Episode Summary
The episode begins with Ye Xining's life falling apart in the present day due to a work scandal, leading to a suicide attempt. To encourage her, her grandmother tells her the story of her own aunt, Lin Siyun, in 1936 Shanghai. Lin Siyun returns from abroad to find her family in massive debt. She confronts aggressive debt collectors, including the thuggish Zeng Dalun and the more reasonable lawyer, Cheng Ao. The episode ends with Zeng Dalun's subordinate accidentally killing Lin Siyun's maid and Zeng Dalun taking the blame for the crime.
Spoiler Alert
A Modern Mess
So, the show kicks off in the present day. We meet a woman named Ye Xining. Her life is imploding. Her work colleague, Huang Yahui, just got busted for embezzlement. This is a big problem for Ye Xining. Why? Because her signature is all over the paperwork for the missing money.
She says it was just part of her job. They worked together for three years. She thought they were close friends. Ye Xining even co-signed a loan for this woman. Now, her boss is telling her to go home and lay low. He warns her she could face charges for dereliction of duty. That means potential jail time.
This is all too much for Ye Xining. She attempts to end her life. Luckily, she's found and saved. When she wakes up in the hospital, her grandmother is there. To give her some perspective and strength, her grandma starts telling a story about her own aunt.
Flashback to 1936
And just like that, we're in 1936 Shanghai. The story is now about the grandma's aunt, Lin Siyun. She's just returned to China after studying abroad. It's a bittersweet homecoming. Her father, who had been sick, passed away while she was gone. He hid his illness from her so she wouldn't worry. She's back to handle his funeral and put her new skills to use in her country.
A Rough Welcome Home
Things go south almost immediately. On the ship, some guy named Zeng Dalun hits on her. He's your typical rich, arrogant playboy. She's not interested.
She arrives home to find debt collectors waiting. One is a lawyer named Cheng Ao. The other is Zeng Dalun, the same guy from the ship. Cheng Ao seems professional enough. Zeng Dalun, on the other hand, brought his goons and is acting like a thug.
It turns out Lin Siyun's brother, Lin Jinghan, is a coward. He's the one who racked up all the debt. While the collectors are at the door, he's hiding. He leaves his sister to handle the mess while his own wife is in the middle of giving birth in another room.
Lin Siyun isn't a pushover, though. She grabs a kitchen knife and stands guard in front of the bedroom door to protect her sister-in-law. Zeng Dalun thinks it's a joke and keeps provoking her. She ends up slicing his finger. This enrages him. He snatches the knife and pins her to the wall by her throat. The lawyer, Cheng Ao, has to step in and de-escalate. He gives the family a one-month extension. As they leave, they hear the cry of a newborn baby, and Cheng Ao cracks a tiny smile.
A Desperate Brother and a Deadly Night
The brother, Lin Jinghan, has a brilliant idea to pay off the debt. He wants Lin Siyun to marry her childhood friend, Shijun. Shijun's family owns a bank, so the marriage would solve all their money problems. Lin Siyun is having none of it. She flat-out refuses.
Later that night, things take a much darker turn. Zeng Dalun's follower, a guy named A Jin, takes the Lin family's maid out. He assaults her, and during the struggle, she falls and dies. A Jin panics and calls his boss, Zeng Dalun.
Zeng Dalun tells him not to worry and that he will handle it. Then he does something completely unexpected. He calls the lawyer, Cheng Ao, and confesses. He claims that he was the one who accidentally killed the maid.
