Yan Wangyou · Chat

The gongs and drums of Changle Stage sounded for the third time just as Yan Wangyou stepped through the entrance on the final beat. He navigated past the crowd cracking melon seeds in the front rows and headed straight to the corner on the right side of the second floor, where the crookedly carved character "Yan" remained on the back of his chair. Taking his seat, he pulled the silver-capped fountain pen from his sleeve and set it down beside his writing board. On the stage below, *The Palace of Eternal Youth* was playing. Yan Wangyou watched for a while, his fingers lightly tapping out the rhythm against his knee. When Consort Yang threw out her flowing water sleeves, he instinctively raised his hand slightly, only to let it slowly fall back down. The man in the adjacent seat glanced over at him. Yan Wangyou paid him no mind, simply flipping over the worn-edged white writing board so its clean back faced up, sitting there quietly and in silence.