Long Shasha was born into a family that was not wealthy, but very harmonious. Her father, Long Zhongguo, was diligent and honest. Every day, he left for work before dawn and returned home under the stars. His greatest wish was simply for his wife and daughter to be happy. Her mother was beautiful and gentle, but her health was poor, so she couldn’t handle strenuous labor and could only do handicrafts at home. Fortunately, she was very skillful; the bamboo crafts and knitted items she made were very popular. The little family of three lived happily together, and Long Shasha wore the prettiest dresses among all the girls in town because her mother made them herself.

But when she was eight years old, Long Shasha experienced the first nightmare of her life—her mother finally succumbed to her long illness. People say that losing one’s mother in childhood is one of life’s greatest sorrows. On the day they sent her mother off, she cried so hard that she fainted, feeling as if the sky had collapsed.

Her father was still there, but he could not give her the companionship or the unique warmth that only her mother could offer. From a cheerful and lively little girl, she became gloomy and withdrawn, no longer liked playing with other children, and locked herself up at home every day waiting for her father to return.

Her father was helpless and had to ask the old widow next door to come and look after her occasionally. The old widow was kind, but she was not her mother. Long Shasha rejected any stranger’s approach.

That year, there was a new girl in the house—Luo Wanwan, her cousin from the countryside.

Long Shasha had seen her aunt and cousin when she was very young. In her memory, her cousin was shy and always smiling. But when they met again, her cousin had become a dark-skinned little girl who always lowered her head.

Her father said that her cousin’s parents had both died, and with no one to rely on in the countryside, he had brought her here so they could keep each other company.

Perhaps it was the magic of blood ties—after losing her mother, Long Shasha, who refused to talk to others, could easily accept Luo Wanwan. It was she who timidly reached out and held Luo Wanwan’s hand, softly calling, “Ah-jie (Big Sister).”

Luo Wanwan’s messy bangs covered her eyes, but Long Shasha saw the corners of her cousin’s mouth gently curl into a shy smile. She was still that cousin who liked to smile.

The two motherless girls leaned on each other under the protection of Long Shasha’s father. Long Shasha had been spoiled by her parents since she was little and didn’t know how to do any housework, but Luo Wanwan could do everything. She took care of all the chores at home and even knew how to weave bamboo and sew.

Sometimes, Long Shasha felt as if her mother had come back.

When Luo Wanwan was weaving bamboo, Long Shasha would sit beside her, staring intently, occasionally calling out sweetly, “Ah-jie.” Luo Wanwan would raise her head and smile at her.

With Luo Wanwan’s company, Long Shasha gradually walked out of the shadow of losing her mother and started to play with her little friends again. But Luo Wanwan never went out to play. Long Shasha asked why, and Luo Wanwan said she was from the countryside, couldn’t fit in with the town children, and besides, there was a lot of housework to do.

Long Shasha pouted and thought for a while. “Then I won’t go out to play either. Ah-jie, I’ll stay with you.”

Luo Wanwan gently patted her head and smiled softly like a mother. “Ah-jie doesn’t need Shasha to stay. If Shasha wants to play, then go have fun.”

“But…”

“Shasha has to be happy. When Ah-jie sees Shasha happy, Ah-jie will be happy too.”

In the end, she was still a child—Long Shasha couldn’t persuade Luo Wanwan, so she gave up and went out to play as before. The children liked to play hide-and-seek in the courtyard of the old widow next door. Long Shasha also went there and met Ou Hong, who had come to the widow’s house for a meal.

She had always known that the girl next door was named Ou Hong, but they had never spoken. The children often gossiped about Ou Hong because she had a crazy mother, always hung her head, wore old clothes, and looked dirty and gloomy.

Before, Long Shasha also kept her distance from Ou Hong, but this time, Ou Hong looked different in her eyes.

Ah-jie didn’t like wearing pretty clothes either, always hung her head, and didn’t play with the other children. Outsiders said the same things about Ah-jie that they said about Ou Hong, but she knew Ah-jie was wonderful and gentle—she just had too much housework to do and no time to come out.

Was Ou Hong the same? Busy taking care of her crazy mother, so she was always tired and dusty?

Thinking this, she had already walked over to Ou Hong. The dusty girl suddenly looked up, her eyes full of fear.

Long Shasha saw that Ou Hong was holding a chipped bowl containing rice, water spinach, and sausages made by the old widow. Only at the old widow’s house could Ou Hong eat a stable meal with meat.

“I’m not going to fight you for it.” Long Shasha plucked up her courage and sat beside Ou Hong. Ou Hong seemed uncomfortable, even eating more slowly.

Long Shasha thought she was even more like Ah-jie—when Ah-jie first came to their house, she had been this timid too.

She giggled softly, her voice like silver bells. Ou Hong glanced over warily, as if wanting to speak but saying nothing.

