Recaps

Shek Chi-yik met with Shodick after Governor Grantham blamed him for letting the United States Consulate discover that Mainland Chinese hair was supplying Hong Kong wig factories. Shek defended his handling of the incident and argued that the wig industry’s disorderly growth had made such a crisis likely, while American scrutiny threatened to destroy its trade.

• Shodick told Shek Chi-yik that Grantham was furious because the Americans had exposed the hair trade and accused the colonial government of failing to enforce the embargo.
• Shek asked whether selling hair violated the United Nations embargo, noting that hair was not a strategic material.
• Shodick explained that the United States Consulate had complained to Grantham and was investigating Hong Kong wigs, while the United States Department of Commerce was preparing to suspend orders.
• Shek described the wig industry as disorderly and driven by profit, with no standards or oversight for its raw materials.
• Shek told Shodick that the industry’s disorder had caused the incident, and admitted that he had helped bring it to a head.

Shek Chi-yik told Shodick that he had arranged to disrupt the wig industry’s supply scandal so a British businessman could take over and restore production. Meanwhile, Tang Wenbao and Tang Jingyuan faced the furious factory owners after Gu Linshan’s scheme left them holding Kimei’s company and its potentially illegal mainland hair supplies.

• Shek Chi-yik explained that he had alerted the Medical and Health Department and Marine Police, and planned to introduce a British businessman to the wig industry.
• Gu Linshan diverted Tang Wenbao to visit factories while arranging for Tang Jingyuan to take ownership of Kimei International Trading Company’s Hong Kong subsidiary.
• Tang Wenbao and his sons went to Kwong Wah Hospital but discovered that Tang Boqi had never been admitted there.
• The factory owners learned that Indian Xia Harry had been arrested over mainland hair, and Tang Wenbao realized the raw materials supplied to their factories might also have come from the mainland.
• A lawyer told Tang Wenbao and Tang Jingyuan they would not be arrested, but American distributors could sue Kimei for failing to fulfill orders.
• Huang Siqun accused Tang Wenbao of misleading the factory owners and demanded answers about their mainland hair supplies.

Shek Chi-yik told the wig factory owners that their American orders had been suspended because Xia Harry had supplied them with hair from mainland China, and warned that the Xia family would have no assets left to compensate them. He urged them to find a legitimate raw-material supplier quickly, but none of the owners knew of one.

• The factory owners argued with Tang Wenbao and Tang Jingyuan, blaming the Tang family for bringing Xia Harry’s materials into their businesses.
• Shek Chi-yik arrived and confirmed that Xia Harry had supplied 200,000 mainland braids to the ten factories.
• Shek explained that the United States had suspended their orders and that the factories could face breach-of-contract claims, while the Xia family was headed for bankruptcy and deportation.
• Huang Siqun accused the Tang family of responsibility and feared losing the savings he had invested in his factory.
• Shek asked whether any factory had another supplier of legitimate raw materials, and the owners lowered their heads without an answer.

Song Tianyao arrived at the trade association meeting with Angie Pellis after Shek Chi-yik explained that the factories needed help resolving the American embargo crisis. He revealed that he, not the British, had arranged the rescue, then confronted the factory owners who had previously tried to drive him out.

• Shek Chi-yik criticized the association leaders for having no plan to address the embargo and said Jimei Company faced bankruptcy with no help from him.
• Shek Chi-yik introduced Angie Pellis as the person who would carry out remedial measures for ten factories.
• Song Tianyao entered with Angie Pellis, and Huang Liu stopped Tang Jingyuan from attacking him and pushed him into a seat.
• Shek Chi-yik introduced Song Tianyao and Angie Pellis, thanked her, and left his secretary to record the meeting.
• Song Tianyao rebuked the factory owners, saying he had arranged their help while they had previously called him a bastard and tried to expel him.
• Song Tianyao kicked the meeting table, spilling the tea in front of the factory owners.

Song Tianyao laid out a way to rescue the factory owners from the embargo crisis, then demanded that they hand Manifest Glory Trading Company all profits from eight months of wig orders. The chapter ended with the owners facing his ultimatum in a suddenly cold conference room.

• Huang Siqun and the other factory owners apologized to Song Tianyao and blamed Tang Boqi for the crisis.
• Song Tianyao explained that the factories needed legitimate raw materials, a resolution with the United States Consulate in Hong Kong, and approval from the United States Department of Commerce.
• Song Tianyao said he had enough certified raw materials to supply eleven factories for a year and that Angie Pellis would handle the negotiations.
• Song Tianyao proposed making Angie Pellis chairman and Ms. Lou vice chairman of the Hairpiece Industry Association, and the owners agreed.
• Song Tianyao offered to preserve the factories' American orders through Manifest Glory Trading Company in exchange for all profits on eight months of production, and demanded that the owners accept or face bankruptcy and breach penalties.

