“I heard you called the police?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Someone kidnapped me from my shop and locked me up for twelve days.”
“Who kidnapped you?”
“...My parents.”
“You run a flower shop. Why would they kidnap you?”
“They don't think it's a proper job. They think I'm disobedient.”
“What happened after they locked you up?”
“They let me out after I signed a statement. No signature, no release.”
“What did you go through in there?”
“Morning runs, standing at attention, cleaning toilets, writing self-criticism reports. Two hundred push-ups at a time. They beat my back with a rubber baton.”
“Did you fight back?”
“I did. I went on a hunger strike for four days.”
“Did it work?”
“...In the end, I still signed.”
“What did you do after you got out?”
“Called the police. Posted online.”
“And then?”
“My post was throttled. I called everyone I could think of, but nobody did anything. Someone finally saw it later.”
“What about now?”
“I sell flowers online. They're shipped directly from Yunnan.”
“Have your parents tried to contact you?”
“They have. They messaged me to say they made dumplings.”
“Did you go back?”
“No.”
“Do you hate them?”
“...”
“Will you forgive them?”
“I don't want to think about that anymore.”
“What do you want to think about?”
“Running a flower shop. Getting the flowers from Kunming to me, then into my customers' hands. Every bouquet will be fresh.”
“How did it feel the last time you looked back at the door you were locked behind?”
“The door is still there. But I'm not inside anymore.”
