Chapter 3
Edward Quan ·
He had believed Ruan Jing was innocent and belonged only to him.
Now it seemed he had been deceived all along.
He slapped himself hard.
“Idiot. You’re beyond help.”
He laughed at himself, tears slipping down his face.
“Fucking king of the cuckolds. Always ready to raise someone else’s kid.”
What disgusted him most was that, despite what he believed she had done, he had still withdrawn fifty thousand yuan and given it to Mr. Ruan, insisting that they save her whatever it cost.
Deep down, he kept finding excuses for her.
Perhaps there was something she couldn’t tell him.
Then he noticed Mr. Ruan leaving the inpatient building, his face grim. He was on the phone. He hailed a taxi and hurried away.
Wu Ye narrowed his eyes.
A suspicion had been troubling him for some time.
There was something wrong with the way Mr. Ruan treated his daughter.
The invasive search of her luggage and underwear, for instance.
Or his murderous words at the hotel.
“Traitors deserve to die.”
The next morning, Xiao Jing had been attacked.
The apartment had only two bedrooms.
Her grandmother, who had Alzheimer’s, occupied one.
Where had Ruan Jing and her father slept all these years?
And the way he had checked her heartbeat at the dump...
It had seemed so natural.
Too natural.
Not like a father.
A horrifying possibility flashed through Wu Ye’s mind.
Had Ruan been abusing his own daughter?
He remembered asking Ruan Jing about her family while they were dating.
She had avoided his eyes and given him only a vague account.
Her birth mother had run off with another man when she was very young.
Not long afterward, her father brought home a new wife.
The stepmother was cruel, constantly beating and mistreating her.
Her father fought with his wife repeatedly to protect her.
Four years ago, the stepmother had died of an illness.
Wu Ye hailed a taxi.
Once inside, he pointed at the black Santana ahead.
“Please follow that car.”
Just as he had expected, Ruan returned to the county town.
The journey from the city took about an hour and a half.
Wu Ye lingered below the apartment block, hands tucked deep into his sleeves, looking up at the third floor.
The light was still on.
Shivering, he lit a cigarette and took out his phone.
He wanted to ask the police about their progress.
And should he tell them what he suspected?
He sighed.
Perhaps he was being rash. Overly suspicious.
Of all people, how could he suspect Xiao Jing’s own father?
An unfamiliar number called.
“Hello?”
A familiar man’s voice answered.
“You’ve been standing out in the snow for half an hour. Aren’t you cold? Come up.”
Mr. Ruan.
Wu Ye froze. The cigarette fell from his mouth into the snow.
He’d been spotted long ago.
An inexplicable dread rose inside him.
Should he go up?
He hesitated for two seconds, then entered the building.
The door to apartment 301 was open a crack.
He pushed it and peered inside.
An old washing machine rattled in the bathroom. On the kitchen stove, a kettle boiled. Steam clouded the ceiling and misted the green window glass.
Mr. Ruan was scrubbing the floor with a mop, swearing as he worked.
“Fucking police. Took every sheet and quilt cover I had.”
Wu Ye closed the door and rubbed his frozen hands.
“They probably need them for evidence. There could be bodily fluids, skin cells... they can test the DNA.”
Ruan gave him a sideways look.
“Why aren’t you at the hospital with Xiao Jing? What are you doing outside my place? Following me?”
Wu Ye avoided his hard gaze.
“There are police officers at the hospital waiting for news. I’ve heard criminals like to return to the scene. I thought I might find something.”
“And did you?”
Wu Ye shook his head.
“No.”
He didn’t know where he found the courage to ask his next question.
“Xiao Jing might not survive. Why... why did you come home?”
Ruan spat.
“What else should I do? Leave my mother here to starve? She’s nearly seventy.”
Wu Ye considered it.
There was nothing wrong with that explanation.
Then he felt danger rush at him.
He looked up.
Mr. Ruan was charging straight toward him.
Wu Ye turned to run, but it was too late.
Ruan caught him by the throat and slammed him against the metal door.
Click.
The lock snapped shut.
Fighting for his life, Wu Ye clawed at the hand around his neck.
“Let... let go...”
Ruan’s expression didn’t change.
He tightened his grip and pinned Wu Ye’s foot beneath his own, preventing him from moving.
In his panic, Wu Ye realized that this shabby, greasy, provincial-looking man had another face.
Cold.
Vicious.
Decisive.
Without mercy.
The muscles in Ruan’s cheek twitched.
