Chapter Two: The Deleted Woman Looked Back at Me

a day younger. Beside him was not the black-coated singer but Shen Wu—or a woman with Shen Wu's face, identified as Shen Zhao. The studio door opened from within. An old woman with clouded eyes said, "You are twenty-nine years late." "Do you know me?" "I know the names you have used." Granny Qiao let her enter. "Names are more reliable than faces. A face can be lent. A name cannot, unless you sign it away." Portraits covered the walls. The same faces appeared in different decades under different names—mother in one, son in another, mayor in a third. Granny Qiao removed Gu Linchuan's picture. On its back were two paired entries: Gu Ye—Gu Linchuan. Shen Zhao—Shen Wu. "Who are they?"