Chapter One: The Encore Ten Thousand People Forgot

Shen Wu took out the authorization. It had become a blank schedule-change form. The penciled warning was gone. Only a thin red cut remained where Gu Linchuan's cord had touched her. The festival ended at midnight. When the crowd left, the desert reclaimed the grounds, rolling plastic cups through the wind. Shen Wu returned alone to the main stage and found an old cassette beneath the center microphone. On its yellowed label was written: For Shen Zhao. Second Life, First Restoration of the Name. She turned it over. Though she had never seen Gu Linchuan's handwriting, she recognized it. Ah Zhao, if everyone says I was never here, believe only yourself.