Old Things Have Sound

Wen Gu is a restorer of old objects. She has a pair of hands that can "read" things - an old thimble, she can tell that the owner is left-handed and has spent his life holding shoe soles instead of embroidering; a mottled mirror, she can tell who it has illuminated and who it is for. Things that have been damaged by others can be repaired and understood in her hands. Except for her own one. An old pocket watch, the copper case has been worn close to the body for decades, but the movement is brand new and has not elapsed for a second. It was like a sentence that had been cut off in the middle. She had been reading it for many years and could not read a single word. Until the man pushed open the door and came in, put down an old item that had been sentenced to death by the trade, and said, "I don't want to throw it away."