Road Home – Jing Boran, Tan Songyun

In 2019, Gui Xiao passed by a car wash in the suburbs of Beijing and a fellow alumnus recognized it as the shop owned by Lu Yanchen's family. Gui Xiao was stunned and particularly interested in the name "Lu Yanchen". She heard that Lu Yanchen had returned from the border, and hesitated at a nearby gas station, unable to suppress her strong desire to see him. She went to the gas station to see Lu Yanchen. At the gas station, Gui Xiao met Lu Yanchen as he walked out of the convenience store, and the two stared at each other. Gui Xiao asked: "Do you... remember who I am?" Lu Yanchen replied calmly, "I remember. I remember you even if you turn to ashes."

After their reunion at the gas station, Gui Xiao asked Lu Yanchen's cousin Huang Ting for Lu Yanchen's current phone number, but at the same time received Huang Ting's advice, reminding Gui Xiao of the pain of their breakup eight years ago. Gui Xiao was plunged into memories of their previous breakup, feeling low, not knowing that at this moment, Lu Yanchen had parked his car downstairs from her house, quietly watching her.

Two years passed, in winter, Gui Xiao went to Qining City with her friend Cai Yaya who worked in commerce. However, their car was stolen during a blizzard. Helpless, Gui Xiao contacted Lu Yanchen who was in Qining City. Hearing that Gui Xiao was in trouble, Lu Yanchen didn't hesitate and asked for Gui Xiao's location before rushing to her. Lu Yanchen quickly helped Gui Xiao solve the problem of the stolen car and found the missing vehicle.

On the way back to the hotel, Lu Yanchen and Gui Xiao were both uneasy. Qin Xiaonan, who is small but clever, guessed that Gui Xiao was Lu Yanchen's ex-girlfriend and actively tried to set them up. Lu Yanchen received a transfer order to the Tianwen City Special Police Brigade and bid farewell to his original teammates with whom he had dinner that night. His teammates had already heard Qin Xiaonan's gossip and knew that Lu Yanchen's first love had come to Qining. Seeing that Lu Yanchen was not himself these past two days, they suspected it was because of this "first love." They schemed and used a trick— one of the teammates, Gao Hai, was good at imitating voices, so he imitated Lu Yanchen's voice and invited Gui Xiao over. Although Gui Xiao repeatedly refused at first, she immediately changed her mind and went to see Lu Yanchen when she heard his voice. As he was about to part with his brothers, Lu Yanchen felt sad and drank alone, staring blankly at the snowy night. Suddenly, he saw Gui Xiao and was very surprised. Feeling upset in his heart, he lost his composure for a moment and spoke harshly, asking Gui Xiao why she had come and what she wanted to do. Gui Xiao was puzzled but suppressed her frustration and sadness. She said that if Lu Yanchen had not called her, she would not have come. Lu Yanchen was stunned, then understood what had happened, and angrily called Gao Hai to apologize. The misunderstanding was resolved, and Gui Xiao realized that she had been fooled into coming. She turned around with a cold face and prepared to leave. She knew that she still had feelings for Lu Yanchen and was upset that she had been so easily swayed to come see him.

After seeing off Cai Yaya at customs, Lu Yanchen took Gui Xiao to pack luggage for Qin Xiaonan and introduced her to his family situation. Gui Xiao learned more about the child and felt more sympathetic towards him. She also found out that Qin Xiaonan's mother had been delaying the transfer of household registration, so he did not have a household registration and could not enroll in school for the time being. However, Gui Xiao decided to take Qin Xiaonan back to Beijing first and let Qin Mingyu quickly find a way to get the child's household registration. Soon after, Gui Xiao brought Qin Xiaonan back to Beijing and took care of the 7-year-old child at her own home. As it involved Lu Yanchen, Gui Xiao was particularly careful about Qin Xiaonan's affairs.

Qin Xiaonan felt the long-lost affection in Gui Xiao's home and began a magical life with her, which was like siblings and mother and son. On the other hand, Lu Yanchen finished packing early and returned to Beijing a week earlier than planned. Qin Xiaonan asked Gui Xiao and Lu Yanchen about their past and how they met. Gui Xiao then recalled their first meeting in high school. Lu Yanchen was in the same grade as Gui Xiao, and when they first saw each other, they left a deep impression on each other. The second time they met was at Gui Xiao's good friend Meng Xiaoshan's birthday party. Meng Xiaoshan had booked a billiard hall for her celebration, and Gui Xiao enthusiastically went there and found that Lu Yanchen was also there. When Gui Xiao suggested playing a game of billiards, Lu Yanchen suddenly stood up from the corner where he had been sitting silently and offered to play a game with Gui Xiao. He even played with his left hand and let Gui Xiao win.

