Episode Summary
In 1988, two children are born on the same day under opposite circumstances. One is the son of a drug trafficker, raised by a criminal named Ma Yong. The other is the daughter of a cop. In 2021, the son, Duo Zai, works to save money to leave the country, while his adoptive father, Ma Yong, continues his criminal life. A series of disastrous events, including a run-in with a local gangster and a major gambling loss, culminates in Duo Zai losing his passport and his friend being murdered after stumbling upon a drug deal.
Spoiler Alert
Hunting Episode 1
Two Births, One Messy Night
The show kicks off way back in 1988. We're on a boat with a group of drug traffickers. Things are already chaotic. A woman is giving birth under terrible conditions. She has the baby, and then she dies.
Just then, the police show up. The leader of the traffickers, a guy named Dong Ge, needs to escape. He does something absolutely ruthless. He throws the dead woman's body into the water. The police have to divert to try and save her. This gives him the opening he needs to get away. It’s a cold move. The cops pull her from the water, but it's too late.
On the very same day, a police officer named Wu Dui is at the hospital. His wife gives birth to a healthy baby girl. They name her Zhi An.
Back on the trafficker's boat, one of the subordinates, Ma Yong, finds the newborn baby. He can’t just leave the kid there. So he decides to take the baby and raise him as his own. He names the boy Duo Zai. This whole opening sequence sets up the two parallel lives that will drive the story.
Thirty-Three Years Later
We jump forward to 2021. Duo Zai and Zhi An are all grown up.
Duo Zai works multiple hard-labor jobs by the sea. He grew up in a fishing community. His entire life is focused on one goal. He wants to save enough money to buy a van for Ma Yong, the man who raised him. After that, he plans to go abroad and make a new life for himself.
Zhi An, on the other hand, followed in her father's footsteps. She joined the police force. She's now a narcotics officer.
Duo Zai lives in a beat-up, drafty house. We watch him carefully hide the money he earns each day in an old clay jar. After a lot of hard work, he finally has enough. He buys the van.
A Bad Influence and an Undercover Cop
Ma Yong is still a small-time criminal. He shoplifts from a local store. Then he takes the "goods" to a locker. This is a dead drop for a drug transaction. An undercover cop named Yang Yipeng, using the alias A Zhen, is the one who picks up the package.
Later, Ma Yong is driving and accidentally hits A Zhen. Ma Yong gets out and acts like a total tough guy. He blames A Zhen for the accident and even shoves him. A Zhen doesn't retaliate. Ma Yong seems to feel a little bad about his outburst. They end up going for a drink and become fast friends. A Zhen plays his part well. He butters Ma Yong up, acting impressed by his local reputation.
A Chance Encounter and More Trouble
A friend celebrates Duo Zai's birthday. But Duo Zai is still just thinking about his plan to work at an electronics factory in Vietnam.
While making a food delivery, he spots a name on a cake box. It's Zhi An. He looks her up in an online game and sees they share the exact same birthday. He adds her as a friend. They play a match, and she's impressed with his skills. She jokes that they have good chemistry because they were born on the same day.
The scene shifts back to Ma Yong. He's at a KTV, trying to tip a girl with counterfeit money. She calls him out. A local enforcer named Fang Jianwei shows up to rough up Ma Yong. Duo Zai hears the fight and rushes in. He starts yelling at Ma Yong, pretending to be furious that he's dealing drugs again. He even hits him. It's all an act to create a distraction so they can both escape. Fang Jianwei sees right through it. He tells them they aren't leaving until the bill is paid.
Hitting Rock Bottom
That night, Duo Zai and Ma Yong have a huge fight. Duo Zai is just completely disappointed in him. They struggle over the money jar, and it falls, breaking open. A bankbook tumbles out. Duo Zai picks it up. He realizes Ma Yong has been saving every penny Duo Zai earned. He wasn't wasting it. He was putting it away for the van.
Ma Yong is filled with guilt. He finds Duo Zai at an internet cafe, brings him food, and begs him not to go abroad.
But old habits die hard. Ma Yong takes his new friend A Zhen to an underground gambling den. Their luck is awful. They lose all their money. They even lose the deed to their boat house.
One Last Disaster
The next morning, Duo Zai returns home to find Fang Jianwei and his men seizing the house. Duo Zai is enraged and starts a fight. Ma Yong and A Zhen immediately jump in to protect him.
After the brawl, Duo Zai realizes his bag is missing. His passport was in it. He runs back to where they fought and finds the bag, but it's been soaked in water. The passport is completely ruined. His dream of leaving is gone.
Defeated, Duo Zai asks a friend, Long Ge, to cover a food delivery for him. This turns out to be a fatal mistake. While making the delivery, Long Ge accidentally discovers a stash of drugs. The people there kill him.
Duo Zai gets a notification on his phone that the delivery is late. He goes to the address to check on his friend. He walks in and finds Long Ge's body. He immediately calls the police. Officer Luo Zhongkui and his team arrive at the crime scene. The police quickly identify a suspect and issue a wanted notice for a man named Mou Sen.
