Episode Summary
Shen Mingzhu and Feng Jianqi get married, but their families are worlds apart. Her working-class adoptive parents are thrilled, while his wealthy mother disapproves. A parallel story unfolds as a dying woman reveals a long-buried family secret: she gave away her own great-granddaughter at birth, a girl who might be Shen Mingzhu.
Spoiler Alert
A Hometown Return
Meet the Happy Couple
The show opens in a classic, picturesque small town. We meet Shen Mingzhu. She's bringing her boyfriend, Feng Jianqi, home to meet the parents. Before they even get to the house, they run into a little girl named Ni Xiaoni. She's set up a fake doctor's office on the street. It's all very cute.
Xiaoni, wearing a tiny white coat, "diagnoses" Mingzhu. She puts a hand on her wrist and declares she's pregnant. Mingzhu just laughs and confirms it. Jianqi is impressed. It turns out Xiaoni comes from a long line of traditional Chinese medicine doctors. But then the kid gets serious. She scolds Jianqi for getting Mingzhu pregnant before marriage. Mingzhu quickly pulls out their marriage certificate to calm the little doctor down. Just then, Xiaoni's dad, Ni Debao, shows up and greets the couple.
Good News and a Big Reveal
Mingzhu and Jianqi finally make it to her parents' house. They show them the marriage certificate. Her parents are thrilled. They’ve been together for three years. Then, her parents drop a bomb on Jianqi. Mingzhu was adopted. They found her when she was a baby. A family in the countryside had twins and couldn't afford to keep both.
They tell Jianqi they love Mingzhu as their own. They just hope he will treat her well. Jianqi doesn't hesitate. He says he loves Mingzhu for who she is, not where she came from. He promises to take care of her forever. It's a sweet moment. Everyone is crying.
Family Complications
The Not-So-Happy In-Laws
Jianqi heads home to tell his own parents the news. On the way, he runs into Mingzhu's younger brother, Shen Minghui. He tells Minghui to start calling him "brother-in-law." It's all very buddy-buddy. Back at Mingzhu's house, the whole neighborhood is celebrating. Her dad, Shen Shengli, is cooking up a storm in their small restaurant. Her mom, Yue Xiue, can't stop bragging about her new son-in-law.
The mood at Jianqi's house is completely different. His mother, He Lihua, is not happy. At all. She thinks Mingzhu is beneath them. The Feng family is well-off. They already bought Jianqi an apartment. He has a master's degree from a top university and a great job. He Lihua is worried Mingzhu's working-class family will drag them down. Jianqi defends Mingzhu, but his mom won't budge. His dad is more practical. He knows the marriage is a done deal, so he agrees to meet Mingzhu's parents.
Friends and Neighbors
We also meet Ni Dani. She's Mingzhu's childhood friend and owns a hair salon. She's also Ni Xiaoni's older half-sister. Dani congratulates Mingzhu but has zero interest in marriage herself. Her parents had a nasty divorce. Her mom is so bitter that she keeps a photo of her ex-husband, Ni Debao, on a table like a memorial. Debao, who lives across the street, sees this and is furious.
Later, He Lihua meets with Mingzhu alone. She's condescending. She tells Mingzhu not to call her "mom" yet. She says Mingzhu's only job is to rest and give them a grandson. She also makes it very clear the new apartment is Jianqi's pre-marital property. Mingzhu doesn't seem to care about the apartment. He Lihua then brings up her biological parents. She's worried they'll show up and cause trouble. Mingzhu tells her the only parents she has are the ones who raised her.
A Secret at a Funeral
A Strange Side Job
The story takes a sharp turn here. Ni Debao, the doctor, has a side hustle. He gets a call to help with a funeral in the countryside. An old woman, over a hundred years old, is on her deathbed. The problem is, she won't pass away. Everyone says she's waiting for her grandson, Yu Jun, who is studying in the United States.
So, Ni Debao hires Mingzhu's brother, Shen Minghui, for a job. He wants Minghui to pretend to be the grandson. He promises to pay him well. Minghui agrees immediately.
A Dying Confession
Debao and Minghui arrive at the house. It's a full-on funeral setup, even though the woman is still alive. The family is all there. The old woman's son-in-law, Xu Dacheng, thinks Minghui looks nothing like the real grandson. But the woman's daughter, Yu Jingxiang, just wants someone who can call her "grandma."
Jingxiang brings her family to her mother's bedside. The old woman is barely breathing. She sends everyone out except for Jingxiang and her husband, Dacheng. With her last breath, she tells them a secret. Years ago, Jingxiang didn't just have one baby. She had twins, a boy and a girl. The grandmother gave the baby girl away. Right after saying this, she dies. Jingxiang and Dacheng are completely shattered by the news.
The episode ends with a few loose threads. The two families are about to meet for the first time. At the same time, Ni Dani's mom finds a newspaper ad from a family looking for their lost daughter. The birth date matches Mingzhu's. She shows it to Mingzhu's mom, who looks horrified.
