Dust-covered diary
Feng Jinxuan's words, filled with awkward jealousy, were like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating ripples in Yu Jinli's heart.
She looked at the powerful and aloof man before her, who was awkwardly and clumsily trying to provide for her. Her eyes inexplicably welled up with tears.
This man, who could say the most sarcastic things, could do the most tender things for her.
This profound and selfless kindness left her, a girl who had always been used to relying on herself, feeling somewhat... at a loss.
For the first time in over twenty years, Yu Jinli stepped into her old house over the weekend.
The house is located in a very old residential compound in Yuncheng. It is not large, with two bedrooms and one living room, and the decoration is outdated.
But the house was spotless.
The air was filled with a scent of sunshine and soap.
That was the taste of home in her memory.
She knew that this was all arranged by Feng Jinxuan.
That man always did everything for her, even when she couldn't see him.
She walked into her small bedroom, where posters of her favorite celebrities from her school days were still on the walls.
On the desk is a photo of her and her adoptive parents.
In the photo, a young couple is holding a little girl with pigtails, smiling happily.
Yu Jinli's fingertips gently brushed over the two kind smiling faces in the photo, and her eyes unknowingly welled up with tears.
She opened the bottom drawer of her desk, preparing to put the property certificate and the debt settlement certificates inside.
Inside the drawer, there lay only a locked tin box, all alone.
That was her treasured possession used to store "secrets" when she was in school.
She opened the box, inside were some faded letters, several yellowed certificates of merit, and... a very old-looking diary.
It was a very ordinary diary with a plastic cover, and its design was so outdated that even elementary school students would find it unappealing.
Is this... my foster mother's diary?
Yu Jinli was somewhat curious.
In her memory, her adoptive mother was a simple housewife who didn't like writing.
She turned to the first page.
Familiar, elegant handwriting came into view.
[Date: [Year] [Month] [Day], Sunny. Today is the first day we brought Lili home. She's so tiny and soft, like a little glutinous rice ball. She doesn't cry or fuss, just stares at us curiously with her big, dark eyes. Old Yu said, "This child is destined for us."]
[On [Date], it was raining. Lili learned to say "Mama" today. She called out "Mama" in her sweet, childish voice and rushed into my arms. In that instant, I felt my heart melt.]
Her diary recorded many trivial childhood events, mostly minor ones that she had long forgotten, but reading them now felt incredibly heartwarming.
As she looked at the familiar, warm handwriting, filled with deep affection, her eyes unconsciously welled up with tears.
She turned the pages one by one.
However, when she turned to when she was about five or six years old, the style of her diary suddenly became somewhat... strange.
[Date: Cloudy. Today I took Lili to the park. She pointed to a koi in the pond and said, "Mommy, it glows." I thought it was just childish talk and didn't pay much attention. But when we got home that evening, the lottery ticket I bought actually won 500 yuan.]
[Date: Sunny. Grandpa Zhang's cat downstairs is missing; he's been looking for it for days without success. Lili only played downstairs for a little while, and then the cat came running back on its own. Grandpa Zhang insisted on giving her a big red envelope, saying that our Lili is a lucky charm.]
[Date: [Year] [Month] [Day], Rainy. Something terrible happened today. Old Yu received his bonus at the factory, and he put the money in his pocket. On the bus, a pickpocket stole it. He was frantic when he got home. Then, that evening, the thief actually came to our house and returned the money. He said that after stealing the money, he started having bad luck—slipping and falling on flat ground, choking on water, and finally, being hit by a flowerpot when he went out. He felt it was retribution.]
Looking at these records, Yu Jinli felt a surge of emotions.
It turns out that her "lucky charm" qualities had already begun to emerge when she was a child.
Her adoptive parents had long since noticed her "unusual" nature.
She continued flipping through the diary, and the lines began to be filled with worry.
[Date: Year, Month, Day. Lili's abilities seem to be getting stronger. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I'm a little scared. I'm afraid she'll get hurt because of this 'difference'.]
[Date: [Year] [Month] [Day] Today, I wrote my first letter to that person at the address they left. I hope to receive a reply.]
That person? Him?
Yu Jinli's heart jumped.
Finally, she turned to the year she was ten years old.
The diary entries here have large blank spaces.
It was only a little over a month later that a new, and final, diary entry was written.
[On [Date], it snowed. We returned from the snow-capped mountains. He said that the koi's constitution is that of a 'sacred koi,' one in ten thousand. But because of this, they are easily coveted by evil spirits.]
He gave us a wooden hairpin, saying that it could temporarily 'lock' Lili's luck, making her appear like an ordinary child until she came of age.
He said it was for her own good. And also... to protect her.
He also said that when the time is right, he will send someone to bring her "home".
Snow-capped mountains? Old friends? Wooden hairpin? Going home?
One keyword after another, like thunderclaps, exploded in Yu Jinli's mind!
In an instant, Gu Yanzhi's gentle and refined face and the mysterious name of Tianyan Pavilion flashed into her mind!
She remembered!
She did indeed have a wooden hairpin!
It was a gift from her adoptive mother on her tenth birthday.
The hairpin was simple and unremarkable. She wore it for a few years when she was a child, but when she grew up, she thought it was old-fashioned and casually tossed it into a corner, never to be seen again.
Could it be...?
Yu Jinli's breathing became rapid.
She went crazy, rummaging through drawers and cupboards in her small bedroom.
She opened the wardrobe and pulled out old clothes that she no longer wore.
She opened the bedside table and emptied out all the odds and ends inside.
Finally, in a dusty tin box filled with all sorts of treasures from her childhood.
She found it.
That ordinary wooden hairpin, which she had forgotten for over a decade, lay quietly in the corner...
With trembling hands, she picked up the wooden hairpin.
The wooden hairpin I received felt warm, light, and carried a pleasant, light sandalwood scent.
The moment her fingertips touched the wooden hairpin.
A strange aura, warm and intimate, as if connected to her bloodline, that she had never experienced before, instantly surged from the small wooden hairpin.
The energy flowed from her fingertips into her limbs and bones, eventually merging into her dantian.
The golden vortex within her body, which had become somewhat dim due to the drawing of the "Life-Protecting Talisman," suddenly shone brightly again the moment it came into contact with this aura!
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