Chapter Summaries

The team identified the headless corpse as Xia Xiaolin and concluded that Ding Peixin had likely killed her, taken her identity, and used a maritime disaster to fake her own disappearance. The motive appeared to be Ding Peixin’s discovery that her husband had repeatedly betrayed her and gotten Xia Xiaolin pregnant.

• Tao Junhui received the DNA report confirming that the headless corpse was Xia Xiaolin.
• Tao Junhui confirmed with Forensic Doctor Du that Xia Xiaolin had never been pregnant, while Su Qiao explained that Xia Xiaolin had years of dance experience.
• Tao Junhui concluded that Ding Peixin had impersonated Xia Xiaolin and disappeared during the trip, and Su Qiao insisted Ding Peixin was probably still alive.
• Su Qiao suggested that Ding Peixin had been driven to murder by learning that her husband had many affairs and had gotten Xia Xiaolin pregnant.

Tao Junhui and Su Qiao discussed Ding Peixin’s motives and planned to find her on Basha Island. Su Xiyan insisted on going too, but Tao Junhui told her to stay at the bureau, prompting her to leave angrily.

• Su Qiao explained how Ding Peixin’s desire for a perfect family and her husband’s infidelity may have fueled her hatred.
• Su Qiao urged Tao Junhui to investigate Ding Peixin’s social connections, suspecting someone had helped her plan and carry out the crime.
• Tao Junhui decided to go to Basha Island to find Ding Peixin, and Su Qiao volunteered to accompany him because she knew about the sea and spoke the local language.
• Su Xiyan demanded to join the trip, but Tao Junhui told her to remain at the bureau and assist the team.
• Su Qiao told Tao Junhui not to excuse Su Xiyan’s behavior by bringing up her age or childhood.

Su Qiao and Tao Junhui prepared to leave on a business trip, but an attacker disrupted their plans. After Tao Junhui was wounded protecting Su Xiyan, Su Qiao and Du Muhan subdued the attacker, and the group had to abandon the trip to Basha Island.

• Su Qiao rebuked Tao Junhui for expecting her to keep giving in to someone unreasonable.
• Du Muhan drove Su Qiao home to pack, then took her back to the station for her business trip with Tao Junhui.
• Tao Junhui approached Su Xiyan, but a man reeking of alcohol rushed out and attacked them with a knife.
• Du Muhan pulled Su Qiao out of danger, while Tao Junhui shielded Su Xiyan and was stabbed in the arm.
• Su Qiao kicked the attacker down, and Du Muhan restrained him until the police and security guards arrived.
• Tao Junhui was taken to the hospital, the trip to Basha Island was canceled, and Du Muhan told Su Qiao not to wear skirts next time.

Su Qiao and Du Muhan traded teasing remarks about fighting and their relationship before he tried to persuade her to stay. When Du Muhan asked whether she would visit Tao Junhui, Su Qiao realized he was jealous and that he cared about her beyond her hands.

• Du Muhan refused to spar with Su Qiao and reminded her that she would have to become his wife before they could be husband and wife.
• Su Qiao asked Du Muhan if he would pretend to be her boyfriend for a month, but he refused because he disliked fake things.
• Du Muhan clasped Su Qiao's hand and urged her to stay, but his awkward words sounded like a threat to her.
• Du Muhan asked whether Su Qiao would check on Tao Junhui, and she questioned whether he was jealous.
• Su Qiao recognized that Du Muhan was still bothered by her past with Tao Junhui and called out his poor attempt to change the subject.

Su Qiao pressed Du Muhan to admit that he disliked the drunk man because of his interest in her, and Du Muhan openly confessed his jealousy. They clarified their feelings and flirted, but his explanation of how he saw other people left Su Qiao bewildered.

• Du Muhan admitted that he disliked the drunk man and confessed that he did not want him talking to Su Qiao or going on a business trip with her.
• Su Qiao asked whether Du Muhan understood what his words meant, and he insisted that he was serious and not pretending.
• Su Qiao revealed that she had been interested in Du Muhan from the beginning and had only planned to give them both a month to see how he felt.
• Su Qiao teased Du Muhan by touching his abdomen, and he warned that he might not resist the temptation.
• Du Muhan reassured Su Qiao that he saw everyone else as flesh and bones, mentally assessing their physical traits and health, which bewildered her.

