[English subtitles are available.]
Winter Begonia
Episode 27
I
really had a family mishap.
My wife has no morality or manners
and messed up Mr. Shang’s The Tale of Dragon,
of which I’m deeply ashamed.
That’s an overstatement.
I came to make an apology
[Old Mountain Wild Ginseng]
with a humble gift today.
Hope you can forgive me, Mr. Shang.
Please also tell Mr. Cheng
and Mr. Fan.
that I’m sorry.
No problem.
Well…
Yu Qing,
Miss Yu,
refused to see me.
Is she doing well?
Yu Qing…
Miss Yu has the temperament of a scholar.
When you judged her like that in public,
she felt so desperate.
There’s no doing well to speak of.
Mr. Yuan, if you really sympathize with her,
you shouldn’t have come to see her.
She…
She said from now on,
she’d never sing operas again.
She followed you
and left home,
following you to sing on the stage,
now she ends up with nothing,
and has no families around.
What should she do in the days to come?
I’ll take leave,
Mr. Shang.
Did you see that? Did you see that?
That son of a bitch cried!
It serves him right!
That was quite a game of bluff of yours.
Come on, come on.
Let me have a look.
-Where did you get your tears from? -Here.
Find a pawn to cash in the stuff he sent
and give the cash to Yu Qing.
Give money for no reason.
How’s that going to come about?
Just say she got implicated into tabloid news,
and this is a compensation
for her mental distress from her rumored lover.
Sir, I’m grateful to your great favor of rescue
and taking me in as your disciple.
You have such consummate skill
that I have nothing to repay your kindness.
I can only bone up on it
to get a ten thousandth of it
so that I won’t live my life in vain.
Everybody present is my witness.
I took you in as my apprentice
not to get reciprocation
but to pass on my skills.
You must remember what you said today.
Practice diligently every day
and don’t slack off.
Mr. Shang spoke like a book,
he really has the air of a master.
[Party A: Cheng Fengtai. Party B: Zhou Xiangyun.]
Mr. Cheng.
Mr. Cheng,
please come out for a while.
Zeng Aiyu is about to give birth.
What’s to be done?
What?
So suddenly?
Aren’t there still some days before the due date?
Where is Fan Lian?
I’ve looked for him.
I heard he’s gone
to Hangzhou to buy costumes and paraphernalia.
That bastard
must have made an excuse to get away.
Let’s go to the hospital.
Madam,
we’d better go to the hospital.
-What’s wrong with her? -Mr. Cheng.
She keeps feeling pain in her belly.
I ask her to go to the hospital, but she won’t go.
The little baby in my belly
keeps turning and tossing day and night.
It’s killing me.
From what it’s doing,
probably
it’ll take my life to have its life.
Don’t say disheartening things.
Aren’t you going to take the money with you
to save your families?
My families…
Go and get ready.
Let’s go to the hospital.
OK.
Let’s go.
No, no need.
No, I don’t need to go to the hospital.
I’m having throbbing pains.
I’ll be OK
when the bout of pain passes.
I really don’t need to go to the hospital.
It’s hard to say when it comes to childbirth.
What if it’ll be a premature birth?
Be obedient.
If it’s a premature birth,
it’ll cost my life and the baby’s,
and happen to
save a hundred thousand yuan for you.
What’s a hundred thousand yuan worth
compared with the safety of you and your baby?
Come on.
Hold on to me.
Come on.
OK.
Call the hospital
and ask them to make preparations.
Keep contacting Fan Lian
and don’t stop until you find him.
OK.
My belly aches.
My… my belly…
My belly has burst.
Mr. Cheng,
can you hold me in your arms?
Mr. Cheng…
It’s OK. It’s OK.
Your water broke.
My wife has given birth.
I know better than you.
It’s OK.
Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.
Mr. Cheng,
can you hold me tighter?
It’s a premature birth.
Fortunately, she was sent here in time,
otherwise there will be serious consequences.
Go and pay to get a medical expense list first.
OK.
[Keep Quiet. Authorized Personnel Only.]
You don’t have to worry too much.
The fetal position is quite normal,
and the fetus
is growing very well.
