Lady Sour (Vinegar Wife / 醋娘子 / Chuk Leung Ji)

Mr Ono, try our sweet and sour pork ribs.

What do you think?

Delicious!

It's really good!

Yummy!

These sweet and sour pork ribs are made with our Leng Cho vinegar.

Leng Cho?

Can we try it?

This vinegar tastes so good!

Thank you, Mr Ono.

Oh, I don't know your names yet.

I'm Cho Ching. Everyone calls me Lady Cho. This is...

Your husband?

No. Not yet.

My name is Kai Chun, meaning "good at math".

Kai Chun is our employee. He's very helpful.

We came to the Chinese Mainland to look for good stuff to bring back to Japan.

We heard Yau Tak Town's Sum Cho has been making tribute vinegar for decades.

We'd love to have a look.

Mr Ono, you didn't know Sum Cho is no longer around?

Is that so?

Mr Ono, here's our Leng Cho vinegar.

Mr Ono, I learned how to make vinegar at Sum Cho previously.

All our neighbours say our vinegar is just as good as Sum Cho's.

You can order from us if you think it's good.

Your vinegar is very good indeed. We've decided to order from you.

Thank you, Mr Ono!

We bought a special bottle of vinegar in Guangzhou a while go.

We heard it's made in Thailand. It's very expensive.

I wonder if you have this type of vinegar.

It has a nice fruity aroma. It's pear.

Yes.

Mr Ono, may I try it?

Sure, go ahead.

How is it?

Not too sweet, not too sour. There's a subtle pear aroma.

Yes. Try it.

It's amazingly smooth. I wonder why.

We don't understand either.

Do you have this type of vinegar?

Sorry, we don't have this type of vinegar, but I'm willing to give it a try.

I like how honest you are.

You may keep the vinegar and see if you can make something like that.

My wife and I need to shop around anyway. We don't mind waiting.

Mr Ono, don't forget to come back.

If Leng Cho can figure out how to make pear vinegar,

big orders will be coming your way.

Deal!

Thank you, Mr Ono!

OK...

Shan Cha hasn't come home for two days.

She's nowhere to be found. She must have left.

No, Shan Cha is not that kind of person.

I wonder if the luminous pearl is sold yet.

I checked with all pawnshops and antique shops.

One of them remembered Shan Cha, but they didn't take the luminous pearl.

Perhaps Miss Shan Cha has gone to the next town to sell the luminous pearl.

It's possible. Shan Cha will probably be back after a few days.

I wonder if she has been to Miss Sheung.

Don't talk about her.

Grandma, should I go to the yamen? I want to ask them if they've seen Shan Cha.

I also want to ask Aunt Sheung why she did that to our family.

Dads been sick for a while now, but she hasn't even come to see him.

Don't go. It's useless to say anything now. She's not my daughter anymore.

What about the land for rebuilding Sum Cho?

Today the landlord informed me he could give me a few more days,

but he raised the price to 1,200 taels.

We don't have a choice. That land is very important for our comeback.

But we don't have money now.

Ask your stepmom to pawn the title deed of this house.

Sorry, Grandma.

Don't cry. You're not a kid anymore.

You'll bear the burden sooner or later. It's just a bit early.

I understand.

Master Tung is coming!

Stop tickling me!

Mom.

Tung.

Dad. Mom, I need to discuss something with Dad.

Go ahead.

Dad, I want to pawn our house to buy that land.

Didn't you say there's nothing we could do after the deadline?

The landlord gave me more time.

I just talked to Grandma. She agreed I should do that.

Grandma supports you too?

Dad, I promise I'll get our house back once we have money.

Please give me a chance.

No!

No? Why not?

Mom, I thought you were on my side.

I am, but if our business fails, we will have nowhere to sleep.

You don't trust me, do you?

Don't get me wrong, I just don't want your grandma to suffer.

Also, your dad had already transferred the title to me after he became paralysed.

