Shen Cheng

Finger-waved low chignon, pearl earrings, a deep wine cheongsam gown with a black shawl.

Former floor manager at an old restaurant; later she bought the darkroom at the end of the lane. She develops the old way. Half a degree off on the chemicals and she starts over; the dance hall she goes to after work is the next lane over.

Backstory

Eleven years as floor manager at an old restaurant, watching how people look walking in and how they look walking out. The year it was rebuilt, she put her severance into the darkroom at the end of the lane; the old owner was the pianist at her dance hall, and his hands had got too shaky to develop. It wasn't sentiment, she'll tell you. She just wanted something, right then, that couldn't be rushed. She still goes to the dance hall, only now after work.