Born With Luck resumo, enredo, sinopse

Sinopse de Born With Luck

After being away from frontline criminal investigations for several years, police officer Zhang Yi'ang is sent to Sanjiangkou to investigate a case following an anonymous report received by the provincial department. Shortly after arriving, the captain of the criminal police team is murdered.

While trying to clear himself of suspicion, Zhang Yi'ang unexpectedly captures the culprit behind a series of murders, quickly earning a reputation. He then directs the investigation toward the criminal group led by the local wealthy businessman Zhou Rong.

However, a steady stream of inept thieves keeps appearing, and the intrigue and rivalry among these foolish criminals create a butterfly effect that unexpectedly helps Zhang Yi’ang and the police score repeated breakthroughs. By a twist of fate, Zhang Yi’ang eventually gathers all the bumbling thieves together.

Relying on intelligence and courage, he emerges victorious, uncovers the reason behind his colleague’s death, and finally brings the true murderer to justice.

Resumos de Born With Luck

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Five years ago, on a rainy rooftop in Ping'an City, Investigator Zhang Yi'ang of the Public Security Bureau attempted to dissuade a man from committing suicide. Zhang used various psychological tactics, even reciting Emily Dickinson’s poetry to distract him and emphasizing that life is a precious gift. Despite these efforts, the man remained resolute, claiming he didn't need saving before jumping to his death. The tragedy left a lasting mark on Zhang’s career and psychological state.

In the present day, two criminals named Fang Chao and Liu Zhi attempted a bank robbery that turned into a farce. They exerted all their strength hammering at the bank’s explosion-proof glass, completely failing to notice that a side door was unlocked. By the time they realized their oversight, the door had been locked, forcing them to flee empty-handed. During a police briefing, Deputy Director Gao Dong and Captain Yan Liang reviewed the footage.

While experts speculated the suspects wanted to cause social unrest, a young officer named Li Qian suggested their failure was simply due to extreme nervousness. Surveillance soon tracked the pair—the clever Fang Chao and the dim-witted Liu Zhi—casing multiple locations, proving they were planning a second strike in the city. Meanwhile, Zhang Yi'ang had been reassigned to a quiet post at the Veteran Cadre Bureau.

Restless in his new role, he organized a marathon for retired officers, encouraging them to embark on a "new journey." Zhang’s enthusiasm turned disastrous when the former executive deputy director, Director Guo, took Zhang's advice to run with the vigor of someone "chasing drug dealers" and collapsed from exhaustion. At the hospital, an infuriated Director Gao scolded Zhang, reminding him that these veterans were priceless assets, not athletes to be pushed to their limits.

Fang Chao and Liu Zhi eventually targeted the Wuzhou Gold Store during its grand opening. Fang Chao devised a plan to ignite methane in the sewers, causing a series of manhole explosions to clear the area. Zhang Yi'ang happened to be passing by and immediately stepped in to manage the panicking crowd. In the chaos, he crossed paths with the robbers as they exited the store with a heavy bag.

Mistaking them for fleeing civilians heading the wrong way, Zhang even noticed their bag was unzipped and helped pull the zipper shut, unwittingly assisting their escape right under his nose. Back at their hideout, Fang Chao was dismayed to find that Liu Zhi had ignored the gold jewelry to steal a twenty-pound statue of the God of Wealth, mistakenly believing it was valuable Hetian jade. Fang Chao lamented their lack of profit for such a high-risk crime.

Looking for a new target, they read a newspaper article about a corrupt official in Sanjiangkou who had millions in assets. Seeing it as a sign from fate, and finding only two tickets left for that destination, Fang Chao decided they would head to Sanjiangkou to rob the official and "make a name for themselves." During the investigation of the gold store robbery, a torn piece of paper stuck to Zhang Yi'ang’s shoe provided a shocking lead.

It was a partially destroyed report letter claiming that the death of Lu Zheng, a deputy chief in Sanjiangkou six months ago, was a carefully planned murder rather than a traffic accident. The letter suggested the local bureau had merely gone through the motions during the initial investigation, but the name of the mastermind was missing from the fragment.

Director Gao Dong recognized the gravity of the claim and decided to send Zhang Yi'ang to Sanjiangkou for a year-long temporary posting to uncover the truth. Despite Zhang’s initial reluctance and excuses about a gout flare-up, Gao insisted this was his final chance to prove he wasn't a "good-for-nothing loser." Gao assigned the talented Li Qian to accompany him, hoping the mission would also serve as a trial for her eventual promotion. As they drove toward Sanjiangkou, Zhang recited a Pushkin poem about staying calm in the face of life's deceptions, while the two robbers were simultaneously heading toward the same city.

Zhang Yi'ang and Li Qian arrive at the Sanjiangkou Public Security Bureau to investigate a report letter suggesting that the death of former chief Lu Zheng was a premeditated murder rather than a traffic accident. Their arrival is met with immediate friction; many officers, resenting a newcomer taking a deputy chief position they coveted, act uncooperatively.

Chief Qi Zhenxing welcomes Zhang, but veteran officers like Detective Captain Ye Jian and Deputy Captain Wang Ruijun claim to have the flu to avoid working with him. Consequently, Qi assigns a rookie, Song Xing, to be Zhang's sole assistant. Across town, Zhou Rong, chairman of the Rongcheng Group, celebrates his birthday with local real estate magnates. Lang Bowen presents a cake modeled after the Eastern New City development, signaling the group's ambition to dominate the project.

However, the mood shifts when Hu Jianren reports Zhang Yi’ang’s appointment. Zhou becomes visibly anxious, realizing Zhang is the same man who once worked in the provincial "Old Cadre Office" and is known for the "doubt of doubts" philosophy. Zhou's worry deepens when he receives a message from his childhood friend, Ye Jian, stating he cannot attend the party. Zhang Yi’ang eventually meets with Ye Jian and Wang Ruijun, who are pretending to recover from their illness in the office.

Zhang explains that he is there to verify new claims regarding Lu Zheng’s case. Ye Jian is openly skeptical and mocking, noting that Zhang’s "doubting the doubt" quote has become a joke within the bureau. Believing Zhang is merely using his mentor's death to revive his career after years in a "retirement" office, Ye Jian ensures Zhang receives minimal departmental support.

Meanwhile, two fugitives from the recent gold shop robbery struggle to find a place to stay because they lack identification. After being turned away by legitimate motels, they bribe the owner of a "love hotel" to stay in a room with a motorized waterbed. The following day, they take their stolen goods to Zheng Yongbing, an independent antique collector.

Zheng is wary due to the recent robbery in the provincial capital, but the sight of a valuable jade statue tempts him into negotiating a price despite the high risk. At the bureau, Zhang’ang finds his investigation deliberately hampered. The archive room is conveniently closed for a "fire safety upgrade," but Song Xing manages to locate the Lu Zheng case files hidden in a warehouse.

Zhang focuses on a specific detail: the driver who was blinded by high beams during the fatal accident. He calls in the owner of the "flagship SUV" involved that night. The driver dismisses any foul play, arrogantly claiming his automatic lighting system simply malfunctioned in the rain and insisting the event was a harmless coincidence. Despite his outward hostility toward Zhang, Ye Jian is secretly haunted by his mentor’s death.

Driven by a policeman's instinct, he reviews the original surveillance footage late at night. He notices a man holding an umbrella, standing unnervingly calm at the crash site. When he catches a glimpse of a distinctive watch on the man's wrist, he recognizes it immediately. Suspecting his inner circle, Ye Jian calls Zhou Rong and demands a meeting, asking pointedly where the businessman was on the night Lu Zheng died.

To clear his schedule for the meeting with Zhou Rong, Ye Jian asks Zhang Yi’ang to take his place leading a city-wide DUI operation, claiming his flu has worsened. Zhang, eager to prove his capability and build rapport with the local officers, agrees to oversee the checkpoints. As Zhang leads the bureau in stopping cars across Sanjiangkou, Ye Jian waits at a secluded meeting spot. Suddenly, a vehicle with obscured plates appears, blinding Ye Jian with its high beams. Before he can react, the driver accelerates, striking the detective and leaving him in a pool of blood.

Late at night, Li Qian drove Deputy Bureau Chief Zhang Yi'ang to an intersection near his residence. Zhang Yi'ang insisted on getting out there to save her the trouble of turning the car around in the narrow lane, also advising the young officer to save her money rather than spending it on unnecessary commutes. He watched her drive away before heading home, seemingly establishing his whereabouts for the night.

The next morning, the police command center was in chaos as the city’s traffic map turned deep red. Zhang Yi'ang, still new to his role and unfamiliar with the local logistics, had implemented citywide DUI checkpoints based on a suggestion from the rookie officer, Song Xing. The resulting gridlock was a disaster.

When Chief Qi and Captain Wang questioned who authorized the disruptive plan, Zhang Yi'ang stepped forward and took full responsibility, claiming it was his tactical error to protect Song Xing. This act of loyalty deeply moved the rookie, who vowed to follow Zhang's lead. Meanwhile, the bandits Fang Chao and Liu Zhi were dealing with their own frustrations.

After forcing an antique dealer named Zheng to pay them 80,000 yuan for stolen goods, they used 25,000 yuan of that money to buy a second-hand car with forged documents. However, the vehicle proved to be a death trap; the brakes failed while they were driving, and they were nearly crushed by a large truck. Furious at being sold a "piece of junk," they lured the car dealer to a secluded riverbank, intending to kill him and reclaim their money.

The car dealer arrived at the riverbank as instructed, but before the bandits could strike, the man caught sight of something, screamed "Murder!" and fled in a panic. Confused, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi approached the water’s edge and discovered a lifeless body lying there. Terrified of being framed for a crime they didn't commit, the two criminals abandoned their plan and retreated. The police soon arrived at the scene and identified the victim as Ye Jian, a veteran detective.

The loss was a heavy blow to the department, especially to Chief Qi, who was so devastated his hands shook as he tried to light a cigarette. During the forensic processing, a chilling piece of evidence was found clutched beneath Ye Jian’s body: a small stone with the name "Yi'ang" scrawled on it in blood. Suspicion immediately fell on Zhang Yi'ang.

During questioning, Zhang provided his alibi, stating that Li Qian had dropped him off at 10:30 PM and he had ordered food from a delivery app at 11:30 PM. He suggested the delivery person could verify he was home during the murder. However, the situation grew dire when technical experts determined that the handwriting on the stone matched Zhang Yi'ang’s own script.

Furthermore, Li Qian admitted she had only dropped him at the intersection and could not confirm if he actually entered his house. It also surfaced that Zhang had made a phone call to Ye Jian that night, a detail he initially forgot to mention. The investigation into Zhang’s alibi hit another dead end when the delivery woman, Jiang Ying, vanished.

Although she had initially confirmed the delivery to a local station, she and her husband went missing shortly after, with both their phones turned off. Determined to clear his name, Zhang Yi'ang took Song Xing to search for the witness themselves. They arrived at Jiang Ying’s residence and obtained a key from the landlady. Inside the apartment, they found the rooms in disarray, suggesting a hurried flight.

Based on his brief encounter during the delivery, Zhang provided a precise description of Jiang Ying, noting her height, fair complexion, and light gait. He ordered a citywide manhunt, directing all forces to secure the transportation hubs. At the Sanjiangkou Transportation Center, a nervous Jiang Ying and her husband were seen trying to blend into the crowd, fearing the police were already closing in.

At the Rongcheng Group, Li Penggai (also known as Jianren), the head of security, brings a self-proclaimed Feng Shui master to see the chairman, Zhou Rong. The master presents a God of Wealth statue, claiming it must face east to bring immense fortune. While Zhou Rong finds the display amusing, it is later revealed to be a scam orchestrated by Jianren.

He purchased the statue for only 60,000 yuan but reported a cost of 260,000 yuan to Zhou Rong, pocketing the difference while paying the "master"—actually a low-level actor—a mere 1,000 yuan for his performance. Meanwhile, the bandits Fang Chao and Liu Zhi scout the Sanjiangkou Transportation Center for their next target. Having failed to make much money from a previous antique dealer robbery, they decide to kidnap a corrupt official based on a plan Fang Chao read in a novel.

