Thanks to Cheng Guo’s brother’s hospitalization, Peng Zhaolin hears about Deng Lide at the hospital. Deng Lide’s appearance excites Peng Zhaolin because it’s sure to leave clues, so he goes to question Huang Laoqi. Huang Laoqi still plays dumb and denies knowing anything, but Peng Zhaolin notices his injured leg, which hasn’t been treated due to lack of money. Peng Zhaolin has him help stage a little act, arranges hospital care for his leg, and even advances the medical fees. Touched, Huang Laoqi spills everything he knows and also gets his family to reveal what they know. Peng Zhaolin then questions Deng Lide’s ex-wife and Deng Ligang’s cousin. He learns that when Deng Lide went to Jingbei for treatment, he borrowed over 30,000 yuan from the cousin, but nobody knows where they actually live.
For a whole month, Peng Zhaolin and his team find no solid leads. They’re exhausted, and Zhen Zhen, worried about them, quietly brings them late-night snacks every time. One morning, they finally discover a breakthrough: by tracing Deng Lide’s name, they uncover the current aliases of Deng Ligang, Shi Bi, Song Hongyu, and Da Shun. They’re now living in Suilu. Deng Ligang and Song Hongyu are married with a child; Shi Bi is married to Feng Shuanghuan, and they run a shop selling cigarettes, alcohol, and tea; Da Shun has opened a slaughterhouse. Each belongs to a different household registry, complicating the case, but all the threads are finally coming together. They even find the village official who helped them settle in. Peng Zhaolin plans to head out tomorrow with a team to make the arrests. Noticing Zhen Zhen hiding in the corner, Peng Zhaolin tells her to come along too. Even though she’ll have to avoid direct involvement, she’s still a key figure in the case and needs to make an identification.
Early in the morning, Song Hongyu takes her son to school. The child seems close to her but not so close to Deng Ligang. Shi Bi plans to attend his stepson’s parent-teacher meeting; his marriage to Feng Shuanghuan is stable, and their life looks peaceful. Deng Ligang’s underling secretly reports that Song Hongyu has gotten too friendly with a dance instructor and often goes to his place. Deng Ligang abducts the male instructor, forces him to dance for a day, then stuffs him in the trunk and beats him. He gives the man some money and warns him to stop causing trouble. Back home, Deng Ligang threatens Song Hongyu again. Song Hongyu isn’t scared, relying on the fact she has a son, but Deng Ligang still chokes her, beating her up. Though he no longer kills, his temper remains explosive. Their relationship is disturbingly tense.
Peng Zhaolin leads his team to Suilu and splits them into four squads to monitor Deng Ligang, Song Hongyu, Shi Bi, and Da Shun. Upon seeing Song Hongyu with her son, Zhen Zhen instinctively panics, feeling as if she can’t breathe—just like when she was kidnapped. The trauma resurfaces.
