10 YCCD-001

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Shen Zhiyang had cried herself to sleep, tears still clinging to her face.

Fang Qingzhou gently brushed a finger beneath her chin, wiping away the dampness.

She lifted her head. Several rows of lights shone from the apartment building opposite the window. The two residential buildings stood so close together that she could make out two shadows leaning against each other amid the clustered light.

It made Shen Zhiyang seem especially lonely.

In truth, when Fang Qingzhou first met Shen Zhiyang, she had not realized that the girl’s understanding of her own identity was so severely distorted.

After Professor Liang’s death, she decided to learn more about the victim her teacher had still been worrying about on his deathbed. The nurse leading her there played footage from the surveillance cameras in Shen Zhiyang’s home.

Most of the time, Shen Zhiyang did not behave in ways that were excessively abnormal. She was not particularly difficult to care for. She liked to squat alone in a corner, staring blankly out the window.

The incident had begun when her younger brother, who had just turned ten, took advantage of their parents’ inattention and kicked over the bowl in front of Shen Zhiyang while she was eating.

Immediately afterward, the boy glanced toward the surveillance camera, his eyes rolling as he tried to look innocent. At his age, however, he could not manage it naturally; instead, he looked sly and furtive.

Before he had time to run, Shen Zhiyang let out a long, shrill scream and lunged forward, biting down on his arm.

The force of that bite was nearly enough to tear the flesh from his arm. The boy howled in pain, yanking frantically at Shen Zhiyang’s hair and screaming hysterically for help.

“Dad—Dad!”

Hearing the cries, their father rushed over, his eyes turning red with fury. He pinched Shen Zhiyang’s chin with his fingers.

But Shen Zhiyang was astonishingly fierce, seemingly incapable of feeling pain. Even when the skin of her face swelled into several vivid red marks beneath his fingers, she refused to let go. Only when he began choking her with one hand and covering her nose with the other did she finally release her bite. Unable to breathe, her face had turned bluish-purple.

Using the momentum of his movement, her father flung her away and slammed her onto the floor.

Shen Zhiyang rolled twice before crashing into the wall. Like a savage beast poised to strike, she grabbed the stainless-steel bowl from the floor before she had even regained her footing and smashed it with all her strength into her father’s face.

The middle-aged man staggered. He had plainly been struck so hard that stars swam before his eyes, and disbelief covered his flushed face.

At that point, her younger sister joined the melee. She tried to wrap her arms around Shen Zhiyang’s waist, but Shen Zhiyang easily kicked her away.

Sitting on the floor, the girl screamed at the top of her lungs, “She’s gone crazy, Mom! Mom, she’s gone crazy again!”

Her brother clutched his wound and fled, throwing himself into the arms of their mother, who had stumbled out of the bedroom.

The mother was terrified. Clutching her son, she sobbed, “Why is this happening? Why has this family become like this?”

By then, their father had finally subdued Shen Zhiyang, pinning her firmly to the floor with his knee pressed against her back.

Shen Zhiyang’s legs continued to kick wildly, while she bared her teeth and roared in the boy’s direction. Her throat was already hoarse, and her voice was so rough it sounded as though it were thick with blood.

The shrieks of varying pitches rose and fell together, almost piercing the eardrums, like the end of the world.

Holding her son close, the mother went back for a towel and pressed it against his bleeding arm before wailing as she led him from the room.

Once the others had left one after another, Shen Zhiyang quickly fell silent.

Exhausted, her father released her and dropped heavily onto the floor. The once-robust, imposing man hunched his shoulders and, little by little, began to sob aloud as well.

Shen Zhiyang remained unmoved. She touched the wounds on her neck, rose, and walked to the other side of the room.

Fang Qingzhou was somewhat stunned by her ferocity. She was practically a tank of a warrior.

Yet Fang Qingzhou’s first instinct was not to see her as someone consumed by post-traumatic rage. It seemed more as if she had plainly sensed the humiliation inflicted by an enemy and was determined to defend herself. Her teeth were merely the only sharp weapons she possessed.

Few people would agree with that interpretation.

