Neverending Love

不了情

How long
30 episodes

Foreword

This is a drama by the late actress, Lin Cui. It also brought Ho Kar King and Jin Su Mei as lovers for a few years. Although both did not get married in real life after she married another man, this drama was considered a classic. It was also the only drama that singer Tong An Ge had acted in.

Introduction on characters

1. Gao Ting Jiang – Ho Kar King
He is the eldest child and works after his secondary education to help to support his family to see his younger siblings through university. Yue Xiang grumbles about this but this is his choice. He believes that he must be responsible and sets up his own clothes company using his savings. He is loyal to his friends but is cheated of his money. Luckily, his friend learns from his mistake to turn over a new leaf.

Ting Jiang is never serious in relationships but likes Jia Yu. He doesn’t dare to reveal his feelings and vows to help to bring her and Ting He together. However, he fails and Jia Yu admits that she likes Ting Jiang. Ting Juan then introduces Jia Yu to work in his company.

However, knowing her is the starting of his sorrow. When Yue Xiang forces him to break up with Jia Yu, he is sunk into dilemma. The pressure almost turns him mad and he weeps in his sleep. After knowing the truth, he is even more tortured and can’t concentrate well at work.

An overseas company gives him clothes that are too large. Yue Xiang has always been belittling him all the time but upon finding his difficulty, she alters the sizes with the help of neighbours, Jia Yu, Ting Juan and Shao Yi. Ting Jiang is touched that all help him so much. Yue Xiang has higher expectation of Ting Jiang than the other children as her first child so she is extremely strict with him.

She doesn’t want him to feel unwanted as she is a single parent so she also doubles up the role of his father. He is her tool as a guinea pig. Poor chap – at the end of it, he has not much self-confidence left. He doesn’t dare to rebuke her and is a filial child. He keeps thinking that he is in the wrong to make her angry so whatever he has done is wrong.

Yue Xiang approves Ting Jiang to marry JiaYu upon knowing her pregnancy. She allows him to look for her. But alas, Yue Xiang falls into a coma on the day he is supposed to meet Jia Yu. He fails to meet her on the day that both have arranged. She leaves home without any news on that fateful day. No one dares to mention her name in front of him for 4 years as he diverts his grief to his career.

He becomes successful and gets to know a client. He is astonished to know that the client’s wife is Jia Yu. He also learns that their son has grown but he has no intention to disturb their lives. However, the man does not think so and kills himself. It is a pitiful sight when he stays outside Jia Yu’s home for 3 days even in the cold. Although his family urges him to rest, he refuses to leave. As a result, he faints.

He has neglected his health all along and this causes him to be ill for some time. Jia Yu is finally touched by his sincerity (sorry that I can’t remember how) and returns to him again. This drama shot Kar King to stardom in Taiwan. All had thought of him to be a marital arts star but never knew that he could laugh and cry so well. The beginning part has he being wild and cheeky. He becomes very serious after the ordeal with his hair gelled. That puts his acting to great test and I must say that he has done an excellent job.

2. Gao Ting He – Tong An Ge
Ting He is Yue Xiang’s pride. However, this son can be unappreciative of her efforts. When she brews soup for him, he complains that she brews too much. His other siblings do not get this special treatment. He is the second child who has gone through university. Ting Juan’s motive of bringing Jia Yu back for dinner is to introduce to Ting He as Hong Da is also a university lecturer. However, he shows no interest in her to like Ting Juan’s another classmate, Shao Yi instead but Ting Jiang is the one who gets attracted.

He goes overseas to further his masters. Xue Xiang even wants to pawn her watch for him. Ting Jiang then presses his clients to pay him the money soon to tide over the crisis. Jia Yu isn’t in favour of him to do that as the due date is not reached yet. It hurts him when Yue Xiang rejects his help. That upsets him as she is like treating him as an outsider. In reality, Yue Xiang doesn’t wish to add on his burden.

Ting He calls home rarely so Yue Xiang can be waiting for days to get the call. His main motive to call home is not to speak to his family but to ask Ting Jiang for money to cover his expenses. But upon returning home, he ditches Yi. He is the first to accept his father as he wants to get into the upper class circle. He is a replica of him and Yue Xiang nearly disowns him. Luckily, he repents and returns to his family after that. Although he can be raw in certain scenes, Tong makes this jerk come alive.

