Under the Skin Episode 13 Recap
> Under the Skin Recap
Quietly, Liu Xiaoye, who had been sexually assaulted, sat in the hospital room observing a snail. Shen Yi, dressed in a white coat, met her as a doctor. Liu Xiaoye thought Shen Yi was going to examine her, but he only chatted with her about the snail. Shen Yi already had the answer in his heart when he came out of the ward.
Then Xiao Liu relayed Liu Xiaoye's description of the perpetrator to Shen Yi, and Shen Yi drew many facial features based on the description. Xiao Liu couldn't understand Shen Yi's thoughts. Shen Yi explained that Liu Xiaoye's observations were mostly based on perception, focusing on details and physical dimensions, so under the influence of hallucinogens, her description would be even more vague. Xiao Liu noticed that many of these facial features had perspectival connections.
Shen Yi asked her to categorize these features, and eventually, the two pieced together three incomplete faces, discovering that Liu Xiaoye had likely been gang-raped. Encouraged by Shen Yi, Xiao Liu picked up a paintbrush and completed the three portraits based on skull anatomy. While teaching Xiao Liu to draw, Shen Yi remembered his painting enlightenment teacher, Xu Yiduo.
Young Shen Yi was spray-painting with oils on the street when Xu Yiduo saw him and offered to teach him to paint. Shen Yi felt that learning to paint was not free, but Xu Yiduo said he could bring Shen Yi true freedom. Xu Yiduo personally taught Shen Yi painting techniques and helped him feel the vitality of colors, so Shen Yi had deep affection for Xu Yiduo.
Director Hu found three male students from Liu Xiaoye's school based on the portraits drawn by Xiao Liu. Under interrogation, the three confessed to the gang rape. The three men, who had long targeted the solitary Liu Xiaoye, took the drunken Liu Xiaoye away after a party that day and gave her a date rape drug, then gang-raped her. After committing the crime, the three purposefully cleared the traces from the scene.
Director Hu found that the portraits of these three men were missing something compared to the initial three-eyed portrait. Shen Yi also noticed this and discovered a butterfly shape by erasing the facial features in the portrait. This was a reflection of Liu Xiaoye's memory. Shen Yi wanted Liu Xiaoye to see it. Liu Xiaoye's mother looked at the butterfly and recalled past events from many years ago.
Liu's mother was busy with work and couldn't pick Liu Xiaoye up from school on time, so she enrolled young Liu Xiaoye in an interest class. Liu Xiaoye was molested by a male teacher while observing butterflies in the interest class. Liu's mother was afraid that this incident would ruin Liu Xiaoye's reputation, so she did not make it public.
To help Liu Xiaoye overcome her trauma and to prevent more girls from suffering, Shen Yi persuaded Liu's mother to cooperate with him in investigating the matter. Shen Yi found the male teacher and brought him to justice. He also returned the male teacher's cherished butterfly specimens to nature. Perhaps in this way, those wounded souls would be healed. Shen Yi's painting enlightenment teacher, Xu Yiduo, came to the police station to find him.
Du Cheng invited Xu Yiduo to wait in the reception room for Shen Yi, who was out. Xu Yiduo asked to see Shen Yi's paintings. Shen Yi was the most outstanding and talented student Xu Yiduo had ever taught, so Xu Yiduo felt regret that Shen Yi had given up art painting. He wanted Shen Yi to be an artist, not a portrait artist in a police station.
Du Cheng stated directly that Shen Yi was no ordinary portrait artist because he could see into people's hearts through their appearance, and he had made significant contributions in several previous cases. Du Cheng knew that Shen Yi loved his profession as a police officer, and he advised Xu Yiduo to respect Shen Yi's choice.
After learning that Xu Yiduo had visited, Shen Yi called Xu Yiduo, but the news he received was that Xu Yiduo and his wife had drowned at the seaside. He Rongyue confirmed after the autopsy that Xu Yiduo and his wife had committed suicide. Shen Yi, filled with grief, looked at Xu Yiduo's body and could not accept the fact. Shen Yi habitually found the key under the flowerpot at Xu Yiduo's doorstep.
Du Cheng and Shen Yi walked in together. Looking at the familiar surroundings, Shen Yi remembered how Xu Yiduo and his wife had cared for him like a son. Shen Yi saw his childhood paintings in the studio, and also a painting that he had burned seven years ago.
