Chapter 4

Though our houses were a hundred meters apart, we were neighbors.

No one else had built nearby. Houses in mountain villages tended to stand far apart.

And children couldn’t wander too far. Our parents wouldn’t let us.

So my only friend when I was little was the child next door.

Her name was Yang Xiaonian. We called her Niannian. She was a sweet little girl.

We must have started playing in the mud together when I was three or four.

We were good friends until her family moved away, when I was about six.

But sixteen or seventeen years had passed, and all my memories were hazy.

I did remember the games we played.

Stone games, hopscotch, catching dragonflies, netting butterflies…

Whenever we disagreed about what to play, we settled it with rock, scissors, cloth.

Best of three.

There was a reason I had never played best of three with anyone again.

I had done something bad to Niannian.

That day, we disagreed over what to play, as usual. As usual, we played rock, scissors, cloth.

I won.

But I was in a bad mood that day. I didn’t want to play our usual boring games.

I chose an adventure up the mountain.

It was only the small hill not far behind our houses.

But Niannian was frightened. She didn’t dare go, because we would have to keep it from our parents.

I told her I had won best of three. If she didn’t do what I said, I would never play with her again.

That frightened her even more.

There were no other children in that little patch of the village besides us.

Apart from me, she had no one to play with.

In the end, she went up the mountain with me.

That was how we got lost.

Worse still, Niannian eventually couldn’t walk any farther. I told her to stay where she was while I went for help.

But I got lost, too. I couldn’t find the way down.

My dad did not find me until after dark.

I asked him to go and find Niannian, but he told me her parents had found her, too.

Yet I never saw her again.

At that point, Officer Li frowned. “What do you mean, you never saw her again?”

I answered truthfully. “From the next day on, I was grounded. I wasn’t allowed out. I don’t know how many days passed, but by the time I could go outside, Niannian’s family had moved away. I asked my dad where they’d gone. He said he didn’t know, either. And my dad died of an illness last year…”

Officer Li nodded. “Then we’ll have to find Yang Xiaonian’s family to learn why.”

He clearly didn’t believe me.

His next words were, “Let’s stop at the village committee office and ask around.”

Of course, I had no objection.

Once we parked in the committee courtyard, he told me, “Wait in the car.”

So I waited there for a whole hour.

I didn’t know what he said to the people at the office.

But when he came back, his expression was darker.

“Other people moved away sixteen years ago, too, around the time Yang Zhicheng’s family left… Yang Zhicheng is Yang Xiaonian’s father. I’ve already asked people to find him. We should be able to reach him soon… So, are you ready to tell me everything?”

I was stunned. “Tell you what?”

Officer Li started the car. Over the shuddering engine, he said quietly:

“You’re lying. Are you hiding something?”