The Mirror I Bought for Thirty Yuan Can Steal Ten Years of Your Life

Chen Jiu is crouching in a secondhand market when he picks up a broken mirror for thirty yuan. The seller claims it’s been in his family for generations. The moment Chen touches it, someone else’s final memories explode in his mind. The mirror can force people to tell the truth, but the price is years off your life. Its previous owner was a swindler who spent his whole life using it to con people, until it cost him his life. Chen Jiu grins. Other people appraise antiques by checking whether they’re real; he appraises them by digging up their secrets. Who owned an item, what dark history it holds: all of it floods his mind with a single touch. It’s more thrilling than reading gossip rags. On his first job, he lays bare the seller’s years of dirty dealings right in front of the auction house manager. The seller is furious, his face turning green, but still has to force a smile. The manager sums it up in one sentence: “There’s a character in this business now.” Only then does Chen Jiu realize that touching things has landed him in deep trouble. Someone is using him as bait, and when he tries to run, he finds the shoes are already on his feet and won’t come off. Life is like getting sand in your pants: no matter how much you shake, you can’t get it all out. What else can he do? He might as well take another look first. This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any similarities are purely coincidental. Do not imitate.