Gu Qianfan jumps into the river to save San-niang. But in doing this, he exposes his identity. Pan’er once again tries to blackmail the captain of the ship for silence on the subject, but he isn’t so easily threatened this time. So Pan’er has to resort to the ultimate weapon.
Baby.
She makes up a story about Gu Qianfan, saying that he is the son of an official of a big city, that he is in love with her and they are running away from her evil suitor. And what’s more, she’s carrying his BABY.
After that bit of juicy gossip, the captain agrees to keep quiet. He doesn’t want trouble with a “high official’s son”.
Gu Qianfan waits for Pan’er below deck to ask if he can check on the “baby”. She justifiably calls him a scroudrel.
San-niang comes around after a while and tells them her story. It is quite tragic. Her husband forced her to sign a divorce paper, and her own son shunned her and got adopted by another woman. Their reason: her status is low and she is way too rough for their taste. What a bunch of douchebags, and not even smart douchebags.
Also, it is worth noting that all those men present at the time did not manage to get San-niang to sign any papers, she did it on her own in the end. How bada** is that?
When they arrive at their destination, Pan’er and Qianfan stick together. But they soon get pursued by officials who are looking for Qianfan. A quick struggle happens, Qianfan manages to drive them off. He and Pan’er end up in a promising position, much to Pan’er’s annoyance.
The three continue to have to tread carefully due to Qianfan’s situation. When they reache a big city, Pan’er runs into her friend Yinzhang’s maids and — get ready for the real tragedy of the day:
Yinzhang has been treated horribly by her new husband. He chains her to one place, constantly beats her and makes her give him money. This is a shocking revelation since by the look of him in the first episode, one would think the worst thing he is capable of is being useless.
You see, Yinzhang? This is what Pan’er was trying to warn you about the second she saw that guy’s face and his cheesy fake love for poetry.
So far, in terms of male characters in this drama, we have: academically inferior, douchebag, and straight-up criminal. I guess it all falls on Gu Qianfan’s shoulders to restore the balance.