new! 宝贝父女兵 Like Father, Like Daughter

August 31, 2007 in 2007 Dramas, 红星大奖 2007, Dramas, Star Awards, Star Awards 2007

This 20 episode drama started on 21 August 2007, at 9pm on Channel 8.

Starring: Joanne Peh as Dai Chunchun, Zheng Geping as Dai Zhigang, Michelle Chong as Meiqi aka Maggie, Kang Chengxi as Li Kaize, Jacqueline Sue (of Star Idol fame) as Cecilia aka Ah-Lian, Pan Lingling as Barbara, Jin Yinji as Granny, Vincent Ng as Ah-Wei, Xie Shenjie as Akirah, Nick Shen as Gui aka Coconut, Yan Bingliang as Bao-shu, Li Haijie as Richard Li

Chunchun was brought up by her father, Zhigang, as her mother, Barbara, had run off with another man, Richard Li, soon after she was born. Zhigang was a gangster, and Chunchun learned his uncultured ways but became a very brave girl who stood up for herself, and others around her. As Chunchun and Zhigang were poor, they resorted to stealing from shops. This ended when Zhigang was thrown into prison, as he was seen struggling with a man wounded from a knife stab. This man was carrying a large case of money, which Zhigang’s chief, Peter, took by force, leaving Zhigang to take the rap.

When Zhigang was in jail, a family wanted to adopt Chunchun, and in order to let his daughter lead a good life, he agreed to let the family adopt her. However, Chunchun refused to go, and would not call another person ‘papa’. With a heavy heart, Zhigang told Chunchun he detested her, and would not want to ever see her again. He never saw Chunchun from that day onwards.

Chunchun couldn’t stand the family who adopted her. They wanted to teach her etiquette, and make her a cultured and gentle young lady. They also changed her name to Isabella. She ran away. She was almost knocked down by a car, but Granny saved her, and Granny brought her up from then on.

Zhigang is about to be released from jail, and doesn’t know how or where his daughter is, but he guesses that she has studied overseas and maybe attained her doctorate. Little does he know that Chunchun and Weird Granny run a ‘business’ in the neighbourhood. Chunchun oversees the ‘business’, which includes garang-guni collection, tissue paper sold by the elderly, and miscellaneous goods sales (watches, fruits, jewelry).

Chunchun gets aquainted with Li Kaize, an undergrad, and at first, they have a misunderstanding. They later meet again, when she was wearing a dress, make-up and a wig (an attempt to pose as Coconut’s girlfriend to shake off Baozhu, the fat girl Coconut’s father wants him to marry), and he helps her escape from Wei and his men. Running a long distance holding her hand, they fall for each other. She runs away, and he tries very hard to find the beautiful girl, even drawing a portrait of her. Chunchun thinks of him constantly, but she is not willing to reveal her identity, as she is afraid of disappointing him, seeing how their worlds are so far apart.

Li Kaize’s father is Richard Li – the central villian whom everyone has a past or is related to. Richard’s wife, Kaize’s stepmother, Barbara, is wicked woman, who can’t wait to chase Kaize out of the house. She indulges in her daughter, Vivian, who is a spoilt brat. Barbara is, in fact, Chunchun’s mother. Barbara and Zhigang are martial arts experts, and they named their daughter Chunchun (meaning pure), hoping she won’t take the same path as them. Soon after that, Barbara ran off with Richard Li.

Richard Li and Barbara are responsible for the plight of siblings Meiqi and Akirah, and their mother. Once rich and living in a huge house, their father died, and everything in their house, including their house was auctioned off. Never having worked a day in their lives, Meiqi and Akirah, with their mother, who knows only her tai-tai lifestyle, move into a flat, without the comforts of air-con and marble floors. They become the downstairs neighbours of Chunchun and Granny.

Meiqi gets a job as a piano teacher, and her student is the difficult, spoilt and bossy Vivian, the daughter of Richard Li and Barbara. With revenge on her mind, Meiqi agrees to teach Vivian, and puts up with all her nonsense. Akira, on the other hand, gets acquainted with Lian, and after a few encounters, he falls head over heels in love with her. He helps Lian sell fake dzi beads.

Richard Li is a very rich man, who used to be an underworld figure. His lackey, Peter (Ye Shipin), reports that Weird Granny knows his past, and his nickname in those days – Big Head Hong. It becomes their mission to get rid of Granny and Chunchun. Richard Li had caused the death of Granny’s husband years ago.

Wei is a small time gangster, who endures the wrath of Chunchun when he refuses to take responsibility for making Lian pregnant. He later gets into trouble when Zhigang steals some valuable pills, causing a loss of over $2000, and he gets a scolding by his chief, Peter.

This drama reminds me of ‘A Million Treasures (Bai Wan Bao)’, and the casting is rather similar, with Pan Lingling, Michelle Chong, Kang Chengxi and Xie Shenjie also appearing in this drama.

Although not advertised much, it seems like a nice drama, with many laughs. Like Bai Wan Bao, where the ‘villian’ Zhu Deguan (Xie Shenjie) had an irritating laugh, the villian here, Richard Li also had a irritating laugh.

The theme song “自己的幸福 (Zi Ji De Xing Fu)”, by Chen Diya 陈迪雅:

The sub-theme song “礼物 (Li Wu)”, is also by Chen Diya 陈迪雅.
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