Love Me If You Dare Episode 7 Recap
> Love Me If You Dare Recap
Li Xunran was transferred to the Jiangzhou police force, where he would serve for at least a year, opening up new opportunities for promotion. He obtained Jian Yao's new address from her mother and visited her on a weekend to share the good news. Jian Yao invited him up to her apartment, where he showed her a series of numbers, 8, 9, 9, 13, 14, 15, 19, that experts had deciphered from a previous case.
Jian Yao found them meaningless, noting that without a "key," deciphering encrypted information was like searching for a needle in a haystack, leading either to a terrifyingly simple answer or total confusion. Li Xunran mentioned he had sent these numbers to Professor Bo Jinyan, hoping he might find significance in them, but Bo Jinyan had shown no reaction. Just then, a delivery arrived for Bo Jinyan.
Jian Yao explained that she often received his mail because he was frequently away or didn't open his door. She then revealed that Bo Jinyan lived on the floor directly above hers, making them not only colleagues but also neighbors. Li Xunran, who had been close friends with Jian Yao since childhood, expressed concern and support, asking if she was dating Bo Jinyan.
Jian Yao denied it, clarifying that she was merely his assistant, and he had simply become accustomed to delegating tasks to her. She admitted to being curious about Bo Jinyan's "closed world" but acknowledged it was dangerous and she lacked the courage to fully approach it. Reassured by Li Xunran's unwavering support, Jian Yao offered to treat him to lunch.
Their conversation was interrupted by a call from Bo Jinyan, who instructed Jian Yao to immediately come to Nanshan Cemetery, unit D. She initially ignored the call. Later, Bo Jinyan took Jian Yao to Wang Wanwei's gravesite, where they encountered Mai Chen, a colleague from Wang Wanwei’s company. Bo Jinyan confronted Mai Chen directly, questioning whether his presence was an act of mourning or guilt after committing a crime.
He accused Mai Chen of going to Wang Wanwei’s room on the night of her death to take advantage of her, implying that her rejection led to her demise. Mai Chen vehemently denied the accusation, explaining that he had gone to confess his long-held feelings for Wang Wanwei, having loved her since she joined the company but previously feeling too insecure due to his low salary and lack of property.
He recounted how he finally mustered the courage to visit her room late that night. Mai Chen described Wang Wanwei as happy but also nervous, telling him she was pleased but needed time to consider his confession and would call him. He returned to his room, fell asleep from drinking, and only learned of Wang Wanwei's death the next morning from other colleagues.
Bo Jinyan challenged Mai Chen's easy acceptance of her suicide given her seemingly positive reaction to his confession. Mai Chen admitted he had expressed his doubts to Manager Lin, but Manager Lin had dismissed them, attributing his concerns to drunkenness and citing Wang Wanwei's recent work pressure and emotional instability.
Bo Jinyan then warned Mai Chen that his recent moodiness was affecting the office and that he hoped Mai Chen wouldn't discuss their conversation with anyone else, so as not to affect department morale. Jian Yao then asked Bo Jinyan if he believed Mai Chen's story.
Soon after, Fu Ziyu contacted Jian Yao, informing her that he had successfully decrypted a hidden file on Wang Wanwei's computer: a secret online diary with an entry dated March 22nd, the day of her death. Bo Jinyan listened as Jian Yao read a passage from the diary: "He actually came to my room to confess. The one I love. . . The clean, pure and handsome young man. Why do you only come now?
Thank you, for making my life not so despairing. But do I even have the chance to turn back? Do I still have the chance to be redeemed?" Bo Jinyan concluded that the diary entry confirmed Mai Chen's account and, crucially, that Wang Wanwei’s suicide note had been written "before" this diary entry.
He reasoned that while the suicide note reflected extreme despair, the diary entry showed hesitation, indicating that Mai Chen's confession had made Wang Wanwei reconsider her suicide and make "another decision" which ultimately led to her death. Bo Jinyan further explained that Wang Wanwei’s depression in the months leading up to her death was not due to work or relationship problems, but rather her involvement in a "shady business."