Just then, the children outside shouted, “Long Shasha, come play hide-and-seek!”

Long Shasha replied, “Not today! I have something to do!”

Ou Hong finally finished eating and went to the sink to wash her bowl. Long Shasha followed her. Ou Hong finally spoke, in a low and slightly stuttering voice, “You… you’re not going to play?”

“I want to stay with you.” Long Shasha smiled innocently. “You’re always alone—don’t you feel lonely?”

A complicated light shone in Ou Hong’s eyes behind her hair—surprise? Astonishment? Gratitude? Fear? Little Long Shasha couldn’t understand. But she could see that Ou Hong’s eyes were brighter than before.

After that, whenever Long Shasha saw Ou Hong at the widow’s house, she wouldn’t play with the other children. Ou Hong never played either—she only came to the widow’s house to eat and rest. She didn’t come often, so Long Shasha rarely saw her.

When Ou Hong ate, Long Shasha sat beside her. At first, she was shy and quiet, each doing their own thing. But later, she found that Ou Hong never chased her away, so she became bolder and chatted about whatever came to mind.

Ou Hong spoke even less than Ah-jie, but gradually she began to respond. When they talked about books, Ou Hong said there were no books at her house. Long Shasha happily said, “I have lots! My dad bought them for me. Next time, I’ll bring some to read with you!”

Ou Hong’s eyes lit up, and she smiled gently. “Okay.”

Back then, Long Shasha felt that she had the two best sisters in the world—one at home, one outside. She was special in their eyes because they only smiled and were kind to her.

But happy days never seem to escape fate’s destruction. A year later, just after the Lantern Festival, rumors spread that a heartless developer was coming to seize land. Most of Nanfeng Town’s people were farmers—if they lost their land, it was like losing their lives.

Her father came home later and later, apparently discussing countermeasures with the townsfolk. Ou Hong said that her father, Ou Ping, hadn’t been home for days either.

A storm was brewing.

Every household in the town quietly prepared tools they normally wouldn’t have. Long Shasha was scared and asked her father what they were for. Her father touched her cheek with his calloused hand. “Don’t worry, Shasha. Daddy will protect our home.”

A few months later, that tragic clash broke out. Four townspeople died. Long Shasha and Ou Hong forever lost the pillars of their families.

Long Shasha cried until her tears ran dry, staring blankly at the sky. She never imagined that the stabbing pain of losing her mother would come for her again. Now, without her mother, she had lost her father too. Why was fate so cruel? What would she do in the future?

Luo Wanwan hugged her tightly, choking with tears. “Shasha, don’t be afraid—you still have Ah-jie.”

She threw herself into Luo Wanwan’s arms and wailed bitterly.

The town organized aid, and the police got involved. The bereaved families received compensation. Life could go on, but the pain could not be soothed. Long Shasha became gloomy again. No matter how Luo Wanwan tried to cheer her up, she couldn’t truly smile.

And Long Shasha realized she wasn’t the worst off—at least she still had Ah-jie. Ou Hong only had a crazy mother.

After Uncle Ou was gone, the madwoman became even more insane, disturbing the entire town until they sent her to the county hospital. But she escaped and returned, battered and bloody.

Long Shasha saw Ou Hong sitting against the wall, hugging her knees, looking lifeless. She ran over and shook her—Ou Hong’s eyes were red from crying for the first time.

“Shasha, what should I do? Why do I have such a mother? Why can’t I be your sister and live with you?”

Long Shasha didn’t know what to say. She pitied Ou Hong. If she brought her home, Ah-jie would surely agree. They could live together as three. But like the rest of the town, she feared that madwoman. If Ou Hong came, her mother would surely follow.

She gently smoothed Ou Hong’s hair and said awkwardly, “I want to be your sister too, but… I’m afraid of your mother.”

Ou Hong’s expression changed to something she couldn’t understand.

Half a month later, the madwoman and Ou Hong suddenly vanished. At first, people thought they were hiding at home, but when they checked, the house was neat, yet their clothes and belongings were gone.

Weeks passed, but they never returned.

The townsfolk said the madwoman had gone insane, dragged her daughter away, and they would never come back—perhaps they were already dead.

Long Shasha was sad. If only she had taken Ou Hong in when she cried by the wall, they wouldn’t have died.

This hit her hard. She became thinner and weaker. Luo Wanwan was anxious and wanted to nourish her. The town’s elders said the mountain outside had bamboo shoots, mushrooms, even wild rabbits—great for health.

Luo Wanwan went up the mountain several times and indeed gathered many mushrooms.

One night, while the town slept, someone knocked on the Long family’s door. Luo Wanwan opened it—and rain-soaked Ou Hong rushed in.

Long Shasha was overjoyed. “Thank goodness, you’re okay!”

