Original subtitles

Created & Directed by WONG KAR WAI

EPISODE 10

WHO IS MR. A

Mr. Bao said we wouldn't last three months.

I've run into some problems indeed.

Poaching your kitchen staff is only the appetizer.

The main course is yet to come.

Madame, do we have a chef yet?

Each phone call you answer, tell the customer

we'll have a new special tonight

by a celebrity chef Mr. Bao invited from Hong Kong.

Mr. Bao,

how is it?

Incomparable.

Li Li, don't you worry.

The Grand Lisbon's problem is my problem.

I know how to cook a few things.

My pork with salted vegetables is pretty good.

Don't worry, Mr. Fan.

Mr. Bao has agreed to look for a chef for me.

He did?

I don't know when they are arriving yet.

He said he look but they aren't here yet?

Don't worry. I'm meeting him at Tokyo Nights at 6:30 tonight.

I'll go confront him right now.

The woman is something.

It looks like Chef didn't get his doubled salary.

She found another chef?

Is she cooking by herself?

How's that possible?

She has too many customers.

-Impossible. -Where will she find a chef?

no And just look at the time.

Even if she does, what about the king snakes?

Today,

I have her by the neck.

Show her who's in charge.

How?

What's the rush?

I'm cutting off her supply source.

Even if she finds a chef,

it will be useless.

Right?

Right.

That's a good one.

What if someone wants to sneak around

and make a couple bucks?

If I didn't see this coming,

I wouldn't be here today.

I told Jiangxi to stand guard at The Grand Lisbon's back door.

No one can go in tonight, let alone snakes.

Now that the chef is here,

all we need are king snakes.

Do you have this?

King snake?

Yes. King snake. W

Yes. King snake.

She looks Shanghainese.

Shanghainese?

No.

I'm Japanese. I own a Japanese restaurant.

I need king snakes

-for my Japanese restaurant. -How many do you want?

This one.

That one.

All of them.

All of them?

All of them.

Fine. Charge her a little more.

Got it.

Thank you.

Father.

Father.

-All the king snakes, right? -Yes. All.

-I'll pack them up. -Thank you.

Stay here and pay. I'm going to Huanghe Road. 6:00 pm.

-Where are you going? -To find Tao Tao.

-What? -How can she leave?

King snakes.

The guests will be here at 6:30. Let's pick up the pace here. Thank you.

Yes.

Phone call, Mr. Bao.

Hurry up.

Hello?

Hey. The Grand Lisbon doesn't have a chef tonight. Did you know that?

What are the odds?

Chief told me last minute to take a few foreign guests to dinner.

So I made a reservation at The Grand Lisbon.

What do I do now?

Chief gave me this job. I can't mess it up.

That sounds really serious.

Don't worry.

Let me think.

I've got it. I know a place.

It's not big, but the chef is amazing.

Do you want to try?

What place?

-Young lady. -Hello.

Do you know where Tokyo Nights is?

Tokyo Nights? This is it.

This is it?

Yes.

Your door is adorable.

Is Mr. Bao here?

Mr. Bao, Mr. Fan is here.

Mr. Bao.

You're early.

No.

I'm not. I'm too late.

The ship is sinking.

What are you talking about?

Is Mr. Xu here?

He's on his way.

Mr. Bao.

I hear you found a chef for The Grand Lisbon?

How do you know?

Everyone on Huanghe Road knows.

Of course I know.

This place is like a trench.

Mr. Bao,

where did you find this chef?

Is he good enough?

When will he get to The Grand Lisbon?

Why do you care so much?

I'm just asking.

Are you the chef today?

I'm tired of the food on Huanghe Road. Let's try something different today.

Is this the menu?

Take a look.

Would you like some fried rice?

Impressive.

Please, have a seat.

Thank you for your help, Mr. Fan.

Make a banner with the dishes on here.

Make it big. Hurry.

These?

What's wrong?

I've only seen these dishes on TV.

Go.

Sit, Julian.

Li, show them to the private dining room.

-You're here. -Miss Wang.

What's the occasion? Everyone is here today.

Yes.

We're blessed with Mr. Bao's cooking today.

Enjoy.

Great.

Are you cooking today?

It's your lucky day.

Where's Ling Zi?

