The next morning, Yulan was still thinking about the photograph.
He had barely slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same face.
A young man standing beside his mother.
Smiling as though nothing in the world could possibly go wrong.
And beneath the photograph:
He didn't die when they said he did.
Yulan arrived downstairs before his father.
The black document case sat beneath the counter.
He had not opened the wooden box yet.
Partly because he was afraid of what was inside.
Partly because he wanted Li Wei there.
He was still staring at the case when the shop door opened.
Li Wei stepped inside.
Yulan looked up.
"You came early."
"I couldn't sleep."
"Neither could I."
Li Wei placed a small paper bag on the counter.
"Breakfast."
Yulan looked inside.
Two steamed buns.
"You bought these?"
"I did."
"You're learning."
"I've always known how to buy food."
"You once brought me tea without sugar."
"You drank it."
"I was being polite."
Li Wei smiled.
Yulan looked at him for a moment longer than necessary.
Then he reached across the counter and fixed the collar of Li Wei's coat.
"You look tired."
"So do you."
"Don't copy me."
"I wasn't."
Yulan smiled.
For a few seconds, the previous night returned between them.
The quiet kiss.
Li Wei's hand around his.
The promise he had carefully refused to make too large.
Then Yulan's expression changed.
"The box."
Li Wei nodded.
"Let's open it."
They went upstairs.
The wooden box was small enough to fit in Yulan's palm.
There was no lock.
Inside was a single bundle of papers tied with red thread.
Yulan untied it.
The first page was an old employment record.
Zhou Ren — Accountant, Seventh River Shipping Office.
Li Wei leaned closer.
"That's him."
Yulan read the next line.
Declared deceased: 12 May, seventeen years ago.
His eyebrows drew together.
"The fire was in June."
Li Wei looked at him.
"So he supposedly died before it."
Yulan turned the page.
There was another document.
A death certificate.
Then another.
A shipping transfer.
Then another.
An identification record.
All of them carried the same name.
But the dates didn't match.
Yulan frowned.
"This doesn't make sense."
Li Wei took the papers.
"He was declared dead twice."
"Why?"
"Look."
He pointed to the bottom of the second death certificate.
A signature.
Yulan recognized it.
His father's.
He stared at it.
"My father signed this?"
Li Wei's expression became serious.
"Apparently."
The bedroom door opened.
Guoren stepped inside.
He saw the papers.
Then stopped.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Yulan slowly held up the document.
"Dad."
Guoren didn't take it.
"Where did you get that?"
"From Mom's case."
His father sat down.
Yulan waited.
"Who was Zhou Ren?"
Guoren looked at the floor.
"He worked with your mother."
"Why did you sign his death certificate?"
"I didn't."
Yulan held it out.
"That's your signature."
Guoren finally looked at the page.
His face went pale.
"No."
Li Wei stepped closer.
"You're saying it's forged?"
Guoren nodded.
"I never signed this."
Yulan stared at him.
"Then someone forged your name."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Guoren didn't answer.
Li Wei studied the document.
"Because whoever forged it wanted it to look like you knew he was dead."
Guoren looked at him.
"That is what they wanted."
Yulan sat beside his father.
"Did Mom know?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"She found out after the first death certificate."
"What did she do?"
Guoren's eyes moved toward the black case.
"She started looking for him."
Yulan's voice dropped.
"That's why she went to Warehouse Nine."
Guoren nodded.
"She believed Zhou Ren was alive."
"And was he?"
Guoren looked at him.
"I don't know."
Yulan stared.
"You don't know?"
"I never found him."
Li Wei folded the documents.
"Then who did?"
Guoren didn't answer.
A knock sounded downstairs.
Chen Hao's voice followed.
"Uncle Zhang?"
Yulan looked at Li Wei.
"Did you tell him to come?"
"No."
They went downstairs.
Chen Hao was standing behind the counter with an expression Yulan had never seen on him before.
Serious.
He held a folded newspaper.
"I found something."
Yulan took it.
The headline was old.
SHIPPING ACCOUNTANT KILLED IN RIVER ACCIDENT
The date was twenty years ago.
Yulan looked at Li Wei.
"Twenty years?"
Chen Hao nodded.
"That's why I came."
He pointed to the photograph beneath the headline.
The photograph was grainy.
But the face was unmistakable.
Zhou Ren.
Only older.
Standing beside a woman outside a railway station.
The caption beneath it read:
Zhou Ren, believed dead in river accident, reportedly seen alive years later.
Yulan's heart began beating faster.
"When was this published?"
"Three years ago."
"Three years ago?"
Chen Hao nodded.
"Someone sent it to the newspaper anonymously."
Li Wei took the newspaper.
"Who?"
Chen Hao shook his head.
"They couldn't find out."
Yulan stared at the photograph.
Then something caught his attention.
Behind Zhou Ren was a sign.
A station name.
He read it aloud.
"Shanghai South."
Li Wei went still.
Yulan looked at him.
"What?"
"My family has an office there."
Chen Hao frowned.
"Is that important?"
Li Wei folded the newspaper.
"It might be."
Yulan reached for his hand beneath the counter.
Li Wei looked at him.
Their fingers touched.
Neither pulled away.
Not this time.
Chen Hao noticed.
He looked at their hands.
Then at their faces.
Then slowly smiled.
"Oh."
Yulan immediately let go.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Chen Hao picked up one of the buns from the paper bag.
"You two should really learn to be less obvious."
Li Wei stared at him.
Yulan froze.
Chen Hao took a bite.
"I've known for weeks."
Silence.
He chewed.
Swallowed.
Then added,
"Honestly, I was starting to feel insulted."
Yulan's face turned red.
"Chen Hao."
"What?"
"You knew?"
"Of course."
Li Wei sighed.
"How?"
Chen Hao shrugged.
"You look at each other like idiots."
Yulan covered his face.
Li Wei actually laughed.
For the first time that morning, Guoren smiled too.
It lasted only a moment.
Then he looked toward the newspaper.
"Shanghai."
His voice was quiet.
"That's where your mother went before she died."
Yulan slowly lowered his hands.
"What?"
Guoren looked at him.
"She went to Shanghai three months before the fire."
Li Wei's smile disappeared.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
Guoren looked at his son.
"Because I promised her I wouldn't."
Yulan's voice trembled.
"What did she promise you?"
Guoren looked toward the black document case.
"That if she didn't come back…"
He paused.
"You were never supposed to look for her."
The room fell silent.
Yulan looked at Li Wei.
And this time, neither of them had an answer.