Recaps

Dong Xuebin caught up on work at the Discipline Inspection Committee and learned from Xie Huilan that he would accompany her to a charitable fundraising gala for earthquake relief. He and his mother also discovered that she and Old Yang would attend, while Dong Xuebin went home to cook and wondered how much he should donate.

• Dong Xuebin ate with Zhan Guiping, surprising Discipline Inspection Committee staff with their friendly rapport.
• Dong Xuebin spent the afternoon signing documents and reviewing meeting papers before Xie Huilan called and insisted he attend the gala as her escort.
• Luan Xiaoping told Dong Xuebin that she and Old Yang had also been invited to the gala and planned to check on Xie Huilan afterward.
• Dong Xuebin bought groceries, cooked dishes for Xie Huilan, and weighed how much to donate given his publicly declared assets.

Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan attended a charity fundraiser in Fenzhou City, where the strained relationship with Wan Fanglei remained evident. Luan Xiaoping and Yang Zhaode publicly revealed their family connection to the couple, leaving the other guests stunned as the event began.

• Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan discussed how much to donate before heading to the fundraiser.
• Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan greeted the attendees, including Zhong Zhengwei and Wan Fanglei, whose family avoided them.
• Yang Zhaode and Luan Xiaoping arrived, and Luan Xiaoping warmly addressed Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan as her son and daughter-in-law.
• Yang Zhaode introduced Dong Xuebin to several guests while the attendees reacted to the revelation that Luan Xiaoping was Dong Xuebin's mother and Yang Zhaode's wife.
• The host opened the charity event, and the guests took their seats.

At a charity auction, Song Fei challenged Xie Huilan over Mayor Zhong Zhengwei’s calligraphy, prompting Dong Xuebin to outbid him dramatically. Dong won the calligraphy for three million, leaving the hall stunned and Song Fei unable to compete.

• Wan Fanglei bought Teacher Zhang’s manuscript for twenty thousand, and businessmen drove the price of a painting up to two hundred thousand.
• Xie Huilan waited for Zhong Zhengwei’s calligraphy and bid three hundred sixty thousand to support the mayor and strengthen their ties.
• Song Fei kept raising his bid against Xie Huilan, hoping to win the calligraphy and gain favor with Wan Fanglei.
• Dong Xuebin angrily bid one million, then two million and three million, forcing Song Fei to stop bidding.
• Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan collected the calligraphy after it sold for three million, while Fenzhou City officials recalled Dong’s vast cash wealth.

Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan left the charity auction after Dong’s three-million donation made them the event’s focus. Song Fei dismissed warnings about provoking Dong, unaware that Dong could indeed use unscrupulous methods against him.

• Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan secured Zhong Zhengwei’s calligraphy for three million, and Xie discussed learning calligraphy from him.
• The auction ended with nearly ten million raised, and Wan Fanglei promised the donations would be transparently used for reconstruction.
• Dong Xuebin collected the donation account details and left the hotel with Xie Huilan.
• Boss Zhang warned Song Fei that Dong Xuebin was notorious and dangerous to provoke in Fenzhou City.
• Song Fei brushed off the warning and remained determined to pursue business connections, while Dong Xuebin’s capacity for immoral retaliation went unrecognized.

After Xie Huilan urged him to focus on his Discipline Inspection Commission duties, Dong Xuebin used FORWARD to obtain tomorrow’s newspaper and discovered a deadly collapse involving a new post-earthquake school building. The report pointed to shoddy construction and bribed officials, giving him a case to pursue.

• Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan discussed their efforts to build ties with Mayor Zhong and Dong Xuebin’s anger at Song Fei.
• Xie Huilan urged Dong Xuebin to investigate misconduct proactively, and he decided to focus on his actual work.
• Dong Xuebin used FORWARD on the family mailbox and retrieved a newspaper dated tomorrow.
• Dong Xuebin read that a new post-earthquake teaching building had collapsed, killing seven and injuring five.
• Dong Xuebin learned the report cited substandard materials, cut corners, and bribery, and resolved to investigate.

Dong Xuebin investigated suspicious construction materials at Xiping Third Middle School and prepared an anonymous tip-off about possible corruption. Xie Huilan agreed to raise the matter at the Mayor’s Office Meeting, though she warned that officials might hesitate to act.

