"Incisive Great Teacher" 《犀利仁师》

About 3 weeks ago, I found this "Incisive Great Teacher" 《犀利仁师》drama serial on the Jia Le on Demand channel on Singtel MioTV. What first attracted me to watch this drama was, of course, the lead actor who is Nicky Wu (吴奇隆). Next in line was the lead actress who is Cecilia Liu (刘诗诗). They were also the lead actor and actress in "Scarlet  Heart 1" 《步步惊心》 and "Scarlet Heart 2"《步步惊情》.

"Incisive Great Teacher" 《犀利仁师》is a period comedy drama. Liu Ao Tian (starring Nicky Wu) is a government agent sent to work undercover in Hong Wen College (the school appointed by the emperor to implement the new policy of girls attending school). His mission was to ensure that the new policy would be implemented successfully and to prevent sabotage of this policy by the "traditional forces".

Lu Yun Fei (starring Cecilia Liu) also went to work in the same school upon the challenge of Liu Ao Tian. Thus she became the first female teacher. She was very good in martial arts but not so good academically. As such, Yuan Fang and his classmates were doubtful of her capability as a teacher. Through her efforts and some help from Liu Ao Tian, she eventually got the 3 bells, one from Nie Wen Xing (starring Huo Zheng Yan) who represent the teachers, one from Murong Yue who represent the female students and Yuan Fang who represent the male students so that she could continue working as a Teacher. 

Fan Da Tong (starring Ye Zu Xin) enrolled himself in Hong Wen College to be close to his ex-fiancee Murong Yue in the hope of wooing her back. He was assigned to a hostel room with Song Wen Wen (starring Wu Ying Jie). Fan Da Tong and Song Wen Wen initially had some disputes prior to entering Hong Wen College. However, after being classmates and room mates for some time, both of them had learned to care for each other. Once, they were practicing for their kick ball game (now known as soccer). Song Wen Wen passed out and was sent to the sick bay. Liu Ao Tian, who also assumed the role of the school's physician, took Song Wen Wen's pulse and realised that Song Wen Wen was actually a girl. He then questioned her intention of disguising as a boy and asked her to quit school before getting into trouble. By disguising herself as a boy, it is considered as deceiving the emperor in their times which could result in execution. (I think she dressed as a boy in order to get the scholarship as the scholarship was only meant for boys).

At some point, Fan Da Tong knew that Song Wen Wen had to quit school if she could not win the soccer race. Hence, he was determined to help her and in the process, did not concern himself over Murong Yue. In the mean time, it was his good friend Wu Tian Bao who helped Murong Yue to get the cheerleading lead dancer role. Song Wen Wen was touched by Fan Da Tong's care and help. Fan Da Tong was also very concerned about Song Wen Wen. However, Song Wen Wen could not reveal her true identity to him. There was once when Song Wen Wen got drunk and said she should give her blessings to Fan Da Tong and Murong Yue. This caused him to misunderstand that Song Wen Wen was in love with Murong Yue. He felt upset but could not understand why.

Throughout the 24 episodes that I have watched so far, the characters in the serial kept mentioning the emperor but did not mention the name. I deduced from the English subtitle that the emperor was a lady because it was typed as Her Majesty. So, the emperor should be Wu Ze Tian. A check on the internet proved that I was right. The drama serial was set in the Wu Zhou dynasty (an interuption of the Tang Dynasty) when Wu Ze Tian was the emperor. Wu Ze Tian was the first and only female emperor in the history of China. I am not sure if Wu Ze Tian would appear later in the drama serial. 

It was also mentioned many times that Liu Ao Tian could never be an official in his lifetime but the reason was not made known to us yet. So, in working undercover as a teacher, he also put his heart into teaching the students how to be a good official by imparting certain values to them. In episode 24, he gave the students the task of investigating the reason behind the price hike in rice. He said this is important in helping them to understand how this could accelerate into a major problem that could rock the country's stability if it was not handled properly. In this instance, he was teaching the students practical economics. He also asked his superior to inform the emperor of the price hike situation and to intervene before the situation got worse. 

The drama serial was very funny. I think this is the first time I have watched Nicky Wu acting so cute and funny. His other drama/movie characters were usually "cool" and serious. His character, Liu Ao Tian was usually serious when teaching and talking to other people. However, whenever he was with Lu Yun Fei, he became very cheeky. 

Lynn happened to see me watching this drama and was hooked on it too. She found the drama very interesting and hilarious at times. As this was a period drama set in a school, there were many chinese poems, idioms, proverbs etc. used. It's an alternative way to learn chinese and more entertaining. 

There are another 20 episodes to go. Waiting impatiently for Jia Le Channel to continue its broadcast...

Lean Pork with Preserved Vegetables

I got the idea of cooking this dish from the MediaCorp TV drama serial,  "Spice Up" 《幸福料理》. I thought it was quite easy to prepare so I tried it out two days ago.

I did not follow every step exactly as it was shown by Gao Mingjun  (starring Patrick Lee) in the show. This was what I used.

250g lean pork (frozen pork)

80g preserved Vegetables

Steps:

1. I cut the lean pork into smaller strips. I used the preserved vegetables that were bought from NTUC. No further cutting was needed for this.

2. Then I added some salt, pepper, 1/3 egg white, sesame oil and tapioca flour to the lean pork.

3. I heated up some oil in the wok, added some garlic and stir fried them. 

4. I put in the marinated lean pork, stir fried until they were about 60% to 70% cooked.

5. Then I added the preserved vegetables to the pork and cooked until the pork was tender. 

6. I added some chilli powder to the dish. (original recipe used fresh red chilli). 

This dish turned out quite nicely. The pork was tender and the colour was white instead of the usual light brown. I believed it was the egg white that made the pork tender and white. Lynn almost thought it was chicken meat. The preserved vegetables wasn't as crunchy as Gao Mingjun's dish since I did not soak them and squeeze out the water like what he did. We didn't mind though. So overall, I would think it was an appetising dish. This turned out tender and tasty.

