The Hope Episode 22 Recap
> The Hope Recaps
In 2008, a tragic incident unfolded when a student named Zheng Qian jumped from a building. It was reported that she was a student who had pursued her teacher, Lei Ming. Flashbacks revealed that the night before Zheng Qian's death, around 9 PM, Lei Ming had a dispute with her in a classroom. She was seen running out, disheveled and crying.
Photos from that night were confirmed, and a leader at Zhixiang accused Lei Ming of inappropriate behavior towards Zheng Qian. Despite the police ruling it a suicide, the incident caused severe public backlash. A director, Mr. Wang, met with Lei Ming and informed him that the leadership intended to expel him, issue a strong reprimand, and ban him from the education industry to protect the company's reputation.
Mr. Wang offered a compromise: Lei Ming could hold a press conference to apologize and then resign for a period, which would prevent him from being officially labeled as a "tainted teacher." Lei Ming, however, found a hair clip left by Zheng Qian under his desk, implying he understood their relationship better than anyone. He asserted to Mr. Wang that their relationship was purely that of teacher and student, with no other connection.
Ten years later, in 2018, the past controversy resurfaced. An anonymous tip exposed Lei Ming as the same "wolfish Lei Ming" involved in Zheng Qian's death at Zhixiang. The online community was outraged, demanding his expulsion and calling him a "beast in human form" while spreading rumors about his past, including insinuating an inappropriate relationship with his current student, Cheng Yushan. Class 11, where Lei Ming taught, became a focal point for gossip.
Students like Li Ran, Cheng Yushan, Yu Yang, Bian Xiaoxiao, and Jiang Qinglang were deeply affected, with Li Ran nearly getting into a fight defending their teacher. Bian Xiaoxiao openly questioned if they truly believed Lei Ming, and while Li Ran trusted him concerning the current accusations, he admitted they couldn't speak for the past as they weren't witnesses. Feeling helpless, they realized they lacked the confidence to publicly defend him.
Lei Ming, meanwhile, was in hiding at a hotel, besieged by reporters disguised as delivery personnel. He remained elusive but managed to send a message to his students after Li Ran flooded the hotel's system with threats of a class boycott. Lei Ming reassured his students that he wasn't missing, urged them to listen to Ms. Sang during his absence, and insisted they not let the incident disrupt their studies.
Cheng Yushan found the timing of the old scandal's resurgence too convenient, suspecting someone was profiting from Lei Ming's downfall. Later, Sang Xia found Lei Ming in the hotel's underground garage, having called him repeatedly. She confronted him about standing her up on New Year's Eve but clarified she wasn't there to discuss work or demand explanations. Instead, she brought food and drinks, recognizing he was experiencing a stress response.
She suggested he let go of the past and encouraged him to eat, assuring him she would be there whenever he was ready to talk, warning that being perpetually "strangled by the past" would lead to suffocation. As Lei Ming began to eat, he eventually admitted to Sang Xia that he bore responsibility for Zheng Qian's death and had not forgiven himself for ten years.
He cautioned Sang Xia not to become too invested in her students, emphasizing that teachers and students could never truly be friends, and crossing that boundary could lead to uncontrollable consequences. After Lei Ming left, Sang Xia received a notification that Shen Yao had scheduled a psychological counseling appointment.
Meanwhile, Li Ran, Cheng Yushan, Jiang Qinglang, Yu Yang, and Bian Xiaoxiao launched their own investigation into the Zheng Qian incident, focusing on popular online platforms from 2008 such as Post Bar, blogs, and Xiaonei, with Li Ran tasked with tracing anonymous posts. At the same time, Lei Ming visited Zheng Qian's grave, apologizing for returning to teaching despite his earlier promise.
He recounted reliving the moment of her fall, feeling unable to save her, and believed his "payback is not over yet." Zheng Qian's mother approached him there, returning all the money Lei Ming had sent her over the past decade, acknowledging that only he would have done so.
She asked him to stop visiting her stall and the stray cat rescue station, as those were ways she kept her daughter's memory alive, and asked him never to mention the incident again, asserting that each time it was brought up, Qian "died again." Lei Ming solemnly promised. Zheng Qian's mother tearfully expressed her enduring confusion, unable to comprehend why her daughter, who had been happy, accepted to a school, and won a scholarship, would choose to end her life.
