Zhenzhen's Beauty Parlor = Zhen Zhen Fa Wu

After having a falling out with her old boss at the beauty parlour, the female hairdresser Zhenzhen decides to take control of her own destiny and set up her own operation across the street. However, tempers flare when she flies in the cool Hong Kong stylist Ah Ming to lift her game, and the street begins to feel too small for the two beauty parlours. Thus begins the drama of Zhenzhen’s Beauty Parlour.

After Ah Ming meets Zhenzhen at station, it is not long before there is a partial nudity scene and a faceoff between two opposing beauty parlours. Obviously Ah Ming does not realise what he has walked into. Not only does the animosity between the two shops create an air of hostility in the little street, but he feels that he’s being swindled when Zhenzhen bargains him down to a 30/70 share of the profits. Ah Ming dissatisfied with the lack of customers and so he does what any suave modern Cantonese would do: He whips out his sax.

It’s not long before Ah Ming has drawn the attention of the more conservative members of society (usually shown as women and mothers). His fancy elaborate hairdos are controversial and widely talked about by the locals. And the two partners have a falling out when Zhenzhen doens’t want to do an outlandish punk hairstyle out of fear of scaring customers off.

Cai Xiang, the owner of their rival parlour, turns out to be Zhenzhen’s former lover, and though he still has feelings for her, he agrees to hook up with a long-time admirer who runs the tobacconist. The tobacconist doesn’t mind, believing that he will grow to love her with time. His only condition is that she put a stop to the rumors she has been spreading about Zhenzhen
After a string of minor incidents and hardships, the two former lovers make up and everyone lives happily ever after.
(2 stars - James Donald; 10 June, 2011)

Note: Adapted from the novel ‘The Troubleshooter’ by Wang Shuo.