Everyone in the village says Chen He’s father borrowed money and never paid it back.
Chen He knows that if two more people say it, it will become true.
He runs a little shop at the village entrance, selling salt and matches, and writes down every word the villagers say, one sentence at a time. The first half of his notebook records debts: seven households, 430 yuan. The second half records names: 317 people in the village who remember him.
He relies on the saying, “If three people believe it, it becomes true,” to do favors for people one by one, charging thirty yuan each and slowly paying off the debt.
The price is that every time he makes something come true, one person begins to forget him.
The number in his notebook grows smaller by the day.
He isn’t afraid of paying off the debt. He’s afraid that when it’s finally paid, no one will remember who paid it.
The Passionate Years with My Brothers
The Wandering Dragon of the Underworld
Reborn in the 1990s: Don't Drive Tomorrow