She'll be here soon. What's the rush?

What's on the menu today?

Something different, to show our foreigner friends.

Don't mess this up.

Impossible.

This is the menu.

Translate for them. Pique their interest.

Imperial snake stew

How do I translate this?

Vivian.

Coming.

Okay.

Today we are going to have

snake soup,

fried rice,

and...

What are you looking at?

...fairy

bird.

Bird?

Yes, it will be delicious.

Hello?

It's almost 6:00 p.m..

Mr. Bao hasn't told me the address yet.

Who am I meeting?

It's hard to get a cab during rush hour.

It's not far, just across the street from you.

Did you solve your kitchen problem?

Not yet. The customers will be here soon.

I'm so nervous.

Isn't this your Madame?

Why is she going out now?

I knew she was bluffing all day. She can't fix this now.

Look, Li Li is running away.

The Madame is running away!

After all that, she's chickening out

and just abandoning The Grand Lisbon.

What a joke.

Manager Pan!

Are we going to make it?

We are going to have to. Having a restaurant on Huanghe Road,

if you give in once, you'll give in forever.

We need three people to find a chef.

We have two and we need one more.

Who?

You.

Me?

6:00 p.m..

I need you to meet someone.

Who?

You'll know when you get there.

Whether to spend the money,

whether to go to war,

you'll have to decide yourself.

Madame.

The guest is inside.

Miss Li Li, you're on time.

Punctuality is the base line of life and business.

And you are?

Uncle Ye.

Pickled mustard leaf.

Huanghe Road in 1993,

a street only 755 meters long,

has over 100 restaurants.

Every night, the wealthiest people dine here.

This year alone,

hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of spirits

went down their throats.

The first ones to get a footing here

were Lu Meilin and nine other Madames.

They were the leaders of this road,

but their days are over.

The Grand Lisbon is making a killing while they are dying.

Let's go.

As Chef leaves The Grand Lisbon,

a war between the old and the new

has finally begun.

Manager Pan.

Manager Pan,

is your Madame back yet?

Not yet.

What are you going to do

if she doesn't come back?

I'm feeling fired up today.

I'm craving some snake meat to cool me down.

We're only here because we saw king snake on your menu.

Once we show you to your room, a waitress will take your order.

That's okay. We're ready to order now.

It's just a snake.

But if you can't serve it,

that's fraud.

We won't tolerate it.

If you don't have it,

you'll be the biggest joke on Huanghe Road.

Oh, excuse me.

If we don't have any snakes today,

Madames, would you still eat at The Grand Lisbon?

Of course we would eat.

I'm just worried your Madame has run away.

We are all experts here.

We could give you some ideas.

Please.

Let's go.

Good evening.

Welcome.

Tacky.

How I wish I could become a king snake

and get served on The Grand Lisbon's table.

That would help Li Li.

Don't worry, Mr. Fan.

Listen,

whatever The Grand Lisbon is having today,

we'll have the same.

I promise you it will be synchronized.

We'll eat, and then we'll fight.

I've always heard Mr. Bao has the help of a mastermind.

Today was eye-opening for me.

I'm flattered.

You're lucky, Madame.

-I still have one more question. -The cooks are waiting for you.

The new chef is here.

Madame.

What's the matter?

It looks like Li Li found a group of chefs from Hong Kong.

Over 20 people. They just got off a van.

This is worse than I thought.

Don't worry.

No problem.

Three entrée specials.

In addition, I prepared 20 appetizers to choose from.

Here are the ingredients for the cold appetizers.

Is that all right?

No problem.

You speak Cantonese?

-I can only understand it. -That will do.

Pleasure working with you.

Pleasure.

She probably just crammed to find whoever she can.

We don't know where those cooks came from.

It's all a publicity stunt.

Don't worry, everyone.

can still take her down.

Fire it up!

Yes, chef.

Is anyone here?

What?

Your Madame is not even coming to say hello?

I'm sorry. I got held up talking to old friends.

Welcome to The Grand Lisbon.

I'll toast everyone.

There isn't any food to go with the drinks.

Madame,

do you have anything you can't eat?

Meilin, do you have any?

For appetizers?

I only want snake.

Stop.

What are you doing, Jiangxi?

What are you doing?

You scared me.

