Episode 06

A rather quiet episode but still very touching and it is all about Ka.

Grandpa advised Hor Ma to forgive Auntie Sa and he was worried about her as she moved out 4 days ago and hasn't called. Hor Ma wasn't worried. Suddenly she received a call from Auntie Sa to meet her at some abalone restaurant that night. Apparently everybody who was there that night (except for Sum) got an invite. Hor Ma came home and saw Hou, Yuet and Hing all dressed up but Hou said "Hor Ma we are going to a concert" and they refused to go to the dinner as they all predicted she will talk nonsense. But Hor Ma made them go,just to listen what she has to say since she personally called all of them so reluctantly they had to go. "Moreover grandpa is already there" said Hor Ma.

Ka also received a call and though Ka didn't want to go he was forced to go and Ka was wondering what could Auntie Sa want to say that is so important.

At the dinner, Auntie Sa began her speech by declaring the food (as in abalone) were all paid by her as she sold her precious jewels or whatever you call them. I was thinking doesn't she have like milions in her bank? Of course all that was just for show as she continued "I have great news. THe lawyers at Portugal said my case has some new developments favourable to me. I will have to attend the hearing and I am leaving tonight itself" and I think it was either Ka or Hou who said "Really? Well let us all eat fast so Auntie Sa can leave earlier!!" and so quickly they munched on their abalone. Auntie Sa looked annoyed. Then she began to give presents to each of the children, declaring she wanted to give them something. And in each gift she gave a pompous speech and ended up offending people more. To Hou "Here I give you an electrical dictionary. You can now learn English. I know you work very hard in the shop so it is very important you learn English!" implying Hou is stupid. To Hing "Here I give you a whistle. You must not see your muteness as a disability, rise above it Hing, nothing to be ashamed of" hinting Hing is well inadequate at something. Hing blew the whistle loudly. To Ka "Here I give you a Fortune Cat! You always buy shares and all, well fortune cat are good for gamblers like you!" implying of course Ka is a gambler. Ka cheekily said "Well, thank you Auntie Sa. But this cat looks like you! Must I put it near my bed, with your "cat" face looking at me all the time?". It was an insult because Cat Face in chinese is Mau Yeung meaning your stupid face or your ugly face. Very funny. So Yuet asked "So Auntie Sa, what have you for me? I juat can't wait to see it!" and Auntie Sa gave her a new blouse and said "I know you just lost your job so a new blouse for your future job interviews. Eventhough you are a Loh Lui ... oops! I promised sis not to call you that well anyway you know what I mean" and Yuet accepted it but with a snigger.

Hor Ma then said to Auntie Sa "Sa, I know you're angry with what I said to you" and AUntie Sa denied loudly and said "Sis oh no! I am not angry! Why should I be?!" and Hor Ma continued "Well do call when you are in Portugal. Father is very worried about you and don't be like in the past, not calling at all" and Auntie Sa sarcastically said "Sis don't worry about me! I am going there and going to live well. In fact I just got a first class ticket there!" and I think it was Hou who said "You know what Auntie Sa? We will all sponsor your ticket and a one way ticket so that you will stay there!" and Auntie Sa getting rather annoyed sarcastically said "No need to sponsor. I doubt all of you could afford that one first class ticket. Moreover no need to miss me since I will be back in 2 weeks time!" and with that she smiled happily whilst everybody stopped eating and quite suddenly lost all of their appetite.

So Auntie Sa is out of the picture for the time being. I think she will come back broke and broken.

