My Family Worships the Me Who Hasn't Been Born Yet

Huaiyin County has an old rule: names must be written correctly at weddings and funerals.

Shen Zhaolin is a funeral home's memorial guestbook copyist. One early morning, he sees a strange name on a funeral guest list: Shen Chengnian, chief mourner.

But this person has not been born yet.

The deceased's family says he will be the most promising person in their family someday. Three o'clock is almost here, but the unborn child still hasn't arrived. Then a line of writing seeps onto the back of the guest list: Substitute mourner, Shen Zhaolin.

Only then does Shen Zhaolin realize that some families in Huaiyin County never worship their ancestors. They worship the future.

They offer up the memories, lifespans, family bonds, and names of the living to descendants who have yet to be born. Those who are sacrificed do not die. They are simply remembered less and less, seen less and less, until they are quietly erased from their families.

Then Shen Zhaolin sees his own name in the family genealogy: Can be erased.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Please do not imitate.