Paper Work

The last paper-making shop in Changming Lane has a red piece of paper taped on the door: White things come uninvited. Shen Zhibai was originally a painter. In the early morning of the day after my grandfather's first birthday, someone knocked on the door three times. There was a white cloth bag at the door. Inside the bag was ridiculously thick wages, and a note: I want it tomorrow. Grandpa left behind a thread-bound book with seventy-three pages. The first seventy-two pages record his life, and the last page contains only three words - Shen Changming. There is a line of small words on the back of the booklet: I will teach you the rules for dotting the eyes, and you have to do it. There are only three rules in this business: don't make a point on paper, don't hurt yourself when you live, and don't live up to the time of night. Grandpa himself committed the third crime. So Shen Zhibai took his first order: to make a running paper horse for a young man who died three years ago. He does not overdo his job, nor does he take revenge. He only finishes the unfinished words for others. The price is - every time he clicks his eyes, he forgets one thing. The first thing he forgets are those happy things. The last page of this booklet is still empty. This novel and its characters are purely fictitious. Any similarity is purely coincidental and should not be imitated.