Xiao Heyun

TTK Original — Beyond the Headlines

What if the most important person in Reset is not one of the two people trapped in the time loop—but a young woman who died years before the story began?

The 2022 Chinese thriller Reset (开端), starring Zhao Jinmai as Li Shiqing and Bai Jingting as Xiao Heyun, begins with a terrifyingly simple premise.

A bus explodes.

A young woman wakes up.

The bus explodes again.

She wakes up again.

Soon, another passenger joins her in the nightmare. Together, they must discover why the explosion keeps happening and how to save everyone aboard.

Across 15 episodes, the series transforms that premise into a tense investigation involving a pressure-cooker bomb, a grieving family, a past tragedy, and a group of ordinary passengers whose lives are more complicated than they initially appear.

By the finale, the immediate mystery is solved.

We know who planted the bomb.

We know why the perpetrators wanted revenge.

We know what happened to Wang Mengmeng, the daughter whose death set the tragedy in motion.

And we know how the passengers are finally saved.

But the series leaves one enormous question unanswered.

Who created the time loop?

A second mystery makes the first even more intriguing.

Why does Li Shiqing seem able to survive repeated resets while Xiao Heyun becomes increasingly exhausted and physically unwell?

These questions have generated fan theories since the drama aired. Some viewers believe Wang Mengmeng’s lingering spirit created the loop to prevent her parents from committing mass murder.

Others think the mechanism is deliberately unexplained.

And a close examination of the original novel reveals that the television adaptation made significant changes to the way Wang Mengmeng’s story is resolved.

Here is what the drama actually confirms, what the strongest fan theory explains, and where that theory begins to break down.

Spoiler warning: This article discusses all 15 episodes, including the ending, the identity of the bombers, and differences from the original novel.

Who Caused the Time Loop in Reset?

The television drama never explicitly identifies the cause of the time loop.

That is the most important fact to establish before examining any theory.

Li Shiqing repeatedly wakes up on Bus No. 45 before a fatal explosion.

She eventually draws fellow passenger Xiao Heyun into the repeating events.

As the loops continue, they learn that the explosion is not merely an unavoidable traffic accident.

A pressure-cooker bomb is hidden aboard the bus.

The bomb can be detonated deliberately, and its timer is connected to a recognizable musical ringtone.

The perpetrators are Tao Yinghong and Wang Xingde, a married couple whose daughter, Wang Mengmeng, died in an earlier bus-related tragedy.

The protagonists gradually uncover the couple’s motives, investigate the passengers, and find a way to stop the bombing.

But the series does not reveal a machine, a scientific experiment, or a supernatural being responsible for restarting time.

The loop simply exists.

It ends after the protagonists prevent the explosion and help reveal the truth about Wang Mengmeng’s death.

That sequence invites interpretation.

It does not establish causation.

The difference matters because one popular theory has become so widespread that viewers sometimes describe it as an official explanation.

It is not.

Theory 1: Wang Mengmeng Created the Loop to Save Her Parents

The strongest supernatural interpretation begins with Wang Mengmeng.

Five years before the central events of the drama, she died after getting off a bus in dangerous circumstances.

Her death became the subject of public judgment and speculation.

Her parents, Wang Xingde and Tao Yinghong, never recovered.

Eventually, their grief transformed into a plan to destroy another bus and everyone aboard it.

The tragedy is particularly painful because their revenge is directed at people who had no responsibility for their daughter’s death.

If Wang Mengmeng could see what her parents were planning, would she want them to go through with it?

The theory argues that she would not.

Instead, her spirit may have created a repeating day to give someone a chance to stop them.

Under this interpretation, the loop is not a punishment.

It is a rescue attempt.

Wang Mengmeng cannot return to life.

But she may be trying to prevent her parents from throwing away theirs.

That gives the time loop a very different purpose from the one suggested by the opening episodes.

At first, Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun believe they are trying to save themselves from death.