Take a moderate amount of walk during these days,
pay attention to intake of nutrition,
and you can leave after a few days’ observation.
That’s great then.
Thank you, doctor.
It’s all right.
Let me know at any time if you need me.
Thanks.
Have a good rest.
Let’s go.
Be careful.
Here, be careful.
-You must have a good rest. -Thanks.
Let the nurse know if you need anything.
Let us know even if you have
the slightest discomfort.
We are on call at any time.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Would you like some porridge?
I have some more here.
No, thanks.
I’ve just had a surgery,
and the doctor doesn’t allow me to eat.
Have you just had a baby?
I saw
some pregnant women before
who looked as if
they lost half of their lives after childbirth.
I’ve never seen anybody as spirited as you.
The doctor said the same thing.
But only I myself know
how much I suffered during delivery.
If only
Wish I could deliver a baby smoothly.
From the way you look,
I’m sure you’ll be fine.
Miss,
please elaborate on
the dos and don’ts.
I’m all ears.
What is he saying?
Stop dawdling
and come in.
Is it your husband who’s talking outside the door?
Yes.
He has the temper of a young master of the Bund.
Look,
I’m suffering here
while
he’s showing the swagger of a master outside.
I’m going to the bathroom.
The gynecologist is busier than a committee chair.
I waited quite some time to get the prescription.
Stop walking around.
Stay here for a while.
As a man,
I stick out like a sore thumb staying here.
The housemaid is cooking ginseng soup for you.
She’ll bring it to you later.
Go to bed early when you finish it.
I’ve got something else to do, I’m off.
The nurse will come with the baby later.
Don’t you want to have a look?
A boy or a girl?
A girl.
That’s just right.
I have a son,
and you have a daughter.
That makes a pair of children.
I must have a look then.
Zeng Aiyu’s family,
the doctor has an instruction for you.
I’ll go and have a look.
I’m coming.
Are you
unwell?
No.
It’s quite cold here at night.
I’ll go and call my family
to bring an extra quilt here.
Mrs. Cheng,
here’s a letter.
Look.
[To: Cheng Fengtai. From Chunxuan]
Isn’t this fun?
Chunxuan.
Good boy.
Here, be careful.
Mrs. Cheng,
you have a call from Mengping.
Here you are.
Be careful, be careful.
Little young master.
Hello.
Mengping,
how are you?
What prompts you to call me?
Xiang’er,
I…
I… I’m doing well.
I’m actually calling you about nothing.
I just…
Just what?
Hello,
Mengping?
Xiang’er,
I saw a man in the hospital.
Mrs. Cheng,
what’s wrong with you, Mrs. Cheng?
Are you unwell, Mrs. Cheng?
What’s wrong with you, Mrs. Cheng?
Someone, please!
Someone! Mrs. Cheng is unwell.
What’s wrong, Mrs. Cheng?
Mrs. Cheng.
Mrs. Cheng, what’s wrong with you?
What’s going on?
Xiang… Xiang’er,
what…what’s going on?
I don’t know.
Say something, Xiang’er.
What’s the matter?
Xiang’er.
Step aside, step aside.
Don’t block the way.
Hurry up.
-Go and get the storax oil from my room. -OK.
Mrs. Cheng, what’s wrong with you?
Say something, Mrs. Cheng.
Chunxing,
what happened?
I’ve no idea.
Hurry up, Chunxing,
let Mrs. Cheng smell it.
Also apply some on her temples.
Get out.
Everybody get out.
Hurry up. Get out, get out.
Do what Mrs. Cheng says.
Everybody get out.
Hurry up, get out.
Get out.
Let’s go.
Go.
Go on with your work.
Just scold my younger brother if he did anything wrong.
Why bother yourself like this?
But he’s been keeping a mistress behind my back,
and they’ve even had a baby!
He tried so hard to keep it from me!
Very good.
She looks like Fan Lian a lot.
In what way?
I think
she looks like you a lot.
Don’t talk nonsense.
If only it were you
who fell for me back then!
Then I certainly wouldn’t make you pregnant,
and there wouldn’t be
such a cute baby now.
Take your time to recuperate.
I’ve really got to go.
When Fan Lian comes back from Hangzhou,
I’ll ask him to come over to see you.
