Sweet Wife of the Eighties

On the train to reunite with her fiancé Liang Pengfei, Xu Can encounters a group of men searching the carriage. She uses an allergy-inducing powder to make a hunted man feign illness, helping him escape. At the station, she is forced to take him off the train, only to spot Liang Pengfei with a woman who calls him husband.

At the station, Xu Can hears Liang Pengfei admit he is already married and call her a country bumpkin. She slaps him and demands he repay the money she saved to fund his university education. When he refuses, she threatens to expose his ingratitude at the electronics factory.

Liang Pengfei and his wife Sang Sang, fearing exposure, repay Xu Can and order her back to the countryside. In a car, Xu Can discovers a wounded man who refuses to go to the hospital because he is being hunted. He casually offers to find her ten men after her breakup, but his bleeding wound forces her to get involved.

Xu Can takes the wounded man to a hotel, claiming he is drunk to get a room. She finds a knife wound and bandages him without anesthetic. When he wakes, he orders her to buy breakfast; she refuses, accusing him of spending her money and trying to trap her.

Xu Can offers her ring as collateral and plans to leave after buying breakfast. At the front desk, she runs into Liang Pengfei, Duoduo and Miaomiao. Duoduo claims Xu Can checked in with a man last night, suspects he is a fugitive, and insists on searching the room.

Xu Can blocks Liang Pengfei and the others from searching the room and publicly exposes how he abandoned her. Duoduo threatens that she cannot get a residence permit and must return to the countryside. Song Mingye proposes marriage to help her register in the city, and Xu Can, recalling her mother's dying wish, agrees.

Xu Can thinks marrying a small-time thug for a city hukou is worth it. Before Song Jing can reveal his real name, Song Mingye's men appear. Xu Can recognizes one from the newspaper and suspects Song Jing is the hunted Song Mingye, so she drags him away in panic.

Xu Can moves into the new home. Neighbor Hua Dajie compliments Song Jing's looks and brings homegrown winter melon. Song Jing undresses in front of Xu Can, who looks away, and Hua Dajie teases the newlyweds. At dinner she wishes them a happy marriage, but Song Jing warns Xu Can that if she grieves over Liang Pengfei again, he will kill him.

Xu Can interviews at the electronics factory clinic, passes, and starts work immediately. Liang Pengfei suddenly appears, claims his father controls the factory, and fires her on the spot. Song Mingye happens to be inspecting the new clinic and walks over.

Liang Pengfei's wife Rui Qianduo corners Xu Can, accuses her of using a fake ID, and has her restrained. She grabs a medication from the clinic and threatens to inject it into Xu Can, who is allergic to penicillin, just to see what happens.

Song Mingye's men subdue the thugs at the clinic. Rui Qianduo insists Xu Can's ID and referral letter are forged, but Director Liu verifies both are genuine. Song Mingye arrives and curtly dismisses Rui Qianduo's accusations.

Rui Qianduo confronts Xu Can about her relationship with Song Mingye. Song Mingye hands Xu Can a knife and urges her to take revenge herself. After she hesitates, he orders Rui Qianduo dragged away. Director Liu explains Song Mingye is a legitimate businessman and begs Xu Can to keep the incident quiet to protect the factory's reputation.

Xu Can waits for Song Mingye at the marriage registration office, but he arrives claiming to be job hunting. He announces he is applying for the security manager position at the electronics factory. Manager Wang hesitates but, under Song Mingye's pressure, agrees and promises to look after him.

Xu Can takes Song Mingye to complete his onboarding and slips money to Manager Wang, asking him to look after Song. Song issues a notice at the clinic declaring it no longer subject to any other department. Elsewhere, a man with an injured hand begs his father to kill Xu Can for revenge.

After work, Xu Can declines Lei Wu’s offer of a ride and insists on taking Song Mingye home by bus. Having never ridden a bus before, Song grows tense and uneasy in the crowded, bumpy vehicle while Xu Can tries to calm him.

Liang Pengfei tracks down Xu Can, accuses her of staying in the city and frightening Duoduo, and demands she apologize. Xu Can refuses, reveals she is now married, and throws him out.

