20 November 2007
The Vagrant 豹子胆 tells about a story of a young man, Ah Bao (Li Nanxing) , who grew up in a violent environment and how he deals with life after his term in prison. At the age of 21, Ah Bao landed up in jail after his friend (Huang Shinan) and girlfriend (Joey Swee) betrayed him during a robbery he took part in. While in jail, Ah Bao plotted his revenge against the people who betrayed him.
Upon his release from prison, he discovers that his friend is now mentally retarded and that his friend's ex-girlfriend has remarried. He learns that the couple has left behind children, who are abused by their foster family. Feeling sorry for them, Ah Bao decides to take care of the children.
Ah Bao ends up renting a place from Shushu (Huang Biren ) a chicken rice seller, who is infamous for her weird temper. Living under the same roof, Ah Bao learns that Shushu's temperament is due to her husband's betrayal . As time goes by, the couple discovers the nicer side of each other and learns about trust again . Just when life seems to be turning better for Ah Bao, he discovers the truth about his downfall 10 years ago . He decides to uncover the mastermind behind it ...
Ah Bao/Liu Xiaoming (Li Nanxing)
Abandoned by his parents at a young age and then adopted by some relatives who abused him, he grew up to be quite violent and hot headed, even nicknaming himself “Leopard Guts.” After an incident where he injured someone, he was sent to the reformatory where he befriended two other delinquents, Rocky and Ah Lang. After release from the reformatory, the three of them along with his girlfriend robbed a jewelry shop and were going to split the money. However he was betrayed and then sentenced to jail for 10 years. Throughout the 10 years he always thought of finding out the ones behind his imprisonment and avengeing the death of Rocky. Once his sentence is over, he sets off not knowing where to go, but runs into a grown up Xintian who invites him to her pastry shop. He encounters many others who help him change his ways. But once he sees Cecilia again, he thinks of all the sufferings she has caused him and to everyone around. Revenge comes back to mind .
Gan Yuan (Zhang Yaodong)
He is a very intelligent and optimistic guy, but after an accident where he loses both his legs while trying to save his nephew, he slowly loses his confidence in life. He puts up a strong front for his sister and even though he truly loves Xiaomin, he lets her go after seeing that she is with Desheng. After meeting the ever-happy and go-lucky Xintian, he becomes more cheerful and regains confidence. Slowly as he spends more time with Xintian, he realizes that he has fallen for her and his love for Xiaomin has faded away. He confesses his feelings for Xintian but she doesn’t hear him; however when he hints it to her again she tries to ignore it. He leaves for America with Shushu to get an operation on his legs, hoping that it would give him the ability to walk once again.
Ah Lang (Edmund Tay)
He was one of Ah Bao's good buddies, but after being seduced by Cecilia he agreed to steal the money from Ah Bao and Rocky so that he could run away with Cecilia. She bore him two children and during this time he found out that she was only using him and became very upset and angry because he had betrayed his good friends for her. He confronted her, but was beaten very badly by Du Wei and became mentally disabled. He is now under the care of his mother and lives in poor conditions with her under a bridge. Before becoming mentally disabled, Ah Lang had left a cassette tape of the story behind why he had betrayed Ah Bao. Ah Bao and Shushu find it later on and after hearing it, Ah Bao is even more determined to get Cecilia.
Du Wei (Huang Shinan)
An ex-policeman who is very materialistic and is the one who killed Rocky and arrested Ah Bao. He had an affair with Cecilia and helped her trick Ah Lang into taking all the stolen jewelry money. He left the police force after being acquitted of corruption. He is still with Cecilia after all this time and the two of them try to get rid of Ah Bao when they realize he is after them for revenge. Du Wei and Cecilia start betting in horse races to try and win more money. They are successful the first few times, but afterwards lose a large sum after having wrong choices for the races. He kidnaps Ke-le to help him win back the money, but is unsuccessful and then kidnaps Shushu to get ransom money. However he finds out Cecilia is trying to cheat him of the ransom money and they get into a struggle and are arrested at this time.
Lin Dehua (San Yow)
He is Shushu's neighbour, a Chinese physician known for his Two Finger Power. Lin Dehua has had a crush on Shushu for some time now and he tries to gain her favor by volunteering to use his Two Finger Power on Gan Yuan's legs. He tends to pick fights with Wang Wan Shan and usually gets into an argument with Mao Nana. After seeing Shushu treat Ah Bao nicer, he becomes jealous. Once he realizes that Shushu doesn't like him, he locks himself in his house and becomes depressed. However after getting a waking up call from Ah Bao and Shushu, he picks himself up.
Jason/Jeisen (Hu Wensui)
Jason is a gangster and in the beginning he had a luggage full of money that he had taken from someone (I think). He and his girlfriend, Sandra, rent a room from Shushu to hide out. However Sandra betrays Jason and runs away with his money, leaving him with nothing. Jason leaves for a while and returns to see that his room has been rented out to Ah Bao. He gets into a fight with Ah Bao, but after hearing about Jason’s misfortune, Ah Bao allows him to stay in the room with them (Ah Bao, Ke-ai, and Ke-le). Sandra calls Jason to meet her and he tells Ah Bao to go with him and will give him (Ah Bao) $5000 if he does. When Jason goes to meet Sandra, he is beaten up very severely. Later on, Ah Bao and Jason start betting in horse races and win a pile of money due to Ke-le’s special ability. The two use what money they have left to open a moving company where they are the bosses.
