Whom will you choose - the man from a classier part of town or the childhood friend with his humble background?
Scene 6: Tai Yuen Street, Wan Chai
It is early evening and the street is flooded with shoppers. On both sides sit dusty old shops piled high with what seems to be junk and trash of a bygone era. The trained eye, however, knows better.
He is holding her hand. For some reason, she feels self-conscious. Which is strange. This is not the first time she’s held hands in public.
The embarrassment causes her to become impatient – ‘C’mon, hurry up. Have you found what you’re looking for yet?
He pouts and looks at her from the corner of his eyes. ‘Oh, don’t rush me. You know it’s not easy sorting out the good stuff from the bad stuff in this big, tangled heap.’
‘I don’t understand,’ she replies, tugging at his hand, ‘why are we sifting through old junk – ’
‘Inspiration,’ he replies. ‘This is where I sometimes get good ideas on what kind of game or toy we can create.’
She looks at what he’s holding in his hands. It looks like a miniature train cabin, one of those early prototypes created by the English who were railways-mad. ‘That’s quite a common old toy. I’ve seen them around in plenty of shops. What are you going to do with this one?’
‘I’m going to take it apart and see the mechanism inside. Steal some ideas.’
She takes the badly scratched and dented toy in her hands. ‘Oh don’t. If you look at it carefully, it’s quite pretty. The design is wonderful. See how they’ve got the handle to the cabin door with its black, metal trim. The detailing in this toy is simply first-class. If you take this toy apart, you’ll completely destroy it – ’
He grins. ‘But that’s me. I’m a toy designer. I take my inspiration from wherever I can get it. If I have to take things apart, I take things apart. And sometimes, if I have to destroy something in order to get at what's inside, so be it!’
‘How hard-hearted that sounds! Why, you’re a vulture, a cannibal, a shameless thief!’
‘Oh yes, that I am!’ He makes a face, pretends to swoop down on her. She ducks and runs out of the shop. ‘Oh you can run but you can’t hide!’ – he flails his arms, tries to grab her.
She squeals and dashes down the street – oof! – she bumps into someone.
‘Twinkle! What are you doing here? What a surprise!’
Mei Kuen is holding a huge bag of shopping. New clothes, new shoes, new make-up. She peers at Twinkle and then Jeff. ‘Oh, I see. On a hot date, eh? Why didn’t anybody tell me you’re back? I’m so happy for you!’ she squeals in delight and squeezes Twinkle by the waist.
‘Oh, hello Kuen Kuen. We’re just looking for some things for work. Not really a date, you know. It’s business as well.’
‘You can’t fool me – I’m got eyes in my head and I can see what’s going on ...’ Mei Kuen hugs Twinkle over and over again. ‘Don’t forget to send me a card when the big day comes!’
Twinkle blushes. ‘What big day? We’re just taking things easy, one day at a time ...’
‘Yes,’ chimes in Jeff, suddenly alarmed, ‘what big day? We’re still young – no need to talk about such serious things yet – ’
But Mei Kuen’s gone off into a world of her own. ‘Ok, I can’t stand around here chatting with you two anymore. I’ve got things to do. I must get home!’
‘Goodbye, Kuen Kuen. Send my warm regards to your parents!’
‘Ooh, I will, I will! Boy, will they be surprised to hear from you!’
Mei Kuen takes off, her bags and bags of shopping swishing around her legs.
‘Oh no,’ Twinkle groans, ‘if’s she’s about to do what I think she’s about to do, I’m going to have a headache ...’
‘What is Mei Kuen going to do?’
‘At the market, we have a nickname for Kuen Kuen. It’s FM88.1.’
‘Why FM88.1?’
‘Do you know FM88.1’s slogan?
‘No. What is it?
‘It’s 聲為民開 — we broadcast for the public.’
Jeff laughs. ‘Well, what’s wrong with Mei Kuen broadcasting our good news. We’re together after all, there’s no need to be ashamed.’
Twinkle looks at him, utterly taken aback. How can Jeff forget he has a friend called Chi Yat Po who may be sitting at home feeling bad about this?
8 comments:
Hey, thanks for updating. I have been busy lately so haven't been active online all this while, but I'll remember to come back to check whether you have updated.
