Episode Summary
Detectives Chen Jianghe and Luo Yingwei re-investigate convict Ding Baoyuan's murder case, uncovering his wife Sun Caiyun's tangled affairs and a strategic one-night stand. Clues point to Guan Qiao's novel "Sandstorm" as Ding's prison obsession, while Chen recalls his mentor's fatal refusal to approve his career transfer.
Spoiler Alert
【Sandstorm Episode 3: Lies, Lovers & Literary Clues】
Here's what went down in this sand-swept whodunit...
The Prison Visit: Truth or Lies?
Our detectives Chen Jianghe and Luo Yingwei drag their boots back to prison to grill convict Ding Baoyuan about the eight-year-old murder case. Ding's singing a new tune now: "Never met the victim Cheng Chun! Didn't kill anyone!" claims the man who previously confessed to bashing Cheng's skull with a shovel after "catching her stealing coal." When Chen presses about his original confession, Ding drops a grenade - he was tortured by Chen's late mentor into false testimony. Cue Chen's volcanic eruption (picture a tea kettle whistling in a police uniform).
Wives, Ex-Wives & Sidepieces
Post-prison, Luo's eyebrows hit her hairline upon learning Ding's wife Sun Caiyun visits monthly. Chen drops the real tea with a smirk: "That 'wife' might be the ex-wife. Prison visitation slots are like VIP tickets - first come, first shacked up."
Their investigation reveals Sun's been running a revolving door romance - particularly with self-proclaimed poet Guan Qiao (translation: unemployed hipster who quotes Nietzsche while eating sunflower seeds in bed). Neighborhood aunties gossip that Sun's bed "never gets cold" while her husband roasts in jail.
The Great Laundromat Interrogation
They find Sun slapping mahjong tiles at a parlor, oozing false vulnerability. When Chen calls out her "prison wifey by day, cougar by night" routine, Sun shrugs: "Adults have needs." Classic deflection.
Under pressure, Sun claims that on murder night, drunk coworker Ma Jincai groped her after square dancing. She called Ding... but never saw him until the body turned up.
The Phantom Affair at Magnolia Hotel
Plot twist! Trash collector Ma Jincai spills that Sun showed up at his door at 9PM that fateful night for... "literary discussions" at a love motel. Hotel owner confirms: "Wouldn't forget the lady slumming with the smelly recyclables!"
Chen cracks Sun's scheme: By sleeping with Ma, she turned him into the "other man" - ensuring he'd avoid Ding out of guilt. But why protect Guan Qiao?
Book Club of Suspicion
Here's the kicker: Guan Qiao wrote "Sandstorm" - the only book Ding's read in prison. Both detectives separately dive into the novel that night. Meanwhile, Chen flashes back to his mentor refusing to sign his big-city transfer paperwork pre-murder case. "You belong catching criminals, not pushing papers!" the old cop insisted... right before dying in a quicksand car crash during their final argument.
Final Thoughts
This episode serves us:
• A love rectangle messier than a noodle shop floor
• Prison confession flip-flops
• The most strategic one-night stand since Trojan Horse
• Literature references that'll definitely matter later
Stay tuned to see if "Sandstorm" the novel holds more clues than a detective's notebook - and whether Chen will ever stop seeing his mentor's ghost in every sand dune.
