Character Relationship Map: Old Fox

Characters

• Liao Jie (played by Bai Run-Yin) — protagonist

  Liao Jie is an 11-year-old boy and the film's protagonist, living with Liao Tai-Lai while they save to buy a home. After meeting Boss Xie, he is exposed to ruthless ideas about strength, wealth, and i...

• Liao Tai-Lai (played by Liu Kuan-ting) — supporting

  Liao Tai-Lai is Liao Jie's single father, working in a restaurant and striving to earn an honest living despite social disadvantage. He is considerate, dutiful, and focused on saving enough money to b...

• Boss Xie (played by Akio Chen) — supporting

  Boss Xie is Liao Jie's landlord and a clever, cunning shopping mall tycoon known as the Old Fox. Seeing something of his own past in Liao Jie, he teaches him to become stronger and exploit inequality...

• Li's Wife (played by Yang Li-Yin) — supporting
• Boss Xie's Son (played by Fu Meng-po) — supporting

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Boss Xie's Son → Boss Xie (son)
• Li's Wife → Liao Jie (wife)
• Boss Xie → Liao Jie (Power Landlord) — Boss Xie holds economic power over Liao Jie and his household through the rental relationship.

  Liao Jie meets Boss Xie, who is identified as his landlord and is also known as the Old Fox.

• Liao Tai-Lai → Liao Jie (Family Father) — A hardworking father raises his son while pursuing financial stability.

  The plot identifies Liao Tai-Lai as Liao Jie's single father. They live together in a rental house and work toward buying their own home.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Liao Tai-Lai → Boss Xie (Conflict Ideological Rival) — Their contrasting values create the central ideological tension surrounding Liao Jie.

  The appearance of Boss Xie challenges Liao Tai-Lai, dividing the father and son between harsh reality and traditional simplicity.

Story Analysis

An impoverished boy is torn between his father's honest values and a tycoon's ruthless lessons about power, wealth, and survival.

Plot Progression

1. A Home Beyond Reach — Liao Jie and Liao Tai-Lai live modestly in a rental house while saving for a home. The father's honest labor becomes the moral foundation of the boy's life.
2. The Old Fox Appears — Liao Jie meets his landlord, Boss Xie, and initially fears him. The tycoon introduces a powerful alternative to the father's honest but difficult path.
3. Lessons in Ruthlessness — Boss Xie teaches Liao Jie to become strong and exploit inequality. These lessons gradually reshape the boy's thinking and behavior.
4. The Cost of Becoming Strong — Liao Jie's attraction to wealth and pragmatic power conflicts with his father's values. His movement across moral boundaries creates a painful division between father and son.