Chapter Two: The Bloodstained Wedding Ring

The next morning, Shen Yan spent his last six hundred yuan on his first suit. It was not for the wedding. It was to enter the sales center where Lin Wanqing worked. A twenty-yuan watch could show him a murder, but it could not help him explain to a stranger that he had found her severed wedding ring in the future. Wanqing wore a beige uniform and no ring. She was younger than in the vision, with bruised shadows beneath her eyes. “Are you looking for a marital home, Mr. Shen?” “I'm looking for you.” He set the ring down. Her smile froze. She seized it, checked the engraving, then dropped it as though burned. “Where did you get this?” “The Old Goods Market. Do you recognize it?” “No.”