Episode Summary
An old man's disappearance in the present day is linked to a mysterious letter from 1991. This kicks off a story about two high schoolers in a small town. One is a girl struggling with her family's debt. The other is a boy working for a local gang.
Spoiler Alert
The Old Man and the Mailbox
The show opens in the present day. It's cold and snowy. A woman writes a letter and then vanishes, leaving only a cat behind. It's a strange start.
We then see a security guard find an old man sitting by a mailbox in a courtyard. The man’s daughter arrives. She explains her father has Alzheimer's. She wants him to move to Beijing with her, but he refuses. He seems to be waiting for something connected to that mailbox.
The next morning, the father is gone. His daughter is worried and files a missing person report with the police. She ends up back at the same courtyard. The security guard tells her a bizarre story. He says her father showed up during the night. He mailed a letter and then just disappeared.
The daughter doesn't buy it. She opens the mailbox to check for herself. A single letter falls out. The postmark on it is from 1991. The sender’s name is Ye Haitang.
Back to 1991
The show then jumps back to Meiwan Town in 1991. This is where the main story begins.
Meet the Players
We meet Ye Haitang. She’s a high school student. A group of debt collectors, led by a guy named Li Chadong, barge into her house. They forcefully take her money when she's home alone.
Then there's Tang Yixun. He’s also in high school. He goes to the same class as Ye Haitang. His teacher is concerned about the bruises on him. The teacher tells him to focus on school and to stop fighting with Li Chadong's crew.
Tangled Debts
The connection between these characters becomes clear pretty fast. Tang Yixun is one of Li Chadong's guys. He was involved in taking Ye Haitang's money. When he sees her at school, he looks ashamed.
Later, Ye Haitang confronts him on the street. She wants her money back. We learn that Tang Yixun took the money because her father owes gambling debts. While they are arguing, another student interrupts them. She’s worried about Ye Haitang. Tang Yixun uses the distraction to slip away.
We also see that Ye Haitang is a hard worker. She has a part-time job to pay for school and her living costs. During a shift at a bookstore, she gets an idea. She decides to write a letter to the future.
The Mysterious Letter
Li Chadong tells Tang Yixun that their crew is done with Ye Haitang's family. Another guy, A Bao, is taking over the debt. Tang Yixun looks worried. He says A Bao is a total scumbag.
The next day, a brand new mailbox appears right next to the bookstore where Ye Haitang works. Inside, there's a letter addressed to her. After reading it, she seems tense.
At school, she pulls Tang Yixun aside. She accuses him of writing the letter. Before he can really answer, two bullies from their class snatch the letter from her bag. They start reading it out loud for everyone to hear.
Ye Haitang tries to get it back, but the bullies push her away. Tang Yixun jumps in. He grabs the letter from the bullies and gives it back to her. Just then, their teacher walks into the classroom. He sees the commotion and immediately assumes Tang Yixun wrote the letter.
