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Special thanks to Ken Cheng from the Old TVB Series Forum for
the following summary!
The story of the SHELL GAME I begins in the city of Guangzhou
(Canton) during the early 1930s. The city is the center of a thriving
gambling industry. One of the great figures in this industry is
Lo 4 Hoi, known as the "Divine Southern Eyes: Guangzhou Gambler
King". Lo 4 Hoi is the greatest gambler/confidence man in
all of southern China. Although his gambling skills are great
enough that he could be one of the wealthiest men in the world,
Lo 4 Hoi is content living comfortably (he's rich, but not as
rich as he *could* be if he were selfish and greedy) while using
his great gambling and swindling skills fight against injustice
by would-be gambling tycoons looking to take over the gambling
industry of Guangzhou for themselves.
Tam Siu Tong is a famous Cantonese opera star with the Hong Kong-based
Yim Tong Hung Opera Company. Siu Tong and her younger brother
Tam Sing are orphans, and they make their living as opera performers.
Siu Tong is a star, but Ah Sing doesn't want to make his living
as an opera star. He wants to be a great gambler like his idol,
Lo 4 Hoi. At the beginning of THE SHELL GAME I, the Yim Tong Hung
Company is starting a 1-year engagement at the Pacific Theater
in Guangzhou. This gives Ah Sing the perfect opportunity to gamble
at the Guangzhou casinos. Ah Sing knows a few gambling tricks,
and he tries to cheat himself a small fortune at the Four Seas
Gambling Club owned by Lo 4 Hoi. Unfortunately, Ah Sing takes
on Lo 4 Hoi himself and loses, and Lo 4 Hoi takes him prisoner.
Tam Siu Tong invites Lo 4 Hoi for dinner on her yacht, hoping
to negotiate a release of her brother. Lo 4 Hoi, captivated by
Tam Siu Tong's beauty and deeply impressed with her courage, agrees
to release Tam Sing.
Tam Sing, having seen the gambling skills of Lo 4 Hoi first hand,
is determined to become Lo 4 Hoi's student. At first, Lo 4 Hoi
refuses, but after testing Ah Sing's patience by having him stand
in a rainstorm for a night, Lo 4 Hoi agrees to take Ah Sing as
his student.
Hung Biu is a gambling tycoon from Guangxi who recently arrived
in Guangzhou. With the tacit approval of Guangzhou's leading business
tycoon Fok Man Ting and the assistance of his loutish son, Hung
Pau, Hung Biu launches an ambitious scheme to monopolize the Guangzhou
gambling business for the Hung family. The Hung family will use
any method . . . including murder, torture, and terror, to accomplish
this goal. However, there is one major obstacle to their ambition:
Lo 4 Hoi. Before they can take over the Guangzhou gambling industry,
they must eliminate Lo 4 Hoi.
As this is going on, several important relationships are beginning
to develop. Lo 4 Hoi, who had been separated from his wife 18
years earlier during a war, falls in love with Tam Siu Tong (and
vice versa). Meanwhile, Tam Sing falls in love with Hung Ying
Ying, the daughter of Hung Biu.
There are several clashes between Hung Biu's gang and Lo 4 Hoi's
men, all of which ultimately end in defeat for the Hung family
because they simply cannot outsmart or outmaneuver the famous
Guangzhou Gambling King. Hung Biu then decides he has to hire
outside help: he will go to Shanghai to hire the services of the
"Northern Thousand Hands": Cheuk 1 Fu, the Gambling
King of Shanghai.
For twenty years, Cheuk 1 Fu has been the greatest gambler the
Shanghai underworld has seen. In fact, years ago, he defeated
Lo 4 Hoi's teacher. Hung Biu spends a great some of money to hire
Cheuk 1 Fu to come to Guangzhou and help him get rid of Lo 4 Hoi.