Hou was in the shop when suddenly a westerner came in and spoke in English enquiring about some biscuits that can be easily digested as they're for old people and for charity as she intends to buy a lot. Hor Ma was at a lost and Hou came by and whilst Hou can convey Hor Ma's message that the biscuits are delicious, giving discounts, etc thinking the customer wanted discounts, questioned the shop's reputation and everything, the customer was getting annoyed when Sum came in, dealt with the customer and even gave her a 10% discount for ordering over I think 2000 biscuits or something. Hor Ma was very happy and quickly said "I must ask Nin Chi Yung to work overtime!" whilst Hou thanked Sum. Sum them met up with Hou and family at the house and informed them she is one step to becoming a doctor. Everybody congratulated her and grandpa praised her as a thoughtful considerate smart and pretty girl and Sum was quite flustered by the over the top compliments. HOr Ma insisted grandpa was right, and thanked her for sponsoring her teeth. Then Hor Ma declared free buffet treat for everyone and whilst Sum insisted she pays, Hor Ma would not let her and so Sum said they could repay her...

Hou was Sum's partner in a blind race where everybody cover their eyes and go from point A to point B. Hou and Sum had a great time and flashback we see younger time they used to pretend to be blind and assist one another. I don't see how that is romantic and fun since it is quite demeaning but anyway, just assume it is plenty of fun to pretend to be blind.

At home, Sum finally took out Hou's card that he gave her I think 12 years ago. She remembered the past as they promised one another to keep in touch but as she held up Hou's letters, none of them were opened. She opened them and read one by one as Hou wrote she was not keeping her promise keeping in touch and how eager he was waiting for her letter. Then he wrote how he got 2nd in class and got very good results and was very pleased with himself. But one day Hor Ma fell and he realised being the oldest there now he had to help Hor Ma and so he went to the shop and helped out after school. Whilst Hor Ma disagreed with what he was doing, he realised suddenly one day he was more mature, more older. But his grades suffered badly and Hor Ma was very unhappy about it and insisted he continue schooling to university but Hou decided to not pursue his studies and help in the shop. He said to Hor Ma he was not going to get good grades anyway, and he was not interested in studying anymore eventhough he wanted to but he knew by saying that Hor Ma would let him help at the shop. So he learned to make cookies and stuff. The letters stopped. Sum was crying silently as she read the letters.

Next day Sum was in the car with grandma, Cho Ba, Hung and one of the nosy relative, the uncle. She was looking rather sad when grandma said "Look! Ah Hou!" and she saw Hou pushing a trolley full of cake boxes as he was delivering the goods and crossing the street when a van suddenly honked him and the boxes fell. As he was picking them up grandma angrily said "My good grandson! He was a good student but now look at him. Like a delivery boy when he could have been more!" and Cho Ba said "Mother don't say like that" and Hung said "Mother, we are going to karaoke to celebrate Sum's graduation. Let's not spoil the event. Come on, we are going to karaoke" but Sum was exceptionally quiet as she looked on Hou.

At the karaoke Sum was still as quiet as she looked on Cho Ba and Hung singing a duet and flashback we see Sum as a young girl and her mother said "Sum you need to pass this letter to Uncle Cho" and Sum said "But mother, I thought you and Uncle Cho is over. Why must I do this?" and Hung said "Sum, just do as I say. I must secure our future. Please do this for me" and reluctantly Sum agreed. At the shop Cho Ba was helping Hor Ma making cookies and Hor Ma saw Sum and happily said "Sum what are you doing here so late at night? You mummy is not here, she went home" and Sum smiled sweetly and quietly passed Cho Ba and passed him a letter. At home in late at night, Hung said "Sum, go to your room and close the door. No matter what you hear, whatever the noise, don't come out" and Sum reluctantly agreed. But Sum spied on Hung and saw her mother was pretending to take a lot of pills to kill herself. Cho Ba came and stopped her, hugged her and so their affair was rekindled.

Back to present time in the karaoke room, as Cho Ba and Hung sang a beautiful duet as a loving couple, Sum was quietly crying.

Pause here.

So Sum knew of the affair! No wonder she felt guilty! Anyway more revelation after this...

