“Late at night, a report came in, saying that an old woman was seen pushing a child on a swing.”
The operator thought it was a prank, but the informant said:
“They’ve been swinging all night without stopping.”
When we arrived at the scene, the little girl on the swing was already dead.
The old woman kept putting the little girl on the swing again and again, repeating the action.
The little girl was scared to death.
1
We received the report at twelve o’clock at night and rushed to the scene.
The little girl was still swinging on the swing, and the old grandma was silently pushing her from behind.
But there was no communication between the two, only the mechanical sound of the swing.
What should have been a very warm scene turned out to be extremely eerie.
“Old lady, please stop and cooperate with the investigation.”
My voice was not soft, but the old woman looked expressionless, as if she didn’t hear me.
The situation seemed wrong, so I quickly walked over and grabbed the old woman’s slightly cold hand.
Other colleagues took the opportunity to stop the swing, and then we could see the little girl’s face clearly.
Her face was pale, her features distorted, as if she had been greatly frightened.
The little girl’s limbs were stiff, and she had already lost her breath.
At this time, the old woman next to her seemed rather strange.
As if she had just woken up from a dream, she started cursing and trying to break free from my hold.
“What are you doing? Why don’t you let my granddaughter play on the swing?”
Then she muttered to herself: “It was just bright, how could it get dark all of a sudden?”
I couldn’t help but wonder. It was twelve o’clock at night, how could it have been bright just now?
When she saw the little girl on the ground motionless, she rushed over in a panic, hugged her body, patted the little girl’s face, and shouted:
“Tingting, are you asleep?”
“Tingting, wake up quickly, don’t scare grandma.”
Seeing that the little girl didn’t respond, she burst into tears in a hurry:
“My granddaughter, how can I explain this to your father?”
My colleagues and I looked at each other in dismay. This person seemed to be the little girl’s grandmother.
This case was so bizarre that we first took her back to the police station for investigation.
2
The identity of the deceased had been confirmed. Her name was Li Wanting, ten years old, and she was indeed the old woman’s granddaughter.
The specific cause of death was still awaiting further confirmation by the forensic doctor.
I asked the old woman to tell the whole story in detail, and she said:
“This evening, I brought my granddaughter here to play on the swing. We had just played for a while when you all came.”
As she said this, she looked very sad and shed two lines of turbid tears.
“How could my granddaughter suddenly be gone?”
I carefully observed her every move. She didn’t seem to be lying.
But the “while” she mentioned was actually nearly six hours.
I thought thoughtfully. The old woman in front of me was very likely to be mentally abnormal.
So, with the idea of confirmation, I asked her:
“Do you know that your granddaughter has been swinging on the swing for nearly six hours?”
Sure enough, she looked astonished after hearing this:
“What are you talking about? We’ve only been playing for half an hour.”
A bold guess emerged in my mind: The old woman might have amnesia.
She forgot the time, so she kept taking her granddaughter on the swing, over and over again.
Until the granddaughter realized something was wrong and wanted her grandma to stop, but the grandma didn’t respond at all. She was scared to death on the swing.
According to the information provided by the informant, he went downstairs for a walk after dinner at six o’clock that night. He saw the old woman and the girl on the swing and heard the girl laughing happily.
This showed that the girl was still alive at that time.
When he came back, it was already seven o’clock at night. He found that they were still playing and didn’t think much of it.
Until twelve o’clock at night, he went downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes and saw that the two were still on the swing.
At this time, it was late at night and quiet, and there was no more laughter.
The occupancy rate of their community area was not high.
The scene began to look terrifying, and he couldn’t hold it in anymore.
Scared, he quickly went home and called the police.
At this time, Li Wanting’s father, Li Guofu, also rushed to the police station.
He looked like an honest and simple middle – aged man, with red and swollen eyes, as if he had already cried a lot.
He said woodenly:
“Officer, this is an accident. My mother will be okay, right?”
