Episode Summary
Meng Chao investigates the old case of Xu Qingli's death. The official story is a murder-suicide, but Xu Qingli's father insists he's innocent. An ex-cop reveals the original investigation was botched and an autopsy was never performed. Meng Chao decides to exhume the body. We also learn through a flashback that Xu Qingli ran away from home with his girlfriend, Tian Baozhen, to start a difficult new life in the city.
Spoiler Alert
A Father's Desperate Plea
The Official Story Crumbles
Meng Chao starts this one by pushing for answers. He shows a photo to Xu Qingtong. Xu Qingtong takes a look and says he doesn't know the person. He then gets cagey. He pulls Meng Chao and Tong Hao outside to talk. He clearly doesn't want his elderly father, Xu Caizeng, to overhear.
Once they're alone, Xu Qingtong lays out the official story. He says his brother, Xu Qingli, got into a drunken fight years ago. The fight turned violent. Xu Qingli ended up killing a man with the surname Bao. According to him, his brother was so terrified of the consequences that he killed himself. He chose to do it by setting himself on fire. There was apparently one witness to all this. A guy named Ma Zai, who was known for being a strange alcoholic who drove his truck constantly.
An Unshakable Belief
After Xu Qingtong leaves, Meng Chao goes back inside. He brings some food for the old man, Xu Caizeng. The father is frail, but his spirit is strong. He pulls out a photo of his son, Xu Qingli. He looks at Meng Chao with desperate eyes. He begs him to clear his son's name. Xu Caizeng is completely convinced his son would never kill anyone. He believes there's a bigger story here. Something is very wrong.
On the Run
A Man with No Name
We also check in with Ni Xiangdong. He's in full survival mode. He's driving a beat-up three-wheeled vehicle. He even took the license plate off to be extra careful. He drives to an abandoned building. Before he gets out, he scans the entire area to make sure he's alone.
Inside, he starts a small fire to stay warm. Then he gets down to business. He pulls out a pen and paper. He starts mapping out everything that's happened to him recently. He is trying to figure out who is setting him up.
Digging Up a Botched Investigation
An Ex-Cop's Regret
Meng Chao and Tong Hao run into the ex-cop, Xu Qingchun, at the bottom of the mountain. Xu Qingchun asks them if they've found anything. Meng Chao tells him the official story. Xu Qingli supposedly committed suicide by fire. But Meng Chao says he doesn't buy it for a second.
This gets Xu Qingchun talking. He starts remembering the details of the case. Back then, developers were trying to demolish the old village. The villagers were fighting back hard. Right in the middle of this conflict, someone called the police. When the cops showed up, they found Xu Caizeng sitting with his son's dead body.
The brother-in-law of a man named Bao Decai immediately pointed the finger. He accused the developers of killing Xu Qingli to scare the villagers into moving. But he had no real proof. Xu Qingchun didn't believe that story. He pushed for an autopsy on Xu Qingli's body. The villagers protested. His own superiors wanted the case closed quickly. So, they buried the body without a proper examination. Xu Qingchun lost his chance to investigate the Bao family. He eventually left the police force over it. He tells Meng Chao he hopes he can finally get to the bottom of the case.
A Shaky Witness
The next day, the village secretary takes Meng Chao to see Bao Decai's brother-in-law. The guy is visibly nervous. He stammers a bit before finally talking. He says he was terrified back then. He claims he and his sister were walking on a road when they passed Xu Qingli. Later that night, they were drinking at his brother-in-law's house. That's when they saw the fire up on the mountain at Xu Qingli's place.
He says he ran up to help. He claims he saw a message written in blood. Based on that, he identified the burned body as Xu Qingli. After hearing this, Meng Chao makes a big decision. He tells the secretary he wants to exhume the body. He needs an autopsy.
A Tragic Backstory
Young Love
Meng Chao knows he needs the secretary on his side. So he brings a bottle of good wine to the secretary's house. He asks him to tell him more about Xu Qingli's life. The secretary opens up.
We learn that Xu Qingli was in love with a woman named Tian Baozhen. They used to meet secretly in a little cabin on the mountain. But Tian Baozhen's family arranged a marriage for her with someone else. She didn't want that life. She wanted to leave the village and see the world. She even asked Xu Qingli to run away with her. Xu Qingli wanted to get his father's blessing first. But his love for her was too strong. He left without a word, abandoning his father.
Hard Times in the City
We see a flashback to their life in the city. It was not the dream they imagined. They were poor. One scene shows them at a cheap restaurant, sharing a single bowl of noodles between them. They couldn't find good jobs because they had no education.
Xu Qingli eventually found work at a factory. It was hard labor. One day, Tian Baozhen surprised him with a gift. It was a watch. She said it was to help him look more professional. She then told him she was done working on an assembly line. She wanted to go back to studying. She planned to take exams to build a better future for them.
