Chapter One: Two Characters at Midnight

Pedestrians froze, then raised their phones together. Someone screamed that the rain was going backward. The words seemed to grant permission. Water began lifting from cracks, gutters, and clothing against gravity. Gu Yan's shirt dried instantly. The droplets on his cardboard box did not move. So it was not all water. He retreated under a convenience-store awning and began filming. The phenomenon occupied a hundred and twenty meters along the east side of South Huai Road. Its border was ruler-straight and matched an old drainage zone. Water was not defying gravity. Underground compressed air and precisely timed sprinkler pumps were driving it upward. In darkness and heavy rain, the effect merely looked impossible.