Home with Kids

"Home with Kids" (Chinese: 家有儿女; pinyin: Jiā yǒu érnǚ), is a sitcom from Mainland China. There are totally four parts of "Home with Kids", i.e. "Home with Kids 1", "Home with Kids 2", "Home with Kids 3" and "Home with Kids 4", which were released respectively in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2007.

Premise

Xiadonghai is married to Liumei. Xiadonghai has two children from a previous marriage. The youngest Xiayv has been living in the U.S. His eldest daughter Xiaxue has been living with her grandparents. Liumei has one child from a previous marriage named Liuxing. The parents try to act as a good example for their children and teach them right from wrong. This family arrangement is atypical for modern Chinese families because of the one child per family policy.

Characters

Major charactors

Xia Donghai (夏东海), portrayed by Gao Yalin, is the father of Xia Xue and Xia Yu. He is a director of children's shows. He is easygoing and a poor cook.

Liu Mei (刘梅), portrayed by Song Dandan, is the mother of Liu Xing. She is a director of nurses at a hospital and is in charge of the household. A running joke in the series is she threatens to hit her children but she never has. She and Xia Donghai have a loving relationship.

Xia Xue (夏雪), portrayed by Yang Zi in the former two parts and Ning Danlin in the latter two parts, is an excellent student and the oldest of the children. She gets good grades.

Liu Xing (刘星), portrayed by Zhang Yishan, is a poor student, but is clever. He is also a bit of a troublemaker.

Xia Yu (夏雨), portrayed by You Haoran, is the youngest but also seems bright. He follows his older brother Liu Xing in his exploits.

econdary characters

Grandpa or Yeye is Xia Donghai's father. He is interested in things that are for the common good, like saving electricity and saving water.

Grandma or Laolao is Liu Mei's mother. She likes to spoil her grandchildren and spare them from any hardships and inconveniences.

Hu Yitong (胡一统)is the Liu Xing's biological father. He oftentimes drops by unnannounced, to the consternation of his ex-wife Liu Mei.

Feifei (菲菲) is Xia Donghai's cousin.

Shubiao (鼠标) is Liu Xing's good friend. His parents are especially strict.

Duoduo (朵朵) is Xia Yu's close friend.