To reply to your reply first:
Actually, I didn't have any bad impression on Frankie at the start. Although I'm always the kind that hardly has any first impression on someone, he somehow gave me the vibes that he was just being professional of his demand/dispute with Jeff. I am glad that TVB doesn't make his character one of those who have ulterior motive and starts to wreck the company because he is jealous of how the boss is biased towards Jeff though. Really glad TVB keeps the integrity in his character.
As for Anna and Frankie relationship though, I think we have different interpretations again. According to my interpretation, Anna and Frankie have gotten together by the end of CS. Mrs. Car was saying that Frankie would introduce his girlfriend to her and they will eat dinner together, and then we get to see that Anna and Frankie are eating dinner together with Mrs. Car. Moreover, before that, Anna has told Jeff quite clearly that Frankie has a huge chance of becoming her boyfriend so that's why she doesn't want Jeff to badmouth Frankie.
As for Kingdom, I actually think she might have taken botox. But that's not my concern. What matter is she still acts well. The last series before her coming back that I can think of is Virtues of Harmony II. The series that aired before CS is Beauty of the Game, but don't know whether which one is filmed first.
Who is Angie? So Mrs. Car is trying to matchmake her with Chi Yat Bo? Somehow it reminds me of a version written by someone in baidu where Mrs. Car introduces Fala to Chi Yat Bo. I hope Chi Yat Bo is not interested. Or else what is going to happen to Twinkle? I hope Twinkle can realise soon enough that she is not interested in Goon Sing too. It seems like it's bothering her a lot to be with Goon Sing so why try to continue?
As for Anna, I'm surprised she would actually cried when Twinkle talked to her about Frankie. My understanding of CS is that Anna has completely moved on. Yeah, she was once blindly in love with Jeff, but once the feeling is gone, the only thing left about Jeff on Anna is how much of a jerk he is. And all the things she feel for him is how much she regret ever being in love and in relationship with him. The Anna that I know and given her situation, I wouldn't think she would cry talking about Jeff, she probably got agitated instead. Somehow I think a person would only cry for another person if she is not over them, and in the end of CS, Anna convinces me that she is completely over Jeff.
Hey Akazukin, you're most welcomed, Don't worry about being busy. Drop in whenever you have the time and feel like it.
Again, wonderful insight. Love your analysis. Always good to hear another perspective.
I wasn't too sure myself about Frankie and Anna. He seems real keen on her, I'm wondering whether she's moved on and rebuilt her self-confidence. I sense she's giving Frankie a chance but on the other hand remains still quite hurt about what Jeff did.
Anna reminded me of a girl I once knew who outwardly moved on after being jilted but remained quite damaged by the memory of the ex-boyfriend and would use to sometimes cry if recounting a very painful incident. I wrote this scene thinking about this friend. So I would agree with you Anna's over Jeff but I suspect she isn't over her feelings of being jilted.
Also, I asked some of the dudes in my house how they'd feel if a girl jilted them and they said they'd forget the girl but will never ever forget what the girl did. i.e. betray them. What do you think? Would girls generally think this way as well? I secretly like to think Anna's got a bit of fire in her...heh.
Yes, Mdm Car seems to have something up her sleeves. She strikes me as a very cheeky and bold person. Who knows? She might be planning to take Chi Yat-Po under her wings. Angie's the daughter of Mdm Car's younger sis.
Re: Kingdom. My God, I didn't know botox did that to a person's appearance. Why did Kingdom do it, why? Ok, must check out Virtues of Harmony II when I have the chance.
Thanks again for dropping by and chatting. I'm feeling so much better getting this stuff out of my system by writing this fanfic rather than dwelling on the awful ending of Cupid Stupid. Some of my friends are just starting to watch the series and oh boy, I'm just bracing myself for when they reach Episode 20 and start screaming like banshees...
Re Anna: Yeah, I think she is over the guy but still condemn him for his past awful actions. It's just that Anna seems like a girl who is too strong to cry over past pains. My take on her is that she will feel very angry and disgusted when reminded on Jeff's actions but she wouldn't cry over those things anymore. Something like, "you don't cry for something that does not worth your tears".
Re Kingdom: please don't take my words for it. In no way do I know whether she had botox or not, though from her lack of wrinkles and lines on her face, it does suggest to me that she had. But I don't know. Neither do I have heard about her taking it. So... don't believe me.
