Episode Summary
Mr. Chen and Chen Dashun die from a plague while on a business trip, leaving Chu Shaohua devastated. The second son, Chen Ershun, immediately returns to seize control of the family's assets. When Shaohua fights back, citing her father-in-law's promises, her mother-in-law and maid refuse to support her. Ershun locks her up and ultimately threatens her daughter, forcing Shaohua to publicly surrender the entire pharmacy business to him. He then exiles Shaohua, her daughter, his mother, and the maid to the family's old village home.
Spoiler Alert
A Terrible Start
The episode kicks off with a heavy dose of anxiety. Mr. Chen and his son Dashun are in Shanxi to collect a payment, and they've been gone for a month. No letters, no telegrams, nothing. Chu Shaohua is trying to hold it together, but you can see the worry eating at her.
She starts asking around and gets the worst possible news. There's a plague in Shanxi. A warlord named Yan has completely sealed the roads. This means her husband and father-in-law are trapped in a plague zone. Mrs. Chen, in a panic, goes to a street fortune teller. The psychic tells her they'll be back in time for the new branch store's opening. It's a flimsy piece of hope, but it's all they have.
The Worst News Imaginable
Shaohua pushes forward with the grand opening. She has to keep the business afloat. But as the day goes on, there's still no sign of them.
Then, Wei Donglai shows up, and his face says it all. He delivers the news. Dashun, always trying to be the good guy, got infected with the plague while helping someone. Mr. Chen then caught it trying to save his son. Neither of them made it. They died together in Shanxi.
Shaohua is completely shattered. But she doesn't have the luxury of falling apart. She has to arrange the funerals. She has to be the strong one while Mrs. Chen is lost in grief. Shaohua holds a vigil, refusing to eat or drink, just numb.
The Vulture Descends
Just when you think it can't get any worse, it does.
Ershun Makes His Move
The second son, Chen Ershun, arrives for the funeral. He puts on a big show, crying with his mother and swearing he'll treat his niece, Xuanxuan, like his own daughter. It's a performance, and a bad one at that.
Shaohua is already steps ahead of him. Her loyal ally, Xiao Shitou, warns her that Ershun has been snooping around the pharmacy. She immediately gives Xiao Shitou the pharmacy's account books and customer lists to hide. She knows exactly what's coming.
The Showdown
Ershun wastes no time. He brings in the Chen family's clan leader, a man they call Third Master, to back his play. The demand is simple. Shaohua must hand over the family home and the entire pharmacy business to Ershun.
Shaohua is not having it. She flat-out refuses. She declares she will manage half of the estate in her dead husband's place. She demands the management rights to the new branch and a fifty-percent stake, just as Mr. Chen had promised her.
This is where the betrayals start. Mrs. Chen, siding with her living son, denies her late husband ever made such a promise. Shaohua looks to the maid, Song Ping, for support. Song Ping saw it all, but she's terrified of Ershun and stays silent. Shaohua is furious, yelling at Ershun and the useless clan leader for this blatant theft. For her trouble, Ershun orders her to be locked in her room.
The Walls Close In
Shaohua is now a prisoner in her own home, and her options are disappearing fast.
A Mother's Guilt and a Son's Greed
Mrs. Chen's conscience makes a brief appearance. She admits to Ershun that his father did, in fact, promise the new store to Shaohua and Dashun. She asks him to let Shaohua out. But Ershun is consumed by greed. He's convinced Shaohua will just funnel the pharmacy's money to her own family.
So, he sends his mother to "talk sense" into Shaohua. The conversation is brutal. Mrs. Chen tells Shaohua to give up. Then, she twists the knife. She blames Shaohua for the deaths of her husband and son. She claims if Shaohua hadn't secured the military supply contract, they never would have gone to Shanxi. Shaohua is heartbroken. She tells her mother-in-law that Ershun will run the business into the ground and they will lose everything.
An Unthinkable Choice
Ershun realizes persuasion won't work. So he goes for the jugular. He threatens to sell Shaohua's daughter, Xuanxuan, to a brothel.
That's it. Game over. To save her child, Shaohua agrees to give him everything.
Ershun drags her out in front of all the employees from both stores. He forces her to publicly declare that he is the new owner of the entire Chen family pharmacy. She tells Xiao Shitou to hand over the hidden account books and customer lists. As she walks away from the business she built, it begins to snow.
Sent into Exile
Ershun isn't finished. He tells his mother he's selling the mansion to save money. He also says it's not right for a young widow like Shaohua to stay in the city where she might cause "trouble." He wants them all to move back to the old family village. Mrs. Chen, completely defeated, agrees.
The episode ends with them in the village. Shaohua's mother visits and tells her to accept her fate, be a good widow, and hope the Chens show her kindness. It's a bleak ending for a character who has already lost so much.