Cheuk 1 Fu has an adopted daughter named Cheuk Lei. Cheuk Lei's
actual father was Cheung Kau, who had once been a follower of
Cheuk 1 Fu, but who was executed by Cheuk 1 Fu after he (Cheung
Kau) betrayed his boss. Cheuk 1 Fu felt sorry for his former follower's
daughter, however, so he adopted her. Unfortunately, Cheuk Lei
never forgave Cheuk 1 Fu for killing her father, and she pretended
to be a naive, sweet, and loyal daughter to Cheuk 1 Fu while secretly
planning to make him suffer one day. The trip to Guangzhou will
give Cheuk Lei the opportunity to strike against Cheuk 1 Fu.
Cheuk 1 Fu goes with Hung Biu to Guangzhou, where a great gambling
tournament is soon scheduled between the two great Gambling Kings:
Lo 4 Hoi and Cheuk 1 Fu. The gambling tournament is but the spectacle
at the center of an elaborate plot by Cheuk 1 Fu and Hung Biu
to kill Lo 4 Hoi, but surprisingly, after the plot is foiled,
Cheuk 1 Fu comes to respect Lo 4 Hoi and think of him as a friend.
Fok Man Ting suggests to Hung Biu to call a cease fire with Lo
4 Hoi and try to also get the Guangzhou Gambling King to be his
ally (if he could hire Cheuk 1 Fu, why not also hire Lo 4 Hoi)?
A cease fire is called.
During a dinner party at the Hung Manor to celebrate the cease
fire, Lo 4 Hoi finds out that Hung Biu's 3rd wife was, in fact,
the wife that Lo 4 Hoi lost 18 years ago, and her daughter, Ying
Ying, is Lo 4 Hoi's child! Lo 4 Hoi is determined to reunite with
them at any cost.
A Hong Kong-based gangster named Chui Lo Geen has stolen a shipment
of opium belonging to the Hung family en route to Guangzhou. Hung
Biu asks Lo 4 Hoi and Cheuk 1 Fu to go to Hong Kong to recover
the opium shipment. They take Tam Sing and Cheuk Lei with them,
and Cheuk Lei uses Ah Sing to find out about the secret plans
of Lo 4 Hoi and Cheuk 1 Fu to swindle Chui Lo Geen and steal back
Hung Biu's opium shipment. At the same time, Yong Wai Ching (i.e.
Lo 4 Hoi's wife) and Hung Ying Ying vacation in Hong Kong.
Through a series of mishaps caused by Cheuk Lei, Lo 4 Hoi, Cheuk
1 Fu, Yong Wai Ching, and Hung Ying Ying are captured by Chui
Lo Geen, who demands a ransom from Hung Biu. Hung Biu is only
too happy to rid himself of Lo 4 Hoi and Cheuk 1 Fu, and as far
as he's concerned, his 3rd wife and adopted daughter are expendable,
so he refuses to pay the ransom. It is up to Tam Siu Tong and
Tam Sing to carry out a daring rescue of their friends from the
hands of Chui Lo Geen.
The group escapes from Hong Kong and makes it back to Guangzhou.
En route, Cheuk Lei creates conflicts between Yong Wai Ching (Lo
4 Hoi's wife) and Tam Siu Tong (Lo 4 Hoi's current lover) to avenge
her failure to trick Lo 4 Hoi into helping her get revenge against
her foster father. She also seduces Ah Sing to upset Hung Ying
Ying because, after all, Cheuk Lei is starting to feel attracted
to Ah Sing as well.
When they return to Guangzhou, Cheuk Lei reveals to Hung Pau
that his 3rd stepmother has been "cheating" on his father
with Lo 4 Hoi. An enraged Hung Biu beats Yong Wai Ching and throws
her from an upper balcony. The fall cripples her for life.
Lo 4 Hoi finds out what Hung Biu did to his beloved wife and
how he and Hung Pau are torturing and imprisoning her and their
daughter, Ying Ying. Loi 4 Hoi vows to use all his resources to
bring down the Hung family and save his wife and daughter!
