Chapter Three: She Came Out of the Photograph

She had Wen Qi's face. By the time Tang returned, the woman was gone. Traffic cameras had captured only overexposed light, but three blurred phone videos were online. “Wen Qi Barefoot and Raving at Midnight” received ten thousand reposts in minutes. Obsidian PR called the footage synthetic and ordered Wen to livestream a denial. Freshly made up, Wen smiled into a camera and said she had been inside the company preparing for a new film, asking viewers not to circulate false media. From behind the fill light, Jianwei watched two versions of her: one impeccable inside the lens, the other barefoot among cars in Jianwei's mind. She understood that whom the public believed might matter more than who possessed flesh.