Episode Summary
The Gucheng county elections result in a decisive victory for the Communist Party, with Zhuang Qifeng elected as the new county magistrate. This leads his predecessor, Chen Shouzheng, to take his own life. On the personal front, two key relationships are solidified. Zhuang Qifeng successfully proposes to Liu Zhumei, and Wang Yu and Qiu Jiasheng confess their mutual feelings for each other after Wang Yu definitively rejects a final plea from her ex, Liu Baisong. The episode concludes with the arrival of new weapons and Zhuang Qifeng's renewed focus on defeating the bandit leader Er Heizi.
Spoiler Alert
Our Homeland Episode 32: Out with the Old, In with the New
This episode was all about tying up loose ends and starting new chapters. We saw a political landscape change, a villain get what was coming to him, and not one, but two major relationships finally take off. It was a lot of housekeeping, but the good kind.
A Changing of the Guard
The episode kicks off with elections across Gucheng county. This wasn't just a small-time vote. It was a full-on political shift happening in over three hundred villages. Even villages in enemy-occupied territory found ways to hold secret democratic elections. The result was a huge win for the Communist Party. About 80% of the newly elected village chiefs are either party members or activists trained by the party. The rest are people who support their policies.
This all leads to the big one. The election for the new county magistrate. The candidates are Zhuang Qifeng and Jin Kaiming.
Before the vote, Jin Kaiming pays a visit to Chen Shouzheng. It's not a friendly chat. Jin lays it out for him. Chen's past actions have left him totally isolated. His only way out is to confess everything to the party and hope for a lighter sentence.
The election results come in, and it's a blowout. Zhuang Qifeng wins by a massive margin. For Chen Shouzheng, this is the end of the line. He knows a trial is unavoidable. Any hope he had is gone. He goes back to his room and hangs himself.
Love, Actually
With the political drama settled, the episode pivots hard into romance. And honestly, I was here for it.
First, Wang Yu returns, fully recovered from her injuries. Zhuang Qifeng decides to play matchmaker. He sits her down and asks if she's finally over Liu Baisong. She says yes, it's completely over. So, Zhuang Qifeng tells her he wants to introduce her to a comrade. He even has Qiu Jiasheng hiding in the back room, ready for the big reveal.
But Wang Yu throws a wrench in his plan. She admits she already has someone in her heart. In the other room, Qiu Jiasheng is probably crushed. Then, Wang Yu says the person she likes is him. Qiu Jiasheng is floored, and so is Zhuang Qifeng. He accidentally set up the exact two people who were already into each other.
Then we have Zhuang Qifeng and Liu Zhumei. Liu Zhumei has been crushing it, turning the Mengshui region's economy around. She's so good at her job she gets appointed as the Director of the Trade and Taxation Bureau. At a big economic meeting, she doesn't hold back. She publicly criticizes the problems in Gucheng's economy, which makes Zhuang Qifeng look a little bad.
After the meeting, he finds her. Instead of being angry, he's direct. He tells her he wants them to be together and asks her to marry him. She smiles and says yes. It was simple, and it was perfect.
Gearing Up
The personal stuff was great, but there's still a war on. Qiu Jiasheng reports to Zhuang Qifeng about the armory. He also mentions that their old friend Xiang Qian has been promoted. He's now the deputy chief of staff for the military region, in charge of equipment. He's on his way to ask for a shipment of artillery shells.
Zhuang Qifeng is happy to hear about his friend's success. But he has one more piece of unfinished business. He needs to eliminate the bandit leader Er Heizi. He made a promise to the people of Gucheng, and he intends to keep it.
Just in time, a shipment of new sniper cannons arrives from the armory. Lü Yi, seeing the new hardware and feeling the momentum, asks for a transfer. He wants to join an artillery company and fight on the front lines. Zhuang Qifeng is reluctant to let him go but eventually approves the request.
The episode ends with one last look at a past relationship. Liu Zhumei brings Wang Yu a letter from Liu Baisong. In it, he says he's about to graduate from military school and will become an officer in the Central Army. He's even trying to get command of a unit with American-made equipment. He tells her he can't move on and asks her again to come to Chongqing and marry him.
Wang Yu reads the letter. She quietly hands it back to Liu Zhumei and says she shouldn't keep it. That says everything. Liu Zhumei asks her how things are going with Qiu Jiasheng. In response, Wang Yu immediately runs off to find him and ask about the status of their marriage application.
