Recaps

Song Ning reunited with Jiang Minglan and helped nervous Jiang Chengshi go see her after she asked to thank her rescuer. She then discussed a new drug production deal with Zheng Chang'an and advised Tang Wei on how Chen Yawen might build a film career on the mainland, leaving him ready to pursue the plan by buying a home.

• Song Ning met Jiang Minglan, learned that Wen Xin was her pen name, and told Jiang Chengshi that she wanted to thank him for saving her.
• Jiang Chengshi admitted he was nervous to meet Jiang Minglan, and Song Ning assigned him to her care and sent him into the room.
• Zheng Chang'an told Song Ning they had signed an exclusive partnership for a ten-percent share, and she told him to coordinate a trial production run with Professor Jin.
• Tang Wei told Song Ning that Chen Yawen had cried on the phone and wanted to join him in Capital City, but he feared she would sacrifice her career.
• Song Ning suggested Chen Yawen could pursue filmmaking on the mainland, and when Tang Wei asked where to start, she told him to buy a home first.

Song Ning helped Tang Wei plan for Chen Yawen’s move to Capital City and secretly assigned him to search for several houses. She then asked Chen Liang to investigate the paperwork and policies Chen Yawen would need, hoping she could build an independent career before deciding whether to marry Tang Wei.

• Song Ning told Tang Wei to buy a separate house for Chen Yawen and gave him a bankbook to search for additional houses for her.
• Song Ning revealed that she might need three neighboring houses, and Tang Wei accused her of tricking him into doing her house-hunting.
• Tang Wei called Chen Liang into Song Ning’s office after joking with Han Xiao that Song Ning had outsmarted him again.
• Song Ning asked Chen Liang to find out what permits and paperwork Chen Yawen would need to work and stay long-term in Capital City.
• Song Ning explained that she wanted Chen Yawen to have time to adjust and pursue her own career before family pressure pushed her and Tang Wei into marriage.

Song Ning reviewed Professor Du Song’s lecture notes but found nothing unusual, then learned that Lei Hongyuan’s congenital heart disease was more severe than expected. Determined to save him, she prepared for surgery and began clinical trials of a special medicine immediately.

• Song Ning and Chen Liang discussed giving Chen Yawen and Tang Wei time to resolve their relationship problems, then reviewed notes from Du Song’s public lectures without finding anything suspicious.
• After Han Xiao mentioned a Qingbei University donation drive, Song Ning recalled that Du Song had also donated to children in impoverished mountain regions but could not identify a connection.
• Song Ning examined Lei Hongyuan’s test results and learned he had a large patent ductus arteriosus with severe pulmonary hypertension, then told Qi Shiyuan she could operate on him.
• Song Ning asked Song Shaoyang to deliver the special medicine samples, and Meng Yu reassured her that she trusted her to treat Hongyuan.
• Song Ning tested the samples and confirmed they met standards, then told the pharmaceutical factory representative that the clinical trial would begin the next day during Hongyuan’s surgery.

Song Ning prepared for and successfully performed Lei Hongyuan’s congenital heart surgery, impressing her colleagues with her skill. Afterward, she reflected on the people she had opened a hospital to save and focused on preventing the future poisoning of Cheng Yuan.

• Song Ning scheduled Lei Hongyuan’s surgery and invited Director Liu and two surgeons to join the planning and operation.
• Song Ning learned that Lei Ming had not returned to the capital and inferred that he was helping recruit experts for the Dawn Project.
• Song Ning performed Lei Hongyuan’s four-and-a-half-hour heart surgery, and the operation succeeded.
• Song Ning reassured Meng Yu and gave the team postoperative care instructions before going to her office to rest.
• Song Ning thought about her three patients to save and hoped Professor Jin’s team could develop an antidote before Cheng Yuan’s poisoning case occurred.

After Little Hongyuan’s successful surgery, Song Ning left the hospital to avoid reporters and visited an art exhibition with Han Xiao. A donation register from the Fifth Art Exhibition led them to the Civil Affairs Bureau, where they began investigating the October 3 records.

• Song Ning reflected that saving Cheng Yuan could clear Old Man Song and the six researchers, and that her Research Center already had Li Yanzhou’s biological samples for developing an antidote.
• Jiang Chengshi told Song Ning to go home and rest while reporters waited to interview her, and she teased him about his romance with Xiao Lan.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao drove to the Exhibition Hall, where Song Ning learned that donated items from past exhibitions had been recorded and transferred to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
• Song Ning asked to inspect the Fifth Art Exhibition’s donation register, and Han Xiao showed his credentials to establish that they were conducting an official investigation.
• At the Civil Affairs Bureau, the director brought them the registers, and Song Ning asked to check the records for October 3.