• After reading a newspaper report about a coming accident, Dong Xuebin asked Xie Huilan about Xiping Third Middle School and learned that Song Fei’s company supplied its building materials.
• Dong Xuebin inspected the unfinished school at night, found that its materials and walls crumbled easily, and photographed the construction site before leaving when security guards arrived.
• Dong Xuebin wrote an anonymous tip-off letter and asked Liu Dahai to arrange for copies to be sent to the City Discipline Inspection Committee and to him.
• Dong Xuebin showed Xie Huilan the photographs and urged her to alert the city’s leaders about the school and other reconstruction projects.
• Xie Huilan agreed to bring the tip-off letter up at the Mayor’s Office Meeting, while cautioning that officials might avoid an investigation because it could disrupt reconstruction.

Dong Xuebin obtained Zhan Guiping’s approval to discreetly investigate suspected embezzlement of disaster relief funds for Xiping District’s Third Middle School Teaching Building. Xie Huilan explained that Deputy Mayor Feng had opposed a formal investigation, apparently to protect his chances of joining the municipal Party committee’s Standing Committee, as Dong Xuebin prepared to lead a team to investigate.

• Dong Xuebin brought an anonymous tip-off about disaster relief funds to Zhan Guiping, who assigned Discipline Inspection and Supervision Office One to investigate discreetly.
• Dong Xuebin asked Luo Haiting to remain behind and chose Deputy Director Liu Hanqing to accompany him on the investigation.
• Xie Huilan told Dong Xuebin that Deputy Mayor Feng had opposed involving the Construction Committee in the investigation and said he would verify the allegations privately.
• Xie Huilan explained that Deputy Mayor Feng wanted to avoid trouble because Deputy Mayor Qian’s departure could give Feng a chance to join the Standing Committee.

Dong Xuebin brought a Discipline Inspection Committee team to Xiping Third Middle School under the pretext of an undercover inspection, hoping to uncover construction problems before the Teaching Building collapsed. When Deputy Mayor Feng Jie and Deputy District Governor Chu confronted his staff at the site, Dong Xuebin dismissed them as “stray cats and dogs” and ordered his team to keep working.

• Dong Xuebin treated his team to lunch and instructed them to enter Xiping Third Middle School undercover and inspect the construction project.
• Liu Hanqing, Zhu Zhu, Fei Fan, and the others got past the security guard and examined the unfinished Teaching Building while Dong Xuebin waited at a nearby teahouse.
• Dong Xuebin spotted Deputy Mayor Feng Jie arriving with Deputy District Governor Chu and suspected that news of the inspection had reached them.
• Feng Jie and Chu confronted Liu Hanqing and his colleagues about their presence at the school and complained that they had not coordinated with the district.
• Dong Xuebin strode up, called Feng Jie, Chu, and their companions “stray cats and dogs,” and ordered his staff to return to work.

Dong Xuebin drove Deputy Mayor Feng Jie and his entourage away after they interfered with the Discipline Inspection Committee’s investigation at Xiping Third Middle School. Watching Feng Jie inspect the school’s construction, Dong suspected the officials had staged a cover-up, though he alone knew the Teaching Building was on the verge of collapse.

• Dong Xuebin insulted Feng Jie and the Xiping District officials, pretending he mistook the deputy mayor for a migrant worker until Feng Jie angrily left.
• Dong Xuebin told Zhu Zhu, Fei Fan, and the others to continue investigating openly and to send anyone who objected to him.
• Two security guards approached the investigators, but they backed off when Dong ordered them not to interfere with the Discipline Inspection Committee’s case.
• Feng Jie and Deputy District Governor Chu praised the construction quality and prepared to inspect a completed building.
• Dong noticed that the materials he had seen outside the Teaching Building the previous night were gone and suspected the officials had replaced them to conceal problems.

Dong Xuebin’s undercover inspection at Xiping Third Middle School was compromised, and he realized the coming aftershock might collapse the completed Teaching Building rather than the unfinished one. He rushed to protect the officials and staff still inside as the aftershock approached.

• Dong Xuebin told Zhan Guiping that Deputy Mayor Feng had exposed the inspection and that the suspicious building materials were gone, but Zhan Guiping told him to keep investigating if he wished.
• Expecting an aftershock to collapse a Teaching Building, Dong Xuebin sent Fei Fan, Zhu Zhu, Ning Shaoyang, and the others toward the completed building while he entered the unfinished one.
• The workers left the unfinished building for a break, and Dong Xuebin initially believed that this had changed the predicted casualties.
• A worker told Dong Xuebin that the crew had been scheduled to work in the nearly completed Teaching Building, and Dong Xuebin realized that it was the building likely to collapse.
• Dong Xuebin understood that his colleagues were still inside the endangered completed building and reacted in alarm.