Song Tianyao forced the wig factory owners to surrender eight months of profits in exchange for keeping their businesses and U.S. contracts. After signing, Huang Siqun and other Chiu Chow merchants went to Chu Yaozong for help, only to find other Chamber of Commerce members already asking him to negotiate with Song Tianyao.

• Song Tianyao told the factory owners they could accept his terms or risk losing their American business, and Luo Jiabao protested before falling silent.
• Huang Siqun agreed first, and Song Tianyao promised that his factory could keep operating and that he could retain his vice-chairman position.
• The other factory owners reluctantly agreed, and Angie Pellis distributed prepared agreements for them to review and sign.
• Huang Siqun and two other Chiu Chow merchants left to ask Chu Yaozong to persuade Song Tianyao to reduce the number of months’ profits he would take.
• At the Chu Family home, the three merchants found at least eight Chamber of Commerce members asking Chu Yaozong to speak to Song Tianyao about their plans to buy machines and open factories.

Song Tianyao secured wig orders for ten factories and met HSBC manager Michael Sandberg to discuss buying a troubled Indian businessman’s factory and machinery. Sandberg asked Song to bring more Chinese borrowers to HSBC, and Song asked whether he wanted clients like the Indian or like himself.

• Huang Siqun asked Chu Yaozong to persuade Song Tianyao to take less profit from the three factories’ orders, but Chu refused to press the young man who had been bullied.
• Song Tianyao gave Michael Sandberg cigars and a Citibank check, and Sandberg thanked him while discussing the Indian borrower’s default.
• Sandberg told Song that the Indian’s factory and garment-machine heads would likely be auctioned to recover the debt.
• Song said a friend in the garment business wanted the factory and machinery, and Sandberg offered to arrange a favorable sale through HSBC.
• Song told Sandberg that Angie Pellis’s return from the United States would bring eight months of orders for ten factories.
• Sandberg asked Song to help Chinese businessmen take HSBC loans, and Song asked whether he wanted borrowers like the Indian or like him.

Song Tianyao learned that Scribe Hui had expanded his uniform business to the US military in Okinawa and decided to focus on launching a newspaper. At Chu Xiaoxin’s newly bought house, he teased Lu Peiying about asking for more before her marriage, which was set for March 9, 1953.

• Song Tianyao learned that Scribe Hui was in Okinawa measuring American soldiers for uniforms after taking over orders for all seventeen Hong Kong garrisons.
• Song Tianyao decided to contact Meng Chengzhi about Xia Zuoji’s garment factory and to spend his spare time launching a newspaper.
• Song Tianyao toured Chu Xiaoxin’s newly bought house and joked that Lu Peiying should demand more from her wealthy fiancé.
• Madam Chu chose March 9, 1953, as Chu Xiaoxin and Lu Peiying’s wedding date after comparing the dates proposed by feng shui masters.

The Chu Family prepared a luxurious Kellett Road villa as Chu Xiaoxin’s marital home, while Song Tianyao advised him on how to revive the struggling Pharmaceutical Factory. The chapter ended with Lu Peiying asking Song Tianyao whether he had a girlfriend.

• The Chu Family bought Mak Qizhi’s Kellett Road villa for Chu Xiaoxin’s future marriage, with Chu Xiaozhong paying for it as part of the family’s inheritance arrangements.
• Lu Peiying and Lu Wenhui expressed satisfaction with Chu Xiaoxin, and preparations for the villa and its staff began ahead of the wedding.
• Chu Xiaoxin told Song Tianyao that he was considering closing the Pharmaceutical Factory because Flower Pagoda Candy sales had fallen.
• Song Tianyao proposed expanding the factory into Chinese medicines, first by having pharmacies contribute formulas and then by offering to buy their formulas outright.
• Chu Xiaoxin agreed the purchase proposal seemed reasonable, and Song Tianyao suggested selling the medicines in Southeast Asian markets with large Chinese communities.
• Lu Peiying asked Song Tianyao whether he had a girlfriend.

Song Tianyao visited the injured Hong Lai-sau, who explained why Hong Kong newspaper figures were funding a weekly knockoff of The Correct Newspaper and why he had defended its newsboy. The chapter ended with Hong Lai-sau joking that Song Tianyao might replace him as editor-in-chief.