At night Sum met up with Hou and Hou curious why she wanted to meet him suddenly Sum burst into tears and Hou concerned asked her "What's wrong?" and Sum crying said "Hou, it was me, I was the one who caused your parents' loving marriage to break up!Mother made me stop writing to you. She told me not to read your letters or reply your letters so like any good daughter I didn't until yesterday and I didn't know how much you gave up for Hor Ma" and so she related what she did and Hou smiled and said "You can't blame yourself" and Sum continued about the whole fake suicide incident and Hou's face turned dark and Sum cryingly said "Hou, don't you understand? It should have been you studying in universities, getting a good education, being the son of the owner of hundreds of shops, becoming a doctor! I took your future Hou! I stole your future!" and Hou smilingly said "Well you assume I would be a doctor. But I always wanted to be a vetenarian. Imagine that, I always beat up the animals what would those SPCA think? I would rally against them and then I would have been put into jail and I would have been a prisoner! What a life I would have had!" and Sum sternly said "Hou I am serious" and Hou said "So am I. Ok, look at me, seriously look at me and apologise" and Sum wiped her tears and said with stern commitment and with all her sincerity as she looked at Hou and said "I am sorry". Hou smiled and said "Ok, accepted!" Sum smiled again and so they played with each other like running left and right like they were young.

Lovely. I just didn't like the whole tragic flashback stuff between the 2. Quite cringe worthy.

Anyway, Ka was at the office telling his colleagues what shares to buy when lady boss played by Astrid Chan came in scolding everyone and told KA to meet her in the office. In the office she reminded him his job function as he just found 4 models for a 6 phones to parade function but Ka flirted his way out of trouble.

Pause here.

Astrid seems to have a soft spot for Ka. I don't think they're having an affair but it does seem KA was very charming to her and Astrid was nice to him even if she was angry with him.

Ka quickly went to the shop and asked Yuet and Hing to be the 2 models. They refused as they had to go to a concert but Ka screamed "EMERGENCY!! EMERGENCY!!" and so Hing and Yuet agreed to help.

The function was a success and Astrid complimented Hing and Yuet and Ka told her they were siblings and she even said Hing had model potential but Ka told her she was a mute and Astrid looked on as if saying "What a waste". She complimented Yuet and Ka quickly said "Well I do need an assistant since the old one quit. Why not employ Yuet? She is very capable and she can part time as a model, for free" and so the boss was charmed into saying yes.

Yuet got a job and was very happy. But she discovered frustratingly Ka was more interested in dealing in shares than actually doing his job. She tried to get his attention on the job at hand but he was more concerned with looking at his phone about the shares info. The news were not good. The shares were plummeting and he panicked and so he even drove through a red light much to the panic of Yuet. At the office everyone blamed Ka for recommending bad shares and Astrid came in and angrily said "Can you all for once just surprise me that when I come in I see you all discussing about work instead of shares? If I hear one more discussion, one more brokering of shares, warning letters and you (Ka) fired! Understand? Meeting now!".

In the meeting Ka was competent in suggesting proposals but he seems to be twitching and Yuet was concerned and he said he had to go to toilet. So he disappeared but actually was looking at shares on his phone. THe shares were going up and he was very happy. Half an hour later the boss was annoyed. One colleague said he didn't see Ka but heard him shouting and Yuet concerned what was going on rushed into the toilet only to find him grinning like a idiot as he went to his colleagues one by one about how his taste of a particular shares was right until he stopped dead on his tracks in front of an annoyed Astrid. Again he charmed his way out of trouble but he couldn't charm his way out of trouble with...

Hor Ma!

At home they were having dinner when Hor Ma gave a riddle and asked everyone why a cockroach lost all its limbs. No one could guess except Ka who cheekily said "Well the cockroach must have won lottery so he can chop off all the legs as he can love in luxury!!".

In cantonese he meant "Ta pai kuek tou ng sai yau". If you know cantonese you know what I mean.

