Around 5 PM, Ning Chu, having been playing on her computer in the bedroom, made her way to the living room to wait.

She curled up on the couch, covering herself with a blanket, mindlessly scrolling through her phone.

The weather was getting colder by the day.

Without heating, even indoors, her face would turn red from the chill. Despite wearing thick woolen socks, her feet remained icy cold.

Her ears and toes had already become red and swollen from frostbite, with her toes looking almost like carrots.

The old man, her mother’s boyfriend, came into the living room, carrying …