Episode Summary
Faced with extreme hardship from a drought, Big Belly Fei leaves his family to find work in the Northeast. Ning Xiuxiu, with the help of Big Foot Feng, devises a secret plan to cultivate valuable medicinal herbs after a chance encounter at a pharmacy. Their plans are complicated by the arrival of Lulu, a woman who is aggressively and manipulatively pursuing a very reluctant Big Foot Feng, even managing to move into his family's home.
Spoiler Alert
This Thriving Land, Episode 22: Hard Times and New Arrivals
Things get real for Big Belly Fei's family. Even though they finally got permanent rights to their land, a terrible drought hits, making their already tough life even harder. When his youngest son almost dies from accidentally eating a poisonous plant, Fei decides he has no choice. He's going to "brave the journey to Guandong" (a mass migration to Northeast China) to find work. His wife, Yinzi, sees him off with their children in a tearful goodbye. She gives him two simple vegetable buns for the road, a small gesture that shows just how much they're struggling. It’s a heartbreaking moment for the whole village.
Meanwhile, Ning Xiuxiu has a new business idea: growing medicinal herbs. She first brings up planting Codonopsis with Feng Er, but he's not on board. Luckily, the ever-supportive Big Foot Feng tells her she can use the new land he's been clearing.
To do some research, Xiuxiu and Big Foot Feng head to a pharmacy in the county. While they're there, a medicine seller named Chang Chun realizes his twelve silver dollars have been stolen. He wants to search everyone. Xiuxiu, quick on her feet, suggests the customers search each other. When it's time to search the pharmacy staff, a new assistant panics and makes a run for it. Big Foot Feng, being the hero he is, easily catches the thief.
Chang Chun is incredibly grateful and tries to give them a reward, but they turn it down. Instead, he buys a gift for Xiuxiu’s unborn baby. This gives Xiuxiu the perfect opening to ask him about growing and selling Red Sage. Chang Chun is all for it. He explains how valuable the herb is and even promises to bring her some seeds in a couple of weeks. For now, Xiuxiu asks Big Foot Feng to keep this plan a secret from his parents, not wanting to worry them.
With Big Belly Fei gone, Tie Tou steps up to help Yinzi with the farm work. Xiuxiu also approaches Yinzi with her Red Sage plan, and Yinzi agrees to join in, grateful for the opportunity and for the pastries Xiuxiu brought her from the city.
Then, a new face appears in the village: a woman named Lulu, who is looking for Guo Guiyao. She immediately cozies up to Big Foot Feng, acting very familiar with him in front of Xiuxiu. It’s clear she’s trying to make a point. Later, Lulu admits to Xiuxiu that she's fallen for Big Foot Feng and sent her brother away just so she could come and find him.
Lulu is relentless. She follows Big Foot Feng to the fields, trying everything to win him over, even offering to buy him land. He wants nothing to do with her and tries to escape, but she won't give up.
Her next move is even bolder. Lulu shows up at Feng Er's house with gifts, kneels before him and his wife, and asks them to be her godparents as a way to "repay" Big Foot Feng for saving her life. Big Foot Feng is speechless, and his parents are completely bewildered by her dramatic story. Taking advantage of their confusion, Lulu offers to buy land in the village and give two acres to them. Feng Er, delighted by the offer, tells Big Foot Feng to let her stay in their side room.
Cornered, Big Foot Feng tells Xiuxiu he’ll figure out a way to get rid of Lulu. But his plan is put on hold when Lulu complains about a drafty door, and his father makes him fix it for her. While he works, Lulu hovers over him, trying to wipe the sweat from his face, which makes him dodge in panic.
Xiuxiu confirms with Guo Guiyao that Lulu is indeed pursuing Big Foot Feng. She urges Big Foot Feng to deal with the situation, but he asks for patience. He promises that once Chang Chun delivers the Codonopsis seeds and they get their secret crop planted, he will find a way to make Lulu leave. In the meantime, Lulu, with all her stories from her travels, is quickly charming the other women in the village.
