The silver glow from Chen’s palms brightened, casting a soft light over Shen’s left wrist. The office fell quiet even Mimi curled in Shen’s lap stopped purring to tilt her head at the light. Everyone leaned in, eyes fixed on the black knotted thread that clung to his skin. Zhang’s fingers tapped the leather ledger gently as if urging the truth to reveal itself.
Chen held her breath, guiding the glow closer. She’d practiced this in training focusing the light to trace the faint “echo” of a soulmate’s thread. Even a corrupted one should pull at its match if it existed nearby. But as the silver light wrapped around Shen’s wrist, the black thread only shrank further coiling into a tighter knot. It didn’t reach out, didn’t glow, didn’t so much as flicker toward any other thread in the room. Her shoulders drooped. The glow dimmed then died. “It’s not reacting,” she said, voice tight. She’d secretly hoped foolishly maybe that the temporary pink tinge from their handshake meant something more that she could fix this without digging through endless files. But the thread didn’t lie. “We’re not soulmates. My thread can’t bind to his to break the curse.”
Shen let out a breath like he’d been holding it without realizing. Relief mixed with resignation in his eyes. “Figured as much. Last thing I need is to drag someone else into my bad luck.” He scratched Mimi’s ear and she purred again as if agreeing. Zhang closed the ledger, his expression calm but not surprised. “This is why we don’t rely on guesswork. The Yuelao’s Sight confirms what we suspected your soulmate isn’t in this room, Shen. But that doesn’t mean they’re not out there.” He turned to Chen, nodding toward the tall locked cabinet in the corner of the office. It was filled with Marriage Books each bound in leather and etched with gold. “Bring the neighborhood volume. The one marked ‘Maple & Pine Streets.’”
Chen hurried over, fumbling with the brass key Li had given her that morning. The cabinet creaked open and she pulled out a thick book its cover embossed with a map of the two streets. Dust puffed off the pages when she set it on the desk. It hadn’t been opened in months by the look of it.
Zhang flipped through the pages, his fingers pausing at a section where names were written in neat blue ink. “We catalog soulmate pairs by neighborhood makes it easier to track local connections. Shen, your shop is on Maple Street. Let’s see who’s tied to this area.” He ran his finger down the list then stopped tapping a name. “Su. Bakery owner on Pine Street. Age 29. And…” He glanced up at Shen, “her notes say she attended Westside Primary School same as you if I recall correctly.”
Shen’s head snapped up. “Su? I… I remember her. She had pigtails with red ribbons and she always shared her milk candy with me when I forgot my lunch. We sat next to each other in third grade.” He leaned forward, staring at the name like it might disappear. “I haven’t thought about her in years. She still lives here?”
“Owns ‘Sweet Moments’ the little bakery with the lavender macarons in the window,” Zhang said, flipping to a sketch of the shop. “The Marriage Book marks her and you with a gold star. That’s our highest compatibility rating ‘made for each other.’ Your threads were woven together when you were kids life just pulled you apart for a while.”
Chen’s excitement returned, bright and sharp. She leaned over the book, tracing the gold star with her finger. “This is perfect! You already know each other sort of. Reconnecting won’t feel forced. We can arrange a meeting let you two talk and—” “Wait.” Zhang held up a hand, his tone firm. “Matchmaking basics, Chen. You forget them at your peril.” He turned to her, his eyes serious. “The gold star means potential not a guarantee. Soulmate threads need care. You can’t just ‘arrange a meeting’ and expect it to work. Shen’s curse is still active any hint of magic any push from you and the black thread will lash out. It might even hurt Su if it senses her as a ‘threat’ to the curse.”
Chen’s smile faded. She’d almost made the same mistake again rushing in thinking a quick fix would work. “Right. No magic. No meddling. Just… natural.” “Exactly,” Zhang said, closing the book gently. “Shen, you’ve been to Pine Street. Walk past the bakery tomorrow morning. If you feel like stopping in, do it. Order something. Mention the milk candy see if she remembers. Chen, you stay back. No Yuelao’s Sight, no talismans hidden in your pocket. Let them find their way to each other.”
Shen hesitated, his gaze drifting to his wrist. The black thread was still there but it seemed a little less tight than before like the mention of Su had softened it just a bit. “What if the curse acts up? What if I spill coffee on her or a sign falls on her shop?” Zhang pulled a small wooden token from his pocket carved with a lotus smooth from years of use. He handed it to Shen. “This is a Peace Token. It won’t lift the curse but it’ll calm it for an hour. Enough time for a conversation. No more, no less. The rest is up to you two.”
Shen took the token, turning it over in his palm. It was warm like it held sunlight. Mimi leaned over, sniffing it then nuzzled his hand. “Okay,” he said, quieter than before. “I’ll go. For the milk candy. And.... maybe for the chance to not be the unluckiest guy in the city anymore.”
Chen grinned, feeling lighter than she had in days. She flipped open her notebook, jotting down “Sweet Moments Bakery—9 AM tomorrow” in big letters. “I’ll be across the street just in case. But I won’t interfere. Promise.”
That night, Chen lay awake replaying the day in her head. The black thread, the Marriage Book, Shen’s faint smile at the mention of Su. It wasn’t a sure thing but it was a start. Zhang was right matchmaking wasn’t about magic. It was about giving people the chance to find each other.
The next morning, Chen arrived at Pine Street early hiding behind a tree across from the bakery. The sign “Sweet Moments” glowed in the sunlight and the smell of fresh bread drifted down the street. At 8:58, Shen turned the corner. He was wearing a clean flannel shirt, his hair combed, the Peace Token in his pocket. He paused outside the bakery, took a deep breath then pushed the door open.
Chen watched as Su looked up from the counter, her eyes widening. She set down the rolling pin in her hands a smile spreading across her face. Shen said something and Su laughed bright genuine and nodded. He leaned against the counter and for a minute, Chen couldn’t see the black thread at all.
She pulled out her notebook, crossing out “Plan A: Intervene if needed” and writing “Plan A: Let them talk.” Maybe this time, things would go right. Maybe this was the match that would finally break Shen’s curse. She just hoped the Peace Token held out—and that Shen remembered to mention the milk candy.
