May 7, 2010, Friday, Heavy to Torrential Rain

Su Wanluo held her school bag in her arms, sitting on the steps of the plaza, completely uncaring that she was already soaked through by the rain. Passersby hurried past with umbrellas, occasionally casting strange glances at her.

She didn’t care either, just staring blankly at the raindrops hitting the smooth blue bricks, splashing up crown-shaped water droplets.

The rain hitting her body was cold and painful, but she had no intention of seeking shelter. The icy rainwater flowed down her hair, across her cheeks, mixing with the tears on her face, then flowing into her neck.

Su Wanluo was gazing vacantly at the water droplets splashing up and disappearing one by one when suddenly someone held an umbrella over her, blocking the falling rain.

“It’s already very late. Why haven’t you gone home yet?” A gentle, pleasant male voice said.

She looked up to see a man dressed in a black Tang suit, carrying an eco-friendly bag in his left hand and holding a large black umbrella in his right, looking at her with concern.

This man was very young, probably only in his early twenties. He was clearly the ordinary type you’d glimpse once on the street and forget, yet he wore a Tang suit that made it impossible to look away – black satin as deep as the night, with several frog buttons on the front that were deep red like blood. His right sleeve was embroidered with a dark red dragon, its body winding and coiling up along the sleeve, with the dragon’s mouth facing the collar. At first glance, it looked like a living creature, as if in the next moment it would bite through his neck. This eerie yet lifelike embroidery gave him an indescribable mysterious aura.

Su Wanluo really wanted to tell him not to meddle in her affairs, but when she opened her mouth, she couldn’t control her emotions and said dejectedly: “I lost something very important…”

“How pitiful,” the young man sighed with regret.

Su Wanluo pursed her lips and couldn’t help crying again – she had lost the umbrella he had lent her.

When school ended, the rain was already heavy. Her deskmate, seeing her predicament, kindly offered her an umbrella. She was momentarily stunned, and just as she was about to joyfully chase after him to thank him, she saw him sharing an umbrella with another girl, chatting and laughing as they left the campus.

Her world seemed to collapse at that moment.

So she simply didn’t bother with an umbrella and walked home all the way. Halfway there, she suddenly discovered that the umbrella he had lent her was already lost somehow.

Actually, losing the umbrella was a small matter. What hurt her most was realizing that her heart was already lost.

The young man didn’t leave immediately but pondered for a while before asking: “Do you really want to find it back?”

Su Wanluo nodded vigorously.

“Would you like to sit in my shop?” the young man gently suggested.

Su Wanluo was startled and looked up again.

The man looked ordinary, but when he smiled at this moment, a ray of sunlight pierced through the thick dark clouds behind him, instantly sweeping away the heavy gloom that had lingered in the sky for so long, unconsciously making even one’s mood improve.

As if hypnotized, Su Wanluo gently nodded.

The raindrops gradually became smaller, pattering softly on the umbrella with a crisp, pleasant sound.

But Su Wanluo began to regret at this moment. How had she suddenly become possessed and agreed to go with a stranger? No, she had to quickly make up an excuse to slip away!

At this moment, the young man said softly: “We’re here.”

Su Wanluo looked up to see a shop with a narrow storefront, decorated very simply and elegantly. The doors and windows were all exquisite classical styles, sandwiched between two modern fast-food restaurants, appearing somewhat out of place. On the shop’s plaque were written two beautiful small seal characters that could be vaguely recognized as “Mute House.”

“Mute House?” Su Wanluo was full of questions.

“This is my antique shop. Every antique here carries many, many stories, but they cannot speak, so they cannot let people hear their innermost thoughts.”

The young owner pushed open the old carved wooden door. What made Su Wanluo feel strange was that there was no one in the shop, yet he hadn’t locked the door.

“Don’t worry, I never lock the door. No thief would dare come here to steal anything,” as if knowing her inner question, the young owner stood in the somewhat dim shop, slowly turned around, and smiled.

“Welcome to ‘Mute House.'”

The young man’s smile, melting into a pitch-black background, looked extremely eerie to Su Wanluo no matter how she looked at it.

A strange antique shop, a mysterious owner.

Su Wanluo swallowed hard but didn’t step back. Instead, as if possessed by a ghost, she hugged her school bag tightly and walked in.

Mute House wasn’t as small as it looked from the outside. Instead, it was like a long, narrow passage, pitch black, with no telling how long it actually was. The owner lit two palace lanterns at the entrance. Su Wanluo glanced at them and almost jumped in fright – these two palace lanterns, how were they so similar to the Changxin Palace Lamp from the history books?