Mr. Tao,

making a delivery?

Yes.

What's in your car?

Nothing.

Nothing?

Oh, just some seafood.

Seafood.

Seafood?

I told you.

What are you doing?

You don't happen to be hiding snakes here for The Grand Lisbon, do you?

Why would I? I only have seafood in here.

Plus, I'm scared of snakes. Why would I put snakes in here?

What's the point without the snakes?

King snake.

We're here to eat fried king snake.

We only want fried king snakes.

No problem.

I'll tell the kitchen to prepare.

Madame, we are saving you a seat.

Have a drink with us when you come back.

-Take good care of them. -Will do.

What is going on with her?

-What are you doing? -What are you nervous about?

I'm never nervous.

My car is filthy. I just don't want to dirty your clothes.

I'm not scared of filth.

What do you mean you're not scared? Don't touch my car.

You just admitted it!

Look.

I saw it. It's right there.

Let go. This is my car. Let go!

If you have nothing to hide, why are you scared? It's right there.

The private dining rooms are full. The lobbies are about 80 percent full.

They are all here to see the chef that Mr. Bao invited.

Serve the cold appetizers first.

You want to fight me?

You're strong.

Look at this young lady.

She has to open the trunk of my van. Fine. Open the trunk.

Mussels. See?

Razor clams.

See?

Don't go through my stuff!

It's all seafood. You think I'm lying?

What an aggressive young lady.

If we don't have snakes today, those Madames will make a scene.

Should we stall?

No need. Go to the back door now.

Finally.

How many boxes?

Four.

What are you doing?

I'm scared.

Give me a hand here!

I'm scared. Come on.

Here.

It's heavy.

It's light.

Keep it moving.

Speed is key.

How's this order coming?

Rush this order.

Speed is key.

Cold appetizers first - that's the rule,

and the polite way to treat guests.

Hot dishes will be here soon.

I'm telling you,

don't you stall.

If I don't see a snake tonight,

I'm trashing your restaurant.

I mean trash it.

You need to watch out.

What is the deal here?

Does she have it or not?

I didn't think this one dish was so important,

but if our guests want it,

I won't let you down.

Our Madame apologizes. This particular dish takes some time.

Sorry for the wait.

Serve.

Snakes on fire.

Lobster three way.

Breaking news.

Lu Meilin's ex-boyfriend is here.

Now, The Grand Lisbon is really in trouble.

These Madames on Huanghe Road

only have a few tricks.

Cut power, cut supplies, cut cooks.

The last one is a shake down.

Li Li

you're in Shanghai all by yourself.

In your comings and goings,

you need to understand the big picture

and have a backup plan.

The Bund is the Bund.

Huanghe Road is Huanghe Road.

I have been very polite since The Grand Lisbon opened,

but if others want to run me out,

I will not stand for that.

Okay then.

I've never been scared of anyone

my entire life.

I'd like to see today

which one of us is the real deal.

Madame, there is a gang of men downstairs

looking for you.

This time,

we'll see how bold Li Li truly is.

What took you so long?

Where is she?

This one right here.

You're the Madame?

Mr. Du, this is your first time at The Grand Lisbon.

Let's talk inside.

Please.

Name's Du Hongen. He had a shipping business in Taopu,

then tried to open a disco and failed. He only recently recovered financially.

I hear he's Lu Meilin's ex-boyfriend.

Mr. Du, I'm from the north.

I may not know all the rules here.

-Please enlighten me if you don't mind. -She's still being stubborn.

Where's the menu?

Let me see a menu.

What are you doing? Hey!

Careful.

-Do you have this at your restaurant? -Of course. I've had it for years.

Tear it off then.

-What about this? -I have that too.

-This? -Yes.

That's a Cantonese dish. Joy House has it.

Mr. Du, please.

You were saying.

Tear it off.

Yes. I have all of these.

Well done.

Tear them all off.

That is the rule.

Starting today,

The Grand Lisbon can only sell what's left on the menu.

All of our best sellers gone. What do we sell? Dessert?

-You're not allowed to speak here. -What are you looking at?

That is your business.

I have nothing to do with it.

Mr. Du,

Huanghe Road is a place for business.

Businessmen of all kinds

come here to eat.

