An Ning didn't answer, but Tao Quan didn't need a reply. He began to speak. Beside them, Shen Weidong turned on the recording equipment and began taking written notes.
"Like I said, my father was a closeted gay man who got married to hide it, and my mother was a woman abandoned by her 'one true love'."
"At first, they would argue, but they were still very good to me back then."
"You probably know what happened next. My father's sexual orientation was exposed. My mother became volatile and unbearable, her pent-up resentment making her physically ill. Both of them needed an emotional outlet."
"No one told me why something like that would happen, but I remember my mother smiling. It was the first time I had seen her smile in years."
Tao Quan paused, his gaze calm as he looked at An Ning. "You must be wondering why I didn't fight back, right?"
An Ning nodded.
Tao Quan answered, "Who said I didn't? I just failed, that's all."