Hor Ma said "No. The answer is the cockroach lost all his money in gambling at shares". EVeryone found excuses to leave the table, and Ka was looking guilty and trying to leave when Hor Ma sternly said "Ka, what were you thinking? You hardly slept, didn't concentrate on your job, drove through red lights!" and Yuet came by and Ka quietly said "Traitor! Spy!" and Yuet said"I didn't. She forced me!" and quickly left. "Ka you're supposed to be an example to your younger siblings! This gambling shares, it is a bad habit. Remember your uncle Ka? Remember in 1987 you saw on TV the share market crash, widows were interviewed as the husbands and sons jumped off buildings. Remember you asked me what was shares and what happened?" and Ka nodded and Hor Ma continued "Do you want to see me interviewed is that it?" and Ka immediately said "No no Hor Ma. Hor Ma I promise you I will quit. I intend to anyway. Here take my phone (actually a device that display share market info), keep it. See I quit!" and Hor Ma said "You really promise?" and Ka said "Yes I promise".

Next day Ka was driving Yuet to go to work when Ka said "You're really a traitor" and Yuet said "What can I do? Hor Ma forced me to say so I had to" and suddenly Ka was stopped by a share market investment company or whatever you call the shop and he looked at the shares and said "Oh my god! No no no!" and Yuet knew what was happening and said "Ka let's go! You promise Hor Ma" but Ka ran in and fought with elderly women to look at the computer screen and loudly said "Don't sell! The shares will go up!" and he made such a scene and as he walked out he called his agents about the shares and Yuet looked at him annoyed and said "Ka! We have to go to work! Ka!" but he was beyond listening as he said "I WAS RIGHT!!" and suddenly I think it was Yuet who received a call from Hor Ma who said "Yuet is Ka with you? Tell him I want to see him for dinner tonight. An old neighbourhood friend saw Ka wrestling with an old lady to look at shares on the computer screen." and Yuet immediately told Ka and Ka panicked. "What? She knows? Ermmm Yuet you help me. Call back and say I have urgent work, have to go to Macau for 2 days! Right tell her that" but YUet said "No I won't. Hor Ma hates gamblers and she hates liars the most so no I won't!" and she quickly ran and Ka was out of his wits at what to do knowing Hor Ma will be angry.

At the shop Nin Chi Yung heard Hor Ma's stern voice over the phone and looked concerned. They were facing each other making the dough when Nin Chi Yung said "Hor Ma, you shouldn't be too hard on Ka" and Hor Ma angrily said "I am out of my wits on how to deal with his addiction. I tried to advice him, he is just .." and Nin Chi Yung quietly interrupted her and said "Hor Ma if you're angry with him, you must know I am to blame too" and Hor Ma looked at him and Nin Chi Yung continued "What you didn't know is life was hard for him over there. It took Yuen some time to call Hung mother and for Chung it was almost immediate. But Ka, he never once called her mother, he called her Auntie Hung instead, even now. Hung knew his allegiance lies with you and so that was a big problem. Of course she on the front told everyone 'Oh he is still young, give him time' when in actual fact she wasn't as nice. That bitch was vindictive and she came to me and told me to teach him how to buy and sell shares, to get him addicted and in some strangely good way, Ka turned out to have talent in this area and at the age of 18 he actually made a big sum of money. Hor Ma he didn't really have a chance against that woman. Why did the judge ever ruled custody in that family's favour is really very difficult for me to understand.." and Hor Ma listening silently but eyes wide with shock quietly said "I told him to go live with them..." and she walked away and Nin Chi Yung looked on with shock at her revelation.

Back at home, Hor Ma was happily cooking and Ka came home cautiously to face the music. When he saw Hor Ma smiling, he was a bit tense but when Hor Ma didn't scold him, wasn't even angry Ka was so relieved. He even then told a joke about shit and stuff which was quite tasteless but got everyone laughing and Hor Ma looked at Ka intently and teary eyed said "Ka..." and Ka looked at her and was like what? and Hor Ma said with a heavy sigh "Ka, I have made the wrong move. I have never made such a wrong move that I did years before..." and everyone was concerned as Hor Ma was kinda crying and Hor Ma wiped her tears and smiled and said "What I meantis I shouldn't have told you jokes about shit and piss when you were young!" and everyone laughed.

