Recaps

Lin Feng and his parents joined their relatives as his second aunt’s husband explained that Xiaohui had been taken hostage and demanded five hundred thousand yuan for his release. After the family began pledging money, Lin Feng’s third uncle stunned them by asking why they did not call the police.

• Lin Feng arrived with Lin Jianguo and Zhang Fen at Wang Guifang’s home, where their relatives gathered in grief.
• Wang Guifang’s husband told the family that Xiaohui had broken rules, been taken hostage, and would be killed if they did not pay five hundred thousand yuan.
• Lin Feng’s eldest uncle pledged fifty thousand yuan, and other relatives followed with promises of money.
• Lin Jianguo and Zhang Fen pledged thirty thousand yuan for their household.
• With everyone waiting for his response, Lin Feng’s third uncle asked why they did not call the police.

The family argued over whether to contact the police or raise money for Sun Penghui, while Zhang Fen pledged 100,000 yuan and Third Aunt-in-law questioned whether paying would save him. Lin Feng proposed calling the kidnappers to ask Sun Penghui to speak, leaving the family to seek proof that he was safe.

• Third Uncle suggested calling the police, but Wang Guifang cried that the kidnappers would kill Sun Penghui if they did.
• Zhang Fen warned that contacting the police could alert overseas kidnappers and pledged that her family would contribute 100,000 yuan.
• Third Aunt-in-law questioned whether paying the ransom would secure Sun Penghui's release and argued against risking the family's savings.
• Lin Feng told Wang Guifang that the family should call the kidnappers and ask to hear Sun Penghui's voice.

Lin Feng urged Sun Penghui's family to confirm that he was alive before paying the kidnappers. A speakerphone call brought a threat, a cruel account of Sun Penghui's treatment, and a chilling warning before the kidnappers hung up, leaving the family terrified and desperate.

• Lin Feng told the family that Sun Penghui had to be safe before they considered paying.
• Wang Guifang called the overseas number while the relatives listened on speakerphone.
• Brother Hu demanded five hundred thousand and threatened to kill Sun Penghui if the family did not pay.
• A younger man claimed Sun Penghui had been made to fight wolfhounds for food, and Brother Hu mocked the family's concern.
• Second Uncle agreed to pay but demanded to hear Sun Penghui's voice, then cursed the kidnappers when they refused.
• Brother Hu warned Second Uncle that he had guts and disconnected, leaving the family in silence and despair.

Brother Hu raised the ransom for Sun Penghui to one million and threatened to mutilate him if his family failed to pay by dawn. A calm young man took over the call and gave Brother Hu until midnight to return his brother safely, or face being fed to the dogs.

• Brother Hu angrily smashed his phone after Second Uncle cursed him, but Yellow Hair persuaded him to keep Sun Penghui alive so they could extort more money and sell him to Myawaddy later.
• When Second Uncle called back to beg for mercy and promise the original five hundred thousand, Brother Hu demanded one million by dawn and threatened to cut off Sun Penghui’s fingers and toes for any shortfall.
• A calm young man took the phone and told Brother Hu to return his brother safely before midnight.
• The young man threatened to send Brother Hu and the men with him to feed the dogs if they failed to comply.

After Wang Hu threatened Sun Penghui and Lin Feng, Lin Feng promised his relatives he would rescue Sun Penghui that night. He secretly ordered K to extract Sun Penghui and deal with Wang Hu’s gang.

• Wang Hu flew into a rage after Lin Feng hung up and ordered his men to drag Sun Penghui out, cripple him, and investigate Lin Feng.
• Lin Feng told his alarmed relatives that a friend would rescue Sun Penghui that night, then stepped outside to make a call.
• Lin Feng contacted K through their mental link and gave him Sun Penghui’s location and details about Wang Hu’s gang.
• K agreed to rescue Sun Penghui, arrange a safe house, and send him on a route back to China.
• Lin Feng ordered K to deal with Wang Hu and his men, and K accepted the assignment.