3. Gao Ting Juan – Wang Pei Yun
She is Ting Jiang’s younger sister who does well in her studies and is a university student. She befriends Jia Yu and introduces her to Ting Jiang. She is the only person who supports their relationship and speaks up for Jia Yu and Ting Jiang in front of Yue Xiang. She can be willful at times but understands the suffering that Ting Jiang has been through but she is helpless to see how he makes himself work like a slave during the 4 years she helps him in the company.

4. Gao Yu Ping – Zhang Fu Jian
He is the modern Chen Shi Mei. Because of Man Li, he abandons Yue Xiang. On the second day of his second marriage, he flies to Indonesia. He leaves ShangHai without giving her a second look. As he causes Yue Xiang to become a woman without a husband, she hates him besides Hong Da. As Man Ling doesn’t bear him any children, he starts to miss his own children and wish to see them again.

Jia Yu calls him uncle and Ting Jiang has thought of him to be her new lover when seeing them shopping together. His heart is bleeding as he thinks that she has a change of heart. He trembles when offering joss sticks to the tablet and agrees that he will end his love towards Jia Yu. But he is so upset that he can’t even hold the joss sticks properly that Yue Xiang has to fix them in the joss stick pot.

Ting Jiang even beats him up but upon hearing Jia Yu calling him uncle, he freezes on the spot. He leaves and cries under a tree. Although he has not disclosed that he is Yu Ping’s son, Yu Ping’s instinct knows immediately who he is. He tries very hard to make amends and his children finally accept him again.

5. Lin Yue Xiang - Lin Cui
She is the siblings’ mother who is strong and doesn’t give in easily. She is a laundry woman to bring up her children. She brings them from Shanghai to Taiwan. She sets up a tablet to lie to her children that their father is dead due to the war when defending their country. She gets them to offer joss sticks to the tablet daily and also punish them to kneel in front of it to reflect their mistake if they do something wrong.

Thus this misleads them into believing how mighty their father is. She hides the truth from them for 20 over years and he is indeed dead in her heart. Even though her lie is revealed, she still wants her children to do the same as this man is still dead to her. She is very obstinate indeed.

Although she doesn’t receive much education, she worships the educated. This doesn’t change even after Yu Ping becomes Chen Shi Mei. That is why she keeps lecturing Ting Jiang when he doesn’t do well in his studies. She hardly praises him too. She keeps praising Ting Juan’s classmates for doing well and showers the most love on Ting He. She looks down on Ting Jiang to insult him during nearly every mealtime.

She never acknowledges his effort. Even though he does well, she will never praise him. Sometimes, one will suspect that Ting Jiang is not her biological son. Due to her stubbornness, she causes Ting Jiang to suffer for 4 long years before he can reunite with Jia Yu again.

She doesn’t want Yu Ping to reappear in front of her again but he suddenly comes one day to want the children to acknowledge him. Luckily, she can get along calmly with Yu Ping in the end to allow the ill-fated lovers to be together again. Although Lin Cui is no longer young as in her previous movies, her acting power is not to be underestimated.

6. Zeng Jia Yu – Jin Su Mei
She is an only child and doesn’t understand why Ting Jiang does so much for his family. Her stubborn streak in her makes me think that she resembles Yue Xiang so much that I think she is more like her daughter than Ting Juan. She is deeply in love with Ting Jiang.

However, a meal between their parents ruins their chances of marriage. Yue Xiang opposes to them together and wants Ting Jiang to dismiss Jia Yu immediately. She doesn’t give them any reason but Ting Jiang can detect agony in his mother’s eyes so parting is painful for them. She is pregnant but Ting Jiang has not raised the issue to Yue Xiang. Jia Yu doesn’t know the cause and deliberately distances from him to want him to reflect on his mistake. This saddens him even further.

She gets so mad that she gets on a train to return to Gao Xiong. If not for Yue Xiang fainting at home and is hospitalized, Ting Jiang could have caught up with her at the train station. Jia Yu is firm that Ting Jiang is irresponsible. When Ting Jiang comes to meet her, she is bitter to tell him she wants to be like Yue Xiang.