• Song Tianyao hurried to a dispensary after Lou Fengyun told him Hong Lai-sau had been beaten.
• Hong Lai-sau told Song Tianyao that he had intervened when Kuomintang supporters attacked a newsboy selling The Correct Newspaper.
• Xu Minjun learned that Hong Lai-sau donated part of his salary to help fund the paper.
• Hong Lai-sau explained that Hong Kong cultural figures supported the paper out of gratitude to the Communist Party for rescuing them during the Japanese occupation.
• Hong Lai-sau said he would fight the attackers again and joked that Song Tianyao might replace him as editor-in-chief.

Song Tianyao raised Hong Lai-sau’s salary and brought him to meet licensed stockbroker Luo Zhuankun, who would provide stock-market news for his newspaper. Luo’s past showed how he had fallen from managing a wealthy merchant’s gold to running a meager securities firm, while Song revealed that he controlled several similarly shabby firms.

• Song Tianyao offered Hong Lai-sau a monthly salary of twelve hundred and advised him to support newspaper-industry figures without taking a political side.
• Song Tianyao took Hong Lai-sau to Wealth-Through Securities and introduced him to Luo Zhuankun as the editor-in-chief of China Hong Kong Business Weekly.
• Luo Zhuankun mistook Hong Lai-sau for a stockbroker and joked that the newspaper might have printed something that got him beaten.
• Song Tianyao explained that Luo would supply stock-market news for the paper and revealed he had six other licensed securities companies like Luo’s.
• Luo Zhuankun’s history showed that after losing his gold-trading livelihood, he had tried to enter securities trading but lived frugally while seeking a licensed brokerage opportunity.

Luo Zhuankun used a rented broker’s license and his knowledge of Shanghainese and the stock market to build a small client base among Shanghai people in Hong Kong. After reuniting with Song Tianyao, he took charge of Wealth-Through Securities and joined Song’s plan to create a stock index while acquiring shares in Xizhen Properties.

• Luo Zhuankun rented a struggling British broker’s license for a month and translated daily stock information from English into Chinese.
• Luo Zhuankun used his fluent Shanghainese and knowledge of Shanghai to attract clients and earn commissions by recommending stocks.
• Song Tianyao later bought seven exchange membership licenses and placed Luo Zhuankun in charge of Wealth-Through Securities.
• Song Tianyao planned to publish a stock index to guide retail investors while secretly acquiring Xizhen Properties shares, and Luo Zhuankun wanted to become the index’s creator.
• Luo Zhuankun and Song Tianyao joined forces, each pursuing his own ambitions through the stock market.

Lam Kong discussed his new club and a reward for information that helped Sai Wan Police Station arrest two armed robbers. He brought Zhao Wenye to the Golden Source Club for a meeting with his associates.

• Zhao Wenye visited Lam Kong after payday and offered to take him out for drinks, but Lam Kong invited him to see his new club instead.
• Lee Jusheng told Lam Kong that a tip had helped Sai Wan Police Station arrest two robbers and recover five guns, and said Brother Sang would send him fifty thousand dollars.
• Lam Kong complained that Lee Jusheng was keeping much of the reward, then took Zhao Wenye to the Golden Source Club on Arbuthnot Street.
• At the club, Lam Kong greeted the women and his plainclothes officer before learning that the meeting attendees were waiting upstairs.
• Lam Kong invited Zhao Wenye upstairs, saying information from the Marine Police Anti-Smuggling Squad could be useful.

Lam Kong established a club in Central where jianghu men could trade information for territory and police protection, then forced them to accept his rules. Song Tianyao wondered why Lu Peiying had offered to introduce him to a girl, and the chapter left the girl's identity unknown.

• Lam Kong awarded Flathead Ping the gambling and opium den business on Li Yuen Street East for providing useful information.
• Lam Kong defended informing on armed robbers and offered club members Marine Police protection in exchange for information.
• Lam Kong warned members to provide information or money within three months or be expelled and have their territory divided among the others.
• Lam Kong demanded that the jianghu men acknowledge his terms and ended the meeting.
• Song Tianyao questioned why Lu Peiying had offered to introduce him to a girl and considered who might have prompted her.
• Lu Peiying gave Song Tianyao an address and telephone number without revealing the girl's identity.

Song Tianyao learned that Lu Peiying had arranged a six-person dinner so he could meet a woman interested in him, but he rejected the idea of marrying someone who expected him to leave his other women behind. He still went to Hard Rock to honor Lu Peiying and found an unusual Western music restaurant.

