Episode Summary
The episode revolves around the death of the Ning family matriarch. Her passing forces a series of emotional confrontations and revelations. Fei Zuoshi's scheme to bring Ning Susu and Fei Wendian together backfires, driving her son away. Ning Mother secures a promise from Big Foot Feng to care for Ning Xiuxiu before she dies peacefully. The funeral brings out the best in Big Foot Feng, who earns the respect of the community, and the worst in others. Wracked with guilt, Ning Xiuxiu finally confesses that she lied about being attacked by bandits. In the end, she refuses to reconcile with her father and begins the difficult process of adapting to a life of hard labor.
Spoiler Alert
This Thriving Land: Episode 7 : A Mother's Death and a Daughter's Confession
The episode opens with a morning of shock and regret. Ning Susu wakes up to find herself in bed with Fei Wendian. Both are horrified, and Fei Wendian, realizing his mother, Fei Zuoshi, must have drugged their wine, immediately packs his bags and leaves for school, vowing never to return home. Fei Zuoshi, however, sees her son leaving and mistakenly assumes her plan worked and that the two have consummated their relationship. She is pleased and attempts to soothe an angry Ning Susu, who knows exactly what she did, before heading out to collect rent from the tenant farmers.
Meanwhile, a somber mood hangs over the Ning household. Ning Mother, aware that her time is short, worries about her daughter Ning Xiuxiu. She urges her son, Ning Kejin, to always protect the family's honor by upholding his father's reputation. She then asks to see Big Foot Feng. Recalling a time when she gave him two steamed buns out of kindness, an act he has never forgotten, she begs him to treat Ning Xiuxiu well for the rest of his life, even kneeling before him in gratitude. Big Foot Feng, confessing he has always loved Ning Xiuxiu, swears he will never abandon her. With this assurance, the dying mother believes her daughter will be able to endure the hard times ahead. Big Foot Feng and Ning Xiuxiu decide to bring her mother to their home to care for her in her final days.
That evening, Ning Xuexiang has a final, heartfelt conversation with his wife. She asks him to let go of the troubles with their daughters and tells him her last wishes, which he agrees to. The next morning, he awakens to find that she has passed away in her sleep, leaving him devastated.
When Ning Kejin sends word of their mother's death, Ning Xiuxiu is consumed by grief. Big Foot Feng goes to the Ning family home to pay his respects but is treated dismissively by the family's servants, who hand him a mourning hat but refuse to acknowledge him as a son-in-law. He returns home in anger. During the mourning, many tenant farmers arrive, hoping for a full meal. Among them, Big Belly Feiand his family become a source of ridicule. His daughter, Yinzi, is mortified when she sees Tietou laughing at her father and runs off.
Big Foot Feng, determined to do right by his wife and her mother, prepares a grand funeral offering befitting a son-in-law and kowtows in Ning Xiuxiu's place. The villagers praise his righteousness, and the sight moves Ning Xuexiang to tears. Later, Big Foot Feng finds Ning Xiuxiu searching for red paper. She tearfully explains that she promised her mother she would send paper-cut window decorations home every year before the New Year. He immediately goes to find some for her.
Ning Xiuxiu stays up all night, meticulously cutting the paper decorations. On the day of the funeral, as the long procession makes its way through the village, she appears, dressed in mourning clothes. She runs to her mother's coffin and collapses, crying uncontrollably. In that moment of grief, she has what feels like a vision of her mother and finally confesses the truth: she was never assaulted by bandits. She had only said it to spite her father, Ning Xuexiang.
On the seventh day after the funeral, Ning Susu returns to burn paper offerings. Hearing of the financial hardships Big Foot Feng and Ning Xiuxiu are facing, she asks her father for help. Ning Xuexiang agrees, but on one condition: Ning Xiuxiu must come home and acknowledge him as her father. Stubbornly, she refuses.
Despite being raised in comfort, Ning Xiuxiu is determined not to be defeated by her new life. She begins to learn difficult household chores from her mother-in-law. Though her brother-in-law, Feng Er, laughs at her clumsy attempts, she remains undeterred, continuing to learn.
