Issue with Pull first 100 character with thumbnail while click on category

HI i come across with this issue, which i would like to display/ pull blog post first 100 character with thumbnail to display under specific category

I tried to figure out on how to display the latest post first 100 character under specific category, i would like to show only the first 100 character with my thumbnail.

What i tried
I change the from <?php the_excerpt(); ?> to <?php the_content(__(‘Read more’, ‘studiopress’));?>
It will show the the whole post under category

If i change <?php the_excerpt(); ?> to <?php the_content( $more_link_text, $strip_teaser, $more_file ); ?>
It will show the the whole post under category

If i change <?php the_excerpt(); ?> to <?php the_content_limit(100, “”); ?>
It will display correctly first 100 character, but without my thumbnail

e.g : https://www.happychinesenewyear.net/category/cny-song/

<?php get_header(); ?>

<div id="content">

	<div id="contentleft">

		<div class="postarea">

		<?php include(TEMPLATEPATH."/breadcrumb.php");?>

			<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
			<h1><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h1>

			<div class="date">

				<div class="dateleft">
					<p><span class="time"><?php the_time('F j, Y'); ?></span> <?php _e("by", 'studiopress'); ?> <?php the_author_posts_link(); ?> &nbsp;<?php edit_post_link(__('(Edit)', 'studiopress'), '', ''); ?> <br /> <?php _e("Filed under", 'studiopress'); ?> <?php the_category(', ') ?></p>
				</div>

				<div class="dateright">
					<p><span class="icomment"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>#comments"><?php comments_number(__('Leave a Comment', 'studiopress'), __('1 Comment', 'studiopress'), __('% Comments', 'studiopress')); ?></a></span></p>
				</div>

			</div>

			<div class="clear"></div>

			<?php the_excerpt(); ?><div class="clear"></div>

			<div class="postmeta2">
				<p><span class="tags"><?php _e("Tags", 'studiopress'); ?>: <?php the_tags('') ?></span></p>
			</div>

			<?php endwhile; else: ?>

			<p><?php _e('Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.', 'studiopress'); ?></p><?php endif; ?>
			<p><?php posts_nav_link(' — ', __('&laquo; Previous Page', 'studiopress'), __('Next Page &raquo;', 'studiopress')); ?></p>

		</div>

	</div>

<?php include(TEMPLATEPATH."/sidebar.php");?>

</div>

<?php // The main column ends  ?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

Information
————-
Wordpress version: “WordPress 2.8.6”
Themes: studiopress Lifestlye

Please Advice on how to pull latest blog post first 100 character with thumbnail

thank you in Advanced