Resumo do episódio 21 de Light to the Night
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He Yuanhang and He Xiaohe successfully located the workshop of the veteran shoemaker, Mr. Lu. Through his son, they learned that the younger Ran Fangxu had visited years ago and uncovered a vital clue. The elder Mr. Lu recalled a man in his thirties who had approached him with a strange request: he paid a staggering 800 yuan—enough to buy several pairs of luxury shoes—to have a pair of high-quality red leather heels covered in blue leather.
The man was roughly 175 centimeters tall with a short haircut and a hoarse voice, but his most defining feature was three cigarette burn scars on his arm. Recognizing this man as the likely killer in the June 30th case, He Yuanhang decided on a two-pronged approach. He would remain in Yuanlongli to gather local information while Xiaohe visited various police stations to search for leads on individuals with those specific burn scars.
To guide her search, He Yuanhang urged Xiaohe to use Ran Fangxu’s "untangling the ball of thread" philosophy. This theory suggested that every complex mystery has a loose end that, once pulled, unravels the entire case. Xiaohe recalled that Ran Fangxu believed clues were most often hidden in the basic necessities of life, particularly clothing and daily habits. Following this lead, Xiaohe focused on a "Baozi" brand dress found at the home of the victim, Xu Meng.
While a man named Sun Zhengyong had previously been cleared due to an alibi, Xiaohe discovered a discrepancy regarding a dry-cleaning card. At the Baozi flagship store in Weiyang, a clerk explained that their classic 1997 dresses came with a special dry-cleaning card. A checkmark on the card in the evidence room confirmed the dress had been cleaned once. Since local records only spanned five years, Xiaohe traveled to the provincial headquarters to access the digital archives.
The investigation into the past also highlighted the deep connection between Ran Fangxu and Qiao Suqing. In a flashback to 2003, Ran Fangxu shared a lavish meal with Qiao Suqing and entrusted her with a sealed envelope of evidence for safekeeping, instructing her not to open it until his word. During that dinner, he warmly invited her to join He Yuanhang’s family for a New Year's Eve reunion, insisting she was part of the family.
Qiao Suqing, who felt she had no home to return to, was deeply moved and promised to attend after her shift. At the provincial headquarters, Xiaohe’s search yielded a name: Yao Xincheng. Records showed he purchased the dress on December 29, 1996. However, she found a highly suspicious "new for old" return entry from July 2, 1997.
On that day, a customer bought a new version of the dress at the provincial store at 10:05 AM and rushed to the Weiyang store to return it by 4:20 PM. By using the new dress to cancel out the old purchase record, the buyer had effectively erased Yao Xincheng’s name from the system.
Xiaohe realized that Ran Fangxu had discovered this same trail in 2003, even purchasing a New Year’s gift for Qiao Suqing and a scarf for Xiaohe at that same store. Back in the present, the conflict in Yuanlongli intensified. Manager Qian, determined to force the remaining residents out, resorted to harassment by smashing windows and installing signal jammers to cut off all communication.
Qiao Suqing visited He Yuanhang to apologize, explaining that her boss had given Manager Qian full authority over the demolition. She finally handed over the documents Ran Fangxu had left with her years ago, including a hard drive. He Yuanhang took the drive to Du Mingliang to recover the data, discovering it was originally from the home of Wu Shanlong.
They realized Ran Fangxu had bought the drive at a judicial auction specifically to prevent the victims' private data from being recovered or exploited by others. Seeking the final pieces of the puzzle, He Yuanhang visited Xu Meng’s aunt. The elderly woman remembered a kind young officer—Ran Fangxu—visiting her years ago to ask about Yao Xincheng. He had even left her a red envelope as a gesture of kindness.
Standing in the same spot where his protégé once stood, He Yuanhang felt a wave of sorrow, knowing how close Ran Fangxu had been to the truth. Meanwhile, He Yuanhang confronted Manager Qian, warning him that justice would eventually catch up to him, even as the corrupt manager prepared to escalate his tactics against the holdouts in the building.
