Chapter Two: The Person Everyone Forgot

Before opening the door, Shen Yao looked through the peephole. Half the corridor lights were dead. Tang Li stood on the boundary between light and shadow, her hair soaked, a brown archive envelope clutched to her chest. Behind her, the elevator display showed thirteen. The building had only twelve floors. “Are you alone?” Shen asked. “Is there a ghost on this floor?” She glared up at the peephole. “Open the door.” He opened it a crack and pulled her inside. The elevator display silently dropped to one. Tang emptied the envelope onto the table: orphanage rolls, clippings about a fire, household records copied from microfilm. She had persuaded the night clerk at the municipal archive to help her.