But mother, I know I will disobey you, just this once and be the terrible son I will be for disobeying you.
A recap on the scene of Charles persuading his mother to allow him to marry Siu Yau
There is one very moving and interesting scene in this episode where Charles wants to marry Siu Yau and Arthur agrees, subject to Charles' mother agreeing. So the bigger task is persuading his mother. His mother through Chi Kwan said she will allow Siu Yau to be 2nd wife, and Charles will have to marry Yvonne's niece as 1st wife. Siu Yau agrees, even Chi Kwan feels that is a compromise but Charles does not agree. He wants Siu Yau to be his first and only wife. So he went straight to his mother, and the moment he sees his mom, he goes teary eyed and says "Mother, please listen to what I have to say" and his mother angrily says "No, I will not listen! I know what you want to say and my answer is no" and Charles says "Mother, please..." and she stubbornly says "NO! I already said NO! She can be your 2nd wife. That is my compromise! The Chung family is a renowned family and for me to allow her to be your 2nd wife, my son, the Chung's firstborn, is already a sacrifice. Do you want to kill me, is that it?!" and she puts her hands on her ears, blocking out his voice and she sat down and he knelt before her and put his hands on her hands and removed them from her ears and said gently "Mother.. please just listen to what I have to say.." and tearfully he said "You know I won't marry her if you don't allow me to. But mother, I know I will disobey you, just this once and be the terrible son I will be for disobeying you. But there is a reason why I want to marry Siu Yau and no other wives. I have seen how father have hurt you again and again as he married yet another wife. I still remember when father married 2nd mother, how you locked yourself in your room and cried everyday. I've seen the pain father caused you. There was a time I blamed him for your sadness. But then I realised, father was not at fault. It is the system. It allows father to do what he did. I want to break that system. I want to a marry the woman I love. It will not be fair if I marry 3rd mother's niece, making her the 1st wife and yet marry the woman I love as the 2nd wife. My heart will then belong to Siu Yau and it will never be fair to her, as much as father did not act fairly with you. Mother, please forgive your son for disobeying you. I will never want to hurt you, but I can never hurt Siu Yau too. I love her, mother, if you get to know her, you will love her too. Mother, please...please mother..."
... and by the last sentence his mother was crying so hard as she cupped his tear stricken cheeks and you know she will agree and she will love the woman her son loves, as her own daughter whatever her background. Logic is simple; her son chose her therefore as a mother she too will love Siu Yau. And why Charles want to marry only Siu Yau is because he learnt as a child how his father's selfishness has nearly broken his mother's heart, again and again, much like how Ho Yee was angry with Arthur for marrying Chi Kwan, not because she hates Chi Kwan but because she knows how hurt her mother must have been.
Sum Lan is very lucky, much luckier than Yee Yin or even Yvonne and eventually luckier than Chi Kwan. She may not have her husband's undivided love, but in a way she has his respect where he consults her, especially when it comes to Charles' marriage (although he couldn't care less what she thought of his marriage to Chi Kwan), but she had Charles' and Ho Yee's undivided love. Charles did what he did because of his mother. And in the end she walked down the stairs into the living room to meet the nervous Siu Yau, with Yvonne thinking she won the battle against Siu Yau but was dumbfounded when Sum Lam walked right up to Siu Yau and smiled at her. In the end Siu Yau in another scene said "Thank you for accepting me Mrs Chung. I promise I will be a good daughter to you" and what more could a mother ask for?
In truth, Sum Lan is not an unreasonable person. She is deeply traditional as a woman, a wife and a mother. As long as Charles loves Siu Yau, she too will love Siu Yau. More so when Charles was very persuasive and you can't argue against the logic he presented.
This was a particularly moving and brilliant scene, to which Mary Hon deserves a nomination for her astute performance in here as the loving mother and dutiful wife in the Chung family. Kenneth Ma did well, but I don't like how he cried with his puppy dog looks. That got on my nerve but the dialogue was brilliant.
As for the eventual wedding between Charles and Siu Yau, interestingly it was a church wedding, which was perplexing since Sum Lan gives me an impression she is a devout Buddhist. I suppose it is more glamorous to have a church wedding.
Now, if only Sum Lan knew Siu Yau didn't marry Charles for love but for comfort although I suspect in her heart she already loved Charles. Charles knew of course, he married her because of love knowing she has yet to love him. Let me bet when our Kam Muk Shui returns to woo Siu Yau's heart, he will go all quiet and win her heart with quiet dignity which is total BS to me.
Charles, fight! FIGHT FOR HER HEART! IT IS YOURS ALREADY!!
