very successful Mei Lian and Meng Chye decided to fly to England from Malaysia (with Shing Lin) to visit the family in person. Honour was left panicked by their sudden decision and hurriedly made preparations to keep up the appearance that Honour and her husband Dave were just as successful.
The morning after their arrival, Honour and Dave served the pair a fancy breakfast and Honour made Dave get changed in and out of his work uniform there so that Mei Lian and Meng Chye remained oblivious to her lie about his job as a CEO. However, Mei Lian quickly caught on and told Honour to drop the act: she didn't think Dave being a courier was shameful at all. As Honour continued to speak poorly of her husband, the man himself overheard and confronted her in front of Mei Lian.
After Honour revealed to Mei Lian that she knew Dave was keeping a restraining order from his late first wife Flora Williams secret from her, Mei Lian revealed that she hadn't yet told her husband about her investing their life savings into a property development that turned out to be a scam. The sisters encouraged each other to be honest with their partners, which resulted in tension. A furious Meng Chye made Mei Lian tell Shing Lin that they would have to withdraw her from boarding school, and - to the shock of Dave and Honour - that she would stay in England to attend Hollyoaks High School. Mei Lian and Meng Chye then returned to China, with Meng Chye hoping they would return at Chinese New Year, "if [they] can afford it".
Honour visited Shing Lin after deciding to leave Dave and move to London in April 2023. Mei Lian called Shing Lin and asked her to return to her and Meng Chye, but Shing Lin had settled in Hollyoaks and turned her down.