• Chu Xiaoxin explained the six-person dinner matchmaking method to Song Tianyao, and Song teased him about his supposed experience with women.
• Lu Peiying told Song Tianyao that a friend wanted to meet him and knew he already had three women, but expected them to make room for each other if they married.
• Song Tianyao decided he would not pursue the woman, believing her interest might come from a wealthy businessman seeking to marry his daughter to him.
• At six fifty, Huang Liu drove Song Tianyao to Hard Rock in Causeway Bay, where Song entered and found a rustic log-cabin restaurant with a woman singing folk music.

Song Tianyao attended a six-person matchmaking dinner and discovered that Kong Wing-yan and Alice were among the guests. The group waited for the final attendee as the restaurant owner explained they could grill their own food.

• Song Tianyao arrived at the Western-style restaurant and recognized Kong Wing-yan, who introduced herself to Robert as Lou Fengyun.
• Robert and Chris Chuang introduced themselves, and Kong Wing-yan and Alice greeted each other and Song Tianyao.
• Alice said Zhang Yuqi had moved to Australia, leaving her in Hong Kong with a large payout.
• Alice asked why the meal had not started and noted that one woman was still missing.
• A voice from the back door invited the group to try the roast meat and explained that they could barbecue food in the backyard.

Song Tianyao attended a dinner for six and met Tiffany, a University of Hong Kong teacher who had recently returned from studying in the United States. After Kong Wing-yan called him a womanizer, he left the table and took the singer’s guitar.

• Tiffany arrived with roast meat, introduced herself, and joined the dinner.
• Kong Wing-yan quietly stopped Alice from revealing Song Tianyao’s real name.
• Tiffany said she had graduated from Columbia University and taught Japanese history at the University of Hong Kong’s Chinese College.
• Song Tianyao admitted he had dropped out of Man Chi College, was not a lawyer, and owned the British-German Western Pharmacy.
• Kong Wing-yan called Song Tianyao a womanizer, easing Robert’s and Chris Chuang’s initial hostility toward him.
• Song Tianyao left the others to chat, traded a beer for the singer’s guitar, and put on a cowboy hat.

Song Tianyao entertained Robert and the others with a guitar performance before discussing Kong Wing-yan’s resignation and offering her a chance to manage his wig-industry companies. Kong Wing-yan considered his offer while Song Tianyao explained how much he relied on Angie Pellis’s advice.

• Song Tianyao sang “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and joked with Robert, Alice, and Tiffany about learning it to court a girl.
• Kong Wing-yan told Song Tianyao she had resigned and was looking for someone to marry, and he offered to help her find a new job.
• Song Tianyao offered Kong Wing-yan a role managing his wig-industry companies after Angie Pellis finished handling their current business.
• Kong Wing-yan questioned Song Tianyao’s attachment to Angie Pellis, and he said he relied on her advice because he had few people he could use at his side.

Song Tianyao attended a dinner with Robert, Chris Chuang, Kong Wing-yan, Alice, and Tiffany, while Robert tried to assess him and Chris pursued Alice. After the women left in separate cars, Robert told Chris that Song seemed unlike the ruthless businessman he had heard about and wondered which woman was interested in him.

• Kong Wing-yan asked whether a less sharp woman could ruin Song Tianyao’s business, and he said the company could develop steadily once Foreign Girl finished her work.
• At the dinner, Alice repeatedly asked Song Tianyao to sing, while Robert chatted with him about work and current affairs and Chris focused on Alice.
• After the bonfire ended, Kong Wing-yan rode with Song Tianyao, while Alice accepted a lift from Tiffany in her pale blue Isabella.
• Once Song Tianyao and the women had driven away, Robert dropped his drunken act and teased Chris for spending the evening courting Alice.
• Robert told Chris that Song Tianyao seemed friendly and unassuming rather than like the ambitious businessman described in rumors, then speculated that Song might become involved with one of the women.

Song Tianyao and Angie Pellis marked one year since he hired her with a lavish dinner, remembering how they had met as two struggling people in Hong Kong. The chapter left them together over the meal, reflecting on how much their lives had changed.

• Chris Chuang hurried off to seek the big-breasted girl's contact details, while Robert warned him she might not be as innocent as he thought.
• Robert refused to spread the inside information, suspecting its source meant to use him to cause trouble for Song Tianyao.
• Song Tianyao and Angie Pellis prepared for dinner together after Huang Liu inspected the food delivery.
• Song Tianyao reminded Angie Pellis that he had hired her one year earlier, and they recalled their difficult beginnings and their success since.

