"Gao Ping, dean of the Creative College at Tiannan Academy of Drama, PhD, professor..."
"Bei Jing, professor, master's supervisor, current deputy director of the Stage Art Department..."
"Gu Zhengqing, vice dean of the Film College at Tiannan Academy of Drama, professor, graduate advisor, Doctor of Arts..."
Under the orange desk lamp, stacks of files had piled into small mountains across the desk, their shadows cast onto the bookcase behind them.
A figure bent over the files was nearly swallowed by them entirely.
The scent of cigarette smoke slowly rose, rebounded off the cold, hard glass window, and finally drifted away through the ceiling vent.
Ji Li closed the last file, leaned back in his comfortable office chair, and looked up at the ceiling.
"Yu Guo had actually become a teaching assistant at the Film College, and so had Mo Lan.
"They were the only two with teacher identities. Presumably, they would meet the others during the day..."
Over the long night, four of the twenty clerks had already died and one had gone missing. Only three hours into the mission, they had already lost a quarter of their number.
This death rate was within expectations.
Ji Li turned his chair to face the broad floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing at the endless whiteness outside as he took a deep drag from his cigarette.
Knock, knock, knock.
He had not been away from his work for long before someone knocked on the office door.
Ji Li stubbed out his cigarette, tied his loose long hair back with a thin cord, steadied himself, and called out brightly,
"Come in."
A woman with her hair in a bun entered the room, carrying a file bag and wearing a respectful smile.
There was an intellectual air to both her appearance and attire. In particular, when she