Episode Summary
Ye Haitang and Tang Yixun are involved in a bloody incident, and he takes the fall, landing in prison. To free her from being tied to him, he fakes his own death with a friend's help. Years later, after his release, he discovers she never moved on and visits his fake grave every year on his birthday. He decides to let her believe he is dead and raises his deceased friend's daughter, but he secretly returns to the grave every year to see her from a distance as they both grow old.
Spoiler Alert
A Birthday and a Bloody Mess
The episode starts with a rare, quiet moment of sweetness. Ye Haitang finds out Tang Yixun has never once celebrated his birthday. So, she makes him a simple rice cake. He's so touched by this that when he makes a wish, all his hopes are for her well-being.
Don't get comfortable, though.
The very next time we see them, they are drenched in blood. Tang Yixun is holding a bloody knife. He immediately tells Ye Haitang to get out of there. He tells her to go to the police and say he was the killer. He is fully prepared to take the entire blame for whatever just happened. She, of course, refuses to leave him. She goes with him to the police station and tries to tell them the full story.
Prison, Lies, and a Fake Death
The Breakup Letter
Despite her efforts, Tang Yixun is sentenced to prison. Ye Haitang goes to visit him, but he refuses to see her every single time. He’s decided he can't let her waste her life waiting for him. To make a clean break, he writes her a letter ending their relationship for good. After she gets it, she puts the letter away in an old cookie box. She decides to go back to school to retake her exams and build a new life for herself.
The Big Lie
Time jumps forward to 1993. Ye Haitang gets a great score on her college entrance exams. The first person she wants to tell is Tang Yixun. But when she tries to find him, she learns the prison has been relocated. The police tell her they can't disclose his new location because she isn't a direct relative. Just like that, they lose all contact.
Later, while she's in college, her old friend Haozi finds her. He delivers some devastating news. He tells her that Tang Yixun got sick in prison and died. She doesn't believe it at first. She completely breaks down. To make her accept it, Haozi shows her where Tang Yixun is supposedly buried. Seeing the tombstone with his name on it forces her to accept the horrible truth. She loses her will to live and walks into a river, intending to drown herself. But just as she's about to go under, she remembers Tang Yixun's words. He always told her to live a good life. For his sake, she chooses to live.
A Life Built on a Lie
The Truth Comes Out (For Him)
Here is the major twist. Tang Yixun is not dead. He is eventually released from prison. He finds an old letter she wrote him, and reading it makes him break down and cry. He tracks down Haozi, who is now living a happy life with Zhenzhu running a street stall. This is when we learn the truth. Tang Yixun faked his own death. He asked Haozi to lie to Ye Haitang, believing it was the only way to make her move on.
He decides to visit his own "grave." He sees that someone has just been there. A cleaning lady tells him that a woman comes every year on his birthday with a cake. He realizes Ye Haitang never forgot him. He tries to run after her, but it's too late. She's gone. He considers contacting her but then discovers she now has a child. He decides to stay out of her life for good.
A New Life, An Old Ritual
Tang Yixun travels north to visit the mother of a friend he made in prison. The mother is very sick, and her young daughter mistakes Tang Yixun for her father. After the mother passes away, Tang Yixun decides to stay and raise the little girl as his own.
But he can't let go completely. On his next birthday, he returns to his grave. He sees Ye Haitang there. This becomes their silent, yearly ritual. Every birthday, they both show up at the same spot. They see each other from a distance but never speak. This continues for the rest of their lives, as they grow from young adults into old age.
