Episode Summary
The police arrest a trafficker, Baiban, and rescue his captive, Zhou Min, but the investigation stalls when Baiban refuses to confess and Zhou Min is too traumatized to provide a statement. A promising lead to find another missing boy, Little Potato, turns out to be a different abducted child. The episode delves into the personal tragedies that motivate officers Deng Yan and Sun Wenhan, and concludes with Deng Yan discovering a new line of questioning after a medical report on Zhou Min reveals something strange.
Spoiler Alert
The investigation into the trafficking ring intensifies as the police close in on a suspect, but new leads send them down a rabbit hole of dead ends and personal ghosts.
The episode opens with Sun Wenhan and Luo Xiaoxing arriving at Reunion Diner, where they find the owner, Auntie Zhang, being pressured for rent by her landlord. Without a second thought, Sun Wenhan pays off the remaining debt, earning Auntie Zhang's immense gratitude. He asks her to take in Luo Xiaoxing, and she readily agrees, revealing that her two helpers are also parents of abducted children, creating a small community bound by shared grief.
Meanwhile, the police set a trap. Officer Chang Rui pressures a middleman, Baiban, to deliver his "goods." Baiban leads him to a derelict factory, supposedly to meet his superior, Zheng Weiwei. Unbeknownst to them, Officer Yin Jiansheng is posing as a buyer, and Deng Yan's team is poised to move in. Just as the trap is sprung, Baiban receives a message to detain his contact and attempts to attack Chang Rui with a brick. Chang Rui swiftly overpowers him just as Deng Yan and her team arrive to make the arrest.
A search of the factory reveals a hidden room where a terrified young woman, Zhou Min, is being held captive. She is rushed to the hospital in a state of severe shock. Chang Rui hopes she can identify Baiban, but she is unresponsive, lost in a traumatic haze.
During interrogation, Baiban denies all charges, claiming Zhou Min is his girlfriend. Even when confronted by Yan Lei and Chang Rui, he remains tight-lipped. Chang Rui then presents a photo of a child named Fafa, whom Baiban claims he found. However, Chang Rui reveals the police know the child's real name is Qiu Luoluo and that he was trafficked by Baiban.
The episode also follows the desperate search for another missing boy, Little Potato. His family is falling apart, with his grandmother in tears and his father plastering the town with flyers. The Anti-trafficking Office receives a tip that Little Potato has been sold to a couple in Nanyangdian Village. Deng Yan, Yin Jiansheng, and Chang Rui investigate under the guise of a community outreach program. They find baby supplies in the home of Yang Yong, who, along with his wife, bought a child through a cousin. Chang Rui finds the wife hiding with the boy, but a subsequent DNA test confirms the child is not Little Potato, leaving the team at another dead end.
The case takes a heavy personal toll on the officers. Sun Wenhan, whose own son, Sun Xiaoguang, was abducted years ago, is shown to be so haunted by his loss that he often mistakes other children for his son, leading to misunderstandings that require his friend Ai Xin to clear up. Deng Yan's relentless work ethic is also explained; her childhood friend, Lin Ranran, was abducted 24 years ago while going to retrieve a birthday present for Deng Yan. Seeing Zhou Min's parents trying to celebrate her birthday in the hospital triggers this painful memory.
With Baiban refusing to confess and Zhou Min unable to testify, the investigation hits a wall. However, a medical report provides a new clue: doctors found unusually high levels of estrogen in Zhou Min's system. Seizing on this, Deng Yan decides to change tactics, confronting Baiban with a new question: why was he forcing Zhou Min to take female hormones?
