Love in a Miracle
Cast:
Sum Yau Yin /Suen Yau Yin Ma Jing Tao (Taiwan)
Yuen Man Qing- Chan Sau Mun
Suen Sau Dong- Ma Su (Taiwan?)
Zhuang Ning Chan Chin Pang Benny (ATV)
Suen 2nd Mistress Lei Heong Kum
Suen Big Master acted as Kwok Jings blind Master in Barbara Yungs Condor Heroes)
Suen Big Mistress- Yammie Lam Kit Ying
Suen 3rd Miss-Lui Yau Wai (Acted as Li Mo Chou in Andy Laus Return of Condor Heroes)
Suen 3rd Misss Husband Wong Wan Choi (acted as Ow Yeong Hak in Barbara Yungs Condor Heroes)
Kong Master Tsang Wai Ming
Kong Mistress- the actress who acted as Empress in Huan Zhu Ge Ge
36 episodes
This show was disappointing to me because of 2 reasons:
1. I bought the show because of the two leads, Ma Jing Tao and Chan Sau Mun, who acted in a series in 1996 called "The Good Old Days". Their chemistry there was great. I loved that show and have been trying to find it to purchase. Anyway, in this current series, there was very little screen time together for the two leads. I think this may be because after acting their second series together with Lau Kar Lai, they had differences between each other and both said they wont act with each other again. Which was why I was surprised to see this series and bought it. But apparently, they got around the problem by having so few scenes together.
2. The storyline given on the box talks about the love between the two leads as the main storyline. However, upon watching it, it is not so much about the love between the two but the downfall of the mighty Suen family.
Synopsis:
Sum Yau Yin is the village chief of his village, Sum (Heart) Chuen (Springwater) Siu Qun (Small Village). He lives with his crippled mother and younger brother, Zi Tak. The village used to be famous for its Sum Chuen Qing Zao (Heart Springwater Clear Wine) but the spring used for making the wine has since dried up. So the village now grow crops for a living and have to pay the rent for their land to the Suen family. They have not had a harvest for many years and the village is very poor. This year, the crops at last are bountiful and the village is looking forward to having food and clothes. It is also decided that this year, Yau Yin will be able to get a bride because the whole village did not have enough money to get a bride for its bachelors for a long time. So the matchmaker plans to matchmake Yau Yin to Yuen Man Qing, a teacher in a nearby village.
But Yuen Man Qing has no plans to marry and wants to further her studies in the city instead. Yau Yin sends a letter to her to tell her that he is a simple farmer but will do his best to take care of her if she marries him. He also tells her not to believe the tall tales the matchmaker will tell her about him as it is most probably not true. Man Qing becomes curious and impressed by his honesty and sincerity and sets off to Yau Yins village to see him. However, when she reaches there, the crops of Yau Yins village were all eaten by locusts and burnt by a fire. Yau Yin refuses to meet her as he no longer has the means to marry her. She leaves without seeing him but leaves a message that she is sad for him.
Yau Yin then sets off to the Suen family to explain why they do not have the means to pay the rent again this year. He reaches the Suen family just as 2nd Master is having his birthday celebrations. Suen family is headed by Suen 2nd Mistress as the fortunes were built up first by 2nd Master and then by her when 2nd Master became ill and then senile. Suen Big Master is a eunuch who is embarrassed by that fact and therefore married Suen Big Mistress, who is actually young and pretty. The only second generation Suen family are the children of Suen 2nd Master and 2nd Mistress, Sao Fung and Sao Dong. That night, Yau Yin witnesses Suen Sao Dongs willfulness and also learns of the death of Suen Sao Fung, who is killed by bandits. Suen family therefore no longer has a son to continue the family name.
Suen 2nd Mistress decides to bury Suen Sao Fung in the village of Man Qing. She sends her younger brother, Kong Master, to handle the job of taking back the land from the tenants. But Kong Master gets greedy and keeps most of the compensation money for himself and gives the tenants very little money and time to move out. Man Qing and her villagers have no choice but to go to Suen family to speak to Suen 2nd Mistress. In the end, a fight breaks out and Yau Yin blocks a blow for Man Qing but she is unable to see who saved her.
Suen Big Master then plans to adopt a opera singer to try to take over control of the Suen family finances and business. Suen 2nd Mistress decides to get someone to marry into the family instead. Sao Dong runs away because she hates the restrictions of being a Suen member. Unfortunately, she runs into the villagers of Man Qings village who decide to kidnap her for ransom. Yau Yin, who happens to pass by whilst going home, saves her and carries her home when she injures her leg. He covers her up with a cloth to avoid ruining her reputation. Suen 2nd Mistress is impressed by his character and thoughtfulness and decides to get him to marry into the family.
Yau Yin eventually agrees to lift his village from poverty and hunger. But before doing so, he goes to visit Man Qing to give her an explanation although they are not formally engaged. However, Man Qing was rushing off to see her fathers friend who could get her into a university and bumps into Yau Yin in the street. They meet but have no idea who each other is. Eventually they still do not know how each other look like. However, Yau Yins self sacrifice moves Man Qing to give up her ideal to study in the university and remain in the village to teach the children.