Fang Chao profiles their ideal victim: a high-ranking official over forty in a position of real power, as such individuals often hide illicit cash at home. During their stakeout, Fang Chao notices a news report about Fang Yong, the Director of the East New Town Administrative Committee, and selects him as their target. Nearby, the delivery worker Jiang Ying and her husband, Li Feng, are attempting to flee the city with their infant.

They notice the two bandits staring at them and, paralyzed by guilt, mistake them for undercover police. Fearful of being caught, Li Feng decides to abandon their bus tickets and try their luck at the train station instead. Zhang Yi'ang, relying on his intuition, instructs his colleague Li Qian to drive directly to the train station. His hunch pays off when they spot the couple in the crowd. As the officers approach, Li Feng panics.

Seeing Li Qian reach for a recording pen in her pocket, he assumes she is drawing a pistol and pulls out a dagger. However, Jiang Ying tearfully begs her husband to stop running for the sake of their child. Overwhelmed, Li Feng drops the knife and surrenders. Back at the station, a fingerprint match confirms that Li Feng is a notorious Class A fugitive responsible for fifteen murders over several years.

This accidental capture is a massive achievement for Zhang Yi'ang, potentially securing his return to the provincial capital. In the interrogation room, Li Feng’s tragic backstory emerges: he first went to prison for killing a man who raped Jiang Ying, and after his release, he murdered the family of the man who had been abusing her.

He also reveals that six months ago, an old cellmate nicknamed Scarface (or Fei) offered him money to help kill a senior police official named Lu Zheng. Li Feng initially agreed because he needed money for his child but eventually backed out at his wife's insistence. Zhang Yi'ang is troubled to learn there was a deliberate, organized plot against Lu Zheng’s life. Meanwhile, Zhou Rong is devastated by the murder of his close friend, Captain Ye Jian.

Suspecting that his subordinate Lang Bowen might have killed Ye Jian to "clean up" legal troubles, Zhou Rong visits Bowen’s home with armed men. Bowen denies the accusation, claiming he was at home with his younger brother, Lang Botu. He admits he tried to arrange a hit on a police officer months ago through Fei, but insists the job was never carried out because Fei was too cowardly.

To ensure no loose ends remain, Zhou Rong instructs Jianren to find Fei. Jianren tracks Fei down and interrogates him. Fei admits he was too scared to kill anyone and had tried to recruit Li Feng instead. To prevent Fei from ever speaking to the authorities, Jianren orders his men to "bury his mouth," silencing the witness permanently. Following the high-profile arrest, Zhang Yi'ang visits the hospital to treat a leg injury.

Despite his success, he complains to the doctor about a total lack of sensation in his leg. After finding no physical issues, the doctor dryly suggests that Zhang Yi'ang visit the psychiatry department on the fourth floor, leaving the deputy chief to wonder if his subordinates and the medical staff all believe he is losing his mind.

Following the death of Yu Xiaofei, Zhou Rong remains determined to eliminate any lingering evidence. He orders his man, Li Penggai, to infiltrate Xiaofei’s home and retrieve a computer hard drive. Li Penggai successfully breaks into the apartment and secures the hardware, but his exit is nearly thwarted when several police cars arrive. Song Xing and his team surround the building, noticing immediately that someone has already been inside.

A frantic chase ensues as Song Xing pursues a suspicious figure through the neighborhood, but Li Penggai manages to vanish into the crowded streets. Later, Li Penggai reports his narrow escape to Zhou Rong. While the hard drive is safe, Zhou Rong instructs him to lay low and avoid the company for a while to ensure the Rongcheng Group maintains its legitimate facade. Zhou Rong’s next objective is to secure a lucrative piece of land in the East New Town.

To succeed, he needs the support of the administrative committee director, Fang Yong. However, his subordinates warn him that Fang Yong is a notoriously clean official—a "model of integrity" who refuses cars and drivers, choosing instead to cycle to work and donate his savings to charity. When his men suggest tempting the divorced director with women, Zhou Rong dismisses the idea as vulgar.

Knowing Fang Yong is a man of culture who publishes poetry, Zhou Rong insists on a more sophisticated approach to win him over. Meanwhile, the small-time criminals Fang Chao and Liu Zhi are also observing Fang Yong. They decide to find evidence of his corruption to use as leverage, though they realize that catching such a frugal man in an act of greed will require immense patience.

In the wake of the major arrest of the serial killer Li Feng, Zhang Yi'ang is eager to escape the complexities of Sanjiangkou. He calls his mentor, High Chief Gao, in the provincial capital, hoping to use his recent success as leverage for a transfer. However, his mentor refuses, pointing out that two policemen being killed in such a small city within six months is no coincidence. He orders Zhang to stay and uncover the connection between the cases.

Frustrated, Zhang Yi'ang decides to feign a severe leg injury. He appears before Director Qi in a wheelchair, claiming that a "secondary trauma" has left him unable to walk and that he must return to the provincial capital for specialized treatment. Director Qi reluctantly agrees but insists on hosting a farewell dinner. Li Qian remains skeptical of Zhang Yi'ang’s clumsy persona.

After analyzing the capture of Li Feng, she concludes that Zhang is a brilliant strategist who stayed behind the scenes on purpose. She believes the city-wide DUI crackdown was actually a masterstroke designed specifically to flush out the fugitive. Li Qian takes her findings to Director Qi and Captain Wang, revealing Zhang’s history of solving seventeen major cases while at the provincial department.

She argues that Zhang Yi'ang is the only person capable of solving the murders of Chief Lu and Ye Jian. Convinced by her logic, the local leadership decides they cannot afford to let him go. On the night of his planned departure, Zhang Yi'ang finds himself caught in a trap set by his colleagues. Song Xing performs a dramatic display of guilt, claiming he was responsible for Zhang’s injury and insisting on resigning to accompany him back to the city.

Director Qi and Captain Wang join in, praising Zhang as a "master detective" whose foresight saved the department. They tell him that the entire bureau needs his mind and experience, offering to provide the best local medical care if only he will stay and command from the sidelines. Faced with such overwhelming pressure, Zhang Yi'ang realizes he is stuck in Sanjiangkou and "miraculously" recovers his ability to stand.

To keep Li Penggai out of the public eye, Zhou Rong decides to "promote" him by sending him to work at a construction site hauling sand. Initially suspicious that this is a "farewell meal" before being discarded, Li Penggai is reassured by Hu Jianren that the company is testing his character. Hu Jianren explains that top enterprises groom talent by starting them from the grass roots.

Li Penggai eventually accepts the assignment, believing that enduring this hardship is the only way to reach a high-level position within the group. The media soon picks up the story, hailing Zhang Yi'ang as a legendary detective for capturing a fugitive with fifteen murders to his name. This publicity catches the eye of Zhou Rong, who is still grieving his childhood friend, Ye Jian.

At the memorial service for Ye Jian, Zhou Rong arrives with a large entourage, including Hu Jianren, the Lang brothers, and Lu Yibo. His emotional and loud presence creates a stark contrast with the mourning police officers. During the service, Zhou Rong approaches Zhang Yi'ang and presents his business card. Calling him a master detective, Zhou Rong pleads with Zhang to find his friend's killer at any cost, offering his full cooperation. Zhang Yi'ang accepts the card, noting the deep but mysterious bond between the wealthy developer and the fallen officer.

Following Zhou Rong's orders to eliminate all evidence, his operatives successfully silenced Xiao Fei. To ensure no digital traces remained, another henchman broke into Xiao Fei's home to steal his computer tower. Although the thief secured the hardware, he was nearly caught by the sudden arrival of the police. He narrowly escaped the dragnet, leaving the investigators with a cold trail.

In the aftermath of Captain Ye Jian’s death, Zhang Yi’ang met with the veteran forensic doctor, Mr. Chen, to review the autopsy. The report revealed that Ye Jian had been struck by a vehicle before sustaining six significant stab wounds from a dagger. The most baffling detail was the orientation of the wounds; the blade marks pointed both upward and downward. This inconsistent pattern defied logic, whether the attack involved one killer or several.

When Zhang Yi’ang cautiously suggested bringing in a provincial forensic team for assistance, Mr. Chen took deep offense. Having served since his graduation in 1995, the doctor felt his professional capability was being questioned. The tension only eased after colleagues pointed out Chen's chronic waist issues as a valid reason to accept help. Meanwhile, Zhou Rong was fixated on securing a massive 200-mu land deal in the East New Town.

With residential profits expected to cover all costs, the commercial rent would provide the pure profit his company, Rongcheng Real Estate, desperately needed. The man standing in his way was Fang Yong, the Director of the Administrative Committee. Despite his high rank, Fang Yong maintained a frugal lifestyle, famously commuting on an old bicycle.

Seeking to exploit Fang Yong’s reputation as a man of culture, Zhou Rong tasked his subordinate, Jianren, with procuring a valuable piece of calligraphy by the master Yu Yueran. Jianren, however, attempted to pocket a massive profit by purchasing a 5,000-yuan forgery while billing the company 500,000 yuan. They intercepted Fang Yong on his way home, pretending to seek his expert opinion on the "antique."

Fang Yong, a genuine connoisseur, immediately identified the scroll as a blatant fake from the Rong Bao Zhai shop. When Zhou Rong tried to pivot by offering the "worthless" fake as a gift, Fang Yong was insulted by the transparent attempt at manipulation. He rebuked them for their "businessman tricks" and cycled away in disgust. Furious at the embarrassment, Zhou Rong kicked Jianren out of the car and left him stranded.

Now officially leading the investigation in Sanjiangkou, Zhang Yi’ang pushed his team to look for a connection between Ye Jian’s murder and an older case handled by the late Chief Lu Zheng. During a search of Ye Jian’s apartment, Zhang discovered a VIP gold card for the Fenglin Night Hotel. The card had no credit limit but had never been activated, suggesting Ye Jian was too cautious to use a luxury item that did not fit his modest police salary.

Zhang realized that this hotel was the likely "interface" connecting the two cases. At the same time, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi were conducting surveillance on Fang Yong, convinced his "clean official" persona was a mask. By poring over years of newspaper archives, they discovered that while Fang Yong always rode an old bicycle, he had actually cycled through at least three different vintage models over the decade.

They reasoned that a truly frugal man would simply repair one bike; the effort to find specific vintage models suggested a calculated attempt to appear incorruptible. They staked out his residence, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Zhang Yi’ang and his team eventually arrived at the Fenglin Night Hotel. They first questioned the PR manager, Zhou Qi, who maintained a professional but evasive demeanor, claiming she had never seen Captain Ye Jian at the establishment.

Unimpressed by her rehearsed answers, Zhang Yi’ang demanded a meeting with Lu Yibo, a shareholder and manager of the hotel. Behind the scenes, Fang Yong’s career was shifted. While he was practicing "Five-Animal" health exercises at home, he received a phone call from Chief Huang. Under the guise of rewarding his years of hard work, Huang informed him that he was being moved to a "lighter" position in the provincial capital to focus on cultural research.

It was a polite but firm way of removing him from the power center of the East New Town project. The investigation reached a breakthrough when Zhang Yi’ang confronted Lu Yibo in a luxurious suite at the hotel. Lu Yibo appeared resigned, admitting that he was the one who had sent a messy, typo-ridden report letter to the authorities out of fear.

However, he hesitated when pressed for the name of the person he was reporting or the identity of Lu Zheng’s killer. Claiming he needed time to organize his thoughts, Lu Yibo asked for a delay. Zhang Yi’ang agreed to treat him as a protected witness, sensing the truth was finally within reach.

After identifying Lu Yibo as the whistleblower, Zhang Yi'ang updates his mentor on the progress of the Ye Jian and Lu Zheng cases. Although Lu Yibo is initially reluctant to name the person he reported, Zhang remains optimistic that the truth is finally within reach. The Provincial Department confirms Lu Yibo’s identity, providing the team with a solid lead to follow.