Huang Jinlang (Huang Yiliang)
He is Shushu's ex-husband and caused her to not only lose her business, but her son as well. Huang Jinlang cheated on Shushu with Cecilia and the two of them took advantage of the time Shushu was in the hospital to take over her business. The business fell apart and he divorced Shushu to be with Cecilia. However Cecilia was only using him and broke up with him after the business was ruined. Huang Jinlang often comes to Shushu’s chicken rice shop to try and get some money off her, but is usually chased away by her butcher knife. He reveals Shushu’s secret to everyone and makes money off one of Shushu’s pursuers, Jiabo, a surgeon. He also cooperates with Cecilia and Du Wei by kidnapping Ke-le to get the winning combinations of the horse races.
Wang Wan Shan (Lin Yisheng)
He is a popular getai singer and is also a neighbor of Shushu’s. In the 7th month performance, he decides to ask Mao Nana to join him in singing. The two of them are a good pair and are quite welcomed by the audience. Wang Wan Shan is often mistaken to be gay because of his personality and the way he dresses. However he is straight and has many fans after him. In one scene he is mistaken as Ah Bao by the group of guys that Cecilia has sent and is beaten up severely.
Desheng (Zzen)
He is an old classmate of Gan Yuan and Xiaomin's , but has always disliked Gan Yuan and has wanted to “steal” Xiaomin. Desheng continuously tries to pursue Xiaomin, but is unsuccessful until Xiaomin's relationship with Gan Yuan takes a dive after Gan Yuan gets in an accident. So Desheng and Xiaomin begin dating and she breaks up with Gan Yuan. However, Desheng is not faithful to Xiaomin because he starts dating other girls behind her back and tells his other girlfriends that he just wanted to show Gan Yuan that he could take Xiaomin from him and after playing with her for a bit he will eventually break up with her. This was supposedly his plan, but too bad Xintian overhears this and turns his plan against him.
Gan Shushu (Huang Biren)
Gan Shushu was a very successful business women with her own fashion company, but when she was in the hospital being treated for breast cancer, her husband betrayed her by having an affair with someone, Seki, and also causing the downfall of her business. After going to court for a divorce, Shushu got into an argument with Huang Jinlang and Seki on the issue. Her son, who was standing nearby, was playing with a ball and it happened to roll onto the streets and he ran after it only to be hit by a car. Her brother, Gan Yuan, tried to save his nephew but was unsuccessful. Shushu became a bit unstable after these events. She soon opened up a chicken rice stall where she would take out her butcher knife to chop anyone who would harass her.
Song Xintian (Yvonne Lim)
Xintian has such a bubbly and cheerful personality that she gets the nickname ' Little Apple '.” Her family adopted Ah Bao after his parents left him and her parents treated him quite badly. However she sympathized with him and was very nice and caring towards him. She would offer him snacks whenever he was punished by her parents. She was the reason that he (Ah Bao) was sent off to the reformatory. It was because when she was younger a guy dropped his pants down in front of her, causing her to become frightened and cry. Ah Bao went to find that guy to teach him a lesson. Xintian has always wanted to find Ah Bao. She has her own pastry shop and would offer a lot of the treats out. Seeing Gan Yuan break up with Xiaomin, she wants to help him win Xiaomin back. But she develops feelings for him. However, when she sees Gan Yuan and Xiaomin hug after getting rid of Desheng, she feels as if she is the third wheel and decides to back off.
Cecilia/Seki (Joey Swee)
She is Ah Bao's ex-girlfriend who betrayed him by tricking Ah Lang to help her take all the money they had earned from robbing the jewelry store. She also had a relationship with Du Wei, an ex-police officer. Cecilia became pregnant with Ah Lang’s children and gave birth to Ke-ai and Ke-le, but she didn’t care for the two. She abandoned the two kids as well as Ah Lang to leave with Du Wei to have her riches. Cecilia also had an affair with Huang Jinlang where she used the name Seki. She used him to try and get his wife, Gan Shushu’s business but once it fell, she left him.
Yang Xiaomin (Le Yao)
Xiaomin was Gan Yuan's classmate in college and the two began dating during their last few years of school. After Gan Yuan's accident, she declined an offer to go study overseas so that she could stay by his side. She becomes a hotel manager and is continuously pursued by an old college classmate, Desheng. Due to her relationship with Gan Yuan going through some difficulties, she starts to accept Desheng and they begin dating. She then breaks up with Gan Yuan, but after a while she realizes that she still has feelings for him. After she sees Desheng’s real side, she breaks up with him and tries to get back with Gan Yuan.
Mao Nana (Tracer Wong)
Shushu's close friend and also her neighbour. She is a coquettish getai singer who is asked by Wang Wan Shan to do duets with him in the 7th month performance. She decides to rent Ah Bao as her chauffeur during the performances. She discovers that he is a very good singer and finds it even better that he is able to control the crowds and is streetwise. She starts to fall for him and starts to treat him even nicer by buying him things, but gives up on him after realizing he likes Shushu.
Zhang Jiaqi as Ke-le & Ang Chang Hui as Ke-Ai ...
Ke-ai is very smart and sly for her age; she tries her hardest to take care of her younger brother and earn money to give to her grandmother so that she can take care of her dad. Ke-le is very quiet and he doesn’t talk often. But he is very good in math and subjects that have to do with numbers. Later on, he is discovered to have a special ability to pick out the winning combinations in horse races. Ke-ai and Ke-le are the children of Ah Lang and Cecilia. The two siblings were left by their mother at a young age and were taken care of by their grandmother (Ah Lang's mother). However their grandmother was quite old and she didn't have the ability to take care of the two, so she gave them up for adoption, hoping that they will get a better life. The two were then adopted by a family of three and weres constantly abused by them. They were poorly clothed and fed by the family. The two siblings would wander around the streets collecting cans to recycle to try and earn some money. Sometimes they would also go trick store employees into letting them take food by pretending that a customer who was currently shopping was their parent and would pay for it later .