“You said killers like to return to the scene. But instead of going to the dump, you came here.
“Tell me. Were you the one who hurt Xiao Jing?”
12
Wu Ye tried to speak, but no sound would come.
Darkness washed over his vision. His chest felt ready to burst.
Suddenly Ruan let go.
Wu Ye collapsed, clutching his throat. He coughed, retched and gulped air.
Before he could recover, Ruan slapped him.
“Answer me!”
Blood ran from Wu Ye’s nose.
He might have been a weak scholar, but that didn’t make him a coward without a temper.
He lowered his head and drove it into Ruan’s stomach.
“Wouldn’t you know whether I hurt her? If you’d let us stay at the hotel last night, would any of this have happened? I came back to find out which bastard she was sleeping with!”
Ruan staggered back.
After a long silence, he said coldly, “I’ll return the fifty thousand yuan. Stay away from Jingjing from now on. Get out.”
Wu Ye raised his chin.
“I’m not leaving until this is solved. She’s my girlfriend. I have a duty to protect her.”
“Your girlfriend?” Ruan sneered. “You think a little runt like you deserves her?”
Nothing enraged Wu Ye more than being mocked for his height.
“More than you do, you old bastard!”
The kettle whistled shrilly.
The living room went so quiet that Wu Ye could hear the clock ticking.
Ruan glared at him, went into the kitchen and filled a basin with steaming water. He carried it into the smaller bedroom.
Wu Ye braced a hand against the wall and struggled upright. His neck felt broken. His heart hammered.
Everything about Ruan’s words and expression had been strange.
Something was going on between this man and Jingjing. Something they couldn’t let anyone know.
Clutching his throat, Wu Ye went to the bedroom door, determined to ask.
Ruan was seated beside the bed, wringing out a hot towel to wash his mother’s face.
She lay flat, as vacant as ever.
“Mom, something’s happened to Jingjing.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Tell me who came here last night.”
She stared blankly at the ceiling.
Ruan’s eyes reddened. His voice cracked.
“However much you hate me, Jingjing is still your granddaughter.
“She’s in the hospital. We don’t even know if she’ll survive the night.
“Mom... please. Say something.”
The old woman slowly turned toward her son.
“Hungry...”
Veins bulged at Ruan’s temples.
The eyes that had been full of tears turned vicious.
Wu Ye sensed what was coming. He started forward.
Ruan sprang up and struck his mother across the face with the wet towel.
“Food! Food! That’s all you think about, you old pig!”
Horrified, Wu Ye rushed in.
“What are you doing? She has Alzheimer’s! Why are you taking it out on her?”
Ruan shoved him away and attacked the helpless woman with her bedding, intent on smothering her.
“I’ve waited on you for years! I’ve had enough!”
“Stop!”
Wu Ye tried to drag him off, but couldn’t.
He pulled desperately at the quilt.
By the time he got it away, she had stopped breathing.
Her head lay to one side. Her eyes remained open.
Wu Ye couldn’t believe what he’d witnessed.
A murder.
A son murdering his own mother.
He turned and stared at Ruan.
The older man smoothed his hair, took out a cigarette and lit it.
His face was cold and numb, as though nothing had happened.
“You animal! She was your mother! You killed your own mother!”
Ruan gave a contemptuous laugh.
“So what? I can keep her alive if I want. I can kill her if I want. Got a problem with that?”
Wu Ye could scarcely believe his ears.
Quietly, he slipped a hand into his pocket and gripped his phone.
Ruan inhaled and slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.
“What? Going to call the police?”
Wu Ye’s thoughts raced.
He couldn’t beat Ruan in a fight, but he was young. At university he’d run eight hundred meters faster than the freshmen.
If he could reach the door...
Or a window. It was only the third floor. Perhaps he wouldn’t die.
Rigid with fear, he backed away.
Ruan dropped his cigarette and ground it beneath his shoe.
“The door needs a key to open from inside. And the windows have security bars.”
Wu Ye sucked in a breath and ran.
He reached the door and twisted the lock frantically.
It wouldn’t open.
“Help! Somebody! Help me!”
Ruan’s voice came from behind him.
“I had sound insulation put in the walls when I renovated two years ago. Soundproof glass, too.”
Wu Ye’s heart sank.
Footsteps drew closer.
Each seemed to land on his heart.
Then they stopped.
His throat dry, he slowly turned.
Ruan stood before him holding a rope, smiling with terrifying gentleness.