THE “WONDERFUL THOUGHTS”

— THE STORY —

Two young girls, the glutton, Chang Ta-shang, and Lee-Hum, who is always waking short-cuts, live together in the same roof-terrace room of a tenement building owned by Chang’s oversea father. The girls are alike in their capacity of enjoying life and eagerness to shirk all useful work, and they always go through the collected rent like a breeze. Then on the in-between days, when money from this or other sources is exhausted they are forced to lie low and wait for the next collection date.

On one of such black days, Ta-shang is so hungry that she keep on goading Lee-Hum to invent something. Lee suggests they will stick to the old formula, to feign some kind of illness and ask Chang’s parents to remit some extra fund for medical care, and Chang is forced to agree.

While Chang acts out the sickness, Lee-Hum dashes off a most moving letter for Chang’s parents. Then it is found they are without even the money for postage They are not long stumped, however. Young Chu, an admirer as well as tenant of Chang, comes up to show his creation, a model set of movable furniture for his own room. Usurping shamelessly on his unsuspecting nature, Lee immediately invents a birthday party for Chang, resulting in Chu’s mailing their letter, bringing back all the food and drink for the celebration, being generally pushed and kicked around and liking it.

Anxious days of waiting pass, finally there comes a letter......An Electric Bill of the local Power Company. Chang is crestfallen, but Lee inspired. Why not collect the money from the tenants and have a little spree with it, and repay the Power Company with the oversea remittance later? No sooner said than done, the girls put on their improvised dresses and go to town.

At the restaurant, they meet a young never-do-well, Pan, who is enamoured of them both. He played the host, and treat them to both dinner and a show afterwards. He has his dark and evil intentions, but the girls congratulate themselves in not having spent one cent that day.

One of their tenants, Mrs. Chow, has been ailing ever since her childbirth several months ago At long last she can have a bed at one of the worker’s hospital. But Mr. Chow is working nights; so they come up to ask the girls’ help, taking charge of the baby for a few days. Mrs. Chow’s illness is unfamiliar to them, hence her symptoms are carefully memorized for future use. The girls do not know it is a woman’s disease only.

At last, Chang’s father sends a letter, not with money but with the advice for her to visit Dr. Kwong, her newly appointed guardian, for checking-up. They both go to Dr. Kwong’s clinic with misgivings, but Chang picks the first opportunity to escape from ‘Injections’, leaving Lee to hold the bag. Lee has to impersonate Chang, and calls up the symptoms of Mrs. Chow as her own. Dr. Kwong is horrified by the discovery that his new ward, without being married, to have such a disease. He dismisses Lee, but calls his own wife to go together to Chang’s home to find out the truth.

They discover not only the real Chang Ta-shang and Lee the imposter, but Pan and Mrs. Chow’s baby as well. Fully convinced, Dr. Kwong uses his full power to get Chang and Pan married......a decision heartily supported by Pan, since he finds Chang heiress of this building. The girls’ former extravagance and little white lies now all work against their protests and explanations. Instead, Lee and Chu are both thrown out as bad influences in Chang’s life.

Fortunately, the recovering Mrs. Chow is brought home by her husband just then. After a full-scale riotous row between the girls, Pan and Chu, the Dr. Kwongs, the Chows, the Baby and Chang’s Parents just called back by Dr. Kwong’s frantic telegrams, the situation is finally straightened out to everybody’s satisfaction, excepting Mr. Pan’s, of course.

The girls, thoroughly chastened, now return to their lessons and work with repen. tence and new diligence.