Following the police visit, Lu Yibo confesses to his girlfriend, Qiqi, that he reported Zhou Rong out of a fit of jealousy, wrongly suspecting she was having an affair with him. He explains that he had attempted to intercept the letter in the provincial capital, but a manhole explosion intervened. While he managed to recover most of the letter, one crucial page was lost—the very page Zhang Yi'ang discovered by chance.

Meanwhile, professional thieves Fang Chao and Liu Zhi spend the night staking out Fang Yong's home. Once they see him leave on his bicycle, they break into his ground-floor apartment, wearing shoe covers to avoid leaving evidence. To their frustration, they find no hidden stash of cash, only a few hundred yuan and a collection of coins. Liu Zhi dismisses Fang Yong as a penniless, clean official, mockingly viewing his decorative "mud figures" as worthless.

Fang Yong, however, is far from a simple man. Having received a call the previous night regarding a transfer to a quiet position in the provincial capital, he is in a dismal mood. He also receives a call from a radio station producer, Geng, informing him that his poetry program, "My Distant Horizon, Your Poetry," has been postponed. Feeling his influence waning, Fang Yong decides to seek one last benefit from Zhou Rong before his transfer.

At Zhou Rong’s office, the developer is furious with his assistant, Jianren, for preparing a fake edition of Fang Yong’s poetry book for a signing. Fang Yong arrives and finds the book on the floor. Amused by its high print quality, he asks to keep it. Seizing the chance to discuss the new district’s cultural industry park, Zhou Rong and Jianren follow Fang Yong back to his home to talk.

As they enter the apartment, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi are forced to scramble out of the window to avoid being caught. Because security guards are training nearby, the thieves are trapped just outside the window, where they eavesdrop on the entire conversation. Inside, Fang Yong dismisses Zhou Rong’s attempts to offer a "consulting fee." Instead, he reveals the staggering value of his home to the stunned visitors.

The "mud figures" Liu Zhi disregarded are actually authentic Tang Tri-Color Glazed Pottery, and the chairs are genuine Hainan rosewood. Fang Yong admits that while he never takes cash, he has a deep passion for "gifts" and expresses a particular desire for a full set of bronze chime bells (bianzhong). Outside, the thieves realize that Fang Yong is actually a major corrupt official, but because his wealth is tied up in hard-to-sell antiques, they decide to pivot.

Noting Zhou Rong's immense wealth as a developer, they shift their extortion target toward him instead. Later, Lu Yibo meets with Zhou Rong to apologize for the report. He admits he acted out of insecurity, even confessing to his own physical "incapability" in his relationship with Qiqi. Zhou Rong is frustrated but advises Lu Yibo to tell the truth to the police to resolve the mess. Lu Yibo subsequently calls Zhang Yi'ang back to the club.

Over a pot of Liu’an Guapian tea, Lu Yibo retracts his report, claiming it was entirely fabricated due to a personal misunderstanding. When questioned about the explosion in the provincial capital, he maintains he was simply an unlucky victim. Zhang Yi'ang leaves the meeting feeling deflated, realizing the lead he worked so hard to uncover might lead to a dead end.

Outside the Rongcheng Group building, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi watched the entrance with envy. Fang Chao expressed a desire to become a "vulgar man" himself—the kind with piles of cash hidden at home. They discussed their target, a low-key businessman who was much harder to track than a previous target who had foolishly allowed himself to be filmed for a news report.

Liu Zhi regretted that they had lost the boss's trail earlier because Fang Chao had to stop and relieve himself in the woods. Fang Chao remained undeterred, comparing their mission to the story of the man who moved mountains; they would simply keep following the boss every night until he finally went home. Inside the police station, Zhang Yi'ang pressured Lu Yibo to explain why he had filed a fake report against his childhood friend, Zhou Rong.

Lu Yibo confessed that his actions were driven by a misguided sense of love and jealousy. He explained that he had once seen his girlfriend, Zhou Qi, being picked up by Zhou Rong late at night. Consumed by the belief that he was being betrayed, he wrote a letter framing Zhou Rong for the death of Lu Zheng, intending for both of them to go down together.

After mailing the letter, a distraught Lu Yibo swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills, planning to end his life. However, a phone call from Zhou Rong changed everything. Zhou Rong wanted Lu Yibo to fire a woman named Shanshan from the PR department because she lived in the same building as Zhou Qi. It turned out that Zhou Rong had been on a date with Shanshan, not Zhou Qi, and he was disgusted because she had eaten leek dumplings.

Realizing he had made a terrible mistake, Lu Yibo forced himself to vomit, but the pills had already begun to take effect, leaving him groggy and disoriented. Lu Yibo desperately contacted Jiangcheng Express to stop the delivery to the provincial capital. He was told he needed to provide his ID at a station to retrieve it, but the package was already near its destination at Yiyuan Haoting.

Lu Yibo chased the courier to the provincial capital, arriving just as a massive explosion occurred at the site. Although he was caught in the blast and covered in sewage, he managed to recover the letter, though one crucial page went missing—the very page that had eventually landed in Zhang Yi'ang's hands. Zhang Yi'ang found the story hard to believe, suspecting that the explosion might have been an attempt to stop the letter from being delivered.

He questioned Lu Yibo about his resentment toward his successful friends. Lu Yibo admitted that while Zhou Rong was a famous entrepreneur and Ye Jian had been a powerful police captain, he felt like a mere employee earning a fixed salary as a legal representative.

When Zhang Yi'ang mentioned that Ye Jian had written a name containing the character "Yi" with his dying breath, Lu Yibo became visibly shaken but insisted that Ye Jian had never visited the Fenglinwan Hotel on the night he was murdered. Meanwhile, Zhou Rong gave Lu Yibo a chance to redeem himself by tasking him with acquiring a set of ancient chime bells, or bianzhong, to satisfy the official Fang Yong.

Lu Yibo and Hu Jianren traveled to meet an antique dealer named Zhu Yifei. During a meal of Black Tiger Paw Mushroom soup, Zhu Yifei warned them that some things in life cannot be forced. Lu Yibo accidentally insulted the dealer by spitting bones into a rare Ru kiln plate, which Zhu Yifei claimed was one of only sixty-eight in existence.

While Lu Yibo dealt with the dealer, Hu Jianren visited Fang Yong’s home under the guise of measuring for a red sandalwood rack. He manipulated Fang Yong by pointing out how easily a delivery person could spot bulky, illegal antiques like chime bells through the window. He suggested that Fang Yong should switch his interest to a more discreet Ru kiln plate, spinning a tale about a salvaged Song Dynasty ship and a money-laundering scheme involving a two-hundred-million-yuan auction.

Enticed and paranoid, Fang Yong decided he wanted the plate instead of the bells. Back at the dealer's residence, Lu Yibo broke down in tears, claiming his boss had only given him a twenty-million-yuan budget and that his life would be forfeit if the deal failed. Surprisingly, Zhu Yifei agreed to the price. However, the transaction turned into a disaster when the Ru kiln plate was accidentally shattered during a demonstration of how to handle the item.

Determined to recoup his losses, Zhu Yifei contacted a tomb raider named Liu Bei, who was holding a complete set of nine Han Dynasty chime bells. Though the items were "hot" and risky to sell, Zhu Yifei saw an opportunity. He planned to sell the bells to Zhou Rong for forty-three million yuan, effectively doubling his original price to cover the cost of the broken plate and provide a share for his associates.

Lu Yibo’s friends marveled at the rare antique watch on his wrist, joking that it was a museum-quality piece inherited from a wealthy ancestor. However, the watch weighed heavily on Yibo's mind. At the police station, Zhang Yi’ang was also looking into the past, ordering the records room to pull every case Chief Lu had handled in the year before his death, searching for a connection everyone else had missed.

While alone at the Fenglin Night Hotel, Zhou Qi questioned Yibo about his recent honesty with the police regarding the fake report letter. Yibo admitted he had followed Zhou Rong’s instructions to tell the truth, but he sensed his boss’s trust was fading. To protect himself, Yibo revealed a "backup plan": on the night Ye Jian died, the captain had specifically asked him about the origins of his watch.

Suspecting the watch was a critical piece of evidence linked to Lu Zheng’s death, Yibo decided it was too dangerous to keep. Meanwhile, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi continued their persistent surveillance of Zhou Rong, though their beat-up vehicle made it difficult to keep up with his luxury car. Fang Chao vowed to find Zhou Rong’s home through sheer persistence. During one chase, a distracted Fang Chao clipped a pedestrian on a bicycle.

Fearing the police, he sped away, unaware that the man he had struck was actually Fang Yong. Fang Yong used the injury to his advantage, playing the part of an exhausted public servant to his colleagues and Chief Huang. Moved by his apparent dedication to the East New Town project, Chief Huang decided to expedite Fang Yong’s transfer so he could focus on his recovery.

Later, Fang Yong approached his former brother-in-law, Lin Kai, begging him to beat him up just enough to leave visible marks. He hoped these injuries would serve as a further excuse to step away from his duties. Lin Kai was repulsed by the request and flatly refused to help with such a bizarre scheme.

Fang Chao and Liu Zhi tried a new approach by waiting at a major fork in the road, reasoning that Zhou Rong must live in one of two nearby luxury residences. Their plan failed when Zhou Rong’s car unexpectedly headed straight for the highway, leaving them frustrated once again. In another effort to manipulate Fang Yong, Jianren visited him with a new proposal.

Since the Ru kiln plate had been destroyed, Jianren pushed for the acquisition of a bronze bianzhong set valued at over 43 million yuan. He dismissed the plate as "unlucky" due to its history and addressed Fang Yong's fears of the bianzhong being too conspicuous by presenting blueprints for a high-tech, waterproof, and nuclear-blast-proof basement. Jianren promised the company would dig it for free, and Fang Yong finally agreed to the set.

The bianzhong set was currently with an antique dealer known as Uncle Fei, who ruthlessly bargained a fugitive seller down to 800,000 yuan. A deal was struck to meet in Sanjiangkou. At the same time, Zhou Qi took Yibo’s watch and threw it onto a passing train to make it disappear. Ironically, the watch landed right in the hands of the antique dealer traveling to deliver the bianzhong, who believed he had found a lucky treasure.

Back at the station, the police found a breakthrough involving a provincial gold store robbery. Li Qian noticed that jewelry worn by Zhou Qi matched items stolen during that crime. During interrogation, Zhou Qi claimed she bought the pieces for 20,000 yuan from a dealer named Zheng Yongbing, who supposedly also sold to Zhou Rong. She also provided an alibi for the night of Ye Jian’s murder, claiming she was at her club watching a famous DJ.

Zhang Yi’ang and Li Qian began surveilling Zheng Yongbing, noting his suspiciously humble lifestyle despite his history of tomb raiding. Their investigation was interrupted by a major discovery: CCTV from the night of the incident confirmed that Ye Jian had indeed been at the Fenglin Night Hotel. Though the image was blurry, Zhang Yi’ang was energized and ready to commit more manpower to uncover the full truth.

While staking out Zheng Yongbing’s apartment, Song Xing and Li Qian grew restless. Song Xing, acting as the veteran, insisted on investigating the building himself, cautioning Li Qian that the situation was too dangerous for a woman. Li Qian scoffed at his attitude but stayed behind as Song entered the elevator, only for the lift to malfunction, trapping him inside and cutting off his phone signal. Meanwhile, at the police station, Zhang Yi'ang was meticulously reviewing Zheng's habits.

He noticed a discrepancy: Zheng ate sparingly for breakfast and lunch but had purchased a massive amount of meat and beer for dinner. Realizing these were rations for more than one person, Zhang concluded Zheng was harboring a guest and immediately ordered the team to move in, calling Li Qian to check the unit. Li Qian was forced to act alone since she could not reach Song Xing.