Episode Guide

# 如何面对. Xiaxue has an admirer. He stands outside their apartment with sign saying that he likes Xiaxue. Liuxing and Xiadonghai try to discourage him because they think it is too early for Xiaxue to date. Liuxing knows him and invites inside to practice martial arts. In the end, Xiaxue discourages her admirer and the parents have nothing to worry about.
# 英雄气概（上）A neighbor, 牛牛Niuniu, picks on Xiayu. Liuxing gets even by beating him. Niuniu's uncle confronts Liuxing. Liuxing panics and runs into a lamppost. Xiadonghai confronts Niuniu's uncle. Niuniu's uncle shoves him to the ground. Xiaxue witnesses the whole exchange.
# 英雄气概（下）After the embarrassment suffered in part one, Xiadonghai is feeling a loss of confidence. He earns the respect of Niuniu's uncle when he chases down a thief. Confidence is restored in Dad.
# 礼尚往来 (Courtesy demands reciprocation). An actor trying out for a role in Xiadonghai's production leaves a DVD player in hopes of getting a part. This act leaves an impression on Liuxing and Xiayu. Liuxing has gotten in trouble again at school and he wants to avoid having his teacher come over on Father's day. Xiayu wants to get his dad the best gift for Father's day.
# 智慧的刘星 Liuxing wants to install hardware-sharing software on his Dad's computer so that it will speed up his computer. Xiadonghai asks him to return a favor. Liuxing ends up taking care of favors for everyone to get his wish.
# 艺术镜框. Grandpa buys a picture frame that the family does not appreciate. They plot to get rid of it.
# 迟到的表扬 Liuxing does a good deed by protecting a younger neighbor. But when he doesn't get the praise he thinks he deserves, the next time he lets the his neighbor get beat up by not acting.
# 远方来客（上）. A distant relative 马拉拉 Malala shows to stay at the apartment. He is dropping out of college and playing rock music.
# 远方来客（下）. Conclusion. Malala's father shows up.
# 一诺千金 (A chengyu roughly meaning a promise is very valuable). Xiayu is taking care of Duoduo's baby duck. Liumei loses the duck and tries very hard to replace the duck, to no avail.
# 外星人 Alien. Xiayu has a birthmark resembling a flying saucer on his backside. A rumor that he is the child of aliens circulates and one day his parents will come back for him.
# 见义智为 Two suspicious guys come looking for an old men.
# 飞来的鲜花 Xiadonghai comes back drunk from a get-together with his classmates. He drunkenly speaks about a girl he used to sit next to. The next day flowers arrive at the apartment. Liumei is afraid to push the situation, but she cannot bear it either.
# 给妈妈洗脚 Wash Mom's Feet. Xiaxue gets a school assignment to wash her mom's feet and to write about it (The idea is too teach them respect for their parents).
# 花瓶事件 The Matter of the Flower Vase. Xiaxue accidently breaks a vase before school. She posts a note and cleans up the mess. Liumei praises her for her good deed and gives her a cellphone. Liuxing gets the idea to break a vase too, in order to get the same treatment.
# 给家里打工. Xiadonghai gets an idea to pay a dollar each time a chore is done by the kids. But the plan backfires with chores done unnecessarily or sloppily.
# 诱惑（上）Part One. Xiadonghai gets an offer to become a head writer-director. The kids, Xiayu and Xiaxue are tempted to rejoin their mother. She entices them with promises of trips, fancy dinners and gifts.
# 诱惑（下）Part Two. Conclusion.
# 奶糖与香烟 - Milk Candy and Cigarettes. Xiayu has been caught sneaking candy. The family decides it is a problem and tries to make him quit. Grandma joins him and helps him by quitting smoking.
# 妈妈不在家 Liumei goes on a business trip to Rome and Xiadonghai has to mind the kids.
# 换位 Grandma takes in interest in learning English. Liuxing becomes her tutor.
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# 少女作家 A pair of editors is interested in Xiaxue's stories.
# 当爸爸 Huyitong believes he is to inherit 300000 RMB from a distant relative.
# 别出声 Don't Make a Sound. Liuxing has been watching horror films and they are having an effect on him.
# 暑期特长班 Liumei is afraid they are not getting the most out of Xiayu's potential and tries to enroll him in summer classes.
# 雪儿网站（上）Xiaxue's Website, Part 1. Xiaxue starts a website venture to make money.
# 雪儿网站（下）Xiaxue's Website, Part 2. Conclusion.
# 家有图书馆 - Home Has a Library. A comic writer friend of Xiadonghai is changing apartments and needs a place to store his comic books. The house becomes a library, lending comics to the neighborhood kids.
# 天才推销员 A family friend who is a successful businessman takes on Xiaxue as a salesperson. Because the parents are afraid she might fail, they follow Xiaxue around town and arrange to buy her books.
# 生日蛋糕 - Birthday Cake. Liuxing wants to show off by buying Linning an expensive birthday cake. He tries to sell his shoes to a rubbish collector. His friend Linning sees him selling his shoes, so Liuxing decides to give them to him. When his parents ask where his shoes are, Liuxing has to raise money to buy new shoes.
# 输与赢 - Lose and Win. Grandpa is the favorite to win the area Chinese Chess tournament, but his next opponent's son begs Xiadonghai to ask Grandpa to throw the match. If Grandpa's opponent loses he will have a heart attack. The prize in this tournament is a stuffed golden chicken.
# 野菜的故事 - The Story of the Wild Vegetables. Grandpa believes his grandchildren have it too easy, so he thinks that they should experience eating wild vegetables like he had to do when he was younger because his family was poor. By experiencing this, the children will appreciate the modern life more. Of course the family is not thrilled to have a meal to remember the hardships 忆苦饭. Grandma loves to dote upon the grandchildren and spoils Grandpa's plan.
# 亲秦宝贝（上）- Dear Dear Baby, Part 1. An old girlfriend of Liumei, Daming Ayi 大明阿姨, stops by and drops off her son, 欢欢Huanhuan, for the family to take care of while she goes on a business trip to Shenzhen.
# 亲秦宝贝（下）- Dear Dear Baby, Part 2. As Huanhuan's stay grows longer, he misses his mother more and more. The kids have also started to tease him. When Daming Ayi returns she has to choose between a business appointment and Huanhuan.
