Episode Summary
Da Bing experiences a mental break after his father's death, developing a split personality and committing murders he attributes to his father. Lu Na and A'Lai time travel to the past, attempting to save Manman and ultimately leading to Da Bing's arrest. A young Lu Na (Man Ru) finds the time-traveling lighter.
Spoiler Alert
This episode throws viewers into a whirlwind of deception and twisted realities. Da Bing, working at the hotel, encounters a beautiful guest named Manman. He's instantly smitten, and she seems to find his naivete amusing. Da Bing's father, however, senses something off about Manman and warns Da Bing to be cautious, reminding him that people are often deceitful, especially given their differing social statuses.
Da Bing, tired of his father's controlling nature, rebels. His father, unable to cope, decides they should leave. However, an encounter with an old acquaintance brings up the topic of Da Bing's mother, a subject his father has always avoided. Da Bing presses for answers, but his father drugs him with milk. In his drugged sleep, Da Bing has a nightmare where his father murders his mother. The next day, he discovers the old acquaintance has also been murdered, seemingly by his father. Panicked, Da Bing intends to report the crime, but he runs into Manman. He pulls her into a room to hide, terrified that his father will kill her. His fears seem confirmed when his father breaks down the door and seemingly murders Manman.
But the episode delivers a shocking twist: none of these events were perpetrated by Da Bing's father. The truth is far more disturbing. After being humiliated by a customer, Da Bing had angrily decided to quit the hotel. His father tried to stop him, and during their struggle in the street, a car struck his father, killing him. The trauma caused Da Bing to develop a split personality, one being Da Bing himself, and the other embodying his father.
It's revealed that Da Bing, in his fractured mental state, was responsible for the deaths of the guest with the gold watch, his coworker A'long, and Manman. His fantasy of Manman being interested in him was just that – a fantasy. In reality, she was toying with him. Da Bing, in his delusion, kidnapped her, forced her to profess her love, and then killed her. As for his mother, she wasn't murdered; she simply abandoned Da Bing and his father.
The episode's climax involves A'Lai, who is revealed to be the police officer who originally arrested Da Bing, and Lu Na, the person who provided clues through her stories. A'Lai fights Da Bing to save Lu Na. During the struggle, a lighter falls out, triggering Lu Na's memory. She realizes this lighter is the key to her time travel to 29 years in the past. Seizing the opportunity, she activates the lighter, causing Da Bing to vanish as if consumed by flames.
Lu Na and A'Lai are transported back 20 years to the Old Friends Hotel. They hear Manman's cries for help, and Lu Na urges A'Lai to intervene. During the ensuing confrontation, Da Bing takes a young girl hostage. A'Lai manages to subdue Da Bing, who is then arrested by the arriving police, led by A'Jia. A'Lai and Lu Na quickly leave the scene.
The rescued hostage, a young girl, finds the lighter on the ground. The girl is revealed to be a young Lu Na, before she adopted her pen name, still going by her given name, Man Ru.