Song Ning and Han Xiao traced Zhou Xiaotang’s donation of watercolor paints to Professor Du Song and learned she had deliberately named him as the recipient. Song Ning concluded Zhou Xiaotang had used the donation to get rid of the black jadeite after her father was murdered, while they waited to learn whether it had reached Du Song.

• Song Ning found an October 3 register entry showing Zhou Xiaotang had donated a box of watercolor paints to Du Song.
• Wang Yi recalled that Zhou Xiaotang had specifically requested Du Song as the recipient and asked whether the donation would definitely reach him.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao asked the director to verify where the box of paints had gone.
• Song Ning explained that Zhou Xiaotang likely donated the black jadeite to Du Song after her father’s murder, hoping to protect herself and her mother and leave no loose ends.

Song Ning and Han Xiao traced the box of watercolors left by Chief Engineer Zhou’s daughter to Du Song’s studio, only to learn it had been donated with other supplies. They began tracking down the donation’s recipient, while Li Weiqing’s account raised questions about the cheap paint set and whether he had opened it.

• Song Ning explained how Chief Engineer Zhou’s daughter’s clues led to Du Song and the watercolors, and the director confirmed that a student named Li Weiqing had collected the box.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao went to Qingbei Academy of Fine Arts and questioned Li Weiqing, who recalled placing the box in Du Song’s studio.
• Song Ning, Han Xiao, and Li Weiqing found that the studio had been cleared, and the caretaker said its unused supplies had been donated.
• Director Wang went to find out where the university’s donations had gone while Song Ning asked Li Weiqing about the box.
• Li Weiqing said the box had been cheap and contained few colors, and Song Ning asked whether he had opened it.

Song Ning, Han Xiao, and Chen Liang traced Zhou Xiaotang’s watercolor-paint box to Dongtuanbao Primary School in Laiyuan County. On the way there, they unexpectedly encountered Tian Mingfeng, whose presence raised suspicions as they reached the commune.

• Director Wang learned that the supplies had been sent to Dongtuanbao People's Commune Central Primary School, where a volunteer team was still staying.
• Han Xiao agreed to take Song Ning to Laiyuan County with Chen Liang, and they stopped at the art supply shop to inspect the inexpensive watercolor paints.
• The group drove through the mountain roads to Dongtuanbao, taking nearly all morning to cover the final fifty kilometers.
• They found Tian Mingfeng’s car blocking the narrow road and helped her driver repair it.
• Song Ning and her companions questioned why Tian Mingfeng was there and noted that their comrades assigned to follow her had not been seen.
• After continuing along the only road, they reached Dongtuanbao People's Commune.

Han Xiao, Chen Liang, and Song Ning reached Dongtuanbao to ask Qingbei students about donated supplies, including a box of Watercolor Paints. They unexpectedly found Zhou Yuanhang with the group leader Director Cai, forcing Song Ning to redirect their questions into an offer to support the school.

• Han Xiao, Chen Liang, and Song Ning arrived at Dongtuanbao Central Primary School and learned that the Qingbei students were teaching in the township.
• The three went to the Township Government and found Director Cai in a back room.
• Han Xiao, Chen Liang, and Song Ning were surprised to find Zhou Yuanhang talking with Director Cai.
• Zhou Yuanhang introduced Song Ning to Director Cai and praised her work leading a research project and Jinghe Hospital.
• Song Ning avoided asking directly about the donated supplies and told Director Cai she wanted to contribute to Qingbei's charitable work in a different way.

Song Ning agreed to help arrange a free clinic in Dongtuanbao Township and learned from Kong Jianming that Qingbei’s donated supplies had been handed to township officials, with their distribution still unclear. She left Kong Jianming after Han Xiao called her, warning him not to return the way he came.

• Song Ning and Director Cai agreed that Song Ning’s hospital would organize a free clinic, and Director Cai invited her and Zhou Yuanhang to lunch.
• Zhou Yuanhang told Director Cai he had come to the school anniversary and planned to donate supplies on behalf of the Zhou Family and his sister-in-law.
• Song Ning saw Kong Jianming among the Qingbei students and asked him about volunteering and the donated supplies.
• Kong Jianming said the supplies had been handed to township officials at a ceremony, but he did not know whether they had been distributed.
• Kong Jianming told Song Ning that Zhou Yuanhang had arrived that day and had asked where Director Cai was staying.
• After Han Xiao called her, Song Ning told Kong Jianming to stay safe and avoid going back the way he had come.

