First rule for Kunlun Station employees: The mountain recognizes people. Whoever it claims, it will send snow for.
Jiang Wan took the job as an observer at the Kunlun Mountain Observation Station because she thought, "I'll save enough for my mother's surgery in three months."
That is, until she opened her dormitory door and saw a little pile of snow on the windowsill.
Outside, the sky was clear. It had been summer in the Kunlun Mountains for forty days, and not a single snowflake had fallen.
Pinned to the wall was a yellowed copy of the Observation Station Rules:
1. The station has six employees. Don't ask who the seventh is, and don't go looking for them.
2. At 1:44 a.m., the radio will turn on by itself. Recite along with the chanting in the broadcast. If you get a word wrong, use your own blood to correct it.
3. The white yak that delivers mail on the mountain carries letters from the dead. If the envelope bears your name, say, "I'm still here," before opening it.
4. If a male coworker at the station smiles at you, and his left cheek moves first, smile back as usual. If his right cheek moves first, immediately lower your head and recite the names of your family members. When you reach the third name, look up. He won't dare look at you anymore.
5. Every Winter Solstice, the mountain speaks and "claims" one person from the station. This year, the mountain has named Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan: "What? I haven't even been here a week!"
And Shen Yu, the station keeper who had guarded the place above the snowline for eight years without ever coming down the mountain, handed her a page torn from an old rulebook and spoke softly:
"Don't be afraid. Eight years ago, the person the mountain wanted went up in my place."
"This year, I'll teach you how to trade your life back."