After the birthday party, Gui Xiao stayed in Lu Yanchen's room to clean up the dishes and witnessed Lu Yanchen's father getting drunk and attempting to hit Lu Yanchen. Lu Yanchen rushed into the room, quickly locked the door, and pulled Gui Xiao to crouch behind it. They waited until Lu's father was convinced by his colleagues to leave before Lu Yanchen dared to open the door and let Gui Xiao stay in the room while he went out to check on the situation. Gui Xiao waited for a long time in the room, but when Lu Yanchen didn't return, she cautiously went out to look for him and saw him hiding in a corner of the auto repair shop wiping away tears. Gui Xiao saw a side of Lu Yanchen that he usually kept hidden from others and comforted him. Lu Yanchen then sent Gui Xiao back home and asked her if she wanted him to repeat a year of school, to which she nodded in agreement. When Gui Xiao arrived home, she realized that she hadn't given him her address, but Lu Yanchen somehow knew where she lived. Lu Yanchen repeated a year of school and became Gui Xiao's classmate. At school, Gui Xiao was interested in Lu Yanchen, and he always noticed her. They often bought snacks for each other, and Gui Xiao even cheered for Lu Yanchen at the sports meeting. The following year, in May before the college entrance exam, Meng Xiaoshan and Hai Dong, who had already graduated, broke up. Hai Dong asked Gui Xiao and Lu Yanchen to help reconcile them, and then Gui Xiao and Lu Yanchen watched as Hai Dong and Meng Xiaoshan got back together. However, Gui Xiao only had Lu Yanchen on her mind.

Soon, the two of them began a long-distance relationship. Lu Yanchen went far away to Qi Wen's police academy and could only come back to see Gui Xiao during winter break. During their precious time together, there were regrets of being apart, but also small romantic moments that they cherished deeply. Gui Xiao's memories end. Time jumps ten years to the present, when they broke up. Gui Xiao watches Qin Xiaonan sleep, taking care of him with all her heart. At this time, Lu Yanchen has returned to Beijing without alarming Gui Xiao, as there is trouble in his family. When he went to the hospital to visit his mother, he bumped into his high school classmate Zhao Minshan, who was being attentive to Lu's mother. Lu Yanchen did not want to pay attention to her and left the hospital with a cold attitude, returning to the car repair shop with Hai Dong. It is only from the old mechanics that Hai Dong finds out that Lu Yanchen's father arranged for him to marry Zhao Minshan without his consent. Gui Xiao is unaware of what is happening with Lu Yanchen and has not received any messages from him, which makes her a little suspicious. By chance, an old classmate tells Gui Xiao that Lu Yanchen has actually returned to Beijing but did not inform her. The classmate, unaware that the two had met again in Qin, unintentionally reveals the news that Lu Yanchen is about to marry Zhao Minshan, who was the most beautiful girl in Gui Xiao's class. This news, like a bucket of cold water thrown in her face, completely chilled Gui Xiao's heart.

At the restaurant, Meng Xiaoshan asked Gui Xiao about her true feelings and learned that she was not just upset because her first love was getting married, but because they had reconnected in Qining, which made Meng Xiaoshan feel that the situation was more complicated than she thought. Meng Xiaoshan and her husband Qin Feng told Gui Xiao the truth about Lu Yanchen's marriage. In fact, Lu Yanchen's family owed a lot of money to Zhao Minshan's family over the years, and the two families had been in a long-standing dispute. Finally, Zhao Minshan proposed that if Lu Yanchen came back and married her, the debt would be settled. Zhao Minshan had liked Lu Yanchen since their school days and after a failed marriage, she saw this as an opportunity to marry the person she had secretly loved in college. Lu Yanchen's parents agreed to this without telling him, and the dowry and wedding banquet were all arranged, waiting for him to come back and agree. However, when Lu Yanchen returned, he was busy finding ways to break off the engagement and pay back the money, even offering to compensate Zhao's family with more money. The truth surprised Gui Xiao. Qin Feng had connections in the local area due to his past business dealings with Zhao's family, and he actively acted as a mediator between Lu's family and Zhao's family, and had already gotten the latter to ease their stance. Meng Xiaoshan was worried that Gui Xiao and Lu Yanchen's relationship would suffer again, but Qin Feng had always admired Lu Yanchen for his patriotism and good character, and believed that he had the potential to go far and would not easily let Gui Xiao down.

The two families met at Meng Xiaoshan's restaurant. When Lu Yanchen arrived, he punished himself with a drink and then expressed his determination to break off the engagement. Upon hearing this, Lu Yanchen's father angrily stood up and poured the drink on Lu Yanchen. Lu Yanchen remained calm and reiterated his position, which made Lu's father furious and he tried to attack Lu Yanchen, but was stopped by others. Then Meng Xiaoshan suggested leaving a separate space for Lu Yanchen and Zhao Minshan to talk, and asked their parents to go to the next room. With only the two of them left in the room, Zhao Minshan tried to persuade Lu Yanchen again, but he remained firm. Lu Yanchen knew that Zhao Minshan could not accept him living with Qin Xiaonan, so he used this as a reason to let Zhao Minshan say that she couldn't marry him. After that, he left. The situation began to gradually resolve, giving Lu Yanchen hope.