But Luo Wanwan rarely showed doubt and displeasure on her face.

Ou Hong said her mother had gone mad and left home. She didn’t realize until the next day, went out searching but found nothing. Others had said a madwoman was hit by a car and killed. She had struggled to return home.

“Shasha, can I stay at your house for a while? I’m afraid the townsfolk will find out and keep asking me questions.”

Long Shasha immediately agreed. Luo Wanwan hesitated but said nothing.

After settling Ou Hong, Luo Wanwan quietly told Long Shasha that something was strange about the disappearance of Ou Hong’s mother and that it was best not to take Ou Hong in because she might be dangerous.

But Long Shasha was naive and righteous. “Don’t worry, Ah-jie. Ou Hong is a good person. She’s pitiful. If we don’t help her, who will?”

Luo Wanwan couldn’t argue, so Ou Hong stayed. The two rarely spoke to each other, only to Long Shasha.

One day, when Luo Wanwan planned to go into the mountains again, Ou Hong offered to join her. “We can gather more together, maybe even sell some.”

Long Shasha quickly said, “I want to go too!”

The mountains were dangerous, and Long Shasha was small, so Luo Wanwan said, “Shasha, be good and watch the house.”

Ou Hong added, “Ah-jie and I are enough.”

They left before dawn. The streets were empty. Long Shasha watched them go, looking forward to a delicious mushroom dinner that night.

But her joy wasn’t just for the mushrooms. Ah-jie and Ou Hong had finally spoken. From now on, the three of them could live well together without fear.

Yet as night fell, they did not return. Long Shasha grew more worried but dared not ask the old widow for help—Ou Hong didn’t want anyone to know she was back.

In the latter half of the night, a heavy rain began to fall. At long last, there came a knock at the door. Long Shasha rushed to open it, only to find Ou Hong standing there alone.

Ou Hong was limping, covered in mud, her eyes bloodshot.

Long Shasha hurriedly asked, “What happened to you? Where’s my sister?”

Ou Hong choked with sobs, “Sister Wan… she fell off the cliff. She’s gone—”

Thunder rolled through the sky, and a flash of lightning lit up the room like a blade, striking deep into Long Shasha’s mind. She didn’t react for a long time, until Ou Hong pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Shasha, Sister Wan is dead. I couldn’t save her.”

Long Shasha slept for an entire day and night. When she awoke, she thought it had all been a nightmare. But there was only Ou Hong in the house. No sign of her sister.

She tried to go out and ask the uncles and aunties in town to help search, but Ou Hong knelt before her and held her tightly, eyes brimming with tears.

“But if you do that, they’ll definitely arrest me. I’m the daughter of a madwoman. Sister Wan and I went up the mountain together, and only I came back. They’ll think I killed her!”

Long Shasha was horrified. “You didn’t—”

“Of course I didn’t kill her! It was raining, the mountain path was slippery, and she fell. I didn’t do anything! Shasha, you have to believe me!” Ou Hong cried uncontrollably. “You lost your sister, and I lost my mother. If I get taken away too, Shasha, you’ll be all alone.”

That last sentence struck something deep within Long Shasha. She had already lost her mother, father, and now her sister. She was truly alone. Fate had taken everything from her.

“Let me stay. Let me take Sister Wan’s place and take care of you.”

Long Shasha believed Ou Hong. From that moment on, Ou Hong took on a new identity—she became Luo Wanwan. They didn’t stay long in the sorrowful town of Nanfeng. That winter, they left their hometown and moved to Xiarong City. Using the compensation money, they rented a place and went to school. Ou Hong got a new ID and officially became Luo Wanwan.

For many years, Long Shasha lived in a dream where Ou Hong was her sister. Ou Hong treated her even better than Luo Wanwan had—she never let her do laundry or cook, pampering her like a princess. And Shasha accepted all of it as if it were only natural.

Truthfully, she did have doubts about Luo Wanwan’s death when she got older. But Ou Hong was so kind to her—she didn’t want to lose the only love she had left.

Then one year, the two sisters saw Kang Wanbin on TV. The rest of the Kang family had all been arrested, but Kang Wanbin was still thriving.

Long Shasha said, “Sis, I want revenge.”

Luo Wanwan looked at her. “How?”

Long Shasha shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Soon after, Luo Wanwan began to approach Kang Wanbin. There were many business dinners at Wanbin Laeho, and she often came home drunk.

Long Shasha would always make sobering tea for her. One time, Luo Wanwan was so drunk that she hugged Shasha and started crying.

Shasha was startled and quickly pushed her away. Luo Wanwan stared at her with glassy eyes.

“Shasha, you don’t know how much I gave up to become your sister.”

Shasha froze. “Sis, what do you mean?”

