Romance on the Farm Episode 1 Recap
> Romance on the Farm Recap
Lian Man'er, a modern-day college sophomore, enters a historical farming game as a beta tester to earn money for tuition, as her divorced parents are unwilling to support her. However, a system glitch throws her into a terrifying scenario where she is to be a sacrificial burial bride. During an emergency system pause, she successfully requests a reduction in the game's physical pain sensitivity.
Upon re-entering the game, Man'er finds herself in the rural Lian family, led by Grandpa Lian Fang and Grandma Zhou. The family includes the selfish and pretentious First Uncle Shouren; the lazy Second Uncle Shouyi; Man'er's honest father, Lian Shouxin; and the marriage-obsessed aunt, Lian Xiu'er. Man'er's arrival coincides with a family conflict over a missing egg. Grandma Zhou first accuses Second Aunt He, who deflects the blame.
When the accusation shifts to Man'er's mother, Zhang, she denies it, and Lian Shouxin defends her. Second Aunt He then slyly encourages Zhang to confess to the minor offense. Seeing the injustice, Man'er intervenes and exposes Second Aunt He as the one who ate the egg, causing an enraged Grandma Zhou to chase and beat her. Meanwhile, a man named Shen Nuo is injured after fighting off and killing a group of assassins pursuing him.
Concurrently, Man'er receives her main system mission: to earn 1,000 gold taels. After learning from her brother, Seven, that a single coin is equivalent to one yuan in her world, she calculates the mission is worth a staggering 10 million yuan—a seemingly impossible task for someone in patched clothes. Her cousin, Lian Ye'er, explains the family's poverty: despite owning over 30 mu of land, nearly all income is sent to support First Uncle Shouren, a scholar living in town.
The grandparents hope his success will elevate the family, but his expenses and rising taxes leave everyone else struggling. Shouren and his family return from town with gifts, but his true purpose is to finalize Man'er's marriage to the wealthy Sun family in exchange for 500 taels of silver, which he plans to use to purchase an official government position.
At dinner, when Man'er takes a piece of meat from a dish meant for her cousin, Lian Hua'er, Grandma Zhou explodes in anger, revealing during her tirade that Man'er is to be married off. Recalling the initial game trauma, Man'er realizes she is likely being sold for a sacrificial burial and publicly refuses the marriage. Her refusal causes an uproar. Shouren is furious about losing face, while his wife tries to persuade Man'er of the good fortune.
Man'er's parents, Shouxin and Zhang, state they won't force their daughter, further angering Grandma Zhou. Pushed to her limit, Man'er threatens to jump into the well. When her grandparents callously dare her to do it, she moves to jump, but her mother, Zhang, lunges forward and pulls her back from the well's edge, sustaining an injury in the process. Touched by her mother's actions, Man'er gives up on self-harm but is locked in the woodshed by her grandmother.
That night, her brother Seven saws her free. Their mother, Zhang, is waiting with a bag, tearfully urging Man'er to flee to her maternal uncle's home. Not knowing the way, Man'er wanders into the night and discovers the unconscious Shen Nuo. She is about to leave him when the system identifies him as a "key character," forcing her to help. As Man'er prepares to perform artificial respiration, Shen Nuo awakens and instinctively grabs her throat.
After she explains the situation, she asks him for a solution to her forced marriage. Shen Nuo, revealing he is hiding from pursuers and trying to find someone named "Thirteen," proposes they help each other. Back at the Lian house, Grandma Zhou discovers the escape and forces Shouxin and Zhang to kneel in punishment. Just then, Man'er returns, claiming she only left the woodshed for a more comfortable place to sleep.
She then cleverly alludes to being pregnant to make the situation awkward for her grandmother, compelling her to let her parents stand up. Later, she assures her parents she has a better plan. The next morning, as the matchmaker arrives, Man'er fakes a severe illness to delay the marriage. She pleads with Grandpa Lian Fang, arguing that marrying her off while gravely ill would bring shame upon the family and could result in her death en route.
However, Shouren insists the wealthy Sun family can provide better medical care, and Grandpa Lian Fang agrees. Just as she is about to be taken away, Shen Nuo arrives carrying a child. He declares he is Man'er's husband, claiming they met three years ago, fell in love, and had a child together. Man'er immediately plays her part, chiding him for being late and confirming their relationship, completing their orchestrated deception.