# 双喜临门 - Double Happiness at the Door. 苏洁阿姨 Sujie Ayi, a coworker of Liumei, visits and feels sorry for herself.
# 玩的艺术 - The Art of Play. Liumei gets a tutor for Liuxing. This tutor gets frustrated and a new tutor comes along. The new tutor's easygoing style gets Liuxing to improve his grades.
# 比赛风波 - Competition Disturbance. Xiaxue's new interest in dancing upsets Liumei because she thinks it is a distraction to her studies.
# 假如我们变老 - If We Became Old. Xiadonghai has hemorrhoids, so the parents aren't able to take care of the household. The parent's fear is if they get old, the kids aren't able to help them. This becomes a challenge and the kids switch roles, with them taking care of the parents.
# 阳光行动（上）- Sunny Activity, Part 1. Xiadonghai's cousin Feifei 菲菲 has broken up with her boyfriend and has come over for a change of scenery.
# 阳光行动（下）- Sunny Activity, Part 2. The family's attempt to cheer up Feifei are not working. Her boyfriend shows up at their house and the family tries to get them back together.
# 交友不慎 - Making Friends without Caution.
# 偶像争夺战 - Battle of the Idols. Xiaxue and Liuxing argue over who's idol is better.
# 铃铃的秘密（上） - Lingling's Secret, Part 1. Neighbors have a daughter named Lingling that they push to practice piano. The pressure is too much and Lingling does not want to compete in a piano recital. Liuxing suggests that she take a laxative so that she becomes sick and won't have to compete. Lingling is seen by her parents drinking out of Liuxing's water bottle so they think he got her sick.
# 铃铃的秘密（下） - Lingling's Secret, Part 2. Lingling's parents asks Xiadonghai and Liumei for restitution for the missed opportunity of competing in a piano recital because they think Liuxing got her sick.
# 节约用水 - Conserve Water. Grandpa's new plan of conserving water meets resistance with the family.
# 靓女风波. Feifei and her roommate stay at the house while their apartment gets repaired. Liumei gets anxious because she feels that their habits are rubbing off on the children.
# 班费 - Class Fees. Liuxing overspends on food he buys for the class. On a subsequent task, Liuxing runs into the trouble with the class leader when he saves money but pockets the difference without returning it to the class leader.
# 神奇巧克力 - Amazing Chocolate. Xiayu has trouble singing in front of people, so Xiadonghai gives him special chocolate that will make his singing better.
# 购鞋按揭 Loan to Buy Shoes. Liuxing asks his dad for expensive shoes. Dad comes up with an installment plan to pay for the shoes. Dad thinks it will be a good lesson for Liuxing, since he thinks it is too difficult to keep up with the loan.
# 我要去火星 I Want to Go to Mars. Liuxing's new dream is to go to Mars. The rest of the family tries to show him that it takes real effort to become an astronaut.
# 维权也疯狂. Xiayu shoots Grandma with a fake gun. Grandpa moves to get the company to stop making the gun. News of his good deeds gets him into the newspaper. Grandma feels left out by the attention given to Grandpa, so she starts doing her own good deeds.
# 英雄老爸. Hero Dad. Liuxing's biological dad, Huyitong reports a crime. Huyitong plays it up, but he's not really as brave as he pretends to be. Fearing revenge, he takes to hiding in the family's apartment.
# 手拉手. Liuxing's new pen-pal is from the countryside. Since the children have trouble relating to his circumstances, they invite him to their home.
# 真正冠军 Real Champion. Liuxing builds a model of the human lung which he plans on entering into a competition. Due to Liuxing's teasing Xiayu breaks his model. Liuxing decides to enter a model that Xiayu was going to give to his friend Duoduo for her birthday.
# 予人玫瑰 (Beginning of a saying: 予人玫瑰，手有余香). Mom and Dad try to set a good example by lending their belongings to their neighbors. This causes problems because the neighbors keep coming back to borrow items and they are unable to refuse them.
# 我有我的美丽 I Have My Own Beauty. When Xiadonghai and Xiayu come home, they find their house in disarray and suspect a robber. It was actually caused by Xiaxue, who turned over the house looking for her school uniform. This leads to a protest in the household against school uniforms.
# 无声天使 Quiet Angel. Liuxing has been frequenting Internet bars. Liumei worries because he is unsupervised and can get into trouble. They find out he goes to communicate with a mute teenage girl and is actually doing a good deed.
# 快乐星期天 Happy Sunday.
# 如此荣誉. When all three children in the household receive similar letters where they must pay to receive an award honoring their talents, Dad and Grandpa are suspicious and investigate.
# 狼来了 (The Boy Who Cried Wolf). When Liuxing discovers how to fake a nosebleed, he uses it to get extra attention, avoid chores and skip tests. When 茜茜 Qianqian tells her the trouble she is having in school, Liuxing shows her how to fake a nosebleed. Qianqian's parent get suspicious. They discover she is faking and tell Liuxing's parents.
# 左右为难 In a Dilemma. Xiayu has the deciding vote for the class leader. Unable to sleep he disrupts Liuxing as well.
# 我和老马是哥们 My Mom and I Are Pals. Liuxing stays out late at friend's birthday party and doesn't tell his mom and doesn't come home. At the party, he brags that his mom is his pal. The next day Liumei shows up at school furious, embarrassing Liuxing in front of his friends. They make up a song about his mom. Later, Liumei has Liuxing invite his friends over to prove she is not as bad as they think.
# 拔苗助长 (A saying that means to try help a seedling grow by pulling it upwards). Liumei gets the idea from a co-worker that Xiayu could be a child prodigy, so she sets upon tutoring him. To get the family to share in her enthusiasm over her idea, she invites the co-worker and child prodigy son over.
# 小雪的家教 Xiaxue gets a tutor. He is a handsome and she develops a little crush on him.

ee also

[http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/家有儿女 Link to Chinese Wikipedia page]