They must be fakes… definitely fakes…

Su Wanluo’s mouth twitched, and she said warily: “Um… I don’t have any money. If you’re trying to sell me something, I can’t afford it!”

The owner chuckled softly upon hearing this: “I’m not selling you anything. I have something here that’s quite suitable for you. If you like it, I’ll give it to you.”

Give it away? There was actually such a good thing? Su Wanluo’s eyes darted around, thinking that she’d first see what he could produce – there wouldn’t be any loss in that… She sat down on a nearby rosewood chair, and before long, the owner came out carrying a box.

Under the dim, yellowish light, the dragon-carved box in his hands slowly opened. On the bright yellow silk cloth lay a bracelet inlaid with gemstones.

“This… this is too valuable!” Su Wanluo stood up with a whoosh, her eyes wide.

“The first owner of this bracelet was a beloved consort of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty – the Fragrant Concubine, who was known for her ‘jade countenance that captivated with fragrance before drawing near.'”

Su Wanluo’s eyes widened even more. The owner wasn’t in a hurry and said leisurely: “It’s said that she was originally the wife of Huo Jizhan, a chieftain of the Hui tribes in Xinjiang. When the Hui tribes rebelled, Huo Jizhan was executed by the Qing court, and General Zhao Hui captured the Fragrant Concubine and presented her to Qianlong. But the Fragrant Concubine harbored the resolve that ‘with her country destroyed and family ruined, she would rather die,’ and never submitted to Qianlong. Legend says that to win the beauty’s favor, Qianlong collected seven gemstones of different colors containing spiritual energy and carefully crafted this bracelet for her.”

The young owner slowly narrated, his voice gentle and pleasant: “These seven gemstones are opal, lapis lazuli, topaz, moonstone, olivine, garnet, and obsidian. Legend says that whoever wears this bracelet can find back what they have lost.”

“Seven? Two of the gemstone settings on here are empty,” Su Wanluo said somewhat doubtfully.

“Every time something is found, one of the gemstones disappears. The first thing the Fragrant Concubine wanted to find back was her husband Huo Jizhan’s remains. And the second thing she wanted to find back…” the owner paused, “was her homeland, so she was given death by the Empress Dowager and finally returned home in spirit. Her wishes were fulfilled in succession, so the corresponding opal and lapis lazuli have already disappeared. Now only five gemstones remain.”

The young owner picked up this bracelet, placed it in his palm, and reached it toward Su Wanluo: “Didn’t you lose something? Try wearing it.”

Su Wanluo knew that antique dealers often told good stories, but she didn’t expect such an outrageous one.

Wearing a bracelet to find back lost things? This might fool a small child, but she was past the age of believing in fairy tales.

But… even if it was a lie, even if the bracelet was missing two gemstones, it couldn’t be denied how beautiful this bracelet was. Each gemstone was thumb-sized, with tiny gemstone fragments as decorative accents set around them, still radiating dazzling brilliance under the dim light, as if naturally imbued with magic.

Wearing it for a few days should be fine, right?

“Are you really giving it to me?” Su Wanluo asked for final confirmation.

“Yes,” the young owner smiled. “There’s one thing the customer must remember – once this bracelet is put on, it cannot be taken off, otherwise what you find back will be lost again.”

Su Wanluo nodded and extended her left hand. The owner lowered his head and carefully fastened the bracelet on the girl’s slender, snow-white wrist, thoughtfully securing the clasp.

A refreshing coolness spread across her wrist.

Outside, the rain had completely stopped, and the evening glow filled the sky, red as burning fire.

May 8, 2010, Saturday, Cloudy Turning to Light Rain

Su Wanluo was awakened by the thundering sound of drilling from upstairs. Looking at the snow-white ceiling, it felt as if a little person was desperately chiseling away inside her head.

Construction noise pollution! She helplessly pressed her throbbing temples with her hand. Her wrist jingled, and only then did she remember that yesterday someone had inexplicably given her a bracelet.

She held her left hand up to her eyes and, by the morning light streaming into the room, admired the various colored gemstones on the bracelet – the orange-yellow pear-colored topaz, the wine-purple gorgeous garnet, the emerald-green olivine, the milky white moonstone with silver-blue halos… Huh? How were there only four gemstones left?

Su Wanluo immediately tidied her room with unprecedented speed but didn’t find any fallen gemstones. She clearly remembered that when she went to sleep last night, there were indeed still five gemstones on the bracelet.