Before I could ask in detail, he took out a psychiatric certificate.
It showed that Li Wanting’s grandmother, Zhou Mei, suffered from intermittent amnesia.
Just as I guessed, this was most likely an accident.
But the old woman didn’t know how to face the fact that her granddaughter had passed away in such a way.
Li Guofu said that his daughter had congenital heart disease and couldn’t stand too much stimulation.
When I asked: “Your mother and daughter didn’t come back in the middle of the night, why didn’t you go look for them?”
His eyes dodged, and he stammered:
“I went drinking with friends at night. It’s all my fault for being greedy for drinks.”
As he said this, he slapped himself twice on the face, putting on an annoyed expression.
Before getting close, I could smell the alcohol on him. I sighed. He was really an incompetent father.
And the girl’s mother was working in another place.
3
The next day, the forensic doctor’s autopsy report came out.
The report showed that Li Wanting’s cause of death was cardiac arrest due to excessive fright.
This was consistent with my inference. It seemed to be a regrettable accident.
So I sighed and said:
“It’s really a sin. The family must be heartbroken.”
The forensic doctor, Lao Wu, disagreed and said:
“Whether they’re heartbroken or not is not certain.”
I asked him what he meant. He let out a long sigh and then continued:
“This little girl was sallow – faced and thin, with dry hair. This was caused by long – term malnutrition. If the family loved her, how could she be malnourished at such a young age?”
Lao Wu took a sip of water and continued:
“There’s another疑点. According to my test, the girl’s death time was between five and seven o’clock yesterday afternoon. You said the informant saw the grandmother and granddaughter for the first time at around six o’clock in the evening. But we don’t know the whereabouts of the two during the one – hour period from five to six o’clock.”
I followed Lao Wu’s train of thought and said:
“You mean the girl might have died between five and six o’clock, and the swing was not the first crime scene. She was moved here after her death?”
Lao Wu nodded.
But without much thought, I denied Lao Wu’s view.
I patted him on the shoulder and expressed my apology.
“Your analysis makes sense, but there’s one thing I didn’t tell you. The informant said that at around six o’clock, he heard the little girl laughing happily. This shows that the little girl was still alive when she came to the swing.”
Lao Wu shrugged and said helplessly with a smile:
“I overthought it.”
4
But this case itself was full of strange things. Being scared to death on a swing was really sensational.
If we didn’t handle it perfectly, it would be hard to convince the public.
So I went to the scene of the incident again, visited the nearby residents, and looked for more witnesses.
This was an old community, and most of the residents were elderly people.
It was also a staircase building, and there were not many people coming and going.
I saw a house with a window facing the swing, so I went up and knocked on the door.
An old man opened the door. He lived with his grandson.
So I asked:
“Sir, excuse me.
On the afternoon of September 7th, from five to seven o’clock, did you see anyone swinging downstairs?”
The old man waved his hand impatiently, indicating that he didn’t see anything.
I was a little disappointed and was about to leave.
But his grandson suddenly raised his hand and shouted loudly to me:
“Uncle policeman, why don’t you ask me? I saw it, and I even recorded a video.”
I was shocked. I turned around and quickly asked him to show it to me.
The video was shot at 6:02 pm and was only thirty seconds long.
When I clicked it open, the picture showed Li Wanting and her grandmother.
The two were having a great time. Although they were a bit far away, I could still vaguely hear Li Wanting’s clear laughter.
This was enough to show that Li Wanting died on the swing, and it was an accident.
After copying the video and returning to the police station, I put it on the big screen and watched it again.
The swing in the video was shaking too fast, and I couldn’t see Li Wanting’s face clearly. There was only a blurry picture and her clear laughter.
I gave the video to a colleague in the technical department and asked him to restore it.
But the processed result gave us a shock.
After the video was restored, Li Wanting’s face became clearer, but also more terrifying.
Just like when we found her that night.
Her mouth was wide open, her eyes were wide – open, her features were distorted, and her face was pale.
