Hong Kong woman, 70, falls out with best friend of 20 years after friend, 60, marries ex-boyfriend, 83

A 20-year friendship between two women in Hong Kong apparently fell apart after one of them married the other's former boyfriend.

The relationship dispute, involving two women aged 70 and 60 and an 83-year-old man, was featured on an episode of Hong Kong’s TVB programme “Scoop”.

The feud between the former best friends had become serious enough to require a restraining order.

20-year friendship broke down because of a man

The 70-year-old woman, identified as Ah Li, said she and the 60-year-old woman, Ah Zhen, had been close friends for around 20 years.

Ah Li said that she would talk Ah Zhen on the phone for hours in the past.

Ah Li later met an 83-year-old man, identified as Quan, and the pair started dating.

Ah Li said that Quan was just an average man and that they only wanted to have each other for company.

However, several months later, Ah Zhen came to confront Ah Li.

"She came to tell me that she's seeing my boyfriend and they even slept together..She also boasted that she has a house, HKD 20,000 (around S$3,200), two rings and asked if I have anything?" Ah Li told the host in the episode.

Ah Li also asked Quan about it and he admitted he did sleep with Ah Zhen.

After knowing Quan cheated on her with Ah Zhen, Ah Li decided to break up with him.

"Trashy man ends up with trashy woman," she said in the programme.

Three years of conflict

Their dispute did not end there.

Ah Zhen had repeatedly harassed Ah Li for around three years, affecting her business, Ah Li said.

Ah Li claimed that Ah Zhen broke a glass display cabinet and her phones when the latter came to her stall to make a scene in the past.

To stop the harassment, she applied a restraining order against Ah Zhen.

The other perspective

On the other hand, Ah Zhen accused Ah Li for contacting Quan after their marriage.

The programme got Ah Zhen's views and accompanied Ah Li to her stall in hopes of resolving their dispute.

Ah Zhen said that few months into her marriage with Quan, he started to treat her badly and she believed it's because of Ah Li.

She also denied taking Quan away from Ah Li, claiming that the pair had already broken up three months before he pursued her.

She then claimed Quan was attracted to her because she was younger and had a good figure.

“My husband likes me because, firstly, I'm young, and secondly, I have a good figure. Can't you see?” the 60-year-old said.

The two elderly women did not resolve their differences through this meet-up.

Husband wanted a divorce

The programme subsequently got Quan to share his views.

The 83-year-old maintained that the conflict was between the two women and said there's nothing he could do.

He denied being unfaithful to Ah Zhen and said he had not approached Ah Li after marrying Ah Zhen.

He described Ah Zhen as  "sot sot teh" (crazy), adding that she has anger management issues and would lash out at others when she's triggered.

Quan also described her as extremely jealous.

Quan said that Ah Zhen cajoled him into getting married with her.

However, after knowing Ah Zhen better, he wanted a divorce but Ah Zhen refused.

At the end of the programme, Ah Li told the Scoop host that she was relieved Quan spoke the truth to clear her name.

However, she felt Quan should keep Ah Zhen in check, warning that she would not hesitate to report Ah Zhen to the police if the harassment continued.