My 26-Year-Old Policewoman

I looked at Du Xiaoyu and told her to lower her head. Then I slapped her hard across the face.

The blow sent Du Xiaoyu stumbling back a few steps, but she didn't cry. Instead, she came closer again and turned her right cheek toward me. “Hit me again,” she said. I was in a hospital bed when I hit her. As I was about to slap her a second time, the others pulled her away, and a sharp pain suddenly seized my abdomen… I saw a doctor in a white coat rush over to treat me. Through the haze, I also caught sight of a police officer peering in through the doorway…

That is my story: a life worse than death.