Chapter 3

I didn't understand.

“Isn't that normal? What does his brother have to do with what happened at university?”

My mentor put down his cup and looked at me sharply.

“No. After a catastrophe like that, a close relative ought to be his main source of support. Yet he never mentions his brother at all.

“When someone deliberately blurs a relationship in a story they've constructed, it's often because the truth about that relationship would undermine the whole thing.”

His words woke me like a warning bell.

Yes.

Qin Xuan's story was a carefully polished script. Its only protagonist was him and his revenge.

Qin Zhu, so prominent at the beginning, vanished from the second half.

Those brothers—

There had to be another secret.

7

Reinvigorated, I began investigating again.

I found the delivery depot where Qin Zhu worked.

At the end of his shift, I waited at the door with a bag of tangerines.

“Hello, Mr. Qin. I'm the lawyer handling your brother's case.”

Looking at a face identical to Qin Xuan's disoriented me.

But where Qin Xuan seemed relieved, Qin Zhu's eyes were heavy with exhaustion.

“I have nothing to say.”

He tried to shut the door.

I quickly blocked it with my foot and spoke earnestly.

“Please understand. We need to verify every detail. This affects your brother's sentence.

“Even a little information could be very important to him.”

“My brother killed someone. That's clear enough. What else is there to verify?”

He slammed the door.

However much I knocked, he wouldn't answer.

Turned away, I changed direction and went to the brothers' old neighborhood.

The alley was due for demolition. Most residents had left. Everything looked bleak and broken.

I found an elderly woman who seemed to have lived there for years. She was packing to move.

I offered her the tangerines I hadn't been able to give away and respectfully explained why I had come.

“Are you police too?” she asked.

I hesitated, then gave a vague answer.

“Yes. Police.”

At first, she was cautious, waving her hands.

“We don't know anything about the Qins. We can't go saying things.”

I persisted. I helped her move a box, chatting about the difficulties of moving and how old neighbors might never see each other again.

I sighed deliberately.

“And now those two sons have ended up like this. We just want to see if there's anything we can do…”

Perhaps my politeness and help won her over. She hesitated, then lowered her voice.

“You seem like a good person, officer. No harm telling you. I didn't say a word when your colleagues came last time…”

“Thank you. Truly.”

I quickly took her hand.

“They looked exactly alike when they were little. Such well-behaved boys. Poor things, no mother to love them.”

“Do you remember their school years?”

I guided her gently.

“Of course I do!”

She slapped her thigh.

“The younger one, little Zhu—that was the clever one! First in every exam! His older brother, Xuan, was a simple, honest boy. Not so bright at school…”

My heart gave a hard thump.

I thought I had misheard.

“Could you be remembering it wrong? Qin Xuan was the one with good grades. He got into Jinghai University.”

She glared indignantly.

“I'm not that senile! Zhu was the good student! All the neighbors knew.

“When their father was alive, he was always boasting that Zhu was the god of scholarship come down to earth…

“I don't know what happened later. Seems the older one got into university. But I always suspected…”

An old man's shout came from inside the yard.

“Zhou Guifen! Running your mouth again!”

Startled, she waved me off and refused to say more.

I had what I needed. I didn't press.

As I left the yard, a startling theory burst into my mind.

The twins had switched identities for the exam.

Of course.

A family with identical twins didn't need both boys to excel.

In the first year, the cleverer younger brother could sit the exam under the older brother's name.

The following year, he could take it again under his own.

Both could enter prestigious universities and change their lives.

That also explained why their father had accepted the division between household work and life outside.

It wasn't simply an arrangement of chores.

It was a planned exchange of identities.

Qin Zhu had been the brilliant student all along.

Why hadn't he gone to university afterward?

Something must have happened.

If Qin Xuan's story was false, perhaps Qin Zhu had a more direct connection with Wang Kai—and even Jiang Nansheng.

Qin Xuan's guilt over his brother's lost future would be motive enough to take the blame.

My heart was still pounding when my phone rang.

Zhong Yi.

“Chen, where are you?”

His voice was unusually heavy.

“At the Qins' old home. Listen, I've found something important…”

“Listen to me first.”

He interrupted, his voice full of pain.

“I've just heard from a friend at the procuratorate. It's about those twins.”

8

A week later, in the detention center's interview room.

Qin Xuan sat opposite me, drained and hollow-eyed.

I broke the silence.

“Your brother, Qin Zhu…”

“He's dead.”

He cut me off, his voice rigid.

“He killed himself.”

The scratching of his nails against the tabletop stopped.

He suddenly looked up.

“I know! I've known since last week! Get out!

“Get out now!”

He lost control and tried to spring from his chair.

An officer heard the disturbance and opened the door, watching warily.

I raised a hand to indicate that things were under control.

Once the door closed, I stood and stared at him across the table.

“Why?

“Why did he reach that point?”

Breathing heavily, he avoided my eyes.

“I've uncovered the exam substitution.

“Qin Xuan, how many more secrets are you two hiding?”

He gave a cold, self-mocking laugh.

“What difference would telling you make to me now?”

“It would make a difference.”

I took a folder from my briefcase and slid it across.

His eyes fell on the hospital report. Surprise flickered in them.

“Whether you're taking the blame for your brother or are the one actually involved no longer matters.

“Wang Kai is dead. So is your brother. The dead can't speak.

“Using the facts you give me, I can construct the account that helps you most.”

I tapped the report.

“Don't you want to live, if you still have a chance?”

I picked up my briefcase and left him with one final remark.

“Think carefully. Whenever you're ready to talk, ask the detention center to contact me.”

9

Three days later, Qin Xuan asked to see me.

He looked even more haggard.

I reached over and switched off the recorder on the table.

Only then did he speak, hoarsely.

“Ms. Chen, that report you showed me…

“Is it real?”

“Yes. You don't have lung cancer.”

I spoke with certainty.

“The private hospital made a serious diagnostic error. I've verified it.

“Subsequent tests at the city hospital show that both lungs are healthy. No abnormalities. No lesions.

“Your cough and discomfort were only bronchitis caused by the flu.”

His shoulders sagged.

“No cancer…

“There really isn't…”

“Isn't that the best news you could hope for?”

I watched him.

“You thought you were dying. You could let go of everything and face death.”