Sword Rose Episode 7 Recap
> Sword Rose Recap
As Deng Yan tracked a trafficker, she arrived at a transaction where a child was being handed to a buyer. Just as the exchange occurred, police officers swiftly moved in. The trafficker immediately fled, while the terrified buyer dropped to the ground. Officers pursued the fleeing trafficker relentlessly. Deng Yan rushed forward to embrace the boy, reassuring him that she would take him home to his mother.
Meanwhile, Yang Jiajia discovered and rescued two more abducted children from the trafficker's vehicle. The trafficker was apprehended shortly after. Later, during an initial interrogation, Chang Rui questioned Meng Gui, who feigned ignorance, claiming he was merely a designated driver. Chang Rui pressed him, reminding him of past incidents involving children and pointing out his recurring presence in such cases. Meng Gui eventually confessed to being a driver who transported abducted children to traffickers.
He revealed that in the case of Little Spud, he was acting under the orders of a woman known as Madam Hong. Chang Rui reported this information to Yin Jiansheng, noting that Meng Gui claimed Madam Hong was a single point of contact and that Yang Jiajia was verifying Meng Gui's call records for more leads. Sun Wenhan had earlier gone to Xibang Village to investigate Little Spud's whereabouts but was mistaken for a trafficker by the villagers and detained.
Yin Jiansheng had to intervene late at night to secure his release. Despite this setback, Sun Wenhan’s information proved valuable; led by Sun Wenhan, Deng Yan met Fan Dacheng, who reported that a child in the village strongly resembled Little Spud, though the villagers believed the boy to be Zheng Mingguang’s own son. Recognizing the need for solid evidence, Deng Yan, Yin Jiansheng, and a small team decided to visit Xibang Village.
Posing as population census takers, they were led to Zheng Mingguang's home by the village chief. Zheng Mingguang's wife, Liu Hongmei, was initially cautious but cooperated, providing her household register. During their visit, Deng Yan observed the child, Zheng Wendong. She also learned from a doctor that Zheng Wendong was a premature baby born at seven months with a fragile immune system.
Though Deng Yan found no immediate discrepancies in the official documents, she subtly obtained a hair sample from Zheng Wendong for DNA testing while distracting Liu Hongmei by doting on the child. During a subsequent interrogation led by Deng Yan, Meng Gui remained evasive, attempting to downplay his involvement.
Chang Rui then confronted him with irrefutable evidence, including eyewitness accounts and surveillance footage showing Meng Gui and his wife at Central Garden Square, where his wife handed him a child who was then concealed in a travel bag. Chang Rui revealed that the child found in Meng Gui's car during his arrest was his own, implying the trafficked child had already been moved to another vehicle.
Faced with conclusive proof, Meng Gui confessed that Madam Hong had previously instructed him to deliver a boy to Han Yougang. Later, Han Yougang called him directly, urgently requesting another boy. Meng Gui admitted that he and his wife then abducted Little Spud from Central Garden Square and sold him to Han Yougang for 50,000 yuan. Separately, Lin Hao accompanied Cai Xin to the location of their first date.
Cai Xin then proposed a divorce, explaining that while she knew Lin Hao’s mother hadn't meant for Little Spud to be taken, she felt an overwhelming burden of guilt and despair since the abduction. She struggled with sleepless nights, couldn't face her mother-in-law, and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression, requiring long-term medication that precluded having another child.
Despite Lin Hao's pleas and offers to move out, Cai Xin insisted that divorce was the best choice for both their sakes. Lin Hao, heartbroken by Cai Xin's decision and the loss of his son, later returned home intoxicated. He confronted his mother, bitterly blaming her for being distracted by saving someone else at the park, which he believed led to the abduction and the fracturing of his family.
His mother, deeply pained, repeatedly apologized, her despair so profound that she contemplated taking her own life. The next morning, Yang Jiajia delivered the DNA test results: Zheng Wendong, the child from Xibang Village, was confirmed to be Little Spud, and the child was indeed Lin Hao's biological son. Deng Yan was both shocked and delighted and immediately organized a team, including Chang Rui, to rescue Little Spud from Xibang Village.
