Sold into a ghost marriage? Four-year-old and his thuggish father go on a killing spree.

The days passed by one by one amidst the chirping of cicadas in late summer.

Gu Yanqiu channeled his longing for his wife and his insecurity about the future into motivation to work tirelessly.

He not only had to prepare for the county tractor station exam, but also had to save more money for Niannian's future.

Meanwhile, Niannian was anxiously waiting for a letter.

A reply letter from Aunt Li Huilan.

She knew that the letter might hold the key to solving the mystery of her mother's death.

Finally, on a sweltering afternoon, the postman's familiar green figure appeared at the village entrance.

"Gu Yanqiu's letter!"

A shout made Niannian, who was helping her father draw parts diagrams in the yard, suddenly look up.

She practically ran out.

It was a thick kraft paper envelope with an eight-cent stamp on it.

The mailing address was the staff dormitory of the county textile factory.

It's Aunt Li Huilan!

Gu Yanqiu took the letter, and his hands, which could disassemble and reassemble hundreds of parts and were as steady as a rock, were now trembling slightly.

He went back inside, solemnly closed the door, and then carefully tore open the envelope.

There was more than one sheet of paper; it was filled with writing.

Li Huilan's handwriting is very neat and beautiful, just like her personality—clear and efficient.

The letter began with a few words of condolence and concern.

Then, in her letter, Li Huilan clearly stated that she was willing to testify for Gu Yanqiu and his daughter to prove that Nian Nian was Song Wanqing's biological daughter.

She even went to the factory archives to copy Song Wanqing's identity information when she joined the factory, and stamped it with the seals of the factory's labor union and the police station, which she then attached to the letter.

With this official certificate, the Zhao family could no longer harass them under the pretext that "the child's origins are unknown."

Gu Yanqiu breathed a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

Li Huilan is truly a kind and compassionate person.

He continued reading.

However, when his gaze fell on the second part of the letter, the ease on his face vanished instantly, his face turned deathly pale, and finally filled with disbelief, terror, and ferocity.

"...Brother Yanqiu, after much deliberation, I've decided to tell you what's coming next. Because I believe you have the right to know the truth."

"Wanqing, she... she didn't die from a sudden illness."

"She has tuberculosis."

tuberculosis!

These three words were like three red-hot daggers, stabbing fiercely into Gu Yanqiu's heart!

He knew this disease was a "disease of the rich," that it was curable, but it would cost a lot of money and require him to eat a lot of good food to maintain it.

"...When Wanqing was diagnosed with her illness, it was still in its early stages. The doctor said that as long as she received proper treatment and took her medication on time, she could be completely cured."

"But treatment costs money. A lot of money."

"Over the years, Wanqing has been frugal at the factory, and she's actually saved up a considerable sum of money. She said it was her and your future, something to leave for your children. That savings book has over 130 yuan in it!"

"But...but she always kept that bankbook with her mother, Zhao. She said her mother was getting old, and it would be convenient for her to keep it with her so she could access it whenever she needed it."

"When she took the hospital diagnosis and went back to her mother to ask for money for treatment... Zhao, that damned old hag! She said... she said the bankbook was lost! Lost!"

"Wanqing immediately knelt down and begged her mother, saying that it was her life-saving money! But Zhao insisted that it was lost! She even beat Wanqing and threw her out!"

"Later we found out that Zhao hadn't lost anything at all! She secretly withdrew all the money from the savings account! She took it all to pay off her precious son Song Jianguo's gambling debts!"

"Wanqing...she died because she didn't have money for medical treatment!"

She was coughing up blood and had a fever all by herself in the small, shabby rented room...

"By the time the neighbors realized something was wrong and broke down the door, she...she had been gone for a day, and her body was cold..."

That concludes the letter.

The words that followed were blurred and illegible because of the tears.

Gu Yanqiu finished reading it.

He sat there quietly, motionless, his whole body frozen like a stone statue.

He unconsciously clenched the letter in his hand, then loosened it, then clenched it again…

Those thin sheets of paper felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, making it hard for him to breathe.

He didn't die of illness...

He was dragged to his death...

She was killed by her own mother, who watched her die while trying to pay off her gambling son's debts!

Zhao family!

Song Jianguo!

It turns out that they not only caused Niannian to almost be sold into a ghost marriage!

They were the real murderers who killed Wanqing!

"Heh...heh heh..."

A wild, unintelligible roar escaped from Gu Yanqiu's throat.

He suddenly stood up, grabbed the rickety table with both hands, and the veins on his arms, neck, and forehead bulged out like twisted earthworms!

"Click—"

He actually managed to crush a corner of the table, which was made of several pieces of wood!

Wood chips pierced his palm, and blood dripped from between his fingers.

He felt no pain at all.

All my senses were consumed by an overwhelming surge of hatred and remorse!

He hates!

I hate the Zhao family's wickedness! I hate Song Jianguo's shamelessness!

He hated himself even more!

He hated himself for being so useless! Why did he have to go to such a faraway place! Why did he leave Wanqing alone in that den of wolves!

If... if he had been by her side at that time, would everything have been different?

"Bang!"

He slammed his fist hard against the adobe wall!

The wall cracked open with a spiderweb-like fissure.

His fist was already a bloody mess.

Niannian stood at the door, her small body trembling violently with fear and heartache.

She watched her father, like a wild beast trapped in a cage, on the verge of madness, venting his devastating pain in the small room.

She wanted to go up and hug him, but she didn't dare.

Finally, Gu Yanqiu had vented all his energy.

He felt as if all his bones had been removed, and he collapsed to the ground, burying his head deep in his knees.

That broad spine, which once provided shelter for his daughter, now trembled violently and desperately under the moonlight.

Inside the room, only his suppressed, heavy breathing, like that of a trapped beast, could be heard.

For a long, long time.

He slowly raised his head.

Those bloodshot eyes were devoid of tears and pain, leaving only a chilling, deathly stillness, like an ancient glacier.

His gaze pierced through the darkness, through the door frame, and landed on the small figure in the doorway.

He looked at Niannian, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded, and asked a question softly yet with perfect clarity.

"Nian Nian..."

"Tell me, without a knife, can one person... kill another?"