Dong Xuebin warned Feng Jie and the Xiping District officials that an aftershock was coming and rushed everyone out of the Teaching Building. After the building collapsed, Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang were trapped beneath a falling wall, and Dong Xuebin charged in to save them.

• Dong Xuebin rushed into the Teaching Building and ordered Feng Jie, Deputy District Governor Chu, and the others to evacuate before an aftershock.
• Feng Jie and Deputy District Governor Chu dismissed Dong Xuebin’s warning, and Dong Xuebin angrily accused Deputy District Governor Chu of corruption and negligence.
• The aftershock struck, the Teaching Building began to break apart, and Dong Xuebin led the group toward the exit while pulling Fei Fan and Zhu Zhu out of the way of falling debris.
• The group escaped just before the Teaching Building collapsed, but Ning Shaoyang fell and knocked Liu Hanqing down as a massive wall came crashing toward them.
• Dong Xuebin rushed toward Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang and thrust his hands up to stop the falling wall.

Dong Xuebin used REVERSE to hold up a collapsing wall and save Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang, though he became trapped beneath it. As the crowd scrambled to find a way to rescue him, he continued supporting the wall for several minutes.

• Dong Xuebin rushed beneath the falling wall and held it up with both hands, allowing Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang to escape.
• Dong Xuebin repeatedly used REVERSE to recover as the crushing force shattered his body, but he could not move without losing his support.
• Liu Hanqing ordered people to call the Fire Brigade and demanded that the construction crew find a way to rescue Dong Xuebin.
• Feng Jie and Deputy District Governor Chu ordered a vehicle to brace the wall, but it did not take any of the weight off Dong Xuebin.
• Dong Xuebin continued holding the wall for several minutes as the crowd watched in stunned silence.

Dong Xuebin held up the collapsed wall until firefighters could support it, then escaped as their rescue machine failed under the wall’s weight. Despite being covered in blood and sweat, he stood up and checked whether everyone else was hurt, leaving the onlookers stunned.

• The firefighters arrived and found Dong Xuebin still holding up the wall, while Liu Hanqing and Fei Fan urged them to rescue him quickly.
• The firefighters braced the wall with their equipment, and Dong Xuebin shuffled backward until they told him he could let go.
• After Dong Xuebin released the wall, it crushed the rescue machine and a sedan, revealing its immense weight.
• Dong Xuebin collapsed from exhaustion, and Zhu Zhu, Liu Hanqing, and the others rushed to get him medical help.
• Dong Xuebin waved off the medical staff, stood up, and asked whether Zhu Zhu and the others were hurt, astonishing everyone.

Dong Xuebin saved Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang from a collapsing wall at No. 3 Middle School, then was taken to the hospital for examination. As reporters questioned officials about the collapse, Dong Xuebin explained that he had saved his colleagues because it was simply his duty, and Liu Hanqing apologized for their past conflict.

• Dong Xuebin reassured his colleagues after lifting the collapsed wall, but collapsed from exhaustion once he was placed on a stretcher.
• Reporters confronted Feng Jie and Deputy District Governor Chu about the Teaching Building collapse, while they questioned Dong Xuebin about rescuing Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang.
• Dong Xuebin told a reporter that he had saved people because it was the natural thing to do, with no need for a reason.
• Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang accompanied Dong Xuebin in the ambulance, where the doctor said his life was not in danger but that further examinations were needed.
• Liu Hanqing apologized for their past conflict, and Dong Xuebin said he had saved them because he was responsible for his colleagues' safety.

After rescuing Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang from a collapsing wall, Dong Xuebin underwent hospital tests and was found to have only superficial wounds and muscle strain. Zhan Guiping praised him for saving the others and said he would seek a commendation.

• Dong Xuebin told Xie Huilan over the phone that Feng Jie was unlikely to get the vacant deputy mayor position and urged her to act quickly.
• Dong Xuebin reassured his family, friends, and colleagues who called to ask about his condition.
• Zhan Guiping and Liang Xuan rushed to the hospital, fearing Dong Xuebin had been badly injured, but the doctor reported that he had no serious damage or fractures.
• Dong Xuebin asked to be discharged, but Zhan Guiping insisted on additional examinations, which again showed no serious injuries.
• Liu Hanqing and Ning Shaoyang blamed themselves for the accident, while Dong Xuebin told them not to worry.
• Zhan Guiping thanked Dong Xuebin for saving the others and promised to seek a commendation for him.

Dong Xuebin returned to work and was praised at a committee meeting for rescuing people at Xiping Third Middle School. Provincial leaders ordered a thorough investigation of the collapse and post-disaster reconstruction projects, and Dong was put in charge of the probe.

