A collapsed villager is hauled from rubble and rushed to the hospital in a frantic opening. The scene then cuts to Liu Xu’s lavish birthday and engagement banquet, where guests note she grew up with Song Rang but he is conspicuously absent. Mr. Rong pressures the Song family with a corporate deal—first a six-month, thirty-billion cooperation, then a fifty-billion offer to secure her for one year—and the family accepts. Advisors warn the contract is already in effect and cannot be voided if she refuses. The episode ends with the signed deal binding Liu Xu’s fate for the year.