Wang Hu prepared to chop off Sun Penghui’s fingers at the dog kennel, but Brother Qiang and an armed team stormed the farm and rescued Sun. They took Wang Hu and his men away, leaving Sun free of the kennel.

• Wang Hu ordered Yellow Hair and Baldy to drag Sun Penghui from his cage and pinned Sun’s hand to a stump.
• As Wang Hu raised his cleaver, a black SUV and two gray vans smashed through the farm gate, bringing Brother Qiang and an armed team.
• Brother Qiang knocked Wang Hu unconscious with his pistol and ordered his men to take everyone away.
• Yellow Hair, Baldy, and the other thugs surrendered, and Brother Qiang’s men carried Sun Penghui into a van.
• Brother Qiang’s vehicles drove off with Wang Hu, his men, and Sun Penghui, leaving the kennel empty.

Wang Hu woke bound in a warehouse and realized that K had captured him over his threats against Sun Penghui. K offered him a choice between two dogs, leaving Wang Hu facing an unclear but terrifying fate.

• Wang Hu woke on a concrete floor with his hands tied behind his back.
• Wang Hu recognized his captor as K, the compound’s new technical director, and begged him to spare his life.
• K asked Wang Hu about chopping people up and feeding them to dogs.
• Wang Hu claimed he had only threatened Sun Penghui’s family and offered compensation and loyalty.
• K gave Wang Hu two choices: a Rottweiler or a Doberman.

After Lin Feng’s relatives accused him of endangering Sun Penghui by threatening the kidnappers, Sun Penghui called to say Lin Feng’s friends had rescued him in an armed raid. The family’s fear and reproaches turned to relief and astonishment, while Lin Feng left them waiting for further news.

• Lin Feng’s relatives questioned his decision to confront the kidnappers and doubted his claim that a friend could rescue Sun Penghui.
• Second uncle-in-law answered another call from the kidnappers’ number and heard Sun Penghui say he had escaped and was safe.
• Sun Penghui told his parents that Lin Feng’s armed friends had taken him away and captured Brother Hu and his men.
• Wang Guifang cried with relief as the relatives stared at Lin Feng in shock and reconsidered their accusations.
• Lin Feng told the family to wait for news once Sun Penghui reached safety, then headed to his room.

Lin Feng and Lü Yi stopped at a highway service area to eat, where Lü Yi criticized the restaurant’s food and Lin Feng explained its likely use of centrally prepared ingredients. After a food streamer filmed them despite Lin Feng’s refusal to comment, they left for the highway, with Lü Yi wondering whether the video might draw unwanted attention.

• Lin Feng stopped at a service area with Lü Yi when their fuel ran low, and Lü Yi chose Dongbei Catering for a meal.
• Lü Yi identified the fish and twice-cooked pork as likely frozen or premade, and Lin Feng explained that chain restaurants often used central kitchens.
• A food streamer approached Lin Feng and Lü Yi for comments, but Lin Feng declined to discuss their meal.
• Lin Feng noticed that the streamer’s second phone had shifted to capture part of the restaurant, then paid the bill.
• Lü Yi wondered whether the livestream might go viral and bring people looking for them, and Lin Feng drove them back onto the highway.

A short video of Lin Feng criticizing the fish at a Dongbei Catering service area spread through foodie circles, while the company’s public relations team classified it as low risk. The video remained a small, unresolved controversy as a former employee claimed Dongbei stores mostly reheated frozen food.

• Taste Detective Xiao Yang posted a fifteen-second clip of Lin Feng explaining that the fish was frozen and its poor quality was typical of chain restaurants using central kitchens.
• Xiao Liu flagged the video to Dongbei’s public relations group, and Li Li classified it as low-risk public opinion requiring only routine monitoring.
• Lü Yi showed Lin Feng the circulating video, but Lin Feng said it had not spread far and declined to respond or amplify it.
• Lin Feng searched Dongbei’s public messaging and industry reports, then let the discussion develop or fade on its own.
• Lü Yi commented that Lin Feng was right about the fish, while the video’s likes and comments continued to rise.
• A commenter claiming to be a former Dongbei employee said service-area stores mostly reheated frozen food, even as Dongbei’s monitoring dashboard still listed the issue as low risk.