The gang wars between Lo 4 Hoi and Hung Biu break out more fiercely
than ever, but Hung Biu *still* doesn't have the strategic ability
to outmaneuver Lo 4 Hoi. Hung Biu asks Cheuk 1 Fu for help again,
but Cheuk 1 Fu refuses. As far as Cheuk 1 Fu is concerned, Lo
4 Hoi is now his friend and he will no longer help Hung Biu against
Lo 4 Hoi.
Cheuk Lei then hatches a plot to get her foster father and Lo
4 Hoi to destroy each other. Cheuk Lei sets up an elaborate scheme
with the help of the Hung family to convince her foster father
that she has been kidnapped and murdered by Lo 4 Hoi. Cheuk 1
Fu, although he is a master swindler, is blinded by his love for
his foster daughter and falls for the plot. He vows to help the
Hung family destroy Lo 4 Hoi!
Cheuk Lei uses another plot to trick Tam Sing into revealing
Lo 4 Hoi's secret hiding place (a trick that involves seduction;
at one point, Cheuk Lei plans to kill Tam Sing, but because she
has really fallen in love with him, she can't bring herself to
do it; this decision will one day come back to haunt her). Hung
Pau and his men trap Lo 4 Hoi and blind him (before they can kill
him, he is rescued by Tam Sing). Meanwhile, Hung Biu and Cheuk
1 Fu's men destroy what's left of Lo 4 Hoi's gang. Lo 4 Hoi, blinded
and stripped of his loyal followers, is forced into hiding.
Tam Sing and Tam Siu Tong knows that it is no longer safe for
Lo 4 Hoi in Guangzhou, so they make plans to help him to flee.
Lo 4 Hoi insists on rescuing Yong Wai Ching and Hung Ying Ying
before they leave, however. A rescue at Hung Manor is attempted,
but is botched and results in Yong Wai Ching's death. Ying Ying
is rescued, but before they can escape, she is captured by Hung
Pau and raped. Ying Ying is forced to become a nun at a Buddhist
monastery after her mother's death.
Tam Siu Tong, Tam Sing, and Lo 4 Hoi flee Guangzhou for Hong
Kong. Lo 4 Hoi, blind and penniless, vows that he will one day
return to Guangzhou to avenge his wife and daughter on the Hung
family.
Back in Guangzhou, Cheuk 1 Fu is delighted when his foster daughter
Cheuk Lei shows up miraculously unharmed! She explains that she
actually escaped Lo 4 Hoi. Cheuk 1 Fu, too happy to be suspicious,
is fooled.
Now that Cheuk Lei has succeeded in helping the Hung family to
get rid of Lo 4 Hoi, she wants their help to get revenge on Cheuk
1 Fu. Cheuk Lei stages an elaborate scheme so that her foster
father finds her and Hung Pau in bed together. On Cheuk Lei and
Hung Pau's wedding night, Cheuk Lei drugs a cup of tea that her
foster father drinks. She then ties him up and has the Hung family
gang help her to torture him. Before releasing him, she orders
the gang to cripple Cheuk 1 Fu's hands, so that he will never
be able to use them again (NOTE: Lo 4 Hoi, the Divine Eyes, has
been blinded; Cheuk 1 Fu, the Thousand Hands, has had his hands
crippled). Cheuk 1 Fu is beaten and humiliated, but his troubles
are only beginning.
When Cheuk 1 Fu returns to Shanghai, he finds out that the Hung
family have taken over all his assets and businesses. He is now
crippled and penniless. The former Gambling King of Shanghai is
now a helpless beggar. Eventually, he finds his way to Macao,
where he'd hoped some relatives could help him, but where he was
turned away.
