Mobius Episode 8 Recap
> Mobius Recap
Nine years ago, Mo Yuanzhi was a student with a fervent desire to dedicate himself to scientific research. He earnestly sought to be accepted by Jiang Yuwen as a PhD student. Jiang Yuwen, however, saw through Mo Yuanzhi's underlying motive—to use research as a means to save someone—and initially refused him, stating that the path of genetic research was long and uncertain, often yielding no light even after a decade. Undeterred, Mo Yuanzhi left his research proposal for Jiang Yuwen.
Upon reviewing it, Jiang Yuwen's interest was piqued, and he enthusiastically agreed to take Mo Yuanzhi on as his student. Meanwhile, Professor You Yuxiang was explaining tree annual rings and other natural time-keeping mechanisms to his students, such as a bird from Guatemala called the Dina bird which chirps every thirty minutes, the time-telling insect that changes color hourly, and the South African large-leaf tree whose leaves flip every two hours.
He described how shells record seasonal rings, nautiluses contain month rings, and coral polyps secrete calcium carbonate daily to form tiny daily rings. These daily rings accumulate into growth belts, from which paleontologists can deduce the number of days in a year. He noted that modern corals have exactly 365 daily rings. However, he was bewildered by strange findings in recent years where many corals exhibited over 400 daily rings within a single year, pondering why this anomaly occurred.
During his lecture, You Yuxiang was shot and killed by a female police officer, Fang Lu, causing the students in the hall to flee in terror. Afterwards, Ding Qi discovered that the weapon You Yuxiang had brandished was a fake, utterly harmless. Seeing You Yuxiang's body being removed, Fang Lu was filled with remorse, grappling with the feeling of having killed someone for the first time.
Ding Qi reassured her that she had simply fulfilled her duty as a police officer, as they could not gamble with the hostages' lives. Back at the police station, Ding Qi learned that Fu Jun, the delivery driver he had been trying to help in previous loops, had died in a car accident. He wondered why Fu Jun's fate seemed inescapable, questioning why his attempts to help only pushed Fu Jun's destiny to extremes within the loop.
Separately, Duan Zheng reviewed footage of Ding Qi's interrogation of Ye Kun. Initially dismissing Ding Qi's mention of a "loop" as a joke, Duan Zheng now became convinced that Ding Qi was indeed experiencing a time loop, especially after Ye Kun’s panicked reaction when questioned about waiting for the loop. Duan Zheng later asked Ding Qi about the "loop" and Ye Kun's statement about "the same kind of people" knowing future events and specific time points.
Ding Qi, however, vehemently denied knowing anything about a loop or predicting the future, leaving Duan Zheng to doubt his own memory. An Lan arrived at the police station for questioning. When asked about Jiang Yuwen, she shared rumors that he had committed suicide before his disappearance, burning down his lab to destroy experimental data, though his body was never found. She confirmed her attendance at the canceled Zhao family wedding as a chief assistant, considering herself half an executive.
Ding Qi showed An Lan a photo of Ye Kun, and she felt a sense of familiarity but couldn't recall where she might have seen him. Ding Qi pressed An Lan about how she knew about a highway accident that morning, implying she had foreknowledge. An Lan initially deflected, mentioning checking the news and having a traffic police colleague, but eventually suggested she knew because Ding Qi was on that road.
In another room, Mo Yuanzhi expressed his confusion as to why You Yuxiang had accused him of killing Jiang Yuwen, questioning You Yuxiang's mental stability and the absence of a body for the alleged murder. He stated that on the day Jiang Yuwen disappeared, evidence like the timeline, witnesses, and surveillance footage showed he never entered the lab. He then recounted his past with Jiang Yuwen, who was his PhD supervisor and once his idol, despite his eccentric personality.
In his final doctoral year, Jiang Yuwen treated him as a partner, which Mo Yuanzhi greatly appreciated. However, their relationship deteriorated when Mo Yuanzhi sought to co-author a cutting-edge research paper with Jiang Yuwen. Jiang Yuwen repeatedly refused, accusing Mo Yuanzhi of taking "shortcuts" in science and predicting his downfall. Mo Yuanzhi interpreted this as jealousy from his idol.
He applied to change supervisors, but before the request was approved, an explosion occurred in the lab, and Jiang Yuwen disappeared without a trace, his body never found by the police. Yu Peishan inquired about Jiang Yuwen's case with her former teacher. The teacher confirmed the lab fire was an accident, leading to significant research loss for students, but Mo Yuanzhi cleverly changed his research topic, graduated successfully, and founded Moma Biotechnology.
Rumors also circulated that Jiang Yuwen suffered from depression and had committed suicide by jumping into a river. Yu Peishan obtained photocopies of the fire incident records, discovering that her superior, Huang Yuan, was the official recorder. Meanwhile, Yu Shiya received news that the Zhao family wedding for the evening was canceled, which she reacted to with anger.
Ding Qi, sensing something mysterious about the B1 lab next to An Lan’s, instructed Yu Peishan to retrieve surveillance footage from Moma Biotechnology’s R&D department, assuring her he would take responsibility for any issues. Yu Peishan's monitoring later revealed Mo Yuanzhi and Yu Shiya appearing at the lab in the early morning.
Yu Shiya went to the hospital to confront a person who had been impersonating a student and was injured at the lecture hall, questioning why her messages went unanswered. Ding Qi and other police officers arrived and apprehended Yu Shiya. At the police station, Ding Qi suspected Yu Shiya of intending to murder Mo Yuanzhi, noting she had previously used similar methods to monitor Han Song and Tang Shaorong.
Yu Shiya admitted to monitoring all three men, explaining that they had been colluding to "eat away at her family's shares" and were ruthless businessmen beneath their scientific facade. She claimed she had observed discord among them, which she viewed as a positive for maintaining corporate balance. She was surprised when both Han Song and Tang Shaorong died within a month.
Yu Shiya further revealed that on the mornings of Han Song and Tang Shaorong's deaths, and again this morning, Mo Yuanzhi had woken up early and left his home. She followed him today to the B1 lab at Moma Biotechnology but was blocked by access restrictions. She then observed An Lan entering the same B1 lab. Unsure if it was a date or work, Yu Shiya requested Ding Qi to investigate and inform her if her husband was being unfaithful. She concluded by admitting that she did want to kill Mo Yuanzhi, echoing a sentiment that every married couple experiences moments of wishing to kill each other.
