Zhen Zhen and her father arrive at the Criminal Police Squad. The whole family is supposed to head to the train station, but Zhen Zhen insists on saying goodbye to Peng Zhaolin first. She tells Peng Zhaolin that she actually saw him once before at a hot pot restaurant; she passed by and noticed him eating with others. Thanks to her photographic memory, she remembers him clearly. She admits she doesn’t really want to leave because this city is her home—she likes it here. She urgently wants to know when he will catch those four. After a long silence, Peng Zhaolin runs after her before she goes, handing over his Third-Class Merit Medal. He vows he will catch them.
But Peng Zhaolin doesn’t get the chance. The bureau believes they can’t keep wasting time and resources. With all leads dead, the investigation is shut down, though Peng Zhaolin can’t let it go. Meanwhile, Deng Ligang goes to look at a house. Just then, someone arrives to check IDs; Deng Ligang escapes from the second floor before they come upstairs.
Da Shun has been hanging around a small neighborhood shop and gets involved with the shopkeeper, who says he looks like her missing husband. Using the excuse of helping her look for her husband, Da Shun manages to get her ID. Shi Bi meets a widow with a child through a matchmaker. Da Shun is stopped for an ID check on the street but gets out of trouble by using someone else’s ID. They realize staying together is too risky—if one of them gets caught, everyone goes down. Deng Ligang decides they should split up and lie low.
Deng Ligang’s case becomes a thorn in Peng Zhaolin’s side. Every night at three in the morning, it still weighs on him. Cheng Guo comforts him, saying he’s already done all he can. Zhen Zhen and her family settle in Hexi, where she goes back to school and her parents open a small restaurant.
Deng Ligang rents the property, planning to open a pool hall. Song Hongyu becomes a housewife, and friction builds up in daily life. While working, she keeps cursing Deng Ligang, and they explode into arguments at the slightest disagreement. Song Hongyu says she wants to go home, to see her dad and brother. As they argue, things get physical—Song Hongyu even swings a kitchen knife, but Deng Ligang pins her to the ground. The moment he hears Song Hongyu is pregnant, though, he stops. He tells her to have the baby, bring her brother over, bring her mom too, and they’ll all stick together no matter what.
Late at night, Deng Ligang sneaks back to Xuecheng and takes away his mother, who is mentally unstable, along with his just-released-from-prison brother. Meanwhile, Song Hongyu returns to her hometown to bring her father and brother. Peng Zhaolin remains haunted by nightmares about the four. The neighborhood reports that Deng Ligang’s brother and mother have disappeared. Peng Zhaolin vents his anger by smashing things at home, then gathers his team. He refuses to give up on Deng Ligang’s case and decides to continue the investigation in secret.
