did not seem to hear when Lili quietly asked whether the call had ended.
It took Yan Cijin touching her arm for Mother Yan to finally lower the
phone. Her fingers had gone pale from gripping it too tightly. She
placed it on the table with careful movements, as though any sudden
action might somehow break the last connection she had with Aunt Lan.
"We can try calling again," Yan said softly.
Mother Yan nodded at once. She called the number back. The response came
before the call could properly ring. The phone was switched off. She
ended the attempt and tried again, then once more, but the result never
changed. The same flat message repeated itself, each time making the
room feel a little colder.
Bai Li did not fill the silence with comforting words. She knew that
Mother Yan would not believe any promise that Aunt Lan was safe, and it
would be cruel to pretend that the man on the other end had merely been
