Episode Summary
In this episode, Xia Chu decides to go to France but gets sidetracked when he learns of Chu Shaohua's troubles. He rushes to her side, and they reconnect just as she faces a plot to ruin her pharmacy's reputation. After they thwart the scheme together, Xia Chu invites her and her daughter to start a new life with him in France, leaving Shaohua with a difficult choice.
Spoiler Alert
Xia Chu's Big Plans
So, Xia Chu hears that his most respected friend has started a Chinese Communist Youth League in France. He immediately decides he has to go. He wants to join the Communist Party and find a way to save his country.
His brother, Xia Yuan, is not thrilled. He wants Xia Chu to stay home and help with the family pharmacy business. But Xia Chu has zero interest in that. He's all about his patriotic quest. Xia Yuan eventually gives in and takes him to see their mother. She's sad to see him go but supports his decision.
Chu Shaohua's Family Drama
Chu Shaohua is dealing with a full-blown circus at home. After putting her daughter, Xuanxuan, to bed, she overhears her late husband's mother, Mrs. Chen, in the ancestral hall. Mrs. Chen is upset because her other son, Chen Ershun, has wasted all the money from their two pharmacies in Beijing and made himself sick.
Mrs. Chen then tries to get Shaohua to give the useless Chen Ershun a job at her new pharmacy. Shaohua gives that a hard pass. So, Mrs. Chen pivots and begs her to hire a different relative's son instead. Shaohua feels cornered and finally agrees.
Her own family isn't much better. She offers her brother, Chu Shaozhong, a job as a stock checker. He's insulted. He wants to be the manager, not do some "low-level" job. He then tries to borrow a hundred silver dollars for a sketchy lumber deal in Henan. Shaohua knows he doesn't know the first thing about lumber and refuses. He gets angry and storms out.
A Scammer at the Pharmacy
Just as Xia Chu arrives to see Shaohua, a crisis kicks off. A man who bought medicine from her shop is on the ground, foaming at the mouth. His wife is making a huge scene, demanding a hundred silver dollars in compensation. A crowd gathers and threatens to trash the pharmacy. Xia Chu jumps in to stop them and gets hit on the head for his trouble.
Shaohua keeps her cool. She bluffs, saying her clerk must have mixed up the herbs. She tells the clerk to fetch a deadly poison called "Five Poisons Grass" to cure the man. The man's wife freaks out. The "dying" man miraculously jumps up, grabs his wife, and they both run for it.
A Second Chance and a Big Decision
Shaohua sees that Xia Chu is bleeding from his head. She takes him to the back and patches him up. He uses the moment to again ask her to come with him to France.He says she can continue her medical studies there and help more people.
Later, Xia Chu bonds with her daughter, Xuanxuan, and even starts teaching her English. When Shaohua sees them laughing together, she starts to seriously consider his offer. The idea that Xuanxuan could get a better education in France is very tempting for her.
The Real Villain
We learn that this whole scam was set up by a man named Yi Dajin. He's been embezzling from the Chichun Tang pharmacy and is terrified that Xia Yuan will find out. He worries Xia Yuan will fire him and give his manager position to Chu Shaohua. His plan was to create a scandal to force Shaohua out of business, which would protect his own job. It backfired, but he's clearly not done making trouble.
