The Memory Manipulator

Chapter IV: Paper Cranes andPocket Watch

Li Wen lived in the "Xin yuan" residential complex south of the ancient town. It was a nine-story building, and her apartment was on the seventh floor. When Lin Mo arrived, two police cars were already parked downstairs, their red and blue lights silently rotating in the mornings.

He took the elevator upstairs. Faded public service advertisements were pasted on the elevator car, featuring a smiling doll holding a sign that read "Harmonious Neighborhood."Lin Mo stared into the doll's eyes—the artist had placed the highlight in the very center of the pupil, making the doll's gaze seem to be directly at you from any angle.

They arrived at the seventh floor. The door to room 701 was ajar, and suppressed sobs could be heard coming from inside. Lin Mo pushed the door open and went in.

The living room was impeccably tidy, almost excessively so. Sofa cushions were arranged by size, and the remote control on the coffee table was at a precise 90-degree angle to the tissue box. Li Wen was curled up in a corner of the sofa, wrapped in a beige wool shawl, her face as pale as paper. A police officer was pouring her hot water.

"Ms. Li," Lin Mo sat down opposite her, his voice low. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Li Wen looked up, her eyes red and swollen. "Around 3 a.m. I couldn't sleep, so I was watching TV in the living room. Suddenly I heard a sound from the balcony, like something scraping against the glass."

Did you go see it?

"I dare not." She clutched her shawl tightly. "My husband is away on a business trip, and I'm alone at home. I quietly walked to the balcony door and peeked out through the curtains… I saw a shadow on the balcony."

What kind of shadow?

"Tall and thin. He had his back to me and was trying to pick up the lock on my balcony locker." Li Wen's voice began to tremble. "He was wearing a dark blue jacket and holding something in his right hand… something that looked like a screwdriver."

Dark blue jacket. Right hand. Again, the right hand.

Lin Mo remained calm: "And then?"

"I was so scared that I backed away and wanted to call the police, but my phone was charging in the bedroom. I crawled back to the bedroom in the dark, and when I got my phone, I heard the sound of the balcony door being opened." Tears streamed down Li Wen's face. "I locked the bedroom door and hid under the bed to call 110. By the time the police arrived, there was no sound outside."

"I checked, and a box of old videotapes is missing from the cabinet. They were all left by my father; he… he liked to film things with old-fashioned cameras." Li Wen bit her lip. "But thestrangest thing is that the thief only took one of them. The label said '1993.8.12-WheatField'."

It's that date again. The day for land acquisition mediation.

"What about the other videotapes?"

"Everything is still here. Only that one plate is missing."

Lin Mo stood up and walked to the balcony. The old-fashioned wrought iron railings were covered in rust. The storage cabinet was a green metal cabinet, its padlock broken and hanging limply. His colleagues from the technical team were extracting fingerprints and shoeprints.

"Team Leader Lin," the technician crouching in front of the cabinet looked up, "the lock was opened with a professional crowbar, very skillfully. But there's something here…"

He handed over an evidence bag. Inside was half a torn piece of paper, its edges yellowed, as if ripped from an old notebook. Several lines of text were written on the paper in blue-black ink, the handwriting almost rigidly neat:

"Appendix B to the Compensation Agreement: Nighttime Construction Records."

August 12, 1993, 22: 00-03:00.

Location: Wheat field in the East District (now west of Chenxi Square).

Reason: Site leveling (Note: Some villagers obstructed the work which has been dealt with).

On-site supervisor: Zhou Guofu.

Security Coordination: Lu Mingyuan (Intern).

Lu Mingyuan.

This name first appeared in a nighttime construction log thirty years ago, listed as "security coordinator." Today, he is the attending physician at the ancient town's only mental health clinic.

Lin Mo stared at the name. On the back of the paper, there was a small, sticky, translucent residue—as if something had been pasted on and then torn off. He looked at it in the light and could vaguely make out a circular mark.

"Tape residue," the technician said. "This page was probably originally pasted into some book."

A book. Lin Mo remembered the" Illustrated Guide to Local Plants" that Chen Jianguo had hadlent him. He reached into his coat pocket; the book was still there.