Disguised as property management checking for a leak, she knocked on the door. Inside, Zheng was hosting a notorious fugitive named Liu Bei, who had slipped into the city by hopping a coal train. Liu Bei revealed he was back for a high-stakes deal involving a set of nine ancient bianzhong bells, a crime that carried the death penalty. Suspecting the visitor at the door was a trap, Liu Bei knocked Zheng unconscious with a heavy ashtray.

When Li Qian entered, she found Liu Bei alone and sensed something was wrong when he grew overly insistent on showing her a "leak" in the bathroom. After she questioned Zheng’s whereabouts, Liu Bei drew a long dagger. Li Qian reacted with quick thinking, splashing water onto an electrical outlet to cause a short circuit and plunge the room into darkness.

She then used a lighter and mosquito spray to create a makeshift flamethrower, scorching the criminal and forcing him to flee. In the aftermath, both Li Qian and Zheng Yongbing were hospitalized. Li Qian faked a coma to avoid a lecture for her unauthorized actions, but Zhang Yi'ang saw through her act. After receiving a video call from his mentor—who was worried about Li Qian—Zhang pretended to forgive her, prompting her to "awaken" with a smile.

Zheng Yongbing was also pretending to be unconscious in a neighboring room, fearing charges for harboring a fugitive. Zhang Yi'ang used a similar ruse, threatening to pry his eyes open for a medical test until Zheng finally broke. Zheng confessed that his guest was indeed Liu Bei, a wanted criminal known for a massive Ponzi scheme involving claims of a tunnel into the First Emperor's mausoleum.

Zheng admitted that he had been threatened and named his buyers: he had sold stolen gold to Zhou Qi of the Fenglinwan Nightclub and a fake God of Wealth statue to Hu Jianren of the Rongcheng Group for 60,000 yuan. While the police processed Zheng's lead, they recovered Liu Bei’s backpack, which contained a few clothes and a scrap of paper bearing the name "Jinshui Pavilion" in cursive script.

Zhang Yi'ang directed the team to create sketches based on Zheng’s descriptions, knowing that Liu Bei was likely still in the city. On another front, Li Penggai (also known as Gai) was beginning his new assignment at a construction site. He warned his drivers to be cautious, as someone had been scattering nails on the roads to sabotage the trucks. Ironically, Li Penggai’s own truck eventually suffered a puncture in a remote area.

The man who appeared, offering a cheap repair, turned out to be Mao Hongwei, an old acquaintance who had bullied and exploited Li Penggai years ago. Back then, Mao and his boss had taken Li Penggai in but paid him a pittance while charging him for food and lodging. Seeing an opportunity for revenge, Li Penggai demanded 100,000 yuan in compensation for the damaged tire.

When Mao claimed he didn't have the money, Li Penggai called in a loan shark to provide the cash on the spot, forcing Mao to sign a high-interest IOU that turned his former victim into his debt-collector. Elsewhere, the Director of the Administrative Committee, Guo Bin, was dealing with an internal conspiracy. Corrupt officials were attempting to force his transfer to the provincial capital so they could install their own man to embezzle funds.

Desperate to stay and block their plans, Guo Bin met with his former brother-in-law, Fang Beichao, and asked him to break his arm. Guo Bin reasoned that a serious injury would allow him to stay in his current position while he recovered. As payment, he offered Fang Beichao his collection of antiques. While Fang Beichao dismissed the furniture as junk, he took an interest in a calligraphy piece by Yu Yueran.

Even though Guo Bin claimed it was a fake, Fang Beichao insisted on taking it as his fee for the planned assault later that night. However, while driving to carry out the deed, Fang Beichao's vehicle broke down after being overtaken by a large truck, leaving the two men stranded.

Lang Botu finally receives his IELTS exam results. When he tells his brother, Lang Bowen, that he scored a six, Bowen is initially furious, thinking his brother failed miserably and disgraced their mother’s legacy as an English teacher. However, Botu explains that a six is actually a qualifying score for graduate school applications abroad. Overjoyed, the brothers kneel before their parents' memorial to share the good news, feeling that they have finally fulfilled the family's expectations.

Meanwhile, Xia Tinggang and Mao Hongwei are in a financial crisis. Their scrap yard has no business, leading them to pose as destitute college students to beg on the street. Their act is cut short when a debt collector confronts Mao Hongwei over a 100,000 yuan loan. Though Tinggang initially tries to defend his brother, he backs down upon seeing the official IOU. Desperate, Tinggang manages to negotiate a one-week deadline to settle the debt.

The two brothers decide they need to commit a robbery to get the money, but they lack a getaway vehicle. Their luck seems to change when they find a red car abandoned at their scrap yard with a sign that says "For Free." The car was actually left there by the fugitives Fang Chao and Liu Zhi. The pair had recently hijacked a superior SUV after a road rage incident with a driver they nicknamed "Mr. Green Hat."

To avoid police detection in their slow, damaged red car, they left it at the empty scrap yard. Mao Hongwei and Tinggang are ecstatic to find the car even has half a tank of gas, viewing it as a gift from heaven. At the police station, Chief Zhang Yi’ang and Captain Wang reprimand Song Xing for his reckless behavior, which led to Li Qian being injured during their investigation at Zheng Yongbing’s home.

While Li Qian is praised for her bravery in outsmarting the criminal, Song Xing is removed from active duty and ordered to take care of her until she recovers. Despite being sidelined, the two continue to examine the case files. Li Qian notices a luxury watch in the crime scene photos that matches a specific model the late Captain Ye Jian had been researching on Taobao.

To trace the watch's origin, Li Qian and Song Xing visit the only luxury watch boutique in Sanjiangkou. Their arrival is noticed by Lu Yibo and his lover, Zhou Qi, who follow them inside. When the manager recognizes the watch as a limited-edition piece he previously serviced, Lu Yibo and Zhou Qi signal him to stay silent. The manager quickly changes his story, claiming he cannot disclose customer information.

Li Qian senses the deception and waits for the couple to leave before pressuring the manager to cooperate. He eventually hands over the service records, which confirm the watch belongs to Lu Yibo. Chief Zhang Yi’ang analyzes photos from the night of Ye Jian's death and discovers that Lu Yibo was wearing that exact watch while meeting the captain. He decides to confront Lu Yibo, calling him to arrange a meeting at the Fenglin Night Hotel.

Under pressure, Lu Yibo finally admits that he won the watch from Lang Bowen in a bet a year ago. He confirms that Ye Jian had questioned him about the watch on the night he died. Fearing he would be implicated in the captain's death, Lu Yibo had asked Zhou Qi to dispose of the watch, and he is visibly shaken to learn that the police have recovered it anyway.

Elsewhere, the criminal leader Zhou Rong is losing his patience with recent setbacks, but he is temporarily calmed by news that a major deal with a prominent figure named Zhu Yifei is approaching. However, his circle remains under threat. Zheng Yongbing, panicking after being interrogated, calls his associate Jian Ren to beg for the return of a "God of Wealth" statue at its original price so he can surrender it to the police as "returned stolen property." This call reveals that the police originally tracked Zheng through his dealings with Zhou Qi, signaling that the investigators are closing in on the operations at Fenglin Night Hotel.

Lang Botu, also known as Yangyang, confronted his older brother, Lang Bowen, about the dangerous life he was leading. Having witnessed Zhou Rong nearly pull a gun on Bowen at their home from the stairs, Yangyang expressed his deep fear. He even admitted to overhearing their conversation in the wine cellar regarding Lu Zheng’s death. Bowen reassured him that everything was under control and urged Yangyang to focus on his future.

He was proud that Yangyang had been admitted to Southern New Hampshire Mountain University and wanted him to improve the family's lineage by finding a high-achieving partner abroad. Despite the wealth Bowen had built, Yangyang insisted that his brother’s safety was more important than any inheritance. Meanwhile, complications arose regarding a fake Buddha statue that Hu Jianren had purchased from Zheng Yongbing to gift to Zhou Rong.

Fearing he would be charged with selling stolen goods after a "gold necklace" was linked to him, Zheng Yongbing contacted Hu Jianren to get the fake statue back. During their conversation, Zheng revealed that the police had been frequently questioning Lu Yibo. Hu Jianren immediately reported this to a nervous Zhou Rong, who decided to question Zhou Qi, as she was currently living with Lu Yibo. Hu Jianren arrived at their residence to pick up Zhou Qi.

Before she left, a protective Lu Yibo handed her a phone with an active call, instructing her not to hang up so he could monitor the situation. He warned her that if things went wrong, she should tell Zhou Rong to ask him directly, which would be his signal to call the police. Lu Yibo then followed them in secret. At Zhou Rong’s office, Zhou Qi was intimidated by a fierce dog that wouldn't stop barking at her.

Under pressure, she told Zhou Rong that the police were investigating a limited-edition watch that Lang Bowen had lost to Lu Yibo during a game. She explained that to protect the group, Lu Yibo had lied to the police, claiming he had received the watch a year ago—when Lu Zheng was still alive—rather than six months ago. Hearing that Lu Yibo seemed to be protecting their interests, Zhou Rong allowed Zhou Qi to leave.

Having followed them to the building, Lu Yibo became frantic when he heard the dog barking over the phone and feared for Zhou Qi’s safety. He dialed Chief Zhang Yi'ang, ready to confess everything. However, once he saw Zhou Qi exit the building safely, his resolve crumbled. When Zhang Yi'ang answered, Lu Yibo backtracked, claiming he had simply had too much to drink and was speaking nonsense due to the stress of the investigation.

As Lu Yibo tried to leave, he was caught by Hu Jianren, who noticed his camera and binoculars. When Hu Jianren threatened to tell Zhou Rong about his spying, Lu Yibo retaliated with his own blackmail. He revealed that he knew about the kickbacks Hu had been taking and that the Buddha statue gifted to Zhou Rong was a cheap fake. Lu Yibo also mentioned that Captain Ye Jian had visited him the very night he died.

The two men reached a tense stalemate, agreeing to keep each other's secrets. Zhang Yi'ang, sensing that Lu Yibo’s psychological defenses were nearly broken, shifted his focus to Lang Bowen. He arrived at the Century Otto office while Lang Botu was celebrating his university admission. While waiting, Zhang Yi'ang spoke with Yangyang, who claimed his brother had been home early and drunk on the night of Captain Ye's accident.

However, Zhang Yi'ang remained suspicious, as he had discovered that Lu Yibo had called Bowen on the night of the accident. During the interrogation, Lang Bowen remained composed. He admitted the watch was his but claimed he had lost it in a game months ago. He even confessed to being at the scene of Lu Zheng’s fatal car accident but dismissed it as a coincidence, noting that he just happened to be passing by and was likely caught on surveillance.

Despite the lack of a confession, Zhang Yi'ang discovered a suspicious bank record showing that Zhou Rong’s company had transferred 30 million yuan to Lang Bowen’s company just three days after Lu Zheng’s death. To heighten the pressure and sow discord, Zhang Yi'ang ordered police cars to park conspicuously outside Lang Bowen’s office. Hu Jianren observed this and asked Zhou Rong if they should take action against Bowen. Zhou Rong, ever the "old fox," cautioned against any sudden moves. He realized the police were testing them and believed that as long as they remained still, they would be safe.

Zhou Rong is feeling the pressure as the police investigation intensifies. Fearing his assets might soon be seized, he uses a backup phone to contact Mei Dong, a wanted criminal currently operating abroad. Rong wants to move over 300 million RMB from his domestic accounts to Dong's offshore accounts as quickly as possible. Sensing Rong’s desperation, Dong initially demands a massive 30% handling fee. Rong is livid, accusing him of being "crazy for money."

Dong eventually offers a lower rate of 10%, but only if the transfer is done slowly over six months. Rong insists on speed, and Dong assures him that no one launders money faster or more safely, though the cost of greasing palms at every level will be high. Meanwhile, Bureau Chief Zhang Yi'ang is not just focusing on Zhou Rong, Lang Bowen, and Lu Yibo; he is also hunting the thieves from the jewelry store robbery.

