Episode Summary
Following her grandfather's death, Qiao Qingyu returns home to a family in turmoil. A cruel demand from her uncle forces the family to move her deceased sister Bei Yu's grave from the ancestral plot. After finding a beautiful new resting place for her sister, Qingyu secretly enters a dance competition in another city with the help of a friend and the silent support of her father. There, she is fortuitously rescued from a locked room by Ming Sheng, whose mother is a judge for the event.
Spoiler Alert
Reborn Episode 20: A Grave Farewell, A Secret Hope
The episode opens with Qiao Qingyu deep in her demanding final year of high school. Her studies are abruptly interrupted when she's called out of class to take a phone call from her father. The news is grim: her grandfather has passed away, and she must return home at once.
Tasked by her father to grab a bank card from a drawer her mother always keeps locked, Qingyu's hurried departure leads to an unexpected discovery—a precious diary hidden within. On the road back to their hometown of Shunyun with her younger brother, she learns more about the deep well of her mother's sorrow. Her brother explains that their sister, Bei Yu, died on New Year's Eve, and a series of delays meant they missed holding a proper memorial service, a fact that has likely contributed to their mother's lingering depression.
At her grandfather's funeral, the scene is discordant. Her uncle and aunt are callously playing mahjong while her mother, Fang Hao, single-handedly serves everyone. When Qingyu urges her to rest, her mother replies with weary resignation, believing life is meant to be suffering and that she is simply enduring it until her own death.
The grief is shattered when, immediately after the funeral, the uncle demands to divide the family property. He cruelly insists that Bei Yu’s premature death has brought bad luck upon the family and that her remains must be moved from the ancestral burial plot. While Qingyu's parents initially acquiesce to the uncle's son, Jing Rui, inheriting the family assets, the demand to exhume their daughter is the final straw. Fang Hao flies into a rage and physically attacks her sister-in-law.
It is Qingyu who diffuses the situation. She gently tells her mother that Bei Yu never liked Shunyun anyway, and moving her to a place she would have preferred is the right thing to do. Clinging to the idea of doing something her late daughter would have wanted, her mother relents.
In a heart-wrenching scene, the family—Qingyu, her brother, and her parents—move Bei Yu's grave. Her mother tenderly wraps the urn in red cloth as tears stream down every face. They find a beautiful new plot for her in a public cemetery, surrounded by trees, flowers, and the sound of birdsong, hoping she can finally find peace.
Six months later, a letter arrives from Mumu, now a university student. She reveals she has secretly entered Qingyu into the "Starlight Cup," a dance competition being held in Jiangzhou. Qingyu's classmates rally around her, designing and creating a dance costume. She concocts a story to get her mother's permission to travel, which is granted. Her father, after noticing her cough, packs medicine for her. As he places it in her bag, he discovers the competition invitation but says nothing, choosing to silently support his daughter's dream.
Meanwhile, in Jiangzhou, Ming Sheng is having dinner with his mother, who happens to be a judge for the very same competition. She mentions an amateur dancer from Ming Sheng's school who will be competing. When he hears the name Qiao Qingyu, his heart leaps. Later, after learning she is staying at the same hotel, Ming Sheng goes looking for her. He finds the dance studio, where Qingyu has been accidentally locked inside by a security guard. Just in time, Ming Sheng arrives and rescues her.