Song Ning attended the Central Primary School’s ceremony honoring Tian Yingxue, then discussed a free clinic with township officials. Han Xiao told her that their communications and road access had been cut, warning that hostile forces were after the supplies and the pigment box, and that Song Ning could be targeted as a hostage.

• Song Ning joined Director Cai and Zhou Yuanhang at the school ceremony, where Tian Mingfeng offered wishes on behalf of Tian Yingxue's Family and Zhou Yuanhang pledged five hundred Chinese Dollars.
• Director Cai explained that the school served children from scattered villages through a boarding system, and Song Ning learned how difficult it was to keep the school running.
• Song Ning met with school administrators and Township Government officials to discuss holding a free clinic, while Zhou Yuanhang stayed to listen.
• The principal and township head arranged lodging for the visitors because the school had limited beds and bedding.
• Han Xiao told Song Ning that the telephone line was cut, a landslide blocked the road to Laiyuan County, and their men had stopped reporting in.
• Han Xiao warned that hostile forces were targeting the supplies, especially the pigment box, and told Song Ning to stay beside him while Chen Liang searched for the supplies.

Song Ning and the others attended a meal hosted by the township officials, then settled into a local family's cramped home after learning that a road collapse would delay their departure. Han Xiao warned Song Ning to stay alert while they investigated what had happened to the donated art supplies.

• The township officials hosted Song Ning, Tian Mingfeng, Zhou Yuanhang, and their companions for dinner and arranged lodging in Dagui's and Erzhu's homes.
• The township head told the group that a road out of the mountains had been buried, and Chen Liang later learned it would take at least three days to reopen.
• Song Ning shared a room with Tian Mingfeng at Dagui's house and saw how poor the family's living conditions were.
• Han Xiao told Song Ning that students had received the donated stationery and art supplies at random, with no distribution records to show who got the paints.
• Han Xiao pressed a dagger into Song Ning's hand and said that he and Chen Liang would take turns watching her room's back window.

Song Ning and Han Xiao rushed to the school after the dormitories caught fire, where children and Qingbei students were trapped inside. As rescuers entered the burning building, Song Ning suspected the fire was meant to reveal whether the black jadeite sample was hidden among the donated supplies, and the chapter ended as someone dragged her away from a collapsing wall.

• Song Ning spent the night suspecting Han Xiao and Tian Mingfeng, and expected the newcomers to target students who had received donations.
• Zhou Yuanhang woke Song Ning and Tian Mingfeng to report a fire at the school, while Han Xiao said Chen Liang had headed there.
• Villagers revealed that the fire had engulfed the dormitories where schoolchildren and Qingbei students were sleeping, so Song Ning and Han Xiao ran to help.
• Chen Liang rescued a child and returned to the flames, and Han Xiao joined other villagers in trying to save those still trapped.
• Song Ning suspected the fire was set to find the black jadeite sample or test its heat resistance, and she searched the crowd for Zhou Yuanhang and Tian Mingfeng.
• As the wall began to collapse, someone grabbed Song Ning by both arms and pulled her away.

During the school fire, Song Ning stayed alert amid the evacuation and went with Yousheng to examine children suffering after being rescued. When she entered the room where they were supposedly gathered, she immediately sensed something was wrong.

• Song Ning realized the men dragging her were clearing people away from the collapsing school wall, then kept watch by the gate as officials directed the evacuation.
• The principal found Song Ning and asked her to examine rescued children who might have inhaled smoke, and she agreed.
• Song Ning told the nearby students to alert Chen Liang and Han Xiao if they came looking for her, then left with the principal.
• Parents rushed the principal to ask about their children, so he sent Yousheng to take Song Ning to Director Cai.
• Yousheng led Song Ning to a room in the Township Government, where she saw university students, children, and two burly local men and sensed something was wrong.

Song Ning was captured after refusing to let her captors harm their hostages, then held blindfolded and bound with several college students. After learning from Kong Jianming that a silent leader called “Master” was involved, she was marched out with the others, leaving her uncertain where they were being taken.

• Song Ning subdued Yousheng, but an accomplice threatened the hostages, forcing her to surrender and let the captors blindfold her before knocking her unconscious with a needle.
• Song Ning woke bound and blindfolded in a hay-filled place, drank water from one captor, and demanded to meet the person behind the kidnapping.
• Song Ning found Kong Jianming among the captives, and he told her that three students were being held, the group had been captive for hours, and their masked leader had not spoken.
• The captors returned, pulled Song Ning and the other students to their feet, and marched them away until several prisoners stumbled.
• A captor asked whether they should remove the blindfolds, addressing the silent leader as “Master,” and Song Ning recognized the title.

