Chapter Four: No One Behind the Door

A strip of moisture-sensitive paper, narrow as thread, was hidden inside. When dipped in rainwater from the sill, it revealed four words: CABINET SEVEN, SHELF FOUR. Bai Yi stepped forward. Wanqing raised her camera first. “Thirty million people met you last night, Mr. Bai. Would you like to greet them again?” The recording light was off, but Bai Yi stopped. Chenzhou remembered that. The Night Council did not fear exposed lies. It feared losing the power to edit truth. Shen Man's wardrobe had six compartments, not seven. But Chenzhou remembered visiting the old Lu archive with his mother. Its cabinets were numbered by rainfall, and Number Seven held records of candidates whose status had been “terminated.”