Zheng Dong treated a short video questioning Dongbei Catering’s fish and use of prefabricated ingredients as a serious threat to the company’s reputation. He ordered his staff to remove the video, pressure the blogger and identify the customer who defended central kitchens, leaving the company preparing to pursue the people in the clip.

• Zheng Dong watched Taste Detective Xiao Yang’s video, in which customers criticized a fish dish and a young man said central kitchens were common in restaurant chains.
• At the weekly meeting, Li Li classified the video as low risk, but Zheng Dong rebuked her and said the claims threatened Dongbei’s promise of fresh ingredients cooked to order.
• Zheng Dong ordered Li Li and the public relations team to have the video removed, demand an apology from the blogger, and locate the two customers, especially the man in the jacket.
• When Zhao Bin and Li Li raised obstacles to identifying the customers, Zheng Dong told them to obtain service-area surveillance footage and use the car’s temporary plate and ETC records.
• Zheng Dong forbade the company from responding publicly until the people involved were found, and insisted that the man in the jacket would have to understand he could not speak recklessly about Dongbei.

Food blogger Yang Xiaoming received pressure from Dongbei Catering’s legal department to delete his video about a service-area restaurant and apologize, or face legal action. He weighed the threat against the growing support for his video and left the delete button untouched.

• Dongbei legal commissioner Wang called Yang Xiaoming and demanded that he delete his video, clarify its claims, and apologize by noon the next day.
• Wang warned Yang Xiaoming that Dongbei might sue him and raised his past paid promotions for competing restaurants to question his neutrality.
• Yang Xiaoming checked his video’s engagement and saw Dongbei’s official statement reserving its right to pursue legal action.
• Yang Xiaoming considered asking other bloggers for advice but hesitated, worried that no one else could bear the consequences for him.
• Yang Xiaoming paused the video on the young man who had commented about Dongbei’s food and hovered over the delete button without clicking it.

Dongbei Catering tried to identify Lin Feng and pressure him into apologizing over his service-area review, but his lawyer, Zhou Wenyuan, rejected the company’s demands and warned it against harassment. Dongbei’s legal department decided to report that Lin Feng would not cooperate and recommend letting the controversy cool down, and Wang Qian called Chairman Zheng’s secretary.

• Xiao Liu told Li Li that the surveillance footage showed a black Volkswagen Tiguan L with an unreadable temporary plate, and Li Li directed her to pursue other channels and send the footage to Director Zhao.
• Zhou Wenyuan learned Dongbei Catering had contacted him about Lin Feng and, after speaking with Lin Feng, agreed to reject the company’s approach.
• Wang Qian called Zhou Wenyuan, who defended Lin Feng’s consumer review and warned Dongbei against harassment, baseless litigation, and misuse of personal information.
• Wang Qian told a colleague that Dongbei would not sue and said she would report the failed negotiations to Chairman Zheng.
• Wang Qian called Chairman Zheng’s secretary to update him about the service-area video matter.

Yang Xiaoming faced mounting pressure from Dongbei Catering, lost promotional work and platform visibility, and posted a scripted apology retracting his criticism. After Dongbei celebrated the apology online, he turned back to editing other food videos, though his confidence as a blogger had been shaken.

• Yang Xiaoming received repeated calls and threats to delete his video, while a restaurant brand manager warned that continued criticism of Dongbei could end their partnership.
• Yang Xiaoming found his new videos throttled or blocked, paid trolls accusing him of smearing Dongbei, and Douyin customer service urging him to correct the controversial content.
• Yang Xiaoming recorded and posted a scripted apology saying the customer's remarks were unverified and that Dongbei upheld its promise of fresh, made-to-order food.
• Viewers debated and mocked Yang Xiaoming's apology, while Manager Liu offered to work with him again and an unknown sender demanded future compliance.
• Dongbei Catering reposted the apology and received widespread support as questions about its food were drowned out.
• Yang Xiaoming reflected on his lost ideals, then returned to his editing software to work on videos about other shops.