Using surveillance footage, he identifies two suspects, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi, who had purchased a red taxi and were seen operating in Sanjiangkou. They had previously kidnapped a man named Lin Kai and stolen his business vehicle. Zhang informs the team that a provincial task force, led by a renowned criminal psychology expert named Yan Liang, will arrive the next day.

Eager to present a "big gift" to the provincial authorities, the entire station is mobilized to screen footage, eventually tracking the suspects' movements to a suburban road. The suspects, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi, have repainted their stolen white vehicle black and changed the plates to avoid detection. While speeding along the highway to test the car’s performance, Liu Zhi realizes they haven't checked on their kidnap victim, Lin Kai, in two days.

When they stop at the Sandu Service Area and open the trunk, they find Lin Kai dead. Fang Chao is devastated; he never intended for someone to die. He discovers that Lin Kai, who was prone to motion sickness, had choked to death on his own vomit because a towel was stuffed in his mouth.

Realizing they are now facing a murder charge, they bury the body in a nearby field, marking the spot with a sign in a clumsy, ironic attempt at misdirection. Elsewhere, Fang Yong is searching for Lin Kai to help him stage a workplace injury so he can keep his job. He visits Lin Kai’s home but only finds his wife, Yingzi, and her secret lover, Yang Wei, who is hiding.

Desperate to find Lin Kai, Fang Yong pays an illegal advertiser 2,000 RMB for phone tracking, which places Lin Kai at the Sandu Service Area. Fang Yong attempts to hail a taxi late at night, but several drivers refuse the remote trip. He eventually hitches a ride with two nervous men, Mao Hongwei and Xia Yonggang, in a dilapidated red taxi.

When Fang Yong sees the two men hesitating over an axe and a hammer in the front seat, he panics and leaps from the car, fleeing into the dark woods. While running through the brush, Fang Yong stumbles over a patch of loose dirt and sees human fingers sticking out of the ground. Terrified, he flees and makes an anonymous report from a public phone booth. The police arrive and identify the victim as Lin Kai.

They also find a suspect's backpack containing clothes and the name "Jinshuiting" written in cursive. Recognizing the name as a lead, Zhang Yi'ang brings in Yang Wei, the owner of the stolen vehicle and Lin Kai's sworn brother, for questioning. At the station, Zhang Yi'ang uses a clever bluff, leading Yang Wei to believe the police have footage of his affair with Yingzi.

Yang Wei immediately crumbles and confesses to the relationship but insists he had no reason to kidnap his brother. He reveals the history of the "Jinshuiting" group, explaining how Mei Dong handled the channels and money laundering, Liu Bei robbed the tombs, and he and Lin Kai managed the market. He tells the police that Mei Dong fled to Southeast Asia years ago after a tomb robbery ended in murder.

During the interrogation, Yang Wei receives a surprise call from Mei Dong. Dong reveals he has secretly returned to Sanjiangkou to personally negotiate a "big deal" that could sustain them for years. He invites Yang Wei to meet him at 7 PM in the lobby of the Guanlan Hotel. Zhang Yi'ang is shocked by this turn of events, realizing that the return of a high-level fugitive like Mei Dong is a major breakthrough. Chief Zhang orders the team to prepare for a major arrest operation at the hotel while coordinating with the provincial authorities.

Zhang Yi'ang organized a high-stakes sting operation to capture the notorious fugitive Mei Dong. Since Mei Dong had reached out to Yang Wei, it was clear he was unaware that the police already had Yang Wei in custody. Zhang briefed his team to deploy in plain clothes around the Guanlan Hotel, forming a tight encirclement.

All core members were armed, and the plan was set: if the man meeting Yang Wei was confirmed to be Mei Dong, they would move in; if it was merely a scout, they would remain patient. At the hotel, Yang Wei sat in the lobby, his nerves barely masked by a facade of boredom. A plainclothes officer disguised as a waiter leaned in while serving tea, whispering for him to stay calm and act like a man.

Soon, one of Mei Dong’s subordinates arrived and led Yang Wei away. To evade surveillance, the man avoided the elevators and guided Yang Wei through a series of winding fire exits and service corridors before finally bringing him to a private room. Inside the room, Mei Dong’s men strictly enforced security, confiscating Yang Wei’s phone and searching him for recording devices. When Mei Dong finally appeared, his face was unrecognizable due to extensive plastic surgery.

He teased Yang Wei about his new appearance before the conversation turned to business. Mei Dong revealed he had returned to the country specifically for a massive deal with Zhou Rong. However, the atmosphere shifted when the room’s landline rang. A voice on the other end offered massage services, and Yang Wei, in a moment of panicked distraction, remarked that a bit of relaxation sounded good. This odd response immediately tipped off the hyper-cautious Mei Dong that something was wrong.

Realizing the trap, Mei Dong struck Yang Wei over the head with a heavy ashtray and fled into the emergency stairwell with his men. To confuse the pursuing officers, he utilized a decoy wearing an identical red hoodie, successfully drawing the main police force away. While most of the team chased the double, Zhang Yi'ang remained in the underground parking garage. Catching a glimpse of a suspicious shadow lurking in a corner, Zhang cautiously followed the trail.

He discovered Mei Dong hiding inside a garbage truck and quickly pressed a button to seal the lid, trapping the fugitive inside. During the subsequent interrogation, Mei Dong remained defiant and smug, relying on his training as a former sanda champion to maintain a stoic front. Zhang Yi'ang decided to switch tactics, shifting from legal pressure to personal insults.

He mocked Mei Dong’s life abroad, suggesting he had fallen on hard times and was forced to marry Kanokkorn Sukum, the leader of a massive Southeast Asian money-laundering gang. Zhang laughed, calling Mei Dong a plaything who lived off the wealth of a woman in her seventies. The insult struck a nerve. Enraged by the suggestion that he was "eating soft rice," Mei Dong snapped and corrected the record.

He revealed that the person he married was actually Kanokkore Sukum, his maid. He had only wed her to use her identity to register a company and maintain secret control over its operations. In his pride, he boasted that he had handled every aspect of the money-laundering business himself, including a scheme involving a three-hundred-million-yuan patent infringement lawsuit between the Sumita Company and Zhou Rong’s firm.

By the time Mei Dong realized he had been baited into a confession, the damage was done. Meanwhile, Zhou Rong grew uneasy when he called Mei Dong and received no response. Sensing that his associate had been compromised, he began finalizing an escape plan.

To keep his inner circle loyal, he sat down with Hu Jianren and shared his vision of a "Utopia" on a South Pacific island called Gondwana, promising to take his trusted aide with him when he fled. The police team gathered for a meal provided by Chief Qi to celebrate the breakthrough, but Zhang Yi'ang remained vigilant, noting that while Zhou Rong was careful, his subordinates might not be. He ordered expanded surveillance on Zhou Rong’s key people.

While Zhang Yi'ang decided to track Li Penggai, who was busy lending out a luxury S600 to a friend named Xiao Li, Li Qian was assigned to tail Hu Jianren. She followed him to the Sanjiangkou Children's Training Center, where she was baffled to find the hardened criminal sitting in a classroom, awkwardly attempting to learn basic English phrases alongside young children.

At the Youth Palace, Li Qian followed Hu Jianren to monitor his activities. When he caught her outside the restroom, she remained calm and pretended to be an English student who was too embarrassed to attend adult classes. Hu Jianren, using the English name Peter, was instantly struck by her beauty and clear gaze. Believing he had found a new connection, he tried to share his listening exercises with her, but she claimed her device was out of battery.

To maintain her cover, Li Qian, going by the name Cici, spent the next three days accompanying him to English lessons, enduring the boredom of language drills from morning until night. Meanwhile, Zhang Yi'ang reorganized the police surveillance teams. While Li Qian focused on Hu Jianren, Song Xing was assigned to track Li Penggai. Believing he would soon be rewarded by Zhou Rong, Li Penggai spent his days touring various high-end real estate developments.

He acted like a wealthy man with an unlimited budget, though he would often pilfer snacks and umbrellas from the sales centers. Afterward, he always stopped at a local Malatang shop. Song Xing, forced to eat the same spicy food while tailing him for several days, eventually suffered from severe dehydration. Other officers followed Zhou Rong’s associates, but their reports mostly detailed late-night partying with little actionable intelligence.

The situation changed during a morning commute when a sudden three-car collision occurred. Li Qian, distracted while tracking her target, rear-ended a luxury car belonging to Zhou Rong’s company. Realizing the vehicle’s connection to her investigation, she quickly hid her police ID. Hu Jianren drove by and recognized "Cici," greeting her warmly. Zhou Rong, intrigued by her appearance, told her not to worry about the repair costs before driving away.

The luxury car had actually been driven by Du Cong, who had surreptitiously borrowed it from Li Penggai to use for his girlfriend’s wedding business. When they returned to the company, Hu Jianren ignored Zhou Rong’s earlier generosity and insisted that Du Cong pay for the repairs himself, as the lead car in the accident had fled and the company car only carried mandatory insurance.

Facing a thirty-thousand-yuan repair bill he couldn't afford, Du Cong obtained Li Qian’s number from the traffic police records. He called her, suggesting that since she had no money, she could use her beauty to clear the debt. He offered to introduce her to Zhou Rong, claiming that if she pleased the wealthy mogul, her financial worries would vanish. Li Qian played along, expressing her willingness to meet such an influential figure.

Back at the police station, Li Qian reported the incident. Zhang Yi'ang warned her to stay away from Zhou Rong, noting that he was far too vigilant for a rookie undercover officer to handle. He reminded her that gaining the trust of such a criminal could take years and that her safety was the primary concern. Elsewhere, the fugitives Fang Chao and Liu Zhi remained trapped in a pit trap near Zhou Rong’s residence.

Having been stuck there for several days without food, they were starving and exhausted. Liu Zhi was bleeding from a head wound caused by falling timber. When they heard footsteps approaching, Fang Chao signaled for silence. He knew that any rescue from the residents of that house would likely lead to their execution rather than their freedom. At Zhou Rong’s office, Li Penggai attempted to prove his worth after being sidelined at a construction site.

He desperately told Zhou Rong that he wanted to be a loyal subordinate, quoting, "Money can buy obedience, but it can't buy loyalty." The phrase immediately put Zhou Rong on edge. He had said those exact words to Hu Jianren six months earlier on the night Lang Bowen murdered Deputy Chief Lu Zheng. Zhou Rong recalled the rainy night when Lang Bowen killed Lu Zheng to clear their path in Sanjiangkou.

Fearing that Li Penggai had overheard the details of the murder that night, Zhou Rong became deeply suspicious and ordered Hu Jianren to keep a close watch on him. As the time for the bianzhong transaction neared, Zhu Yifei contacted Zhou Rong to move the deal to the following day. Zhou Rong planned to use the ancient bells to secure the East New Town project, which he believed would solve all his financial problems.

Zhang Yi'ang, sensing a major move because Hu Jianren had suddenly cancelled his English lessons, prepared the police for a confrontation. He gave Li Qian a seemingly light task, telling her to take a police vehicle for maintenance. While stopping to buy breakfast, Li Qian spotted Liu Bei and his men loading heavy luggage cases into a truck.

Realizing these were the stolen bianzhong, she managed to jump into the back of the truck just before the doors were locked from the outside. In the scramble, her mobile phone fell and shattered, leaving her trapped inside the dark cargo hold with the artifacts and no way to contact her team.

After being trapped in a deep pit for days, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi finally managed to escape. Using a sturdy wooden stick they found, they coordinated their remaining strength to pull themselves out of the darkness. Once back on solid ground, Fang Chao remained focused on their mission, while a starving Liu Zhi felt so desperate he claimed he could eat anything. At Zhou Rong’s heavily guarded estate, the atmosphere was thick with tension.

Chief Zhang of the police department monitored the villa from afar, noting that Zhou Rong had consolidated his men there for a major event. Meanwhile, Zhu Yifei arrived in a truck supposedly delivering the bianzhong (ancient bells). Because standard delivery vehicles were restricted from the front entrance, the truck was directed to the back garden. Li Qian, who had been hiding in the vehicle, seized the moment to slip out unnoticed as the cargo doors were opened.

