Chapter 4

Dad's face grew grave as he listened.

He clenched his fists and drew a deep breath.

“I understand, Captain Jiang. I'll get the truth out of my wife myself. But I've just lost my eldest son, and my daughter's still young. It would be very ugly if word got out. Please keep this confidential.”

Captain Jiang nodded.

“Of course.”

After seeing him out, Dad sat alone on the sofa, drinking to drown his sorrows.

A clever man like him needed only a few words from Captain Jiang to realize Mum had something to do with my brother's death.

What would he do now that he knew?

A father who'd loved his son more than life itself?

I looked at the curtain's shadow on the wall opposite my bed.

It still looked exactly like a hanging woman.

I closed my eyes.

Perhaps... he'd beat Mum.

I just didn't know whether she'd survive it this time.

The next morning, a commotion woke me.

I opened my door to find the house full of police officers.

White tape cordoned off the living room.

Dad sat inside it, haggard.

Mum...

Lay on the floor, her face blue, her mouth slightly open.

She no longer looked alive.

The policewoman from before was handling this case too.

The moment she saw me, she pulled me into a sorrowful embrace.

“I'm sorry for your loss,” she whispered.

I understood at once.

My eyes widened. I tore myself from her arms and lunged toward Mum.

She held me back.

“Mum!”

The cry ripped from my throat.

The policewoman held me tight as I sobbed, unable to speak.

At the sound of my voice, Dad turned his head stiffly.

He looked at me and kept muttering, “How... How could she be dead... I... I only held her down for a little while, then let go... How could she die...”

Over and over.

The officers handcuffed him shortly afterward.

“Li Sheng,” the policewoman said, “you'll need to come to the station to give a statement too.”

I nodded.

...

The fluorescent lights in the interview room were as harsh as ever.

Captain Jiang sat opposite me again, his expression stern.

“What were you doing at one in the morning on July eighteenth?”

I bowed my head, my face wet with tears.

“Sleeping in my room.”

“Did you hear anything?”

I shook my head.

“No. I was fast asleep.”

“Your mother's dead. Your father's confessed. What was their relationship usually like?”

I shook my head again.

“They argued a lot. Especially after my brother died. Dad hit her too. Last night... after you brought me home and spoke to him... he hit her again... I... I was so scared... I hid in my room and didn't dare come out... Then I fell asleep...”

Captain Jiang frowned as he listened.

The hand taking notes suddenly stopped.

After a long silence, he said quietly, “All right. You can go once we've finished taking your statement.”

He hesitated, then looked at me.

“I'm sorry for your loss.”

The young shoots below our building put out branches and gradually grew into sturdy trees.

Mum's autopsy report came back.

The cause of death was mechanical asphyxia.

After Dad beat her, she'd kept calling for help.

Losing control, he'd thrown her to the floor and held a pillow over her face for more than ten minutes.

She had suffocated.

He was charged with intentional homicide.

Although he'd turned himself in, the exceptionally serious nature of the crime and the cruelty of his methods earned him a death sentence.

When I heard the news, I'd just walked out of the examination room after the final subject of my university entrance exams.

Captain Jiang was waiting outside the school gates.

“Your father... wants to see you.”

I agreed.

He had raised me, after all.

Even if, from beginning to end, he'd raised me as a child bride for his son.

At the detention center, I saw Dad through the glass partition.

He looked worn and gaunt. There were fresh injuries on his face.

“Your mother didn't have any other family...” His voice was hoarse. “You're the only one left... her daughter... Write a letter asking for leniency... Write the letter...”

I tilted my head, blinked, and smiled at him.

“Sorry... Dad.”

Dad had always been clever.

Those two words were enough for him to understand everything.

He went berserk, screaming like a madman.

“You! You set it all up! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!”

He grabbed the bars and shook them furiously.

I pretended to panic and hurriedly stood, backing away.

A guard rushed over with an electric baton and restrained him.

Captain Jiang stood behind me, watching thoughtfully.

There was scrutiny in his eyes too.

I pretended not to notice, merely lowering my head and quietly wiping my tears.

After a long time, he stepped forward.

“Let me take you home.”

My entrance exam results came out on the day Dad was executed.

625.

Not bad.

I applied to the city's medical university.

Captain Jiang called me.

“Your father's body... You'll need to come and collect it.”

I smiled.

“Could you see... whether it would be useful to medical science? I'd like to donate his body to the medical school. That way... he'll have contributed something to humanity.”

The other end of the line went silent.

A long time passed before Captain Jiang answered.

“All right.”