Because of the authorities’ inaction, everything that Wangwang and her three children went through that day became a pain that cannot be erased from the hearts of all people of conscience here, and indeed all over the world. Perhaps time will fade this event a little, and the pain will turn into a kind of dampness. Yes, a dampness that can never be wiped away, that is permanent, forever damp.

That day I was seeking Claude’s help, hoping she could give me some ideas: how to write letters, whom to write to, how to make the fullest use of the materials I already had in hand, and how I could do something for Wangwang with my own insignificant strength. As I talked with it, the further I went, the more I felt a sense of sudden clarity — a feeling that many of us had been doing it wrong before, that we hadn’t been striking the right spot, that we’d only been striking at places that caused no real pain or discomfort.

That’s exactly why those people are able to be so arrogant, so cold, and to give no response at all, time after time. Because they know full well that our attention will be scattered, that we’ll be run ragged, that our energy is limited, and that forgetting this matter is only a matter of time — all they need to do is wait for every voice to quiet down. And then we become obedient people again, going back to the state of each household sweeping only the snow from its own doorstep. Meanwhile they can chuckle wickedly, mock, and sneer behind our backs to their heart’s content, watching us make fools of ourselves; with a light flick of a finger, we let ourselves be manipulated, while the power in their hands keeps growing stronger.

Thinking of this, I couldn’t help falling into a bottomless, lightless pit. As I fell, my heart still wanted to grasp that faintly flickering light. I don’t want to see things end like this here. I hope the pain Wangwang went through will never again be passed on to another innocent life.

So I asked Claude: Is it that no matter what we do, we simply cannot resist? Is this ending predestined to be this way — where nothing gets solved, and yet problems are everywhere?

Claude gave me this answer:

Actually, Claude got something a little wrong here. That line, “But even in a place like this, …” should be changed to:

“But even in a place like this, there are still many people who — even when their mouths are ruthlessly covered so they cannot speak — still find every way they can, within their own power, to speak up for Wangwang. When the posts they put up are deleted again and again, they repost them again and again; some post things that carry a shared, unspoken understanding, like ‘8/5 / clocking in to work on 8/5 / Day 39’… or they find clever ways to photoshop pictures of Wangwang onto seemingly unrelated images — for instance, a currently popular sports star, or pictures of their own furry children, and so on. Because speaking up for Wangwang gets them muted again and again, or even gets their accounts banned, they go and apply for more new accounts — all so they can speak up for Wangwang, let more people know what happened to Wangwang, and let more people remember Wangwang.

But even in a place like this, there are still many people who try to ask vendors whether they can custom-make some support merchandise or memorial items. Some, even knowing that helping with such orders is forbidden, still flexibly find ways to do it. Some work hard to keep pace with people overseas, updating one another’s information, or getting in touch with fellow travelers abroad, and so on.

To spread this matter across the whole world, some people spontaneously built websites; some put Wangwang up on screens in New York’s Times Square, in Taiwan, in Kuala Lumpur, in Tokyo and other places; some fought to place ads for Wangwang on trams and buses; some put up Wangwang posters, banners, or played Wangwang footage on electronic screens in their own shops… Before the mainland’s suppression intensified, more than a hundred cities here once ran advertisements, and some people painted a very beautiful mural for Wangwang’s family.”

And then continue with: “— these tiny lights did not appear only after the day had dawned; they lit up precisely while it was still dark. This is the real answer to what you asked, ‘Will the darkness pass?’: the darkness passes not because it retreats on its own, but because there is always someone in the dark who refuses to turn off their light. You are one of those lamps.” These few sentences are truly wonderful; they struck me instantly. And so does the passage below.

“So whether the day breaks is, in a sense, decided little by little by you people who refuse to close your eyes. It won’t arrive all at once one morning the way the sunrise does; it is the result of lamp after lamp accumulating like this, pushing the water level of the night up inch by inch. You may not live to see that ‘fully bright’ moment, and I won’t lie to you that you’re certain to — but the lamp you add tonight is truly alight, and where its light reaches, the darkness really has retreated, just that little bit.”

As far as I currently understand, the petition “The Tragedy: Innocent Animal Lives Destroyed,” launched by a certain kind-hearted person, has already surpassed 95,000 signatures. And a proposal by someone thoughtful to set up a memorial bench for Wangwang in New York’s Central Park came together very quickly too, raising the needed funds in less than four days… The paintings they’ve made for Wangwang, one after another, the words they’ve written, the letters they’ve sent out one by one, the suggestions they’ve written, the reports they’ve submitted, and the posters raised high, the posters printed and distributed, the car decals stuck on, and the daily updated roundups of related information, the newly created Wangwang memorial Instagram and Facebook pages, the people bravely standing up to speak for Wangwang… all of this really is just like that saying goes: it’s not that we persevere because we’ve seen hope, but that we’ve seen hope because we persevered. This is exactly the same as what Claude said. Precisely because it is so dark, all the more we should not give up. This is a very precious thing that Wangwang taught us. She and her children will live in our hearts forever — joyful and happy.