The estate was massive, and Li Qian quickly became disoriented. Before she could find an exit, a security guard intercepted her. Thinking quickly, she claimed to be a guest of the boss. Impressed by her appearance and wary of offending a potential acquaintance of Zhou Rong, the guard led her straight to him. Zhou Rong was waiting outside for the delivery when he saw the beautiful stranger.

His subordinate, Jianren, mistakenly assumed she was a "gift" arranged by Du Cong to curry favor. Zhou Rong, intrigued, instructed her to wait in the room next to his study. The high-stakes meeting between the two bosses then began. Zhu Yifei maintained a humble front, claiming he arrived disguised as the truck driver because "true concealment is blending into the crowd." He introduced his eclectic crew—Zhengzheng, Pangpang (Chubby), and Shoushou (Scrawny)—before presenting a suitcase full of cash.

Zhou Rong demonstrated a high-tech hidden mechanism in the case designed to bypass security scanners. Zhu Yifei accepted the deposit but then claimed he needed to leave immediately, promising the goods would be delivered by someone else in thirty minutes. Zhou Rong, refusing to be fooled, blocked the exit and insisted on "cash on delivery." He warned Zhu Yifei that no one would leave without the artifacts. The tension escalated until Zhou Rong recognized Zhu’s bodyguard, Huo Zheng.

Known as a lethal professional hitman, Huo Zheng’s presence signaled that this was no ordinary trade. To de-escalate, Zhou Rong jokingly claimed they were distant "relatives" through a nonsensical family connection and offered the group access to his private club services, leading Zhu Yifei to reluctantly agree to wait. While the bosses squared off, the actual thief, Liu Bei, was transporting the bianzhong in a van.

His vehicle was suddenly rear-ended by a taxi driven by Du Cong, who was transporting the appraiser Fang Yong. A greedy argument broke out as Du Cong tried to extort five hundred yuan for the damage, which Liu Bei misinterpreted as five thousand. To settle the dispute and avoid the police, Fang Yong stepped out and offered ten thousand yuan. However, the situation spiraled when Liu Bei saw a contract that had fallen out of Fang Yong’s bag.

He discovered the true purchase price was 23 million yuan. Realizing Zhu Yifei was scamming him out of a fortune by only offering him 600,000 yuan, a furious Liu Bei abandoned the deal and drove off with the artifacts. Back at the villa, Zhu Yifei received word of the delay and made an excuse to depart. Shortly after, Huo Zheng discovered a mobile phone under a table and handed it to Zhou Rong.

Zhou Rong was horrified to realize it was Lang Bowen’s phone, which contained an incriminating video of Lu Zheng’s "accident." He was certain he had smashed and burned this specific device months ago. Terrified by its reappearance, he began desperately trying to guess the password, testing various birthdays. Li Qian eventually spotted an opportunity to flee through the garden, but Zhou Rong caught sight of her shadow and intercepted her.

He confronted her, suspecting she was working for Zhu Yifei or was there specifically to plant the mysterious phone and steal the password. He brought up their previous encounter during the car crash, convinced her arrival was a calculated move to trap him. Surrounded by Zhou Rong’s men, Li Qian found herself with no way out.

Li Qian found herself in a precarious position as Zhou Rong grew increasingly suspicious of her. Seeing him grip a golf club, she realized she couldn't talk her way out and prepared to defend herself with a Buddha statue. However, she was struck from behind and knocked unconscious. Her attackers were Fang Chao and Liu Zhi, who had escaped their trap and infiltrated the villa.

After disguised themselves in uniforms stolen from two housekeepers they had overpowered, the duo had been looking for an opportunity to rob Zhou Rong. The disguised pair confronted Zhou Rong in his study. Though he initially tried to resist, Zhou Rong became cooperative once he saw Fang Chao was armed with a gun. He surrendered a suitcase containing one million US dollars in cash, which had been intended for Zhu Yifei.

However, when Liu Zhi picked up a mobile phone from the desk, Zhou Rong panicked. He lied, claiming the phone contained irreplaceable photos of a deceased relative and offered them the million dollars just to leave the device behind. Realizing the phone was valuable leverage, the thieves kept it and knocked Zhou Rong out before fleeing. Li Qian, who had woken up, remained still on the floor until they were gone. Soon after, Zhang Yi'ang arrived with a police team.

As Li Qian tried to slip away, she was intercepted by Li Penggai, a villa worker who recognized her as a police officer but accused her of trespassing. A confrontation ensued, but it was cut short when Zhou Rong emerged. Desperate to avoid police scrutiny of his illegal dealings, Zhou Rong covered up the robbery, claiming everything was fine and that Li Qian and the others were his invited guests.

Back at the station, Li Qian reported the transaction she had overheard and the subsequent robbery. While Captain Wang wanted to prioritize finding the two unidentified robbers to recover the phone, Li Qian and Zhang Yi'ang decided to focus on Liu Bei. They had Liu Bei's photograph and knew he was a key middleman who had vanished with part of the "bianzhong" (ancient chime bells).

They suspected Liu Bei was now in grave danger from both Zhou Rong and Zhu Yifei. Meanwhile, Liu Bei had discovered that the bells were worth tens of millions of dollars, far more than the small sum Zhu Yifei had promised him. Angered by the deception, he kept one small bell for himself and decided to bypass the middlemen to deal with Zhou Rong directly. At the same time, a fuming Zhu Yifei realized his set of bells was incomplete.

However, his elder associate revealed that he had hidden trackers in the suitcases, allowing them to monitor Liu Bei's movements. Elsewhere, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi went to the Fenglinwan spa to enjoy their stolen money. There, they encountered a heavily intoxicated Lang Bowen, who was causing a scene. Recognizing him as the man from the wallpaper of the stolen phone, they interrogated him. After a brief beating, the drunk Lang Bowen revealed the phone's password: a sequence of fives.

Word of the brawl reached Zhou Rong, who ordered the spa's surveillance footage deleted to keep the police away. He then prepared to head to his office to retrieve a weapon. Late that night, Hu Jianren returned to the Rongcheng World headquarters and found the gatehouse empty. As he entered the building, the reception phone began to ring. It was Liu Bei, calling to negotiate the return of the artifact directly with Zhou Rong.

Mao Hongwei was under intense pressure to settle a debt of 120,000 yuan. After a failed attempt to make money and a recent car accident that added 50,000 yuan in repair costs to his burden, he was desperate. That night, he and his partner, Gang-ge, decided to look for a "mark." Mao's plan was to pick up a passenger and lure them to a secluded area by the river where Gang-ge was waiting to help him carry out a robbery.

Meanwhile, the grave robber Liu Bei was tracking his potential profits from the stolen bianzhong bells, calculating his take to be over 4. 7 million yuan. He narrowly avoided making an embarrassing call to the Rongcheng Group after realizing he had miscounted the zeros in his sum. However, his luck ran out when Huo Zheng, a professional killer sent by Zhu Yifei—who had placed trackers on the vehicles—arrived to reclaim the artifacts.

Liu Bei was no match for the assassin and had his throat slit during the confrontation. Huo Zheng meticulously cleaned the murder scene by using sand to soak up the blood before disposing of it outside. He then stuffed Liu Bei’s body and the final bianzhong bell into a heavy suitcase. While Huo Zheng prepared to transport the body, Zhu Yifei was at home sharpening an axe, intending to dismember the corpse.

After Huo Zheng reported that Liu Bei’s last call attempt was to the Rongcheng Group, Zhu Yifei began to suspect that Zhou Rong was behind the betrayal. At the Rongcheng Group, Jianren grew paranoid after noticing the front desk phone ringing incessantly while the security post was abandoned. He encountered Du Cong, who lied about being followed by two mysterious men to cover for his own suspicious presence. Jianren’s anxiety peaked, leading him to use Du Cong as a decoy.

He handed Du Cong the keys to his luxury car, instructing him to take it to his girlfriend, Xiao Li, for her wedding business. Du Cong was thrilled, unaware he was being sent out as a target for any potential attackers. The police, led by Zhang Yi'ang and Li Qian, arrived at the murder site and discovered the blood-soaked sand hidden near the entrance.

They noted the professional cleanup and suspected the involvement of a sophisticated criminal organization like Zhou Rong’s gang. Their investigation was soon interrupted by news that Lang Bowen had been brutally beaten at the Fenglinwan club and was now being treated at the People's Hospital. Back on the road, Mao Hongwei happened to pick up Huo Zheng, who was struggling with the massive suitcase. Huo Zheng insisted the suitcase remain in his sight in the back seat.

As Huo Zheng moved to get into the car, Mao Hongwei seized the opportunity, slammed on the gas, and sped away, inadvertently stealing the suitcase containing both Liu Bei’s body and the precious artifact. Mao Hongwei met Gang-ge in the woods to open their prize. Instead of gold or cash, they were horrified to find a cold corpse. In a panic, they sped away and nearly collided with another vehicle, forcing the other driver to swerve violently into a tree.

Mao realized the victim was Du Cong—the same man whose car he had rear-ended just days before. Fearing the police would find the body in their car, Mao and Gang-ge fled the scene, leaving a bloodied and dazed Du Cong behind. Huo Zheng returned to Zhu Yifei empty-handed, humiliated that he had been robbed by a taxi driver. Zhu Yifei was furious, convinced the "driver" was actually one of Zhou Rong’s henchmen sent to intercept the bianzhong.

Meanwhile, Du Cong called Jianren from the crash site. Hearing that Du Cong had been hit again by the same people from the previous accident, Jianren felt his suspicions were confirmed: an assassination attempt had been made on his life, and Du Cong had simply been the unfortunate target in his place. At the hospital, Zhang Yi'ang and Li Qian questioned Lang Bowen.

Despite his injuries, Lang Bowen was evasive and gave contradictory accounts of how many people attacked him to confuse the officers. Zhang Yi'ang noticed the discrepancies and suspected Lang Bowen was hiding the truth. Later, Zhou Rong and Jianren arrived to visit. Zhou Rong suspected the attackers were the same two men who had robbed his villa earlier, likely beating Lang Bowen to obtain the passcode for the stolen phone.

Zhou Rong pulled Lang Botu, also known as Yangyang, aside to explain the severity of the situation. He revealed that the stolen phone contained a video proving Lang Bowen had murdered Lu Zheng. Zhou Rong warned that if the phone fell into police hands, Lang Bowen would be finished. With the pressure mounting, Zhou Rong admitted he was preparing to flee the city. In the hospital room, Yangyang confronted his brother about the murder and the missing phone.

He noted that Lang Bowen had changed his phone the day after Lu Zheng’s death, which seemed to confirm Zhou Rong’s story. Despite the danger, Lang Bowen remained dismissive and strangely calm, telling his brother not to worry and insisting he would find a way to navigate the crisis and emerge unscathed.

At the Sanjiangkou Municipal Public Security Bureau, forensics confirmed that the blood found at the crime scene was human, and Chief Zhang concluded that the victim was likely Liu Bei. Detective Zhang Yi'ang noted that surveillance footage showed Liu Bei entering the building with a suitcase but never leaving. The deep tracks left by the suitcase wheels as it was later rolled away by someone else suggested it contained a body.

Zhang Yi'ang also identified a suspicious red Xiali taxi with a fake plate that had been involved in recent accidents. While Li Qian doubted that these taxi drivers were the same professionals who robbed Zhou Rong’s villa, the police moved forward with identifying the suspects as Mao Hongwei and Xia Tinggang, who operated a local scrap yard.

At the scrap yard, Mao Hongwei and Xia Tinggang were in a state of panic after discovering the body of Liu Bei in the suitcase they had stolen. Xia speculated that the victim’s throat had been slit after being struck, and Mao lamented that they had brought back a corpse instead of the money they intended to snatch.