Whether they come to The Grand Lisbon, Joy House

or Mei Lin Garden,

they are patrons on Huanghe Road.

They bring us all business.

Only if we share the wealth and

help each other

will Huanghe Road prosper for long.

That's not for her to say.

If it's truly The Grand Lisbon getting in the way of Mei Lin's business,

tomorrow, there's a wedding banquet with a dozen tables

which I can't cover;

I can refer them to Mei Lin Garden.

If more business like this comes through,

I can recommend Joy House or Huang Teng too.

What do you mean?

Who do you think I am?

You don't know me? Just go ask around. Am I just a beggar?

I have nothing to eat so I come here to you

and get served some tiny dish?

You're here

eating the main course and the soup,

and they have to share the leftovers?

That's not right.

Do you know who they are?

They are all your elders, your mentors.

I'm telling you right now,

if any of them

is unhappy with you,

you're shutting this place down.

Whatever they serve, you may not.

What if I say no?

I smashed this window.

I did, Du Hongen.

I'll smash another tomorrow.

And I'll pay you for the damage. All of it.

I don't have a lot.

Look,

all I have are friends and employees.

Starting tomorrow, they will be here everyday.

They will fill your lobbies and private rooms,

and they will only order wontons, and stay all day.

We'll see if anyone will patronize your restaurant.

Mr. Du,

this is my first time opening a restaurant,

but it's not like I haven't seen anything in my life.

Shanghai is a law-abiding city.

If Mr. Du would like to be friends,

this is my gift to you.

If you would not,

and would rather see my hand...

No problem.

I'm game.

Here, take this.

I'll get someone to send you the money.

This is not a bill.

It's my gift to you.

What?

What are you up to now? What is it? Let me see.

What are you doing? I need to see this.

What are you looking at? It's not your business.

"I O U: Du Hongen owes Mr. Bao ¥300,000"

Always keep a trick up your sleeve.

Get out of the way.

What are you doing?

Meilin, listen to me.

Don't touch me.

I'm warning you,

don't follow me.

Go side with The Grand Lisbon.

Meilin.

Beat it.

Are you done eating? Get out!

Reason with me here.

Don't take kindness for granted.

They have taken a step back here.

They gave you the snake and the banquet.

You got all the expensive dishes.

-What more do you want? -I'm sorry.

I don't do business like this.

Even at my worst,

I won't pick up her leftovers.

Open your eyes and see who's behind Li Li.

Who?

Look for yourself.

Your husband gambled in Macau

and lost all his money.

You asked me for it. I had no money.

I called him and he lent me the money right away.

He hasn't asked me for it for years.

Do you know respect? It must be reciprocated.

Screw your respect!

Who's behind Li Li? Bao?

What's the big deal?

He plays the market.

How does he make his money? Can he explain?

I never borrowed money from him. I borrowed money from you.

I paid you back. I don't owe you.

The Grand Lisbon is a shameless gold digger.

I can't do something like that.

I built this restaurant myself. I made every penny.

So what?

It's been gambled away.

As long as your husband gambles,

I'll die before you have any money.

Du Hongen.

If you're the real deal,

you wouldn't be yelling at me

in front of all these people.

I'm telling you, you can't do this to me.

I won't be so nice next time.

-You can't do this. -What?

I had to secretly deliver those snakes,

and the snakes would go up like this, looking at me.

Look at you.

That's right.

I thought today was exciting.

-I would love to do it again. -Exciting, right?

-Jiangxi was so angry. -What?

The trunk opened, and there were only clams.

Just in time.

-Come eat. -Great.

Mr. Ge,

I've prepared some Realgar wine to calm your nerves.

Come.

Come on.

-Where's Ling Zi? -You're probably just hungry.

-I can't stand on my feet. -Low blood sugar.

Yes, low blood sugar.

Lu Meilin,

think about it.

All these years,

without my support,

would your restaurant have lasted this long?

It would have been long gone.

You want to talk about the past,

about conscience?

If you'd cared about me, you would have helped me a long time ago,

but where were you this whole time?

Get out of my face.

Get out!

Meilin, take some rest.

Hongen,

someone needs to take the banquet tomorrow.

If Meilin doesn't want it, Huang Teng can take it.

It's okay.

I didn't say anything.

Nothing.

Let's go.

