The Secret History of Light and Shadow in Air Raid Shelters

I. Discovery of the Slide Projector: Cities are constantly being transformed by the tides of time, like a tireless sculptor reshaping every inch of the land. On this seemingly ordinary day, a construction team unearths a mysterious air-raid shelter beneath the city. This shelter, like a treasure box sealed by time, quietly awaits to be opened.

Ayu is a girl with a strong interest in history and old objects. Upon hearing the news, she couldn't wait to go to the air-raid shelter. The shelter was filled with an old, worn atmosphere, and the walls were covered with mottled cobwebs, as if telling stories of the past. Ayu carefully moved among the various odds and ends, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

In a cobweb-covered corner, Ayu discovered an old-fashioned slide projector. It lay there quietly, its body weathered and worn by time, the wooden casing possessing a rustic charm. Ayu gently brushed away the dust, a surge of emotion welling up within her; she could almost feel the memories of light and shadow that this slide projector had once held.

II. Déjà vu in light and shadow

After cleaning the slide projector, Ayu found a relatively flat wall and tried to turn it on. A slight humming sound rang out, and the light projected by the projector gradually formed an image on the wall. It was a scene from 1978, showing a group of people in overalls working together to carry railway tracks, slowly passing under a tall sycamore tree. Sunlight filtered through the sycamore tree's branches, casting dappled shadows.

Ayu stared intently at the scene, when suddenly her gaze was drawn to the roof of a brick house nestled in the shadows of the trees. The angle of the eaves on that roof was exactly the same as the angle of the eaves of Zhong Hua's ancestral home. Ayu was startled, a strange feeling welling up inside her. She had known Zhong Hua for a long time and was familiar with the appearance of his ancestral home; seeing this familiar scene now felt as if time and space had intertwined at that moment.

Ayu couldn't help but recall the stories Zhong Hua had told her about their ancestral home. The ancestral home held the memories of generations of the Zhong family; the red lanterns that once hung under the eaves, the antique tables and chairs in the main room—all bore the marks of time. And now, on the wall of this air-raid shelter, a scene so strikingly similar to the eaves of their ancestral home had appeared. Was this merely a coincidence?

III. Dust Like Shooting Stars

As the slide projector played, the images changed continuously. Just as the last frame of film was about to burn out, the previously chaotic and floating dust particles in the projected beam of light seemed to be guided by some mysterious force, suddenly aligning into lines. These dust lines shimmered faintly in the beam of light, remarkably resembling the meteor trails that Ayu and Zhonghua had witnessed at the Singing Sand Dunes of Dunhuang.

Ayu remembers that night at the Singing Sand Dunes in Dunhuang, when they lay together on the soft sand dunes, gazing up at the vast starry sky. Suddenly, streaks of meteors streaked across the sky, leaving bright tails as they vanished in an instant. That dreamlike scene made them feel the vastness of the universe and the brevity of life. And now, in the cramped space of this air-raid shelter, the lines formed by these dust particles have once again stirred up her memories of that beautiful night.

Her thoughts darted between reality and memories, her heart filled with doubt and surprise. Why did the images presented by this old-fashioned slide projector have such a strange connection to her and Zhong Hua's experiences? Did these seemingly unrelated scenes hide a secret?

IV. The Desire to Seek the Truth

Ayu decided to delve deeper into the story behind the slide projector. She began searching for clues about it, carefully rummaging through other corners of the air-raid shelter, hoping to find some letters, notes, or other items related to it. However, apart from some old and worn-out junk, she didn't find much useful information.

So, Ayu thought of Zhong Hua. She eagerly told Zhong Hua about her discovery, and Zhong Hua on the other end of the phone was also shocked by it. The two decided to work together to uncover the truth behind this mysterious event.

They first went to the local archives, hoping to find some records about the area from 1978 in the historical materials. Among the vast amount of materials in the archives, they flipped through file after file, searching for any information related to carrying railway tracks, sycamore trees, and the building that resembled an ancestral home. After several days of effort, they finally found some clues.

According to records, a large-scale railway construction project was underway in the city in 1978, and the scene of lifting rails in the footage was likely part of that project. As for the sycamore tree, its location was near an important transportation hub at the time, surrounded by many residences. Regarding the building with eaves similar to Zhong Hua's ancestral home, although there is no explicit record, it is speculated that it may have been built by a craftsman based on the style of his ancestral home, perhaps carrying some significance of family tradition.

V. The Intertwining of Meteors and Fate

Regarding the peculiar phenomenon of dust particles arranging themselves into meteor trails, Ayu and Zhonghua consulted many experts. One expert in optics and physics told them that under certain conditions, the refraction of light and the distribution of dust could produce some seemingly magical phenomena. But Ayu and Zhonghua always felt that this was not just a simple physical phenomenon; it seemed to have some subtle connection to their fate.

They recalled that night at the Singing Sand Dunes in Dunhuang, when they made a wish upon a shooting star to explore the world together and discover the beauty and mystery in life. Now, seeing a similar shooting star again in the light and shadow of this air-raid shelter—does this mean their wish is being fulfilled in an unexpected way?

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