Su Qiao and Du Muhan went to Sun Zhihao's house, where Su Qiao confirmed that Ding Peixin was the disguised woman in the surveillance footage. They examined a photo and headed to the room where Ding Peixin practiced dancing.

• Su Qiao stopped Du Muhan from kissing her and suggested they visit Sun Zhihao's house to compare Ding Peixin's photos with the surveillance footage.
• Du Muhan said he had handed off his work and would take time off while his hand healed, then went with Su Qiao.
• Su Qiao compared recent photos of Ding Peixin with the surveillance image and confirmed they showed the same woman.
• Du Muhan noticed writing on the back of a framed photo, and Su Qiao reflected on how Ding Peixin's childhood might have affected her.
• Su Qiao and Du Muhan went to Ding Peixin's spacious dance-practice room.

Su Qiao and Du Muhan examined Ding Peixin’s belongings and pieced together how she had allegedly killed Xia Xiaolin, impersonated her, and staged her own death during the hurricane. Su Qiao suspected someone had manipulated Ding Peixin and wondered whether Ding had discovered Xia Xiaolin’s body before luring Sun Zhihao to the eastern outskirts.

• Su Qiao noticed the soothing music and the unfinished baby clothes, which suggested Ding Peixin had hoped to have a child and a complete family.
• Su Qiao argued that Ding Peixin probably had not intended to die, since she had carefully disguised herself as Xia Xiaolin and traveled according to a plan.
• Su Qiao reconstructed how Ding Peixin had supposedly ambushed and killed Xia Xiaolin at the abandoned Chemical Plant, where rain and chemical wastewater obscured the evidence.
• Su Qiao explained that Ding Peixin had impersonated Xia Xiaolin and used the hurricane to make her disappearance look like a suicide.
• Su Qiao wondered whether Ding Peixin had already found Xia Xiaolin’s body near the eastern outskirts when she lured Sun Zhihao there.

Su Qiao questioned Auntie Li about what she had seen on the night of the crime and discovered that the older woman had secretly taken flowers from the Sun family’s yard. The chapter left Su Qiao with a new lead from Auntie Li’s account.

• Du Muhan pointed out that Ding Peixin had dumped the body directly into the river, suggesting she might have wanted it found and framed Sun Zhihao.
• Su Qiao decided to investigate Ding Peixin’s connections from childhood and find the mastermind behind the case.
• Su Qiao approached Auntie Li, who admitted she had seen something on the night in question.
• Su Qiao reassured Auntie Li and promised to keep her statement confidential.
• Auntie Li confessed that she had taken flowers from the Sun family’s yard to sell because she thought the rain would ruin them.

Su Qiao questioned Auntie Li about the night Ding Peixin disappeared and learned that Ding had returned home soaked and distraught during a storm. Auntie Li also revealed that Ding’s husband, Sun Zhihao, had been seeing other women, while Su Qiao left promising not to expose Auntie Li for stealing flowers.

• Su Qiao asked Auntie Li about the weather when she had picked flowers from Ding Peixin’s yard.
• Auntie Li said that during a storm, she saw Ding Peixin return home drenched, pale, and hooded, then enter without turning on the lights.
• Su Qiao wondered whether Ding had learned that Sun Zhihao had fathered a child with another woman before she disappeared.
• Auntie Li said Sun Zhihao had been fooling around with other women while Ding tried hard to have a child.
• Su Qiao thanked Auntie Li and promised not to tell anyone that she had stolen flowers.

Su Qiao visited Sun Zhihao’s home and recorded her deduction about the case, then went to the hospital to deliver it to Tao Junhui. The chapter ended with Tao Junhui’s parents welcoming her while Su Xiyan’s parents awkwardly faced her.

• Su Qiao teased Du Muhan about his behavior as a boyfriend, and he followed her when she went to the hospital.
• After visiting Sun Zhihao’s home, Su Qiao wrote down her deduction for Tao Junhui.
• Su Qiao went to the hospital with Du Muhan, where she met Tao Junhui’s parents and Su Xiyan’s parents outside his room.
• Su Qiao told Tao Junhui’s parents she had brought him an urgent report.

Su Qiao introduced Du Muhan as her boyfriend to both families before going into the hospital room to see Tao Junhui. Mother Tao reflected on Tao Junhui’s rejection of Su Qiao and his relationship with Su Xiyan.