By the ending, they are also trying to save two grieving parents from becoming murderers.

The loop may exist not simply to prevent a bus explosion, but to interrupt a tragedy that began five years earlier.

This interpretation has appeared in both English-language fan discussions and Chinese-language commentary.

But its strongest support comes from several specific narrative clues.

Clue 1: Why Was Li Shiqing Chosen?

Li Shiqing appears to be an ordinary college student.

She is not a police officer.

She has no special investigative training.

She does not possess a scientific explanation for the strange events happening to her.

So why is she the person who begins remembering the loops?

Supporters of the Wang Mengmeng theory point to the similarities between the two young women.

Both are students.

Both are connected to the same university environment.

And the drama eventually reveals a more direct link through the investigation of Wang Mengmeng’s death.

Chinese-language viewers have also discussed visual parallels between the characters, including their clothing and accessories.

These details can be interpreted as signs that Li Shiqing is a symbolic stand-in for Wang Mengmeng.

But there is a stronger thematic connection.

Li Shiqing is given an opportunity that Wang Mengmeng never received.

She can repeatedly confront a dangerous situation.

She can ask for help.

She can make mistakes and try again.

Most importantly, she can discover the truth behind an incident that was misunderstood by the public.

Wang Mengmeng’s death became a story other people told about her.

Li Shiqing’s investigation finally gives that story a chance to change.

If Wang Mengmeng’s spirit chose someone to intervene, Li Shiqing would make a narratively fitting choice.

Still, the drama never confirms that she was selected by a ghost.

The resemblance could be deliberate symbolism rather than evidence of a supernatural mechanism.

Clue 2: Wang Mengmeng’s Death Is the Emotional Center of the Finale

For much of the drama, the audience is focused on the immediate danger.

Who is carrying the bomb?

How does the detonator work?

Can the passengers escape?

Can the police arrive in time?

But the final episodes shift the focus from the mechanics of the explosion to the tragedy that motivated it.

Wang Mengmeng’s parents have been consumed by grief.

They believe their daughter was misunderstood and blamed for the circumstances of her death.

The investigation reveals that she was subjected to sexual harassment aboard the earlier bus.

This changes the meaning of her desperate attempt to get off.

Her behavior was not simply irrational.

She was trying to escape an abusive situation.

Evidence connected to the incident helps Li Shiqing persuade Wang Xingde to abandon the bombing plan.

The ending therefore resolves two linked injustices.

The innocent passengers are saved.

And Wang Mengmeng’s story is finally understood.

That second resolution is essential to the supernatural theory.

If the loop was created by Wang Mengmeng’s lingering wish, its purpose would not be fulfilled merely by removing the bomb.

Her parents would also need to confront the truth and abandon revenge.

The finale gives them that opportunity.

However, the show never tests whether preventing the explosion without resolving their grief would have been sufficient to end the loop.

So the theory fits the emotional structure of the ending, but it remains unproven as a literal rule.

Clue 3: Wang Mengmeng’s Presence Is Suggested, Not Confirmed

Chinese-language interpretations have pointed to moments when Wang Mengmeng seems emotionally present in her parents’ lives even after her death.

One frequently discussed detail involves Wang Xingde recounting a dream in which his daughter wants her parents to continue living.

Another involves the emotional imagery surrounding the couple’s arrest and the resolution of their revenge plot.

Supporters of the ghost theory read these moments as hints that Wang Mengmeng is watching over them.

The dream is especially significant.

It suggests that, at least on some level, Wang Xingde understands that his daughter would not want her parents to destroy innocent lives.

But a dream is not proof of supernatural intervention.

It may express grief, memory, guilt, or the desire for forgiveness.

The drama allows the moment to carry emotional meaning without explaining it as a supernatural event.

That ambiguity is part of what makes the theory appealing.

The same scene can be read in two ways.

A literal reading suggests a dead daughter reaching out to her father.

