Chapter Two: The Deleted Woman Looked Back at Me

"Ms. Shen," he said in Mayor Lu Bainian's measured cadence, "some performances are canceled for the audience's safety." Cold moved through her. Then Zhou blinked. The crescent receded. He stared at the spilled coffee. "What happened?" Shen Wu took the tape and restored video and left. For the first time, Zhou did not follow. The only all-night convenience store sold her a cheap offline camera. Then she went to an old photography studio called Qiao's, hoping to find someone with a working tape deck. Its window displayed dozens of faded portraits. Gu Linchuan stood in the center photograph. It had been taken forty-six years ago. Miners gathered at a shaft entrance; Gu Linchuan stood in the last row, wearing the same white shirt and red cord, not