• Dong Xuebin returned to the office despite Zhan Guiping's advice that he rest longer, and Luo Haiting told him she had worried about him.
• He Suien praised Dong at a department meeting for reporting the problems at Xiping Third Middle School and saving colleagues during the building collapse.
• Dong thanked the provincial and city leaders for their recognition and delivered formal remarks to the assembled officials.
• He Suien told the Standing Committee that provincial leaders had ordered a thorough investigation of the school collapse and all post-disaster reconstruction projects.
• Zhan Guiping proposed that Discipline Inspection and Supervision Office One lead the investigation, and He Suien assigned Dong to take charge.

Dong Xuebin questioned supplier Song Fei about the collapsed Xiping Third Middle School building and used a signed meeting document to trick him into confessing. Song Fei implicated Deputy District Governor Chu and admitted cutting costs on construction materials, while Dong Xuebin’s team continued its investigation.

• Dong Xuebin assigned his staff to investigate suspected officials and gather evidence, uniting the office behind him after he had risked his life to save Liu Hanqing.
• Luo Haiting reported that Song Fei’s company had supplied materials for the collapsed school building, and Dong Xuebin arranged for the Public Security Bureau to bring Song Fei in for questioning.
• Song Fei denied involving local officials, so Dong Xuebin warned that his company would face inspections and severe consequences if he stayed silent.
• Luo Haiting let Song Fei glimpse a signed document, which he mistook for Deputy District Governor Chu’s testimony, and Dong Xuebin ordered the questioning to end.
• Song Fei panicked and confessed that he had bribed Deputy District Governor Chu with 200,000 yuan and used substandard materials to make up for the low payment he received.
• After Song Fei signed his confession, Dong Xuebin revealed that the document had only been a meeting paper and that he had deliberately used Song Fei’s assumption to make him talk.

Dong Xuebin’s investigation implicated Deputy District Governor Chu and led him to suspect that Secretary Song had warned Chu before the Third Middle School building collapsed. Chu was brought in and admitted to receiving a call about Feng Jie’s inspection, but he denied that it contained any other warning.

• Dong Xuebin ordered Liu Hanqing to bring Deputy District Governor Chu to the Disciplinary Inspection Commission after Song Fei implicated him in taking bribes.
• Dong Xuebin learned from Xie Huilan that Feng Jie remained a strong candidate for the Standing Committee position despite the school collapse.
• Dong Xuebin checked Chu’s phone records, found an eight-minute call from Feng Jie’s secretary, Secretary Song, and ordered Zhu Zhu to summon him.
• An unidentified caller warned Chu to say as little as possible, especially about the call from Secretary Song, before Liu Hanqing took Chu to the Commission.
• Dong Xuebin questioned Chu about the bribe and the call; Chu stayed silent about the bribe, said Secretary Song had only given him Feng Jie’s inspection itinerary, and Dong Xuebin ended the questioning.

Dong Xuebin used a staged interrogation to make Deputy District Governor Chu believe Secretary Song had betrayed him, prompting Chu to confess that Song had relayed Deputy Mayor Feng Jie's instructions about the Third Middle School Teaching Building. Dong submitted the preliminary investigation report to Zhan Guiping, who accepted the result but warned him not to use such tactics again.

• Luo Haiting and Xiao Zhang pretended to question Secretary Song, leading Deputy District Governor Chu to believe Song was blaming him for the case.
• Chu returned to Dong Xuebin and confessed that Song had told him to remove the substandard materials at the Third Middle School Teaching Building, citing Deputy Mayor Feng's intentions.
• Dong had Chu write down his testimony, then revealed that the apparent questioning of Secretary Song had been a staged trap.
• Dong compiled the investigation findings and delivered the preliminary report to Zhan Guiping.
• Zhan Guiping confronted Dong about his deceptive methods, let them pass under the circumstances, and warned him not to repeat them.

Dong Xuebin finished investigating corruption in Xiping District and learned that Xie Huilan had joined the Fenzhou City Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee. After dinner, the newly promoted couple celebrated at home, and the chapter ended with them in bed.

• Dong Xuebin told Xie Huilan that Song Fei, Deputy District Governor Chu, and other officials had faced investigation or discipline, and that Vice Mayor Feng had been criticized and warned.
• Dong Xuebin said his rescue work and investigation had earned him merit, while Xie Huilan praised his performance and fed him a bite of food.
• Xie Huilan revealed that she had officially joined the Fenzhou City Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee and would assist the mayor with personnel and staffing.
• Dong Xuebin congratulated Xie Huilan and said her appointment was a promotion in influence, even though her rank had not changed.
• After dinner, Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan discussed her pregnancy, then went to the bedroom to celebrate her appointment.

