Twelve Letters Episode 7 Recap
> Twelve Letters Recap
In 1981, in Meiwan Town, a young Ye Haitang’s mother brought her fish cakes, a favorite treat. However, her father, Ye Yibo, violently beat her mother, demanding money. Witnessing her mother’s suffering, Ye Haitang tearfully vowed never to eat fish cakes again. She clung to her mother, asking if her father’s anger stemmed from her being a girl.
Ye Haitang offered to become a boy, asking to be called "Son" (A-zai), and promised to protect her mother like a son would. Her mother agreed, making a secret pact: if she ever said, "Son, let's have fish cakes at Shiqiao," Ye Haitang should go directly to the stone bridge after school and wait for her. In 2026, police discovered the body of a woman, estimated to be between fifty and sixty years old, by the river.
Officer Zhao reported to Captain Wang that the body showed signs of drowning, old burn scars on the arms, and some struggle marks. Yu Nian and Shen Cheng were promptly informed. Shen Cheng rushed to the scene, where the police looked grim due to the body's severe decomposition, making identification difficult. While Shen Cheng went in to identify the body, Yu Nian paced anxiously outside.
When Shen Cheng emerged, he gravely informed Yu Nian that a man had been found in his mother’s passenger seat, a prime suspect, possibly Yu Nian’s own father. This revelation shattered Yu Nian, who adamantly refused to believe his father could be a killer, chasing after Shen Cheng to deny the accusation. Shen Cheng, enraged and distraught over his mother's death, declared his intention to tell the police everything he knew.
Distraught but still skeptical, Yu Nian frantically called Miaomiao, asking her to search their house for letters and to keep watch over a specific mailbox, emphasizing the secrecy of the request. Yu Nian was then brought to the police station for questioning. He was shown a photo of the man from the passenger seat, but he firmly stated it was not his father, pointing out the different hat, clothing style, and body shape.
The investigating officer also asked about the man's relationship with Ye Wanru, which Yu Nian denied knowing. He mentioned his father’s health issues and confusion, asserting he had no motive for murder. The officer then revealed a shocking truth: Yu Nian’s real father, Yu Zhiyong, had died in prison in 2004. The man Yu Nian knew as his father was an imposter.
The police explained they needed to understand the imposter’s motives and what he might have done to Yu Nian. Yu Nian struggled to process this, insisting that he had known this man as his father his entire life, that his grandmother always called him "Dayong," and that everyone in their hometown knew his father as Yu Zhiyong.
Meanwhile, the police confirmed that fingerprints found at Yu Nian’s house belonged to a man named Tang Yixun, an ex-convict who had served thirteen years for involuntary manslaughter in 1991. Elsewhere, Miaomiao, despite being pregnant, stubbornly guarded the mailbox as requested, dismissing the shipyard guard Zhang Quan's superstitious warnings. She even paid him to put up "missing person" flyers for Yu Nian's father. Back in 1981, Ye Haitang and Tang Yixun returned home to find their furniture being moved out.
They learned that Ye Yibo had mortgaged the house due to his debts. Ye Haitang confronted the debt collectors, asserting the house wasn't Ye Yibo's. When they became aggressive, Tang Yixun bravely grabbed a cleaver and brandished it, forcing the men to retreat, though their leader warned them this wasn't over. Later, Ye Haitang decided to give up the house to protect Tang Yixun from further danger.
She pager-called Ye Yibo back home and forced him to sign a "Relationship Severance Agreement" in exchange for the house deed. Ye Yibo initially resisted, pleading and recalling old memories, claiming he only mortgaged the house to pay debts and planned to reclaim it. However, Ye Haitang remained firm, reminding him of his past abuses and insisting that her grandmother, not him, had raised her.
Ye Yibo eventually signed, and Ye Haitang handed him the deed, declaring they were now square. Feeling a sense of liberation, Ye Haitang gathered only her grandmother's belongings and her books, telling Tang Yixun that nothing else mattered. As they walked home, Ye Haitang spoke to a picture of her grandmother, expressing her newfound hope for a good life and higher education with Tang Yixun. Tang Yixun, in turn, vowed to protect Ye Haitang.
That night, Tang Yixun, respecting Ye Haitang’s need for space, slept outside their new room. Later that night, Tang Yixun met his friend Rat and asked him where to find trendy clothes. He confessed he wanted to buy some women’s outfits for Ye Haitang, who had left her old home with nothing.
Rat, teasingly suggesting a "Joey Wong" dress, eventually agreed to help Tang Yixun find more modest, schoolgirl-style dresses, and they planned to go shopping the next day after school. Tang Yixun bought several dresses. At the bookstore, the owner's son, Hu, claimed to see a kitten in the mailbox. The owner opened it, found no cat, but did find a pile of letters, which he then took.
The next day at school, Ye Haitang and Tang Yixun discovered a joint petition to expel Tang Yixun. Ye Haitang confronted Shen Xiaojun, who she suspected was behind it, and defended Tang Yixun in front of the class, challenging anyone who claimed to have been hurt or harassed by him, or whose grades had dropped.
When no one stepped forward, Ye Haitang asserted that the students knew right from wrong and that Shen Xiaojun was the true "black sheep" for her constant bullying. The teacher arrived and class began. Afterwards, Ye Haitang and Tang Yixun checked the mailbox but found no reply, unaware that the letters had been taken by the bookstore owner.
Tang Yixun left to go shopping with Rat, while Ye Haitang, with the bookstore owner's permission, took home an old, broken wire bed from his warehouse. Arriving back at their new home, Ye Haitang found the dresses Tang Yixun had bought. She happily tried on a dress, reassuring Tang Yixun it fit perfectly, even if the shoes were a bit big.
Later that evening, as it began to rain while they were organizing letters, they playfully splashed around, enjoying their moment of shared happiness. Lee Chadong’s Buddies Billiards reopened, attended by Ye Haitang and Tan Xin, a major shareholder. They celebrated with a ribbon-cutting and a meal. However, the festivities were interrupted by Brother Bao and his men.
Bao, feigning well wishes, then made it clear he intended to take over the billiards hall, intimidating Lee Chadong and his friends before his men proceeded to vandalize the place. Later, while Ye Haitang was organizing letters, she unexpectedly discovered one dated 2026.