She wondered about the immense pain Zheng Qian must have endured falling from such a height. During his psychological counseling session with Sang Xia, Shen Yao presented his past self-assessment scores, detailing moderate anxiety, severe depression, and personality traits indicating emotional instability and low empathy from two years prior. He claimed to be healthy now and merely wished to update her watchlist.
Sang Xia, however, saw through his facade, noting he had likely memorized the test answers and only came because she had discreetly moved his escitalopram medication, an antidepressant he had taken but claimed to have stopped. She challenged his assertion of health by questioning why her evaluation mattered to him.
Shen Yao dismissed school psychological counselors as a "facade," arguing that a non-depressed person couldn't genuinely help a depressed one, much like another person couldn't feel the pain of his own cut arm. He attributed all his anxiety to academic pressure, confident it would vanish after the college entrance exam.
Sang Xia then subtly asked if his cruel treatment of a butterfly during a farming practice trip was also due to academic pressure, to which Shen Yao denied it was him. The students later shared their findings with Sang Xia, revealing that Zheng Qian was isolated. They discovered a Post Bar post from October 25, 2008—two days after her death—with a title that ended with the question, "Regarding Zheng Qian's death, is everyone in the class innocent?"
The Post Bar had been filled with vitriolic attacks against Lei Ming. Li Ran confirmed that Lei Ming's previous name was a homophone for his current one, but with a different Chinese character. They also found that Zheng Qian used a consistent "A flying girl" avatar across all platforms and interacted with an anonymous account that posted "Mr. Lei is Innocent."
The tone of these interactions strongly suggested they were classmates, and this account was identified as their Chinese teacher, Ms. Xiao Zhou. When confronted, Ms. Xiao Zhou confirmed she posted the message defending Lei Ming. She admitted that she, like many girls at the time, was infatuated with Lei Ming. She described Zheng Qian as the "most ordinary" of Lei Ming's admirers, a girl so unremarkable she "couldn't find any distinctive features" in a sketch of her.
The teacher then recounted how she became fearful of Zheng Qian: she easily became an administrator of Lei Ming's Post Bar, and Lei Ming even "liked" her post about it. Shortly after, an anonymous user named "Ye Du Wu Ren"—later discovered to be Zheng Qian—sent her hateful private messages. Her homework disappeared or was defaced, and ink was spilled on her bag.
One day, she saw Zheng Qian staring at her menacingly through a mirror's reflection, a look she found unforgettable and terrifying. Ms. Xiao Zhou revealed that Zheng Qian had repeatedly applied for the Post Bar administrator role but was always rejected, which explained her animosity. Zheng Qian was naturally isolated, rarely making eye contact or speaking.
However, after students discovered her mother sold grilled squid from a roadside stall, they began calling Zheng Qian "Grilled Squid" and subjecting her to pranks, such as deflating her bicycle tires. Ms. Xiao Zhou questioned whether Zheng Qian's isolation was inherent or imposed by others. She noted that while most students' admiration for Lei Ming was playful, Zheng Qian's was genuine.
She saved her lunch money to buy him gifts, which angered Lei Ming, causing him to distance himself from her. At the graduation party, Zheng Qian appeared unexpectedly, dressed brightly, but left quickly, claiming to be in the wrong place. The next day, she jumped. Ms. Xiao Zhou concluded that Lei Ming had not avoided his past but rather "held it in," never truly finding peace.
Lei Ming returned to his old residence and found a box filled with love letters from Zheng Qian. Simultaneously, a meeting was held at Minglong to discuss Lei Ming's potential expulsion. During the meeting, Principal Lou stated his position. Principal Lou responded that he had no objections to Lei Ming's expulsion, "provided" the investigation confirmed any inappropriate behavior. He accepted full responsibility for hiring Lei Ming and was willing to face consequences.
However, he also contended that dismissing Lei Ming based solely on unverified news reports would be equally irresponsible, emphasizing the need for concrete proof. This stance came after Mr. Wang from Zhixiang had tried to pressure him, arguing that Class 11 was solely to secure investment and that if Principal Lou took over, any future triumphs would be his, ensuring Zhixiang's long-term commitment. At this point, Mr. Xiao, who had interned at Zhixiang ten years prior, stepped forward.
He claimed to confirm the veracity of the news reports, stating that on the night of the incident, he had intended to seek advice from Lei Ming but overheard Lei Ming and Zheng Qian's voices. He then revealed that he had taken photos, and Lei Ming had later asked him to keep it a secret, implying he was young and would eventually forget. Mr. Xiao declared that he would not forget.
