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"Yes, he is a pervert," Li Liangcai's Father said with a laugh. "A pervert like that, even if he’s dead, it’s still a rather normal thing, right? Haha, let’s just leave it at that. When can we move the body?"
With a smile on his face, he seemed to be comforting himself. It was as if by speaking ill of his son before anyone else could, he could ease his own heart. Indeed, people tend to view those with blemishes in their lives through a different lens, allowing themselves not to feel so much sympathy or sadness for them.
But Jiang He was never one to act on emotion; he sensed something was off about the words.
Old Shao also picked up on it and spoke up, "Not long ago, you injured your own son severely, which is why Li Liangcai ended up in the hospital. But why did you do that? Why did you lay such heavy hands on your own son?"
Li Liangcai's Father sighed heavily before responding, "Death is paramount. I shouldn’t have done this, but I feel that some things need to be talked about; otherwise, my heart will feel blocked. Both his mother and I are from the village and don’t understand many things. I need you all to judge whether I’ve gone too far."
There was undoubtedly a story behind this, but the bustling hall was not the place for such discussions.
After searching around, they finally settled in the morgue. While not an ideal place for conversation, it was quiet, cool, and free from interruptions.
Li Liangcai's body lay nearby, covered with a white cloth, vaguely revealing a human shape. A body without any cause of death controversy didn’t require an autopsy; it only needed stitching up. This task wasn’t for doctors or forensic experts; when the body arrived at the funeral home, makeup artists would prepare it for a dignified departure from this world.
However, not everyone could leave this world with dignity—especially someone like Li Liangcai who had suffered severe injuries. Indeed, while some appeared unscathed on the outside, their insides were already riddled with wounds.
When Li Liangcai's Father referred to him as a pervert in front of his body, everyone understood that even when Li Liangcai was alive, his heart had long been filled with scars.
"He was like a girl but trapped in a boy's body," Li Father said to the crowd after a long pause.
With those words spoken, Li Father completely let down his guard and poured out the most difficult thoughts from his heart: "Liang Cai was often no different from other children. He just had a shy personality and didn’t talk much; he wasn’t mischievous like other boys."
"At that time, I thought Liang Cai was different in a good way—able to calm down and focus. I believed that being able to concentrate meant he would be good material for school. Sure enough, once he started school, he ranked first in class year after year, bringing glory to both of us. But during that time, I always felt something was off about Liang Cai; I just couldn’t pinpoint what it was."
"Finally one day, when I saw other kids playing with remote-controlled cars and yo-yos, I realized what was wrong. Liang Cai never played with those typical boy toys; he preferred girls' toys instead—he liked playing house and dressing up."
"I started paying close attention to Liang Cai’s actions. One day when I took half a day off work instead of fixing cars and returned home early. When Liang Cai came back from school at noon without knowing I was there—on that hot summer day—he took off his outer clothes. But when he removed them, I saw him wearing a woman's..."
At this point, Li Father slapped his forehead heavily: "I saw him wearing a woman's bra. My heart sank immediately; I quietly left the house without saying anything to him. Later on, I told my wife about it; she didn’t know what to do either—she just said we should wait until he took exams and entered middle school."
"After that, I kept observing Liang Cai closely. Just like before, every time he went to school, he would wear women's clothing underneath before putting on his outer jacket. Eventually, my wife even caught him wearing a dress in his room."
Li Father was increasingly angry, unable to help but pound on the wall. "You're a boy, yet you act like a girl. Even in middle school, I noticed he never brought any male friends home, always hanging out with a group of girls. If it were another child, I might worry he was dating someone, but with Liang Cai, when he's with those girls, I feel like he’s one of them."
"I think if this continues, there will be problems sooner or later, but I didn't know how to talk to him about it. So, I had my partner chat with him. And guess what happened?"
"What?" Xu Yiman asked.
Li Father gritted his teeth and said, "The less we asked, the better. When he did ask, it only made things worse. He told his mother that he actually felt like a girl and didn't want to be a boy; he believed he was a girl at heart. He even mentioned wanting to cut off his private parts multiple times and felt disgusted every time he used the bathroom."
"Do you know how heartbreaking it is to hear such words from your own son? He is clearly a boy with male anatomy, yet insists he's a girl. The more his mother tried to reason with him, the more stubborn he became. He always played with those unruly girls who didn't study well."
"There’s this wealthy girl named Ge Dongyun who often invites Liang Cai to play. But look at her background—she could do nothing for the rest of her life and still be taken care of by her family. What about Liang Cai? Is he going to end up doing hard labor like us when he grows up?"
Old Shao asked, "Is that kid named Ge Dongyun?"
"Yes," Li Father replied. "I can't control other people's children, but can I not manage my own? For years I've endured this. I know he's different from others; how can I explain this to anyone? When the time comes for marriage, how am I supposed to have grandchildren?"
"The Li family has been passed down for three generations; it cannot end with me! But guess what? He even wants to go to the hospital for gender reassignment surgery because he wants to be himself. What nonsense is that? What does it mean to be yourself? You have to conform; that's fate!"
"If you want to be a man, then be a man; if you want to be a woman, then be a woman!" Li Father gritted his teeth. "How can you go against nature? How can he change from a man into a woman? What will others think of him? What will they think of me and our family?"
"That night, I finally lost my temper. I called him in front of me and made him kneel down. I told him he was born a man—he was one before, is one now, and will always be one. He will marry a woman and have children; that’s our responsibility as humans, right?"
The project team members were silent. This kind of union for the purpose of reproduction had been passed down for thousands of years until now when some could stand up against such views on marriage and relationships. Yet they understood that people with differing values could never reach an agreement; Li Father represented the mindset of the vast majority of the older generation.
Seeing no one respond, Li Father continued, "But guess what? He insists he's not a man; he just feels like he was born in the wrong body and should have been a girl. Surgery could make him truly himself. He doesn't even like women; he won't marry or have children—he just wants to play with girls but live with boys."
"Listen to this nonsense! Where in this world do men live with men or women with women? If everyone turned out like this, humanity would go extinct! This is heresy—it's disgusting! I couldn't take it anymore and hit him with a stick."
At this point, Li Father sighed again. "Every time I hit him with that stick, I'd ask him if he was a boy or a girl. And every time, he'd answer that he was a girl."
Everyone could imagine that scene.
Li Liangcai knelt before his father while his father stood over him holding a stick as thick as a rolling pin. Li Father, filled with frustration and helplessness, felt anger and despair all at once; in that moment, he might have even thought that perhaps it would be easier to just beat him to death.
He had been pushed to the edge of a cliff by anger, waiting for his son to say, "I am a man," to coax him back down.
But the stubborn Li Liangcai would never back down. He stood firm, filled with conviction: "I am a woman."
That night, Li Liangcai's father gave him a severe beating. He struck him until his head was bloodied and he rolled on the ground in pain. Li Mother, who had been watching from the side, could no longer bear it. Although she hoped her son could become "normal," Li Liangcai was the flesh of her flesh, and she cried as she blocked Li Father's path. Only then did they take Li Liangcai to the hospital.
The couple had planned to wait until Li Liangcai was discharged before discussing their future, but no one expected that he would never leave the hospital again.
Li Father sighed deeply, leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the ceiling: "It's too late for anything now; he's already dead. He's already dead."
Li Father no longer wanted to question who was right or wrong because often there was no clear distinction between the two. He simply expressed what he felt, perhaps for everyone to hear, or maybe even for the lifeless body of Li Liangcai.
Was Li Liangcai wrong? Was Li Father's judgment wrong?
No one knew.
"Can I see Li Liangcai's bedroom?" Old Shao asked.
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