Volume One: First Scroll
Oranges
“Thanks for your hospitality, Officer Song.”
The police car, turn signal blinking, hastily made a turn and changed lanes on the bustling street, heading towards another road.
And that was the only way to the Jiangcheng City Hospital’s family courtyard1.
A man was pushing a wheelchair, strolling along the sidewalk.
The person wearing a hat turned back. “Not going to inform them?”
Being out and about, the man also wore a face mask and a peaked cap2, looking just like an ordinary patient’s family member.
“What, feeling soft-hearted?”
The person in the wheelchair gripped the armrests tightly. “I…”
“Don’t forget who abandoned you,” the man said faintly, pushing him across the crosswalk3.
A police officer on duty at a nearby intersection saw them, one old and one young, pushing a wheelchair, and immediately ran over to help them lift the wheelchair onto the curb.
A hint of sincere gratitude appeared in the man’s eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. If you need anything, feel free to ask us for help o4.”
The man smiled faintly and pushed the wheelchair away. The moment he turned, his eyes grew cold, his smile like something floating on ice, devoid of any warmth.
“This is what she owes you, owes Xinye. Letting her live these many years was already a gift; now it’s time for her to repay her debt.”
He lovingly stroked the head of the child in the wheelchair. “Besides, without her distracting the police, how could we have succeeded so easily ne5.”
“Alright, now it’s time to finish the last thing.”
Wei Lihong had been feeling uneasy6 for the past few days. At noon, as soon as she got off work, she hurried home to cook for her son.
In the time it took for the water to boil, she helped her son up from the bed and washed his body. He was about ten years old, but tormented by illness, his arms and legs were thin and soft; he looked like a seven or eight-year-old child.
Her heart ached, and she turned away to wipe a tear. Her son had silly7 drool at the corner of his lips; seeing her cry, he clapped his hands and laughed.
Wei Lihong felt helpless but pressed him down to lie properly, gesturing for him not to move around.
Just then, the phone rang. She picked it up, covering the receiver. “Wei8?”
A man’s sinister and terrifying laugh came through. “Wei Fengzhen…”
Upon hearing this name, she almost subconsciously trembled, goosebumps rising all over her body.
However, looking at her dazed and simple-minded son on the sickbed, she forced herself to calm down. “Didn’t you say last time you found a suitable kidney source ma9?”
“Shi ya10, but unfortunately, you won’t get to see the day your son is alive and kicking ne.”
The man’s voice was coarse and sharp, seeming to emanate ubiquitously from the receiver.
The trace of unease in the woman’s heart grew stronger. She whirled around, slightly out of breath, and looked around her room.
“You… what do you mean?”
“What I mean is…”
The man smiled faintly. During the long pause11, the doorbell rang, mixed with the sound of knocking.
“Anyone home ma? Police, open the door quickly.”
The woman hastily retreated a few steps, knocking over a chair. The knocking outside paused for a moment, then became even more urgent.
The devilish voice from the receiver continued: “Want your son to live ma? Do you ma? If you do, you know what to do.”
Dududu12——
The call disconnected. The police broke down the door and entered.
Wei Lihong proactively extended her hands. “I surrender.”
Behind iron bars.
Wei Lihong sat with her head hanging low, handcuffed.
Zhang Jinhai13 walked in, sat in the main seat14, and called her by her original name: “Wei Fengzhen?”
She nodded, her eyes dim and lackluster.
Zhang Jinhai sized her up. “You are Li Hai’s wife? Why did you change your name?”
Wei Lihong licked her chapped lips, her voice hoarse. “Li Hai and I eloped. I changed my name when we left Xiaohe Village and registered my hukou15 in Jiangcheng.”
Several criminal investigation personnel exchanged a look. One of them pushed a photograph across. “Do you know Yu Xinye?”
In the black and white photo, Yu Xinye was still young, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and well-featured16; he could be considered a handsome young lad.
She, however, flinched as if pricked by something, jerked back, and lowered her head, not daring to look again.
“I… I know him. He… he’s my ex-husband…”
Typical guilt-avoidance psychology, Zhang Jinhai pondered.
“At that time, you and Yu Xinye were blissful newlyweds17, and you had just given birth to his daughter. Why did you still elope with Li Hai?”
The moment these words were blurted out, Wei Lihong’s expression changed.
Late winter, 1988.
Xiaohe Village.
“Di18, look! The official document from the county19 is here! Our batch of educated youth20 can go home!” Li Hai ran to his side, clutching the thin piece of paper, his head covered in sweat.
