The records cabinet had two locks and a narrow slot for new paper. Attendant Wu opened it with the smaller key while Zhao held the larger one ready. Inside, wooden trays filled the shelves from floor to shoulder height. The old examination files smelled of dry ink and mineral dust.
“Put the first draught cup on the middle shelf,” Zhao said. “Keep the batch card with it.”
Wu carried the sealed cup in a padded case. A pale ring of dried liquid marked the inner rim. The visible grey flake had been caught beneath the folded paper lining when the cup was sealed. Wu set it down without opening the case.
“Should I include the second dose?” he asked.
“Every mixture from the same recipe belongs in the file. The second cup had no grey sediment, but the pulse result matters.”
Wu placed the second dose record in a separate sleeve. Zhao checked the batch numbers against the testing ledger and found the matching recipe.
Clerk Tao arrived with the corrected test slip. The old copy said Yan had volunteered for the first dose. The corrected one said Zhao assigned it. Tao laid both on the table.
“The original wording remains in the record,” he said. “This copy is marked as a correction.”
Zhao read each line, then filed the corrected slip beside the pulse readings. “Keep both. Do not discard the first one.”
“The batch card says ‘approved observation,’” Tao said. “The test slip now says ‘assigned dose.’ Those phrases do not say who authorized the test.”
“They record separate things,” Zhao replied. “The card describes the mixture. The slip describes Yan’s participation.”
Tao pointed to the blank at the bottom of the card. “There is no authorizing signature.”
Zhao looked at the empty line, then closed the folder halfway. “Keep the gap visible. Do not fill it from memory.”
Wu checked the cup number against the confiscation inventory. The jar associated with the first mixture was listed as old alchemical sediment. There was no maker, source, former owner, or reason for storage. The inventory described it as inert.
“The jar had a return mark,” Tao said. “There is no record of who put it in the confiscated store.”
“Could it have been ordinary mixing residue?” Wu asked.
“It could,” Zhao said. “We don’t have a source to prove it.”
Wu opened the index drawer and searched by jar number. There was one entry, the same confiscation record. He checked the neighboring numbers in case a continuation page had been misfiled. The entries before and after belonged to other items. Nothing named the sediment’s source.
“Do we request a test?” Tao asked.
“Not until the preservation record is complete. We do not know what the residue contains or whether the sample is enough.” Zhao tapped the seal on the cup case. “Keep the original closed. Wu can take a duplicate of the inventory line.”
Wu copied the number and wrote “source not listed” beside it. Tao checked his writing against the original before signing the copy. They made no claim that the sediment caused the unusual pulse pattern. The file preserved the question without pretending it had been answered.
Zhao returned to the first batch card. The ingredients matched the recipe except for one handwritten addition in the margin. “Grey binder, old stock.” The card gave no weight.
“That is not enough to reproduce it,” Tao said.
“No. Do not let anyone use this card as a complete recipe.” Zhao removed the card from the tray and placed it in a separate sleeve. “This stays with the cup, but the incomplete formula is marked.”
Wu checked the seal number on the padded case. It matched the number in the ledger. Tao added the date, time, and names of the people present. Zhao signed the custody line and handed the key back to Wu.
Before the cabinet shut, Wu placed a fresh paper tag around the padded case. He copied the cup number, the test date, and the storage shelf. Tao checked each field against the ledger. The first batch card had an old shorthand mark that might refer to the grey binder, so Wu made a sketch of the mark on the copy while leaving the original untouched.
“Do we know whether that note was written before the test?” Tao asked.
“The ink is the same as the recipe,” Wu said. “I can’t date the line more precisely.”
“Then record that.” Zhao pointed to the margin. “Do not infer who added it.”
Tao wrote “hand unknown; time unknown” beside the copied sketch. Zhao initialed the correction. The cup remained sealed, and nobody sampled the sediment. The file would be more useful with its uncertainties plainly marked than with a guess made to fill the blank.
Wu checked the shelf number one last time. “If the source is never found, the cup still stays preserved?”
“Yes,” Zhao said. “The absence of a source is part of the record.”
Tao asked for a separate receipt showing the cup was retained rather than discarded. Wu filled it out and gave one copy to Tao, who slipped it into the labor-test folder. The duplicate tied the cabinet entry to Yan’s corrected participation slip without exposing the sample.
Tao compared the new receipt with the first testing-room log. The log marked Yan’s first dose as assigned; the cabinet index marked the cup as a prepared sample. There was no line naming the person who prepared it.
“Should the testing room’s name go here?” Tao asked.
“Only if someone signs for it,” Zhao said.
Wu checked the old test sheet. “The attendant recorded the ingredients and dose. The batch card does not say who chose the sediment.”
Tao wrote that distinction in the record: attendant measured; authorization not stated; sediment source unknown. Zhao read the line and asked him to leave the wording as it was. No one would be able to use the copy later to claim the missing signature had been supplied.
The cabinet already held other sealed samples. Wu showed Tao the shelf labels, then pointed out the gap where a confiscated item had been moved to another room. The ledger had a transfer line for that item. The sediment jar had none. Its return mark could not prove whether it had come from a lab, a market, or a storehouse.
“Do we mark the cup as dangerous?” Tao asked.
“No,” Zhao said. “We mark it as untested material from an unknown source. That is enough reason not to open it without an order.”
Wu added a red hold tag to the case, separate from the numbered seal. Tao signed the tag as witness, and Zhao confirmed the storage location. The cup remained closed, the formula incomplete, and the source question open.
“Log every visit,” he said. “If the cup is moved, the reason goes on the same page.”
Wu turned the key. The cabinet closed with a soft click. The original cup and batch card remained inside, each sealed and linked to the incomplete inventory. The pulse strips were filed beside them but not in the same sleeve.
Tao folded the corrected slip. “The examination notice arrived with the afternoon mail.”
Zhao looked toward the office door. “Bring it in. The report should be handed to Yan directly.”