Don’t ask him to come.
I don’t want to see him.
It is between you and Fan Lian
to fall out and break up.
You should let the father see his baby.
When I leave
and the baby falls into his hands,
he can see her for as long as he likes.
By the way,
I opened an account for you with the CitiBank.
I’ve transferred money into it.
I’ll bring you the deposit book tomorrow.
OK.
Hold on.
Mr. Cheng is back.
Mr. Cheng, Mr. Cheng!
You have a call from Chacha’er.
She’s called quite a few times.
Hi, Chacha’er.
What’s the matter?
Brother, be quick to come home.
Xiang’er has known what happened to you.
What?
She has known you have a love child.
Hello.
Hello?
Xiang’er,
my younger brother is 100% faithful to you.
You can’t get him wrong.
All right, all right.
As you know about men,
it’s common for them to run errands
for each other.
They also look after each other’s mistresses.
Most of those women
come from seedy backgrounds.
They have no scruples after seeing many men.
Maybe the one your sister-in-law saw
is one of my younger brother’s friends’ mistress.
Right?
You can’t
throw such a thing at him willy-nilly.
All right, all right.
When my younger brother is back,
if he can’t explain it clearly,
I’ll get back at him for you.
OK?
Stop crying.
Mrs. Cheng,
Mrs. Cao,
Mr. Cheng is back.
He’s back.
Ask him about it.
Both of you are in?
What happened?
You both have a serious look.
Sit down.
Where is my coffee?
Fengtai,
I don’t care whose baby it is,
it’s just not right for you
to have a finger in the pie.
Be quick
to apologize to your wife
and explain the ins and outs of it to her.
Turns out this is what you are worrying about.
Then I’m wrong.
I’m really wrong.
I shouldn’t have minded Fan Lian’s business.
You even blame Fan Lian for it?
He’s a bachelor.
Why does he refuse to claim his
ties with the baby?
Go!
-Go! -There there.
You have a family outside.
There’s no place for you in this family!
There there.
Mrs. Cheng,
don’t get worked up.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
Don’t cry.
Take a sip of water to cool down.
When you cool down,
I’ll explain it to you from A to Z.
Leave the seal behind when you go.
The Cheng family got all its money from our Fan family.
Why are you showing such swagger?
I tell you what,
don’t think of taking even a cent with you
to spend it on your mistress!
If you’ve got any spunk in you,
just get out of the house empty-handed.
What did you say?
The Cheng family got all its money from your Fan family?
Turns out that’s what you think all the time.
Fengtai,
Xiang’er is angry now.
She was talking nonsense.
Xiang’er,
how can my younger brother have another family?
His family
is here.
Let him go.
He has more than one family.
This woman gave birth to his child,
and that woman sent a letter home.
Chunxuan, isn’t she?
All right.
You are quite a playboy.
No wonder you don’t want to stay home.
Your lovers outside
can line up to see you on different days!
Whom did you say?
Look at you.
Didn’t I get it right?
Where’s the letter?
Where is the letter?
It was burnt in the kitchen.
Fengtai!
Look.
Look how nervous he is!
All right, Xiang’er,
I dare not be certain about the baby,
but you’ve indeed blamed him wrongly.
Chunxuan
is his real mother.
Few people know about it.
[Chunxuan]
After looking for her for over a decade,
I’d just heard from her
and you just ruined it.
Fengtai,
stay cool when you have something to say.
What are you doing this for?
That damn Cao Wanjun.
He has money to burn
but just won’t pay the debts for me.
I asked you to write a letter to that spinster in Fanjiabao.
Did you write it?
Yes, I did.
That’s more like it.
I hope her dowry
can pay our family’s debts.
I told her in the letter
that I don’t want to make her my wife.
Do you want to die, Cheng Fengtai?
I tell you what,
it’s not up to you whether to marry or not.
That’s a marriage arranged when you were a kid.
What’s more,
if you don’t marry her,
what shall our Cheng family do?
What’s to be done to our debts?
At worst, sell the Cheng’s residence
and move to a smaller house.
You are out of your mind, aren’t you, Cheng Fengtai?