Fearing that their history of running a fake taxi and robbery would lead to a long prison sentence regardless of the murder, they decided to drive far away to bury the body. Shortly after they fled, Du Cong arrived at the yard covered in bandages, seeking money to repair the car he had wrecked because of them. Instead, he found the place swarmed by police.

Neighbors eagerly provided complaints, describing Mao and Xia as "street loiterers" who stole everything from women's laundry to children's popsicle money. Meanwhile, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi were attempting to leave Sanjiangkou with a suitcase containing one million US dollars. To evade detection, Fang Chao dressed as an elderly woman while Liu Zhi disguised himself as a blind man. They stopped at a gas station, but the attendant refused to accept their US dollars as payment.

While they were arguing with the staff, Mao Hongwei and Xia Tinggang arrived, laboriously pushing their red Xiali because it had run out of gas. Seeing the keys left in Fang Chao’s luxury Land Rover, Mao and Xia seized the opportunity, jumped into the vehicle, and sped away. Fang Chao and Liu Zhi were forced to give chase in the abandoned red taxi left behind by the thieves.

They soon noticed a suitcase in the back that looked exactly like theirs. However, when Liu Zhi opened it, he was horrified to find Liu Bei's corpse instead of their cash. Spotting a police checkpoint on the road ahead, they decided to abandon the taxi and flee on foot to save their own lives. At the same time, Mao Hongwei and Xia Tinggang pulled over to inspect their new luxury ride.

They were initially terrified to find a suitcase in the back, fearing the body they had just lost had somehow returned to haunt them. To their shock and delight, they opened it to find it filled with stacks of US dollars. Realizing that the stolen Land Rover was too conspicuous, they abandoned the vehicle and decided to take a bus back, carrying only the suitcase full of money.

In another part of the city, Fang Yong received word that he was being reassigned to a study program at the Party School, meaning he had to step away from his current dealings. He called Zhou Rong to inform him that he no longer wanted to pursue the "bianzhong" (ancient bells). Simultaneously, Zhu Yifei decided to play a high-stakes game; he instructed his men to tell the buyers the deal was off, secretly planning to double his asking price.

Zhou Rong was bewildered by the sudden cancellation of the deals and the fact that his men, led by Li Penggai, could not find the two mysterious suspects. Sensing a powerful force working against him, he decided to accelerate his plan to flee the country. He told his subordinate Jianren they would head to an island called Gondwana, a place where he claimed he could find peace without his medication.

When Jianren mentioned he had been practicing his English for the trip, Zhou Rong told him that people in Gondwana did not even speak foreign languages. Back at the station, the police recovered the abandoned Land Rover and the red Xiali. Captain Wang reported finding a makeup kit and several forged IDs inside the Land Rover, along with four sets of fingerprints.

Chief Zhang pointed out that Li Penggai had actually worked for Mao and Xia years ago, suggesting the duo might have more sophisticated "anti-reconnaissance" skills than simple loiterers. Despite the clues, Li Qian remained frustrated, suspecting that Chief Zhang and Captain Wang were trying to move her to a desk job for her own safety. Captain Wang denied the claim and ordered her to continue reviewing surveillance footage for any signs of the two men carrying the specific suitcase.

Officer Song Xing visited the Fenglin Night Hotel with photos of Mao Hongwei and Xia Tinggang. While the hotel staff had not seen the men, a delivery driver recognized their specific black suitcase. He recalled encountering Fang Chao and Liu Zhi recently and found them suspicious after discovering human skin masks stuck to his delivery cart. At the police bureau, Chief Zhang Yi'ang met with Chief Qi to discuss the case against Zhou Rong.

Pressure from the Provincial Department was mounting, as Director Gao demanded a breakthrough and a formal case filing by noon the following day. Amidst this tight deadline, Zhang Yi'ang received a report that someone from the Rongcheng Group had booked flight tickets for Zhou Rong and Hu Jianren to Gondwana through the Sanyang Travel Agency.

Realizing they planned to flee, Zhang Yi’ang contacted a colleague in border control, urging him to intercept the pair at the airport despite the lack of a formal arrest warrant. Unaware of the closing police net, Zhou Rong and Hu Jianren prepared to depart. Zhou Rong was so confident in his escape that he discarded the medication he used for his bipolar disorder, looking forward to the beaches of Gondwana.

However, their plan was ruined by a phone call informing them that a coup had occurred in Gondwana, leading to the cancellation of all flights. Zhou Rong was further enraged to learn that the new military government planned to confiscate illegal foreign assets, putting his transferred wealth at risk.

Frustrated, he misread a slogan "Never Bow to Life" as "Never Bow to Ox Tongue" and ordered his driver to return to the city so he could hunt down the thieves who had originally robbed him. Lu Yibo, a manager at the Fenglin Night Hotel, notified Zhou Rong about the police search for two men with a black suitcase.

Upon seeing the photos, Zhou Rong realized that the men the police were tracking—Mao and Xia—were not the ones who had robbed his villa. This meant his missing phone, which contained damning evidence, was still in the hands of the real thieves and had not been recovered by the authorities.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yi'ang had ordered Lu Yibo to be brought in for questioning, but a series of urgent developments caused the Chief to completely forget about him, leaving Lu Yibo waiting at the station for hours. Following the delivery driver's tip, Song Xing and Li Qian rushed to the Ruihao Boutique Hotel. Inside, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi were attempting a new disguise, with Liu Zhi pretending to be a blind man.

As they approached the front desk, they spotted Song Xing reviewing surveillance footage. Panicking, they claimed they had forgotten their disability certificates and hurried back to their room. Song Xing followed them, but during a scuffle, the thieves managed to overpower him and threw him out of the room/window before fleeing through the back door. Li Qian pursued them, but Fang Chao used a match to ignite a sewer manhole, causing a massive explosion that allowed them to vanish.

The police later determined that the explosion technique matched a previous case in the provincial capital. Despite the escape, the team obtained clear images of the real suspects, identified as Fang Chao and Liu Zhi. Song Xing, feeling guilty for his failure, misinterpreted Zhang Yi’ang’s encouraging words. He mistakenly believed the Chief had intentionally allowed the suspects to escape as a "smoke screen" to lure out Zhou Rong.

This rumor spread and eventually reached Director Gao, who reprimanded Zhang Yi’ang for using such "dirty tactics." To protect the young officer's career, Zhang Yi’ang took full responsibility for the alleged plan, promising results by the next day. Lu Yibo was finally allowed to leave the police station without ever being questioned. Hu Jianren picked him up and brought him to see Zhou Rong, who was now deeply suspicious of Lu Yibo’s loyalty.

Zhou Rong questioned what had happened during those hours at the bureau. Although Lu Yibo truthfully stated he had only sat in a room and seen no one, Zhou Rong remained unconvinced. To prove his devotion, Lu Yibo threw himself into the villa’s swimming pool, attempting to drown himself. His lover, Zhou Qi, arrived and revealed she was pregnant. She jumped into the pool to save him and pleaded with Zhou Rong for mercy.

Moved by their display of love and Lu Yibo's desperate honesty, Zhou Rong decided to spare them. As the investigation continued, the police identified fingerprints belonging to Huo Zheng, a wanted hitman involved in the murder of Liu Bei. Meanwhile, in the Weinan District, the police conducted a disguised census check at a residence where Zhu Yifei and his associates were hiding. During the inspection, the officers managed to confirm the presence of several men, including the wanted criminal Huo Zheng, setting the stage for a final confrontation.

Mao Hongwei and Xia Tinggang were busy dreaming about their future wealth, debating whether to turn their scrap yard into a restaurant or a bathhouse. Their fantasies were interrupted by Du Cong, who arrived with a bandaged head, brandishing a knife and demanding his car repair money. Terrified of losing their suitcase full of cash, the two fled into an abandoned factory. Du Cong pursued them and trapped them inside, vowing to wait until they paid up.

Meanwhile, the police were closing in on Huo Zheng. During a neighborhood sweep, officers arrived at a property managed by Zhu Yifei to check IDs. Huo Zheng was returning from buying spices and would have been caught red-handed if Zhu Yifei hadn't shouted his name at the top of his lungs to warn him. When the suspicious officers questioned the outburst, Zhu Yifei fabricated an excuse, claiming he was calling for "Huoxiang Zhengqi" pills, which he shortened to "Huo Zheng."

Despite the cover, the officers reported the encounter to Zhang Yi'ang. Zhang Yi'ang and Song Xing headed to the area but were caught in a massive morning traffic jam. Impatient, Zhang Yi'ang stepped out to clear the path, flashing his police badge at a car blocking the way. Unbeknownst to him, the vehicle belonged to Zhu Yifei's men. Panicked by the badge, the thugs abandoned their car and scattered.

In the resulting chaos, Zhu Yifei and Huo Zheng managed to slip away, though the police successfully recovered nine ancient bianzhong bells from the abandoned vehicle. As night fell at the factory, Mao Hongwei and Xia Tinggang waited for Du Cong to fall asleep. Once they heard him snoring, they crept out with the suitcase and retreated to Xia Tinggang's "first home," a damp, gloomy hideout filled with standing water.

Realizing they couldn't leave Sanjiangkou easily with a suitcase of stolen US dollars, they contacted Li Penggai, a man with deep connections to Zhou Rong. They hoped to use the money to buy his help, despite their poor history with him. Li Penggai eventually arrived at the bleak hideout. Mao Hongwei tried to play it cool, offering him twenty thousand dollars and claiming they made the money by selling blood to Americans.

Li Penggai wasn't fooled and soon recognized the suitcase as belonging to his boss, Zhou Rong. He immediately called Jianren to report that the suitcase had been found, though the crucial mobile phone was missing. Li Penggai then attempted to take the entire case back to Zhou Rong, threatening the two men with a knife. The situation turned violent when Mao Hongwei and Xia Tinggang realized Li Penggai intended to leave them with nothing.

During the struggle, Li Penggai was accidentally struck by one of the bianzhong bells and collapsed, unconscious. Panicked, the two prepared to flee, only to find that Du Cong—who had been lurking in the shadows—had driven off with the car containing the suitcase of money. With a potentially dead man in the house and their fortune gone, Mao and Xia fled on foot.

Elsewhere, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi were lamenting the loss of their million-dollar suitcase but realized they still held a powerful bargaining chip: Zhou Rong’s encrypted phone. They speculated that the phone contained scandalous videos of Zhou Rong with a powerful woman that could destroy his reputation. Fang Chao called Zhou Rong, demanding twenty million dollars in exchange for the device.

Though Zhou Rong was seething with rage, he agreed to the trade and instructed Jianren to gather the cash from various suppliers. Jianren attempted to call Li Penggai to follow up on the suitcase, but the phone was now in the hands of Du Cong. Spooked by the persistent ringing and the sight of the millions of dollars in the back of the car, Du Cong threw Li Penggai's phone away.

When Jianren failed to get a response, he reported back to Zhou Rong that Li Penggai had likely been taken down by the two "junk collectors." Luck finally swung back to the police when Zhang Yi'ang, Li Qian, and Song Xing spotted two men hitchhiking with a sign. It was Mao Hongwei and Xia Tinggang. Zhang Yi'ang recognized them instantly from the wanted photos and took them into custody.

To complete the victory, Xia Tinggang was still carrying the final bianzhong bell, allowing the police to recover the entire set of national treasures. Back at the bureau, Curator Guo was overjoyed by the recovery of the artifacts and offered to compose a poem for Zhang Yi'ang. While Mao and Xia were cleared of the murder of Liu Bei, Zhang Yi'ang turned his focus back to the bigger picture.

After Li Qian and Song Xing took responsibility for the earlier escape of Fang Chao and Liu Zhi before Director Gao, Zhang Yi'ang reviewed CCTV footage from the day Lu Yibo was released. He noticed Lu Yibo being picked up by a Rongcheng Group vehicle, confirming his internal ties to Zhou Rong. Zhu Yifei and Huo Zheng, now hiding in an abandoned building in the western suburbs after driving away a beggar, prepared for their final move.