Dong Xuebin and Xie Huilan visited Mayor Zhong and Madam Chen to offer belated New Year’s greetings and strengthen their relationship after Xie Huilan’s promotion to the Standing Committee. Madam Chen finally met the much-discussed Dong Xuebin and found him surprisingly ordinary.

• Dong Xuebin woke late on Saturday, and Xie Huilan told him they would visit Mayor Zhong and his wife for dinner.
• Xie Huilan and Dong Xuebin brought gifts to Mayor Zhong’s home, where officials along the way congratulated Xie Huilan on her promotion.
• Mayor Zhong and Madam Chen welcomed the couple, and the four chatted comfortably as they built closer ties.
• Madam Chen praised Dong Xuebin’s rescue efforts and daring reputation, then privately concluded that he seemed utterly ordinary.

Dong Xuebin learned that the Discipline Inspection Committee would send out inspection teams and was appointed to lead the third team. His unprecedented appointment surprised his colleagues as he prepared to inspect two counties on the outskirts of Fenzhou City.

• Gao Wenrong informed Dong Xuebin that the Discipline Inspection Committee would hold an afternoon meeting about forming inspection teams.
• At lunch, Zhong Zhengwei offered to recommend Dong Xuebin to lead a team, and Dong Xuebin realized he had a real chance at the appointment.
• At the meeting, Secretary He assigned Xiao Bin to lead Team One and Zhan Guiping to lead Team Two.
• Secretary He appointed Dong Xuebin to lead Inspection Team Three, responsible for two outlying counties, surprising the officials present.

Dong Xuebin traveled to Ma Yang County ahead of an inspection and unexpectedly reunited with his high school classmates Pang Shuo and Du Juan, who now held deputy section-level posts there. Over dinner, he learned that the county was preparing for the City Discipline Inspection Committee’s inspection the next day, without realizing that he was leading the team.

• Dong Xuebin left home early after saying goodbye to Xie Huilan and drove to Ma Yang County to inspect the area before his team arrived.
• At a restaurant, Dong Xuebin ran into Pang Shuo and Du Juan, his former high school classmates, and joined them for a meal.
• Pang Shuo and Du Juan told Dong Xuebin about their civil service careers and their new deputy section-level positions in Ma Yang County.
• Pang Shuo offered to help Dong Xuebin find work locally, assuming Dong Xuebin was a company employee earning just over four thousand a month.
• Pang Shuo and Du Juan complained that the county was preparing to receive an inspection team from the City Discipline Inspection Committee the next day, and Dong Xuebin realized they were talking about his team.

Dong Xuebin led a City Discipline Inspection Committee inspection team into Ma Yang County and rejected the county officials’ elaborate welcome, driving straight past them. The team left the officials waiting as they began their inspection.

• Pang Shuo invited Dong Xuebin to a class reunion that evening at Ma Yang Hotel.
• Dong Xuebin drove around Ma Yang County and saw local offices and businesses preparing for the inspection.
• Liao Huaxiong and the other inspection team members arrived, and Dong Xuebin decided they would survey the county before visiting departments the next day.
• The team found County Party Secretary Sun Yitao and other officials waiting beneath a welcome banner, though they had not announced their arrival.
• Dong Xuebin ordered the cars to drive past the welcoming officials, leaving Sun Yitao, Du Juan, and the others stunned.

Dong Xuebin attended a high school class reunion during his inspection visit to Ma Yang County, where his classmates learned that he was among the City Discipline Inspection Committee leaders. The reunion continued as the county officials remained anxious about the inspection.

• Dong Xuebin checked into the Ma Yang Hotel with his inspection team and waited outside for his high school reunion.
• Dong Xuebin greeted his classmates, who noticed his changed bearing but mostly left him out of their conversations.
• Pang Shuo and Du Juan arrived, and the classmates entered a private room after seeing the banner welcoming the City Discipline Inspection Committee leaders.
• Pang Shuo treated the classmates to dinner, while Dong Xuebin took a seat at the far end of the table.
• Luo Haiting called Dong Xuebin about County Party Secretary Sun Yitao's invitation, and Dong Xuebin told the inspection team to dine with him without drinking.
• Pang Shuo told the classmates that Ma Yang County was on edge because the inspection team intended to uncover problems.