If this house is sold,
how can there still be the Cheng family?
-Brother, help! -Knock it off!
-Let go of her. -Let go of me!
Brother, help! Piss off!
Get out of here.
What are you doing?
Since we can’t sell the house,
we have no choice but to sell her.
Are you insane?
You can’t!
No matter who Chacha’er’s mother is,
she is father’s own daughter
and our own younger sister.
It’s too late to say no now.
I’ve taken the money.
If you refuse,
raise money for them yourself.
Then I’ll go to see that girl surnamed Fan
and ask her to be my wife.
Does that make you happy?
Mr. Cheng,
we’ve been driving round and round,
where are we going?
To the Shuiyun Theater.
OK.
Sister,
are you really going to Shanghai?
The brat of the Cheng family
looked down on me at first
by sending me a letter to cancel our engagement,
now he wrote another letter to coax me into marrying him.
Needless to ask,
he must be short of money.
With ill intentions,
he’s been coveting my dowry.
Are you still going while you know that?
As a dignified maiden of the Fan family,
how can I be jerked around by him like this?
I’ll just go with my money to put him to shame,
dangle it in front of him
and have my revenge.
♬ I suddenly look back while being caught off guard ♬
♬ I pretend to muddle along as if nothing matters ♬
♬ A bud blossoms from the dust ♬
[Greeting the bride]
♬ I do not regret ♬
♬ Going through wind and snow with you Drink it up♬
♬ Our souls face each other in the operas I’m a bit ashamed ♬
♬ I didn’t say but you understand it telepathically Just get drunk ♬
♬ You told me in the dream it’s such a beautiful world ♬
♬ A period of our time in life can only be sensed No comfort needed ♬
♬ Both of us know to forget with a broken heart ♬
Are you in a daze?
♬ Every minute and second is not enough to experience ♬
♬ Enchanting lush mountains ♬
♬ Looking back at the stage ♬
Are you still feeling bad?
I’m in the wrong.
It’s not your fault.
My younger brother’s mother Chunxuan
is an old memory.
Few people know about her.
Would you like to hear anything about her?
I was young back then,
but she left
such a deep impression on me.
How Chunxuan got into the Cheng family,
I can’t remember.
I can only remember her beauty and charm,
accompanied with colorful costumes
and glittering jewelries.
I was very close to her back then,
as I thought she was very pretty.
Little did I realize
her beauty
was out of kilter with the Cheng family.
Well, Chunxuan,
now you’ve got into our Cheng family by a happy chance,
you’ve given birth
and you’ve got status,
whom do you want to show these coquettish tricks to?
Mom,
as you said,
I’ve given birth,
can’t I sing operas at home with the door shut?
You can’t!
You are forbidden to mention singing operas in the Cheng family.
Everybody come here.
Come here.
You are a lady of the Cheng family,
you are from a respectable family,
don’t learn those coquettish things.
Fengtai,
come here.
No!
Go away, I’m not going!
Look, look,
what did you teach a good child?
As I said,
actresses are no good for marriage.
They corrupt moral standards of the family.
Now
the devil has entered the door.
Your mother is keen on going to the opera.
Why can’t I do it?
You are different.
You are a daughter-in-law of the Cheng family.
As we agreed back then,
you must quit singing opera
if you marry into the Cheng family.
That’s indeed what we agreed back then.
But I’ve regretted it.
Chunxuan,
I thought we had true love.
If I don’t truly love you,
do I have to be your concubine?
Do I have to abandon the troupe and stay at home?
Fengtai is so young.
Where are you going if not staying at home?
How can you do that?
I,
in order to marry you,
how much effort did I put in?
Yes,
Master Cheng, in order to marry me,
you were subject to a lot of domestic disciplines,
but after that,
you are still living your life as a young master.
What do you want me to do?
To wander around the world with your troupe?
I want you to set me free.
I can’t live such a life anymore.
Mom.
Mom, where are you going?
Mommy has left the stage,
kept walking,
and lost myself on the way.
Now I have to go back to find myself again.
You are the only one I feel guilt to.
You are still so young.
Be good.
Mom.
Mom!
Mom, mom, where are you going?
Mom!
Mom, come back!
