First Episode 33: 意难忘

A part of the Grand First Episode Project -- See this thread for more info.

Overview - youku

Language Difficulty Level: Lower Intermediate

A popular Taiwanese romance, calibre2001's recommendation.

This is one of the longest shows in Chinese-language television, I think there are several million episodes. It is a classic soap opera involving gangsters and apparently there's a romance that develops, but not in the first episode.

The version linked has simplified subtitles (very hard to read in places), if somebody has a link to a clearer version or traditional subs, let me know.

--- Plot Summary ---

We are following a group of small crooks, 王胜天, 王胜志 and 阿水, as they steal a bunch of logs from a freight train before jumping off a bridge. This turns out to be a bad idea, as 王胜天 can't swim, and 阿水 injures himself in the process and almost drowns. Apparently, a girl called 丽珠 is also involved. The guys who were guarding the logs, 阿标 and 阿炮 report to their boss, 蔡进炮, who is not happy.

王胜天 and others transport the logs, and run into a pretty young teacher with a class full of kids who need transport, so they give them a lift, and 王胜天 has a romantic encounter in the rain, as he helps her off the truck. Then he suggests that they sell the logs to 蔡进炮 (they refer to him as 眼镜蛇), and the others think this is a bad idea. They end up giving him a cinema ticket and negotiate with him in the cinema. He agrees to buy the wood from them, but later his people storm the cinema while 王胜志 is alone, and torture him into telling them where the wood is.

Soon afterwards, 黄坤山 (another gang boss) visits 赖老板 (his boss) and suspects that 蔡进炮 is responsible. Apparently, those logs belonged to him, but 蔡进炮 stole them (before having them stolen again). 赖老板 wants concrete proof, but will back him up. 黄坤山 then goes to a bar where he talks to the boss and gives him a week to find the culprit.

蔡进炮 is in the same bar, unhappy that 丽珠 is not there. 王胜天 and 阿水 enter, trying to collect the money, but they are unaware that he has regained the logs. 蔡进炮 steps outside for a while, and the bar owner warns him that 黄坤山 is after him and that he is backed by 赖老板.

蔡进炮 re-enters, and 黄坤山 is there waiting for him, and the episode ends with a stand-off.

--- Summary End ---

决心 jué xīn - determination / resolution / determined

赌 dǔ - to bet / to gamble

桧木 I can't find this one, but it's obviously referring to the logs of wood

勾结 gōu jié - to collude with / to collaborate with

利润 lì rùn - profits

大金主 I'm guessing backer, someone who finances them, but I'm not sure

有份 to take part in something, to have a share in something

淹死 yān sǐ - to drown

捞 lāo - fish up

拦截 lán jié - to intercept

枉费 wǎng fèi - to waste, to try in vain

牺牲 xī shēng - sacrifice (one's life etc)

冤枉 yuān wang - hatred / injustice / bad luck

抽筋 chōu jīn - a cramp (in leg, stomach etc) / to pull a tendon

阎罗 Yán luó - Yama / king of hell / extremely cruel person

发财 fā cái - to get rich

脸上挂彩 battle-wounds on the face

陷 xiàn - to get stuck

小提琴 xiǎo tí qín - fiddle / violin

免得 miǎn de - so as not to / so as to avoid

淋 lín - to drain / to drench / to drip

泡妞 pào niū - to pick up girls

手牵手 shǒu qiān shǒu - hand-in-hand

赃货 zāng huò - spoils / booty

枪手 qiāng shǒu - gunman / sharpshooter

县市 xiàn shì - county-level town, county-level market

气氛 qì fēn - atmosphere / mood

批货 pī huò - a batch of goods

六折 liù zhé - 40% discount

场所 chǎng suǒ - location / place

委屈 wěi qū - to feel wronged / to nurse a grievance

优势 yōu shì - superior / dominant

流氓 liú máng - gangster

风声 fēng shēng - rumor / talk / news

出面 chū miàn - act in a (official or personal) capacity

退休 tuì xiū - retirement

蛔虫 huí chóng - roundworm

知己 zhī jǐ - to know oneself / to be intimate or close / intimate friend

装傻 zhuāng shǎ - to play stupid

狗吠 gǒu fèi - dog barking

运气 yùn qi - luck (good or bad)

浊水 zhuó shuǐ - muddy waters

喉咙 hóu lóng throat / larynx

I found this OK. A bit of humour, a bit of action, a bit of romance, but still squarely in the soap-opera style. I guess the story develops with time, but this first episode is basically OK, and not more or less.

Worth a watch, quite easy to follow (though the subtitles are hard to read), and if you like it, there are several hundred episodes to keep you occupied.

Actually I wouldnt watch this show for learning mandarin. Instead I would rather learn the Minnan dialect off it instead using the chinese subtitles as a crutch...

To my surprise this drama is played on a HK TV channel. The Mandarin dubbing seems so strange. I don't recall watching taiwan drama dubbed in Mandarin in recent years. Or perhaps there are different versions?