Chapter 4

I knew he wasn't lying.

Back when my mother was buried, the village was superstitious and said someone who'd died a violent death couldn't be laid to rest in the family grave.

At ten years old, I kowtowed to him hundreds of times out in the mountains, until my forehead was a bloody mess.

Only then did he graciously agree to keep my mother's ashes and bury them in the empty scrubland behind the hill.

"The livestream starts at eight sharp. If you won't eat, don't blame me for not being gentle about it."

Dad tossed that out and turned away to adjust the fill lights for the stream.

"In your dreams."

I stumbled, trying to get away, but my dad shoved me straight into the bathroom.

He hummed a little tune as he warmed up the fans in his group chat: "Folks, this son of mine—he insisted on running out into the pouring rain. How could I bear to stop him?"

"Truly, no love runs deeper than a parent's. Perfect timing—tonight during the stream, I hope you'll all help me talk to him."

I curled up in the corner, tears dropping one after another.

If Mom were still alive, if Little Black were still alive...

At seven thirty, the doorbell rang.

Eudora came in carrying skincare products and handed them to my dad with a fawning smile: "Mr. Fox, I came to check on Will."

"Don't worry, he'll agree to the stream."

She checked her makeup in the mirror, then opened the door and looked down at me from above. "Will, look at the state of you—half human, half ghost. You've even lost your job. Why bother?"

"I've already worked it out with your dad. In a little while, you eat the meat like a good boy, and this whole thing is over."

"You can't seriously make all my coworkers think I've got an ungrateful monster for a boyfriend, can you?"

I stared hard at this woman I'd been dating for three years, and felt cold all over.

"Eudora, you're going to help him force me to eat meat?"

"I'm helping you treat your mental illness."

Eudora's face was full of impatience, her tone all accusation: "What father on earth would want to hurt his own son? Don't drag all of us into getting cyberbullied just because you're being oversensitive."

She picked up that plate of pork knuckle with the white fat congealed on it and shoved it into the microwave.

The sound of the timer finishing was exactly like the countdown to the end of my life.

Ding—and a rich aroma instantly filled the whole living room.

Eudora strode over and dragged me onto the sofa.

"Behave yourself for a bit, and after this is over I'll take you somewhere nice to eat, okay?"

A blinding white light snapped onto my face.

The instant the livestream went live, the viewer count shot up like crazy.

In just a few minutes it broke a hundred thousand.

The dense wall of live comments turned into countless sharp knives stabbing at my heart.

Is this the unfilial son? He even looks like an ungrateful monster.

It's disgusting to look at. Who doesn't like meat? I think it's just an excuse.

Watching the comments roll across the screen, my dad's eyes went red, and in an instant he put on that pitiful face.

He picked up a piece of dripping, oily pork knuckle and jammed it hard against my lips.

"Son, I can endure any hardship for your sake. I don't blame you for the stuff online."

He wept until he could barely speak: "Be good, eat this bite of meat, prove you don't look down on your dad, and our family will be just fine, all right?"

The meat juice ran down the corner of my mouth and dripped onto my shirt.

Eudora stood in the camera's blind spot, her face twisted, gritting her teeth as she warned, "Will, just take one bite! So many people are watching—don't be so shameless when you're being handed a way out!"

In that instant, the fear that had pressed on my heart for over a decade suddenly vanished.

To protect my mother's dignity, I had given up everything.

But did backing down do any good?

Did swallowing it all do any good?

An answer was ready to burst out.

Looking at the two vicious faces in front of me, I finally made up my mind.

I stopped struggling and slowly closed my hand over my dad's hand—the one holding the chopsticks.

"Dad," I said quietly, "since you enjoy performing your heaven-moving fatherly love so much."

"Then do you dare tell the viewers exactly why I don't eat meat?"