Land of Wealth

CHAI HOK-YAN is an honest and upright official responsible for the escorting of imperial funds. His son, CHAI PAK-TSUN, has been living in Jinan for the last twelve years for YAN believes in the words of a fortuneteller that PAK-TSUN is a jinx to him by fate. YAN has recently been promoted Minister of Revenue. Not long after his promotion, he decides to cleanse out the corruption in his office. By doing so, he has offended his superior, the corrupted CHAI NGAI. KIU PUN-YIP, the boss of Ting Fung Shing, the largest draft bank in the country, is going round to see how his businesses are doing. Over the years in the business, YIP has been trusted by his customers for his wisdom, honesty, as well as for the quality of his silver dollars. He enjoys a very high reputation in the field too. Grand Minister of State TSUI WING-WAI is ordered by Dowager Empress TSE HEI to renovate the Summer Palace……

YAN and his whole family are executed. Not wanting to leave his family behind and live on disgracefully, PAK-TSUN wants to turn himself in. He is stopped by his servant MING SUM, who hits him to unconsciousness. SUM turns himself in, claiming that he is PAK-TSUN. SUM is executed. As requested by YAN before his execution, REVEREND VOID prevents PAK-TSUN from revealing his identity. He gives PAK-TSUN the letter written by YAN. CHEUNG SHUNG-MAN, the son of the Grand Minister of State, is a smart young man. MAN enjoys traveling. He travels to Shanxi before the arrival of the imperial examination. PAK-TSUN, who is homeless now, has also arrived in Shanxi. Here he meets PA PA HER YEE KO WAH and her younger brother, FU YEE CHIK. WAH’s horse is stolen because of PAK-TSUN. Despite this, upon learning his plight, she gives him some of her money left for his use. WAH has found the men who have stolen her horse……

YIP returns to the head office in Shanxi in preparation for the Joint Account Years. FONG YUN-TIN, YIP’s daughter-in-law who married into his family and the Second Steward of Ting Fung Shing, is busy helping YIP round. The First Steward, CHO YUE-TAI, also spares no effort in the preparation. MANG YUET-NGO has been jealous of her young sister, MANG YUET-SHEUNG, for her marriage with YIP. She therefore always seizes the chance to take advantage of SHEUNG. It is lucky that SHEUNG’s daughter, KIU CHING, is always there to help her out. To earn enough money to go back to their hometown, WAH and CHIK work as street-performers. They and MAN have become friends. Upon learning that WAH’s horse has been stolen, MAN asks for the help of Magistrate KEI FOOK-YAU, who is a family friend of his. The men who stole WAH’s horse have been arrested. YIP is visiting the Mint when a furnace explodes. CHAI steps up to negotiate for a fellow worker……

YIP sends someone to take some medicine to the Mint. He does not know until then that CHAI and the others have been fired. YIP goes to the Mint to give them some words of consolation. He also decides to hire CHAI as a trainee. While CHAI is learning hard, other trainees are trying hard to please the First Steward. TSUN is practicing the qin at home. MAN passes by her house and duets with her with his flute. Though they have not met each other, they have both left a good impression to the other. CHAI is doing well at Ting Fung Shing. He is, nevertheless, given the elbow by his fellows because of this. YIN goes to the country to buy some fireworks to please TSUN. He burns WAH’s tealeaves by mistake but he just leaves the scene. YIP flies into a rage when he learns about this. TSUN, knowing that she is indirectly involved in this, stands up to accept the punishment……

WAH has started her job at the KIUs. SHEUNG gives her a hard time, as she knows that her son was punished because of WAH. On the other side, CHIK has also started his job at Ting Fung Shing. He contradicts the Secretary, Mr. CHONG, and is punished. CHIK is not the social type of person. He feels helpless at Ting Fung Shing. TSUN bumps into WAH. The two get along very well and go to the market together. There they come across MAN. Although TSUN and MAN have never really met before, they both feel that they were like old friends already. Being a common friend of theirs, WAH works as their messenger. MAN cashes a money order for the church at Ting Fung Shing. He is told that the order is a counterfeit. YIP trusts that MAN is innocent. Later, MAN catches the person who uses counterfeit money orders. To thank MAN, YIP invites him to dinner at his place. MAN and TSUN play the music together. YIN is a bit jealous.

MAN and TIN come across a thief on the street. They come to know that the Jinan government dollars have been robbed. TIN asks MAN to persuade YAU into using remittance dollars. YAU accepts MAN’s suggestion. TIN takes credit for this in front of YIP. With a view to strengthen his power in the family, TIN would also like to pair up MAN and TSUN. CHAI is hurt when he is stopping CHIK from fighting with others. His performance in calculating with the abacus is affected. YIP gives him some hints so that he can pass the test. YIP appreciates CHAI’s power of understanding and persistence even more. CHUN-FA is molested by Butler FUNG. WAH wants to report this to TSUN. Nevertheless, FA has already been sacked by FUNG. FA is mad at WAH. WAH becomes TSUN’s personal attending maid after FA has gone. TSUN and WAH go to the temple fair without permission. They run into MAN there. MAN teaches TSUN swordplay……

MAN and TSUN go to the countryside together, during which they have a very good chat. YIN has closed a deal, for the first time, which is four thousand Tael worth. TAI praises him. YIN has lost the jade pendant that his mother gave him. YIN is very worried. Later, he finds the pendant at CHAI. He accuses CHAI of stealing it, which leads to CHAI’s being fired by TAI. YIP inspects the business of Ting Fung Shing. TAI is unhappy, as he believes that YIP’s visiting the shop is a sign of distrust. CHAI takes to drinking to forget his unhappiness. MAN gives him a good telling-off. CHAI tries hard to think who was framed him up. He believes that it must have been KING. With the help of CHIK, he lures KING into telling the truth. CHAI returns to Ting Fung Shing. YIP thinks highly of his unyielding spirit. TAI, who has wronged CHAI, is teased by TIN. WAH and TSUN, using the excuse of visiting their friend, meet up with MAN……

TSUN is missing. YIP and the others go up the hill to search for her. TSUN is found at last, but YIP is displeased to see her being so intimately with MAN. MAN apologizes to YIP. He also swears that he will propose to TSUN when he comes first in the imperial examination. NGO asks a maid to keep an eye on TSUN. TSUN is annoyed. YIN plucks up enough courage to express his love for TSUN. To his disappointment, she only sees him as a relative. CHAI is learning English. MAN introduces to him SISTER MARIA. CHAI’s English has improved immensely and he does very well in KUNG’s test. TIN learns by chance that YAU FOOK plans to borrow money from Ting Fung Shing so that he can buy a house for his wife and mistress. He draws TAI away. TAI, who knows nothing about TIN’s ploy, complains to YIP. TIN takes credit for this. Believing that YIP is going to kick him out of the house, TAI pretends to be ill.