Dad!

She can say whatever she wants. I'm a good-for-nothing.

Honey, you were right! You knew something big was going to happen!

Don't worry, I won't let you down! I won't give up the house!

You don't have to worry!

It's OK! Forget about it!

Without any money, how can I rebuild Sum Cho?

Honey, I won't let you die!

I can't help my son. Our family is a mess.

Honey...

I blame myself for loving you too much.

No need to try it. The pungent smell is hurting my eyes and nose.

But I think I smell a subtle pear aroma. Let me try it.

Seriously? It's really sour!

I need to know how sour it is in order to make it better.

It'll probably taste sweeter if I feed you.

On, come on!

How is it?

Super sour!

I'll get you some tea! Uncle Mute!

Here, have some tea.

I don't understand. I soaked the diced pears for a few days. Why is it still so sour?

What's missing there?

Hurry up and think of something! We can't let the opportunity slip away!

Mom, you can't rush it. It takes time to think.

Why don't we add water to dilute it?

We can't do that. It's OK to add water if used immediately.

Otherwise, the vinegar will turn mouldy and go bad after a while.

What's the secret behind this Thai pear vinegar?

Perhaps taking a walk will help.

Sure, we might come up with a new formula.

If so, that's great.

But I bet you two just want to go on a date.

We can think while going on a date.

Hey! What are you doing?

Come on, there's no one here! Let me hold your hand!

My mom was right about you. You were up to something.

So were you.

Your friend?

My first love.

Fei Yin!

Brother Chun! You still recognise me after all these years?

Ever since we met, you've always had a special place in my heart.

How are you?

I'm good, but I'm not with the troupe anymore.

What about you?

I'm still working at Yat Lo Inn. Come to Yat Lo Inn when you have time.

I'd love to treat you to a meal and catch up with you.

Sure.

I've got to go, DYE-

Bye.

First love, huh?

Yes, she's my first love.

When we were in the troupe, Fei Yin was swift and agile.

She could turn more than ten somersaults. I admired her a lot.

Admired her?

What? Are you jealous?

Yes!

Are you still mad?

Don't be mad. Let me play you a song, OK?

The same song again?

Right, the same song.

Mom!

Where's Dad?

He's playing the flute over there!

Why are you smiling like that?

Oh, I was picturing you dancing again, but there's something else this time.

What is it?

Our four kids.

Four?

Please marry me. I'm going to make a proposal to your mom right now!

What? Come on!

Hey!

Drown the couple for adultery...

Excuse me...

Oh my! The pig cage is so small! How can that fat couple fit in?

That's easy, just cut off their limbs.

What's going on?

An illicit love affair. That girl's mom got remarried.

Her stepfather had a son. He fell in love with his stepsister.

They secretly got married after the old couple died.

So they're not related by blood.

The Great Ming Code says marriage between stepsiblings

is considered adultery and shall be punished by drowning.

That makes sense. They're brother and sister after all.

This is against the core moral values. It's clearly stated by the law.

Like the two of you. As a senior relative of Lady Cho's, you're not allowed to marry her.

But she was divorced by Chin Tung.

You were her uncle-in-law before Master Chin divorced her.

The law says it remains valid. There's nothing to see, let's go...

You think you can drink your sorrows away? Drinking only brings more sorrows.

The Chin family's century-old heritage will be destroyed by Chin Tung!

Hey we're closed! You can’t come in here!

Go away! You don't know me? I'm Master Chin!

We're closed! Come next time!

I want wine!

Wine? You want to go? Here's the door, please.

Is this how you treat your customers? I'm your customer! You can't push me away!

We're closed! You suddenly barged in!

Right!

You hear that? You barged in! Get out!

It's OK, let him stay. It's better to keep an eye on him.

Right, take every chance to make money.

Put him in the 'I'm Suite and drink with him.

He can pay tomorrow morning.

Mom, you sure know how to run a business.