Next episode, Cho Ba wants Ka to come home to help with the business, Ka said loudly that HUng would never allow it but Cho Ba was convinced she would and so reluctantly he agreed and Hung also agrees and grandma was expecting vice president but Hung smilingly insisted he starts as a store manager and grandma and Cho Ba and everyone else looked at her in disbelief.

This is another sad episode as to how 3 adults ruined in some way the children's life. Cho Ba and Hung's affair ruined in a way a bright future that Hou would have had although Hou would disagree and how Hor Ma's one decision, one gamble didn't pay off with regards to Ka.

I feel for Hou. I see it from the viewpoint of Sum and I understand her distress and her guilt at what transpired. She was right to feel sad for Hou but I feel Hou would feel as long as he has his family he is ok. Moreover there is nothing wrong or shameful with being a cake maker. I remember one series I saw many years ago did have this line that "My son may not be a rich man's son but he is at the very least the son of a business owner" and in Hou's circumstances that is very true. I mean he is going to inherit Hor Ma's business and he could make cookies, he has skills and like Nin Chi Yung he can be a master and earn big bucks in that sense. Of course to Sum Hou missed out a lot so yes I feel for Hou and I feel Sum is such a nice girl. Her mother is the manipulative one.

As for Ka, I feel for him also imagining him at 16 against that woman and how he was corrupted. I am wondering though why he didn't become a stockbroker since he is talented in shares. But I think his addiction to buying and selling shares is akin to addiction to gambling. He spent far too much time on it and luckily his boss is probably in love with him and so will forgive him. Also strange he is not involved in the business but I am sure next episode we will know Hung probably rather Yuen takeover than the son who refused to acknowledge her status. Maybe she won't even allow Yuen too. Anyway Nin Chi Yung who knows a lot of stuff did explain how Hung corrupted him in a way and Hor Ma was rightly saddened and felt guilty over what happened. She basically handed Ka over to Hung to mess with his mind even if not directly but indirectly. Ka to his credit refused to have anything to do with her or the business but I am sure he trusted Nin Chi Yung since he must have known Nin Chi Yung since forever and Nin Chi Yung acknowledged he misguided Ka and misplaced Ka's trust. It as a very honest revelation and Nin Chi Yung did wonder why did the judge was so callous as to allow Ka to go over there and Hor Ma making that even bigger revelation made that scene between Nin Chi Yung and Hor Ma discussing about Ka very very raw emotionally and quite heartbreaking. You must feel for Hor Ma I suppose. Her almost last statement to Ka, almost apologising to him for her own foolishness was perhaps the best scene. It is the mother's guilt speaking. In trying to safeguard the interest of the other 2 younger son, in order to help them she sacrificed Ka. Ka was always a good boy and the way he looked out for Yuet is also an illustration of the old responsible Ka so imagine if Hor Ma held on to Ka, perhaps Ka would have grown into a responsible adult. Not to say the Ka now is bad but certainly changed. He seems to take things way too lightly.

A very good episode.

Peformance wise, the younger ones are beginning to pick up pace. The focus today is on Raymond Lam, Moses Chan and Linda Chung. Older ones is of course Lee Sze Kei and Wayne Lai. THe rest were good too but I like to focus on these few.

Raymond Lam plays Hou as such a nice sweet guy who can differentiate between good and bad so it wasn't a big surprise he didn't blame Sum at all. I like the interaction between Linda and Raymond for that particular confession scene but frankly I can't stand the younger ones doing all those tragic Korean love story stuff.

It is quite interesting to wonder whether Hou was more affected by the change than Ka when they were little. I suspect Ka was more affected, after all he was a lamb in a lion's den so to speak or is it tiger's den?