Could it be… truly as the antique shop owner said? Every time a lost item is found back, one gemstone disappears?

The one that disappeared was the obsidian with rainbow eyes.

But in her school bag drying on the balcony, there still wasn’t the umbrella she had lost.

Sure enough, it was a lie. The glimmer of hope that had just risen in Su Wanluo’s heart was extinguished again.

To actually place hope in a bracelet… she really was beyond help. It would be more practical to go out and buy another umbrella to return to him…

Su Wanluo scratched her bird’s nest-like messy hair, walked through the living room, and when she wanted to go to the kitchen to find something to eat, she heard what sounded like dog barking coming from outside the door.

What was going on? She remembered this apartment building prohibited keeping dogs!

Su Wanluo opened the door in confusion and immediately froze in place, then cried out joyfully: “Mom! Mom! Kele is back!”

“What are you talking about? How could Kele find this place? Didn’t it get lost?” Su’s mother came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands.

“No! It’s Kele! This is definitely Kele!” Su Wanluo hugged the dog that pounced toward her in her arms. The little dog was snow-white all over with a tuft of black fur around its mouth, looking mischievous as if it had been caught stealing food without cleaning its mouth – such a unique appearance, who else could it be but her Kele?

“Kele, you’re so dirty! Come, let me give you a bath!” Su Wanluo happily carried the constantly barking Kele toward the bathroom, not noticing her mother’s strangely odd expression behind her, which was quite different from usual.

After giving Kele a fragrant bath, Su Wanluo took a hair dryer to dry its fur when she suddenly thought – Kele was also one of the things she had “lost”!

Kele had gone missing before her family moved to the new apartment, and it had been two years already. How had it managed to find this place?

Could it really be… the power of the bracelet?

She looked down at the bracelet that was now missing three gemstones, her heart pounding.

Perhaps this bracelet really did have magic power, just not very accurately finding back her lost items, but rather bringing back the things she had lost one by one.

There were still four gemstones on the bracelet, which meant she still had the chance to find back four more lost things.

Four things – she had lost so many things! What should she find back?

Su Wanluo thought excitedly while Kele rolled around happily on her bed, occasionally coming over to lick her cheek, being extremely affectionate.

“Stop playing around, Kele! You must be starving, right? I’ll go see if there’s anything to eat. Stay here properly. Sit!” With Su Wanluo’s command, just like before, the little dog obediently sat down, sticking out its tongue and looking at her ingratiatingly.

For a moment, Su Wanluo vaguely returned to a few years ago, when her father hadn’t been promoted yet, and their family of three plus Kele squeezed into a very, very small room. Life was hard, but even with only Kele as company, Su Wanluo still felt very happy.

Kele would tirelessly obey all her commands. Every evening, she would take it out for walks, and one person and one dog would often sit on park benches, watching the sunset disappear on the horizon.

When she was lonely, it would snuggle against her with its warm little body. When she was sad, it would lick her palm with its hot tongue, using all its strength to try to bring her even a little bit of comfort.

It always silently stayed by her side, whether she was joyful or sorrowful. To her, it was a pet, but more like a little brother who grew up with her.

The beautiful memories that were stirred up made Su Wanluo’s mouth curve up involuntarily. She patted Kele’s head, turned and walked toward the kitchen, but found that her mother wasn’t there.

When passing through the living room, Su Wanluo inadvertently noticed that the front door was slightly ajar. She curiously went back, but heard an unexpected conversation.

“Her father, Kele is back! What should we do? Yes! I didn’t see wrong, it’s definitely Kele! Back then… didn’t you take it to the countryside? How did it come back again? Really! This apartment building doesn’t allow dogs! How about you get rid of it again… just tell Wanwan that Kele got lost again! She’s very obedient, she’ll believe whatever we say…”

What? Su Wanluo, standing in the shadows by the door, was as shocked as if struck by lightning.

That person speaking in a lowered voice was definitely her mother, right? Then why… would she say such strange things? Kele didn’t get lost by itself? It was abandoned by her seemingly kind and gentle father?

Su Wanluo could almost imagine how little Kele back then had chased desperately behind her father’s car, running and running, finally able only to lie by the roadside, weakly and desperately whimpering…

Tears attacked without warning. She reached up to wipe away her tears, but somehow the bracelet caught on a thread from her clothes, and the clasp suddenly loosened.

The bracelet fell to the ground with a “thud,” and the young owner’s words from the antique shop unexpectedly echoed in her ears – “There’s one thing the customer must remember – once this bracelet is put on, it cannot be taken off, otherwise what you find back will be lost again.”