• Mother Tao told Su Qiao that Tao Junhui’s knife wound was deep but had not damaged his tendons or nerves.
• Du Muhan arrived, and Su Qiao introduced him as her boyfriend and a forensic examiner.
• Su Qiao declined Su Mother’s invitation to visit home soon and went into Tao Junhui’s room while Du Muhan waited in the corridor.
• Mother Tao regretted that Tao Junhui had rejected Su Qiao and worried about his relationship with Su Xiyan.

After Tao Junhui was injured protecting Su Xiyan, the Su parents condemned her for pushing him into danger and refused to excuse her behavior. Su Xiyan blamed Su Qiao and threatened to leave the family before getting into the car.

• Tao Father and Mother Tao comforted Su Qiao and left the hospital with her.
• Su Qiao's parents apologized for Su Xiyan's actions, but Mother Tao said she only wanted Su Xiyan to stay away from Su Qiao.
• Su Qiao's parents found Su Xiyan at the parking lot and scolded her for pushing Tao Junhui toward the knife.
• Su Xiyan said she had acted out of fear, while Su Mother compared her reaction unfavorably with Su Qiao's.
• Su Xiyan blamed Su Qiao for everything, said she would leave the family, and got into the car.

Su Xiyan confronted her parents over their continued support for Su Qiao, while they explained that Su Qiao had not taken her place and that they blamed themselves for losing her. Su Xiyan rejected their explanation and went into the hospital to confront Su Qiao.

• Su Qiao's Father stopped the car and told Su Xiyan that she was their only biological daughter, explaining that they had still supported Su Qiao while she was abroad.
• Su Xiyan accused her parents of giving Su Qiao the life and love she believed should have been hers.
• Su Qiao's Father said Su Qiao had been adopted at three and had brought happiness to the family, while Su Mother blamed herself for losing Su Xiyan to traffickers.
• Su Xiyan told her parents to acknowledge Su Qiao instead of her and went into the hospital to ask Su Qiao what she had said to them.
• Su Mother nearly lost her breath in anger, and Su Qiao's Father comforted her and hoped Su Xiyan would understand them as she grew older.

Su Qiao told Tao Junhui that she was in love with Du Muhan, leaving Tao Junhui feeling bitter. As she left his hospital room, she ran into Su Xiyan, who had come to see him.

• Su Qiao's Father and Su Mother discussed their lingering resentment, their concern for Su Qiao, and their hopes that she and Su Xiyan could get along.
• Su Qiao found Tao Junhui standing by the window smoking and handed him the latest deduction report.
• Tao Junhui asked whether Su Qiao and Du Muhan were together, and she described how happy and in love she felt with Du Muhan.
• Tao Junhui asked whether Su Qiao had come to hurt him, and she urged him not to let the setback defeat him before leaving to meet Du Muhan.
• Su Qiao came face-to-face with Su Xiyan at the hospital-room door, and Su Xiyan froze when she saw Tao Junhui.

Su Qiao confronted Su Xiyan after she insulted her and Du Muhan, then left the hospital with him. The investigation into Ding Peixin’s disappearance uncovered evidence that she had boarded the ship, but Su Qiao suspected the photograph was staged and remained uncertain who was helping her.

• Su Xiyan insulted Su Qiao and Du Muhan, so Su Qiao slapped her twice before leaving with Du Muhan.
• Tao Junhui returned to work the next day with a bandage around his neck as colleagues reported that a surviving tourist’s photograph showed Ding Peixin aboard the ship.
• Su Qiao said the photograph did not prove Ding Peixin had vanished at sea and suspected she had deliberately staged her appearance to make others believe she was missing or dead.
• Tao Junhui asked who might have advised Ding Peixin, and Su Qiao considered Gu Xue but questioned why she would help someone she did not know.

The police investigated the unknown person who helped Ding Peixin and suspected he was a meticulous man with strong computer skills and a secret relationship with her. Su Qiao questioned Sun Zhihao about Xia Xiaolin and his college years, but he could only vaguely recall a woman who had competed with Ding Peixin for him.

