Heat Returning to the Lane

Surveying and relocation talks must be finished within ninety days." Xu Zhixia read the notice. The word relocation looked like a pair of cold nails driven into her eyes. She had grown up here and knew that in Hawthorn Street, consultation never meant consultation. The outcome was usually written elsewhere long before the residents were ever invited to speak. She looked up at the heavy cinema door. "What are you going to do?" Lu Chen was silent for a long time before answering. "Keep the hall open for now." "And then?" "Then see how long it can stay open." Xu Zhixia almost smiled, but didn't. She suddenly understood why she had come back in this summer heat.