Re your friends: Did you spoil the ending to them yet? Hope not. Actually, CS is a pretty enjoyable series if the ending has been a happy Stevia ending. I still like to rewatch CS but everytime I rewatch it, I find myself avoiding the 3 last episodes. Somehow the last 3 episodes are just too depressing for me. Episode 16 ends with hopes of Twinkle and Yat Bo ending up together because Twinkle said she has been through a lot with Chi Yat Bo more than Goon Sing.
Oops, sorry I misunderstood you about Kingdom.
Heh, I haven't told my friends about this blog yet. They'd kill me if I spoilt the ending for them.
Re: 'You don't cry for something that's not worth your tears'-- that's EXACTLY what I told my friend who cried and cried and cried! What to do, some gals are just softies ...
The worst episode for me was when Chi Yat-Po goes and patches things up between Jeff and Twinkle when she refuses to see Jeff. At that point, I lost my patience with Chi Yat-Po. But when I sat down and thought about the whole thing, I think I can understand his reasons, wrong though they may be.
The last episode wasn't too bad because it gives you hope. It's only the last 15 minutes that sinks the whole ship. That ending pretty much kills Cupid Stupid for me. Which is sad because Steven Ma did a great job this time. It's very difficult playing the role of a good guy; most of the time, the characters come off sappy and unbelievable. But Steven Ma's Chi Yat-Po is realistic and sympathetic and I think a lot of us can relate to him because we have ideas about love and sacrifice which are similar to his.
For many of us, there's a fine line between being a hero and being an idiot. I was hoping Cupid Stupid was able to show us this fine line. But the ending, ARRRGH, the ending...
The last 3 episodes (especially episode 18 and 19, and episode 17 too) are the worst to me because after all these, Jeff still has the nerve to stand in the love competition. What the heck?! And it frustrates me that Twinkle was still thinking of patching up with Jeff. What the hell?! I seriously can't understand Twinkle, but then again, I haven't been in similar situation so I wouldn't know. But then again, with how Jeff behaved in the past episodes, how can she be unsure between Chi Yat Bo and Jeff?????????????????
I don't blame Chi Yat Bo for trying to patch things up between Jeff and Twinkle, because he is doing it for Twinkle. He is just too sweet to her. I wish the writer can show more that Twinkle loves Chi Yat Bo much more. Basically, I think from Tavia's acting, Twinkle does seem to love Chi Yat Bo more, but when it comes to the dialogue, it didn't really say much.
I agree with you that Steven did a great job as Chi Yat Bo, and that such character is hard to act because it can come off as unrealistic and fake but Steven makes it so real and touching. Or maybe other actors will make it seem like whatever Chi Yat Bo done was silly, but Steven makes it seem like Chi Yat Bo really loves Twinkle deeply, such true love that we can understand his sacrificial actions.
Actually, the ending, although heartbreaking, is not too bad because it still has some openness, but I hate how the last 4 episodes make it seem like Twinkle doesn't know whom she loves more which is unacceptable to me. How hard is it to choose between Jeff and Chi Yat Bo? It doesn't make sense and it's heartbreaking. Heartbreaking even for Tavia's fan. Actually, most people say that Chi Yat Bo is stupid for giving up in the end. But I actually think Twinkle is the most stupid for leaving it up to the fate to decide and missing Chi Yat Bo for a guy like Jeff. Heck, it isn't between Ting Hin and Ji Yuen. The Jeff dude is nothing to compare to Chi Yat Bo.
By the way, did you watch Sweetness in the Salt? It is Tavia caught in between the two guys too, Steven and Raymond Wong.
Hi Akazukin. Terribly sorry for the long overdue reply. Just had two weeks of complete madness.
About the writers showing more how Twinkle feels about Chi Yat-Po, I think at the moment it's quite difficult to pull it off without making the story feel forced.
Remember in Cupid Stupid, Twinkle has just come off a bad relationship with Simon and then she gets thrown into a new job and a new friendship? Coming from a poor background and being so naive in love, it seems very natural for her to be attracted to Jeff. He's something new and different and classier than what she's used to.
I think Twinkle deep-down wants a classy guy. Look at Simon. However, he turns out to be a total dud!
In her mind, Chi Yat-Po's just a 'fishy guy!' So something must happen to change her mind he's just a 'fishy guy!' because he's surely much more than that ... um, I think!
Re: Sweetness In The Salt. Funny you should ask. I've just been given the DVD and I'm waiting for some free time to watch the series. I hope, hope, hope it isn't going to be a stinker! Did you enjoy Sweetness In The Salt? How would you rate it? If it's bad, I'm not watching it.
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