Episode Summary
The episode covers the double wedding and the immediate aftermath. Chu Shaohua quickly finds herself in a power struggle with her new mother-in-law, Mrs. Chen, but proves to be resourceful and intelligent. She also shows her bravery during a bandit attack. The episode ends with a major shock: Shaohua's supposedly dead first love, Xia Chu, returns, creating a complicated emotional situation for her new marriage.
Spoiler Alert
The Wedding Night
So, the Chen family throws a huge double wedding for their sons, Dashun and Ershun. It's a big, loud affair. After the ceremonies, the brothers go to their new brides. Dashun's friends burst in to see his wife, Chu Shaohua. When he lifts her veil, they're all stunned by how beautiful she is.
Dashun is clearly smitten. He tells Shaohua he's been waiting for this day since he first saw her at the Qizhou medicine market. That’s when it clicks for Shaohua. She realizes he's the guy who bought fake medicine at Tang's Pharmacy. He swears he'll be devoted to her forever.
Things aren't so romantic next door. Chen Ershun is angry because his wife, Song Ping, didn't bring a big dowry. He's cold and bossy from the very start.
The First Morning From Hell
The next day, Shaohua and Dashun go to greet his parents. The mother-in-law, Mrs. Chen, is immediately unhappy with Shaohua for waking up late. Dashun tries to smooth things over. Then Mrs. Chen takes Shaohua and the other new daughter-in-law, Song Ping, to the kitchen to assign chores.
You can tell right away Mrs. Chen wants to put Shaohua in her place. She tells Shaohua to make breakfast for the whole family on her first day. When Shaohua asks about everyone's preferences, Mrs. Chen is completely unhelpful. She then sends Shaohua out to get firewood. While she's gone, Mrs. Chen tells Song Ping to hide the sugar canister.
Shaohua's First Power Move
At breakfast, Mrs. Chen points out that Mr. Chen loves sweet food, trying to embarrass Shaohua. But Shaohua was one step ahead. She couldn't find any sugar, so she improvised. She made sweet pumpkin balls and fruit congee. Mr. Chen absolutely loves it and praises her.
Shaohua then says that whoever stole the sugar will die a terrible death. Song Ping gets terrified and runs off, with Ershun right behind her. It turns out Ershun finds the stolen sugar and beats Song Ping for it. Later, Shaohua sees the bruises and tries to comfort Song Ping. She explains that they need to stick together as family. Song Ping, who was influenced by Mrs. Chen, is moved to tears.
A Trip Home and a Bandit Attack
Later, both brides are supposed to visit their families. Mrs. Chen gives Song Ping a nicer gift to take home than Shaohua. Mr. Chen notices and tells his wife not to do it again.
When Shaohua and Dashun visit her family, her brother, Shaozhong, immediately starts trying to get money from Dashun for a business investment. Shaohua flatly refuses. On the way back, she finds out Dashun gave her brother money anyway. She's not happy about it.
On the road, their carriage is stopped by bandits from the Sanshou Gang. Dashun gives them all his money and begs them not to hurt Shaohua. One of the bandits gets handsy with her anyway. Dashun fights back, but Shaohua takes matters into her own hands. She grabs a bandit's gun, gets Dashun back in the carriage, and forces the bandit leader to drive them to safety. After a while, she kicks him out and throws the gun down.
A Ghost from the Past
Dashun is injured, but it's nothing serious. Mrs. Chen blames the whole incident on Shaohua. Mr. Chen, however, is impressed with how she handled the crisis. He's worried the bandits will retaliate, so he tells everyone to keep quiet about what happened.
As Dashun recovers, the family plans a business trip to Beijing. Before they leave, Shaohua goes to visit the grave of her first love, Xia Chu. And then, he just appears. He's alive. Xia Chu explains that he gave his coat, which had his ID in it, to a fellow soldier named Xiao Nie. Xiao Nie was killed in an explosion, and everyone assumed it was him. Shaohua has to tell him the truth. She's married now, and her husband is a good man.
She returns home late without telling anyone where she was. Mrs. Chen is furious. Dashun lies for her, saying he sent her on an errand. Mr. Chen sees right through it. He tells his son he needs to learn how to handle his new wife.
