in desperation, the two came to lanruo temple. although it was rumored that there were fierce ghosts here, it was better than sleeping on the road and being taken away by wild animals. at night, the female ghost nie xiaoqian (played by xue jiayan) appeared, but nie xiaoqian's belly is big and round waist is completely different from the rumors. nie xiaoqian attached himself to ning caichen's lantern and followed the scholar home. he witnessed the domineering nature of his elder brother ning caimin (played by mai changqing), and found that ning caichen's seemingly calm family was actually full of conflicts. ning caichen has a childhood sweetheart ying chunjiao (played by wu ruoxi), but the two often quarrel over many trivial matters in life. nie xiaoqian, who could not sit idly, decided to help ning caichen, who was in a hurry.