Stepparent Series I: Stepfather and Stepmother

Ma Chenggong's father dies in a kiln accident, and his stepfather, Ximen Qing, joins the family as a live-in son-in-law. Ma Chenggong injures him with a cleaver. In the end, Ma Chenggong reconciles with his parents, accepts his stepfather and stepsibling, and faces the fickleness of fate. Though Ximen Qing is a live-in son-in-law, he keeps the family together through patience and understanding. He hides the truth about Chen Xiaolan, his daughter who is not biologically his, rationalizing it to himself with the Buddhist belief that saving one life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. He ultimately finds moral redemption through the relic incident. Qian Xiaoqin's mother dies of an illness, and her father marries their housekeeper, a match Qian Xiaoqin strongly resists. To save her stepdaughter, Shi Xiaofeng gives up having children of her own. Later, she uses her biological children's umbilical cord blood to save her stepdaughter. In the end, three generations overcome the barriers of blood ties.