Over a decade ago, in a private room at the Celestial Court restaurant in Xuanzhu County, two children and a middle-aged man ordered a massive table of food.
"I'm telling you, it's rare for me to be so damn generous and treat you to a good meal, so why do you two brothers look like your mother just died, as if you're eating offerings at a wake? And Yuanyang, what the hell are you doing bringing a lunch box out?"
The younger child said, "It's tasty. I want to bring some back for my little sister. She's teething now, she can eat meat."
The older child said, "Teacher, our mother really did die."
The man asked in surprise, "Eh? So then where did your sister come from?"
"My aunt gave birth to her. She was beaten to death two months ago."
