Khai Liao

**Khai Liao** was the leader of the Liao-Wang Clan, husband of the late Daiyu Liao, and father of Ju Wang in the *Tea Leaves* series. He was dead of cancer at the beginning of *Tea Leaves and Gold Pins*. Ju and Khai didn't get along too well in life.

## Back Story

Khai was the only child of the Liao clan from the 1960's. He was raised to inherit the clan when his father passed. He first met Daiyu when they were fifteen in the summer of 1983. He went out to the countryside that year and was really impressed with what he saw. At the time, Jianjun Kim chose him as his latest target to scam. He drafted his twin sister, Daiyu, to help. At first, she went with the plan at the candy store and got Khai to buy her the last sugarcane with his money. But then, Daiyu had a change of heart and told him everything. When Kahi asked how he could sure that she still wasn't in on the scheme, she handed him the sugarcane and warned him to be careful.

From then on, Daiyu and Khai talked to each other daily and grew close. During his vacation, she showed him around the countryside. In the beginning, Fei Song and Hen-to Chang didn't trust him around their dear friend. Quite understandable grew how Jianjun constantly used her for his greed-filled schemes. Maybe he was looking for revenge for being Jianjun's target. Khai didn't seem to interact with them either. He just stared down at his tea and didn't make eye contact. After a few questions from Fei and Hen-to, Khai managed to gain their trust. Pretty soon, Daiyu and Khai ended up dating. He, Fei, and Hen-to became friendly with each other. Khai treated like his old friends. Daiyu soon went up to Beijing to go to college and be with Khai. That's when the real test began.

   On his twentieth birthday, Khai invited Fei and Hen-to up to celebrate. Despite their objections, Daiyu insisted that it would be okay. Khai picked up at the train and couldn't understand why they were worried about the situation. The guests at the party treated his poor guests and girlfriend like garbage the whole time. Things got worse at the party wore on. The last straw came when a nobleman trips Daiyu just as she was going to give Khai she bought. Hen-to got up and punched the nobleman in the face. Khai's father threw up the rude nobleman and the other snobs. He used his son's party to cut ties with them and let his son start fresh. Khai, his parents, Daiyu, Fei, and Hen-to all had a great little party.

By age twenty-three, Khai and Daiyu got married. He hired Fei and Hen-to to be his personal advisors. He even cleaned up houses on the Liao property for them to move into. Khai then married his advisors to great women for them as a way to keep Daiyu to himself. He chose Bik Joo for Hen-to and Cai for Fei.

   It took six years before Daiyu could get pregnant. Khai supported his wife through her difficult pregnancy. By April 1994, Ju was born. Khai was a little disappointed that he had a daughter and not a son. But, he loved them no less. He tried to risk the One-child policy to have another child with an old friend of his, but plan fell short when he had a low sperm count. Another tragedy struck when Daiyu died from her illnesses four years later.

Ju and Khai didn't really get along as the former grew up. Rather than let the clan fall into Jianjun's hands, he named his daughter as the heir. As he a result, he put her under strict training to because a proper clan leader. Ju ended up not a fan of his because of it. Khai didn't enjoy his daughter's foreign friends and tried to block Tina Rackley off when she first called the house. It took Hen-to and Bik to talk him into letting the girls be friends. Khai really drew the line when he found out that Ju was dating Stefan Peeters. He made the young couple break up because he wanted to keep the clan line purely Chinese.

Khai ends up dying after a long battle with cancer.

## Story History

### Tea Leaves and Gold Pins

Khai dies of the cancer before the story begins. The entire Liao clan is at his funeral.

## Relationships

### Ju Wang

*Main Article: Ju Wang*

Ju is Khai's daughter. He trained her to be the ideal heir from the time she was a child. As she puts it, father and daughter constantly fought when he was still alive. He tried to cut her off from Tina, but it took Hen-to and Bik to convince him otherwise. He wasn't even happy about Ju's first boyfriend, Stefan, because he wasn't Chinese.

### Hen-to Chang

*Main Article: Hen-to Chang*

Hen-to and Khai were friendly rivals in a way. Hen-to wasn't too trusting towards Khai with Daiyu. It took time for Khai to win him over. In order to have Daiyu all to himself, he hired Hen-to and Fei to be his advisors and moved them onto the Liao property. He even went as far as to hook up him with Bik.

### Fei Song

*Main Article: Fei Song*

Just like with Hen-to, Fei and Khai were friendly rivals in a way. Fei also wasn't so trusting towards Khai with Daiyu. He only started to trust the heir after Hen-to was won over. In order to have Daiyu all to himself, he hired Hen-to and Fei to be his advisors and moved them onto the Liao property. He even went as far as to hook up him with Cai.

### Jianjun Kim

*Main Article: Jianjun Kim*

Jianjun was Khai's brother-in-law. He turned to rip the heir off when they were teenagers. Because of this, Khai does not trust him. He even went as far as to keep his death a secret from Jianjun just so Ju could take her place as head of the clan. Jianjun is bitter about this and thinks that he should be head of the clan and not his niece.

## Trivia

* Just like his late wife, Khai only appears in flashbacks.
* The series began with Khai's funeral.