• Yu Qiang argued that Ding Peixin's helper was likely a man who knew the city's surveillance cameras and had excellent computer skills.
• Xiao Li suggested Ding Peixin might have had a secret lover, and Tao Junhui directed the team to investigate her connections and relatives.
• Su Qiao asked to interrogate Sun Zhihao, who was being held because of his ties to Xia Xiaolin, Ding Peixin, and the crime scene.
• Sun Zhihao told Su Qiao that he had met Xia Xiaolin only by chance more than six months earlier.
• Sun Zhihao vaguely recalled an ugly, dark-skinned woman who had competed with Ding Peixin for him in college, and Su Qiao asked whether he remembered any distinguishing features.

Su Qiao questioned Sun Zhihao about his wife, Ding Peixin, and condemned his irresponsibility in their marriage and its tragic consequences. The conversation ended with Su Qiao telling him he lacked the qualities needed to be a meaningful painter.

• Sun Zhihao described the woman he remembered as square-faced and said she had been close to his wife, leading Su Qiao to suspect she was Xia Xiaolin.
• Sun Zhihao asked whether the woman who had gone traveling really was Ding Peixin, and Su Qiao reminded him of the surveillance photos and identified the corpse as Xia Xiaolin.
• Sun Zhihao said he had felt trapped by Ding Peixin's pressure to have a child and her constant suspicion, and admitted he never expected her to kill someone.
• Su Qiao criticized Sun Zhihao for seeking thrills with other women instead of addressing his frustrations responsibly.
• Sun Zhihao said he had considered divorce, but Ding Peixin had insisted she would never divorce unless she died.
• Su Qiao told Sun Zhihao that a painter needed broad horizons and a generous heart, qualities she said he lacked.

Su Qiao suspected Gu Xue of being involved in the plot against Ding Peixin and went with Little Li and Yu Qiang to question her again. Gu Xue appeared shocked when Su Qiao revealed that Xia Xiaolin had been murdered, and Su Qiao challenged her account of receiving a message from Xia Xiaolin after her death.

• Su Qiao told Sun Zhihao she wanted him to harm fewer people, while Du Muhan predicted he would eventually die at a woman's hands.
• Su Qiao named Gu Xue as a possible suspect, and Su Xiyan objected that Gu Xue did not fit the known clues.
• Tao Junhui sent Su Qiao, Little Li, and Yu Qiang to investigate Gu Xue again.
• At Gu Xue's home, Su Qiao said Xia Xiaolin was dead and described the condition of her body.
• Gu Xue reacted with shock and insisted Xia Xiaolin had gone on a trip, so Su Qiao asked how she had received Xia Xiaolin's message on September 21, the day Xia Xiaolin was already dead.

Su Qiao questioned Gu Xue about Xia Xiaolin’s disappearance, probing her motive, schedule, and money transfers. Gu Xue answered calmly and gave explanations for each point, leaving Xiao Li and Yu Qiang unsure whether Su Qiao’s suspicion was justified.

• Gu Xue denied knowing anything about Xia Xiaolin’s disappearance and said she had no motive or time to commit a crime.
• Su Qiao challenged Gu Xue’s account that Xia Xiaolin and Ding Peixin had fought over the same boy at school, since they had not attended the same school.
• Su Qiao showed Gu Xue restored records of frequent money transfers from Gu Xue to Xia Xiaolin.
• Gu Xue said the transfers were repayments for a sixty-thousand-yuan loan and occasional money she sent Xia Xiaolin when she needed it.
• Xiao Li and Yu Qiang began to doubt Su Qiao’s suspicion, but Su Qiao continued to trust her intuition.

Su Qiao and the others questioned Gu Xue about Xia Xiaolin’s murder, then Su Qiao unexpectedly asked whether Gu Xue had undergone plastic surgery. Gu Xue denied it, but her brief panic strengthened Su Qiao’s suspicions.

• Gu Xue expressed anger over Xia Xiaolin’s murder and insisted that Xia Xiaolin’s flaws did not make her deserve such a death.
• Su Qiao told Gu Xue that the investigators would verify her account and asked her to cooperate if they had more questions.
• Gu Xue asked the investigators to stop questioning her at home because it was upsetting her coworkers and boyfriend, and Xiao Li promised to clear up the misunderstanding.
• As they were leaving, Su Qiao asked Gu Xue whether she had had plastic surgery, and Gu Xue reacted with a flash of panic before denying it.
• Su Qiao said Gu Xue’s facial features looked altered, but Gu Xue insisted she had never had plastic surgery and invited them to investigate.