She was clearly a dead person.
Even more terrifying was that as the video kept playing, Li Wanting’s body on the swing seemed to be activated, making a creepy laugh, which made people feel lingering fear.
Why would a dead person laugh?
5
There must be something wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it for a while.
Feeling a bit annoyed, I went out to get some air.
There was a kindergarten nearby, and many children were swinging.
There were laughter and screams everywhere.
This reminded me of Li Wanting, and I couldn’t help but observe them for a while.
Suddenly, my mind went blank. I knew what the problem was.
The position of the laughter in the video was wrong!
The children in the kindergarten who were swinging had a common feature. They would only scream or laugh when the teacher pushed them up, and they wouldn’t make such sounds when the swing swung back.
But in the video obtained during the visit, Li Wanting also screamed several times when the swing swung back.
There was only one explanation. The sound in the video was fake.
Li Wanting’s grandmother was lying!
I found Li Wanting’s grandmother’s mobile phone. It was an old – fashioned smart phone, a model from ten years ago. It was very slow to use. It took a long time for the interface to respond when I clicked it.
In her photo album, there were several videos of Li Wanting swinging, and the picture quality was extremely clear.
I copied them one by one and asked the technical staff to compare the audio of these videos with the audio of the 30 – second video obtained during the visit.
Sure enough, the audio in the 30 – second video came from one of the videos in Li Wanting’s grandmother’s mobile phone.
While pushing the swing, she was loudly playing the video of her granddaughter swinging on the phone.
When a witness passed by and heard the laughter, they would think that Li Wanting was still alive.
Plus, it was getting dark at that time, and the swing was always in a swinging state, so it was hard to see the person’s face clearly.
After the witness passed by, she would turn off the video.
When we asked the witness, he would naturally conclude that the girl was still alive on the swing, thus misleading the police.
If it weren’t for this video obtained during the visit, she might have gotten away with it.
This old woman seemed clumsy, but she was so meticulous.
She didn’t seem like a person with amnesia at all.
But why did she do this?
If she really killed the person, she didn’t need to go to so much trouble to move her granddaughter to the swing.
I thought carefully. She might have done this to hide the real crime scene.
Li Wanting might not have died accidentally, but was murdered.
Li Wanting’s grandmother was trying to cover up for someone.
And who could make an old woman willingly take the blame for murder?
A person came to my mind, and that was her son, Li Guofu.
6
I came to the interrogation room and questioned Li Wanting’s grandmother, Zhou Mei, again.
I put the video in front of her and said to her unceremoniously:
“Your granddaughter wasn’t killed by you. Why are you lying?”
When she saw it, her expression changed greatly. She seemed very nervous and couldn’t stop shaking.
I struck while the iron was hot and warned her sternly:
“Taking the blame for someone else also incurs criminal liability. I advise you to confess as soon as possible and don’t get yourself involved!”
Tears streamed down her face, and she sobbed uncontrollably. Her psychological defense line seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
So I quickly asked her:
“Who are you taking the blame for?”
She was very emotional and sobbed for a while. But no matter how I guided her, she wouldn’t speak.
After calming down, she returned to a cold expression:
“It was my own negligence that killed my granddaughter. I’m not taking the blame for anyone.”
I was so angry that I slapped the table hard, making a loud buzzing sound.
7
Now the situation of the case had changed, and the focus of the investigation shifted to Li Guofu.
Zhou Mei refused to talk, so we could only break through from other directions.
At this time, other colleagues in the team had a new discovery.
At around 5:20 pm on the day of the incident, Li Guofu’s bank card received a transfer of 100,000 yuan.
Li Wanting’s death time could now be determined to be between five and six o’clock that afternoon. This transfer seemed very suspicious.
So I and the colleagues from the forensic identification team drove to Li Guofu’s home.
This was very likely the first crime scene.
When he saw me, he seemed a bit panicked.
