Chapter Two: Everyone Knew My Ex-Girlfriend

He did not go immediately. First he designed a test. He switched off an old phone and sealed it in the microwave, then wrote ten private facts on paper: his father died in a construction accident; his mother hated cilantro; the scar on his left knee came from climbing a wall at twelve. Then he searched Gu Changqing again. An overseas business-school alumni page appeared. Gu was the donor. Lin had been his student. The number 07 faded. The paper remained inside the microwave, but two facts had changed. His father had died of a heart attack. The scar came from an equestrian competition. On video, his mother insisted his father had never worked construction. Tang produced a clipping of Lin winning a riding trophy.