Disappearing Fingerprints

Wang Hao stared at the reminder notice on the computer screen, and the cigarette butts in the ashtray had piled up into a small mound. "The rent will be increased by 300, and the property fee will be increased by 50..." He cursed in a low voice and put out half of his cigarette in the pile of cigarette butts. As a non-staff file organizer at the Municipal Public Security Bureau, his salary is just enough to make ends meet, and the landlord is almost evicting him from the single room on the top floor of this urban village. The rain outside the window hit the iron shed, making a monotonous crackling sound, like a death knell for his wallet.