Rosy Business

Before Lee Tim-shing began preparing for a new production, Sheren Tang approached Lee and explained that she wanted to work on a drama with him. Eager to work with Lee, Tang said that she was willing to accommodate her schedules for the new production. Tang also suggested Wayne Lai for the male lead role since she had never worked with him before and was eager to collaborate with him even though Lai had never been cast in a lead role for a significant TVB series prior to Rosy Business. At the time, Lai was already scheduled for a minor role in the drama Moonlight Resonance but Lee negotiated with TVB to allow Lai to star in the lead role in Rosy Business.[6] When both Tang's and Lai's scheduling were finalized, Lee began working on the production in early 2008. Along with producing coordinator Cheung Wah-biu, they submitted an initial script to Catherine Tsang, manager of TVB's production department. She was impressed with the script and development for the production formally began in July 2008.[7] A press conference and costume fitting for the cast was held on July 25, 2008 with the working title "Red Powder Merchant" (紅粉商人). Filming began August and ended four months later in November 2008 in Hong Kong. Lee explained that the production was temporarily called "Wives and Concubines" (妻妾成群) when the initial script was first submitted, but was later renamed to "Red Powder Merchant." Colleagues criticized the new working title, and Lee later finalized the official title to "Veiled Heroine, Ruthless Hero" (巾幗梟雄) and its official English title to Rosy Business. "Veiled Heroine" (巾幗) represented Tang's role of the fourth wife, while "Ruthless Hero" (梟雄) represented Lai's role 'Chai Kau'.[7] The drama was also sponsored by Bawang Shampoo.

The drama aired in TVB's main TVB Jade channel for five days a week, from April 27 to May 29, 2009, with a total of 24 episodes.[8] While production planned for 25 episodes, the two final episodes were aired together. A special Scoop celebration aired during commercial breaks, with the whole finale lasting for approximately two straight hours.[2]

Before the broadcast of grand production drama Beyond the Realm of Conscience, Rosy Business was 2009's most viewed drama, with an average rating of 33 points (2.1 million viewers) per episode.[9] The finale episode peaked to 47 rating points (3.3 million viewers; 3.4 million including TVB's HDTV sister channel), the second highest in 2009.[4][10][11] The highest peak of average ratings in one week reached to 42 points (2.8 million viewers), also the second highest in 2009.[12]

Rosy Business has received commercial and critical acclaim in Hong Kong. While ratings went to as high as 47 points, critics claim that if the points included the viewers who watched the drama through TVB's HDTV and other sister networks, the rating results may have been comparative to the viewership success of Moonlight Resonance and Korean drama Jewel in the Palace, in which both dramas reached to a rating of 50 points.[13] The roles of the "fourth wife" and "Chai Kau" propelled both Sheren Tang and Wayne Lai to stardom,[7] and both respectively won the title as Best Actress and Best Actor at the 2009 TVB Anniversary Awards.

However, Rosy Business aired in Mainland China with mixed reviews. Viewers expressed that the story was too similar to The Grand Mansion Gate, and claimed that Hong Kong script writers were beginning to lack creativity, having remade a few Mainland dramas already in the past.[3]

Time Out Hong Kong named Rosy Business among the best 17 Hong Kong television dramas of all time.[14]

• Sheren Tang as Hong Po-kei / Hong Po-yin, an intelligent, selfless and compassionate woman who escapes her family's execution eventually becoming Chiang Kiu's fourth wife and helps manage the Hing Fung Nin rice business.[15]
  • Angel Chiang as Young Hong Po-kei
• Wayne Lai as Chai Kau, a smart but arrogant man who becomes Hing Fung Nin's employee. Kau always gets himself into trouble and is vengeful to those who have wronged him but his loyalty to Po-kei changes him.[16]
• Elliot Ngok as Chiang Kiu, owner of Hing Fung Nin and husband to Yan Fund-yee, Pang Giu, Lau Fong and Po-kei[17]
  • Stephen Wong as Young Chiang Kiu
• Susan Tse as Yan Fung-yee, Chiang Kiu's first wife and Bit-man's mother[18]
  • Jess Shum as Young Yan Fung-yee
• Kiki Sheung as Pang Giu, Chiang Kiu's second wife and Bit-mo's mother[19]
  • Josephine Shum as Young Pang Giu
• Kara Hui as Lau Fong, Chiang Kiu's third wife (originally second wife) and Bit-ching's mother[20]
  • Summer Joe as Young Lau Fong
• Ron Ng as Chiang Bit-ching, Chiang Kiu's second eldest son with Lau Fong and later Yau Man's husband[21]
  • Lawrence Ng Lok Wang as Young Chiang Bit-ching
• Ngo Ka-nin as Chiang Bit-man, Chiang Kiu's eldest son with Fung Yee[22]
  • Timothy Ip as Young Chiang Bit-man
• Kelvin Leung as Chiang Bit-mo, Chiang Kiu's youngest son with Pang Giu[23]
  • Cadmus Chan as Young Chiang Bit-mo
• Henry Lee as Pang Hang, Pang Giu's older brother and Bit-mo's uncle[24]
  • Oscar Leung as Young Pang Hang
• Suki Chui as Yau Man, Yuk-hing's daughter and later Bit-ching's wife[25]
• Helen Ma as Ngan Yuk-hing, Yau Man's mother
• Nancy Wu as Suen Hoi-tong, one of Pang Hang's girlfriends and later Chai Kau's concubine[26]

