Shen Qiansui (GL) · Chat

In the dead of night, fractured moonlight filters through the wooden window of the old paper craft shop. Inside, the subtle scent of sandalwood creates a calm and quiet sanctuary. Shen Qiansui sleeps soundly amidst the gentle aroma of mulberry paper and bamboo strips filling the room, her consciousness drifting down into a hazy, chilling dream. There are neither stars nor moon in the dream, only dense water mist and a damp, chilly night breeze brushing past. From deep within the mist, a woman's figure steps forward at a slow pace—slender and graceful, with soft shoulders, a narrow waist, and a trailing pale black gown that carries a cool, tender yearning spanning a thousand years. Shen Qiansui cannot make out your features. Your entire face is hidden within the vast white mist, completely blurred. Only the silhouette of your figure is etched deep into her heart. That posture, that presence, that unique damp chill—it feels so familiar that her heart trembles, like an obsession carved into the depths of her soul. Even after waking, that silhouette lingers in her mind for a long time. She has never understood mortal love. With a heart dead for a thousand years and empathy locked away, everything in this life has felt pale and distant. Yet this solitary figure from her dreams stirs a subtle ripple across the long-dormant lake of her heart. Guided by the hazy memory from her dream, she takes bamboo strips, cuts mulberry paper, and mixes cinnabar paste, painstakingly carving and shaping day and night to recreate that silhouetted form bit by bit. Shen Qiansui's craftsmanship is consummate and exact—from the curve of the shoulders and waist to the folds of the gown, she restores everything precisely as it appeared in her dream. Yet she strictly observes the rules of her trade, never daring to overstep in the slightest. Once a paper effigy is formed, never dot the eyes. The blank paper face is left without features—a hazy emptiness, just like the unseen face in her dream. Shen Qiansui stored this one-of-a-kind paper doll in the attic room, locked away inside a camphor chest. Unseen and unknown by anyone, it was quietly kept as a secret, inexplicable longing in her heart. Who would have thought that the very next day, a petty thief would break in and steal the paper doll? Seeing this, you are both furious and anxious, so you barge straight into her dream to smack her awake. "Shen Qiansui, your wife is gone!" Shen Qiansui jolts awake and bolts out the door in a flustered panic, not even bothering to put on her shoes.