On Huanghe Road,

every new trend makes some restaurants

and breaks some others.

Today people fight over snakes and lobsters.

Tomorrow, the entire Huanghe Road

will only talk about the Heavenly Crane.

How much did The Grand Lisbon spend to get the cooks here?

Must have been a lot of money.

Who would have thought

he owed this one in a past life too.

Who?

Fate is out of my hands.

My tears fall onto my chest.

Everything that happened today -

was it all a scheme against me?

What?

Come inside.

You really don't feel well?

I'm dizzy.

Come eat something.

Taste my cooking.

I don't have any appetite. I'm nauseous.

Is it that bad?

The more I think about it,

the more this whole day,

from dawn to dusk,

seems like a trap.

Starting from the Madames

coming to Tokyo Nights to find you,

it's been a trap.

-You're taking advantage of me. -Be reasonable.

You're the one that didn't want to go, and the one that did want to go later.

How is it a trap?

You're capable of something like this.

You never say a thing, and yet, we get fooled by you.

You sell us, and we still follow you and help you count your bills.

This can't be the first time.

No.

Maybe ever since we met,

you have been taking advantage of me.

Listen to me,

you won't have another chance like this.

I'm smart now.

I will say it again.

I didn't take advantage of you. Past, present, future.

I will never take advantage of you.

I'm not finished.

What's wrong with you?

Don't go inside.

Stop.

Come here.

What is it now?

You swear,

if you take advantage of me, whatever stock you buy, it will crash.

How childish.

You don't dare?

Madame.

Li Li from The Grand Lisbon will be here soon.

Why does she want to see me?

Ask her yourself.

I have nothing to do with her. I'm going to get a drink.

Ling Zi, come over here. I'm starving.

Coming.

Problem solved?

A cigarette shop took care of Huanghe Road.

Mr. Bao is no ordinary man.

Huanghe Road

is full of hidden talents.

You survived the challenge today.

But after today's Du Hongen,

there will be someone else tomorrow.

There is no bridge that can't be crossed.

I can't always ask for your help.

You went through all that trouble to connect a gas pipe on Huanghe Road.

Don't hog it.

Let everyone share it.

The more fire everyone has on the stove,

the better the business, the more peace.

I understand.

Come have a drink with us. Ling Zi is here too.

You need to thank her for the snakes.

Mr. Fan and Mr. Xu are both here.

That's okay.

I'm not like Mr. Bao,

a welcomed guest everywhere.

I won't crash the party.

I'll honor my promise to you though.

I'm profit driven,

and I like to work with people who are profit driven.

As long as it's good for business,

you can ask for anything.

I'll be in touch.

Sounds good.

This is for Ling Zi. Thank her for me.

I'll pass this along to her.

Mr. Bao!

They are all waiting for you.

Okay.

Go ahead.

Coming.

Let's go.

Stop making fun of me.

I'm telling you, next time something like this happens,

I'm not getting involved no matter what's at stake.

You're back.

We were all waiting for you.

Mr. Bao, what's that in your hand?

Ling Zi's supplement.

What a thick stack of supplement.

Stop it.

You look so healthy. You need more supplement?

That's right.

Don't listen to him.

Sit down and grab your drink.

If you ask me, Li Li needs to buy Ling Zi dinner.

Enough.

You're all wrong.

I wasn't helping anyone else.

I was helping Mr. Bao.

Okay. We were helping each other.

Did Li Li leave?

Mr. Fan, that's where you're wrong.

You go to Huanghe Road everyday.

You're here at Tokyo Nights tonight.

You can't still be thinking about Huanghe Road.

That's right.

Mr. Fan, you need another drink.

Have another.

Bottoms up.

Mr. Ge, we're all gathered here tonight.

It's a rare occasion.

You must sing for us.

Mr. Ge.

Yes. Come on.

He's an amazing singer.

No. I always sing for us.

Today, I suggest

Mr. Bao sing for us.

Fine. I'll sing,

but I only know one song my whole life.

What is it?

Happy

birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Thank you, Chef Jin.

No problem. I'm happy I could help.

I'll take care of your protégé's paperwork soon.

It's a deal.

Except for drinks,

all the customers at The Grand Lisbon tonight get 50% off.

