River of Wine

All members of the wine industry in Jiujiang are busy preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival ritual, yet the Wine Guild Chairman SUNG CHING-YIU has not yet turned up, causing a chorus of grumbles from his uncles SUNG TO and CHU KWOK-HUNG. YIU is actually having an audience with the Canton Prefect CHOW SAI-FUN, in an attempt to enlist his help in fighting against the corrupt Magistrate TSANG KIN-LEUNG. LEUNG CHING-HONG, LEUNG SAU-YIN and KWAN WAI-LAN of the Leung Kei River Food Stall are busy cooking, in the course of which LAN encounters a problem but HONG manages to get it round soon afterwards. Leung Kei and Tsui Yau House are bidding for the catering contract for the Dragon Boat Festival and both agree to take part in a cooking competition. The two entrants are neck-and-neck and YIU is about to cast his deciding vote. Leung Kei ends up winning the bid……

TO reminds YIU that he is no longer a member of the LEUNGs and should stay out of the dispute for the sake of the SUNGs. YIU comes to see LEUNG with the supporting documents, urging him to release HONG as soon as possible. His request is not granted, so YIU offers to pay LEUNG a sum of money, with which he hopes the dispute will soon be resolved. LEUNG is so angry with YIU that he has HONG beaten up severely, in a bid to coerce him into making a confession. PIK is shocked to learn that TO has incited the manager to store up all the necessary food ingredients so that the LEUNGs will not be able to make decent dishes for the Dragon Boat Banquet. LAN has prepared an array of dishes for the banquet but the attendees insist on trying HONG’s cooking. Luckily YIU and HONG manage to come back just in time. The LEUNGs arrive at Sze Yuen Winery which they purchased earlier, and are all surprised by its remoteness and inaccessibility……

CHING burns her dowry after returning home, saying that she has no more expectations of marriage, which worries YIU no end. HONG is heading for Canton to purchase rice. Along the way he runs into CHING again, who has secretly run away from home. To protect her from being harmed, HONG decides to stay with her. YIU discovers that all the essential ingredients for wine making have been withheld by LEUNG. Although LEUNG allows YIU to get them back, the ingredients end up being all destroyed by the magistrate in secret. CHING is sent to the brothel by the abductors, but finally gets rescued by HONG with the money he was going to use for the purchase of rice. YIU locates CHING’s whereabouts and decides to go to Canton at once to look for her. CHING is completely shocked when she sees the famine victims fighting for the rice. Among the famine victims is a little girl, who is wandering around looking for her mother……

YIU finally finds out the truth and the misunderstanding between the brothers is soon resolved. While enjoying the tea eggs together, both YIU and HONG recall their childhood days with LAN. The brothers get inspired by the food stall owner and decide to make wine yeast with bay leaves. CHING has dropped her wallet, and HONG offers to help look for it and the bamboo tag kept inside. CHI-TSUN who has stolen CHING’s wallet is shocked to see the bamboo tag. Immediately he recognizes it as a gift he made for his younger sister when he was a kid. Knowing that his family is still alive, TSUN is resolved to go back to Jiujiang to seek reunion. YIU is still having a bad cough, so PIK offers to cook him some herbal soup. YIU notices that PIK’s bracelet has gone. Although PIK does not say much, YIU quickly realizes that the bracelet has been passed to CHEONG for debt settlement……

YIU is still having a nasty cough, which worries PIK no end. In the name of the Jiujiang Wine Guild Chairman, YIU has bought HONG a set of wine utensils as a gift to celebrate the grand opening of Sze Yuen Winery. This has come as a great thrill to LAN. Due to its remoteness, Sze Yuen Winery has failed to achieve satisfactory sales on its first day of operation. But instead of grumbling, HONG asks NGAU and YIN to look for a fresh water source for wine making. YIN and NGAU find the severely injured TSUN at the riverside and immediately bring him back to their house for recuperation. TSUN notices how YIU has rejected a winery owner’s credit request outside Tsui Lung Winery, leaving him a very bad impression of the man. As a token of thanks for the wine utensils, HONG treats YIU to a glass of fresh-brewed wine. YIU coughs up blood all of a sudden and is said to be suffering from tuberculosis……

KAM asks PIK which girl YIU would like to marry but PIK explains that YIU is not ready to tie the knot yet, as this would ruin the girl’s life for sure, whoever she may be. CHING who passes by has overheard their conversation. She suggests doing charity work in the name of the SUNGs, believing that this is another great way to ward off bad luck. TSUN sees CHING distributing free rice in the street and tries to reunite with her at once. Unfortunately he is regarded as nothing more than a con man and gets beaten up again. LOK-TO manages to get YIU some western medicine through his friend in Hong Kong, and YIU seems to be feeling better after a few doses. LEUNG reveals that he is going to attend the birthday banquet for the Honorable TUNG of the Imperial Household with the wine produced by the twelve wineries, taking it as a great chance to promote the Jiujiang wine. His proposal is enthusiastically supported by all winery owners……

LEUNG accompanies TSUN to the SUNGs’ mansion to seek family reunion. Following the reunion, YIU brings TSUN to the winery to have a look. Knowing that Tsui Lung Winery has been making wine yeast for the TING’s Lei Lung Winery, TSUN gets a little unhappy. YIU then explains to him why his father had to establish Lei Lung Winery at the very beginning. In an attempt to sow discord, TO reveals to TSUN how PIK’s family managed to occupy the SUNGs’ land by stratagem decades ago. NGAU and YIN go to get some fresh water for wine making, during which they get bullied and beaten up by Mr KAM, who is the owner of one of the twelve wineries of Jiujiang. As instructed by LEUNG, a group of policemen have come to arrest the TINGs on suspicion of fraud and murder, which worries PIK greatly. TSUN approves of how LEUNG handles the case, and thus gets rebuked by CHING and KAM for being so heartless……

CHING offers to cook TSUN some soup as an expression of encouragement. TSUN is resolved to serve the family and promises to do his best to make up for what is lost over the past two decades. HONG is looking for an illustrator who can help draw posters for his new wine, and CHING offers to lend a hand as gratitude for his efforts in saving YIU. TSUN stays in the winery overnight asking an old worker for tips on making wine yeast. The following day, he goes to see YIU in a bid to impress him by showing what he has just learnt. CHING is amazed at LAN’s excellent cooking skills, and would like to learn how to make fried rice with assorted ingredients. CHING asks PIK and YIU if she can use the kitchen in Tsui Yau House so that she can make a massive batch of fried rice for the poor. A rice retailer from Canton has come to see HONG asking about his relationship with CHING……