"What on earth is going on?" Ayu felt dizzy, not because of the smell, but because of everything so surreal. The overlapping images, the materialization of smells, the instantaneous awakening of memories, and the patterns that inexplicably corresponded to their travel footprints... all of this was beyond her comprehension.

Zhong Hua reached out and gently grasped her shoulder, trying to steady her. His palm was warm, still warm from the coffee. "I don't know," he said honestly, "but it wasn't a hallucination. We all saw it, we all smelled it."

He stared at the faintly visible contour lines on the ceiling, then looked at the double images still overlapping on the clock face—on one side was the pristine glass curtain wall of the subway station, and on the other, the weathered old mailbox and the bygone era. "These... all seem to be related to us. Related to the places we've been, related to our memories."

Chapter Two: Fragments and Clues of Memory

The subway station's announcement suddenly came on, reminding everyone that the next train was about to arrive. The cold, electronic voice pulled Ayu and Zhonghua back to reality from their strange and confusing state.

The double image on the clock face seemed to be disturbed as well. The image of the old mailbox swayed and became blurry. At the same time, the mixed smells also faded a lot, leaving only a faint aftertaste, like the lingering aroma of butter tea from Yubeng Village, lingering on the tip of the nose.

“We need to get out of here first,” Zhong Hua said, as he could feel Ayu’s body trembling slightly.

Instead of taking the subway, the two walked out of the station. It was early summer evening outside, and a warm breeze carried away the overly strong metallic smell inside the subway station, completely dispelling the musty smell of the letters reflected in the mirror. But Ayu knew that the scent of memories, a mixture of sandalwood, gravel, and butter tea, seemed to be etched into her olfactory nerves, impossible to shake off.

"Zhonghua, what exactly was that?" On the way home, Ayu finally spoke again, her voice still somewhat uncertain, "Was it... some kind of coincidence? Or..."

She didn't know how to express it; the images and smells were too specific, too personal, pointing to details of their shared journey and memories.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence.” Zhong Hua pondered, his brows furrowed. “From the old mailbox in the mirror to the smell we’re catching—everything corresponds precisely to important people or events in our lives, and places we’ve been together. Especially the contour lines of the Weizhou Island volcano…it’s too specific.”

He paused, as if gathering his thoughts: "Do you remember? When we went to the old town last week and saw that mailbox, you said that you felt that the mailbox had a story, as if it held a lot of unmailed letters."

Ayu nodded, her memory awakened: "Yes, I was saying that if mailboxes could talk, they could definitely tell a lot of stories from the past."

“And,” Zhong Hua continued, “Auntie’s embroidery, Dunhuang, Yubeng Village… these are all shared memories. And have you noticed the order of the scents? Top notes, middle notes, base notes, doesn’t it… like a carefully blended perfume, or rather, like the layers of a memory?”

Ayu was stunned. Now that he said it, it was indeed true. The presentation of that scent was like a piece of music with a beginning, development, climax, and conclusion, progressing layer by layer, leading her thoughts from her mother's gentleness to the grandeur of Dunhuang, and then to the warmth of Yubeng Village, outlining a complete emotional trajectory.

"What about Weizhou Island?" Ayu asked. "Why does the trail of scent form the shape of the Weizhou Island volcano?"

“This might be the key,” Zhong Hua said. “Perhaps… the appearance of these phenomena is guiding us to search for something, or to recall something. Or perhaps, they are themselves a manifestation of some kind of… memory?”

This idea is somewhat bold, but it seems to be the only direction that can explain all of this at present.

They returned to their rented apartment in an old neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. The room wasn't large, but it was full of life. Photos from their travels adorned the walls, the bookshelves were piled high with books, and an unpacked hiking backpack sat in the corner.

Ayu put down her backpack, walked to the bookshelf, and pulled out a thick travel photo album. It was a memento of their trips, filled with photos and notes. She turned to the page about Weizhou Island.

The photo shows them standing on the edge of the crater ruins. The background is a clear blue sky and the distant sea. The bottom of the crater is covered with green vegetation, and the edge is black volcanic rock. The shape is indeed very similar to the "contour lines" they saw on the ceiling of the subway station.

"Zhonghua, look." Ayu handed him the photo album.

Zhong Hua took it, looked at it carefully, and then turned to the next few pages: the Singing Sand Dunes of Dunhuang, the snow-capped mountains of Yubeng Village, a close-up of his mother in front of her embroidery frame... Each photo corresponded to the smells they smelled and the images they saw in the subway station.

“This is too strange,” Zhong Hua murmured. “If this is a manifestation of a memory, then why would it appear on the clock face of that subway station? And in such a… surreal way?”

He walked to the window, watching the night gradually darken outside. "That clock, and the reflection of that old mailbox…don't you think that mailbox looks familiar?"

Ayu walked over as well, recalling, "It looks very familiar, like... like I've seen it somewhere before with a clearer look?"

“In my grandfather’s old photos!” Zhong Hua suddenly remembered. “Yes! When my grandfather was young, he worked near that old town. He has a black and white photo from the 1950s, and there’s a similar mailbox in the background!”

This discovery greatly encouraged both of them.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!