The Years I Worked for the Dead

Li Si, a menial worker at a funeral home, can hear the dead speak. The dead can make deals with him, offering him the skills they mastered in life if he gets the job done. But every bargain carries a price: someone’s life. Jiang the Tailor wants only a needle in his hand, and offers to teach Li Si exquisite needlework. Xu Wancheng, the owner of a rice shop, lies dead in the morgue and promises to teach him how to slip out of restraints and escape. In exchange, Li Si must sneak into the mansion and burn the ledgers. When Li Si lifts a straw mat, he finds a torn page tucked into a dead servant’s sleeve. On it, he sees his own name, along with a deed of indenture signed by Old He, the funeral home’s missing manager. The dead haggle; the living break their promises. The price was marked on every deal from the very beginning.