Episode Summary
In a tense episode, kidnapper Zhou Hongcai abandons his victim, Congcong, a girl with a critical heart condition, who is rescued just minutes before her surgery deadline. While on the run, Zhou discovers a shocking connection between a past victim, Lin Ranran, and the lead investigator, Deng Yan. He uses this information to blackmail his accomplice, Liu Gang, who, in a desperate move to protect himself, frames Deng Yan for bribery, resulting in her suspension from the case.
Spoiler Alert
The episode throws us directly into a heart-pounding race against time. Zhou Hongcai has kidnapped a young girl named Congcong and is transporting her in a large sack. He's on his way to Linshan, following instructions from a woman named Zhen Ni. However, the situation is far more critical than a simple kidnapping: Congcong has a congenital heart defect and requires surgery within eight hours to survive.
The Linshan police, alerted to the situation, quickly set up roadblocks. Officers Chang Rui and Yan Lei are dispatched to intercept Zhou Hongcai. They mistakenly pull over a van that runs their checkpoint, only to find it's a driver smuggling pirated discs. Meanwhile, the real kidnapper, Zhou Hongcai, spots the police checkpoint from a distance. He cleverly tells his driver he has the wrong address, has him turn around, and gets out at a bus stop, leaving only two hours on the clock for Congcong's surgery.
Back at the station, investigator Deng Yan reviews surveillance footage and spots Zhou Hongcai at the Qingyang bus station with the suspicious sack. As Zhou Hongcai boards a city bus, a wanted notice for him, describing the child abduction, plays on the bus's television. At this moment, his client Zhen Ni calls. Having seen the news and learned of Congcong's life-threatening illness (thanks to a tip from a woman named Man Jie), she calls off the deal. Enraged and panicked, Zhou Hongcai makes a horrifying decision: he abandons the sack with Congcong still inside on the bus, hastily gets off, and escapes onto another vehicle.
With only an hour left, the bus driver finishes his route and discovers the little girl in the sack at the terminal. He immediately calls the Anti-trafficking Office. Deng Yan receives the call and dispatches Chang Rui, who speeds through the city, getting Congcong to the Linshan People's Hospital with just ten minutes to spare. Doctors, who had rushed from Jiushan Hospital, were prepped and waiting. As Congcong is wheeled into the operating room, Chang Rui can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
While the immediate crisis is averted, the hunt for Zhou Hongcai intensifies. He manages to evade surveillance by cutting through a park. Disguised, he enters a snack street but spots a police inspection. He ducks into a small restaurant called the Reunion Diner, a place filled with missing-person notices for abducted children. The owner, Auntie Zhang, assumes he's a grieving parent. Zhou Hongcai plays along, inventing a story about his own son being kidnapped 20 years ago. As they talk, Auntie Zhang shows him a poster for a girl named Lin Ranran. Zhou Hongcai instantly recognizes her. Auntie Zhang mentions that Lin Ranran's best friend is none other than Deng Yan from the Anti-trafficking Office. Seizing the opportunity, Zhou Hongcai takes a photo of the poster, promising to help look for her.
He then calls an accomplice, Liu Gang, for help. Liu Gang, who has just seen the wanted notice for Zhou, is about to hang up when Zhou Hongcai drops a bombshell: he knows Deng Yan is Lin Ranran's friend and threatens to turn himself in and expose Liu Gang if he doesn't provide shelter. This sends Liu Gang into a panic. He confronts Zhen Ni, suspecting she connected him to Zhou.
Zhou Hongcai meets Liu Gang at the Tianhai Jixiang Dance Hall. As the police, led by Yan Lei, close in on the dance hall's location, Liu Gang grows more desperate. He receives a tip from a police insider to tamper with the dance hall's surveillance footage. Fearing exposure, Liu Gang decides to take a drastic step: he will frame the lead investigator. He gives someone a large sum of money to plant in Deng Yan's home that very night.
Just as the investigation is zeroing in, the plan is set in motion. The Commission for Discipline Inspection receives an anonymous letter, and Deng Yan is suspended from her duties under suspicion of accepting bribes, bringing the case to a screeching halt.