He nervously wiped his hands on his clothes, reached out to shake hands with me, and said:
“Officer, why are you here?”
“By the way, when will my mother be released? She won’t have to go to jail, right?”
This person wasn’t as honest as he seemed on the surface. I didn’t give him a good look either.
His right hand froze in mid – air and he awkwardly retracted it.
“You’d better take care of yourself first.”
“Tell me where you were between five and six o’clock on the night of the incident.”
He said without hesitation, “I was at home.”
Then, as if he had thought of something, he had an expression of disbelief. “You don’t suspect that I killed my own daughter, do you?”
He actually brought up this topic himself. I ignored his question and continued to ask, “Who can testify for you?”
He said, “My wife and my mother can both testify for me. My wife and I were chatting at home at that time.”
“This… This is impossible. How could I kill my own daughter?”
“Even a tiger doesn’t eat its cubs. Do I look like a heartless person?”
Thinking that the forensic doctor said Li Wanting had been suffering from long – term malnutrition, I thought he really was a heartless person. But as a police officer, I held back my anger and just cursed him in my heart.
When we contacted the family after the incident, Li Guofu clearly said that his wife was working in another place. But now he said that his wife was also at home on the day of the incident. Did he not even know where his wife was? Or was he trying to hide something?
He explained, “My wife said she was going to work after seeing me.”
I asked again, “What were you talking about?”
Li Guofu rolled his eyes. “Just about the child’s study. Her mother works outside and rarely comes back.”
If he really cared about his daughter’s study, he wouldn’t have let his daughter become so malnourished. It seemed that I had to show him some strong evidence to make him talk. His eyes were full of cunning. I stared into his eyes and said seriously, “What about that 100,000 – yuan transfer?”
After hearing this, his face turned pale instantly, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. His voice trembled a little. “My wife and I are getting a divorce. That 100,000 yuan is the alimony for our daughter.”
According to what he said, he and his wife were getting a divorce, and his wife didn’t want to raise the child. I asked him, “Why doesn’t your wife want to raise the child?”
He seemed very indignant. “Why else? That slut has someone else outside.”
These were just his one – sided words, and their authenticity needed further investigation.
8
I walked around his house. It was an old two – bedroom, one – living – room house. The inner room was Li Guofu’s, and the outer room was his mother Zhou Mei’s. I asked Li Guofu, “Where does your daughter live?”
He stammered, “With her grandma.”
But when I entered her grandma’s room, I didn’t see any items belonging to Li Wanting. So I said to Li Guofu with a stern face, “Who does she really live with?”
Li Guofu’s eyes dodged, and he didn’t dare to look at me directly. He rubbed his hands, pointed to a corner of the living room, and then lowered his head.
I walked over. There was a folding bed and a small table about the size of a bedside table. On the table, there was a stack of textbooks neatly placed. There was a hook on the wall, and a worn – out small schoolbag was hanging on it. It seemed to be filled with a lot of books and was heavy.
So I took it down and opened it. There were no books in the schoolbag, but it was stuffed with ripe mangoes.
Li Wanting didn’t have her own room. This was her so – called room. There was a drawer in the middle of the small table, and a delicate notebook was placed alone in it. This seemed to be Li Wanting’s most precious thing. So I casually opened a page, and unexpectedly, it was Li Wanting’s diary.
September 6th.
My deskmate He Zihao is so annoying! Today he brought a huge mango, half the size of my face. He said his aunt bought it for him, 20 yuan a catty. He took a bite and said the mango was bad and was about to throw it away. But I’ve never eaten a mango since I was a child. So I took it and said I would help him tell if it was bad. I took a bite, and it was soft. So this is what a mango tastes like. It’s so fragrant and sweet. But I had to pretend that I had eaten it before. After two bites, I threw it away. Then I confidently told He Zihao that it was really bad. After he left, I secretly picked up the mango and ate it again. He happened to see me and laughed at me loudly, “Li Wanting, have you never eaten a mango?”