A psychological reading suggests a grieving father finally hearing the truth he has been resisting.

Neither interpretation is explicitly established as the only correct one.

Theory 2: Why Was Xiao Heyun Getting Weaker in Every Loop?

This is the most difficult mystery for a purely emotional explanation of the time loop.

Li Shiqing begins the story as the primary person experiencing the resets.

Xiao Heyun joins later.

At first, he is simply another passenger.

But after Li Shiqing pulls him off the bus during one of her attempts to escape, he becomes aware of the repeating events.

The two begin investigating together.

As the loops continue, however, their physical experiences diverge.

Li Shiqing is generally able to wake up and act.

Xiao Heyun increasingly struggles.

He experiences exhaustion and physical deterioration.

His recovery after each reset becomes more uncertain.

Eventually, he fears that he may not wake up again.

The drama treats this as a genuine threat.

Yet it never supplies a clear biological or supernatural explanation.

That gap has troubled viewers since the original broadcast.

A January 2022 Reddit discussion explicitly questioned why Xiao Heyun’s health deteriorated while the series left the loop’s rules unexplained.

A March 2022 fan discussion even proposed an alternative ending in which Xiao Heyun fails to return with his memories intact.

His worsening condition was clearly significant to viewers.

But what did it mean?

The Secondary-Participant Theory

One explanation is that Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun do not occupy the same position within the loop.

Li Shiqing is the original participant.

Xiao Heyun is someone she brings into the repeating events.

If Wang Mengmeng’s spirit created the loop specifically for Li Shiqing, Xiao Heyun may not have been intended to participate.

His body could therefore be paying a price for entering a phenomenon that was never meant to include him.

Chinese-language analyses have proposed this distinction.

Under the theory:

Wang Mengmeng’s unresolved wish initiates the loop.
Li Shiqing becomes the primary person capable of changing events.
Xiao Heyun enters because Li Shiqing involves him.
Repeated resets gradually weaken him because his participation is secondary.

This explanation connects two otherwise separate mysteries.

It offers a reason why Li Shiqing enters first.

And it offers a reason why Xiao Heyun suffers more.

But it also creates new problems.

If the loop can be extended to a second participant, why not a third?

What exactly causes physical deterioration?

Why would the loop allow Xiao Heyun to participate at all if his presence violates its rules?

The drama provides no confirmed answers.

The secondary-participant theory is internally appealing, but it is not an established law of the fictional universe.

Could Xiao Heyun’s Declining Health Mean the Loop Was Running Out?

Another interpretation does not require Wang Mengmeng to have chosen anyone.

Instead, Xiao Heyun’s worsening condition may function as a sign that the protagonists cannot repeat the day forever.

At the beginning, the ability to reset seems almost unlimited.

Every failure creates another opportunity.

Every death can apparently be reversed.

That makes the loop a powerful investigative advantage.

But unlimited retries would also remove much of the danger.

If the protagonists can always start over, the consequences of failure become less frightening.

Xiao Heyun’s deteriorating health changes that.

Suddenly, another reset might not save both protagonists.

The next attempt could be their last.

From a storytelling perspective, his condition creates a deadline.

It transforms the final rescue from another experiment into a decisive confrontation.

This interpretation explains why the writers would introduce the symptom.

But it does not explain the symptom within the fictional world.

Those are two different questions.

The narrative purpose is clear.

The in-universe mechanism remains uncertain.

Why Did the Time Loop Begin Earlier and Earlier?

The changing starting point is another unresolved detail.

Early in the series, Li Shiqing repeatedly awakens shortly before the explosion.

As the loops continue, the starting time moves earlier.

This gives her more time to investigate and attempt an escape.

Eventually, the starting point stops moving backward.

A detailed 2025 Reddit rewatch guide documented the changing wake-up times and the events of the successive loops.

The pattern has generated several interpretations.

One possibility is that the loop is gradually giving the protagonists enough time to solve the crisis.