Liang Pengfei shows up and claims Xu Can only married to spite him. Song Mingye throws him out, and Xu Can stops the fight, worried her husband might get into legal trouble. Later that night, Song Mingye tracks Liang down and warns him to stay away from Xu Can or face a beating every time they meet.

Duoduo and her father discuss his beating by Lei Wu, suspecting Lei Wu is secretly colluding with Xu Can's thuggish husband. Her father plans to report the matter to Master Song during a visit to the Song family matriarch, aiming to make Xu Can and her husband pay.

Duoduo and her father tell Grandma Song about Lei Wu's beating and his collusion with Xu Can's husband. Furious, Grandma Song orders Song Mingye to be summoned home immediately to deal with Lei Wu and Xu Can. Meanwhile, Song Jing brings Xu Can a meal specially arranged by Lei Wu, prompting Xu Can to warn her that Lei Wu's kindness seems abnormal and they should not be influenced by gangsters.

After complaining to Grandma Song, Duoduo and her father leave quickly, fearing Song Mingye's anger. Xu Can learns Song Jing has been taken by Song Mingye and grows anxious. Song Mingye arrives home, leaving Song Jing vulnerable without Lei Wu's protection.

Grandma Song fakes a pollen allergy to lure Song Mingye home and accuses him of letting his subordinates bully Duoduo at the factory. Xu Can bursts in, and Song Jing seizes the chance to claim Xu Can is begging for her thug husband's life.

Xu Can bursts into the Song home, fearing for Song Mingye's safety. He announces on the spot that Xu Can is his newly wedded wife, shocking Grandma Song and Madam Song. Grandma Song grows curious and asks where Xu Can lives, wanting to meet her family.

Grandma Song learns Xu Can lost her parents early and gives her a jade bracelet as a welcome gift; Madam Song adds gold. Xu Can hesitates to accept such valuable gifts. Song Mingye excuses them, citing the long journey home. Delighted, Grandma Song orders the kitchen to deliver meals to her granddaughter-in-law every day.

After leaving the Song mansion, Song Jing is ambushed and forcibly kissed. Meanwhile, Doctor Xu is urgently called to the workshop where a twenty-year-old worker, Xiao Liu, has collapsed. Grandma Song arrives to check on the situation.

In the workshop, Xu Can arrives to treat the collapsed Xiao Liu but is blocked by a supervisor who insists Grandma Song fired her. As Xu Can argues that a life is at stake, Grandma Song appears and publicly questions when she ever dismissed her.

After Xu Can treats Xiao Liu, Grandma Song publicly clarifies she never fired her and scolds the supervisor for stirring up trouble. When the supervisor persists, Grandma Song orders her and Liang Pengfei dismissed.

The dismissed supervisor and Liang Pengfei leave resentfully, suspecting Xu Can has hidden connections. To thank her for saving Xiao Liu, Grandma Song and Mrs. Song publicly praise Xu Can and reward her with twenty thousand yuan and a banner.

Xu Can tells Song Mingye she funded Liang Pengfei's studies but couldn't afford to retake her own exams. She explains the family savings ran out in high school, leaving no money for both. Song Mingye orders an investigation into when Liang Pengfei and Rui Qianduo got together.

Song Mingye's man reports that Rui Qianduo and Liang Pengfei met at a freshman mixer four or five years ago. Song orders further investigation into Liang's current situation. Later, Xu Can runs into Liang Pengfei at a karaoke hall, where he insults her, and Song Mingye suddenly appears to put him in his place.

Song Mingye exposes that Liang Pengfei has been with Rui Qianduo since freshman year while deceiving Xu Can into funding his tuition for four years. He warns Liang to stay away from Xu Can and not even look at her. Liang kneels and begs for his life.

Xu Can finds Song Jin bleeding and learns Liang Pengfei hit him. Song Jin had discovered Liang's four-year deception and tried to arrange an apology through a mediator, but Liang attacked him instead. Xu Can warns Liang never to touch her man again.

