Episode 1 recap: Chen's parents were killed, and the three siblings were left homeless.
Today, Chen Shanhe (played by Yang Shuo) is still playing hide-and-seek with his younger brother, Chen Qingwei, and his sister, Chen Lixia (played by Guo Xiaoting), in the courtyard. Coincidentally, many people are gathered here to watch a theatrical performance. Chen Shanhe's father, a member of the underground party, is secretly passing on information about the successful transfer of the underground party while performing with his wife.
However, they are unaware that this is a premeditated assassination plot. None of the people locked in this place survive, except for Chen Lixia, who manages to hide under a table and escape the tragedy. Trembling with fear, she suppresses her tears. At this moment, Kuang Qingkui (played by Yu Zhen), the leader of the Special Investigation Team of the Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau of the Nationalist Government, approaches Chen Lixia and discovers her hiding beneath the table.
Originally, Kuang Qingkui's mission was to assassinate the Soviet allies of the underground party, but upon verification, he realizes that something is not right. It seems they have been tricked. On April 12, 1927, the counter-revolutionary forces of the Kuomintang launched a coup d'état against the Revolutionary Party in Shanghai. The underground party was quickly destroyed by the Kuomintang, and over 2,100 Communist Party members were assassinated. Chen Shanhe's parents, who were members of the underground party, sacrificed themselves for the cause.
Kuang Qingkui intends to send the three children away. During their journey on a boat, the youngest, Chen Lixia, keeps crying and causing a disturbance. Before their departure, Chen Shanhe secretly takes a pair of scissors and cuts the rope, then jumps into the river together with his brother and sister. Kuang Qingkui informs the captain about the situation regarding Chen Shanhe's parents, and he believes that everything indicates their affiliation with the Communist Party. This operation can be considered a great failure for the Kuomintang. However, Kuang Qingkui feels that by killing Chen Shanhe's parents, he has severed the Communist Party's connections.
Chen Shanhe returns home and discovers that all the subordinates there have been killed. Kuang Qingkui deliberately stages it to appear as if Chen's parents were gunned down by bandits, and he assigns his subordinates to take over Chen's family's lychee business. As night falls, the three siblings become separated. Chen Shanhe witnesses everything from the doorstep of his home, while Chen Weiqing hides together with Lin Beijiang, who is being chased by others.
Eventually, Chen Weiqing persuades Lin Beijiang to leave together. Lin Beijiang agrees, seeing that Chen Weiqing is still young. Jin Huirong, a young girl forced by her father to learn opera, is rebellious and dissatisfied. She accidentally falls into the river and sees a person floating on the water. Jin Huirong rescues the person, Chen Lixia, who was floating on a piece of dough. Chen Lixia reveals that her parents have been killed, and she is now homeless.
Chen Shanhe is starving and follows a grape vendor. They enter an herbal medicine shop, where He Yufang sees the mud-covered Chen Shanhe. She offers him food, but Chen Shanhe refuses, claiming that he doesn't want to accept charity. Chen Shanhe prepares to leave, but He Yufang, feeling sorry for the child, convinces him to stay and help her with chores. Chen Shanhe finally accepts the meal offered by He Yufang.
He Yufang tells Chen Shanhe that they run a herbal medicine shop and mentions that her older brother has been complaining about Chen Shanhe eating three bowls of rice. However, since her brother doesn't have an apprentice, she suggests that Chen Shanhe could learn from him.
Under He Yufang's arrangement, Chen Shanhe is asked to call his brother as his master, and his brother is very happy to finally have an apprentice.
Jin Huirong tells her master about saving Chen Lixia and hopes that her master can take her in. However, Jin Huirong is still punished by her master, and Chen Lixia is grateful to Jin Huirong. Jin Huirong tells Chen Lixia that girls are not allowed on the Red Boat, so Chen Lixia has to disguise herself as a boy. Jin Huirong also tells her about the situation in the Taiping Years troupe and instructs her to follow the rules.
Chen Lixia is quickly captivated by the beautiful costumes, but when she sees the costumes, she recalls the scene of her parents' murder and tears start flowing uncontrollably. Lin Beijiang brings Chen Weiqing to Litchi Bay. Lin Beijiang is the cook on the vegetable boat, and when Lin Beijiang is busy, Chen Weiqing watches closely by his side. Chen Shanhe's master also takes him to deliver herbs and wants to sketch what they see, but his artistic skills are not good. Chen Shanhe volunteers to help his master with the drawings.
On the other side, Jin Huirong's master plans to send her to the female class to learn. He intends for Chen Yibing to teach Chen Lixia, but Chen Yibing refuses to accept someone without proper identification. After all, Chen Lixia has not revealed her identity to them yet. However, Jin Huirong is still happy about the situation. Chen Weiqing has a knack for business and even earns money by selling chilled soda.
Meanwhile, Chen Shanhe accidentally drops all the freshly dried herbs on the ground. In order to avoid getting scolded, he sells his clothes to buy oranges and make dried tangerine peels himself. Chen Shanhe tries to hide this from his master but ends up unable to eat dinner because he ate too many oranges in the afternoon. However, no matter how much he gets punished, Chen Shanhe refuses to reveal the truth.
Lin Beijiang has a gambling problem and even mortgages the vegetable boat. Chen Weiqing originally wanted to stop their master, but Lin Beijiang asks Chen Weiqing to help him instead. At the critical moment, Chen Weiqing is worried that their master will take the vegetable boat away, so he sabotages it, resulting in both of them getting beaten up. Due to the ongoing war outside the door, Lin Jiangbei is too injured to walk and Chen Weiqing has to carry him back. With the constant fighting outside, Chen Weiqing takes their master to a clinic and quietly leaves while he is not paying attention.
Lin Jiangbei advises Chen Weiqing not to think about revenge for now, as there must be something suspicious about his parents' death. He asks Chen Weiqing to focus on learning from him. Currently, the Nationalist Party's police and the Red Guards are engaged in fierce battles. Chen Lixia and Jin Huirong prepare to give their senior brother a farewell gift and happen to encounter a gunfight. Chen Shanhe, who is nearby, sees his sister but his sister doesn't see him in the room. To avoid getting hurt, their master and He Yufang lock him in the room. However, the police arrive to search the place and happen to see a Red Guard lying on the ground. They also notice that He Yufang is holding a herb for stopping bleeding, so they take her for investigation.
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