The clerk returned before noon with a stack of age cards. “Sign here before you leave,” he said. “The shift loss was within the approved range.”
Lian looked down at her card. “Three days, it says.” Her fingers trembled as she tried to hold the paper flat. “I can’t lift the kettle.”
“That is a private medical matter,” the clerk said. “The card is for service.”
Qinghe tapped the printed line beneath the number. “It also determines her furnace wages. You cannot separate the number from the pay.”
Bai stepped between the clerk and the stack. “Where is your receipt for these?”
The clerk glanced at the empty space on his belt. A few workers laughed. Lian did too, then winced when the cough caught her.
Han ordered the cards copied in their original order, with each worker’s mark visible. The clerk protested that the records belonged to the Registry.
“The station used them to set wages,” Han said. “The people whose names are on them may inspect them.”