All of a sudden, the whole class gathered around to watch. Everyone laughed at me, “Li Wanting has never eaten a mango, hahaha.” I blushed and almost cried. I argued loudly, “Of course I have!” They said they didn’t believe me. I told them, “I’ll bring one for you to see tomorrow!” Mom said she would come to see me tomorrow. Then I’ll ask her to buy me a mango.
…
I finished reading the whole notebook and couldn’t calm down for a long time. I put it in my bag as evidence.
8
This Li Guofu was very suspicious, but there was no substantial evidence pointing to him yet. The colleagues from the forensic identification department didn’t find any valuable clues at his home either. Li Wanting died of cardiac arrest caused by fright, and there were no wounds on her body. There wouldn’t be many clues left at the scene originally. If she died at home, then the key to solving the case was to find out the real reason why she was scared. Li Wanting wasn’t popular at home. The phenomenon of favoring sons over daughters still existed. But what puzzled me was that since they didn’t like this daughter, why didn’t they choose to have another child all these years? In families that favor sons over daughters, it’s not uncommon to have one younger brother and three or four older sisters. But Li Wanting was an unwelcome only child.
9
According to Li Guofu’s statement, Li Wanting’s mother was also at the scene that night. Her daughter had been dead for so many days, but she hadn’t shown up yet. After leaving Li Guofu’s home, we went directly to Li Wanting’s mother’s residence. Surprisingly, her mother lived in a high – end community in the county. As soon as we knocked on the door, a delicately dressed middle – aged woman came to open the door and welcomed us in. It seemed that she had known we would come.
She led me to the sofa in the living room and asked my colleagues and me to sit casually. She said politely, “Hello, officer. I’m Zhang Hui, Li Wanting’s mother.”
At this time, a boy around ten years old suddenly came out of the room and coquettishly said to her, “Auntie, I’ve finished my homework. Take me to the amusement park quickly.”
Zhang Hui turned around and looked at him with full affection. “Zihao, you play by yourself for a while. Auntie will come in a moment.”
The name sounded familiar, so I asked, “What’s his last name?”
Zhang Hui replied, “His last name is He. His name is He Zihao.”
I nodded thoughtfully. Zhang Hui lived in this high – end community, but the boy called her auntie. This house obviously wasn’t hers.
Back to the case, I picked up the tea and took a sip, then asked Zhang Hui, “Your daughter passed away. Why didn’t you go and see her?”
She looked a little embarrassed. After thinking for a while, she said, “The person is already dead. What’s the use of seeing her?”
It sounded cold – blooded, but it made some sense. I asked her expressionlessly, “Where were you between five and six o’clock in the afternoon on the day of the incident?”
She replied without thinking, “I was at Li Guofu’s home that day, discussing divorce with him.”
This was consistent with Li Guofu’s statement. I asked her to be more specific and tell me what they talked about. She was silent for a while and then said, “I told him I wanted a divorce, but he didn’t agree. I told him I could leave the house without taking anything and give him an additional 100,000 yuan as alimony for our daughter, and the daughter would be his. He said he would agree if I transferred the money to him immediately, so I transferred 100,000 yuan to him.”
The reason why Zhang Hui didn’t want her daughter was probably that she had a new family now. And this daughter had become a burden to her. She wanted to break away from her completely. And she was willing to leave the house without taking anything, probably because she felt guilty for having an affair and because her current family’s economic condition was good.
“What happened next?”
“He’s a scoundrel. After receiving the money, he went back on his word and said the money was too little and he wanted 200,000 yuan.”
“Of course I didn’t agree. He’s such a mean person. I was so angry that I left directly.”
In Li Guofu’s statement, he didn’t mention this matter. I looked up and stared into her eyes. “What time did you leave?”
She seemed a little uncomfortable being stared at by me and said in an uncertain tone, “Probably around half past five.”
“When you left, where was Li Wanting?”
“She was doing her homework in the living room.”
