Episode Summary
Fei Wendian returns home to discover his wife, Ning Susu, is pregnant, complicating his plan to end their marriage. Tasked with starting a peasant movement, he fails to convince his mother or the local farmers. Meanwhile, Tie Tou rises as a radical peasant leader and, inspired by the public denunciation of one landlord, decides to target the local elite. His initial plan to target Fei Zuoshi is diverted to Ning Xuexiang, but his attempt is thwarted when he's met by a show of force from Ning Kejin's militia, causing the intimidated farmers to disperse.
Spoiler Alert
"This Thriving Land" Episode 15: The Return and the Revolt
So, Fei Wendian has been away for a while. His mother, Fei Zuoshi, gets Ning Xiuxiu to write him a letter to get him to come home. All she writes is a single word: "Return." That's all it takes. Wendian rushes back, planning to finally send Ning Susu back to her family and end their mixed-up marriage for good.
But there's a huge twist: Ning Susu is pregnant with his child. Wendian just can't bring himself to kick her out now. On top of that, he gets a letter from his old school principal, telling him to rally the local farmers and start a peasant movement.
His first move is to ask his own mother, a major landowner, to cut the rent for their tenant farmers and give them permanent tenancy rights. She's having none of it. She heads off to the Niangniang Temple, telling Wendian to stay home and look after the pregnant Susu, who she's basically put on house arrest. While they're both out, a bored Susu sneaks out of the house.
Wendian's attempt to organize the farmers is a total bust. He tries talking to a couple, Zhuzi and his wife, but they basically tell him to get his own mother on board before he comes talking to them. Meanwhile, Susu finds a traveling vendor, Guo Guiyao, and buys a bunch of snacks. Guo cleverly guesses she's pregnant and tells her to just have Fei Zuoshi settle the bill later.
Things get chaotic when a bandit named Hu San raids Pan Xiaogui's house. During the commotion, a guy named Tie Tou escapes and, by a stroke of luck, falls in with the peasant association. He quickly rises through the ranks and becomes the director for the Tianniu Temple Village branch.
Wendian, feeling defeated, tries to team up with Tie Tou by offering him his research notes. But Tie Tou just laughs at the "landlord's son" trying to play revolutionary. Soon after, Tie Tou hears that Pan Xiaogui is going to be publicly denounced for being a ruthless landlord. This gives him an idea.
After seeing Pan Xiaogui's public shaming, Tie Tou decides his next target will be Wendian's mother, Fei Zuoshi. Big Foot Feng tries to defend her, saying she's not a bad person like Pan, but Tie Tou is determined to make an example of her. He starts organizing the tenants for a protest.
This terrifies Ning Xiuxiu, not for Fei Zuoshi, but for her own father, Ning Xuexiang, who is also a wealthy landowner. She worries he'll be next. Wendian, guessing what's coming, decides he'll take the punishment in his mother's place.
Trying to de-escalate, Big Foot Feng convinces Tie Tou that targeting Fei Zuoshi first will look like a personal grudge. Tie Tou reconsiders and switches his target to Ning Xuexiang.
Xiuxiu, trying to protect her father, works all night to embroider a beautiful flag for the association as a gesture of goodwill. She also writes a letter to her father, urging him to cooperate. But Tie Tou intercepts her, dismisses her efforts, and forbids her from leaving the house. This angers Big Foot Feng, who calls Tie Tou out for his ingratitude.
The next morning, Tie Tou, impressed with the finished flag, leads the farmers to Ning Xuexiang's house. But they're met with a surprise: Ning Kejin, Xiuxiu's brother, is there with his trained militia, standing guard and looking formidable. The farmers get spooked, and the whole protest just fizzles out before it even begins.