Before she could understand what this meant, through her blurred vision, she saw a small white figure pass through the hall, cross the corridor, and slip out through the unclosed door crack.

“Kele!” Su Wanluo hurriedly chased after it.

“Wanwan! Put on your slippers before going out!” her mother exclaimed behind her, sounding so disgusting.

Su Wanluo wiped away the tears sliding down her cheeks, quickened her pace down the stairs and chased outside. She must find Kele back! She absolutely couldn’t lose it again!

In the evening, two aunties who had finished grocery shopping were chatting.

“How is that little girl still looking for her lost dog?”

“Last night, I heard that on the street in front, a dog was run over by a car! I happened to pass by and saw it – it was really gruesome! A white dog with a tuft of black fur around its mouth, quite cute!”

Su Wanluo passed by them like a lost soul. She could no longer distinguish which was the illusion and which was reality…

The weather outside wasn’t good. The wind was very strong, strong enough to dry the tear stains on her face.

But before long, raindrops began to fall again, replacing tears as they flowed down her face.

[Obsidian: Also known as Apache Tears. In Native American legend, a group was ambushed by enemies and, outnumbered, was completely wiped out. When the tragic news arrived, the families’ painful tears scattered to the ground and became small black stones. Also called the gemstone of no more tears, whoever possesses this black obsidian will never need to cry again, because Apache maidens have already shed all the tears for you. Giving obsidian to someone you love means no more tears, happiness and joy.]

May 9, 2010, Sunday, Overcast with Occasional Showers

Su Wanluo was already awake when dawn broke. More precisely, she hadn’t really slept much last night. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see Kele’s simple, honest appearance.

Yesterday she had wandered outside in the rain until dark, until her father grabbed her wrist and dragged her home, but she never found Kele. Facing her parents’ concern, she said nothing and asked nothing. She was very afraid – what could change after asking? She feared that the perfect image of her parents in her heart would completely disappear.

She preferred to pretend she hadn’t seen anything, hadn’t heard anything.

The construction noise upstairs started punctually, this time replaced by the even more annoying sound of an electric drill. Su Wanluo sat up with a splitting headache and glanced at the bracelet on her wrist.

Last night, after much struggle, she had put the bracelet back on, thinking that this way… Kele would come back, right? She counted and sure enough, another gemstone was missing. This time, it was the orange-yellow pear-colored topaz. Su Wanluo quickly got out of bed and ran to the front door, constantly opening and closing the door, but didn’t see any sign of Kele.

After waiting listlessly at the front door for an hour, Su Wanluo was finally persuaded by her mother to come back. When she pushed open her room door, she surprisingly found a small videotape placed on her desk.

Su Wanluo picked up the videotape and saw written on the box – “Wanwan’s 15th Birthday Party.”

That’s right, on her 15th birthday, she had gone to KTV with friends for the first time to celebrate. This videotape was recorded then, but unfortunately it had been lost after moving and could never be found again. Could it be… this was the lost item retrieved by the topaz?

Since the videotape couldn’t be played on a computer, Su Wanluo had to rummage through boxes to find an old video player. After plugging it in, she put the videotape inside.

Qi Qi, Meizi, You’er… one familiar yet childish face after another appeared on the small screen of the video camera. Laughter and singing rang out from time to time, and the girls’ faces that had long become blurred now gradually became clear again.

The joyful laughter from the videotape temporarily made Su Wanluo forget the sadness of losing Kele. A smile spread across her lips as details about her three good friends slowly surfaced in her mind – Qi Qi was always very likeable, her smile so sweet it seemed honey could drip from it; Meizi was carefree and informal, the girl in class who got along best with the boys; and You’er was the most fashion-conscious girl in class, changing into the most stylish clothes and shoes every so often, even replacing her bags every season.

Standing next to these three outstanding friends, she herself had straight bangs and a silly ponytail. Even though it was her own birthday party, she was still wearing a wrinkled old school uniform, both clumsy and shy, with no advantages except excellent grades.

The shy girl smiling bashfully in the videotape looked so out of place among the three distinctive girls. She hadn’t even sung a single song, just sat in the corner desperately applauding.

Why did she look so restrained when she was supposed to be having fun with friends? Why hadn’t any of these so-called good friends ever given her a proper look? Why did this birthday party, which she remembered as pleasant, seem so awkward and uncomfortable when viewed years later?

Thinking of this, Su Wanluo’s smile gradually stiffened. It seemed that after this birthday party, she had lost contact with her friends. Although she had called them a few times, none of them agreed to go shopping or hang out with her… Perhaps they had all gone to different high schools and had no time to get together, she comforted herself thus.

