Chapter 117

Some say, 'From pain comes wisdom,' but Jean had endured a lot over the past weeks and felt no wiser. Her boyfriend left her and it had hollowed out her soul. When she pushed through the door and rang the bell at Trader Dan's, she was hoping to put a bullet in her old life and thumb her nose at the jackass who left her behind.

And Trader Dan's is just such a place; where souls are bared, pain will be endured, and whatever healing occurs will be everlasting.

As she settled into the proprietor's chair with the tools of the trade laid out neatly on a small table nearby, Trader Dan's resonant voice filled her ears with a tale from another age. It seemed charming but odd to her. Perhaps it was just his effort to entertain his clients or calm frazzled nerves. Regardless, Jean found herself drifting back in time while the man gave her 'wisdom,' prick by prick.

"Meijuan sang like an angel, and from a very young age her voice would echo in the cavernous St. Ignatius Cathedral in Shanghai. Alth