At a gathering, Xu Can sings The Moon Represents My Heart. When friends urge Song Jin to drink, she steps in, citing his injury, and drinks in his place. She then publicly warns Liang Pengfei not to lay a hand on Song Jin again.

After drinking too much, Xu Can is helped back by Song Mingye and tells him to avoid strong liquor. While tipsy, she reveals her plan to attend night school in the capital and take the adult college entrance exam, promising him a better life once she finds her grandparents.

Xu Can wakes up forgetting the previous night, and Song Mingye reminds her she promised to make money and give him a better life. Director Liu brings a night school exam slot, revealing it was recommended by Old Madam Song after seeing her save someone, and hints she should avoid pregnancy while preparing, making Xu Can realize last night's intimacy was not a dream.

Xu Can tells Song Mingye she signed up for the adult college exam and will attend night school. Elsewhere, Liang Pengfei begs Duoduo to stop investigating Song Mingye, fearing it will bring trouble to their family, but she refuses.

Xu Can runs into Liang Pengfei at night school, where he has become a teacher right after being fired from the electronics factory. She confronts him face to face, while Liang Pengfei tells Song Mingye that Duoduo's father got him the job. Song Mingye tells him to get lost.

Liang Pengfei meets Luopo at night school and begs her to have her father get him yet another job. Luopo warns him to stay put at the night school for now, promising he will soon teach at a university, but if he fails to prove himself, even her father cannot help him.

On her way home, Xu Can is pestered by Liang Pengfei and leaves coldly. Zhang Zhi spots her and, with an accomplice, stops her with bad intentions.

Zhang Zhi and his accomplice corner Xu Can, taunting her with lewd remarks and mocking her husband's shabby bicycle. When Xu Can demands to know who sent them, Zhang Zhi hints that Song Mingye's men are behind it and boasts that no teacher at the school will intervene. Xu Can calls for help, but no one comes.

Xu Can begs Teacher Wu for help, but Zhang Zhi falsely accuses her of seduction. Wu refuses to intervene and flees. Zhang Zhi and his men grow bolder, declaring they are the law, and pin Xu Can to the ground.

Song Jing arrives, comforts Xu Can who injured someone in self-defense, and tries to lead her away. Zhang Zhi’s associates shout threats, claiming Zhang Zhi was his aunt’s only child. Zhang Zhi’s father and aunt appear with reinforcements, cornering them to avenge Zhang Zhi.

Xu Can declares she alone injured Zhang Zhi, not her husband. Zhang Zhi's father recognizes Song Mingye and panics, realizing his family is doomed. Xu Can faints from stress, and Song Jing reassures her it's nothing serious.

Zhang Zhi's father, terrified after recognizing Song Mingye, begs for mercy and claims loyalty to the Song family. Song Mingye rebukes him for using his name to commit crimes. Desperate, Zhang Zhi's father slanders Xu Can, alleging she had many men in the countryside and came to the city to seduce his husband.

Zhang Zhi's father and his accomplices beg for mercy on their knees. Song Mingye remains unmoved, produces evidence of their crimes committed under his name, and orders them taken to the police station.

Song Jin wakes in the hospital and finds Xu Can barefoot. She confirms Song Mingye did not harm her. Learning that Song Mingye is nearby, she urges Xu Can to leave with her at once.

Liang Pengfei fails to sway Xu Can and sends word to Lou Yue. Lou Yue is told that Song Mingye has married a rural woman, Xu Can, and is hiding his true identity to protect her. Furious after pursuing him for eight years, Lou Yue resolves to confront Xu Can herself.

Xu Can rests at home after a shock, and Song Mingye takes leave to care for her. She urges him to go to work. Just after he leaves and returns, a stranger appears behind him, calls him by his real name, and announces she is his fiancée, Lou Yue, heir to Zhang Shi Yao Ye.

Lou Yue confronts Xu Can, claiming Song Mingye will target her husband Song Jing for the Rui family's arrest. She demands Xu Can divorce Song Jing to sever ties, giving her only one day. Desperate, Xu Can decides to seek help from Grandma Song and Mrs. Song.

