Chapter 2

My raised voice immediately drew the officers' attention.

Everyone turned to look.

Mum noticed too and forced an awkward smile.

“Silly girl, I'm not accusing you. It's just that your brother's death was so strange...”

Just then, Dad came out, his face dark.

The death had occurred between six thirty and seven. He had been working overtime then, and all his colleagues could vouch for him, making him an unlikely suspect.

He took off his glasses as he left the interview room, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and said wearily, “Let's go home. Once the autopsy's done, the police will decide whether it was an accident or murder.”

I lowered my head, a little surprised.

Hadn't he and Mum both insisted earlier that I'd killed Li Min?

Dad walked ahead.

Captain Jiang's words kept circling in his mind.

“Your daughter has an alibi for the time of death.

“Furthermore, the autopsy and the scene indicate your son was sexually aroused and completely naked.

“An adult man with an intellectual disability, sexually aroused, dies naked in his underage sister's room... while she's at school.

“So we suspect your son's death may have been caused not by your daughter, but by the other woman in the house...”

The other woman...

That could only mean his wife.

Dad pressed his lips together as he walked on. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mum trudging along, exhausted.

What could possibly have happened for his wife to be involved with their son dying naked, sexually aroused and terrified?

He didn't want to think about it.

He didn't dare.

Before, he had always suspected his daughter.

After all, he'd wanted her to give him a grandson to carry on the family line, and she had made it clear she wouldn't.

But now...

Even he wasn't sure.

All he wanted was for the police to rule it an accident tomorrow and let the matter end there.

I followed behind him.

Looking at his back, I felt the corners of my mouth lift.

I knew what he was thinking.

He must be regretting calling the police.

Things were slipping completely beyond his control.

As soon as we got home, I crouched to change my shoes.

An ashtray skimmed my scalp and flew straight at Mum as she came in behind me.

Crash!

It hit the floor and shattered.

“How the hell were you looking after Li Min? A grown man that size—how could he just drop dead?”

The ashtray had struck Mum. She groaned and slowly sank down, clutching her stomach.

I was used to this.

I finished changing my shoes, went into the kitchen for a broom, and swept up the broken glass.

Dad sat on the living room sofa, panting.

Mum quietly went into the kitchen.

Once I'd cleared the glass, I said, “I'm going to my room.”

Dad glanced at me without speaking.

He pressed the remote, and the television came on.

The disc my brother had left in the player was still running: an erotic horror film.

On-screen, a female ghost was seducing the male lead. Suggestive moans filled the living room.

Dad switched it off, expressionless.

“Return that tomorrow. He's dead. What's the point in watching it now?”

I murmured an acknowledgment and went to my room.

It had been cleaned.

The police had taken the bedsheet as evidence.

They hadn't classified the death as a criminal case; it was only my parents who kept insisting I was the killer.

My room hadn't been sealed. Only the sheet bearing my brother's semen had been confiscated.

I washed quickly and lay down.

The moon was particularly bright that night.

I let down the curtain the police had tied up, returning it to its usual position.

Moonlight came through the window and cast a shadow across it.

That shadow...

It looked just like a woman hanging from a noose.

A light breeze stirred.

The folds of fabric dangling below were like her legs...

Swaying.

Swaying.

The next morning, the police knocked on our door.

They brought their final conclusion.

An accidental death.

Standing in our living room, an officer explained slowly, “Based on the evidence, the examination of the scene, and the autopsy report, we've concluded that Li Min became aroused after watching the film, removed his clothes, and entered the wrong room. The door accidentally closed behind him. His body remained aroused while he experienced extreme terror, triggering an epileptic seizure and, ultimately, fatal suffocation.

“Given Li Min's mental condition, his removing his clothes cannot be regarded as abnormal behavior.”

He handed the report to Dad.

Mum came over to read it too.

She went still, her lips pressed together. I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

Dad put the report on the coffee table and courteously saw the officers out.

The moment they were gone, his face darkened.

“Deng Lijuan! You weren't home at six fifty yesterday. Where the hell were you?”

Mum lowered her head, glanced at me, and mumbled, “Yesterday... Xiao Sheng said... she wasn't going to evening study... I thought... I'd buy her something nice to eat, so... I went out. I left Li Min home alone...”

Dad seemed to remember something.

His expression softened a little, and he sighed.

“What's done is done... Let's lay Li Min to rest first.”

He stroked my head, then picked up my brother's photograph from the coffee table. Tears slipped down his face.

In this house, Dad had loved my brother the most.

My brother was his treasure. His whole life.

I went over, gently hugged him, and tried to comfort him.

“It's all right, Dad. Now that he's gone... in a way, it's a relief for the whole family.”

He went rigid.

He tore my arm away, his face dark.

“Why would you say that? Who taught you to say that?”

I instinctively looked at Mum.

She complained like that every time she had to clean up after my brother.

Dad followed my gaze.

His eyes turned vicious.

“You?”

Mum frantically waved her hands.

“No... it wasn't me... How could I say something like that? Li Min was my own son.”

I hurried to defend her.

“No... that's not it... It's my fault... I got fed up having to clean his trousers and complained without thinking...”

In fact, Mum always made me clean his clothes.

According to her, an unmarried woman mustn't see that part of a boy's body, or it would be “ruined.”

Dad knew this too.

Before I could finish, his face had turned ugly.

He clenched his fist and punched her.

It wasn't the first time.

Mum dodged instinctively.

But his blows came down like rain. She avoided the first and couldn't escape the rest.

Before long, her eye was bruised and both cheeks swollen.

Eventually, he tired himself out.

He slumped onto the sofa and stared blankly at my brother's photograph, muttering, “My wife can't have any more children... My son's dead... The Li family line is going to end...”

Then he looked up at me.

A desire that should never have been there flashed in his eyes.

“No... I've still got a daughter... The Li family line won't end...”

His gaze frightened me.

I backed away instinctively, lost my footing, and fell.

Dad immediately came over to help me up. His rough hand touched my leg.

“Are you hurt? How could you be so careless...”

I pulled my leg back and asked quietly, “Dad... when are we burying him?”

His hand stopped.

He looked at Mum, who could barely stand after the beating.

“Get things ready soon. He was young. We'll bury him straight after the cremation.”

Mum nodded obediently and struggled to get up.

I turned my head to avoid Dad's eyes and took the chance to stand.

“It's getting late. I'm going back to school.”

I opened the door and left before either of them could respond.

That night, Dad knocked on my bedroom door.

Then he climbed onto my bed and pinned me down.

I jolted awake to the reek of alcohol.

He fumbled at my body, and I scrambled backward.