Chapter 66: Victims of Power

2022-05-20

Zhang Xue poured me some water while I wandered restlessly around her apartment. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I saw it was already past nine. I couldn’t help but wonder what her father did for a living, and why he hadn’t come home yet. I also had no idea how everyone else was doing with their own targets—were they hitting the same roadblocks as me with Zhang Xue?

I wasn’t sure how I’d explain things when I got back. Was I supposed to just admit I’d been seen through by a young girl?

“Here, your water.” Zhang Xue set the cup down on the coffee table, then started tidying up around the house. But I could feel her eyes on me every so often, like she wanted to say something but just couldn’t get the words out.

I sipped my water, watching Zhang Xue bustle around.

There was always something mysterious about Zhang Xue. Whether it was her taste in books or her way of speaking, none of it was easy to pin down.

Li Zhinan’s financial company was your standard nine-to-five operation. Usually, he’d catch the subway’s Line 1 to get home, which meant his arrival would almost line up with Zhang Xue leaving campus. Was there a chance they’d cross paths on the way?

And if they did, what would they talk about?

She invited me up—was there some other purpose behind it? I had a hunch she knew more than she let on. Even if she realized I was onto her, maybe I could still get her to slip up and share something useful.

“Why is your dad so late tonight? What does he do for work?” I took a sip of water and looked straight at Zhang Xue.

She gave a bitter, tragic little smile. “Who knows when he’ll actually come back. Honestly, there are days I wish he wouldn’t at all.”

“By the way, what do you think of Li Taida as a person?” Zhang Xue paused her cleaning and asked.

I frowned. “I know all about what happened between him and his father, and honestly, I feel bad for the guy. Stuck with someone like that—it’s like a leech you can’t shake off. Judging from your reaction, you must know about it too. So you must’ve heard he’s planning to kill his dad, right?”

Zhang Xue quickly waved both hands, anxious. “I know Li Taida and his father never got along. He’s told us stories from when he was a kid. But I had no idea he wanted potassium cyanide so he could kill his dad. When he said that in class, we were all shocked.”

“I know Li Taida’s been arrested, so please, I’m begging you—help him.” Tears welled up in Zhang Xue’s eyes before she suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me. “He’s a good person. He might seem cold, but he’s kind-hearted.”

I reached out to help her to her feet, but she brushed my hand aside, insisting, “Li Taida never bullies anyone. He even took care of stray cats and dogs outside school, feeding them every day. How could someone like him be bad?”

She continued, “You know, growing up in a single-parent family with nobody looking out for me, I got bullied a lot. If it wasn’t for Li Taida, it would have never stopped. Zhao Erming too—whenever someone picked on me, he stepped in for me.”

Honestly, there wasn’t much I could do about this, but since Li Taida was still a minor and Li Xian wasn’t dead, it probably wouldn’t turn into anything huge. Even if I didn’t intervene, he wouldn’t be locked up for long. With that in mind, I told Zhang Xue, “Alright, get up. I’ll help you.”

Zhang Xue got up and sat right beside me.

I instinctively stood, keeping my distance. “What are you doing?”

“To thank you, I’ll do anything,” she said, as if she were walking to her doom.

That’s when I noticed the bruises—marks all over her body that her clothes usually kept hidden.

“Put your clothes back on. I need to talk to you,” I said.

She nodded, then tugged gently at my sleeve.

“Who taught you this?” I snapped. “Why are you acting this way?”

“My father… I learned from him.” She stared at the floor.

My heart nearly stopped.

Zhang Xue slowly began to recount her story.

Her mother died when she was just a child, so it was just her and her father against the world. Before she turned twelve, her dad treated her like a princess. Whatever she wanted, he would give her. For a long time, she really thought a dad was all she needed.

But the year she turned twelve, everything changed.

She was asleep at home that night when her father staggered in, reeking of booze. He wasn’t alone—his boss was with him. Little Zhang Xue was mature for her age, so she greeted them both and offered them tea, hoping it would sober them up.

While they drank on the sofa, she slipped back to her room to sleep.

In the middle of the night, someone pushed her door open and walked in.

From that night on, nightmares haunted her.

When her father finally realized someone had entered her room, the man was still passed out, snoring on the bed. Zhang Xue was frozen—she couldn’t say a word, just cried.

She said she’d never forget that day. Her father had rushed into the kitchen, grabbing a kitchen knife. As he was about to bring it down on the man’s neck, he suddenly stopped himself.

He’d never guess that, on that night five years ago, he almost killed a man with that very kitchen knife.

Her dad put the knife back. When he returned a second time, what he held wasn’t a knife anymore, but a camera.

“Get closer to him,” her father ordered.

Zhang Xue wouldn’t move—she just kept crying.

Then her father slapped her across the face, voice rough and hoarse. “I told you to get closer. Do you understand me?”

Terrified of another beating, Zhang Xue crawled over slowly.

The next day, when the drunken man woke up, he was drenched in cold sweat as the memories crashed back. If his subordinate called the police, his life would be over.

He stumbled out of the bedroom and spotted Zhang Xue’s father sitting on the sofa, red-eyed, with Zhang Xue staring off into space beside him.

Trying to brush it off, the man forced a laugh. “Xiao Zhang, last night…well, you know I had too much to drink…”

But Zhang Xue’s father actually smiled. “Don’t worry, what happened last night stays between us. Besides, you were drunk.”

From then on, Zhang Xue’s father climbed the ranks at work. No one knew why the higher-ups favored him, but whenever there was a coveted job opening, even if he was less qualified than others, he always landed the position.

People started whispering he must have someone powerful backing him.

But only Zhang Xue’s father knew that his rise was paid for with his own daughter’s suffering.

From that night on, Zhang Xue was too afraid to ever sleep alone. Every time she closed her eyes, the nightmare returned. It wasn’t until a year later, when she turned thirteen, that the nightmares began to fade… completely unaware that a worse nightmare was just beginning.

She lived in hell.

As Zhang Xue grew and started resembling her mother, life got harder day by day.

Once again, she became a sacrifice.

At sixteen, her heart had long gone numb.

“Monster!” I couldn’t hold back the shout after hearing Zhang Xue’s story.