Hidden Secrets Your eyes can discern the secrets of the dressing table...

When they got home, Wen Zichuan went into the house first carrying the things, and Cheng Sizhou followed behind. He accidentally found some inconspicuous scratches on the side wall.

Due to his profession, he was extremely sensitive to patterns and traces. He tilted his head for a long time before he realized that the words looked like those written by a child in a crooked manner. However, the content of the words really made him angry.

"Brother Zhou, come in quickly!"

“Oh, here it comes!”

Written on the wall were the words, "Slut's House."

Judging from the appearance, the scratches have been there for quite some time. Although they are inconspicuous, when he thought that it might be some child who learned some dirty words and ran to carve on the wall, he wanted to teach them a lesson. It was really too impolite and uncultured!

It is not easy for a single mother to raise a child, so why should she suffer such insults and ridicule?

"Xiaochuan, why don't you take your friends out to play this afternoon? You don't have to stay at home with me." Lin Hanzhen said during lunch.

"Sure, Brother Zhou, let's go out and play in the afternoon? Let's go to Shantang Ancient Town?" Wen Zichuan asked, and when he saw Cheng Sizhou remained silent, he reminded him again.

"Oh, okay! I've only been to Fengbo twice and haven't been to the ancient town yet." Cheng Sizhou was called back to his senses.

Although Fengbo is not as prosperous as Dengyuan, it is the place where Wen Zichuan grew up. Every blade of grass, every brick and tile makes him feel more at home.

It was a long holiday, and there would normally be many tourists in the ancient town. However, Wen Zichuan and Cheng Sizhou entered from some unknown direction. Not only did they not see many people, but the scenery was also particularly beautiful.

They walked hand in hand along the river bank. The autumn sun shone brightly, and the shadows cast by the old eaves gently swept over the clothes of the pedestrians under the eaves.

Wen Zichuan spoke in the soft Wu dialect, rented a boat from a boatman who was sunbathing by the river, slowly rowed, and headed off into the distance.

"Oh my God, Teacher Wen can actually row a boat!" Cheng Sizhou lay on the deck, holding up his mobile phone to take pictures of a "temporary boatman". Such an interesting scene is not something that ordinary people have the chance to see.

"My grandmother lived here when she was alive. When I was a child, I had to row a boat over to visit her."

"Your grandmother and your mother are both from Fengbo, right?"

"Well, my mom was admitted to a university far away. After graduating and starting work, she met my dad and gave birth to me. Later, my dad went abroad to develop his career and had another woman with him. My mom was heartbroken, so she broke up with him and took me back to her hometown."

After chatting for a while, the river in front of us became wider and wider, almost becoming a shallow lake.

The small wooden boat floated aimlessly in the middle of the river. Wen Zichuan stopped rowing and went to Cheng Sizhou, lying next to him shoulder to shoulder.

The light blue sky seemed particularly distant, and the cotton candy-like clouds seemed tired, floating slowly with the breeze.

"Brother Zhou, can you swim?"

"I tried to learn it when I was a kid, but I didn't master it, so I gave up."

"Are you afraid of lying on the boat?"

"If it were before, I would definitely not be afraid, but now..."

"What now?"

"I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see you. If I drowned, I wouldn't be able to see you anymore."

The corners of his lips curled up, but there was no smile in his eyes. He was joking but seemed half serious. Wen Zichuan was so scared that he quickly grabbed his hand, pretended to cover up, and pinched his knuckles inch by inch: "Actually, I have selfish motives for bringing you back to Fengbo."

Cheng Sizhou spread out his palms and let him pinch them: "Tell me about it."

"We live together now, but we commute to work almost every day. Apart from eating and sleeping, there's not much else to do." Wen Zichuan sighed, his eyelashes casting a shadow. "I guess you had a lot of good memories with him when you were in college. You must have met his family and know about his past, right?"

After that night in the capital, he reluctantly threw Cheng Sizhou and Liu Shixing's names into a search engine. Unexpectedly, the long-deserted campus forum still retained a popular post from that year: "A Normal University soul singer and a history talent openly display their affection, exclaiming that even same-sex couples can be made in heaven!"

The text was followed by a faded photo, showing campus singer Liu Shixing making a grand farewell. Cheng Sizhou, as his fan and boyfriend, went on stage to present flowers and kissed him.

The phone screen was so hot that it hurt his fingers, but Wen Zichuan couldn't take his eyes off Cheng Sizhou's face. He saw that his smile was innocent and harmless, sunny and charming, as clear and lovely as the dew on the leaves in the morning.

The point is, he's never smiled at himself like that before.

During the student days, we are free and can talk about love passionately; after graduation and work, the responsibilities are heavier, and even if we like someone very much, we have to be cautious and tread carefully.

Perhaps, he shouldn't be mentally unbalanced because of this, but it's impossible for him to say that he doesn't care at all.

As expected, Cheng Sizhou did not answer. He had indeed met Liu Shixing's family and knew about his past.

But he didn't want to lie to Wen Zichuan, and would rather remain silent than lie.

"I'm sorry." Cheng Sizhou looked lost, as if all the strength in his body had been drained.

"You haven't done anything wrong to me." Wen Zichuan shook his hand. "Love is a matter of first come, first served. Think about it, you are four years older than me. When you graduated from college, I was still a high school student."