Upon arrival, the village chief informed them that Zheng Mingguang was out, with only Liu Hongmei and the child at home. Deng Yan assigned Yang Jiajia to secure Liu Hongmei while she and Chang Rui focused on the child. Inside the house, Deng Yan informed Liu Hongmei of her arrest for child trafficking. Despite Liu Hongmei's desperate pleas and insistence that the child was hers, Deng Yan clarified the illegality of buying a trafficked child.
As Deng Yan and her team attempted to leave with Little Spud and Liu Hongmei, Zheng Mingguang arrived with a group of villagers, blocking their path. Liu Hongmei screamed for the villagers' help, claiming the police were stealing her child. The villagers, who had attended Zheng Wendong's full-month banquet and believed him to be Zheng Mingguang's son, sided with Liu Hongmei, accusing the police of making a mistake.
A tense standoff ensued as the villagers refused to move, some even attempting to assault the officers, believing them to be "fake cops." Chang Rui drew his gun to deter the crowd, but they remained defiant. Sun Wenhan arrived, creating a diversion that allowed Deng Yan and Yang Jiajia to lead their team and Little Spud away via an alternate route. Soon after, additional police units arrived and successfully apprehended Zheng Mingguang.
Meanwhile, Lin Hao awoke to find a suicide note from his mother, indicating her intention to end her life. Panicked, he desperately called relatives, but no one had seen her. He then reached out to Cai Xin, informing her of his mother's disappearance. Cai Xin soon received a call from the police, who had located Lin Hao's mother on surveillance at Mangjiang Bridge and dispatched officers. Cai Xin and Lin Hao immediately rushed to the bridge.
At Mangjiang Bridge, Lin Hao and Cai Xin frantically tried to persuade Lin Hao's mother not to jump, promising they would not divorce and expressing their sorrow for her pain. Lin Hao's mother, consumed by despair, felt Little Spud was lost forever and wanted to die. Just as hope seemed to wane, Deng Yan arrived, holding Little Spud. Seeing her grandson alive, Lin Hao's mother's despair transformed into overwhelming joy and tears of relief.
She embraced Little Spud tightly, refusing to let him go. News reports soon confirmed Little Spud's safe return, bringing immense relief to many, including Madam Zhang, who saw the broadcast. Later, Chang Rui and Deng Yan separately interrogated Liu Hongmei and Zheng Mingguang. Liu Hongmei became highly emotional, screaming and insisting that Little Spud was her child, making it difficult to extract information. Zheng Mingguang, however, was more cooperative.
He admitted they had bought the child but claimed Liu Hongmei had handled all the arrangements, including finding the contact, and that he merely followed her lead because she managed the household finances. He expressed genuine affection for the child and even asked if they could pay more money to keep him, though the officers reminded him that he had committed a crime.
Yin Jiansheng noted that while Liu Hongmei was distraught, Zheng Mingguang spoke freely but lacked specific details, indicating Liu Hongmei was the true instigator. Yin also suggested that Liu Hongmei's profound grief and attachment to the child were understandable for a mother who had lost hope. After some time, Liu Hongmei calmed down and confessed. She revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage six months into her pregnancy and was subsequently diagnosed with infertility.
Distraught, she and Zheng Mingguang were advised by Han Yougang to adopt a child to secure Zheng Mingguang's family inheritance, which would otherwise go to his younger brother. Han Yougang immediately contacted Meng Gui, requesting a child approximately six months old. Liu Hongmei paid 100,000 yuan to purchase Little Spud and pleaded with the police to help her recover the money from Han Yougang.
Officers noted that Han Yougang had now sold at least two children, prompting a warrant for his arrest. The police affirmed their focus on finding Han Yougang and continuing investigations into other missing children, including Zheng Weiwei and a girl who had fled to Pengcang Town. At the Linshan City Welfare Home, staff gathered the children in the main hall, but one child, Zheng Luoluo (Fafa), was found to be missing after nap time.
Despite searches, Zheng Luoluo could not be located, implying an escape. The case then shifted focus with a call from Captain Han suggesting a visit to Bai Wentao, who was revealed to be deceased.