If what Zhang Hui said was true, then Li Wanting’s death time could be determined to be between 5:30 – 6:00. “Do you know how Li Wanting died?”
After asking, I stared at her intently. She was a little scared by my stare and unconsciously touched the jade pendant on her chest. Her lips trembled, and she seemed to want to say something but stopped. At this time, her phone suddenly rang, as if she had received a message. She picked it up, took a look, and then immediately put it down. Then her expression returned to normal, and she looked at me with a puzzled look. “Didn’t my daughter die on the swing, killed by that crazy grandma of hers?”
I shook my head.
“Then how did my daughter die?”
She asked without confidence, even a little nervously.
I glared at her angrily and got up to leave. On the way back, my colleague told me that Li Guofu had just transferred the 100,000 yuan back. I looked at the transfer time, which was exactly when I was asking Zhang Hui about the cause of Li Wanting’s death.
10
When I got back, I checked the little boy named He Zihao who was in Zhang Hui’s home just now. As expected, he was Li Wanting’s deskmate and had appeared in Li Wanting’s diary many times. Looking at the diary in front of me, I felt mixed emotions. Suddenly, a diary entry caught my attention. Li Wanting wrote in the diary that on the morning of the day of the incident, her mother had taken her to the park to swing and had taken a lot of videos for her. My mind seemed to be struck by an electric shock. I seemed to have missed an important detail. Li Wanting’s grandma, who wouldn’t even let her granddaughter share a room with her and made her sleep on a folding bed in the living room, how could she take her to swing? This didn’t make sense. Then where did the swing videos in Li Wanting’s grandma’s phone come from? There was only one answer. It was Li Wanting’s mother! She put the videos in her own phone into Li Wanting’s grandma’s phone. When I was looking through Li Wanting’s grandma’s phone, I should have thought of it. Her grandma used an old – fashioned smart phone from ten years ago. The pixel of the phone at that time was generally not high. How could it take such high – definition videos? So, Li Wanting’s mother was involved in the whole incident. She not only knew the truth, but she might even be the real culprit who caused Li Wanting’s death. Thinking of this, I was filled with anger. I felt it was unfair for Li Wanting. The next day, with a complicated mood, I decided to go to Zhang Hui again. When I saw her again, she was obviously much colder and showed some impatience on her face. “Officer, I’ve said everything I should have said yesterday.”
I said to her with certainty, “You’re lying.”
She turned her head away and didn’t say anything.
I was angry not because Zhang Hui was hiding something, but because she let down a sincere heart. “Li Wanting was a burden to all of you, but in her eyes, you were her whole world.”
Zhang Hui was stunned in place, as if she didn’t understand why I said this. I took out the thin but heavy diary from my bag and solemnly handed it to Zhang Hui. She took it, seemed to think it was a bit familiar, and murmured, “Isn’t this the notebook I gave to my Zihao?” Then she opened the first page.
11
April 5th.
Today I’m so happy. My deskmate He Zihao gave me a beautiful notebook. He accidentally dropped the notebook on the ground, and a little dirty water splashed on the cover. He didn’t want it anymore and gave it to me. It’s so beautiful.
April 30th.
He Zihao’s aunt bought him new clothes again. He showed off to me that they cost 500 yuan. I can buy two of my clothes for 50 yuan. In summer, I only have two clothes to change. If the weather is bad and the clothes don’t dry, I have to wear the same one for another day. But I don’t envy him because my clothes were bought by my mom. She works outside and must be very tired to earn money.
May 9th.
After school today, I saw He Zihao’s dad come to pick him up again. There was an aunt in the car who looked a lot like my mom. But my mom is working outside. How could she be in the car? I miss my mom.
June 1st.
Today is Children’s Day. We have a half – day off in the afternoon. I went home, but my dad and grandma were not there. They went to a wedding and forgot about me. They didn’t come back until the next day. I slept in the corridor for a night. The next day I woke up dizzy and hungry, but I didn’t dare to tell my dad. I can’t get sick.