He went back to the living room, sat down opposite Li Wen, and opened the picture book.He examined it carefully, page by page. When he turned to the chapter on "Poaceae," hestopped.

In the upper right corner of this page, there was a small, inconspicuous area that was slightlydarker in color. Lin Mo gently ran his fingers over it-the paper was slightly wrinkled, as if ithad been soaked in liquid and then dried. He then pasted the back of the shredded paperonto it.

The outline of the tape residue perfectly matched the creases on the book pages.

This page is about barley . Next to it is a hand-drawn illustration: drooping ears of barley,winding ridges along the field. In the corner of the illustration, drawn in very fine pencil, arethree stick figures, hand in hand, standing by the field. A circle is drawn above the head ofone of the stick figures.

"Ms. Li," Lin Mo closed the book, "what did your father, Mr. Li Guohua, do back then?"

Li Wen was stunned for a moment: "He.. he works as an accountant at the constructioncompany in town. The same company that later developed the ancient town."

Did he mention what happened on the night of August 12, 1993?

Li Wen's face suddenly changed. All color drained from her face, even her lips turned ashen."You...how did you know that date?"

"It's written on this piece of paper." Lin Mo pushed the evidence bag in front of her.

Li Wen stared at the paper, her breathing becoming rapid. "My father he never allowedanyone in the family to mention that night. Once, when my younger brother asked, he gotfurious and smashed all of my brother's toys." She closed her eyes. "He only mentioned itonce, when he was drunk… He said, That night, the wheat field was illuminated like daytime.But some things, once the lights are turned off, can never be seen again."

"What is that?"

"He didn't say." Li Wen shook her head, tears welling up again. "But ever since then, he's beensuffering from insomnia. He stays up all night, sitting in the living room watching thosevideotapes. Over and over again."

Lin Mo remained silent. The living room clock ticked away, its sound amplified in theexcessive silence. The pocket watch in his pocket also began to chime, emitting a soft,rhythmic click.

Two timers, two times.

"Ms. Li," he asked finally, "have you watched all the videotapes your father left behind?"

"No," Li Wen's voice was as soft as a whisper. "I wouldn't dare. Before he died, he lockedthose videotapes in a cabinet and threw the key into the river. He said 'Some imagesshouldn't be seen by a second pair of eyes."

Scenes that shouldn't have been seen. Construction at night. Villagers obstructing the work.The matter has been resolved.

Lin Mo stood up: "We will retrieve that videotape as soon as possible. In the meantime, Isuggest you temporarily move to a relative's or friend's house, or we can arrange forsomeone to protect you."

Li Wen nodded, her eyes vacant.

Lin Mo left 701, taking the stairs instead of the elevator. He stopped at the corner windowon the sixth and a half floor and lit a cigarette. Outside, the outline of Chenxi Plaza was faintlyvisible in the morning mist, the spire of the stainless steel sculpture reflecting a cold light.

Lu Mingyuan. A psychologist. His role in coordinating nighttime construction security thirtyyears ago.

The fathers of the three witnesses were all present at the scene that night.

Town mayor Zhou Guofu is dead.

Chen Jianguo became a vegetable.

Li Wen was broken into.

Next up is Zhang Hao.

All the clues point to that night thirty years ago, illuminated by lamplight. They point to along-vanished wheat field and a group of villagers who were "dealt with."

Lin Mo only snapped out of his reverie when the cigarette burned down to his fingertips. Hestubbed it out on the windowsill and was about to leave when his gaze was suddenly drawnto something downstairs-

A man was sitting on a bench in the community garden.

He was wearing a beige trench coat and glasses, with a book open on his lap. He looked upand his eyes met Lin Mo's.

It's Lu Mingyuan.

He smiled slightly at Lin Mo, closed the book, stood up, and walked unhurriedly toward theentrance of the residential area.

Lin Mo rushed down the stairs. When he reached the garden, the bench was empty. On thebench lay a hardcover book.

Lin Mo walked over. It was a hardcover edition of "The Labyrinth of Memory: Trauma andRecovery." Opening the cover, he saw the following words written in pen on the title page:

To Officer Lin: Sometimes, healing requires first opening up new wounds. Is your pocketwatch still keeping accurate time? -Lu Mingyuan

On page 112 of the book, there is a Polaroid photograph.