While Xu Can is out seeking help, Grandma Song and Mrs. Song arrive at her home. Neighbor Hua mistakes them for factory leaders and complains that Xu Can and Song Jing have no family and are being bullied. Mrs. Song scolds Hua on the spot and vows to deal with whoever mistreats Xu Can.

Grandma Song and Mrs. Song learn about Xu Can's background and realize her missing grandparents might be connected to Director Zhang. They decide to ask Director Zhang for help. Back home, they notice Song Mingye and Xu Can sleeping apart and bring out wine, planning to push them together that night.

Grandma Song and Mrs. Song ply Xu Can with wine, claiming it's for her health, in a bid to push her and Song Mingye together. Xu Can sees through their plan and, left alone, begins to wonder if divorce is the answer.

Xu Can gets drunk alone at home, muttering that she married Song Mingye only for the household registration, yet the thought of divorce makes her miserable. Song Mingye finds her passed out, carries her back to bed, and she confesses her feelings in a daze.

Xu Can wakes up and faces Song Mingye, trying to cover up her behavior the night before. Song Mingye brings up what she said while drunk, and Xu Can flusteredly denies it, leaving their relationship shifting in awkwardness and unspoken tension.

Xu Can learns the electronics factory belongs to Song Mingye and worries he might fire Song Jin and her. As she heads to the hospital, Song Mingye teases her about being tired. His man reports that Ruijia has been shut down, Zhang Zhi sentenced to death, and Liang Pengfei expelled—but Liang has already gone to Lou Yue for a job, alarming Song Mingye.

Xu Can wonders how far Song Mingye will go to retaliate, fearing for her life. Meanwhile, Song Mingye orders his man A Ping to deal with two wounded men and makes a point of keeping it out of Xu Can's sight, then sends Song Yuan to the nearest hospital.

At the hospital, Xu Can overhears nurses talking about Song Mingye being injured in a shootout. Fearing he has come to kill her, she resolves to divorce him the next day. When a wounded man is rushed in, she steps forward as a doctor, only to discover the patient is Song Mingye himself.

During surgery, Xu Can realizes the wounded man is Song Mingye. His men reveal that Lou Yue's people have been dealt with and that the boss's wife is safe. Xu Can understands Song Mingye was injured while protecting her.

Xu Can treats a deep wound on Song Mingye's thigh. His men accidentally call her by the boss's wife's name and realize both are named Xu Can. Song Mingye endures the pain and orders a warning sent to Lou Yue's grandfather Zhang Yuancheng.

Song Mingye's men urge Xu Can to visit him in the hospital, but she refuses, saying they are not the same kind of person. At school, she learns that Song's electronics factory has long funded education, and since he took charge, many who could not afford school have returned. She begins to wonder what kind of man he really is.

Song Mingye asks A Ping about Xu Can and learns she is buried in her studies and barely eats. His grandmother and mother visit, urging him to swallow his pride and win her back. Despite his injuries, he orders a car and checks himself out to go home.

Xu Can says she is just a barefoot doctor unworthy of him and asks for a divorce after the college entrance exam. Song Mingye refuses outright and tries to hold on to their old bond. She finds him feverish and gives him medicine; he sees she still cares, but she claims she only fears him dying in her house.

Before taking his medicine, Song Mingye presses Xu Can on whether he is still her Song Jian. She avoids the question and tells him to rest. Song Yan arrives to take him to the hospital for an IV drip. While Xu Can studies alone, Director Liu visits and mentions that the big boss Feng Yi is injured and hospitalized, asking if she would go to him.

Director Liu tells Xu Can an exaggerated rumor that Song Mingye shot over a dozen people in a hospital shootout with the Lou family and forced doctors to treat him. Xu Can questions the wild story. Liu gives her a special trauma medicine to deliver to Song Mingye at the hospital, reassuring her that he treats his employees well.

Lou Yue forces her way into the hospital room and demands to know why Song Mingye married a country woman, vowing no one will take him away. Song Mingye warns her to stop disrespecting Xu Can and says she only survives because of her grandmother's position. Lou Yue threatens his company's research partnership, but he refuses to yield.