On Yau Yin and Sao Dongs wedding, Suen Big Master finds out Suen Big Mistress has been having an affair and is pregnant. He creates a scene at the wedding. Yau Yin tries to help Suen Big Mistress as she was the only one kind and friendly to him. She tells him to leave as she does not believe Big Master will kill her. However, the next morning, news that Big Mistress has hanged herself greets him.
Suen Sao Dong hates Yau Yin as she looks down on him as a country bumpkin whom she was forced to marry. Yau Yin is devastated when she breaks his last remaining bottle of Sum Chuen Qing Zao and decides to leave. As he leaves Suen family, he walks past Man Qing who is in town. Man Qings long lost mother has reappeared in her life and she is resentful of her for abandoning her when she was young. This time, they both realize each others identity because the matchmaker calls Man Qings name and some children dance around Yau Yin singing a ditty about him marrying into Suen family.
Yau Yin and Man Qing go for a drink and both confide in each other their problems. They console and encourage each other. So in the end, Yau Yin decides to give his marriage another try and Man Qing decides to go home to make up with her mother.
Yau Yin brings Sao Dong to Big Mistresss grave. He was the one who buried her when he found her body left lying to rot in the wilderness. Sao Dong at last decides to try accepting him because she loves Big Mistress for being her only friend. Man Qing also patches up with her mother although her mother tried to commit suicide as she owed many people money and did not want to burden her family.
One year pass and Suen family is all waiting for Sao Dong to be pregnant. Suen 2nd Mistress decides to send Yau Yin and Sao Dong to the city to have a medical checkup. Yau Yin and Sao Dong get to know Zhuang Ning, a gangster chief there. The medical report shows Sao Dong is infertile. Suen 2nd Mistress decides to get Yau Yin to impregnate another girl and to pass off the baby as Sao Dongs. Yau Yin reluctantly agrees as Sao Dong is very sad over her infertility and wants a family of her own. Man Qing and her mother, who are running away from her mothers debtors, are captured by the debtors instead. These are Zhuang Nings men. Suen 2nd Mistress decides to pick Man Qing as the mother of her grandchildren because of Man Qings feisty character.
Man Qing has no choice but to agree because of her mothers safety. So Yau Yin and Man Qing are blindfolded every night at a cottage. They are not allowed to speak. The first night, Yau Yin and Man Qing sit in silence and Man Qing is beaten for having failed to have sex with Yau Yin. The second night, Yau Yin realizes she has been beaten and tries to comfort her with gestures. The third night, Yau Yin buys ointment for Man Qing and applies it for her. She is touched and feels safe in his presence and falls asleep. The fourth night, Yau Yin is depressed over Sao Dongs unreasonableness and brings a bottle of Sum Chuen Qing Zao (his mother gave him another bottle) and shares it with Man Qing. They at last consummate. Yau Yin carves the words Sorry on a wood pillar. Man Qing carves back I understand. So they develop feelings for each other because they comfort each other and are the only ones who understand each others helplessness in this situation.
On the 7th night when Yau Yin and Man Qing are looking forward to seeing each other again, Sao Dong finds out about it and he is prevented from going. She hates Yau Yin again and they all return home. When home, Suen Big Master has adopted the opera singer as his son and they are planning to kick Kong Master and his family out. Sao Dong sees the opera singer bullying her father and decides to fake a pregnancy to spite him as he will lose his position as the Suen descendant. The opera singer pushes Sao Dong down the steps in anger. Big Master breaks his arm and drives him out of the family.
Man Qing becomes pregnant and Zhuang Ning who is moved by her character, sends her to Kiu Yee, an ex-courtesan who also saved him, to live. Kiu Yee motivates Man Qing to live again. Eventually, Man Qing decides to keep her baby and Kiu Yee decides to help her because she too, had given up a son. Man Qing escapes but she stupidly runs to the cottage to give birth. Zhuang Nings men catch her there. Yau Yin, who has an argument with Sao Dong when she finds out that he still thinks about and misses the mysterious girl, also retraces his steps to the cottage. However, just when he is rushing into the cottage, he is knocked out by Zhuang Ning from behind. Zhuang Ning is ordered by Suen 2nd Mistress to kill Man Qing because Sao Dong is very jealous and wants her dead. However, both Zhuang Ning and Kiu Yee save Man Qing. Kiu Yee tells Yau Yin that Man Qing died from giving birth to a pair of twin boy and girl.
Upon reaching Suen family, Sao Dong is persuaded to accept the baby boy whom she names as Tin Chu. However, she hates the baby girl as she thinks she will grow up to resemble the mother. Suen 2nd Mistress orders the baby girl to be dumped in the wilderness to die. Yau Yin is again knocked out when he tries to stop it.