She will help their child to fix a tablet to cook up a lie to their child. This gives Ting Jiang a tough blow. She softens upon knowing that Yue Xiang is ill and agrees to wait for him. However, Yue Xiang’s illness takes more time to recover and she gives up waiting for him daily at the train station.

Ting Jiang finally comes for her but she goes missing without telling her parents. She has decided to leave home so that he will not find her. She gets married to a man who doesn’t mind her past and treats her son as his own as he is impotent. Her heart begins to waver when she sees Ting Jiang again. Ting Jiang’s presence gives him a lot of pressure as he thinks that he wants to take them away from him.

So he jumps to death from a high building in front of them. Both of them are very guilty-stricken. More so for Ting Jiang as he does not expect this outcome. Luckily, Jia Yu’s mother-in-law finally straightens her thoughts to urge her to seek her own happiness.

No one will believe that this is Jin’s first drama. Many doubted her acting as she was only known to be a singer. It is a risky attempt but Jin has not failed everyone. She matches Kar King well in looks and acting. It is a pity that she is now a member of parliament and quits acting. It took 10 years for the two to meet up again in Hong Kong in 2009 as the timing is always not right and they were like ordinary friends now.

7. Zeng Hong Da - Tang Wei
He is Yu Ping’s good friend. Being a person who goes through modern education, he does not believe in arranged marriages. He teaches Yu Ping to defy his parents and is the one who introduces his cousin Man Li to Yu Ping. He goes on Yu Ping’s behalf to bring money to Yue Xiang to want her to return to their hometown. She does not accept the money and vows to bring up her children independently.

She looks forward to meet Jia Yu’s parents but doesn’t expect to see Hong Da again. Hong Da breaks up her family. So how can she accept Jia Yu to be her daughter-in-law? That is why he blames himself as retribution upon knowing that Jia Yu nearly becomes an unwed mother.

8. Chen Man Li – Han Xiang Qin
She is Hong Da’s cousin who destroys Yu Ping’s family. She finds nothing wrong in pursuing her own happiness and doesn’t regard herself as a third party. She is upset that Yu Ping feels guilty towards his children but there is no way to ask her to treat them like her own children. She is Tang Wei’s wife in real life so her acting is as formidable as her husband.

9. Lin De Chuan – Fu Lei
He is Ting Jiang’s neighbour and Yue Xiang’s close friend. He has a headache disciplining his son. He is grateful to Ting Jiang for always taking care of his reckless son. He knows of the past to let Ting Jiang know about the truth of his father. He can’t condone Yue Xiang’s treatment against Ting Jiang and often speaks up for him. Ting Jiang treats him like a father.

10. Sun Li Hua – Tang Qi
She is Jia Yu’s mother-in-law. Just like Yue Xiang, she single-handedly brings up her son as a widow. That is why her son’s death deals with her a terrible blow and it takes a long time for her to get to her feet again.

Most favourite character
Ting Jiang, this poor man has endured long enough for his mother and luckily he gets the happiness he deserves in the end.

Most hated character
Yu Ping, he is so heartless to his ex-wife who has bored him 3 children. He only thinks of them when he grows old. Serves him right when they don’t forgive him easily.

Songs
The themesong不了情is sung by Tsui Siu Fung. Her low but yet sentimental voice touches all of us. It is an old song originally sung by Koo Mei, Koo Kar Fai’s elder sister. The subtheme忘不了is sung by Tong An Ge. It is really like seeing how the untangled love connects the two generations together. Another subtheme song is別離歌 by Tong which is also nice to listen to.

Conclusion

As can be seen from the title and the story, it is definitely predictable and outdated. The love between the leads is unforgettable and intangible indeed to affect the next generation. Yet the story is well written and the songs are also close to the heart. Credits must be given to the scriptwriter. The cast also appeals to the audience. The scenery is perfect with painfully taken efforts. Not only TVB is unable to produce a high standard drama lately, Taiwan also fails to produce realistic scripts too.

The main highlight is not between Ting Jiang and Jia Yu but Ting Jiang with Yue Xiang. Their frequent arguments and conversations create lots of tension. It also helps as Kar King resembles Lin Cui in looks – both have very big eyes. My only complain is it is dubbed.

Sukting’s ratings :

On acting : **** (Scale of 5)

On story : **** (Scale of 5)

On songs : ***** (Scale of 5)