Episode Summary
In Episode 4 of "Fancy Land," the fragile family dynamic shatters when Li Meng reveals past secrets, forcing a confrontation with her mother, Li Xiulan. This revelation causes Li Yan to reject her memory-suppressing medication, leading to disturbing flashbacks. Her trauma is compounded when she is sexually harassed by her boss at the kindergarten. As Li Meng urges a traumatized Li Yan to fight back instead of succumbing to fear, the police investigation into Zhang Xiaochuan's murder takes a sharp turn when a vehicle connected to the case is found engulfed in flames.
Spoiler Alert
Fancy Land Episode 4 Recap: Learn to Bite Back
This week, the fragile peace in the Li family shatters completely as buried secrets are violently unearthed. Li Yan is pushed to a breaking point, caught between a sister demanding vengeance and a mother clinging to a fabricated peace. While the family implodes, the murder investigation outside their door takes a fiery turn.
Here are the key moments from Episode 4:
- A Mother-Daughter Showdown: Li Meng unleashes her fury on Li Xiulan, calling her selfish and cowardly for hiding the truth, reopening deep family wounds in the process.
- Fighting the Fog: Li Yan actively refuses to take the medication that controls her memory, causing her to see haunting visions of a past argument.
- A Shadow in the Classroom: In a deeply unsettling scene, the kindergarten principal sexually harasses Li Yan, who is too frozen in fear to fight back.
- Evidence of a Past Sin: A torn piece of clothing, held by Li Meng, proves that Li Xiulan has not been entirely truthful about an old confrontation.
- A Burning Clue: As police detective Sun Mou theorizes that Lin Yi is the prime suspect in Zhang Xiaochuan's murder, a car fire erupts, potentially destroying key evidence.
The Storm Inside
The episode opens in the center of a hurricane. Li Meng has just told Li Yan the whole, unvarnished truth about their past. Curled into a ball on her bed, Li Yan begs her to stop, but Li Meng’s voice rings out from the hallway as she relentlessly attacks her mother, Li Xiulan, for her cowardice and her tendency to run from problems. Li Xiulan tries to defend her past actions as necessary, but Li Meng cuts her down, screaming that she was just being selfish.
Inside the room, Li Yan's reality blurs. She sees a phantom of the three of them locked in a heated argument—the very same vision that flashes in her mind every day before she takes her pills. When Li Xiulan enters and offers the medication as usual, Li Yan frantically shakes her head, refusing. In a swift, decisive motion, Li Meng knocks the bottle of pills from her mother’s hand. As memory and reality collide, Li Yan stands firm in her refusal. With a cold smile, Li Meng wraps an arm around her sister and leads her into her own room to spend the night.
Burns and a Body
Morning television brings news of the murder at Zhang Xiaochuan's auto repair shop. In the kitchen, a burst of steam from a kettle suddenly scalds Li Yan’s arm. Li Xiulan rushes to treat the burn. When the washing machine beeps, Li Meng steps up to hang the laundry. Li Yan tries to help, but her mother stops her: "Your wound can't get wet." Even while hanging clothes, Li Xiulan doesn't forget her routine, preparing Li Yan's medication and reminding her it's almost time for work.
Later, a frantic Li Xiulan is searching for something, unable to find it. Li Meng appears, dangling a torn piece of old clothing. "This piece that Bai Tao ripped?" she asks with a smirk. "You didn't hide it well enough." Li Xiulan's eyes widen in horror. The memory is still fresh: she had once warned Bai Tao to stay away from Li Yan, only for him to tear her clothes and threaten her, saying, "I can help her get her memory back." Li Meng calls her mother out for her indecisiveness, spitting the words "useless coward" at her. Enraged, Li Xiulan tries to throw her out, but Li Meng shoves the door back, declaring, "This is my home now!"
Meanwhile, at the police station, Gu Nan gives his statement, deliberately omitting the crucial fact that he saw a masked man at the crime scene.
The Piano Room
The horror follows Li Yan to work. In the kindergarten’s piano room, the principal uses the pretense of "instruction" to slide his hand onto her thigh. Li Yan freezes completely, tears streaming down her face. She is only saved when the principal's wife calls his phone, forcing him to leave. Once alone, Li Yan collapses onto the piano keys, sobbing uncontrollably.
Back home, she scrubs at the spot on her leg where he touched her, rubbing the skin so hard it’s nearly raw. As her trembling hand reaches for the bottle of pills, seeking oblivion, Li Meng’s hand slams down on hers. "Tears won't save you," she says, her voice firm.
The Spark of Rebellion
The pill falls from Li Yan's fingers. Li Meng grabs her by the shoulders, forcing her to look her in the eye. "You have to learn to bite back to survive." Utterly broken, Li Yan collapses into her sister’s arms, her muffled sobs absorbed by Li Meng's shirt. In this moment, Li Meng's embrace is both a shield and a shackle, pulling her from the abyss of medicated ignorance but pushing her into a far more dangerous current.
The Investigation Ignites
At the police station, a neck brace does little to soothe the pain for detective Qin Yang, who has been working the case all night. His rookie partner, Sun Mou, applies a pain-relief patch while laying out his theory: "Lin Yi must have killed Zhang Xiaochuan to silence him. Gu Nan ran away because he was afraid of him, and now he's back, holding something over his head for money."
Before he can finish, a call comes in from traffic police. A vehicle has just burst into flames—and with it, new evidence in their case is already turning to ash.