As the Spring Festival approached, Gui Xiao told Lu Yanchen that she had arranged to meet Qin Xiaonan's homeroom teacher, who wanted to meet the parents. Since Qin Mingyu was on duty during the New Year, Gui Xiao suggested that she and Lu Yanchen represent them and visit the teacher together after the New Year.

When Gui Xiao returned from her business trip, she waited for Lu Yanchen at the airport and met a doctor friend, Xu Yao. Xu Yao's wife needed a lot of money for tumor treatment, so Xu Yao borrowed some money from Gui Xiao, who readily agreed. At that moment, Lu Yanchen arrived and briefly met Xu Yao.

At the time, Gui Xiao went to attend a trade conference while Lu Yanchen was on duty outside. They received intelligence that there might be explosives outside the venue. Lu Yanchen went to investigate and found it to be a false lead, but the process was still very tense. Lu Yanchen did not tell Gui Xiao about this incident and did not plan to tell her. The existence of the special police is to ensure that ordinary people are always far away from fear. After work, Lu Yanchen ran into his father at the auto repair shop. His father was still entangled with him about breaking off the engagement and reminded him that they still owed money to the Zhao family. Lu Yanchen said he would repay the debt and his father's attitude changed, but Lu Yanchen had already left impatiently. In the afternoon, Lu Yanchen borrowed a suit from Hai Dong and went to Meng Xiaoshan's restaurant to meet with Gui Xiao's homeroom teacher. With the coordination of Qin Feng and Meng Xiaoshan, Lu Yanchen and Zhao Minshan re-signed the loan agreement according to the agreed conditions, and the engagement between the Lu family and the Zhao family was canceled. Meng Xiaoshan warned Zhao Minshan to stop pursuing Lu Yanchen, otherwise, she would have to settle the score for interfering with Hai Dong and herself in the past.

Using Qin Xiaonan's topic as a pretext, the two expressed their longing for each other. Gui Xiao decided to come and see them. Back at the auto repair shop, Lu Yanchen sent Qin Xiaonan and his colleagues fishing and began to tidy up the room. He stood at the door on a cold day, counting the seconds and eagerly anticipating Gui Xiao's arrival. When Gui Xiao arrived, she saw Lu Yanchen's room after a long time and described things from their school days, one after another. Unexpectedly, just as she finished speaking, Lu Yanchen gently pulled her into his arms. They hugged each other and were about to kiss when Qin Xiaonan burst in with his fish, excited to see Gui Xiao. He happened to catch them in an ambiguous moment. Lu Yanchen quickly defused the awkward situation and took Qin Xiaonan to the nearby market to buy groceries, leaving Gui Xiao at home. Little did they know that their interaction was being watched by relatives of the Lu family in the factory, who gossiped and called Lu Yanchen's mother to inform her. Lu Yanchen left, and his mother entered the room. She didn't look happy with Gui Xiao and the atmosphere was very awkward. Gui Xiao had no choice but to make an excuse to go out and make a phone call. She waited in the security room outside the auto repair shop for Lu Yanchen to come back. On the other side, Lu Yanchen came back with a handful of things and found Gui Xiao waiting outside. He learned that his mother had come and saw Gui Xiao's troubled expression. Later, Hai Dong came for dinner. Initially, Hai Dong and Meng Xiaoshan were a couple, and Gui Xiao and Lu Yanchen were a couple. Because Meng Xiaoshan always called Gui Xiao "little sister," Hai Dong jokingly called her "sister-in-law."

Gui Xiao and her father Lu Yuanshan have always had a strained relationship due to past events, and their meetings are often awkward. Lu Yuanshan always tries to make deals with Gui Xiao, hoping to use material things to regain her affection, but Gui Xiao has grown strong enough to not need these external things. The father and daughter are so unfamiliar with each other that even talking is painful, and Gui Xiao just wants to escape, hinting to Duan Rou to take her away under the guise of work. On the other hand, Lu Yanchen leads the new trainees in a large-scale exercise with other special police teams in the city. During the exercise, Lu Yanchen demonstrated his outstanding physical fitness, shooting, and bomb disposal skills, earning unanimous recognition. At this time, his old teammate from the original Qin Ning City team called, asking Lu Yanchen to return to Qin Ning to complete his transfer procedures, and the case he was previously in charge of finally had new clues that required him to go back and wrap it up. After the holiday, Qin Xiaonan started school, and when Lu Yanchen couldn't take care of him due to work, he entrusted his childhood friend Hai Dong, but Hai Dong lived in the suburbs and it was inconvenient to come over. He also fell short in helping with the child's homework, so Gui Xiao and Duan Rou took the initiative to take care of the child and help with his studies. Qin Xiaonan returned to Gui Xiao's house to live. Qin Xiaonan was curious about Gui Xiao and Duan Rou's work, and Gui Xiao did not dismiss him just because he was young, but explained her work in detail to him.