Song Ning and the university students were taken blindfolded through a tunnel and into the Taihang Mountains, where their captors locked them in a remote hut. Song Ning suspected Zhou Yuanhang and Tian Mingfeng were using the operation to obtain the “sample” and escape, but she did not know whether they had found it.

• Song Ning reasoned that Zhou Yuanhang and Tian Mingfeng knew the “black jadeite” was in Dongtuanbao and had a fallback route or base in the Taihang Mountains.
• After several captives stumbled from exhaustion, their captors let Song Ning rest briefly but kept their blindfolds on and threatened them.
• Song Ning worried that the captors might have found the “sample” and taken hostages as bargaining pieces or shields.
• The captors moved Song Ning and the three university students to a hut in the mountains and locked them inside under guard.
• Song Ning urged the frightened captives to conserve their strength, while Kong Jianming asked whether anyone would come to save them.

Song Ning restrained the three Qingbei students from making a reckless escape while she assessed the armed K members holding them in the mountain forest. At dawn, the captors moved the hostages toward another group, and Song Ning recognized a faintly familiar scent ahead.

• Kong Jianming and the other two students proposed escaping, but Song Ning warned them to stay quiet because they were unarmed and the guards had guns and daggers.
• After a guard threatened to kill someone if they made another sound, Song Ning watched the black-cloaked guards and considered how many people Zhou Yuanhang and Tian Mingfeng might have at their disposal.
• A messenger signaled the guards, and at five fifty the black-cloaked men woke Song Ning and the students and ordered them to move.
• Song Ning counted six armed captors, including the man they called Master, as the group marched through the forest before dawn.
• After they crossed a hill, Song Ning saw more black-cloaked people waiting ahead and caught a faintly familiar scent in the breeze.

Song Ning recognized Tian Mingfeng and suspected that the group’s leader was Zhou Yuanhang before the captors locked her and the others in an abandoned mine. After searching for an exit, she found three old nitroglycerin detonators beneath rubble, giving them a possible way out.

• Song Ning recognized Tian Mingfeng by her scent and suspected the Master was Zhou Yuanhang.
• The captors blindfolded Song Ning and the others, tied them up, and locked them inside a cavern.
• Song Ning freed herself and the others with a hidden dagger, then identified the cavern as an abandoned mine where their captors planned to hold them for an exchange.
• Song Ning sent Yang Fei and He Lin to search for a way out while Kong Jianming stayed near the entrance to warn them.
• Song Ning and the others found the mine passages blocked by a cave-in, and Song Ning discovered three old detonators beneath the rubble.

Song Ning used fire, smoke, and detonators to signal rescuers, then prepared to defend the cave entrance with Yang Fei, He Lin, and Kong Jianming. When their captors came to investigate, she killed three men and seized their weapons, leaving the group braced for more attackers.

• Song Ning gathered dry moss and pit props, lit them with a steel rod, and set detonators among the rubble to create smoke and an explosion as a signal.
• Song Ning led Yang Fei, He Lin, and Kong Jianming back to the iron gate and assigned them positions to defend the narrow entrance.
• After the explosion shook the cave, two armed men entered to investigate, and Song Ning killed them, took their guns, and shut the gate.
• Song Ning gave Yang Fei her dagger, checked her ammunition, and shot a third black-clad man as he approached the gate.

Song Ning treated Kong Jianming’s severe leg wound and led He Lin and Yang Fei out of the cave to seek help. After spotting two armed figures ahead, she prepared to shoot the tall one, whom she suspected was Zhou Yuanhang.

• Song Ning locked the cave gate and took the key, then discovered Kong Jianming unconscious from heavy blood loss.
• Song Ning dressed Kong Jianming’s deep thigh wound and warned that he needed a hospital urgently.
• Yang Fei and He Lin agreed to leave the cave, and He Lin carried Kong Jianming while Song Ning armed the group and led them out.
• Song Ning guided the group through the mountain terrain and spotted two black-clad figures talking on a rocky outcropping.
• Song Ning signaled He Lin and Yang Fei to move Kong Jianming around the rocks, then aimed at the tall figure she suspected was Zhou Yuanhang.

Song Ning fought off one Black Cloak member, then found He Lin, Yang Fei, and Kong Jianming captured or wounded by the remaining enemies. She surrendered to buy time, but the woman she suspected was Tian Mingfeng ordered the others killed, and Song Ning tried to stop the guard from shooting Kong Jianming.

