Episode Summary
The godmother dies after losing her money and ration tickets in a black market raid. Qu Fangfei discovers she is pregnant just as the baby's father, Qiao Zhengjun, is arrested. To protect her and the unborn child, Yu Leshan proposes a fake marriage and publicly claims he is her partner.
Spoiler Alert
A Bad Day Gets Worse
The Black Market Bust
The episode kicks off with Sheng Xuezhu's godmother in a tough spot. She takes a pile of cash and ration tickets to the black market. She's trying to trade for some essentials. Of course, the police decide to raid the place right then. She panics and runs for it. When she gets home, she realizes the worst part. The money and all the tickets are gone. She must have dropped them while she was running. Xuezhu helps her retrace her steps, but they find nothing. The day starts with a huge loss.
A Sudden, Tragic Loss
While that's happening, we check in with the secret couple. Qiao Zhengjun and Qu Fangfei are having a romantic day at their little cabin hideout. They stay until it gets dark. Unfortunately for them, Yu Leshan happens to walk by. He sees them together. You can tell he's completely crushed. He's been in love with Fangfei for a while.
The bad news just keeps coming. The stress is too much for the godmother. She has a heart attack and collapses. They rush her to the hospital, but the doctors can't save her. Xuezhu calls Fangfei, who rushes over. With her last breath, the godmother tells the three sisters to always take care of each other. Then she's gone. The sisters are left completely heartbroken.
Secrets and Lies Pile Up
Fangfei's Dangerous Secret
Fangfei takes the death the hardest. She stops eating and basically shuts down. Xuezhu tries to get her to pull herself together. At the same time, they decide what to do with their younger sister, Sheng Bailing. Bailing wants to stay with them. Xuezhu says no. She sends Bailing to the city of Yicheng to live with their father and keep going to school.
Things get much more complicated for Fangfei. She starts feeling sick all the time. She quickly figures out she might be pregnant. She goes to find Qiao Zhengjun, the father. But she gets another shock. He's been arrested. A guy named Jia Jizhong is investigating a former party official, and Zhengjun got swept up in it. So now Fangfei is pregnant, grieving, and the baby's father is in jail.
A Father's Hidden Life
Xuezhu and Bailing take the train to Yicheng. They have an emotional reunion with their father, Sheng Bijie. They haven't seen him in years. He's working as an engineer now. He also has a secret girlfriend, a woman named Bai Yufei. Yufei is worried the girls won't accept her. She has good reason to worry. Xuezhu absolutely hates her. She blames Yufei for their mother's death.
During a quiet talk with her dad, Xuezhu asks about Bai Yufei. You can feel the hatred in her voice. Her dad gets nervous and changes the subject fast. He knows this is a huge problem he can't avoid forever.
A Desperate Plan
Leshan's Shocking Proposal
Back at the youth camp, Fangfei is desperate. She tries to induce a miscarriage. She stops eating and starts jumping rope like a maniac in the yard. Leshan sees her and runs over to stop her. She's so weak from exhaustion that she faints. Leshan gets a couple of other girls, and they carry her to the hospital.
The doctor confirms it. She's more than two months pregnant. To protect her, Leshan lies and tells the doctor the father is just out of town. Later, the other girls try to get Fangfei to say who the father is. She refuses. They suggest she get an abortion, but she insists on keeping the baby.
Fangfei finds out Leshan saw her with Zhengjun that day. She begs him to keep it a secret. If the authorities find out, Zhengjun's situation will get even worse. Leshan promises he won't say a word. Then he makes a stunning offer. He proposes a fake marriage! He says they can get married, he'll claim the baby is his, and they can get divorced after the baby is born. Fangfei doesn't want to ruin his life, but he is determined to help her.
Making It Official
The timing is perfect. Officials arrive to question Fangfei about her connection to Qiao Zhengjun. She tries to act like she barely knows him, but they aren't buying it. Just when things are getting tense, Leshan steps in. He boldly announces that he and Fangfei are in a relationship. This is enough to get the investigators to back off.
To seal the deal, Leshan gathers all the other youths. He tells everyone that he and Fangfei are a couple. He says they are going to register their marriage the very next day. One of the girls points out that a big celebration is a bad look since Fangfei's mother just died. But they all agree the new couple will need their own room.