The mine workers were on their noon break. Li Yang21 sat resting, holding half a dry flour mantou22. Yu Xinye brought over two bowls of cool water.
“Yo, isn’t this great ma? You guys can go back to the city and enjoy life!”
Li Yang ate his mantou with the cool water, drawling lazily, “Enjoy what life? My dad will just force me to take the medical school exams all day. Not interested, don’t want to take them. It’s easier digging coal here.”
“Look at you, why aren’t you taking this seriously ne? This is a good thing!” Li Hai, while Yu Xinye wasn’t looking, secretly pulled him.
“Our batch only has two spots. You better hurry up a bit.”
“Lao Yu23, time to eat la24!” a woman called from the mine entrance. Yu Xinye, like a cat that smelled fish, immediately ran over and scooped her up in his arms.
“Why’d you come za25? Weren’t you at home looking after Xiao Bao26?”
“Bao’s asleep la. I was just thinking, afraid you wouldn’t get enough to eat at the mine, there was some food left from lunch, so I brought it for you.”
“Alright, alright, so many people are watching ne! Quickly put an27 down!”
“Not putting you down, za di28? This is an’s xifu29, let them look ba30!”
Not only did Yu Xinye not put her down, he even lifted her and spun her around.
The woman, dressed in floral print cloth31, blushed a deep red.
Li Yang, with a foxtail grass32 stem in his mouth, leaned against a rock. “Yu-ge33 and Saozi’s34 relationship is so good. Ge, when you go back, shouldn’t Dad be arranging a marriage for you too?”
Li Hai’s eyes were firmly fixed on the woman. Li Yang called him several times before he snapped back to reality.
“A? What’s wrong? What did you just say sha35?”
Li Yang spat out the foxtail grass stem and scolded with a laugh, “Ge, are you crazy from thinking about women ba?!”
Li Hai’s usually fair and refined face flushed bright red. “What nonsense are you talking ne?! I’m telling you, after work tonight, come with me to the commune36 to register, did you hear me or not?!”
Li Yang shouldered his hoe and walked towards the mine entrance, drawling, “Got it, ge. So naggy.”
Li Hai shook his head, unable to do anything about him. He was the eldest son in the family, and his parents had placed high hopes on him since he was young. They had been somewhat lax in disciplining Li Yang, the younger son, which was why he had grown up with such an undisciplined personality.
Even after so many years of being “Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside37,” he still couldn’t change this damn bad habit38.
However, the thought of going back…
Li Hai glanced back at the full figure of the woman in red, who had recently given birth, licked his lips, and also went down into the mine shaft.
That evening, bad news arrived.
Wei Fengzhen was cooking by the kitchen stove. Her daughter, just one month old, lay on the bed babbling yiyiyaya39. She hummed a village folk tune as she tended the fire.
An old man from the same village ran over. “Fengzhen, hurry, go see! The mine collapsed!”
Wei Fengzhen was stunned for a moment, then rushed outside, one shoe even flying off. The baby started wailing wawa.
She turned back, tied the wa40 to her back with a cloth strip, and ran barefoot towards the mine.
In Wei Fengzhen’s memory, winter had never been so cold.
Goose-feather snow41 fell from the sky. She walked barefoot on the coarse gravel road, the ground beneath her half-frozen into ice.
It was a complete mess42. The mine entrance had collapsed, and the top of the mine shaft was no longer visible.
Villagers had spontaneously come to rescue people. Bodies were being carried out one by one from under the piles of rocks.
Holding her child, she asked each one, “Have you seen Xinye ma?”
“No, no.”
The villagers shook their heads as they passed her, continuing to dig for the next person.
Wei Fengzhen ran to where the bodies were placed and knelt. Terrified43, she lifted a plastic sheet. The person underneath was smashed beyond recognition.
She retched “Wa!” and threw up everything.
That day, she stayed at the mine until late at night. She had touched seven or eight bodies but still hadn’t found Yu Xinye.
Until the county rescue team and experts arrived.
She shivered in the cold wind, holding her child. Her tears and snot were blown away by the wind as soon as they appeared.
The villagers urged her one after another, “Go back ba, go back ba, the child is important. If there’s news about Xinye, we’ll inform you.”
She was in a muddled daze, constantly feeling like someone was crying beside her ear. When she came to her senses, the child no longer had the strength to cry. Its little face was frozen deathly pale, and its whole body was as cold as a block of ice.
She undid her clothes, wrapped her daughter in her embrace, and dragged her blood-dripping feet, stumbling towards home.
