Episode 12 recap: Chen Ke Hai secretly informs the Soviet agent to retreat.
Qiao San Min kidnaps Luo Bing at Chen Ke Hai's house. Luo Bing tells Chen Shu to run, but Qiao San Min enters the kitchen and kills Chen Shu. Chen Ke Hai, devastated, looks at Chen Shu's lifeless body. Chen Ke Hai notices something suspicious in the opposite room from a painting and encounters Xing Han Zhu when entering that room.
Chen Ke Hai keeps Qiao San Min's wife confined in a house to ensure her and her child's safety, with the aim of capturing Qiao San Min. Luo Bing arrives at Chen Ke Hai's house and takes the opportunity to search Chen Ke Hai's room while Chen Shu is cooking. As she steps out of the room, Qiao San Min takes her hostage, mistaking her for Chen Ke Hai in the kitchen. When Luo Bing shouts for her to run, Qiao San Min fires a shot inside but realizes he has killed the wrong person. Meanwhile, Luo Bing quietly grabs a fruit knife.
Chen Ke Hai rushes back home and, devastated by Chen Shu's death, mourns his loss. Chen Shu was like family to him. Due to Chen Shu's death, Fang Li assigns twenty-four-hour protection for Chen Ke Hai. After the doctors leave, Luo Bing tells Chen Ke Hai that he shouldn't have shown mercy to Qiao San Min last time. Chen Ke Hai is puzzled as to why Qiao San Min, who kills without hesitation, didn't harm Luo Bing. Fang Li suggests it may be due to her nurse-like attire. Luo Bing and Chen Ke Hai both look at Fang Li.
Later, Fang Li meets Luo Bing and praises her for her performance. Although she didn't escape unscathed, she needs to gain Chen Ke Hai's trust while the iron is hot and test his loyalty. Luo Bing feels that Chen Ke Hai hasn't betrayed Fang Li. Fang Li warns her not to get too involved emotionally.
Due to Chen Shu's death, Chen Ke Hai releases all the pigeons, and Fang Li provides condolence money to Chen Shu's family. Chen Ke Hai hands over all his savings to Fang Li to be given to Aunt Chen. Chen Ke Hai decides to give up the confinement of Qiao San Min's wife, not wanting to involve any more innocent people, but Fang Li is determined to continue pursuing the case.
Chen Ke Hai and Li Tang listen to intercepted conversations, and the general idea is that the Russian woman wants to exchange information with the Japanese. Gao Mu has a private conversation with Xing Han Zhu and expresses his doubts about Fang Li's abilities. Xing Han Zhu tries to sow discord by suggesting that Fang Li is not fully committed to the Japanese cause. Gao Mu reveals that there is important intelligence involved in the operation at No. 76 Blood Red, and a Japanese intelligence officer arrives in Shanghai. He has intercepted some information and needs Xing Han Zhu's assistance to secure it. The reason he chose Xing Han Zhu is to keep it secret from his superiors and maintain confidentiality for this mission.
Chen Ke Hai, Fang Li, and Li Tang entered the spy's room and found it empty, but the fan and stove were running. They discovered an easel near a window and Chen Ke Hai used the depression on the carpet to determine its original position. From that position, they could see the opposite room and realized they had been under constant surveillance. They decided to investigate the secret in the opposite room and deliberately left a scratch on the painting while restoring the easel to its original position.
When the female spy returned to her room, she noticed that the easel had been moved and there was a mark on it. Agent 76 installed the listening device, and Chen Ke Hai noticed that Fang Li had changed his approach. Instead of directly capturing their target, Fang Li decided to secretly eavesdrop and catch the bigger fish. Xing Han Zhu arrived with the others, and Fang Li had a feeling that Xing Han Zhu would ruin their plan to capture the female spy. The female spy used a radio to play music and made a phone call to signal a retreat. Li Tang overheard her intention to retreat, and they began to chase after her.
Xing Han Zhu entered the opposite room and found it empty. The female spy, Natasha, realized that she had been exposed and gave her clothes to a neighbor to divert the attention of Agent 76's people. She then headed to Nanjing Road. Natasha managed to elude her pursuers, but Fang Li returned to her room to investigate why she had retreated. While Fang Li carefully examined the easel, Chen Ke Hai deliberately sneezed to distract Fang Li's attention. Fang Li handed his coat to Chen Ke Hai.
Xing Han Zhu discovered Chen Ke Hai on the opposite side of the room, and both of their attempts to act alone failed. Director Li became furious, as he had risked betraying his country for Gao Mu but received his suspicion in return. This time, his subordinates acted without his permission. Fang Li and Xing Han Zhu left under the pretext of an excuse, and Director Li had a private conversation with Gao Mu, during which Gao Mu apologized to him. Fang Li took pleasure in Xing Han Zhu's failure and handed the painting and photos to Fang Li. Chen Ke Hai worried that Fang Li might discover something from the paintings, so he looked for an opportunity to remove the scratch.
Gao Mu informed Director Li about everything that had happened and hoped that he could find the person carrying the information. Xing Han Zhu found the situation suspicious. The Japanese had intelligence to deliver to the Soviets, but instead of meeting them, the Soviets chose to monitor the Japanese. When the Soviets realized something was wrong, they alerted the Japanese to evacuate. Based on this scenario, Fang Li already knew who the Soviets were monitoring. Xing Han Zhu questioned why Fang Li didn't capture the Japanese immediately and let them go intentionally to prevent the information from falling into the hands of Agent 76. Director Li didn't believe that Fang Li had betrayed Agent 76 and asked Xing Han Zhu to provide concrete evidence or else he would be considered as sowing discord within the ranks.
Chen Ke Hai deliberately knocked on the door of Fang Li's office to confirm that there was no response. He used a wire to pick the lock and just as he was about to push the door open, Xing Han Zhu stopped him. They pretended to have a conversation about leaving the room, and Xing Han Zhu wanted to talk to Fang Li. Chen Ke Hai intervened, not wanting Xing Han Zhu to discover that there was no one inside the room. They intentionally created a rift between Chen Ke Hai and Xing Han Zhu, with Chen Ke Hai claiming he was writing a report to prepare for the upper-level briefing.
The male lead really lacks courage. Regardless of whether he had any grudges with Qiao San Min before, since he has now killed the old servant, why is he still thinking about seeking revenge? Does that mean if someone kills your father and mother, you would also be thinking about when to seek revenge?
I'm speechless.