Cheng Sizhou sat up, looked at the trees in the distance, then at the nearby water, and suddenly sneered: "Zichuan, are you saying... am I dreaming?"

"dream?"

"Yes, a beautiful dream." Cheng Sizhou reached out and touched the water. His reflection created ripples that immediately faded away. "Before I met you, I never dared to hope that someone would truly love me."

"He...isn't sincere?"

"Maybe. He cares a lot about equality. If he gave me something, he would also ask me to give him something in return. At that time, I thought it was the right thing to do."

Wen Zichuan got up and continued rowing: "I have met people like this before, and it is very tiring to get along with them."

Cheng Sizhou looked up at him, enveloped by his backlit figure. He had a faint smile on his face, which was more gentle and charming than the gurgling river, like a little Bodhisattva who came down to earth specifically to save him.

"So, Zichuan, as long as you want it, as long as I have it, I will give it to you... Let's never get to the day where we haggle over every penny."

Wen Zichuan thought to himself, so that's how it is, no wonder he doesn't allow me to refuse his kindness.

"Well, I understand." He steered the oars towards the river bank. "Let's go and see the treasure."

The boat stopped outside a house. Wen Zichuan tied a rope under the window frame, and he and Cheng Sizhou walked up the narrow stone steps covered with dark green moss one after another, and opened the door with the key.

"The old houses in this area were originally going to be demolished, but then they said the entire ancient town had to be protected and neither demolition nor sale was allowed. I heard that in ten or twenty years, the old houses will be considered cultural relics."

"Well, it's an immovable cultural relic."

The old house is the ancestral property of the Lin family. Regardless of whether it should be demolished or not, Lin Hanzhen will definitely not sell it until the day when he is completely broke.

"After my grandmother passed away, the old house has been empty. My mother comes over occasionally to clean it." After entering the inner room, the light became very dim. Wen Zichuan turned on the flashlight, "This way, be careful of the threshold."

Cheng Sizhou looked around as he walked. The furnishings were a bit worn, but it was clear that Zichuan's grandmother was a very particular person. For example, the furniture was all made of solid wood and the paint on it was also very good, and it would probably last for decades without fading.

"Your grandmother's family must be very wealthy, right?" He found an old-fashioned jewelry box on the dressing table. Not only was the pattern exquisite, but it was also inlaid with several gemstones like agate. "Ordinary people can't afford such fine things."

"My mother told me that my grandmother was a daughter of a landlord in her early years, and she had so many jewels that she couldn't wear them all. But later on, as you know, she wasn't allowed to mention them anymore."

"...Zichuan, come and see."

"What's wrong?"

Cheng Sizhou's fingers were clasped on the side of the jewelry box, meaning that it seemed to have some mystery.

However, this is not his thing. If he wants to move it, he must at least get Wen Zichuan's consent.

"Can I open it?"

"Open?" Wen Zichuan pulled open two small carved doors, one on the left and one on the right, revealing a combination of small drawers of different sizes. "Doesn't it open from the front?"

"Last year, the jade group received a jewelry box of a similar style, with a hidden clasp on the side." Cheng Sizhou guided him to look at the side. "This one has it too, with a piece on each side, but different colors."

Wen Zichuan was extremely surprised: "Under this light, can you see that the colors are different?"

Cheng Sizhou nodded. This wasn't a difficult task for him, as he was used to the shock or astonishment others expressed at this talent. "The jewelry inside should have been taken away by your mother. However, although it is made of solid wood with carved patterns, it is heavier than I expected."

"Could it be that there is a secret compartment inside, and there is something in the secret compartment?" Wen Zichuan was a little scared. His grandmother had passed away many years ago. She was in a coma when she passed away and did not experience much pain. He didn't know what his grandmother wanted to hide but did not intend to destroy?

With his permission, Cheng Sizhou fumbled for the way to open the "mechanism". He pressed his fingers on the different colored areas on both sides and pushed back evenly. With a slight sound, a gap appeared on the top cover of the jewelry box.

"What is this?" Wen Zichuan opened the lid of the box. Inside was something like a book. He flipped through a few pages and found that they were all old photos. "Album?"

"The light is too dim. It's bad for your eyes. How about going outside?"

"Let's go upstairs," Wen Zichuan picked up the photo album with one hand and held his hand with the other. "Upstairs is the room I lived in when I was a child. It's much brighter than downstairs."

The two of them stepped on the wooden stairs, making a creaking sound. Cheng Sizhou laughed and joked, "Hey, our teacher Wen is a little princess living in the attic."

Wen Zichuan readily agreed: "Yes, I'm waiting for my prince to pick me up."

The room on the second floor is indeed more spacious. The sunlight shines on the windowsill, and through the window, you can see the houses on the opposite bank and the flowing water in the river.

The wooden table by the window is still preserved. It was where Wen Zichuan used to read and do homework.

He took out the photo album and looked through it with Cheng Sizhou.

"It turns out to be a photo of my parents when they were young." Wen Zichuan's eyes stopped at a family portrait. "Grandma hid the album. She probably didn't want my mother to be sad when she saw it, but she couldn't bear to throw it away."

"It's okay." Cheng Sizhou hugged him gently and kissed his face. "As long as you and your mother are doing well, grandma will also feel comforted."