As she finished speaking, the criminal police in the interrogation room were silent for a moment before one said, “So, in the end, you and Li Hai, who had narrowly escaped death, left Xiaohe Village. What about your daughter, who was just a month old ne?”
Speaking of her daughter, Wei Lihong waved her hand, covering her lips and choking back sobs. “Couldn’t… couldn’t keep her alive.”
That was the third day after the mining accident.
1988, a year of great drought, followed by blizzards in late winter. Not a single grain was harvested from the fields.
The Yu family had lost its labor force, but there were still two mouths to feed at home.
Wei Fengzhen no longer had any breast milk to feed the child.
Auntie Yu brought over all the little millet44 she had left in the house.
“Yi45, I can’t accept this, I really can’t…”
“Such a bitter fate a…” Hearing about Yu Xinye’s accident, Auntie Yu’s hair had turned completely white overnight, and she washed her face with tears46 every day.
“Yi’s family doesn’t have much grain left either. You and wa make do with this for now. Xinye is gone. If something happens to you and wawa47 too, how am I supposed to live langge48?”
The old woman wiped her tears and they wept in each other’s arms.
On the fourth day after the disaster, she left home with the child on her back and went to the mine first.
“Still digging, still digging, but I reckon ya there’s no hope lo49…”
A construction worker told her.
As she was leaving, a kind-faced policeman wearing a thick cotton-padded jacket called out to her. “Ei, take this. Give it to the child to eat ba.”
She took it; it was half a pack of biscuits, a rarity at the time. The woman smiled gratefully, tears welling in her eyes. “Tha… thank you… benefactor na…”
She was about to kneel and kowtow50 but was helped up.
“Are you a family member of a victim?” the policeman asked.
The woman nodded dazedly, then shook her head. “Not yet… he hasn’t been dug out…”
The policeman nodded, his breath turning into a puff of white mist. “Is that so a. What’s your man’s name sha? I’m a forensic doctor. When… when we have results, I’ll send someone to inform you right away.”
“His name… is Yu Xinye.”
The woman looked back at the mine every few steps. Seeing the policeman still standing in the wind and snow, waving at her, she turned, bowed with the child in her arms, and then reluctantly departed.
Fifth day.
The bowl of millet Auntie Yu had given her was finished. The child was crying loudly from hunger. She had no choice but to go from door to door, begging for leftover food, or perhaps some breast milk from women who had recently given birth a.
“Don’t have any, really don’t. An’s family is about to starve51 too.”
“We’re fellow villagers. If I had any, I’d definitely give it to you.”
“Take this and go quickly ba a. Try somewhere else.”
One household threw out a rock-hard, moldy mantou. Before the woman could pick it up, a wild dog foraging by the roadside snatched it away.
The woman lunged to snatch the food from the dog’s mouth. “Give it to me! Give it to me! Beast! Beast!”
Dog fur flew. Her hands were dripping with blood. It was unclear who she was actually cursing.
As she spoke, the case-handling personnel took notes.
Zhang Jinhai: “What happened later ne? How did Li Hai get out?”
The woman covered her face and cried for a while. No one urged her. A policewoman handed her a tissue.
Wei Lihong wiped her nose. Her eyes were rimmed red, and there were some wrinkles on her face, but a beautiful woman is still beautiful even when old and crying; her youthful charm still remained.
During the police interrogation, she briefly thought of her daughter. It was brief because she later had a son.
She had invested a vast amount of time, energy, and money only in this son. Isn’t there an old saying in the countryside ma?
Raise sons to provide for old age52.
A daughter married out is like water splashed out53.
So when Li Hai told her to abandon her daughter and return to the city with him to live a good life, she wavered.
He raised his fingers to the sky and swore, “Fengzhen, believe me, I will definitely treat you better than Xinye did. We’ll go back to the city, meet my parents, ask them to arrange our marriage. You will wear a bright red wedding dress54 and marry me. We’ll have an open and honorable wedding. You’ll never suffer hardships and poverty again…”
As he spoke, he snatched the spoiled cornbread bun55 she was holding and threw it out. “Something like this, don’t even talk about eating it! I won’t even let you see it again in the future!”
Later, she had also pressed him about Yu Xinye and Li Yang’s whereabouts, but every time she received only vague answers.
Seven days later, it was time to return to the city, and she was at the end of her rope56. There was still no news from the mine.
Li Hai climbed out of her bed, fastening his trousers.
“Let’s go ba. Don’t hesitate.”
It wasn’t until ten years later, when Li Yang found her again, that she still felt it was all like a dream, a nightmare from which she could never awaken.
He had come for revenge.