Another is that the phenomenon has a limited range and eventually reaches its earliest possible starting point.

A third is that the earlier wake-up times are primarily a storytelling device, allowing the investigation to expand beyond the final seconds before the explosion.

The show does not establish which explanation is correct.

There is no confirmed rule stating that a supernatural force deliberately adds time to help Li Shiqing.

Nor is there a scientific explanation for the changing reset point.

The pattern is real within the story.

Its cause remains unknown.

Did Wang Mengmeng Experience Her Own Time Loop Five Years Earlier?

This is one of the most intriguing extensions of the main theory.

Before the final episodes aired, some viewers speculated that Wang Mengmeng had also been trapped in a repeating day.

Her sudden attempt to leave the earlier bus looked suspicious to viewers already trained to recognize the behavior of someone escaping a disaster.

Perhaps she had experienced the same kind of loop.

Perhaps she knew something terrible was about to happen.

Perhaps she was trying to prevent an earlier catastrophe.

If that were true, the present-day loop might be a second cycle connected to an unfinished first one.

The idea appeared in Reddit speculation in January 2022.

But the completed drama provides a more direct explanation for Wang Mengmeng’s desperate behavior.

She was trying to escape sexual harassment.

That revelation seriously weakens the claim that her attempt to get off the bus was evidence of a previous loop.

It does not logically disprove every possible supernatural theory.

But it removes the central piece of evidence that made the earlier-loop theory attractive.

This is a useful example of why fan theories should be evaluated against the completed story.

A mystery can look supernatural before the relevant facts are revealed.

Once those facts emerge, the ordinary explanation may be stronger.

There is no confirmed evidence that Wang Mengmeng herself experienced a time loop before her death.

Why Does the Finale End the Loop Only After Everyone Is Saved?

The final successful cycle accomplishes several things at once.

Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun work with passengers and police to stop the bombing.

The pressure-cooker bomb is removed from the bus.

Wang Xingde is confronted with evidence that his daughter was harassed before her death.

The parents’ revenge plan collapses.

The innocent passengers survive.

And the repeating day finally ends.

The alignment is striking.

The protagonists do not merely defeat a villain.

They help reveal a truth that has been buried for years.

They prevent grieving parents from creating another tragedy.

And they restore the possibility of ordinary life for the people aboard the bus.

This makes the ending feel like the fulfillment of a purpose.

But does it prove that Wang Mengmeng designed the loop?

No.

The series shows that these events occur together.

It does not demonstrate that one specific emotional condition automatically terminates the time loop.

A useful distinction is between a narrative resolution and a mechanical explanation.

The narrative resolution is clear.

The characters prevent a tragedy by understanding the people involved.

The mechanical explanation remains open.

We do not know precisely why time began repeating.

And we do not know the exact rule that caused it to stop.

The show resolves the human mystery while leaving the supernatural or science-fiction mystery unanswered.

What Does the Original Reset Novel Say About the Time Loop?

Reset is adapted from a web novel by Qi Dao Jun (祈祷君).

The novel and television drama share the central idea of ordinary people repeatedly trying to prevent a deadly bus explosion.

But their endings differ in important ways.

In the novel, the protagonists do not uncover the same decisive photographic evidence of Wang Mengmeng’s sexual harassment that appears in the television adaptation.

Instead, Li Shiqing appeals more directly to the parents’ grief.

She tries to make them understand that their daughter would not want them to kill innocent people.

The driver’s emotional response becomes crucial.

Chinese literary commentary has described the novel’s explanation through the idea of Wang Mengmeng’s lingering spirit or wish.

That gives the supernatural interpretation a stronger basis in discussions of the source material.

However, this does not mean the television series explicitly confirms a ghost as the cause.

Nor does it mean every theory about two separate loops or Xiao Heyun’s physical deterioration is established by the novel.

Those claims must be treated separately.