Dongbei Chairman Zheng Dong ordered the company to pressure Lin Feng into apologizing after the blogger’s apology shifted public scrutiny toward the customers in the video. Lin Feng ignored Dongbei’s lawyer’s letter and prepared to let the company make its next move.

• Li Li reported that the blogger had apologized, but commenters were asking why the two customers in the video had not.
• Zheng Dong ordered Dongbei to identify the customers and send Lin Feng a lawyer’s letter demanding a public apology, with a copy sent to Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm.
• Zhou Wenyuan received Dongbei’s letter, told Lin Feng about it, and shredded it after Lin Feng said to throw it away.
• Lü Yi found an online comment identifying Lin Feng as an assistant at Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm, while Lin Feng said he had someone backing him.
• Lin Feng and Lü Yi left to get dinner, and Lin Feng calmly told Lü Yi to let Dongbei come after him.

Zheng Dong ordered Lao Xing to pressure Lin Feng after Lin Feng ignored Dongbei’s lawyer’s letter, but Lin Feng blocked the calls and emails while Zhou Wenyuan identified the intimidation as Dongbei’s doing. After the tactics failed, Zheng Dong reconsidered his approach as public criticism and declining customer traffic threatened the company’s reputation.

• Zheng Dong learned that Lin Feng had not responded to Dongbei’s lawyer’s letter and hired Lao Xing to harass and intimidate him while keeping the tactics apparently legal.
• Lin Feng blocked calls from unknown numbers and filtered threatening emails into his spam folder.
• Two men hired by Lao Xing watched the Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm and photographed its entrance, but property management noticed them and Zhou Wenyuan warned Lin Feng that they were Dongbei’s people.
• Zhou Wenyuan told Lin Feng that Zheng Dong might have reacted so strongly because Lin Feng was right, and recalled a restaurant owner who had lost his business after lying about premade dishes.
• Lao Xing reported that the pressure campaign had failed, and Zheng Dong ordered him to stop rather than escalate further.
• Zheng Dong saw online criticism of Dongbei and a report that public sentiment had contributed to a 3.2 percent monthly revenue decline, then left his office.

At a board meeting, Zheng Dong rejected calls to de-escalate Dongbei’s public controversy and defended the company’s claims about freshly cooked food despite acknowledging widespread use of frozen dishes. He ordered Lao Xing to investigate the two customers and manipulate online discussion, leaving the company preparing to intensify its attack.

• Zheng Dong heard that Dongbei’s revenue had fallen 3.2% and customer traffic had dropped amid the controversy over premade dishes.
• Zheng Dong admitted that many Dongbei locations reheated frozen dishes but insisted that the company could not acknowledge this publicly and must force the two customers to apologize.
• Zheng Dong dismissed the directors’ warnings and said Dongbei would pursue the customers until it won.
• After the meeting, Zheng Dong told Lao Xing to investigate the customers’ home, social circle, and workplace, and offered to double the fee.
• Zheng Dong ordered Lao Xing to flood online discussions with positive comments and accuse the customers of being paid by a competitor.
• Zheng Dong received confirmation that an online water army would begin attacking the customers that night, then wrote a zero-tolerance pledge into Dongbei’s action plan.

A Jie realized Xunda Network Media’s paid attack targeted Lin Feng, a colleague of Uncle Wang’s son, and secretly reported the campaign to his superior. Lin Feng chose to let the attacks continue while K gathered evidence against Dongbei, leaving the online backlash and the investigation still developing.