Episode 14 to Episode 20 (Last Episode) of 《祖先保佑》("Blessings")

Meiren had suspected Wenrou of getting a man ( Wensheng, who happened to be Wenrou's cousin) to stage the robbery that caused Wenrou to temporarily lose the use of her legs. However, Wending refused to believe that a nice girl like Wenrou would do such a thing.

Wending initiated a breakup with Meiren so that he could take care of Wenrou who was handicapped. Ouyang Xuan and Meiren's father came up with a plan and made Wending realise that he should be with the one he loved, i.e. Meiren. Wenrou was, of course devastated and decided to up the ante. She got Wensheng to splash acid on Meiren. Luckily he did not succeed. In the end, Wenrou wanted him to set fire to "Xiji". Meiren saw Wensheng walking past her nail shop and followed him to "Xiji". She saw Wenrou and Wensheng inside "Xiji". Wensheng was pouring kerosene inside "Xiji". Meiren told him that she had already called the police. Wensheng scurried off in fear.

After some arguments, Wenrou set "Xiji" on fire accidentally. Meiren tried to help Wenrou even when the fire had already spread but Wenrou pushed her away. Wending managed to get there on time and carried Wenrou out of the fire scene. So both Meiren and Wenrou were saved from the fire.

Wending kept having the nightmare of Daxi, Shuangxi and Alicia disappearing. This dream arose from the conversation he previously had with Alicia (his great-granddaughter). Alicia (the only one who believed that Wending travelled forward in time when he first told her) reminded him that if he were to stay in this era and marry Meiren, then Daxi, Shuangxi and Alicia would not have existed because he did not marry their grandmother/great-grandmother. He then brought up the topic of breaking up with Meiren again. He told her he was actually from the 1940s. Of course Meiren thought he was either bluffing or he was delusional.

Meiren then got Daxi to find out the truth behind Wending's reason for breaking up with her. Daxi and Shuangxi searched Wending's belongings and found an old box with a picture of their father, Mengyong (who had passed away a few episodes earlier) and their grandfather but the face of their grandfather was already torn off the picture. Based on the scar on the hand of their grandfather, they deduced that Wending could indeed be their grandfather. They also recalled that Mengyong had called Wending "Dad", Wending had mentioned a few times that he was their grandfather plus the DNA testing. They found it incredible.

They could not contact Wending. Alicia then mentioned that he could have gone back to the 1940s. She said he came to the present on the night of the Mid-Autumn festival last year, so he had to go back on the Mid-Autumn festival this year and all other conditions must be satisfied. After Meiren went out to look for Wending, Shini went into labour.

In the next scene we saw Wending jumping into the swimming pool where he first arrived in this era (2014). He came out of the pool wondering what had gone wrong. He wore the same clothes at the same place and the same time. Then Meiren came to look for him. At the same time, Daxi was praying to their ancestors at home to bless Shini with a smooth delivery of his nephew. At this point, a mysterious force pulled Wending away and, in the next scene, he was at the river and Xiaomei pulled him out of the water. After some confusion, he realised that he was back in his time (1948). He realized that he was only inside the river for a few minutes but it seemed like a year had passed. He told Xiaomei that he had a "strange dream". He learnt that if he wanted happiness, he should have the courage to pursue his love. Hence, he wanted to marry Xiaomei.

Fast forward to 2014 again.  Wenrou turned up with her boyfriend to congratulate Shuangxi and Shini on the opening of a new branch of "Xiji". Shuangxi and Shini had a son and a daughter (Alicia). Shini was pregnant with a third child. Daxi and Ouyang Xuan were a married couple, and surprise, surprise, Mengyong was still alive (unlike the strange dream that Wending had). There were reporters interviewing Mengyong. Daxi was an award-winning writer who had written many popular novels. Shuangxi was the able assistant of Mengyong who had created many highly popular new flavours. 

Mengyong told the reporters that his father always did things that baffled people. There was one year, whenever it rained, he would stay in the house and not go out. He was afraid that he would be killed by a falling tree. The reporter wondered if Wending could foretell the future. Ouyang Xuan then told the reporters it seemed that he could foretell the future. She mentioned that there was also once when he suddenly wanted to move house. Two days later, the old house caught fire. Wending did these because he learnt from his "strange dream" that he was struck dead by a falling tree on a rainy day at the age of 40. Hence, he would not go out whenever it rained in that particular year so that he would not die young. He moved house so that his wife would not get caught in the fire and hence, would not die too. In preventing his and his wife's early deaths, he was able to pass on his superb pastry making skills to his son and grandchildren. In doing so, "Xiji" was still enjoying a good business and reputation to this day.

Another surprise? Wending and Xiaomei were still alive in their 90s.

Old Wending was at the park and saw Meiren. Meiren was pregnant and her hubby was Yuanbing (her ex-boyfriend in Wending's "strange dream") Then, Xiaomei came to him. Both of them held each other's hands and walked off...

So did Wending just have a dream or did he actually travel forward in time from 1948 to 2014? Did he change history? I supposed it's up to us to decide or figure it out.

I really enjoyed this drama serial. My only dissatisfaction was that there was no mention of what happened to Xiulan, the girl whom Wending was supposed to marry. How did Wending get away with cancelling his marriage plans with Xiulan when his parents were so adamant in wanting him to marry a girl of equal status?

Related post:

Episode 1 to 13 of 《祖先保佑》("Blessings")