He reconstructed the timeline: Wang Wanwei returned to her hotel room at 10 PM after the banquet, wrote her suicide note before midnight, received Mai Chen for about 20 minutes, then wrote her last diary entry for approximately 30 minutes. Since police determined her death occurred between 2:30 AM and 3:30 AM, the killer must have entered her room during that specific window.
Jian Yao then brought up Li Xunran's earlier concern about the deciphered numbers, asking why Bo Jinyan had ignored them. Bo Jinyan dismissed them as pointless, stating that the case now presented many "loopholes"—such as the black dress, earrings, her roommate, and autopsy results—that all indicated a murder committed by one of Jian Yao's colleagues. He then tasked Jian Yao with taking the lead on the investigation, urging her to think things through.
Following Bo Jinyan's directions, Jian Yao focused on Wang Wanwei's roommate at Hong Ye Resort. She determined that due to company policy, only Assistant Managers or higher could have single rooms, meaning Wang Wanwei and Xue Qing, being the only other women apart from Manager Lin, must have shared a room. Jian Yao confronted Xue Qing about her whereabouts on the night Wang Wanwei died.
Xue Qing confessed that she had spent the night in the room of an Assistant Manager, with whom she had been having a long-term affair. She expressed guilt but also hope that he would divorce his wife, and anxiously asked if Bo Jinyan would fire her.
Jian Yao reasoned that individuals involved in a secret affair would likely not have the time or presence of mind to meticulously plan a murder, thus temporarily excluding Xue Qing and her lover as suspects. Despite this progress, Jian Yao expressed frustration over their continued lack of understanding regarding the "shady business" Wang Wanwei was involved in, to which Bo Jinyan reminded her that the case was now hers to solve.
Bo Jinyan then advanced his theory, suggesting that Wang Wanwei's diary entry hinted at a drug addiction, which someone had exploited to control her. He questioned why the initial investigation treated it as a suicide without thoroughly examining evidence of foul play, and why 100,000 dollars were paid to the family to suppress further inquiry. He proposed that the killer might have given Wang Wanwei a sleeping pill before the wrist-cutting, fearing a drug's detection during an autopsy.
Bo Jinyan then prompted Jian Yao to interpret a cryptic passage from Wang Wanwei's writings: "Deceased body, stuck in deep mud, could not withdraw herself. Enjoy the emptiness after relaxing for the last time. The beginning and ending of the everlasting darkness." Jian Yao, grasping the implications, deduced that Wang Wanwei had a drug addiction, which explained her despair when Mai Chen confessed.
Bo Jinyan believed a drug trafficking network existed within the company, and the hush money was paid to prevent discovery of Wang Wanwei's addiction, which would expose the network. He also indicated that he knew who sent the emails that brought attention to the case, but he could not yet confirm their identity, assuring Jian Yao he would handle it. He then instructed her to report their findings to the police.
Simultaneously, Police Officer Huang Dui informed Li Xunran that Cheng Yu Company had officially reported the case, and Professor Bo had agreed to assist. Given Li Xunran's previous collaboration with Bo Jinyan on the "Killing Machine" case in Tong City, Huang Dui assigned him to lead the investigation. Back in her apartment, Jian Yao pondered the numbers Li Xunran had initially shared. She suddenly realized that by rearranging the letters corresponding to the numbers, they spelled "Simon."
Excited, she called Bo Jinyan to tell him, confirming "Hi Simon" was the message. Bo Jinyan then revealed that the numbers were not written by Sun Yong. He explained that someone knew Sun Yong was the "Killing Machine" murderer even before the case was solved, or perhaps this person had triggered Sun Yong's murderous desires.
This individual, Bo Jinyan elaborated, harbored an "abnormal interest" in him, intentionally provoking cases he might take and leaving their mark before he could solve them, seeking the "sense of accomplishment of staying ahead." He confirmed this pattern applied to the Cheng Yu case and the emails sent to Jian Yao's sister. Jian Yao, now realizing the danger, expressed fear for Bo Jinyan, noting that this "psycho" was tracking his every move and could attack at any time.
