chapter 170: what's going on

[Shanghai, Hotel, Joey's Room]

The next morning, Joey (Bernice Liu) received a wake-up call from a number unknown to her. She groans. "Hello?" she answers the phone half-asleep.

"Hi, Joey, it's Carrie."

"Who?"

"It's Carrie, from 'F&B'."

The mention of the term "F&B" woke Joey up. She sits up in her bed. "Oh! Carrie. What's up?"

"I'm so sorry about calling you so early," Carrie (Natalie Tong) apologizes. "I wanted to call so badly yesterday, but I was afraid of bothering you and then it got really late. But it's morning now so I thought maybe I could call and it would be okay," she blurts out in an overtly fast manner.

"Whoa! Slow down." Joey laughs. "I just woke up. My brain can't process so much so fast in so little time."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you."

"What's the matter?"

"It's about Chris..."

Hearing Ah Nin's name, Joey needed to hear no more. She arranged to meet Carrie in an hour at a café for breakfast.

[Hong Kong, Kam Family Apartment]

The family was gathered around the dining table for breakfast.

The tears in Nim Chi's (Nancy Sit) eyes had finally dried. She had cried all of last night thinking about Ah Nin (Frankie Lam) and the sticky situation he was in. "I thought I had cried my heart out when I learned that everything with Rose (Kenix Kwok) was fake and how much she had hurt him, but I was wrong. Rose is ruining his life. Ah Nin could go to jail for a crime he never did..." The thought that Ah Nin might be locked up scared Nim Chi like no other.

"Why can't that vicious woman let big brother go?" Ah Yat (Joyce Chen) sighs.

"I knew it was a bad idea for Ah Nin to go and talk 'business' with that company..." Ying Gei (Yvonne Lam) comments.

"She brainwashed Ah Nin, could have killed Foon Foon and Hei Hei with her drugs, and now she has him being tried for running an illegal drug market. It's like our family owes her or something, isn't that right?" Gam (Louis Yuen) feels disgusted.

"I have to go to Shanghai," Nim Chi says simply. "Ah Nin needs the support."

"Ma Chi, you're going alone?"

"What choice do I have? You all have to go to work. I already packed. I'm leaving later today on the earliest flight."

["Ka Yan" Company]

Wong Sheung (Lau Dan) walked into his company seeing his employees gathered around in a group gossiping again. He coughs his throat, clearly angry at the sight. "What's going on here? Is there no work to be done?" he demands.

"Sorry, Mr. Wong!" Everyone says in unison as they break up into their respective places in the company.

Man Gwai Fei (Stephanie Che) steps out of her office with a triumphant smile. "They were gossiping about your daughter, Mr. Wong!"

"What? What were they saying about Joey?"

Gwai Fei slaps Gam on the back of his head. "Talk!"

"Mr. Wong, don't you see the physical abuse? I have a right mind to file a lawsuit for keeping such an abusive manager around here!" Gam says.

"What were you saying about my daughter?" Wong Sheung demands, ignoring Gam's complaint.

"Chris is being suspected of running an illegal drug market, so Joey has to stay in Shanghai to offer support," Gam explains.

Wong Sheung blinks, confused. "Illegal drug market? What are you talking about?"

"Rose's company is a farce. They are secretly hiding drugs within their clothes," Ah Yuet (Michael Tse) elaborates.

"What? That's ridiculous! I've known Peter (Michael Miu) for awhile. His company wouldn't do such a thing. There must be a misunderstanding. 'F&B' has been around for many years and has a very good reputation. I introduced Chris to Peter so he could work at 'F&B" when he left 'Ka Yan' in hopes of developing in Shanghai. It can't be." Wong Sheung shakes his head.

Ying Gei gasps, "So you're the one who introduced poor Ah Nin to his death trap!"

"What?"

"If it wasn't because of you, Ah Nin wouldn't be involved with 'F&B'. He wouldn't have met Rose. She wouldn't have hired someone to run him over and erase his memories. He wouldn't be innocently suspected as an operator of their illegal drug market!" Ying Gei says exasperatedly.

Gwai Fei rolls her eyes. "Che! It's the court's decision to decide whether or not he's 'innocent'."

"This can't be. Joey would have called me if something like this happened..." Wong Sheung is still puzzled.

"We're not lying. Ah Nin and Rose were arrested yesterday. It's a good thing they were because Rose was trying to kill Ah Nin and Joey-"

"What?" Wong Sheung is stunned.

"Rose tried to kill Joey for the third time."

"Third time? Huh?" Wong Sheung looks at everyone.

"You're her father and you don't know?" Ah Lo (Bondy Chiu) asks.

"She never told me... what three times?"

"The first time was when Rose committed murder at the wedding boutique. The second time was when she confronted Rose about everything and allowed big brother to see her true colors. The third and hopefully last time was yesterday when she and big brother were at 'F&B'..." Ah Yuet provides the recap.

Wong Sheung can't believe his ears. Joey hadn't told him about any of that. He knew about Rose being fake and he overheard bits and pieces about what she had done to Ah Nin, but he had no idea that she had tried to kill his daughter so many times. It began to make sense to him. The night Joey returned home really late, he could sense something was odd. He wanted to ask her about it, but she refused to tell him anything. Then, she had asked him to distract Rose for a while. "That silly girl... why didn't she tell me any of this?" he thinks to himself.

"I can't believe you didn't know. What kind of no good father are you?" Ying Gei asks.

Everyone gasps at her comment.

"Mr. Wong, we should fire such a disrespectful employee!" Gwai Fei urges.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Wong!" Ying Gei gets on the floor and begs.

"No. She's right. I am useless. So much happened to my own daughter... and I had no idea." Wong Sheung feels ashamed.

"Poor Joey."

"Poor Chris."

"It's all that evil Rose's fault!"

Everyone sighs.

"I have to go to Shanghai. I have to find Joey." Wong Sheung says as he runs out of the company.

[Airplane]

"Oh great, the middle seat..." Wong Sheung sighs. There was a plump woman sitting in the window seat. The other seat was still vacant. He sits down. There was something familiar to him about the woman. She turns around to look at him. He is surprised. "Auntie Chi!"

Nim Chi greets him with a smile. "Mr. Wong."

"Your family told me you were off to Shanghai."

"Yes."

"Me too."

Nim Chi laughs. "It's best that you're going to Shanghai because that's where the plane lands."

Wong Sheung laughs off his embarrassment. "Why, yes, of course."

Nim Chi just smiles.

He clears his throat.

"What is it?"

"This is awfully embarrassing... but would you mind telling me about everything that has been going on with Chris, Rose, and Joey? Joey hasn't told me anything..."

Nim Chi smiles. "Surely. It will make the flight seem shorter."