Written by Funn Lim
Something unexpected happened in this episode so quite shocking to me. Anyway...
Jun said she will marry Bak Chuen. Yun Tin being angry ran into his room and began to pack. Ching came in and basically he said he was leaving because now there was no place in the Kiu family for him anymore. Ching was angry and said "You knew father wasn't feeling very well, he did it in the interest of the bank, can't you just let him win this time?" and Yun Tin stopped her curtly and said "I don't want to listen to this anymore. I am leaving. You are not leaving with me.." which was more of a statement than a question and Ching shakes her head and said "When I married you I spent my time fighting your cause, hoping you will earn the position in the bank. But I am disappointed in you because now I know the only thing that ever mattered to you was your own ambition, you do not care for the bank's welfare" and Yun Tin could listen no more and he left.
Mr Kiu when he was alone with Jun asked him "Jun, are you sure about this? What about Mr Cheung" and Jun told him everything about the lie, the deceit and Mr Kiu sighed "I never expected that of Mr Cheung, very disappointing. " and Jun said "Father I am your daughter, I could not contribute much to the bank but this is my way of contributing to the family. I will not regret it" and Mr Kiu said "The choice is yours but what about Chi Chai? Would he agree?" and Jun said "Let me speak with him".
Jun saw Bak Chuen and Jun said "I am serious about our marriage" and Bak Chuen said "Don't act rashly, this is your entire life's happiness, do not marry for the wrong reasons" and Jun said bitterly "I know that and I am doing my duty for this family. I will not regret my decision. I promise you once we are married I will be a model wife and a good mother. I will observe the duties of a wife faithfully and do my part as a mother dutifully." but Bak Chuen was hesitant and suddenly Jun kneel on her knees and begged Bak Chuen "Please marry me. I beg you. After we are married in future if you wish to take other wives I will not object".
Pause here. Wow! This is one good bargain eh? She not only begged him to marry her, she will allow him to have other wives PLUS give him the bank!! Wow! Deal of the millenium! By the way how come Bak Chuen never defened Sung Man's good name when Jun told him what happened? Surely he can't believe Sung Man was that despicable?
Anyway Bak Chuen couldn't decide until Ko Wa walked by and Ko Wa said "Jun is sincere. Grant her her wise Chi Chai, marry her and inherit the bank" and finally, and finally with the consent of his ex-lover, he said "Ok".
Alone with Mr Kiu, Bak Chuen expressed his reservations about Jun's haste in marrying him. Mr Kiu said "It's her decision to make and it will be her decision to regret. She has made up her mind and I am inclined to allow her to do so" and Bak Chuen still wondered since he had some personal issues to deal with and Mr Kiu answered his dilemmas when Mr Kiu handed him the company seal and said "This is the true test. If you can succeed in saving the bank out of this crisis, you can use the bank's funds to finance your case to clear your family's name" and Bak Chuen finally relieved and said "Thank you Mr Kiu" and Mr Kiu said "Are you still calling me Mr Kiu?" and Bak Chuen said "Father in law" and Mr Kiu smiled.
Jun went to see Sung Man but refused to look at him or talk to him. Her maid returned the sword and the painting Sung Man gave her and she walked away, leaving Sung Man almost in tears at the cold rejection.
Then the wedding took place, it was merry, it was happy and then it was over. After the wedding, or some days later, Mr Kiu now suddenly very old wanted to take a walk outside. By the way this has got to be the world's longest winter because it is still winter. In fact they may be in the South Pole for all I know, maybe Alaska. Anyway, Ko Wa took him to the chair to see the beautiful trees. Ching and Ko Wa were there and Mr Kiu saw down and looked at the flowers and suddenly he saw himself with his dead wife, he smiled a little but then the image changed to him and Ko Wa but then it changed to Ko Wa and Bak Chuen, lovingly looking at the flowers and Mr Kiu looked at Ko Wa who was smiling and next to him and he felt I don't know, jealous? Anyway then Mr Kiu looked again and it was Bak Chuen and Jun walking towards him bearing flowers which Jun gave to him. Mr Kiu smiled and said "I Kiu Boon Yip have lived a long and fruitful life. I have been blessed with 2 good wives and 2 loving daughters and indeed I wish for nothing more and I shall leave this earth a contented man." and then he closed his eyes and as he drew his last breath, he laid his head on the chair and died with a smile. The rest kneel and cried but they already expected his death since he was sick for some time.
By the way no funeral scene. I didn't expect Mr Kiu to die so soon. I mean now Bak Chuen had to deal with the bank himself!
Bak Chuen now was the boss and first taukeh of Ding Fung Sing with Fu Yi Chek as his assistant. No one wants to borrow money from him and those who did wanted ridiculously low interest rate, lower than the minimum set by the Chamber of Commerce. Bak Chuen out of profit and integrity disagreed. But at the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Cho proposed they lower the minimum interest rate and though Bak Chuen protested as this would kill off Ding Fung Sing, the proposal was voted on and agreed by everyone but Bak Chuen. Back at home Fu Yi Chek angrily said "Clearly he wants us dead. With interest so low how can we survive?" but Bak Chuen though worried was still zen like.
Jun now the dutiful wife greeted Bak Chuen and even made him a coat but Bak Chuen was too preoccupied to care and Jun was very disappointed when Ko Wa said to Bak Chuen "Jun made that specially for you, every thread made lovingly by her. Don't you think you're being a bit careless in disregarding her effort?" and Bak Chuen realised he was a jerk and said sorry to Jun which Jun accepted and then they all asked him to get ready fast and he was wondering why and I think it was his birthday. Can't remember.
