Episode Summary
Liu Suibian reveals her past connection to Liu Zhendong through a pawned pocket watch and her business acumen impresses Hong Yan, who pushes for Liu Suibian and Liu Zhendong to marry. Meanwhile, Cheng Nanping confronts her father, Cheng Hui, about wanting to break off her engagement with Huang Zhongxin and urges him to leave his gang life, which he refuses. Huang Jinhu awakens and reunites with Huang Zhongxin. Liu Zhendong, now revealed as an anti-gang investigator, confronts Cheng Hui, urging him to step down from the Shanhai Gang and leave, but Cheng Hui stands firm. At the hospital, Huang Jinhu accuses Cheng Hui of embezzlement and attempted murder, but with Liu Xiongwu (who allegedly knew) now dead, it becomes a case of his word against Cheng Hui's.
Spoiler Alert
First off, we finally get some backstory on Liu Suibian. She shows up at Hong Yan's place, and Hong Yan, never one to beat around the bush, starts asking questions. Turns out, way back when Liu Zhendong freed her, he tried to give her a bunch of money. But Liu Suibian, being the stand-up gal she is, refused it. The only thing she took was a pocket watch Liu Zhendong had on him. Fast forward a bit: Liu Suibian finds herself pregnant and struggling to make ends meet. In a tough spot, she had to pawn that very pocket watch. She had no idea it was actually super valuable until recently. Now that her tea house is doing well (go, girl boss!), she finally scraped enough cash together to buy it back.
Hong Yan seems pretty impressed by Liu Suibian’s business savvy. Liu Suibian just shrugs it off, saying it’s kind of the family business – she grew up watching her uncles run things before her dad’s opium addiction tanked everything and led to her being sold to Pozhai. Rough stuff. After hearing all this, Hong Yan seems to give her stamp of approval. She pulls Liu Suibian over to sit next to Liu Zhendong and starts talking about wedding bells! Liu Zhendong looks like he’s seen a ghost, but Hong Yan’s like, "Dude, your kid is three years old, it's time to make it official!" Can't argue with that logic.
Meanwhile, over in another corner of dysfunction junction, Cheng Hui has a chat with his daughter, Cheng Nanping. He’s found out she wants to call off her engagement to Huang Zhongxin. Cheng Hui tries the guilt trip, reminding her how devoted Huang Zhongxin has been, taking care of her for four whole years, and how crushed he’ll be. But Cheng Nanping isn’t having it. She fires back that she was never into Huang Zhongxin and that Cheng Hui basically forced him to be overly attentive. Ouch. Cheng Hui laments how rare it is for them to argue (sure, Jan), and Cheng Nanping uses the moment to beg her dad to leave the gang life. She even brings up her deceased mother, saying she wouldn’t want to see him mixed up in all this. But Cheng Hui? Stone cold. Flat-out refuses.
Hold onto your hats, because Huang Jinhu is awake! And who’s right there? Huang Zhongxin, who’s overcome with emotion, tears and all, as they reunite. Elsewhere, Liu Zhendong is out for a meal and bumps into none other than Cheng Hui. Later, Liu Zhendong heads back to his old place, lights some incense, and mutters about how he swore he’d never return. Just then, Cheng Hui shows up, demanding to know why he’s there. Liu Zhendong, cool as a cucumber, says he just came to see him, noticing he’s getting old and frail.
Then, BAM! Liu Zhendong whips out a business card. He’s a special investigator for the anti-gang unit! He tells Cheng Hui to hand over his power and let him clean things up, suggesting Cheng Hui take Cheng Nanping and skip town. Liu Zhendong lays it out: the Shanhai Gang is still public enemy number one on their crackdown list. Cheng Hui tries to argue that the Shanhai Company is legit now and has done nothing wrong. He even suspects someone wants to make an example of him, and Liu Zhendong basically confirms it but still advises him to take the escape route. Cheng Hui, ever defiant, refuses. He tells Liu Zhendong that since he’s in a position of power now, he should be working for the people, but he (Cheng Hui) isn't backing down from anything. The stubbornness is strong with this one.
Finally, at the hospital, a weak Huang Jinhu is spilling all the tea from his bed. He accuses Cheng Hui of being a hypocrite, setting up secret accounts to embezzle public funds. When things were about to blow up, Cheng Hui apparently tried to have him killed! Luckily, Huang Jinhu is one tough cookie and survived. Huang Zhongxin can barely believe what he’s hearing. Huang Jinhu then says Liu Xiongwu knew about it too. But then Huang Zhongxin drops another bomb: Liu Xiongwu is dead. Hearing this, Huang Jinhu sighs, realizing that with Liu Xiongwu gone, it’s now his word against Cheng Hui’s – a classic "he said, he said" with no concrete proof.