June 20th.
He Zihao gave me a lot of snacks. He said they were all imported snacks his aunt bought for him and he couldn’t finish them before they expired. The taste was a bit strange, but they were still delicious.
…
September 7th.
Today is the happiest day of my life because mom came to see me! In the morning, mom took me to the park to play on the swing and took a lot of videos for me. I couldn’t swing by myself before, but today with mom here, I swung so high! Mom also took me to buy clothes. I told mom, “I have two clothes, which are enough for me to wear.” I actually said this on purpose. I knew mom would definitely buy me something. I promised my classmates yesterday that I would bring mangoes to school. I didn’t dare to ask mom to buy me mangoes directly. I was afraid she would be unhappy. So I said that. After a while, mom really asked me, “Then do you want to eat anything?” When I heard this, I was so happy that I wanted to jump up. I quickly told mom that I wanted to eat mangoes! I’m really a clever girl. Mom really took me to buy mangoes. Ten yuan bought five catties! I didn’t want mom to spend too much money, so I bought the discounted mangoes that were a bit black. When I got home, I stuffed a whole schoolbag with them. When I go to school, I’ll distribute them to my classmates. One for each person, and there are two left. One for dad and one for grandma. Then they won’t laugh at me anymore. When I grow up, I must earn a lot of money. Then mom won’t have to work outside anymore and can accompany me every day.
12
After reading the whole diary, Zhang Hui seemed to be completely exhausted. She staggered and almost fell. I reached out to support her and helped her to the sofa. My voice was a little choked. “Li Wanting’s life, her father didn’t love her, and her grandma didn’t care about her. She was so easy to satisfy. She only needed a little bit of sweetness to fill her heart. You were the one who gave her a little sweetness and the closest person to her in this world.”
“If you can’t even give her justice after her death, then why did you choose to give birth to her?!”
Zhang Hui’s emotions broke down, and she cried heartbreakingly. “My dear daughter, it’s mom who’s sorry for you!”
“I’m really damned!”
She finally was willing to speak and tell the final truth.
13
Zhang Hui’s confession.
After I got married to Li Guofu, we couldn’t have a child for a long time. Later, we went to the hospital for an examination, and it turned out to be his problem. His mother regarded face as more important than anything else and didn’t want others to gossip. So she came up with a stupid idea. One day, his mother secretly brought me a bowl of soup, saying it was a ‘child – giving soup’. I didn’t believe in such things, but Li Guofu also urged me to drink it quickly. So I drank it reluctantly. After that, she took me to a small hotel, where a strange man was waiting for me. After entering, she closed the door, and I immediately understood what she meant. Later, I got pregnant. His mother said that the soup was specially obtained and was very effective. Drinking it before doing that would ensure giving birth to a big fat boy. But who knew that when it was time to give birth, I gave birth to a daughter. Since then, the whole family has been in chaos. He resented his mother, and his mother resented me. In the end, all the resentment of the family was vented on the daughter. Because the arrival of this daughter brought misfortune to the family. Later, I went out to work, not wanting to stay in this home for a moment. Who knew that a year ago, I met the man in the small hotel that day. His name was He Yong. That day, he was driving a rather impressive car and recognized me at once. He said that actually he fell in love with me the first time he saw me. But at that time, his wife was still alive, and due to the pressure of the public, he couldn’t be with me. Now that his wife had passed away, he asked me to renew our relationship. I had long since drifted apart from Li Guofu, and divorce was just a matter of time. Without much thought, I lived with him. I originally thought this was the arrangement of fate. Since Wanting was also his biological daughter, we could bring her over, and we would be a real family. But unexpectedly, he flatly refused. He said, ‘That’s a jinx! Think about it. After she was born, your family fell apart, my wife got sick and died soon after, and my business wasn’t going well those two years. How could you still want to bring such a person into the house? What’s more, I already have a son now. You should get along well with him. If you want a child, we can have one later. But forget about this one. She’s a girl, and she’s bad luck!’ I had no choice but to abandon her. This county isn’t big, and it didn’t take long for them to find out that I was with He Yong. That day, I went to Li Guofu to talk about divorce. He and his mother firmly disagreed, thinking it would make them lose face. It was not until I said that I wouldn’t take a penny, leave the house clean, and give him 100,000 yuan as alimony that he was tempted. But who knew that after receiving the money, he went back on his word and said he wanted 200,000 yuan. I was so angry that I humiliated him before leaving. ‘You’re such a useless person. You’re not even as good as a hair of He Yong. Your wife ran away with someone else, and you still have to raise her daughter!’ I hadn’t walked a few steps when I suddenly heard my daughter’s scream. ‘Mom, I’m scared!’ I quickly ran back and saw that crazy Li Guofu was riding on my daughter, tearing at her clothes with one hand. His eyes were blood – red, like a wild beast, and he was muttering, ‘You slept with my wife, so I’ll sleep with your daughter!’ By the time I pulled him away, my daughter had stopped breathing. She was scared to death by Li Guofu. I was so frightened that I was trembling all over and took out my phone to call the police. Li Guofu looked at the body in front of him and came to his senses, realizing that he had caused a huge disaster. He snatched my phone and knelt down, begging me not to call the police. He said, ‘As long as you don’t call the police, I’ll never pester you again. I’ll agree to divorce you immediately.’ At that time, I was in a mess and didn’t know what to do. Seeing my hesitation, he said to me again, ‘Isn’t it better that she’s dead? Don’t you realize that all our misfortunes started because of her? Now that she’s gone, it’s good for everyone, isn’t it?’ I was bewitched and actually didn’t call the police. I admit I’m selfish. At that time, I thought that if she was gone, all the contradictions would disappear instantly, and everything would be okay. And Li Guofu also had a leverage in my hands, so he didn’t dare to harass me. I could start a new life. But now that the body was here, the police would still find out if they investigated. So I came up with an idea for him. His mother had intermittent amnesia, and it was all her fault in the first place. It would be most appropriate for her to take the blame. Li Guofu had resented his mother for many years, blaming her for the stupid idea she came up with back then. His mother also felt guilty and agreed without hesitation. I put the video of my daughter playing on the swing in the morning from my phone into her phone. And told her, ‘Carry my daughter on your back to the swing in the community, and then play the video on loudspeaker. When someone passes by and sees, stop the video. Keep the swing moving until the police arrive.’ And I also told her, ‘When the police ask, pretend to be amnesiac and say you don’t remember anything. Before long, you’ll be released.’ I thought that after this was all over, all of us could get a new life. Just act as if she had never come, and nothing had happened.”
14
After Zhang Hui finished speaking, she kept slapping herself in the face. Until blood oozed from the corner of her mouth, and she was still mumbling, “I’m not a human being. I’m sorry for my daughter.”
Shortly after Zhang Hui confessed, Li Guofu also admitted his crime. He said that that day Li Wanting ran into his room, holding a mango, and happily said to him, “Dad, eat the mango. It’s so sweet.” Li Guofu saw the smile on Li Wanting’s face, which was very much like her mother’s. He thought it was mockery, and hatred instantly clouded his eyes.
In prison, Zhou Mei said the most frequently was, “If only it had been a boy at that time.”
Li Wanting’s life was like walking on thin ice. Her birth seemed to carry original sin, and no one liked her. As soon as Li Wanting died, it seemed that everyone was freed instantly. Li Guofu no longer had to raise someone else’s daughter. Zhou Mei no longer had to live with her son’s resentment. Zhang Hui no longer had to worry about her daughter affecting her new family. They all thought they would have a bright future. Except for Li Wanting. She was like a weed. When she was gone, she was gone. In a corner that no one cared about, without protection, growing against the wind, but ultimately she didn’t wait for her own spring.
The end.