Back to Sung Man, surely he knew of the wedding. I was a bit surprised there was no scene of Bak Chuen meeting Sung Man to inform him of the wedding. I mean aren't they supposed to be very very very good friends? Anyway Sung Man was practising sword fight in anger and Sung Lai appeared and right at that moment Sung Man pointed the sword at Sung Lai which caused Sung Lai to be so shocked by that obvious hate gesture that he stood there. His parents saw what happened and Mr Cheung immediately shouted "What do you think you're doing Sung Man? Sure Sung Lai used the inappropriate methods but he did it in your best interest. And he is your brother" and Sung Man said "I was just practising sword fight" and Sung Lai dismissed the hate act by saying "He didn't mean it father, he was just practising sword fight".
Mr Cheung took Sung Man for a walk into some antique shop to take his mind off Jun and there they met Anna and her step dad (the actor was speaking excellent cantonese!!). Cut the long story short, Anna took Sung Man to the palace where Cixi met with some princess or queen from some western country who dared to give to Cixi a rifle, and boasted how great the rifles are and with one shot killed a bird. Cixi was not pleased since obvious China didn't have guns then and Anna was smiling like an idiot, oblivious to the politics in the small gesture and how rude it was but Sung Man saw it. Sung Man came forward and said "My apologies to the Empress Dowager but I must say something" and Cixi allowed him and he said "Rifles may be good but that does not mean arrows and bows are obsolete" and so he demonstrated where one arrow shot TWO birds at one go! Cixi was very pleased and so was the foreigner and she offered Sung Man citizenship to serve her country and said "You must be a general in this empire" and Sung Man humbly replied no he wasn't but Cixi declined by saying "I am afraid he can't say yes as he is the citizen of China and more importantly he may not hold any official titles now but I shall forthwith appoint him as ..." frankly I didn't get his rank. I think ambassador? Foreign minister? Something high ranking which Anna stupidly smiled some more and Sung Man said THANK YOU. This Cixi changes her mind every 10 seconds about Sung Man.
Back to Ping Yiu, one day an old lady came to visit Mr and Mrs Cho and she was Hong Fei's mom. She wanted to visit Hong Fei in prison since she wanted to tell him his father died and all but Mr and Mrs Cho just side tracked her and gave her false promises. Old Mrs Hong was walking on the street when her purse got stolen. She fell to the floor crying, saying "That is my whole fortune! I saved it to bribe the officers so that I can see my son! My money! My money!" and she cried and cried and Ko Wa was passing through and knew what happened and said "Don't worry, I will help you".
Pause here. Did she know Hong Fei was that Hong Fei? She didn't seem to know...
Ko Wa took her to the prison and asked to see Hong Fei and paid the guard money. The guard said "Ohhhhh THAT Hong Fei. He died some months ago from illness right here" and his mother was shocked beyond words. In her home Ko Wa comforted her and she said her thanks. Ko Wa left but decided to return because the lady seems odd.
The old lady was alone and cried for her son, then she took a scissors and wanted to stab herself when there was a knock and it was Mrs Cho. Mrs Cho came in smiling and said "I have great knews! Hong Fei is not here because he was transferred to serve his time at the state border! So you can't see him for now" and Mrs Hong angrily said "How care you lie to me? My son is dead! The guard told me!" and Mrs Cho said "How can you believe the guard but not me?" and she shouted "You think I don't know what you and your husband were up to? You caused my son's death! You made my son take the blame for your husband killing that Lam Ying Kit!!" and Ko Wa was there and overheard. Mrs Cho went forward and pushed Mrs Hong onto the floor and Ko Wa came to Mrs Hong and Mrs Cho knocked Ko Wa unconcious. She then threw Ko Wa's body into the sea and Ko Wa sank and sank...
Pause here. Possibly the worst special effects here and most illogical. The place she threw her in was hardly deep and then there was that scene where she sank and sank and sank.
Back home, Mrs Cho was so scared and she confessed to Mr Cho what she did. "I killed her! That old woman died of a heart attack. I threw Ko Wa into the sea! I killed her" and Mr Cho said "Don't tell anyone! Shhhhh" but King Yin overheard and King Yin said loudly "How can you mother? How can you do that father? Fighting over banks I understand but I never thought of involving people's lives! I can't let you go on anymore!" and Mrs Cho begged and Mr Cho persuaded and finally King Yin agreed to keep quiet but he said "I never want to have anything to do with the both of you anymore!" and he left.
Kiu mansion, everyone panicked. WHERE IS KO WA? Some said she went back to Mongolia which was impossible. Some said kidnapping but it has been days! Bak Chuen wondered too and Fu Yi Chek was panicking and Jun tried to calm him down by saying "I am sure she will be back soon" but Fu Yi Chek snapped at her rudely and then he said "I am sorry I snapped at you but sister never goes away without leaving a message. Something must have happened to her!"
Next week, Ko Wa comes back as a different person, tragedy befalls Jun and Sung Man shielded Bak Chuen from a gunshot by some unseen figure.
Very very dramatic end I suspect! So who is the ultimate villain? We shall know!
I have no comment on the performances but the story is a bit inconsistent. I refuse to believe Bak Chuen such good friends with Sung Man did not even went to see Sung Man or to ask him that all important question; DID YOU DO IT? Poor Sung Man.
And why is the Kiu family so presumptious? Like when Mrs Kiu was about to die she never asked "Ko Waaaaa...do you have someone in your heart?". Nope. She jumped to conclusion "Ko Waaaa..... take good care of master". Then now Jun like never asked "Chi Chaiiiiii... do you have someone in your heart?" but instead "Chi Chai, MARRY ME!".
I tell you Bak Chuen is one lucky guy to have such a great wife that comes with an inheritance.
Anyway I hope Yun Tin comes back to assist Bak Chuen.