• A Jie recognized Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm and confirmed that the targeted lawyer’s assistant was connected to Uncle Wang’s son, then reported the water army’s assignment to his superior.
• A Jie continued posting the scripted comments while secretly recording details of the attack for a later report.
• Lin Feng received Wang Jianguo’s report identifying Dongbei Catering, Xunda Network Media, and the suspected client contact Lao Xing, and ordered continued monitoring rather than a counterattack.
• Lin Feng refused Lü Yi’s offer to confront the water army and said K was investigating Dongbei’s supply chain.
• K reported that Dongbei’s central kitchen records were downloading and that frozen-product delivery records had made the evidence chain 70 percent complete.
• Lin Feng told K to seek internal meeting records about Dongbei’s freshly made advertising claims as the online attacks continued.

Zheng Dong launched an online campaign and sent Zhao Bin to pressure Lin Feng through Zhou Wenyuan, but Zhou confronted him with evidence of Dongbei’s harassment and threatened legal action. Lin Feng stayed quiet while an encrypted message reported that evidence of Dongbei’s central-kitchen practices was nearly complete.

• Zheng Dong monitored Dongbei’s promotional campaign, ordered more efforts to control public opinion, and told Lao Xing to keep investigating Lin Feng.
• Zhao Bin and Xiao Liu went to Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm, where Zhao demanded that Lin Feng apologize and hinted at professional consequences.
• Zhou showed Zhao evidence of surveillance and harassment, warned Dongbei against further pressure, and threatened a countersuit and media exposure.
• Zhao left the firm with the evidence and told Xiao Liu they would report back to Zheng Dong.
• Lin Feng and Lü Yi watched Dongbei’s campaign and discussed a deleted post alleging that the restaurants reheated prepackaged meals.
• Lin Feng received an encrypted message saying central-kitchen records and cold-chain contracts had been obtained, with the evidence chain 85 percent complete.

Liu Hai learned that independent media were investigating Dongbei Catering’s central kitchen and premade food, then tried to warn Zheng Dong that customers were rejecting the meals and the company’s advertising. Zheng Dong refused to change course and ordered Liu Hai to investigate the media and any suspected insider, leaving Liu Hai facing a growing scandal and a lie he believed could no longer be contained.

• Zhang Tao warned Liu Hai that independent media were investigating Dongbei’s central kitchen and delivery records and had contacted former employees.
• Liu Hai reflected on Dongbei’s reliance on premade meals, falling customer satisfaction, and misleading reports about fresh ingredients.
• At the regional managers’ meeting, Liu Hai reported declining traffic and a sharp rise in complaints about premade food, and proposed adjusting the menu and advertising.
• Zheng Dong rejected Liu Hai and Old Chen’s suggestions, insisted Dongbei must defend its “freshly made to order” claim, and ordered Liu Hai to investigate the media and possible internal betrayal.
• Zhang Tao identified the media account as Speaking Food Truthfully, and Liu Hai told him to keep quiet while considering how Dongbei’s deception was becoming impossible to sustain.

Lin Feng received K’s evidence that Dongbei relied heavily on frozen prepared dishes while telling customers its food was freshly made. He held off on releasing it, choosing to wait and see what Zheng Dong would do next.

• K sent Lin Feng production records, cold-chain contracts, and employee scripts showing that Dongbei used frozen meal kits and instructed staff to avoid admitting it.
• Lin Feng learned that K was still trying to obtain internal meeting records and could get them within three days.
• Lü Yi told Lin Feng that an anonymous former regional manager had posted an exposé accusing Dongbei of widespread use of prepared dishes and efforts to suppress criticism.
• Lin Feng told Lü Yi not to amplify the post and told Zhou Wenyuan to hold off on legal countermeasures until Zheng Dong made further moves.
• Lin Feng told Lü Yi he was watching to see when the snow melted, then went to bed.

Lao Xu published an investigation alleging that Dongbei used prepared food while advertising meals as freshly cooked, and the article sparked a viral backlash. Zheng Dong ordered a counteroffensive, while Lin Feng watched the controversy grow and awaited K’s further infiltration of Dongbei’s internal meeting system.

