Episode Summary
Xu Qingli, living under the identity of Ni Xiangdong, grows close to Cao Xiaojun and his family, who are unknowingly the murderers of the real Ni Xiangdong. A series of flashbacks and present-day events create mounting tension. Xu Qingli drunkenly recounts seeing them bury the body, though he claims not to have seen their faces. Cao Xiaojun and Wu Ximei's paranoia escalates when they see him with the real Ni Xiangdong's ID, leading them to question his identity and motives.
Spoiler Alert
A Ghost in the Woods
The episode kicks off with a flashback. We see Xu Qingli on the run. He ducks into the woods to hide from the sound of a motorcycle. He crawls to a hidden spot to watch. What he sees is not what you'd expect. He witnesses a man and a woman burying a dead body. This is a hell of a way to start an episode.
A New Friend, An Old Lie
Finding Shelter
Back in the main timeline, the man we know as "Ni Xiangdong" gets kicked off the construction site. He helped Cao Xiaojun fight the foreman, so now he's out of a job and has nowhere to go. Cao Xiaojun feels responsible. He immediately offers the guy a place to stay at his home.
Of course, not everyone is thrilled. Cao Xiaojun's wife, Wu Ximei, comes home to find a stranger in her house. She plays the polite host and makes him dinner. But you can tell she's on edge. She starts asking questions. She points to the scar on "Ni Xiangdong's" forehead. He lies smoothly. He says he got it from a burn when he was a kid.
A Makeshift Home
Later that night, "Ni Xiangdong" is trying to sleep on the couch. He overhears Wu Ximei talking to her husband. She doesn't want him staying there. She's worried but doesn't want to make things hard for Cao Xiaojun. So, "Ni Xiangdong" decides to slip out before dawn. He leaves some cash on a pillow and disappears.
Cao Xiaojun wakes up and finds the money. He calls "Ni Xiangdong" right away. The guy claims he found a new job with room and board. Cao Xiaojun doesn't buy it for a second. He knows how cold the nights get in Weihai. He convinces him to come back. Instead of the couch, Cao Xiaojun sets him up in a nearby abandoned building. He patches up the holes with plastic sheets and finds some old furniture. It's not much, but it's a home.
Cao Xiaojun gets an idea. He wants to start a moving company. He tells "Ni Xiangdong" to get a driver's license so they can work together. Things are looking up. Later, the family throws a small birthday party for him. He gets emotional and starts to cry while making a wish. You can see this is the first time in years he's felt any kind of warmth or family connection.
The Truth Starts to Unravel
A Terrifying Story
The show then jumps to the present. Wu Ximei can't get ahold of Cao Xiaojun. She takes their son, Tianbao, and finds her husband at the old abandoned shelter. His leg is badly injured. She asks why he didn't answer his phone. That's when they both realize the phone is missing. Panic sets in. They guess that "Ni Xiangdong" must have it. This means he might not be dead after all. Cao Xiaojun insists they have to run. They can't wait four years for the insurance money from his faked death. He says he'll even sell his blood to pay for Tianbao's medical treatments.
Then we flash back again. The moving business is going well. "Ni Xiangdong" (who is really Xu Qingli) is visiting Tianbao. He brings up a weird story. One of their clients had a nephew who died in a street racing accident. The nephew had a big Guan Yu tattoo. "Ni Xiangdong" wonders if the tattoo was bad luck. He tells Cao Xiaojun to be careful when driving.
Later, after a few drinks, Xu Qingli tells a story of his own. He talks about that night in the woods years ago. He tells them he saw a man and a woman burying a body. He mentions a specific detail. The body had a Guan Yu tattoo on its back.
You could have heard a pin drop. Cao Xiaojun and Wu Ximei just freeze. The man they killed, the real Ni Xiangdong, had that exact tattoo. Xu Qingli says he never saw the faces of the people burying the body. He just thinks it's a crazy story to share. After he leaves, the couple looks absolutely terrified.
The ID Card
The very next day, things get worse. Cao Xiaojun goes with Xu Qingli to get their driver's licenses. Xu Qingli pulls out his ID card. It's the real Ni Xiangdong's ID. The photo on the card sends Cao Xiaojun into a flashback of the murder. He somehow keeps his cool.
He rushes home to tell Wu Ximei. They can't remember if they buried the ID card with the body or not. The paranoia is through the roof now. They start connecting the dots. The story about the body in the woods. The scar being in the same place as the real Ni Xiangdong's. They finally start to question who this man really is.
The Interrogation
They decide to confront him, but indirectly. They use their son Tianbao's birthday as an excuse. They start asking "Ni Xiangdong" probing questions. They ask about his zodiac sign. They ask when he left his hometown. Then Wu Ximei goes for it. She asks why the scar on his forehead looks different from the picture on his ID.
He's cornered. You can see the tension. He launches into a new lie. He claims the ID is a fake he bought. He says his real last name is Yu and he's from a place called Yafen Village. He tells them he's a fugitive. He says he got into a fight back home, hurt someone badly, and had to run. He finishes by saying he's only telling them this because he trusts them. He considers them his only friends.