The nurse put away her phone and sighed. “Professor Liang discovered the injuries on her and helped report them to the police. This is the footage her family voluntarily handed over to the police and the Women’s Federation. Everyone sat down to discuss it, but the root of the problem was difficult to solve.”

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“The Women’s Federation contacted us and asked whether we could take her in temporarily. We agreed and brought her here, placing her alone in this room. But our doctors have no suitable experience with her condition. After all, she does not need injections or medication. There is nothing physically wrong with her.”

As she spoke, the nurse stopped in front of a door. She unlocked it, then moved aside to leave half the doorway open, indicating that Fang Qingzhou should first observe Shen Zhiyang through the gap.

“She’s squatting in the corner by the window on the left. Unfamiliar surroundings make her very anxious. But perhaps because she was brought here once immediately after being taken out of the basement, she has remained relatively stable around us.”

Afraid that Fang Qingzhou might conclude Shen Zhiyang was beyond help and give up on her, the nurse added without pause, “Compared to when she first arrived, her condition has improved tremendously. Back then, we weren’t careful enough, and three of our colleagues were accidentally bitten.”

Fang Qingzhou stepped closer. She gazed at the figure curled into a ball in the corner, then asked after a while, “Why?”

The nurse explained in detail. “One of them tried to remove the collar around her neck. One tried to teach her to sleep in a bed. The third brought her a meal and, when she threw the dumplings onto the floor and began licking them, instinctively tried to stop her. That was when we confirmed that her sense of self was impaired.”

Shen Zhiyang reacted promptly to sounds from outside. Upon hearing them, she kept lifting her head to stare at the doorway.

Fang Qingzhou met her gaze. “Can she speak?”

The nurse chose her words carefully. “Fortunately, she still retains some language ability. Lu Jiancheng would occasionally force her to memorize obscure, convoluted passages from academic papers as a form of psychological torture. But she still cannot communicate with us normally. She only parrots what she hears. She lacks social awareness and clings rigidly to certain behaviors in ways that are extremely difficult to correct. At the beginning, she was even violently opposed to strangers. I heard that it took her teacher three or four months to teach her how to use the toilet independently, eat with utensils, and sleep in a bed. Her parents saw little hope and gradually stopped cooperating.”

After the two of them had remained in the doorway for some time, Shen Zhiyang lost interest. Tilting her head to the side, she resumed staring blankly out the window.

It seemed she was not afraid of strangers. She simply responded with intense distress to certain words and behaviors.

Fang Qingzhou withdrew her gaze and said without emotion, “I looked into it. The social donations raised at the time amounted to at least four or five million.”

The nurse’s emotions were complicated. Even after witnessing many similar situations, she still could not help feeling sorrowful. Lowering her eyes, she said, “But she was only sixteen. Round-the-clock caregivers and specialized corrective treatment would cost far more than the family could afford… They prioritized the future of their other two children. It’s a cruel reality…”

Fang Qingzhou nodded and walked over.

Afraid she might act rashly, the nurse called out softly from behind and followed her nervously.

Fang Qingzhou stopped in front of Shen Zhiyang and called her name. When Shen Zhiyang shifted her attention to her, Fang Qingzhou extended a hand.

Shen Zhiyang’s eyes immediately grew somewhat flustered. She stared first at Fang Qingzhou’s palm, then looked up at her face as if seeking help.

Only after Fang Qingzhou flattened her palm and said, “Right hand,” did Shen Zhiyang obey with some delight and place her hand in it.

The nurse’s muscles tensed, ready to pull Fang Qingzhou away the moment a conflict broke out. Then, unexpectedly, she saw a smile bloom across the girl’s face. It was so startling that the nurse frowned tightly.

Fang Qingzhou turned their joined hands and gently moved them up and down, telling her, “This is what shaking hands means.”

Shen Zhiyang found the familiar pattern she was accustomed to. She showed Fang Qingzhou an unusual degree of friendliness, unconsciously leaning forward a little. She no longer avoided Fang Qingzhou’s touch.

There was only a trace of bewilderment in her expression.