Meanwhile, Lo 4 Hoi, Tam Siu Tong, and Tam Sing eke out a rough
life in Hong Kong. Lo 4 Hoi, blind and depressed, is a wreck of
his former self . . . spending his days drinking and feeling sorry
for himself. Tam Siu Tong cannot get a job as an opera singer
in Hong Kong because she has been blacklisted by Chui Lo Geen.
Tam Sing is forced to work as laborer. After they are found to
be living in Hong Kong by Chui Lo Geen, they are forced to flee
to Macao. Things can't get any worse, but their fortunes are about
to change . . .
In Macao, Lo 4 Hoi and Cheuk 1 Fu encounter each other for the
first time since they were both crippled. Finally meeting face
to face, they realize that both of them had been maneuvered against
each other by Cheuk Lei. They decide to let bygones be bygones
and form a friendship and alliance to avenge themselves on Cheuk
Lei and the Hung family. Crippled, they realize that they cannot
do it personally, but they agree that they will combine their
skills and train Tam Sing to be the King of Gambler Kings!
For the next year, Lo 4 Hoi and Cheuk 1 Fu train Tam Sing intensively
to be a Gambler King. Tam Sing is a smart, quick student, and
within months, he begins to master each of their gambling and
swindling skills.
As this is going on, Tam Siu Tong is feeling increasingly frustrated
by Lo 4 Hoi's apparent indifference to her love for him. She truly,
deeply loves him, but his heart is still set on avenging his slain
wife. His eyes are blind, and his heart is blind to Siu Tong's
love. Siu Tong begins dating Ho Cheun, the scholarly son of Macao
gambling tycoon Ho Yung. Ho Cheun is a young gentleman and a talented
actor, and he is smitten with Siu Tong. Still, Siu Tong's heart
belongs to Lo 4 Hoi.
Back in Guangzhou, Cheuk Lei helps her husband Hung Pau to overthrow
his father Hung Biu and take over the Hung family's gambling empire.
No sooner does she finish off her father in law, however, than
does she seduce Fok Man Ting, hoping to use his power to get rid
of Hung Pau as well and take over the Hung family gambling empire
for herself. She also gives birth to a son, whom Hung Pau believes
to be his child, but is in fact Tam Sing's!
In Macao, Tam Sing has mastered Lo 4 Hoi and Cheuk 1 Fu's gambling
and swindling skills, and now surpasses both of them at their
peak. However, they lack the financial resources to return to
Guangzhou and carry out their plan of revenge against the Hung
family. Tam Siu Tong has a plan: she will marry Ho Cheun in exchange
for the funding necessary to fund the revenge activities. When
Lo 4 Hoi finds out about the sacrifice Siu Tong is making for
him, he realizes how blind he really has been. Lo 4 Hoi determines
that even if it means he can never get revenge, he cannot let
Siu Tong do this. Lo 4 Hoi, etc., crash the wedding.
Ho Yung, Ho Cheun's father, is enraged by how Lo 4 Hoi embarrassed
him in front of his friends and family and Macao's society during
his son's wedding. However, Ho Yung also deeply admires this onetime
Gambling King. Ho Yung makes Lo 4 Hoi a deal: if Lo 4 Hoi can
accurately call the numbers on the dice he shakes, Ho Yung will
agree to release Lo 4 Hoi and his friends. Lo 4 Hoi's famous Divine
Eyes have long been blinded, but in the intervening years, he
has developed a comparable set of Divine Ears! Lo 4 Hoi accurately
calls the dice three times! Ho Yung is very impressed and agrees
to let Lo 4 Hoi go. Then, he asks to make Lo 4 Hoi another deal
. . .
For years, Chui Lo Geen has been causing Ho Yung problems with
his businesses in Hong Kong. All of the assassins that Ho Yung
has sent to kill Chui Lo Geen have failed; none of them have ever
come back alive. Ho Yung tells Lo 4 Hoi and Cheuk 1 Fu that if
they can successfully kill Chui Lo Geen for him, he will agree
to completely fund their revenge activities in Guangzhou!
