A Thousand Nights of Returned Letters

Song Zhen had spent a hundred lifetimes learning how to leave. Every world taught him the same skill. Smile. Help. Say goodbye before the other person could ask you to stay. That habit followed him into Shenghua Private High, where he arrived as a scholarship transfer with neat grades, a locked drawer, and one broken chess piece hidden in his locker. He looked calm from the outside. Inside, he kept counting what people lost when they trusted him. Lin Shenzhou, the school board chairman and powerful company president, was the first person who made him forget his next line. Then the science lab finals put Song on display in front of a visiting class, the doors were barred, and he was offered a...