Episode Summary
Ning Xiuxiu reveals to Big Foot Feng that she was never assaulted by the bandits, deepening their bond. As the village celebrates a harvest festival, Ning Susu discovers she is pregnant, complicating her husband Fei Wendian's plan to leave her. Pressured by his family's financial crisis after his son gets into a fight, Ning Xuewu is forced to sell his land.
Spoiler Alert
In this episode, the relationship between Ning Xiuxiu and Big Foot Feng takes a significant step forward. Months after their wedding, they finally consummate their marriage. In a moment of intimacy, Feng is surprised to find that Xiuxiu is still a virgin. Xiuxiu then confesses the truth about her past: when she was kidnapped by bandits, a man named Guo-zi-ge secretly helped her escape. She had lied about being assaulted to make her father, Ning Xuexiang, feel guilty for refusing to pay her ransom. Touched by her story and her suffering, Big Foot Feng vows to protect her forever, and Xiuxiu affirms that his love is all she needs.
The village is celebrating the annual "Walking the Granary" festival on the second day of the second lunar month, a ritual for a bountiful harvest. As the Feng and Fei families perform the ceremony, Big Belly Fei's wife suddenly falls gravely ill, coughing up blood. Meanwhile, family tensions rise elsewhere. Ning Kejin fails to persuade his father, Ning Xuexiang, to support the farmers' association's rent reduction policy. When his request for money to buy a gun is also flatly denied, he storms off.
At the Fei household, Fei Zuoshi is micromanaging her daughter-in-law, Ning Susu, enforcing a strict diet she believes will help her conceive a boy. A starving Susu is caught sneaking food and gets a harsh scolding. The dynamics shift when her husband, Fei Wendian, returns home, wanting to question Xiuxiu about a letter she sent. His mother, however, pressures him to focus on having a child with Susu. The issue resolves itself unexpectedly when Susu falls ill and reveals she's two months pregnant, a fact a doctor soon confirms. Fei Wendian is secretly dismayed, as he had planned to end his marriage to Susu during this visit.
Following his deepening love for Xiuxiu, Big Foot Feng convinces his brother, Feng Er, to return land they had taken from Tietou's family. He threatens to leave for the county and join the front lines, forcing Feng Er to hand over the deed.
Xiuxiu visits the newly pregnant Susu to offer her support. On her way out, she runs into Fei Wendian. She advises him to treat Susu kindly and to stay with his wife for the time being, leaving him speechless as he watches her walk away.
The episode ends with a new crisis. Ning Xuewu's son, Ning Kebi, severely injures another boy in a fight over quail fighting. The injured boy's family demands a hefty compensation of five hundred silver dollars. Desperate, Ning Xuewu decides to sell his family's land to raise the funds, and Feng Er expresses interest in buying it.