Mom!
Many years later, it often occurs to me that
Mom, don’t go!
perhaps she came to the family
just to give my younger brother to us.
Mom, don’t go!
-A woman like Chunxuan -Mom!
-does not belong to my father, -Mom!
still less to the Cheng family.
-She belongs to herself. -Mom, come back!
Did they never see each other again?
But my younger brother
has never forgotten her in his heart.
Then
why did he never bring it up?
The mother-son bond is love,
and abandonment is hate.
The interwoven love and hate
has left him speechless.
It seems I’ve really hurt him this time.
Chunxuan has been away for over 20 years.
Whether love or hate,
it’s time to forget.
You are so nice to my younger brother,
he’ll get to know sooner or later
that you are the one closest to him.
You make me sleep in the same room with the ancestor?
My father will keep you company.
Mr. Cheng,
Don’t you want somewhere clean?
This is the cleanest place.
Come on.
Take a seat.
This place is “squeaky clean” indeed.
Mr. Cheng,
how did you get booted out by your wife?
Did she hit you?
Why?
Are you still a human being?
Can’t you take the slightest bit of cue from me?
Such a tongue-in-cheek grin.
Is this a good thing?
To tell you the truth,
I
always think you are
a man who can do great things.
You are just like the famous business theorist
and the capable statesman in the opera scripts.
You have both the brain
and the means.
You
are just dragged down by your family.
The Cao family, the Fan family,
your wife’s brother and your nephew all count on you.
Your heart is being dragged old.
From now on, be footloose and fancy-free
and do whatever you like.
As I see it,
this is a great blessing.
Although what you said doesn’t make sense,
it’s not totally wrong either.
Most of the times,
I desperately want to make money,
but I dare not take the risk and go for broke.
With the two conflicting thoughts holding me back,
it’s really painful.
Once you carry
the responsibility of family on your shoulders,
you can’t put it down anymore.
I don’t get it.
But I know
whoever holds me back from singing operas
is a burden
which be dropped.
Yes.
Apart from operas and your life,
you can drop everything else.
If I can’t sing operas,
I can even give up my life,
let alone wife, children,
kith and kin.
I can’t let them drag me down.
Doesn’t your father have a family too?
And Hou Yukui,
isn’t he
a top-notch opera singer too?
Hou Yukui, Mr. Hou,
in order to support his big family,
tried desperately to sing operas.
When he got injured,
in order to ease his pain,
he had no choice but to smoke opium.
Otherwise given his skills,
he can still take the stage and sing even to this day.
As to my father,
still less needless to say…
Enough, enough, enough.
I’m really feeling so bad.
Can’t you take back your schadenfreude
a bit?
It’s obviously a good thing,
but you don’t want others to be happy for you.
Mr. Cheng,
why on earth did you quarrel?
Get out of here!
Go, go, go.
Go and get a basin
of scalding water for me to wash my feet.
I always worry about you,
and it’s your turn to repay me.
I’ll tell you when You serve me comfortable.
Just a moment.
[Chunxuan]
Mrs. Cheng,
did you ask for me?
I’ve had a good look at this envelope
and found the paper very familiar.
Please have a look as well.
It looks very much like the paper
imported from the Soviet Union.
It’s used more often in Mukden.
Do you suspect the old lady is in Mukden?
I suppose this letter was written not long ago.
Maybe it’s still not too late.
Go to Mukden tomorrow
and see if you can find anything.
Keep it with you.
Don’t lose it.
OK.
Rest assured, Mr. Cheng.
Go quickly.
Jiang Mengping
has been like this ever since she was a kid.
She likes meddling in others’ household affairs.
Just wait and see,
with her staying by your wife’s side,
you’ll have to continue your bad luck.
Can’t you wish me well?
But Mr. Cheng,
you are a gigolo who made a fortune
with your wife’s backing.
You relied on Mrs. Mammon’s maiden family
to make a comeback.
Isn’t this true?
You are not wronged.
What are you angry about?
I just can’t make it clear to you.
Even if I can,
you won’t understand!
What’s more,
that’s not the only thing I’m angry about.
You are even keeping a picture of me secretly.
Are you blind?
This is my mother!