No Blood Ties Beneath the Eaves

The day seventeen-year-old Su Yan was sent to live with the Gu family, plane-tree leaves covered the ground. She stood in the entryway, clutching a faded stuffed toy, and saw Gu Yanci for the first time. Her so-called “older brother” leaned against the stair rail, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up to his forearms, one finger tucked into an open book. His gaze was as cold as a frozen lake.

Under the Gu family’s roof, they were brother and sister who treated each other with “icy” politeness in the eyes of outsiders. He was a top student admitted early to university, the “perfect child” their parents always talked about. She was a quiet foster girl, a presence hidden in the shadows. Then, on a stormy night, she fainted in the bathroom with a fever. He broke down the locked door and carried her, burning with fever, to the hospital. His white T-shirt was soaked with her tears and the rain, like a sponge steeped in secrets.