• Song Ning ambushed a Black Cloak member, killed him with her dagger, and headed toward the gunfire after the other enemy failed to appear.
• Song Ning found He Lin and Yang Fei wounded, Kong Jianming barely alive and held at gunpoint, and one Black Cloak member dead.
• A woman on the ledge called Song Ning out, and Song Ning surrendered her gun while asking whether the woman was Researcher Tian.
• The woman ordered the guard to kill everyone, and Song Ning pleaded with him not to waste a bullet on the already dying Kong Jianming.
• Kong Jianming began to regain consciousness as the guard raised his gun again.

Song Ning recognized Night Owl as he tried to stop the attackers, but Zhou Yuanhang shot He Lin, drugged her, and escaped with her. She woke weak and unable to speak among soldiers, where an unfamiliar man called her Xiuying and claimed the military had rescued them.

• The woman ordered Fifth to kill Song Ning and the wounded hostages, but Night Owl intervened, and Song Ning recognized him from the earlier pursuit of Buddha Lord.
• Kong Jianming lunged at the woman; Night Owl shot him as Song Ning threw her dagger at the burly man, and Kong Jianming and the woman fell off the platform while the dagger struck its target.
• Zhou Yuanhang held Song Ning at gunpoint, shot He Lin in the leg, injected Song Ning in the neck, and carried her into the forest.
• A military squad arrived ten minutes later and rescued He Lin and Yang Fei.
• Song Ning woke weak and unable to speak beside soldiers, and an unfamiliar man called her Xiuying and said the military had rescued them.

Song Ning realized Zhou Yuanhang had disguised them as villagers and used a false tip to gain military protection while escaping toward Huangjue Village. He brought her into a courtyard there, and the gate shut before she could alert Li Gang or identify a familiar figure.

• Zhang Ming arrived with soldiers, praised Comrade Ma for revealing the hideout, and ordered Li Gang to escort Zhou Yuanhang and Song Ning toward Huangjue Village.
• Zhou Yuanhang refused Li Gang’s offer to carry Song Ning, but the soldiers took turns transporting her on a stretcher through the mountains.
• Song Ning recognized Huangjue Village as a likely escape route because the 108 National Highway passed nearby.
• At dusk, Zhou Yuanhang led Li Gang and the soldiers to a courtyard, where a man he called his brother helped carry Song Ning inside.
• Song Ning tried to signal Li Gang and thought she spotted someone familiar, but the courtyard gate shut before she could act.

Zhou Yuanhang revealed his identity to Song Ning and said he planned to take her away after drugging her. As the drug partly wore off, Song Ning asked whether he had killed Cheng Hui and what connected him to Voss, but he promised to answer only after she ate.

• Zhou Yuanhang told Chen Jiu that Tian Mingfeng had fallen from Tiger Head Cliff and confirmed that the plan to leave with Song Ning would continue the next day.
• Zhou Yuanhang admitted that Song Ning had repeatedly thwarted his plans, said she made his life interesting, and promised to take her away.
• Zhou Yuanhang carried Song Ning to the kitchen and tried to feed her, then injected her with a dose that partially counteracted the drug.
• Song Ning asked whether Zhou Yuanhang had killed Cheng Hui, and he confessed that he had because he found her annoying.
• Song Ning asked why the De Side's investigation had led to Voss and what connection Zhou Yuanhang had to him, but Zhou Yuanhang told her to finish her porridge before he answered.

Song Ning learned that Zhou Yuanhang had followed her investigation to locate the missing supplies and planned to use her to force Gu Zheng to trade for them. As Zhou Yuanhang drugged her and disguised her as a sick woman during a military search, Gu Zheng arrived at her bedside.

• Song Ning questioned Zhou Yuanhang about framing Cheng Hui and finding the supplies, and he revealed that he had followed her movements to reach them first.
• Zhou Yuanhang threatened to exchange Song Ning for the supplies, then choked her when she insisted that Gu Zheng would put the motherland before her.
• Chen Jiu stopped Zhou Yuanhang and warned him that troops were searching nearby houses, so Zhou Yuanhang injected Song Ning with a drug that left her unable to speak or move.
• Zhou Yuanhang hid a box of syringes in the kitchen, carried Song Ning to bed, and pretended she was ill when Han Xiao and the troops inspected the house.
• Gu Zheng entered Song Ning's room and asked about her illness, and Song Ning recognized his voice and began to cry.