For that I am beginning to like Moses' performance since he has more to do other than being the joker. But that is the essence of Ka's character. He deals with stuff by being the joker, he takes things lightly, he stayed away from Hung by joking and making things that are gravely serious into something light. I made a mistake by saying this character is similar to Heart Of Greed. It isn't except the looks are the same. Moses Chan did well when he is dealing with comedy and he certainly did have some of the best lines like the ones aimed at Auntie Sa. I like his performance tonight but truth is I enjoyed the scenes where everyone is talking about Ka when Ka is not even there because those are some really touching scene and it does make you understand why Ka is such a joker.

Linda Chung was in top form tonight as the guilt was eating way in her. The scene of her in the karaoke room crying silently, her revelation to Raymond's Hou, the way she was so still and quiet in the car with Hung and gang and all.. she gives me an impression her Sum is more relaxed with Hor Ma than with her own mother. Probably because she knew deep down what her mother did was despicable but of course maybe in some ways Hung did it for her also. Like HUng said to secure their future. No doubt Hung loved Sum but sometimes I am sure like Sum questioned how much would that love be in light of how Hung broke apart a family. To all the naysayer who feels Linda Chung was terrible, I am a fan of subtle acting and Linda has improved a lot. She conveyed a lot through unspoken moments and she can cry beautifully. A very good performance tonight.

But the gong of utter greatness belongs to the older ones.

Wayne Lai was fantastic as he admitted his guilt and showed his contempt for Hung. Fantastic performance. What more can I expect from this great actor? More greatness?

Lee Sze Kei was in top form no doubt and had many heart wrenching scenes but not as in your face as in the last episode. 2 scenes stood out for me, one was the one between Nin Chi Yung and herself which I feel was the 2nd best scene tonight as she looked on, that still eyes, that momentary stillness like she was punched in the face and didn't know what to do when Nin Chi Yung confessed what he did, that revelation she told him thus admitting her guilt. That final scene as again that stillness as she looked at Moses' Ka, that teary eyes, that words that she took the wrong move, that moment where essentially she was really saying she was sorry for sacrificing Ka, that she was wrong, that she was foolish, that she was selfish, that she was the person who in a way ruined Ka's life in that sense were all very dramatic in such a quiet way. I love these kind of moments but of course Ka didn't know she was saying sorry as she quickly changed subject. But that moment she saw Ka in a different light, and from anger her mood changed to a quiet understanding, that was a powerful moment and that well 5 second Lee Sze Kei's eyes spoke volumes. You can really feel her Hor Ma's guilt with what happened to Ka. I believe we will have more of such moments as we hear Yuen and Chung's stories. Fantastic performance.

By the way I was very surprised to see Astrid in here. Is she still called Astrid? Anyway is she in love with Ka? They seem to be flirting with one another in one of the more light moments of this episode. Actually their relationship is quite funny to watch.

I am still thinking who will play Nin Chi Yung's sister? And the daughter of Auntie Sa? Perhaps more like Nin Chi Yung's sister as Ka's girlfriend? I think I am thinking way too ahead.

Great episode in a different way.

One thing though I notice. Hor Ma blames herself, Sum blames herself, Ka blames Hung, Hou blames Hung, BUT NO ONE IS BLAMING CHO BA! That scene where Sum saw Hou picking up the boxes I was very surprised with Cho Ba's reaction or rather the lack of it. He displayed no fatherly love nor concern for any of his children and I was thinking no one actually points the finger at him for being such a douche and such a lame guy and for being a first class bad father. I hope there will be some revelation that will bring Cho Ba's to his knees and realise he was such a bad father. I am sure that is given. But will there be one where the children will actually say to his face "Cho Ba, I blame you!"? Why is he like blameless? Apart from making Hung the scapegoat, he should be lynched mobbed! Of course Hung was despicable but hey if the bull doesn't want to drink from the river however you push his head down he won't drink, right?

Anyway look forward to tomorrow's episode and how I hope grandma's eyes will open and see Hung as he really is.

As usual, my favourite scene or quote from today's episode as narrated or translated by me...

Ka, I have made the wrong move. I have never made such a wrong move that I did years before...
- Hor Ma to Ka