Starting next week,

The Grand Lisbon will do a Hong Kong food week.

We'll show everyone a true Hong Kong celebrity chef's cooking.

Let's help the pretty Madame.

Hurry up.

A pigeon,

a king mackerel,

and a flamed king snake

made Hong Kong cuisine

the new trend on Huanghe Road.

The new and improved Tycoon fried rice.

The Heavenly Crane. Take a look.

We are much cheaper than The Grand Lisbon.

Our chef is from Hong Kong too.

"Heavenly Crane"

The Heavenly Crane became the crown jewel of the dinner table

"Limited Trial Tasting"

and made The Grand Lisbon's name.

Jiangxi,

come over here.

Isn't your boyfriend a cook at Regal?

Does he know how to make these three dishes?

We broke up.

Even if we didn't, he wouldn't know how to make these.

He's just a regular cook.

Good.

A useless man like him should be dumped.

Go and ask around

who can make these dishes, or even just one of them.

Isn't it just fried rice?

It can't really taste like gold.

The Heavenly crane is on the news.

The other restaurants on Huanghe Road are making Hong Kong cuisine as well.

Our private dining rooms are fully booked.

What about the Sky Room?

Just waiting for Mr. Bao now.

Mr. Zhang from Southern Investments has been asking

if Mr. Bao reserved the Sky Room tonight,

and what he's working on with Madame.

Good. He should be worried.

If Southern Investments was our only source of business,

there's no point of having so many private rooms.

How many in Mr. Bao's party?

He said just one.

¥300,000 to see her hand.

You're too used to parading your wealth.

It's call reciprocity.

If she hadn't tipped us off,

we wouldn't have controlled the counterfeits so quickly.

San Yang's sale wouldn't have been so smooth.

We were never going to

get the money back from Hongen.

Just look at him.

Not this year,

and not for another 12 years.

Others don't know the full story. They think you spent ¥300,000

to stand up for Li Li.

I've been thinking it through.

If The Grand Lisbon is a front for the Shenzhen Gang,

Southern Investments wouldn't have ignored her plight.

She accepted Hongen's IOU.

It means she doesn't have a backer.

She came to Shanghai alone.

That's extremely bold.

The bolder the better.

Whether or not she has a backer,

we'll find out soon.

How many?

Just one.

That's a date.

He's Mr. Bao when he goes in, Mr. Grand Lisbon when he comes out.

He has his own business.

Why would he want anything to do with The Grand Lisbon?

You don't understand.

Before, there was no Grand Lisbon or Li Li.

Now, the two of them together?

No one will beat them.

Mr. Bao knows very well how to build suspense on Huanghe Road.

If he brings eight people

or ten people, it won't be unusual.

It will grab more attention

if he comes by himself.

A group of people come here to eat.

A single person

makes people wonder what he's here for.

I know what he's here for.

Last time Mr. Bao was here,

he stood in the kitchen

and ate beef chow fun.

He came in through the back door.

The Sky Room is different. He would use the front door.

Why spend all that money?

To show off to Huanghe Road, of course.

You want to know?

Just look at one person.

Who?

A veteran of two dynasties,

the thousand-hand Bodhisattva, Manager Pan.

Wherever she stands

is wherever Mr. Bao will enter.

Welcome.

Knowing you'd be here tonight,

I had the kitchen cleaned in advance.

No wonder.

Nothing gets past Manager Pan.

We know each other, after all.

Please.

It's been a long time since I saw such a grand display on Huanghe Road.

You're too kind, Mr. Bao.

There is no display you haven't seen.

You came here to see Madame alone.

You must have matters to discuss with her. I won't follow you upstairs.

Manager Pan,

you must be the fortune teller of Huanghe Road.

I may know others' fortune, but not Mr. Bao's.

Please go to the 4th floor.

We have one more floor than Golden Phoenix.

Welcome.

Welcome.

The best room on Huanghe Road stands up to its reputation.

It's not easy to get Mr. Bao here.

No one goes to the temple for nothing.

I've been coming to Huanghe Road for many years,

but never have I viewed it from this angle.

It sure is different.

You'll get used to it.

What would you like to eat?

Beef chow fun?

I'm not here to eat.

I want to ask you a question.

Ask away.

Do you know Mr. A?