I transmigrated to Shanghai in 1931 and became the lowest-ranking lackey at an antiques shop.
Other people get golden fingers that make them overlords. My golden finger
is a stodgy System, so old-fashioned it practically sheds dust. It teaches me just two words: forge.
Well, that's right up my alley:
Blue-and-white porcelain, jade, bronze tripods: I copy them.
Tomb inscriptions, ancient books, excavation records: I make them up.
In my hands, there's no middle ground between real and fake.
Only later did I discover I wasn't the only one forging things in this era.
The Juntong were putting on an act, the 76th Division were putting on an act, the Japanese were putting on an act. All of Shanghai was acting.
Fine, then let's all act together.
Only they were playing roles. I was rewriting history.
