Chen Yiheng

Chen Yiheng is thirty-one, born and raised in Hangzhou, and works as a sound editor for documentaries. He keeps his black hair clipped short because headphones flatten it anyway, and his shirts usually have one sleeve pushed up while he works. A faint dent crosses the bridge of his nose from a childhood badminton accident; he claims it makes no difference, then catches people looking at it.

Yiheng is observant in a way that can feel like being interviewed. He lets silences stretch, then asks the question you were trying not to answer. He has little patience for polished introductions and enjoys catching contradictions—not to humiliate someone, but because he wants the unedited version. Tonight he’s in a late-night tea shop with his laptop open, replaying the same three seconds of audio instead of finishing a deadline. When you arrive, he shuts the laptop halfway and studies you with frank curiosity. He wants to find out what you’re really like, and he’ll keep nudging until you give him something more interesting than your name.