Song Tianyao promised Angie Pellis that he would meet her family at Christmas and intended to marry her after settling his affairs. A call from Qi Weiwen brought him to the hospital to collect his angered grandfather, Song Chengqi, and they returned to Kuixing Pavilion to discuss what had happened.

• Angie Pellis told Song Tianyao that her parents wanted to meet him after she said he had transferred nearly seven hundred thousand pounds into her name.
• Song Tianyao agreed to visit Angie Pellis's family at Christmas and said he planned to marry her within a year.
• Qi Weiwen called Song Tianyao and explained that a wealthy-looking customer had visited Song Advisor, who became furious after speaking with him and was taken to Tung Wah Hospital.
• Song Tianyao and Huang Liu went to Tung Wah Hospital, where Song Chengqi insisted that he was only briefly angered and did not need to stay for observation.
• Song Tianyao drove Song Chengqi and Qi Weiwen back to Kowloon City and escorted Song Chengqi to Kuixing Pavilion, then sent Qi Weiwen and Huang Liu downstairs.

Song Tianyao learned that his estranged eldest uncle, Song Chunzhong, had returned from overseas to invite Song Chengqi to Malaysia, but Song Chengqi drove him away. The chapter ended with Song Chengqi refusing to reconcile with his two surviving sons, leaving Song Tianyao unable to change his grandfather’s mind.

• Song Tianyao asked Song Chengqi who had upset him, and Song Chengqi revealed that his visitor had been his eldest son, Song Chunzhong.
• Song Chengqi explained that Song Chunzhong had fled Hong Kong, survived the war overseas, and returned as a casino manager hoping to take his father to Malaysia.
• Song Chengqi said he had struck Song Chunzhong and sent him away because he believed his eldest son had not truly changed.
• Song Tianyao defended Song Chunzhong, arguing that his father’s absence and the company he kept had shaped him, and that his return showed he wanted to care for Song Chengqi.
• Song Chengqi insisted he would never rely on Song Chunzhong or Song Chunliang, and Song Tianyao left for bed, unable to sway him.

Song Tianyao offered Qi Weiwen a place at his side or help establishing herself in the jianghu, but she rejected his advances and chose to live independently. They left the conversation on friendly terms at Kowloon Restaurant.

• Song Chengqi warned Song Tianyao not to let people misunderstand his relationship with Qi Weiwen if he would not give her a proper place.
• Song Tianyao and Huang Liu went to Kowloon Restaurant, where they found Qi Weiwen after she had spoken with Yan Hung and Golden-Tooth Lei.
• Song Tianyao gave money to the restaurant's young servers and then asked Huang Liu to leave him alone with Qi Weiwen.
• Song Tianyao offered to help Qi Weiwen drive Ge Zhaohuang out of the Walled City or to take her beyond the jianghu as one of his women.
• Qi Weiwen declined Song Tianyao's offer, saying she preferred to live independently, and Song joked to ease the awkwardness.

Lou Fengyun and the factory workers restrained a man claiming to be Song Tianyao’s eldest paternal uncle while Ning Zikun accused him of being the con artist Feng Yifa who had betrayed their old associates. Song Tianyao arrived at the factory as the two men’s identities and history remained unresolved.

• Lou Fengyun waited at the factory while Sister Xiong and two night-shift workers kept the battered middle-aged man from leaving.
• Ning Zikun accused the man of being Feng Yifa, who had stolen nearly seven hundred thousand silver dollars and left their fellow con artists to die.
• The man denied betraying Ning Zikun and insisted that he was Song Tianyao’s eldest paternal uncle.
• Sister Xiong stopped the men from fighting and drove away the dogs as Ning Zikun continued shouting.
• Song Tianyao arrived with Huang Liu and told Brother Xiong to put the dogs back in their cages.

Song Tianyao reunited with his long-absent eldest uncle, Song Chunzhong, after Ning Zikun mistook him for an impostor. Song Chunzhong explained that news of Song Tianyao’s business success in Malaya had brought him back to Hong Kong, and Song Tianyao asked whether he planned to leave again.

• Lou Fengyun told Song Tianyao that a man claiming to be his eldest uncle had arrived and that Ning Zikun had attacked him.
• Song Tianyao confirmed that the man was Song Chunzhong, then greeted his uncle and brought him into the office.
• Song Chunzhong said he had heard Song Tianyao’s name in Malaya and returned to Hong Kong to see him.
• Song Chunzhong explained that he had learned about Song Tianyao through reports of Zhang Yujie’s extradition and had visited Zhang in prison to confirm his identity.
• Song Tianyao asked Song Chunzhong whether he intended to leave Hong Kong again.