Storm on the Page

"That's what they've always wanted." "And you're still going to sign?" Lu Chen did not answer immediately. He stood by the frame of the door. The evening light slanted in, stretching his shadow long, as if it were trying to reach deeper into the past. After a while he said, "If I don't sign, they'll cut water and power first. If I sign, at least we buy some time." Xu Zhixia understood what he meant. Reality was never divided only by right and wrong. It was also divided by what could keep breathing. But she also knew that once a place accepted "temporary preservation," everyone would be urged to step back, then step back again, until only a hollow stage remained.