“Let’s go take a look!” Ayu said immediately.
Zhong Hua's grandfather passed away many years ago, but he left behind an old wooden box filled with his belongings, including photos, letters, diaries, and other old items. The box has been kept in the storage room of Zhong Hua's parents' house.
The two immediately set off for Zhong Hua's parents' house. Zhong Hua's parents were somewhat surprised by their sudden visit, but they still helped open the door to the storage room.
The storage room was filled with clutter, and the air was thick with dust and the smell of old things. Zhong Hua found the old wooden box covered in a thick layer of dust in the corner.
Upon opening the wooden box, an even stronger sense of history washed over me. Inside, as expected, were many yellowed photographs, thread-bound diaries, several letters, and some trinkets such as an old pocket watch, a fountain pen, and badges.
Zhong Hua began searching carefully. A Yu also helped out.
"Found it!" A few minutes later, Zhong Hua said excitedly, holding up a black and white photograph.
The photograph was faded and worn at the edges. It showed a half-length portrait of a young man, dressed in work clothes from that era, standing on a street with a smile. In the background, sure enough, was a green mailbox, though older than the one they'd seen in the reflection on the subway clock, its distinctive cylindrical shape and curved top clearly indicating it was of the same type. The low-rise buildings lining the street subtly mirrored the scene in the reflection.
“There are words on the back of the photo,” Ayu said, pointing to the back of the photo.
Zhong Hua turned it over, and there was a line of small characters written in pen: "Summer 1957, in front of the mailbox on Moon Street".
"Moon Street?" Ayu's heart skipped a beat. "This name seems..."
“The subway station we built was originally planned to be called ‘Moon Street Station’!” Zhong Hua suddenly remembered. “The official name was changed later, but it seems that internal documents and long-time residents still call it that!”
Another crucial connection point! The subway station was formerly located on Moon Street, where Zhong Hua's grandfather once stood in front of a mailbox in his youth. Now, in the newly built subway station, the old mailbox's image has reappeared on the clock face.
Is this just a coincidence?
Zhong Hua continued rummaging through the wooden box, hoping to find more clues. He took out his grandfather's diary, the cover of which was already torn.
“Let’s check if there’s anything recorded in the diary,” Ayu suggested.
Zhong Hua carefully opened the diary. The handwriting inside was the neat fountain pen style characteristic of his grandfather's generation, recording his daily work, life, and some thoughts.
He flipped to the 1957 section, hoping to find content related to the Moon Street mailbox.
Sure enough, in one of his diary entries that summer, my grandfather wrote: "...Today, while mailing a letter home from the mailbox on Moon Street, I saw a young girl also mailing a letter. The seal on her letter seemed to have a peony pattern embroidered on it, which was similar in color to the pillowcase my wife embroidered at home. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head: I wonder where this letter is going, and who will receive it..."
Peony pattern!
Ayu and Zhonghua exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in each other's eyes. The peony—it was the pattern Ayu's mother was most skilled at embroidering!
“This is incredible.” Ayu’s voice trembled slightly. “The envelope with the peony pattern that your grandfather saw… could it be related to my mother? But the timeline doesn’t match up. My mother wasn’t even born then.”
“Perhaps it’s not directly related,” Zhong Hua said, “but the element of ‘peony’ has appeared again. Just like the sandalwood scent of my mother’s embroidery that I smell in the subway station.”
He continued reading. The diary didn't contain any further details about the girl and the peony envelope. But in the following years, his grandfather mentioned the mailbox on Moon Street several times, seemingly having a special affection for that place.
In an older diary, Zhong Hua found his grandfather's records about sailing from his youth. His grandfather had been an ocean-going sailor and had been to many places. One of the entries recorded his experiences in the waters near Weizhou Island, mentioning "the peculiar landforms of the volcanic island" and "black volcanic rocks floating on the sea."
“Weizhou Island…” Ayu looked at the words in the diary, “Weizhou Island again.”
Zhong Hua closed the diary, leaned against the wall of the storage room, and let out a long sigh. "Ayu, don't you feel that these clues are like a net, slowly being woven together? From the reflection and smell of the clock face in the subway station, to the old mailbox on Moon Street, to my grandfather's photos and diary, to the peony pattern, and Weizhou Island... everything points to our past memories, and something from even earlier."
"But why now? Why in this way?" Ayu asked the core question.
Zhong Hua shook his head: "I don't know. But I have a feeling that we need to go back to that place—that newly built subway station, that 'Moon Street Station,' maybe there are more clues there."
Chapter Three: The Web of Time and Space and Its Echoes
The next day, Ayu and Zhonghua returned to the newly built subway station. Perhaps because yesterday's experience was so bizarre, the subway station seemed no different from usual today; the metallic paint still smelled, and people were coming and going, filled with the hustle and bustle of a modern city.
They went straight to the decorative wall clock.
The clock face was spotless, reflecting the surroundings and their own images. The overlapping image of the old mailbox from yesterday had vanished, as if it had never existed. The air was filled only with the monotonous smell of metallic paint; the familiar scent of sandalwood, gravel, and yak butter tea was nowhere to be found. The crack in the ceiling was just an ordinary crack, without any trace of contour lines.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