• Lao Xu investigated an anonymous exposé and received screenshots and testimony from a former Dongbei employee about prepared food, cold-chain deliveries, and internal practices.
• Lao Xu published an article examining Dongbei’s prepared-food operation and its response to the service-area video incident.
• The article spread across social media, prompting netizens to share more alleged evidence and demand an official investigation.
• Zheng Dong confronted his executives, ordered them to identify the whistleblower, suppress negative coverage, and arrange a kitchen livestream and favorable reports.
• Zheng Dong learned that Lin Feng’s address had been found but told Lao Xing to wait before taking action.
• Lin Feng reviewed K’s report that infiltration of Dongbei’s internal meeting system had reached 70 percent and expected recordings by the next morning.

Facing collapsing sales and public trust, Zheng Dong ordered Dongbei to open its kitchens nationwide and livestream their work, betting that transparency could save the company. Lin Feng believed Dongbei could not truly cook every dish fresh at scale and saw the campaign as a gamble that could destroy it.

• Zheng Dong heard that Dongbei's reputation and store revenue had sharply declined, and admitted customers viewed its prepared dishes and advertising as deception.
• Zheng Dong ordered every Dongbei store to open its kitchen to media, livestream operations, and stage an overnight campaign showcasing ingredients and on-site cooking.
• Zheng Dong required participating media and bloggers to submit their work for review before publication.
• K informed Lin Feng that Zheng Dong had approved the nationwide kitchen openings and that Dongbei was inviting media.
• Lin Feng told Lü Yi that Dongbei's kitchens could not sustain genuine made-to-order cooking across more than two hundred stores and predicted its transparency gamble could fail.

Dongbei’s nationwide transparent-kitchen livestreams exposed frozen ingredients, premade food, and rehearsed answers, triggering a wave of ridicule and forcing Zheng Dong to shut the cameras off. Lin Feng watched the crisis unfold while monitoring a separate operation against a Northern Myanmar compound, as a new video targeting Dongbei’s central kitchen began trending.

• Li Wei prepared Dongbei’s flagship kitchen for reporters, while Old Zhang and the other chefs rehearsed scripted demonstrations.
• Reporters found frozen vegetables and questioned the chefs’ claims about fresh ingredients, and similar problems surfaced at Dongbei restaurants across the country.
• Videos of the kitchens spread online, and netizens mocked Dongbei for its frozen ingredients, premade food, and frequent use of scissors.
• Zheng Dong ordered every livestream shut down as negative public attention mounted.
• Lü Yi showed Lin Feng the viral videos, while Lin Feng read K’s report that penetration of the Northern Myanmar compound’s fund pool had reached 92%.
• A video investigating Dongbei’s central kitchen began climbing the trending list.

After Dongbei’s kitchen livestream ended, netizens turned its scissors, old frozen broccoli, and prepared-food packs into viral memes, driving the company’s reputation and sales sharply downward. Zheng Dong tried to contain the backlash while Lin Feng rejected Dongbei’s settlement offer and warned that Zheng might make a desperate gamble.

• Netizens spread videos, jokes, and parody posts mocking Dongbei’s kitchen footage, and #DongbeiMemeContest reached the top of Weibo’s trending list.
• Zheng Dong ordered Zhao Bin to contact influential bloggers and pay them to delete their posts, but the bloggers refused and the online backlash overwhelmed Dongbei’s PR efforts.
• Lin Feng reviewed internal financial data showing Dongbei’s nationwide turnover had fallen by over 60%, with service-area locations nearly losing all sales.
• Zhou Wenyuan told Lin Feng that Dongbei’s legal department offered compensation in exchange for a statement retracting his review, but Lin Feng refused the money.
• Lin Feng told Zhou Wenyuan that deleting posts would intensify the backlash and suspected Zheng Dong would either admit defeat or make a bigger gamble.