The photo shows Lin Mo's desk. Case files are spread out on the desk, and a half-foldedpaper crane sits beside it. At the edge of the photo, a man's hand is visible-long, slenderfingers, and a silver-strapped watch on his wrist.

The time of the photo, according to the stamp at the bottom, was yesterday afternoon at16:23

At that time, Lin Mo was in Chen Jianguo.

Lu Mingyuan went into his office.

Lin Mo held the photo tightly, his knuckles turning white. He took out his phone and calledthe bureau's duty room.

"I am Lin Mo. Check who entered my office between four and five o'clock yesterdayafternoon."

"Captain Lin," the officer on duty said hesitantly, "your office… was in use all yesterdayafternoon. Did you forget? You asked Xiao Wang from the technical department to go inand get an old case file, saying you wanted to compare the handwriting."

"Xiao Wang went in?"

"Yes, they went in around 4:10 and came out at 4:25. I have the surveillance footage here."

Lin Mo hung up the phone. Xiao Wang. The young man in the technical department whoalways wore black-rimmed glasses and spoke softly.

He remembered Xiao Wang typing on the keyboard in the conference room yesterday, andthe evidence bag with reflective fibers that he handed over.

I recall that he seemed to be wearing a watch on his wrist.

Lin Mo opened the pocket watch. The bird's beak-shaped scratch was particularly clear inthe morning light.

He turned the photo over. On the back, Lu Mingyuan wrote a line of small characters in thesame neat handwriting:

"The truth is a coin, it has two sides. But most people only want to look at the side withthe year on it."

The sound of police sirens came from downstairs, growing louder as they approached.Reinforcements had arrived at Zhang Hao's house.

Lin Mo stuffed the books and photos into the evidence bag, turned and ran towards theentrance of the residential area. The morning mist was dissipating, and the sunlight piercedthrough the clouds, casting a long, long shadow of his on the concrete ground.

This time, the shadow points to the right.

Just like in that photo from thirty years ago.

As he ran, he dialed Xiao Li's number: "What's the situation with Zhang Hao?"

"Team Leader Lin!"Xiao Li's voice was almost a shout. "Zhang Hao isn't home! His wife saidhe received a call in the early hours of the morning saying that 'Dr. Lu'needed him urgently,so he drove out! His phone is off now!"

Dr. Lu. Lu Mingyuan.

"Investigate Lu Mingyuan's clinic! Now!"

"It's already on its way! But Captain Lin…" Xiao Li's voice suddenly lowered, "There'ssomething else. The technical department just sent a report that the dark blue fiberextracted from Chen Jian's home and the material of the jacket worn by the figure in thesquare's surveillance footage don't match perfectly."

"What's the meaning?"

"The jacket in the square's surveillance footage is made of ordinary polyester. But the fiberthat Chen Jianguo found is a polyester blend with a reflective coating material for

nighttime visibility . The two things look similar, but the differences are obvious underinfrared light." Xiao Li paused. "In other words, the 'person'who appeared on Chen Jianguo'sbalcony and the 'person' captured on the square's surveillance footage might be wearingdifferent jackets."

Different jackets.

Does the same person need to change clothes? Unless-

Unless they are not the same person at all.

Lin Mo stopped in his tracks. He stood at the entrance of the residential complex, thesunlight blinding him. Across the street, Lu Mingyuan's psychological clinic-a white two-story building-stood quietly. The dark curtains were drawn, like a pair of closed eyes.

On the window hangs an inconspicuous sign with an abstract bird logo.

Like a sculpture. Like scratches on a pocket watch.

Lin Mo looked down at the pocket watch in his hand. The hands moved slowly and steadily,pointing to 8:17 a.m.

It was a full three minutes slower than the actual time.

Just like at the time of the incident.

Just like every time a critical node appears.

The watch isn't inaccurate.

It is at the time of the mark.

Mark the points in time that were tampered with, overwritten, or rewritten.

Lin Mo took a deep breath, crossed the road, and walked towards the white building.

The paper crane in the pocket was squeezed out of shape, its wings bent at an impossibleangle.

He had no idea what was behind the door.

But he knew that the lights from that night thirty years ago would be turned on again.