A powerful wave of hatred surged through the nurse’s chest, so intense it nearly made her nauseated. It was immediately followed by an indescribable sorrow that reddened her eyes. Unable to suppress the ache in her heart, she asked softly, “What will happen to her in the future? Her parents probably won’t take her back. And if she stays in that environment, she won’t improve much.”

Fang Qingzhou crouched beside Shen Zhiyang and looked outside from the same angle she did.

The glass was somewhat cloudy, crisscrossed with chaotic scratches. The weather was bleak as well: vast swathes of murky gray churned together, boxed into the windowpane.

But Shen Zhiyang stared at it without blinking.

Fang Qingzhou lightly touched her arm. Shen Zhiyang did not react.

Fang Qingzhou pushed her a little more firmly and pointed toward the window.

This time, Shen Zhiyang looked at her for a little longer.

Perhaps because their earlier interaction had left an impression, Shen Zhiyang generously shifted aside to make room for her.

Fang Qingzhou said with certainty, “You really like the sky outside.”

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Shen Zhiyang did not answer.

The nurse opened her mouth, feeling something heavy lodged in her throat, yet unable to produce words that could describe her state of mind. Frustrated, she turned her gaze away, her heart filled with a bottomless sense of helplessness.

Then she thought of something and asked tentatively, “I’ve heard about Professor Liang’s project. Can you help her?”

Fang Qingzhou remained silent. She surveyed the room, then walked to the table and picked up a book.

The nurse racked her brain for something more to say, hoping to move her. “This is a picture book we prepared for her. She often looks through it. It wasn’t damaged by her; it was already worn when we received it as a donation.”

Fang Qingzhou turned two pages, then set the book down. She extended her hand toward Shen Zhiyang again, emphasizing the correct posture. Then she turned to the nurse and said, “I’ll come see her again tomorrow.”

The next day, Fang Qingzhou brought a palm-sized blue night-light.

When tapped, it illuminated an image of the sky. Several cottony white clouds drifted across its pale-blue background.

Shen Zhiyang could not take her eyes off it. Her body shifted slightly.

Fang Qingzhou switched off the night-light and demonstrated twice.

Shen Zhiyang learned how to turn it on.

The nurse had been about to say that dangerous objects could not be left in the room. But when she saw Shen Zhiyang curiously and gently press her face against the light, she swallowed the words, her heart aching.

When Fang Qingzhou left that time, Shen Zhiyang finally learned to shake hands, albeit reluctantly, under the steady gaze of Fang Qingzhou’s resolute eyes.

As the nurse saw her out, she pleaded indirectly, “She can learn, can’t she? She’s actually quite intelligent.”

Fang Qingzhou evaded the question. “Yes.”

Fang Qingzhou’s schedule was packed with work. By the time she found another opportunity to return, several days had passed.

This time, she brought a stack of picture books.

The nurse no longer expected much. She told Fang Qingzhou about Shen Zhiyang’s recent condition. When she mentioned a minor incident, she gave a bitter smile and said, “She proudly showed me her lamp. I wanted to teach her to talk to you more… but unfortunately, she doesn’t understand anything.”

As Fang Qingzhou listened, Shen Zhiyang took the initiative and reached out her hand.

Fang Qingzhou was a little flattered.

Shen Zhiyang led her to the wall and pointed to a smiling face scratched into its surface.

The nurse kept Shen Zhiyang’s fingernails trimmed very short to prevent her from injuring anyone when she lost control. Pressed close to the wall, Shen Zhiyang had scraped away at it bit by bit, leaving a dark red line of blood between her fingers.

Her means were limited. She was ignorant and confused, unable even to convey her joys and sorrows with any skill.

And yet she had learned to communicate.

Perhaps she had sensed that Fang Qingzhou was different. Even without understanding why, she had still tried her best to respond.

It made Fang Qingzhou think of a lamp connected to the wrong circuit.

It had been meant to shine, but then it had short-circuited.

And yet it still wanted to shine.

Fang Qingzhou bent down and studied the smiling face for a long time. Then she made up her mind and turned to the nurse.

“Please help me contact her guardians.”

From that day onward, Shen Zhiyang had a special record in the Three Dawns archive:

YCCD-001

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