Zhu Yifei called Zhou Rong to set up a meeting at ten the next morning, claiming he was ready to trade the bells for cash. However, his real intention was to take Zhou Rong's life as revenge for being sold out to the police. Meanwhile, suspecting that mutual distrust among the criminals would be their undoing, Zhang Yi'ang mobilized his force to the hospital to confront Lang Bowen.

Zhang Yi'ang led a large police force to the hospital late at night to visit Lang Bowen. Before entering the ward, he pointedly ordered his team to secure the area and allow no one near. Inside, Zhang Yi'ang asked Lang Bowen if he had any connection to the recovered bianzhong. Lang Bowen denied any interest, joking that "bells" (zhong) sounded too much like "the end," which was bad luck. Satisfied, Zhang Yi'ang left abruptly.

Lang Bowen, who had prepared for a long interrogation, was left bewildered. Outside, Zhang Yi'ang explained to Captain Wang Ruijun that by repeating a tactic they had used three times before, he hoped to "anticipate Zhou Rong's anticipation" and force him to act. The next morning, Hu Jianren reported the police’s visit to Zhou Rong. Meanwhile, Du Cong returned to his parents' home with two stacks of US dollars.

Overhearing his father refuse medical help to avoid bothering his son—whom he believed worked at a prestigious company—Du Cong was overcome with guilt. Realizing he was a criminal despite being his father's pride, he hesitated over the million dollars. Ultimately, he chose to report that he had "found" Li Penggai's car and the money, calling Hu Jianren to return them.

Blackmailers Fang Chao and Liu Zhi, realizing twenty million was an impossible sum to get quickly, lowered their demand for the stolen phone to five million. They instructed Zhou Rong to leave the money in a trash can at Sculpture Square. Zhou Rong agreed but planned a "larger game." He visited Lang Bowen in the hospital and, using a military analogy about the 101st Airborne Division, pressured Lang to handle the phone exchange while he dealt with the bianzhong trade.

Lang’s younger brother, Lang Botu (Yangyang), impulsively offered to go, but Lang Bowen angrily silenced him. Once alone, Lang Bowen revealed to his brother that he never actually killed Lu Zheng; he had merely filmed the man's accidental death and used it to extort Zhou Rong. Now, Zhou Rong was forcing him into a situation where he might actually have to kill.

Lang Bowen instructed Botu to call the police anonymously to tip them off about the phone deal, hoping the authorities would catch the blackmailers first. Despite his injuries, Lang Bowen discharged himself to handle the trade personally to protect his brother. At the same time, Zhou Rong ordered Lu Yibo to represent him in the trade with Zhu Yifei.

Terrified, Lu Yibo begged Zhou Qi to find Lang Bowen, offering to keep a secret about the night Ye Jian died if Lang would help him. Zhou Qi went to the hospital but only found Lang Botu, who informed her that Lang Bowen was already out on business. The police monitored the movements of both Hu Jianren and Lang Bowen.

Fang Chao and Liu Zhi led Lang Bowen on a frantic chase, changing the drop-off location from Sculpture Square to Dahua Alley, and finally to Huining Park. Lang Bowen grew frustrated, realizing Zhou Rong had only given him a bank card and expected him to kill the blackmailers rather than simply pay them. While the police followed Lang Bowen, the bianzhong trade at a warehouse turned into a chaotic pursuit.

As the police closed in, Zhu Yifei attempted to escape in a vehicle, but the car’s brakes failed, and he went over a cliff. Zhu Yifei died in the crash, though his associate, Huo Zheng, survived and fled. At Huining Park, Zhang Yi'ang confronted Lang Bowen at a green trash can. Lang Bowen tried to claim he was just out for a walk, but the police took him into custody.

Realizing they had been lured away by a decoy, Zhang Yi'ang rushed to Zhou Rong's villa. There, Zhou Rong confronted Du Cong, revealing he had finally identified the mole who had been hidden by his side for years.

Outside Zhou Rong's villa, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi observe the security vehicles leaving, realizing the guard is at its weakest. They seize the opportunity to sneak inside. It is revealed that their constant changes to the transaction route with Lang Bowen were a diversion; their true goal was to make Zhou Rong lower his guard so they could steal the remaining 15 million yuan hidden in the villa. Meanwhile, Du Cong returns to the villa in Li Penggai's car.

After much hesitation, he decides to return the one million USD untouched, claiming he found the car and the money abandoned in an alley. Zhou Rong is not fooled; he laughs and reveals that the car's GPS shows it was moving all night. Seeing Du Cong’s bandaged head, Zhou begins to suspect Du Cong has been faking his "foolishness" all along.

He believes Du Cong was directed by a mastermind to orchestrate the fake car accident that introduced him to Li Qian, who then served as a distraction during the deal with Zhu Yifei. Li Penggai also returns to the villa in a disoriented state. He claims he snatched the suitcase back from "two idiots" but cannot explain how he was injured, suspecting a "third expert" was at the scene.

In reality, he simply forgot that he knocked himself out during a fall. Enraged and paranoid, Zhou Rong beats Du Cong, demanding to know who is pulling the strings. Du Cong is genuinely confused, as he only took the car out of impulse and returned the money out of a sudden pang of conscience. The situation escalates when Fang Chao and Liu Zhi burst into the villa demanding 15 million yuan.

Convinced that they, Du Cong, and Li Qian are all part of the same gang, Zhou Rong uses Li Penggai to help him subdue the intruders at gunpoint, tying them all up. The police, having already apprehended Lang Bowen and Hu Jianren, soon descend upon the villa. Zhang Yi'ang enters to find Fang Chao and Liu Zhi tied to pillars.

Zhou Rong erupts in a paranoid rant, accusing Zhang of being the mastermind behind every misfortune he has faced, including the restoration of his destroyed phone and the psychological torment involving the ancient bells ("bianzhong"). Realizing Zhou is suffering from deep delusions, Zhang nods along to encourage him to reveal more information. In the ensuing chaos, Zhang Yi'ang is shot in the abdomen and rushed to the hospital, while Zhou Rong is taken into custody.

At the hospital, Zhang Yi'ang remains conscious and jokes with his colleagues, dismissing the injury as a mere "bounced bullet" and comparing the surgery to a simple appendix removal. He instructs the police to withdraw the heavy security detail from the hospital and focus on capturing Huo Zheng, who is still at large. Huo Zheng, seeking to avenge his mentor Zhu Yifei, follows Zhang to the hospital and disguises himself as a patient.

During his infiltration, Huo Zheng is forced to assume the identity of a patient named Hou Shengjie. When a nurse arrives to administer a penicillin injection, Huo Zheng faces a dilemma; he is severely allergic to the drug. To avoid blowing his cover, he allows the nurse to proceed. However, a violent allergic reaction prevents him from successfully assassinating Zhang Yi'ang. Even in his weakened post-operative state, Zhang manages to subdue the attacker with one hand.

Following the arrests, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi provide a full confession, admitting to the explosion in the provincial capital and the theft of the Land Rover. Meanwhile, at the station, Zhou Rong refuses to speak to anyone but Zhang Yi'ang. Despite having just undergone surgery, Zhang insists on conducting the interrogation. Zhang Yi'ang confronts Zhou Rong, who is trembling and suffering from a severe skin reaction to his bipolar medication.

Zhang provides him with medication to stabilize his emotions and begins to dismantle his worldview. He explains that the video on the phone was not a police trap, but a genuine recording of an accident that Lang Bowen used to blackmail him. Furthermore, Zhang clarifies the misunderstanding regarding Lu Zheng and Ye Jian, revealing that Lu Zheng actually viewed Ye Jian as a great talent who deserved promotion.

As Zhang lays out the facts, Zhou Rong’s reality collapses; he realizes that no one was conspiring to destroy him—he was the architect of his own downfall, driven by paranoia and the side effects of his illness.

During the interrogation of Lu Yibo, Zhou Qi brought forward a critical lead. Before his arrest, Lu Yibo had attempted to seek help from Lang Bowen, claiming he would never reveal what happened on the night Ye Jian died if Lang Bowen assisted him. This revelation linked Ye Jian’s death directly to Lang Bowen, prompting Zhang Yi’ang to bring him in for questioning once more.

During the interrogation, Lang Bowen attempted to deflect, claiming he had been heavily intoxicated on the night in question. He admitted to receiving a call from Ye Jian, who was using Lu Yibo's phone to ask about a specific watch and the circumstances surrounding Lu Zheng’s death. As Zhang Yi’ang pressed further, pointing out the inconsistencies in his story, Lang Bowen abruptly confessed to the murder.

He was subsequently sent to a detention center, where he appeared strangely relaxed, repeatedly asking the guards about the following day's weather. While Lang Bowen was in custody, the police searched his home and found blood on his SUV. Forensic testing confirmed the blood belonged to Ye Jian. However, Zhang Yi’ang remained skeptical.

He couldn't reconcile why Lang Bowen, who was willing to pay five million out of his own pocket to avoid conflict with petty thieves, would suddenly resort to murdering a police officer. The logic was flawed. The breakthrough came when Zhang Yi’ang inquired about the name "Yangyang" mentioned in the case files. Li Qian explained it was Lang Botu’s nickname.

Zhang Yi'ang then realized that the pinyin of his own name, "Yi-ang," which Ye Jian had scrawled on a stone before dying, was a phonetic clue pointing to "Yang"—Yangyang. Lang Bowen was merely a distraction to protect his younger brother. The police soon discovered that Lang Botu was scheduled to fly to Mankesid that afternoon. Zhang Yi’ang needed to stop him, but Lang Bowen had already initiated a plan to stall the investigation.

Using an old trick from his time in prison, Lang Bowen faked an acute intestinal obstruction by choking on food, forcing the police to move him to a hospital. He knew the IV drip would take four hours to complete, which would align perfectly with the departure time of his brother's flight. His constant questions about the weather were actually concerns that the flight might be delayed. Zhang Yi’ang saw through the ruse.

He instructed the nurse to speed up the IV drip and moved the hospital room's clock forward by nearly an hour. When Lang Bowen looked at the clock and saw it was 2:40 PM, he believed his brother had been in the air for forty minutes. Thinking Lang Botu was safely out of the country, Lang Bowen requested to see the police and immediately retracted his previous confession.

He argued that it was impossible for him to have killed Ye Jian because the city was crawling with drunk driving checkpoints that night, and he had been far too drunk to drive through them without being caught. Zhang Yi’ang revealed the deception, informing Lang Bowen that it was actually only 1:40 PM.

Realizing he had accidentally cleared his own name while there was still time for the police to intercept his brother, Lang Bowen broke down, desperately screaming that he was the real killer. It was too late. Lang Botu was intercepted by airport police just as he was about to board. At the station, Lang Botu confessed to everything. He admitted to killing Ye Jian because he believed the detective had discovered Lang Bowen was responsible for Lu Zheng’s death.

Driven by a desperate need to protect his only remaining family, he had modified his SUV with a sharpened blade he had built for a robot combat competition. He hit Ye Jian twice with the vehicle, ensuring the detective was dead before fleeing the scene. The brothers had been inseparable since losing their parents in a car accident at age nine, but their distorted sense of loyalty had finally led to their downfall.

Two months later, the case was fully closed. Zhang Yi’ang prepared to leave Sanjiangkou to return to his original post in the provincial capital. Despite the local police chief personally asking him to stay, Zhang decided to return to his "home base," feeling that his success in Sanjiangkou was largely due to luck and that it was best to leave on a high note.

His colleagues, many of whom had been skeptical of him when he first arrived, gathered to give him a warm and emotional send-off. Another two months passed. Zhang Yi’ang was now working in the logistics department of the Provincial Department. When Li Qian arrived to pick up printer toner, she found him in the office, content with his new, quieter life. Though he was no longer a high-profile deputy chief on the front lines, Zhang remained dedicated. He likened his role to a water dispenser—seemingly ordinary and standing quietly in the corner, but always ready to heat up and provide value the moment the organization required it.