Episode Summary
In this episode, a family tragedy unfolds with Fei Zuoshi's murder-suicide. The main plot, however, centers on the villagers, led by Ning Xiuxiu and Big Foot Feng, who devise a risky plan to save their wheat harvest from the Japanese. They secretly harvest the wheat heads and burn the fields, pretending it was a natural disaster. The plan leads to a tense confrontation with the Japanese and their collaborator, Niwei, resulting in the heroic sacrifice of two villagers and a dramatic cliffhanger.
Spoiler Alert
This Thriving Land Episode 35: A Fiery Sacrifice
Episode 35 of This Thriving Land begins with a tragedy. Fei Zuoshi finds out that Ning Susu is pregnant with Guo Guiyao's child. Feeling that Ning Susu betrayed Fei Wendian, she confronts her. The argument gets so intense that Ning Susu goes into premature labor and gives birth to a daughter. Later, Fei Zuoshi pretends she's leaving to live with her brother and cooks a meal for Ning Susu and Guo Guiyao. She poisons their red date soup, killing them both before taking her own life.
Grief-stricken, Ning Xiuxiu refuses to eat or speak. Big Foot Feng buys a goat, and when Feng's mother feeds the baby goat's milk, Ning Xiuxiu bursts into tears, full of gratitude. Big Foot Feng names the baby girl Yang Ya, which means "Goat Girl."
Time passes, and the wheat harvest season arrives. Big Foot Feng hears that the Eighth Route Army is trapped and starving in the mountains. He'd rather die fighting than let the Japanese soldiers take their wheat. Ning Xiuxiu hates the Japanese too, but she has a group of children to care for.
After thinking it over, Big Foot Feng suggests the villagers harvest the wheat overnight and run. But Ning Xiuxiu comes up with a better idea: they should just harvest the wheat heads, then burn the stalks and claim it was a "sky fire," a natural fire. Big Foot Feng agrees it's a solid plan. They bring in Ning Xuerui and Tie Tou, who also approve. They decide to burn the largest field, an 80-acre plot, and suggest burning Ning Xuexiang's neighboring 50-acre field as well. The Japanese had taken most of Ning Xuexiang's land, leaving him only this one prime field, which he values more than his own eyes.
Ning Xiuxiu volunteers to persuade Ning Xuexiang to join their plan. They decide to act in two days. The plan is to hide the harvested wheat heads and figure out how to get them to the Eighth Route Army. After the fire, Ning Xiuxiu will lead the village women in "mourning the wheat" to fool the Japanese. The four of them work out the details and split up to prepare.
Ning Xiuxiu reluctantly goes to see Ning Xuexiang. He's thrilled to see her, as she had sworn never to step foot in his house again when she got married. He talks endlessly about his dream of filling his granary for future generations. When Ning Xiuxiu explains her plan, he flatly refuses, worried about losing his grain and his land to the Japanese.
Meanwhile, Ning Xuerui gathers the villagers in the fields. Big Foot Feng holds a small ceremony to start the harvest, reminding everyone to cut only the wheat heads, leaving long stalks. As they work, Ning Xiuxiu tries again to reason with Ning Xuexiang, but he won't budge, so she leaves in frustration. The villagers work together and manage to hide all the harvested wheat heads.
They work until dark, finishing the entire field. Ning Xiuxiu gathers the women and tells them to be ready to cry for the burned wheat. Around noon the next day, when the sun is high, Big Foot Feng and Tie Tou set the fields on fire, making sure to pick up any leftover wheat heads so the Japanese won't get suspicious.
As planned, a Japanese squad led by Sang Tian arrives in the village. A lookout, Feng Jiaming, runs to warn everyone. Ning Xiuxiu tells the women to rub ash on their faces and start wailing by the fields. Sang Tian is furious when he sees the burned fields and calls for Niwei, a local collaborator. Niwei promises to investigate and deliver all the grain to him.
When another villager, Meiwei, sees that Niwei has become a traitor and a puppet squad leader, he tries to attack him, but Ning Xiuxiu holds him back. Ning Xuerui explains that it was a sky fire and they arrived too late to stop it. Niwei doesn't believe him and rounds up the villagers. After checking the fields, he has to conclude it looks like a natural fire. Still angry, Sang Tian orders his men to seize Ning Xuexiang's wheat instead.
Niwei forces the villagers to start harvesting Ning Xuexiang's field. Ning Xuexiang refuses and begs the village chief to intervene. Sang Tian shoots the chief dead. With no choice, Ning Xuexiang agrees. But just then, Big Foot Feng secretly sets fire to Ning Xuexiang's field. The fire spreads quickly. Ning Xuexiang gives Big Foot Feng a thumbs-up and yells for everyone to help put out the "fire," but the wind is too strong, and the 50 acres are quickly destroyed. Sang Tian gives Niwei a final order to find enough grain to fill two trucks and then leaves.
Niwei notices that the wheat heads were cut before the fields burned and suspects it was deliberate. He confronts Big Foot Feng, who denies everything with Ning Xuerui backing him up. Enraged, Niwei kills Ning Xuerui. As he dies, Ning Xuerui curses Niwei. Just then, Ning Xuexiang steps forward, claiming he knows where the grain is hidden, but only if Niwei releases the villagers and lets him bury Ning Xuerui.
