The Last Lesson They Left in Silence

Synopsis

A bottle of pesticide sat on our dining table all year round. Paraquat. Deadly poison—a single swallow could kill. My parents would pick it up to threaten me. “If you don’t study, you’ll have no future! Are you trying to kill us?” “Fall out of the top three in your year again, and your mother and I will each take a mouthful. Will that make you happy?” The pressure only grew, until the university entrance exam results came out. I placed first in the humanities at my school and among the top fifty in the city. Then my admission letter from Renmin University arrived. That day, the Paraquat on our dining table was replaced with a bottle of erguotou. Under the dim yellow light, Dad drank more than half the bottle. He even dipped his chopsticks into the liquor and brought them to Mom’s lips. “Our daughter’s brilliant. She’s going to have a wonderful future,” they said, over and over. I was so happy at the thought of finally escaping that house. I had no idea Dad had already mixed Paraquat into the liquor.

Table of contents

1. Chapter 12026-10-15
2. Chapter 22026-10-15
3. Chapter 32026-10-15
4. Chapter 42026-10-15
5. Chapter 52026-10-15