I Handle After-Sales for Urban Legends

At night, only one light remains on in the old shopping mall, down on the second basement level. The stairwell is damp, and the words “May everything you seek find its way back to you” have begun to wrinkle on the wall. Wu Yanzhou circles around twice before finding the Wish Fulfillment Customer Service Center.

He took the job for the night-shift allowance. His previous employer still owed him wages, and for now, all he wanted was to keep this new job steady, at least until the end of the month. In the reception room, a shredder is processing a stack of old documents that have piled up.

On his very first night shift, Wu Yanzhou spots his mother’s name among the papers marked for destruction.

The paper has yellowed, and a brown water stain spreads from its lower-right corner. The three characters Xu Wanning sit along the edge of the stain, the final vertical stroke curling up slightly. She wrote market vendors’ IOUs the same way, as if, after saying what she had to say, she still needed to turn back and add one more reminder.

The paper is sliding into the shredder.

Wu Yanzhou reaches out and grabs the half sticking out, but the gears have hold of it. He doesn’t have time to look for the switch, so he kicks open the cabinet door with his knee and yanks out the plug. The machine gives a muffled thump and finally stops.

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