Tam Sing volunteers for the job of killing Chui Lo Geen . . .
to test his abilities as a swindler. Tam Sing sets up an elaborate
plot that succeeds in killing Chui Lo Geen, proving to everyone
that he has indeed surpassed even his two teachers. He is now
determined to return to Guangzhou, defeat Cheuk Lei, and become
the KING OF GAMBLING KINGS!
Tam Sing, Tam Siu Tong, Lo 4 Hoi, and Cheuk 1 Fu return to Guangzhou.
They begin their plot to get revenge by playing mindgames with
Hung Pau (i.e. Lo 4 Hoi calling him in the middle of the night
at home to tell him that he is coming to blind him, etc.). Soon,
they drive Hung Pau half insane with fear. Cheuk Lei herself finishes
off this loutish husband that she never loved.
The stage is set for a final confrontation between Tam Sing and
Cheuk Lei, as the stakes get higher and higher and the two of
them resort to increasingly cruel and destructive plots to outmaneuver
and destroy the other. Everything comes to a head when Tam Sing
kidnaps Cheuk Lei's son (ironically, his own son, although he
is unaware of this fact) even as Cheuk Lei kidnaps Lo 4 Hoi and
Cheuk 1 Fu. The two of them agree to a prisoner exchange. Tam
Sing attaches an impact bomb to boy's belt buckle, which will
detonate when he hugs his mother.
At the last moment, Hung Ying Ying overhears Cheuk Lei's confession
to Buddha at the monastery. Cheuk Lei says that she is sorry for
all the evil she has done, but that retribution should be directed
against her, not her innocent son. She is especially sorry that
her evil has lead to her son being kidnapped and held for ransom
by his own father! Hung Ying Ying tells Tam Siu Tong what happened,
and Siu Tong rushes to try to prevent this tragedy!
Siu Tong reaches the prisoner exchange site a moment too late.
The little boy trips and falls, detonating the bomb and killing
him at the very moment that Tam Sing finds out that the boy was
his own son!
A begrieved Cheuk Lei begs Tam Sing, Lo 4 Hoi, and Cheuk 1 Fu
to kill her. Everybody, however, feels sorrowful for all the pointless
death and suffering that their desire for revenge has caused .
. . especially the horrible death of this innocent little boy.
Cheuk Lei finally kills herself by jumping off a building.
Tam Sing, too is grieving and depressed. Cheuk 1 Fu snaps him
out of it, however, by reminding him of his ambition to be the
KING OF GAMBLING KINGS. To do this, Ah Sing must free himself
of all trust and love and desire. Ah Sing, determined to become
the King of Gambling Kings, lets go of his grief.
The conflict finally over, both former Gambling Kings decide
to retire. Cheuk 1 Fu returns to Shanghai, where his businesses
(now restored to him by Tam Sing) and his old friends await him.
Lo 4 Hoi and Tam Siu Tong retire to Singapore, where Lo 4 Hoi
once worked as a young man and where he first learned his gambling
skills many years ago. Tam Sing stays behind in Guangzhou to be
the King of Gambling Kings. He makes one final attempt to have
Hung Ying Ying leave the monastery and marry him, but when she
says she will only marry him if he agrees to give up being the
King of Gambling Kings, he refuses.
Tam Sing is now the King of Gambling Kings and master of Guangzhou's
gambling industry. His lifelong dream has been fulfilled, but
he feels lonely. He has come full circle. The series ends with
Tam Sing being asked by a naive young man wanting to learn gambling
skills from him, just like he wanted to learn gambling skills
from Lo 4 Hoi all those years ago.
THE SHELL GAME PART II takes place eight years later. Tam Sing
appears briefly at the beginning and end of THE SHELL GAME II.
The cast of characters in Part II are otherwise new.
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Patrick
Tse Yin --- Lo 4 Hoi