The novel provides an important thematic clue.

The adaptation develops the mystery differently.

The original story makes Wang Mengmeng’s unresolved grief-related legacy central, but the television drama does not provide a definitive supernatural rulebook.

Did the Author Intend Reset to Be a Science-Fiction Puzzle?

The original author, Qi Dao Jun, has offered an especially useful perspective on the story’s design.

In a 2022 interview published by China Writers Network, the author explained that the project did not begin as an elaborate time-loop mythology.

The initial idea was a suspense story about ordinary people trying to stop a bomb on a bus.

The problem was practical.

How could untrained passengers investigate the threat, gather enough information, persuade others, and prevent the disaster?

The time loop became a way to make those actions possible.

Repeated attempts allowed ordinary people to learn from failure.

The author also emphasized that the central appeal was not endless escalation or characters becoming superhuman.

It was ordinary people working together to save lives.

This does not prove that the loop has no fictional explanation.

But it helps explain why the drama places so much emphasis on the passengers and their personal stories.

The time loop is the structure that makes the rescue possible.

The human choices are the real subject.

That distinction is essential when evaluating the finale.

Viewers expecting a complete system of time-travel rules may find the ending incomplete.

Viewers focused on the passengers’ choices may find the ending emotionally satisfying.

Both responses are understandable.

Why Are the Other Passengers So Important?

At first, the people aboard Bus No. 45 appear to be obstacles.

Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun must determine who is carrying the bomb.

Every unusual object becomes suspicious.

Every passenger might be hiding something.

But as the protagonists investigate, the people around them become more human.

Lu Di, the masked young man, initially appears suspicious.

Yet his behavior has explanations unrelated to the bombing.

Other passengers carry their own worries, responsibilities, and private struggles.

The investigation repeatedly challenges the assumption that appearances reveal character.

This theme becomes especially important in Wang Mengmeng’s story.

The public judged her actions without knowing why she desperately wanted to leave the bus.

Her parents were consumed by the consequences of that judgment.

The protagonists can prevent the next tragedy only by discovering what people have failed to understand.

The show therefore uses a mystery structure to make a broader point.

When we reduce strangers to appearances, rumors, or isolated actions, we risk missing the truth about their lives.

The repeated day gives Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun something ordinary people rarely receive.

Enough time to look again.

Wang Xingde and Old Jiao: Two Fathers, Two Different Choices

One of the most revealing details comes from the author’s discussion of the original story.

Qi Dao Jun explained that Old Jiao and Wang Xingde were designed as contrasting fathers.

Both are motivated by concern for their daughters.

But their responses are profoundly different.

Wang Xingde’s grief contributes to a decision that threatens innocent lives.

Old Jiao’s concern for his daughter motivates him to help protect others.

This contrast shows why the ending is not merely about exposing the bombers.

The story asks what people do with love, grief, and responsibility.

Love does not automatically lead to goodness.

A parent can act out of love and still make a terrible moral choice.

The decisive difference is whether that love becomes a reason to protect life or destroy it.

This theme also deepens the Wang Mengmeng theory.

If her lingering wish created the loop, its purpose would not be to erase grief.

It would be to prevent grief from becoming violence.

But even without accepting the supernatural theory, the emotional meaning remains.

The story ends when the characters choose a different response to suffering.

Why Some Viewers Were Disappointed by the Ending

Not everyone was satisfied.

A January 2022 Reddit discussion criticized the finale for leaving major questions unanswered.

Among the complaints were the unexplained origin of the loop, Xiao Heyun’s declining health, the changing reset times, and other details that seemed to promise a larger mystery.

A separate 2023 discussion raised questions about the ringtone, the timing of the explosion, and the possibility that Wang Mengmeng’s spirit was involved.

These are legitimate questions.

The show introduces unusual details that invite investigation.

When a mystery series repeatedly rewards viewers for noticing clues, audiences naturally expect the same attention to resolve the central supernatural puzzle.

