Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My mother is dead, taken by late-stage liver cancer.

While sorting through her belongings, I found a notebook tucked under her pillow.

The notebook looked quite old. On the title page, four words were written in a crooked scrawl.

“Death List”

I recognized the handwriting; it was my mother’s.

The first three-quarters of the notebook had been torn out.

Of the remaining pages, only one had writing on it.

“Liu Jianguo, March 7, 1988.”

I knew this person. He was the doctor who delivered me. March 7, 1988, is my birthday.

It was also the day Liu Jianguo died. He passed away right after delivering me.

“Lin Youfang, August 12, 1995.”

Lin Youfang was my father. He died in a mining accident on August 12, 1995.

Why was his name on this Death List as well?

Could it be that the mining accident back then wasn’t an accident at all?

“Sun Congjun, May 5, 2025.”

I didn’t recognize this name.

I glanced at the calendar. Today is May 6, 2025.

Seeing a date so close to the present in such an old notebook gave me an inexplicable, eerie feeling.

Who was this Sun Congjun? Did he die yesterday?

Was this some kind of joke? It wasn’t as if my mother could predict people’s deaths.

Just as I tucked the notebook away, there was a knock at the door.

I struggled to maneuver my wheelchair and opened the security door.

Two adult men stood outside. They seemed taken aback for a moment when they saw my disability, but then they briskly pulled out their IDs from their coats.

“Hello, we’re from the Jingdu City Criminal Police Team. Is this the home of Shen Yufen?”

Jingdu? Criminal police?

“Yes.”

“And you are?”

“My name is Lin Geng. Shen Yufen was my mother.”

“Is it convenient for us to come in and talk? Don’t be nervous, we’re just here to gather some information.”

I showed the two men inside. I wanted to pour them some water, but one of the officers stopped me.

“Just tell me where the kettle is, I’ll pour it for you.”

I pointed toward the kitchen. I had a feeling this conversation wouldn’t be a short one.

“Hello, my surname is Dong. I’m the captain of Criminal Police Team Two. If you don’t mind me asking, what condition are you suffering from?”

“Deformed limbs. I was born with it.”

I raised my hands toward him.

The middle, ring, and pinky fingers of my left hand were completely fused together, and the joints were almost immobile.

Only the thumb and index finger were somewhat functional.

My right hand was severely underdeveloped. Although the five fingers could move, they were half the size of an adult’s, and the palm was completely misshapen.

The overall shape of my right hand resembled a pickled chicken claw.

My feet were in a similar state to my hands, and my lower legs were also heavily withered.

From the time I was old enough to remember, I had to rely on crutches. Once I reached adulthood, I was confined to a wheelchair.

“And what do you do for work now?”

“I do some social media work. I use voice-to-text, so it doesn’t affect me much.”

After some small talk, the conversation with the police turned to the main point.

“We heard your mother passed away?”

“Yes, it’s been exactly one month today.”

“Take a look at this photo. Do you recognize this man?” Officer Dong pulled a photo from a folder, slowly placed it on the coffee table, and pushed it toward me.

The man in the photo was middle-aged, slightly stout, with a somewhat fierce expression.

It looked like an ID photo, possibly from a national identity card.

I studied it carefully for a while, but I didn’t recognize him at all.

“I don’t know him.”

“This man’s name is Sun Congjun. Have you heard of him? Or rather, have you heard your mother mention him?”

Sun Congjun?

The man in my mother’s notebook!

“What happened to him?”

“He died yesterday.”

What?!

“How did he die?”

“Sorry, I can’t tell you that.”

Officer Dong was an experienced policeman; the change in my expression didn’t escape his eyes.

He took a small sip of the hot water and spoke with firm certainty, “You know this man.”

I struggled with the thought for a long time before finally deciding to mention the notebook.

I had nothing to hide, and I didn’t even know who I would be hiding it for.

Besides, even if the people on that Death List were actually killed by my mother, she was already dead. What could they do to her now?

I cleared my throat, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. “To be honest with you, while I was sorting through my mother’s things today, I found a notebook. Sun Congjun’s name was in it.”

“What kind of notebook? May I see it?”

“Sure. It’s in the suitcase on the bedroom floor. You’ll see it as soon as you unzip it.” I added an explanation, “I was planning to keep it as a memento.”

The junior officer responsible for taking notes went into the bedroom and handed the notebook to Officer Dong.

Officer Dong first saw the words on the title page, then carefully flipped through it page by page.

Finally, his gaze fixed on the three names.

He gave instructions in a heavy tone.

“Xiao Li, check if Shen Yufen ever updated to a second-generation ID card. If she did, go and compare her prints with that partial fingerprint from back then.”