LEE WENYING

Lee Wenying, an elderly Chinese businessman, believed in the legend of the Wish Child. He had spent 40 years and some significant wealth to preserve the truth of the Wish Child, to make the legend a reality, and to link his soul to that of the Child, who could grant immortality.

Stone, a criminal, thief, and swindler, had made the acquaintance of Paul Chan, a 14-year-old boy from Santa Monica who had lost his parents in an accident when he was young and who had a patch of white hair, just as the legend of the Wish Child described. Stone convinced Paul to portray the Wish Child, and Paul agreed, believing that Stone was a friend who could be trusted and that their scam was a harmless way to make a lot of money.

When word began to spread around Chinatown that the legendary Wish Child had returned, Lee Wenying hired Dr. Shen Wei, an expert in the legend, to meet with Stone and Paul to verify that the story was true. Dr. Shen produced the Rock of Shin Tze as a test, and when Paul appeared to draw the sign of the Wish Child from the stone, Dr. Shen was convinced that the Wish Child had indeed returned in modern times.

Lee owned a freighter of about 50,000 tons, located at Pier K-63, and in the forward hold he had prepared a special sealed room containing an impressive collection of artifacts and designed to house and keep the Wish Child so that their lives could be joined. Lee invited Stone and Paul aboard his freighter where he performed his own tests, examining the story of Paul's childhood, the sign from the Rock of Shin Tze, a handprint left in the stone of a temple wall, and the image of the child preserved as a gold statue which strongly resembled Paul Chan. Convinced that Paul was the child he sought, Lee locked Paul in the sealed room and prepared to pay Stone one million dollars in gold for the boy as they had agreed. However, Lee did not intend to leave any loose ends, and his bodyguard, Teng, who had earlier killed Dr. Shen, knocked Stone out, strapped the chest of gold coins to his body, and threw him overboard.

Lee Wenying's dream of immortality was not to be, however. Paul Chan was a friend of MacGyver, and MacGyver had been pursuing multiple leads through Chinatown to locate his young friend. MacGyver was able to make his way aboard the freighter before it set sail, and he rescued Paul from the hold where he was imprisoned. As they made their escape and ran from the ship, Lee Wenying desperately pursued them, but he suffered an apparent and likely fatal heart attack, and his quest for the Wish Child ended.

Portrayed by: James Hong

Cross Reference: Paul Chan, Chinatown, Rock of Shin Tze, Shen Wei, Stone, Teng, Wish Child

Episode Reference: The Wish Child