At this thought, Wei Lihong inevitably started to tremble. The investigator, thinking she was scared, comforted her, “Don’t be afraid. Leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist57. What you say now will only benefit you when you go to court, not harm you.”
Wei Lihong was indeed afraid, but she wasn’t worried about herself; she was afraid for her son.
She remembered what Li Yang had told her: “What can’t experienced criminal police see through? Don’t try to lie to them. If you know, you know; if you don’t know, you don’t know. That’s the safest way to answer.”
Wei Lihong honestly shook her head. “I really don’t know how he got out from under the mine.”
She truly didn’t know. The only ones who knew this secret now were Yu Xinye, long buried underground, and Li Yang, who was living a wretched existence, neither human nor ghost.
Song Yuhang and Lin Yan were remotely monitoring the interrogation from the police car.
As soon as Wei Lihong’s words fell, Song Yuhang frowned.
Lin Yan sharply caught it. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and continued listening to Zhang Jinhai.
“This number, it belonged to your deceased ex-husband, ba?”
Looking at the SIM card that had been pried out in front of her, Wei Lihong nodded.
“Every month, you would use this number to contact the owner of a small workshop to order a batch of γ-Butyrolactone to be delivered to the sentry box at the main entrance of Beidou Industrial Park. This is the statement of account. What else do you have to say?”
Wei Lihong shook her head, her face pale. “I have nothing to say.”
Zhang Jinhai slammed the table. “Over a dozen lives, and you call that nothing to say?! What did you get so much γ-Butyrolactone for? Confess truthfully!”
Only then did Wei Lihong raise her eyes to look at him, her expression exceedingly calm. “To make γ-Hydroxybutyric acid. It can be used to anesthetize people.”
“You, a rural woman, who taught you?”
“My husband is a doctor. I learned by watching.”
“Are you involved in the deaths of these people?”
Several photos were laid out one by one on the table in front of her—all young boys and girls, very young.
Wei Lihong glanced at them, then coldly averted her gaze. “Yes. First, I posted online to attract the attention of people who wanted to commit suicide. After getting familiar with them through chatting, I arranged to meet them offline, gave them drugs to make their minds dazed, deepened their depressive tendencies, and finally, they committed suicide.”
“Motive for the crime ne?”
She shifted slightly. Under the dim light of the interrogation room, her face became somewhat chillingly terrifying.
“On what grounds should my son, who wants to live, not be able to, while they, able-bodied, healthy, and from happy families, want to die? Since they want to die, then I’ll just fulfill their wish.”
Wei Lihong leaned forward, resting on the table, laughing until she trembled, tears splashing out.
Zhang Jinhai squeezed out two words from between his teeth: “Madwoman.”
Song Yuhang snatched off her headphones and threw them onto the seat. The car was parked at a gas station, refueling. The others had also gotten out to stretch their legs.
She opened the car window a crack, poked her head out, and asked Duan Cheng, “How much longer until we arrive?”
Duan Cheng looked at his watch. “Probably another two hours or so to reach Jiangcheng’s urban area, if road conditions are good ba.”
Song Yuhang nodded. The interrogation on the other end had also taken a brief rest.
Only then did she have a moment to turn and look at Lin Yan. “What are you thinking about?”
Lin Yan was leaning against the seat, her face a little pale, staring out the window.
Hearing Song Yuhang’s question, she snapped back to reality. “About the case. I think Wei Lihong is lying. Although it seems flawless58 on the surface, if you delve deeper, it’s actually logically inconsistent.”
She seemed a little unwell, frowning slightly.
Song Yuhang thought so too. “Even if the γ-Hydroxybutyric acid matter can be explained, that program isn’t something an ordinary person could create.”
Finally, seeing her discomfort, she opened the window a bit wider. “Feeling carsick ma? Wait a moment—”
She looked around, as if searching for something. Through the car window, she saw villagers selling oranges on the mountain road outside and excitedly jumped out of the car.
Lin Yan was too late to stop her. “Ei—”
Sure enough59, she still borrowed money from Fang Xin to buy oranges.
Lin Yan shook her head, took out a bottle of chewing gum from her backpack, poured out two pieces, and put them in her mouth to chew.
When Song Yuhang returned, she had already swallowed them with mineral water. The gum bottle was still in her hand, not yet put away.
Lin Yan waved it at her. “Want two pieces?”
Song Yuhang was startled. There had been too many people on the road, so they hadn’t had much chance to talk. It had taken a lot of effort for everyone to get out of the car.
She cleared her throat. “Will you feed me ma?”
