Chapter Two: Three Million for an Old Mirror

“Someone searched my stall last night,” the old man said. “They took the tin box and ignored the cash. What did you buy for fifty?” “Trouble.” “Trouble can be real or fake.” Han pushed over the mirror. “Guess this.” Coiled birds covered its back, and black dirt packed the cracks. Similar replicas sold three for a hundred. Chenzhou touched the rim. [HIGH-DENSITY MEMORY STRATA DETECTED. ESTIMATED FULL READ: 28,000–71,000 WORDS.] He requested only the last time someone had hidden it. In 1937, an antiques dealer buried the mirror beneath temple tiles while artillery thundered outside. Earlier, a Qing official scraped sealing wax from a compartment in its back and removed half a salt ledger.