“You were afraid of my mad mother, so I got rid of her. She didn’t run away on her own—I led her away…”

“I don’t know where she went. Maybe she’s already dead? I cared for her all those years. I didn’t owe her anything…”

Long Shasha listened blankly. Something inside her begged Ou Hong to stop talking—as if she already knew a devastating truth was about to be revealed.

“Shasha, why couldn’t you be my little sister? You couldn’t, but still you were kind to me. No one else ever was. They all called me ‘Little Lunatic.’ You were the only one who’d eat with me, talk to me, lend me books to read.”

“I thought, if only I were Luo Wanwan… Is she better than me? Why does she get to be your sister, and not me? Just because of blood? Blood ties are unbreakable… unlike us. We were only neighbors. Once we weren’t neighbors anymore, I’d never see you again.”

“I wanted to be your sister. I wanted to be Luo Wanwan…” Ou Hong started laughing eerily, her voice darkening. “As long as she was dead, I could become her. And now look—aren’t you already my little sister?”

Long Shasha heard her own hoarse voice ask, “You killed my sister? She didn’t fall—you pushed her?”

“…Yes. I did.”

Long Shasha sat in silence all night. The next morning, when Ou Hong sobered up, she remembered nothing. She made breakfast and played the loving sister as always.

But from that day on, Long Shasha could no longer lie to herself. Her last remaining family had been murdered by Ou Hong.

Following her memories, she returned to Fengyi Mountain. Years ago, Ou Hong had once brought her to the cliff where Luo Wanwan had “fallen.” There, she laid a bouquet of flowers. The cliff was too high to descend directly, but by taking another path concealed by thick underbrush, she finally reached the base.

There, she dug beneath a thin layer of soil and vegetation—and uncovered a pile of bones.

At that moment, everything became clear. Strangely calm, she gathered the bones and gave them a proper burial. Two weeks later, she returned with Luo Wanwan’s favorite plant—a young monstera—and planted it atop the grave.

“Sis, I will avenge you,” she said with a resolve she had never felt before.

From then on, fate began to shift. Ou Hong was wholly focused on taking down Kang Wanbin and didn’t notice the change in Long Shasha’s gaze. To outsiders, the two sisters seemed as close as ever. Even Ou Hong herself believed so.

Three months ago, she told Long Shasha, “By the end of this year, I’ll destroy Kang Wanbin’s empire.”

Long Shasha originally intended to wait. After all, Kang Wanbin was her enemy too. But the banquet at Fengyi Mountain Villa was the perfect opportunity—so many guests, a chaotic environment, difficult for police to investigate. More importantly, her sister had died on that mountain. Letting Ou Hong fall from the same cliff would be the perfect revenge.

As for Kang Wanbin—she had come to terms with it. He hadn’t been the one who truly killed her father. She didn’t want to miss this chance.

On the night of June 5th, the sisters spent rare time together. Long Shasha urged Ou Hong to drink heavily. This sharp, guarded woman only let her guard down around Shasha.

At midnight, she said, “Sis, let’s go see my sister. She’s still in this mountain.”

Ou Hong hesitated, but under the influence of alcohol, she didn’t question it much. Long Shasha led her step by step to the cliff, then took a stone from her purse—the one she had prepared in advance—and struck Ou Hong with all her strength on the back of her head.

Ou Hong cried out in pain and collapsed. Just before passing out, she looked at Long Shasha in confusion, “Shasha… little sister…”

Blinded by rage and grief, Long Shasha dragged her to the edge and pushed her off.

The cliff was so high, she barely heard the sound of impact. She knew Ou Hong was dead—just as Ou Hong had once known Luo Wanwan was dead.

The interrogation room fell silent. Long Shasha wiped away the last of her tears.

“I didn’t expect you’d find me because of the ring and the monstera. That was my oversight. I plead guilty.”

She looked at Ji Chenjiao. “Can I have the ring back? It was my mother’s. I’ve worn it ever since she gave it to me. I didn’t even take it off when I tested the rock—until I saw it had left a cut on my finger…”

She paused, then shook her head and smiled bitterly. “Forget it. Someone like me probably doesn’t deserve that ring anymore.”

As a child, her frail mother used to say in a soft and gentle voice,

“Our Shasha must grow up to be a girl as gentle as jade. Life may be unfair, full of hardship. You can fight back, you can stand up for yourself. But never, ever hurt others. Mommy might not be around for long. These pieces of jewelry will be here in my place. Be brave and kind, my darling.”

“Mom, I’ve disappointed you.” Long Shasha lowered her head, murmuring,

“I wasn’t brave, and I wasn’t kind. I’m sorry.”

If she had been brave, she would’ve handed Ou Hong over to the town elders back then, instead of fearing the loss of her last companion.

If she had been kind… Long Shasha let out a long sigh.

How could someone kind ever kill another person?