The door was locked again. This time, without waiting for the sound of footsteps to leave, Ding Yiyi turned around. She strode under the window and bathed in the warm winter sunshine. Only then did she feel alive again.

She gasped heavily, and the calmness she had just had ceased to exist. She unconsciously reached out and buckled the yellow wallpaper on the wall, hoping to find a place to vent her sadness.

She stood for a long time until she felt an irrepressible ache all over her body. Then she moved the chair under the windowsill. She didn't want to leave the warmth.

The dust on the chair fluttered...