• Suet Nei as Gui Yuk-yu, Chiang Kiu's mother[27]
• Kwok Fung as Prince Wai / Mianyu, Qing Dynasty's Prince Hui of the First Rank[28]
• Chang Yi as Lee Cheung-fat, Hing Fung Nin's manager and Bit-man's godfather
• Ben Wong as Chiu Yat-ming, general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
• Kwan Ching as Sa Tsun Tin, leader of the Sa bandits and later owner of Tsun Tin's Transportation Business
• Cheng Ka Sang as Ma Hung, second leader for the Sa bandits under Sa Tsun Tin
• Bruce Li Hung Kit as Magistrate Lam
• Wong Wai Leung as Hong Chi-Wing, Hong Po-kei's father
• Paul Gare as Doctor Brown

Title screen card taken from 2010 TVB Sales Presentation.

After the success of Rosy Business, TVB announced plans to produce a companion piece starring the original cast, slated to begin filming in March 2010.[29] However, Fala Chen and Raymond Wong Ho-yin were cast to replace Kiki Sheung, Ron Ng, and Suki Chui, who were reported to be not taking part in the production due to scheduling conflicts.

Tentatively titled Rosy Business II (巾幗梟雄之義海豪情), a sales presentation trailer of the drama featuring a majority of the original cast was filmed on October 25, 2009 in TVB's filming studio.[30] The three-minute trailer aired on the TVB Jade channel on December 6, 2009 to an overwhelmingly positive reception.[31] 50 random locals were interviewed in the streets, and 58% chose Rosy Business II as their most anticipated drama.[32] Several Mainland China news portals also listed Rosy Business II as one of the top 15 for most anticipating upcoming Hong Kong/Taiwanese dramas.[33]

The reboot will take place during World War II in Guangzhou, approximately 100 years after the events of Rosy Business. Li explained that Rosy Business II will take a darker route in introducing the main characters, having that Tang will portray a villainous role.[34] While the original did not have Tang and Lai dwell in a romantic relationship, the spin-off will concentrate on these developments, but it will merely be a side-story to the main plot.

The indirect sequel, released on October 18, 2010 under the title No Regrets, was a huge success with the final episode reaching over 3 million live viewers and an additional 3.7 million views on TVB's online service MyTV, the highest ever in MyTV record. It currently holds a 9.2 rating on the Chinese website Douban, surpassing Rosy Business and is one of the highest for Hong Kong drama series.

After two successful hit series, talks of a third follow up series began to circulate in 2010 and was slated to start filming in April 2012 with the original cast and crew.[35] However, the project fell though when script editor Cheung Wah Biu left the project. After multiple delays, it was finally confirmed in September 2012 that the project will begin filming in March 2013 with Myolie Wu cast as the new female lead replacing Sheren Tang who was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts. This decision was heavily criticized by the public with fans stating that Tang was irreplaceable. Most of the supporting cast would not be returning as well due to scheduling conflicts.[36] The series was put in limbo for three years due to content that was deemed too controversial by TVB. It was finally released in 2016 as No Reserve under a low profile. However, the series was negatively received and currently holds a 4.2 rating on Douban, a far contrast with both its predecessors.[37]

In November 2020, sources stated that a fourth sequel will begin filming in March 2021 with Sheren Tang returning as the female lead. A supervisor on the project stated that while there have been talks, it is still early on and there is no confirmation. Actor Wayne Lai was asked about the news in December 2020 and said that he hopes to work with Tang again but did not confirm or deny anything.[38][39] In January 2021, a fan commented on Tang's Weibo that watching No Regrets helped improve their Cantonese listening skills to which Tang replied "Want to improve even more?" seemingly hinting at her involvement in the project.[40] Later, Lai confirmed in an interview that Tang has joined the project and that Cheung Wah Biu is returning as screenwriter marking his return to TVB for the first time since working on No Regrets in 2010. Lai also said that production has been delayed until May or possibly September 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[41]