Episode Summary
Wen Yifan's sleepwalking causes concern, and Sang Yan notices her bruises, leading to a tender moment. Their cohabitation is complicated by Sang Yan's teasing about her sleepwalking behavior and a large rent payment. A new intern, Mu Chengyun, shows interest in Yifan. A work trip to Yihe forces Yifan to confront a difficult past and a case of familial obligation, while Sang Yan's jealousy grows when he hears Mu Chengyun's voice. Yifan helps a dance class and reflects on her past in Yihe.
Spoiler Alert
One night, Wen Yifan's sleepwalking takes a concerning turn. She's found stuffing rice into her mouth from the fridge, startling her aunt's son, Wen Ming, who hits her with a stick. The next day, Sang Yan notices bruises on Yifan's arm while she's practicing dance on the rooftop. He presses her for an explanation, but she remains silent. Concerned, Sang Yan tells her to protect herself and draws a butterfly over her injury.
It's day 77 of their official cohabitation. Wen Yifan wakes up to find the chairs she blocked the door with the previous night are gone, confirming another sleepwalking episode. She nervously asks Sang Yan if she did anything inappropriate. Sang Yan teases her, saying she did something even more "excessive" than before, something he's almost embarrassed to mention, but assures her she'll "pay him back" later. Thinking he means financially, Yifan offers to write him an IOU.
Two new interns arrive at the TV station, and one of them, coincidentally, is Mu Chengyun. When the landlord demands rent, Sang Yan "accidentally" adds an extra zero to the payment, transferring 40,000 yuan to Yifan. He jokes that he'll deduct it slowly, implying she'll have to live with him until the debt is cleared. Yifan is confused, and Sang Yan claims that during her sleepwalking, her "rationality was defeated by desire," and she tried to "take advantage" of him. Mu Chengyun is assigned to learn from Yifan. During a meeting, Yifan takes on a news story about a mother searching for her daughter. Mu Chengyun leans in and asks if he'll get a reward if the story goes well. Yifan doesn't respond, but she remembers the cake Sang Yan gave her when she passed her art exam.
The mother in the news story has traveled from Nanwu to Yihe to find her daughter, meaning Yifan must also go to Yihe, a place she's reluctant to revisit. Mu Chengyun, who considers himself Yifan's dedicated intern, sticks to her constantly, even waiting for her to finish work. Zhong Siqiao notices Mu Chengyun's interest in Yifan, but Yifan dismisses it.
Yifan asks Zhong Siqiao to sleep over, and they unexpectedly see Duan Jiaxu and Sang Yan both coming out of a room in their bathrobes. Yifan, understanding the situation, smiles and tells them to continue, not wanting to interrupt. At breakfast the next morning, Yifan keeps glancing between Duan Jiaxu and Sang Yan, smiling at Sang Yan, who explains that he brought Duan Jiaxu home to "protect himself."
Yifan and Mu Chengyun travel to Yihe to meet the mother in the case. The mother says her daughter used to send her money regularly after she started working, but the payments stopped before the New Year. She's determined to find her daughter, claiming that she sacrificed everything (her husband and job) to raise her, so her daughter has no reason not to support her. Yifan reflects on her own similar experience, feeling the suffocating weight of familial obligation and "toxic" motherly love.
After the interview, a colleague tells Yifan that the daughter is now in Hong Kong. Yifan calls Sang Yan to say she'll be back a day later. Sang Yan hears Mu Chengyun's voice on the call and is instantly overcome with a sense of threat. Yifan finds the daughter, who wants nothing to do with her mother. Her mother remarried and had a son, but after the son and husband left, she turned back to her daughter. After the interview, Yifan sees some children in a dance class struggling with their moves and steps in to demonstrate, captivating Mu Chengyun with her graceful dancing.
Sang Yan picks up Yifan at the airport, pointedly asking if she sleepwalked. He's relieved when she says no. Yifan's trip to Yihe was devoid of any personal connections; she didn't see any classmates or go sightseeing. It's a city with no memories for her. After being falsely accused during her internship at the Yihe Daily, Yifan suddenly felt a strong urge to return to Nanwu, so she quit her job and left the place she no longer had any attachment to.