Lin Yan made a motion as if to hit her, but Song Yuhang grabbed it herself. “Ai ai ai, don’t throw it! I’ll do it myself, I’ll do it myself.”
Lin Yan’s pupils contracted, and she snatched it back. “Who said I was giving it to you? In your dreams… Mmph…”
The sweet and sour juice of the orange burst between her lips and teeth, perfectly neutralizing the bitterness of the medicine.
Lin Yan was startled. Song Yuhang peeled another orange segment for her. “Stingy. Carrying candy around and guarding it so fiercely. Are you a child ma?”
With her mouth full of orange, Lin Yan didn’t want to talk to her. Only after swallowing did she speak. “Young at heart, you got a problem with that?”
“Wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare.” Song Yuhang had learned her lesson and didn’t confront her head-on. However, the orange segment in her hand was still not passed over.
Lin Yan ate one and still wanted more. She reached out to take it, but Song Yuhang dodged. “Want to eat a? Open your mouth, I’ll feed you bei60. I’m very generous, you know.”
Song Yuhang sat on the outer side, near the car door. Lin Yan reaching to grab it looked like she was hugging her from the side, which seemed awkward no matter how you looked at it.
The Young Miss’s donkey’s temper61 flared up. She simply sat back down. Damn it, this old lady62 isn’t eating it then, so there?!
Who cares about your stupid orange!!!
When I get back, I’ll contract a whole orange orchard and eat until I’m satisfied!!!
While she was gnashing her teeth over here, Song Yuhang was eating with great relish beside her, peeling another one and popping it into her mouth.
“Mmm, delicious~ Truly worthy of oranges grown by the farmers themselves. Sweet and sour, not at all astringent63, and no pesticide taste.”
The unique fragrance of oranges permeated the car.
Lin Yan swallowed her saliva and turned her face away.
Song Yuhang couldn’t help but laugh, still dangling an orange segment by her mouth. “Ahh—it’s such a pity if someone doesn’t eat this. Once we’re back in Jiangcheng, there won’t be such delicious oranges.”
That cool and refreshing, juicy thing kept nudging towards her lips. Lin Yan refused and refused, but was still fed several pieces.
Song Yuhang loved to see her looking thwarted yet helpless, her eyes curving into crescents from smiling.
“Na64, last one la.”
Lin Yan looked at the smile on the face before her, finding it glaringly offensive no matter how she looked at it, and decided to get a little revenge on her.
When it came to teasing, who had the Young Miss ever feared ne.
Her red lips parted slightly, and she took the orange segment, along with Song Yuhang’s finger, into her mouth.
Song Yuhang swallowed hard with a “gedeng65,” her Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, speechless.
The half-open car door, the transparent glass, colleagues who could board at any moment.
She imitated a certain ambiguous action. Unlike last time when she helped suck the bruised blood from her finger, this had an added touch of deliberate seduction.
When the tip of her tongue lightly brushed over the thin calluses on the inside of Song Yuhang’s index finger, Song Yuhang inevitably started to tremble.
A current of electricity shot straight up her spine.
Her whole body itched everywhere. Her other empty hand tightly clutched the fabric at her knee, crumpling the sturdy training uniform into a tangled mess66.
Time seemed to stop, yet the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Lin Yan was slow and methodical, but Song Yuhang was becoming impatient. She both hoped someone would hurry over and end this somewhat long torment for her, and yet hoped they wouldn’t come.
This way, Lin Yan could… to her… for a little longer, just a little longer…
Lin Yan watched her reaction, her gaze rippling gently towards her, brimming with a watery light, as if overcome by the action. Orange juice trickled down her chin, sliding into her collar.
For a moment, Song Yuhang wanted to pounce on her and wipe it away.
Faint voices came from behind. Lin Yan released her, licked the corner of her lips, her eyes charming and arrogant.
“Thanks for your hospitality a, Officer Song.”
As soon as Fang Xin got on, she saw that Song Yuhang’s ears were all red. “What’s wrong, Captain Song, are you not feeling well ma?”
Lin Yan sat beside her, demurely playing on her phone. “Probably from the heat ba.”
Song Yuhang pulled her hat directly down over her face. “…I’m fine.”
LP: Re-translated on May 15, 2025
✨ Unlock Early Access to Chapters! ✨
Choose your perfect membership at bamboopandatl.net:
📚 Full Access ($4.99)
• Advanced chapters of ALL ongoing novels
• Access to complete finished novels
• Ad-free reading experience
📖 Single Novel Access ($1.49)
• Advanced chapters of ONE specific novel
• Ad-free reading for chosen novel
PayPal is the only current payment option!