But the finale shifts its attention toward the human consequences of the bombing.

That creates a tension between two kinds of storytelling.

One promises a puzzle with a definitive solution.

The other offers a moral and emotional resolution.

Reset combines both, but it does not complete both in the same way.

The bomb mystery is solved.

The time-loop mystery is not.

Whether that feels elegant or frustrating depends on what viewers believe the series was ultimately asking them to solve.

TTK Theory: The Loop May Be an Unfinished Act of Protection

The strongest interpretation is not that Wang Mengmeng’s ghost has been definitively identified as the architect of time.

It is that the loop functions as though an unfinished act of protection is seeking completion.

Consider the structure.

A young woman dies after desperately trying to escape a threatening situation.

Her actions are misunderstood.

Her parents become trapped in grief and resentment.

Years later, another young woman is trapped on a bus.

She repeatedly tries to escape.

But eventually she stops thinking only about her own survival.

She learns to understand the people around her.

She uncovers the earlier tragedy.

And she prevents Wang Mengmeng’s parents from causing another one.

The parallel is powerful.

Wang Mengmeng was unable to escape the danger surrounding her.

Li Shiqing is given repeated chances to prevent a new danger.

Wang Mengmeng’s story was misunderstood.

Li Shiqing discovers the truth.

Wang Mengmeng’s parents were moving toward destruction.

Li Shiqing helps stop them.

Under this interpretation, the loop becomes a second chance not just for the passengers but for the entire family.

It is an opportunity to interrupt the consequences of a tragedy that cannot itself be undone.

This reading explains the emotional logic of the finale.

But it does not solve every technical mystery.

Xiao Heyun’s worsening health remains unexplained.

The shifting start times remain unexplained.

And the precise origin of the loop remains unknown.

Those gaps should not be concealed.

They are part of the show’s ambiguity.

Final Verdict: Did Wang Mengmeng Create the Time Loop?

It is a plausible and emotionally coherent theory, but the television drama never confirms it.

The theory has several strengths.

Li Shiqing’s story closely parallels Wang Mengmeng’s.

The investigation resolves the injustice surrounding Wang Mengmeng’s death.

The finale prevents her parents from committing a terrible crime.

And the original novel’s treatment of Wang Mengmeng’s lingering wish gives the supernatural reading additional context.

The theory also offers a possible explanation for why Li Shiqing enters the loop first.

But it has limitations.

The drama never shows Wang Mengmeng creating the loop.

It never explains how a spirit could control time.

It never confirms that Xiao Heyun becomes weaker because he is a secondary participant.

And it never establishes that resolving the parents’ grief is the specific rule that ends the phenomenon.

The most defensible conclusion is therefore twofold.

As a literal mystery, the origin of the time loop remains unsolved.

As a story about grief, responsibility, and second chances, the loop’s purpose becomes clear.

Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun are given the opportunity to do what ordinary people cannot normally do.

They can return to a moment before disaster.

They can listen more carefully.

They can recognize the humanity of strangers.

They can discover a truth that was previously ignored.

And they can choose a different ending.

Perhaps Wang Mengmeng’s spirit gave them that chance.

Perhaps the loop has another explanation entirely.

But the result is the same.

A young woman whose death led to years of grief becomes central to the rescue of people she never met.

Her parents are stopped before they destroy more lives.

And an ordinary bus finally reaches a future that seemed impossible.

The greatest mystery in Reset may be who started the loop. Its most meaningful answer is what the characters chose to do with the time they were given.

Sources and Further Reading

Reddit viewer discussions

Original novel and Chinese-language analysis

Editorial note: This article distinguishes events confirmed by the television drama from fan interpretations and differences in the source novel. The Wang Mengmeng theory is presented as an interpretation, not an officially established explanation.

Reset Ending Explained: Did Wang Mengmeng Create the Time Loop—and Why Was Xiao Heyun Dying?