On registration day, all nine entries on Xu Wugui's three-year record had been faded to gray on the public notice board. The reason column had been filled in with "Source in doubt," yet the page bore a September batch number and was dated October 17. Registrar Shen handed him a "No Objections" form and pressured him to sign. Xu pointed out each discrepancy: the old page had been printed in advance, the reason had been added later, and the clerk's seal had been pressed outside its box. Citing Rule Seven, he forced them to add the words "Pending verification." After the hall emptied, he pressed his palm against the page's footnote and felt a flattened ridge that had been filled in again. Half an inch lower, he felt something cold. There were words underneath. Was that the mark left three years ago by his older sister, Xu Jiansu? What were the people who had faded the page trying to cover up?
