The Monthly Checker
The bell jingled. I didn’t need to look up; it was the first Friday of the month and the number twelve bus had rattled past only moments ago. I looked up anyway.
“Good morning, just browsing?”
The familiar man nodded shyly and turned away to begin his monthly task of scanning the bookshelves.
I watched him for a while. “Maybe today you will find what you are looking for.”
I returned to my work until a polite cough disturbed me.
He slid a book across the counter – PLEASE COME TO DINNER by LIU QING YAN
He smiled at me. “Well?”
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