Chapter Three: Beyond the Bleed

That afternoon, Gu Yan went home. His sister opened the door only four inches. Gu Lan held the knife she used for photograph restoration. “You say you’re my brother. Prove it.” He told her about the rain on the day of their father’s funeral, the broken tooth she had hidden in a biscuit tin at twelve, and how their mother split the first dumpling every Lunar New Year. Suspicion in Gu Lan’s eyes turned to fear. “Anyone could investigate those things.” “There’s a comma-shaped mole behind your left shoulder. When we were children, you told me it was ink nobody cleaned off before you were born.” The knife lowered. She did not recognize him, but she let him in. A dozen family albums covered her worktable.