She pressed him, asking if he knew the identity of this person. Although Bo Jinyan didn't verbally confirm it, a chilling voice echoed in his mind, saying, "Hi Simon. I'm so scared. . . Come catch me if you can. Hi Simon. Are you my next meal?" confirming his awareness of the individual. Bo Jinyan further explained that this stalker intentionally leaves clues about himself before he solves a case, striving to achieve the satisfaction of being one step ahead.
Jian Yao, visibly worried, reviewed the materials Bo Jinyan had organized, summarizing their preliminary findings. She noted that Hong Ye Resort, the crime scene, was a private resort booked entirely by Cheng Yu Company, with no outside visitors. Given Wang Wanwei's position, the resort records showed her sharing a room with Xue Qing. No one outside her department knew she would be alone that night.
The meticulous arrangement of the crime scene by the killer, performed without apparent concern for the roommate's return, strongly suggested the crime was committed by an "internal personnel." Bo Jinyan then made a call to Susan, presumably an FBI contact, regarding the "Flower Cannibal" case. Susan confirmed that Tommy, the "Flower Cannibal," was still incarcerated in Bay Area Prison, one of the most secure facilities in the U. S.
, confined to his cell for over a year with no visitors. She hinted that Bo Jinyan's inquiry seemed a "waste of time." However, Bo Jinyan insisted that while the stalker was not Tommy, their patterns and characteristics were identical, strongly suggesting a "close connection." He requested a joint investigation with resource sharing and insisted on his participation. Susan initially resisted, citing Bo Jinyan's loss of security clearance after returning to China.
Bo Jinyan countered that no one understood Tommy better than him, and his involvement was essential to officially close the case. Susan agreed to forward his request to her superiors. When Li Xunran asked Jian Yao how Bo Jinyan had deduced that Wang Wanwei had left her room after writing the diary, Jian Yao explained Bo Jinyan's reasoning. She stated that Bo Jinyan had focused on the "black dress."
Wang Wanwei had worn a blue dress to the banquet and when Mai Chen saw her, yet her body was found in a black dress. Bo Jinyan reasoned that if she changed clothes after midnight, she would logically have put on sleepwear, not a black dress, indicating she intended to go out again.
Jian Yao further clarified that the blue dress held special significance to Wang Wanwei, being her loved one's favorite color and a dress Mai Chen had complimented her in. Therefore, she wouldn't have wanted to wear it for whatever she intended to do next. Susan later called Bo Jinyan back, informing him that while the FBI would not authorize him as a consultant due to confidential internal information, the U. S. government, under the Sino-U. S.
joint task force agreement on international violent crimes, would permit a "victim" to assist in an ongoing investigation. Susan revealed that Bo Jinyan had been a victim in the "Flower Cannibal" case, which granted him the right to participate. Bo Jinyan accepted. Susan offered to handle the paperwork and contact the Chinese police.
She then attempted to profile Bo Jinyan, trying to discern Jian Yao's identity based on his subtle micro-expressions, but Bo Jinyan, recognizing her profiling, told her to stop. Bo Jinyan then instructed Jian Yao to excavate and collect all the soil beneath a specific section of the wooden floor where Wang Wanwei had been found, for lab analysis. He theorized that Wang Wanwei's suicide note was genuine, indicating she had planned to expose what killed her by overdosing on drugs.
He deduced that her first action after deciding to start a new life with Mai Chen would have been to discard all her drugs. Believing the killer was unaware of this discarded evidence and that the drugs originated from the killer, Bo Jinyan concluded that finding them could lead to the killer's identity and solve the entire mystery.
The following day, Bo Jinyan and Jian Yao found the drugs Wang Wanwei had buried under a tree at Hong Ye Resort, confirming Bo Jinyan's theory and giving them a crucial lead to the killer. Later, Li Xunran invited Jian Yao to a welcome party for new employees at his house the following evening, emphasizing that everyone would be there for her. Jian Yao readily agreed to attend.
