On the weekend, I had an appointment with my girlfriend, Ling, to visit her parents at their home. Ling looked so much like a certain celebrity from the film and television industry that I actually thought she was that person when I first saw her.

　　Actually, this visit to Ling's parents didn't make much of a difference in a practical sense. Ling and I had been living together for over two years.

　　This trip to her place was more of a symbolic gesture. No matter how her parents viewed me or whether they approved of our relationship, we were dead set on being together.

　　I was driving a rented car, winding around the mountain road circle after circle.

　　I had actually thought about driving a police car. It would've been so impressive and cool. But after the implementation of the national "Eight-Point Regulation," a lot of things just couldn't be done anymore. Even my little thought of trying to take advantage of public resources was quickly squashed due to all the strict crackdowns and warnings everywhere.

　　Even with my excellent driving skills, this steep mountain road made me break out in a sweat. Ling, on the other hand, was clearly used to such mountain paths and didn't seem the least bit scared.

　　Seeing that I was scared, Ling asked me to pull the car over and said, "Let me tell you a story. It's about a man who heard that his mother was seriously ill. He drove through the night with his wife and son to rush back to their hometown. There was a particularly steep and dangerous section of the mountain road called the Twelve Turns. Cars often crashed and people lost their lives there. When this man reached that spot, he was terrified and didn't dare to drive through.

　　A passing driver kindly offered to take his wife and son across. That way, even if something happened to him while driving, not the whole family would perish. But his wife refused to get into the other driver's car. Instead, she encouraged her husband, saying, 'You drive boldly. Our lives are in your hands.'

　　The man took a deep breath and steadily drove the car through the Twelve Turns. But surprisingly, the driver who had offered to help ended up driving his car off the cliff. When the man walked back to check, he realized that he had actually driven across a nearly impassable cliff."

　　"Honey, are you trying to tell me that love can conquer all?"

　　"You're a quick learner!" Ling patted my shoulder and said, "Officer Wang, I believe you're a responsible man. And a responsible man won't let anything happen to his woman."

　　Ling's encouragement filled me with love and confidence. I gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands and drove us through that steep mountain road.

　　Finally, we arrived at the mountain village where Ling's home was. We could only park the car at the village entrance and then carried large bags full of gifts as we walked into the village.

　　It was rare for a car to come to the mountain village, so it immediately attracted a crowd of curious children and some idle adults.

　　I offered cigarettes and candies to everyone I met, as Ling had instructed me. Whether I was rich or poor, as a new son-in-law visiting for the first time, I couldn't lose face.

　　In fact, all these gifts I had brought were prepared by Ling in advance. She was truly a rare and wonderful girl, and I had put in a tremendous amount of effort to win her over.

　　"Dad! Mom!" Ling called out as soon as she saw a pair of elderly people approaching from the opposite direction.

　　I also greeted them warmly, saying, "Uncle—"

　　But just as I uttered that single word, it felt as if an invisible hand had gripped my throat. I was so shocked that I almost screamed.

　　Balding, with a ruddy, pockmarked nose and a blue mark beside it, Ling's father looked exactly like the old man I had once seen driving a Passat. Of course, I knew that the elderly man in front of me could never be the same as the one driving the Passat. Even selling him wouldn't fetch the price of a Passat.

　　For some reason, I didn't have a good first impression of Ling's father. How could such an ugly old man have such a beautiful daughter like Ling?

　　Looking at Ling's mother, I could tell she had been a great beauty in her youth. Ling had clearly inherited her mother's excellent genes.

　　"Jay!" My girlfriend chided me.

　　I snapped back to reality and tried to hide my embarrassment, quickly saying, "Uncle, Aunt, my name is Wang Jie. I'm Ling's boyfriend, and I've come to visit you today!"

　　"Good, good, good!" The two kind-hearted elderly people said repeatedly.

　　Ling, who hadn't been home for months, had endless things to talk about with her mother. Her father, on the other hand, stayed by my side and took my luggage from me. I偷偷 (sneakily) glanced at him and couldn't help but think that he looked exactly like the old man I had seen before, with no difference in height, weight, or build.

　　"Uncle, I came in a hurry and didn't bring anything for Ling's uncles and aunts!"

　　"Lingling doesn't have any uncles or aunts. Like Lingling, I'm the only child in the family—"

　　Although Ling had already told me that her father had no siblings, I still wanted to confirm it from the old man's own mouth. The result only made me even more alarmed. I really couldn't understand why the person I had seen that night looked exactly like Ling's father.

　　I was sure I hadn't been mistaken, as I hadn't had much to drink. Even if I had been mistaken, why would the old man I saw look exactly like Ling's father, whom I had never met before?

　　Ling's house was small, so I had to share a bed with her father that night. I couldn't fall asleep no matter what, as my mind kept going over the same question: How could there be two people in the world who looked exactly the same? Even twins had differences. Moreover, twins who looked similar when they were young tended to look more different as they grew older because of the accumulation of different life experiences, which gradually revealed their differences.

　　Take Ling's father, for example. Even if he had a twin brother and they looked exactly the same, as they grew older and experienced different things in life, his brother couldn't possibly be bald in the same spot as Ling's father. Even if his brother was also bald, he couldn't possibly have the same bald spot.

　　Furthermore, the blue marks beside their ruddy, pockmarked noses were exactly the same, both the size of a copper coin. It was truly incredible!