Xu Can is caught eavesdropping outside the hospital room. Lou Yue blocks her, claims she is Song Mingye's real fiancée, and demands Xu Can divorce him. Xu Can fires back, and Lou Yue's fury grows.

Lei Wu tells Xu Can that Song Mingye cannot bear to leave her. Lou Yue complains to her grandparents and demands they help her take Song Mingye back, but they scold her. The elderly couple then speak of their long-lost granddaughter, Little Volcano, who has a crescent birthmark and half a jade pendant.

Song Mingye finds half a jade pendant under the pillow. Xu Can says her father gave it to her to find her grandparents, and he offers to help. She admits she feels the gap between them is too wide, but he insists he does not need marriage to secure his alliances. She resolves to pass the college entrance exam, both to find her family and to narrow the distance between them.

Xu Can takes the college entrance exam while Song Mingye escorts her openly. A woman, angered that he would disregard his status for a rural woman, orders someone to stop Xu Can from finishing the exam. Inside the hall, a teacher accuses Xu Can of cheating, which she denies.

A proctor accuses Xu Can of cheating after finding notes under her desk; she denies it. Song Mingye's man rushes to tell him, and Song insists she would never cheat. Liang Pengfei suddenly appears and claims Xu Can was caught copying during their exam five years ago.

Liang Pengfei says the education bureau official hates cheating, and the proctor decides to report Xu Can and ban her from exams permanently. Song Mingye suddenly arrives and challenges anyone who dares to blacklist his wife's file.

Liang Pengfei accuses Song Mingye of shielding Xu Can from cheating allegations. Song Mingye declares his wife is his bottom line and warns him. The grandmother arrives, finds the dean familiar, and Lei Wu presents Xu Can's night school papers as proof of her grades, which Liang Pengfei immediately questions as fabricated.

Dean Zhao asks Xu Can her father's name, and the grandmother recognizes Xu Can as her granddaughter. Liang Pengfei accuses everyone of shielding her. Xu Can offers to take a new college entrance exam in front of everyone to clear her name. Liang and Miss Lou try to block it, but Dean Zhang orders a fresh test paper, and Xu Can agrees to answer it seriously.

Xu Can completes the test and scores twenty points above the Jing University admission cutoff. Her file also reveals she was admitted to medical school five years ago, dismantling Liang Pengfei's cheating accusation.

Xu Can demands to know why she never received her medical school admission letter five years ago. Song Mingye's investigation reveals the courier's signed receipt bears Liang Pengfei's name. Liang confesses to stealing the letter, and Xu Can calls the police.

Song Mingye brings Xu Can home, where his men now call her Young Madam. Grandma Song welcomes her with lavish gifts and urges her to try on a wedding dress. Song Mingye says he still owes her a wedding, but Xu Can declines.

While trying on her wedding dress, Xu Can speaks of her hopes to find her long-lost grandparents. Director Zhang recognizes an amulet and a birthmark on her. Grandma Song reveals that Xu Can's grandparents were doctors who lost contact after going abroad. Director Zhang confirms Xu Can is their granddaughter.

Director Zhang confirms Xu Can is her granddaughter, bringing joy to all. During the ceremony, Luo Yue storms in and objects, insisting Song Mingye should marry her. Song Mingye publicly refuses, declaring he loves only Xu Can. Luo Yue humiliates Xu Can, calling her a country orphan with no family.

Director Zhang publicly declares Xu Can her granddaughter, recounting the family's service to the nation to prove Xu Can is worthy of anyone. Overjoyed, Xu Can embraces her newfound grandparents. When Luo Yue protests, Zhang disowns her on the spot, recognizing only Xu Can as her granddaughter.

Song Mingye publicly vows to marry Xu Can, promising to love and protect her for life. Xu Can's younger associates jokingly switch to calling her elder sister, and the group shares a lighthearted moment. Director Zhang announces that the heart-disease drug co-developed with Xu Can has succeeded and launched.