Seven years pass. Tin Chu is a very spoilt child. Yau Yin becomes very brooding and depressed because of his suffering. He has no say in raising Tin Chu and Suen 2nd Mistress sends him to work at a quarry mine to get him out of the way. Sao Dong by then loves Yau Yin and Tin Chu very much but has no idea how to breach the gap between them caused by all the past. Yau Yin meets Man Qing at the mine and they are both trapped in the mine when there is an earthquake. They comfort each other and Man Qing is again given the sense of security with Yau Yin. Man Qing also comforts Yau Yin and manages to bring out the old, helpful, and honest Yau Yin in him. Sao Dong engages Man Qing to be Tin Chus teacher as she is the only one who can handle his tantrums.
Meanwhile, Zhuang Ning also does business with Suen family. Man Qing never knew that he was behind her ordeal as she was always blindfolded. She only knows him as Kiu Yees friend. Yau Yin also does not know Zhuang Ning knows everything. Eventually Zhuang Ning tells Man Qing that Yau Yin is the lover she cannot forget. However, Man Qing decides to leave because Tin Chu loves Sao Dong as his mother and she does not want to break up the family. However, Zhuang Ning also purposely causes Sao Dong and Yau Yin to find out. Suen 2nd Mistress decides to drown Yau Yin and Man Qing as adulterers to silence them. However Sao Dong decides to save them and reveals that Tin Chu is their son to everyone. Yau Yin, Man Qing and Tin Chu return to Sam Chuen Siu Qun and are reunited with their daughter too who was actually sent to Man Qings father to take care by a Suen servant secretly.
Zhuang Ning plots with Suen 3rd Misss husband to cheat Suen family of its fortune. Big Master also demands to split the family fortune but is robbed by Zhuang Ning. So the Suen family loses their fortune and business. Zhuang Ning then reveals that he is Suen Big Mistresss lover and he has been plotting for revenge for 8 years. He forces Big Master to commit suicide. Then he also reveals that he is the son of the maid that Suen 2nd Master had raped and then thrown out of the house when she gave birth to his son. She later drowned herself. He leaves the Suen family in shambles and when war breaks out, Suen 2nd Master and 2nd Mistress decide to remain in the house and are killed.
Sao Dong meets up with Yau Yin and Tin Chu while fleeing due to war but is shot. She dies in Yau Yins arms and embracing Tin Chu. Yau Yin and Tin Chu are hence separated from Man Qing and their daughter. Many years later, Man Qing and their daughter return to the village but only Tin Chu returns. Turns out Yau Yin is badly injured and disfigured and refuses to come home. Man Qing goes to the cottage to fetch him home. Man Qing also manages to find the new source of the springwater to make the special wine again.
Characters:
Sum Yau Yin (Ma Jing Tao)
Overacts again. He is really quite bad nowadays with acting. His character doesnt really touch me. Even when he was supposedly quite mean because he had suffered so much, he didnt convince me.
Yuen Man Qing (Chan Sau Mun)
Love her. She is a great actress. Very natural but it is a pity that she lacked good supporting acting from other people to really produce a fully emotional scene.
Suen Sao Dong (Ma Su)
Her character quite pitiful. Willful and unreasonable because of her upbringing and the lack of freedom. She was taught to be totally dependent by her mother so that she will never survive outside Suen family. When she eventually loved her husband, it was too late because she had ordered his lover and daughter to be killed. Her marriage failed because her mother placed Suen family over her. Yet she could not hate her mother because of it either. She was the sacrificial lamb for the Suen familys interest.
Suen 2nd Mistress (Lei Heong Kum)
Scary woman. Her basic character is quite righteous and good. However, she becomes twisted whenever she thinks of how she has the duty to maintain Suen family and protect it. Her own daughters interest becomes secondary although she never admits it but sees it as long as Suen family benefits, her daughter benefits. It was quite eerie how she kept asking the heavens why it keeps punishing Suen family when theyve never done any evil. This is AFTER she arranged for her son-in-law to impregnate an unwilling girl, then kill the girl after having the babies and ordering the death of a innocent baby girl.
Zhuang Ning
My favourite character because he really acts out of his emotions. The most human of all the characters. He loves Suen Big Mistress a lot and is devastated by her death and so plots his revenge. That is really the basis for his plans, not his birth, because he knew about that all along but did not do anything. He did consider giving up his plans as advised by Man Qing but in the end, he gives in to his hatred. He does a lot of bad things but you can tell that he does all these to gain power and to survive and not be bullied anymore. In his moments of solitude, you can also see his sadness, loneliness, regret and you give him even more respect for being able to do what he does when he is basically good.
Conclusion:
The story was quite draggy with all the missed opportunities by Yau Yin and Man Qing to meet each other. I had to watch about 30 episodes before Yau Yin and Man Qing realized that they were each others lovers and then before you knew it, everything was settled within 6 episodes. I felt they spent too little time on the love between them. It was quite incredulous that they had this love for each other from spending 6 nights together without even seeing or talking to each other. They cried when they reunited but after that, there was no moments of tenderness or love between them at all.
I quite liked the irony of Suen 2nd Mistress trying all her means to save Suen family and to continue its line when all along, the 2nd Master had thrown out an heir. There was actually a very young and healthy male Suen, Zhuang Ning. And Suen Big Master actually killed their last descendent by killing Suen Big Mistress and her unborn child.
ATV Official Site:
http://www.hkatv.com/drama/04/miracle/