Su Wanluo watched the video seriously until the screen showed static snow, but she didn’t rush to turn it off and instead fell into deep thought.

“Click!” The bracelet’s clasp suddenly loosened and fell onto the desk.

Su Wanluo’s heart was startled by this crisp sound. The antique shop owner’s words still echoed in her ears, but she felt she was making too big a deal of it. At least, the videotape couldn’t run away by itself, right?

Just as she was mocking herself, the static snow on the screen disappeared, and clear images appeared again. In front of the camera was Qi Qi. Her face no longer wore a sweet expression, but was replaced by contempt: “Wanwan, maybe you’ll never see this part of the video, but we still have to say it. Actually, we really hate being friends with you!”

“Yeah! You’re the class monitor, the teacher’s pet. If we don’t please you, where can we copy homework from?” This was Meizi speaking, who seemed to have no scheming and loved to laugh heartily. That smile which always made Su Wanluo feel as bright as sunshine was now so glaring.

“Actually, we all hate you. Your clothes are so tacky, you speak so seriously, walking with you is embarrassing! Thank goodness we’re graduating soon, finally we don’t have to associate with you anymore!” You’er, with her exquisite makeup, said to the camera with disgust.

“Oh my! You’re being so direct, Wanwan won’t be able to handle it! Hee hee hee!”

“How could that be? Wasn’t this your idea in the first place?”

“Hurry up! She’s almost done paying and coming back!”

The screen shook and returned to static snow. The room was deathly quiet, as if the noisy sounds just now had come from another world.

Su Wanluo sat there blankly until the videotape completely reached the end and the machine stopped running.

What were they saying? Why couldn’t she understand a single word? Weren’t they the ones who insisted on being friends with her back then?

The drilling sound from upstairs resumed without warning, startling Su Wanluo from her nightmare. She suddenly held her head, feeling pain in both her brain and chest…

In the living room, Su’s mother and father were watching TV.

Su’s father said worriedly: “Wanwan has been strange these past two days. She won’t go out looking for Kele again, will she?”

“She shouldn’t. I just cleaned the house and found the videotape from her 15th birthday party, so I put it on her desk,” Su’s mother said happily. “Maybe she’ll soon go find Qi Qi and the others to play. This child has never had many friends since she was small, that’s why she treasures a little dog so much.”

“Oh? That videotape that was lost for so long was actually found?”

“Yes, but it was kept together with a box of magnetic chess pieces. The videotape might have been demagnetized and can’t be played anymore…”

[Topaz: Known as the “stone of friendship,” it represents sincere and persistent love, symbolizing beauty and intelligence. It represents vitality and energy, can eliminate fatigue, control emotions, and help rebuild confidence and goals.]

May 10, 2010, Monday, Sunny

Su Wanluo sat dazedly in the classroom. She had arrived at school very early today, so early that there was no one else in the classroom except her.

But to be precise, someone had arrived even earlier than her. Su Wanluo looked at the desk beside her where her deskmate’s bag lay quietly inside. He always came to school earliest in the class to practice basketball in the morning, so the classroom key was always kept with him.

Su Wanluo withdrew her gaze and looked at the videotape she had brought and placed on her desk. For some unknown reason, she had brought this recovered lost item with her. Even though the bracelet had fallen off once, this videotape still hadn’t disappeared.

But what could this preserve? The precious friendship she once thought she had found back had actually been discarded long, long ago.

They knew she was weak and lonely, longing for friendship more than anyone else. They had seized upon this weakness and half-forcibly became friends with her.

Several years had passed, and she still hadn’t changed. She didn’t even have the courage to confront them. Just like how she knew Kele had been abandoned by her father but chose to escape… She really hated herself for being like this.

Su Wanluo unconsciously played with the bracelet on her wrist. When she woke up this morning, the moonstone on the bracelet had disappeared. But unlike the previous two times, this time she hadn’t discovered any lost item reappearing. At least, not yet.

Su Wanluo was lost in thought when her deskmate suddenly walked in carrying a basketball.

“Why are you here so early today?” Su Wanluo asked uncomfortably. He would practice until just before class every day.

He flashed a toothy smile: “I saw from the playground that you were already here. What about you? Why are you here so early too? You used to arrive right on time every day!”

Su Wanluo quickly lowered her head, fumbling to open her bag and took out the umbrella she had specially bought, but unexpectedly, he pulled out an umbrella from his own desk.

“You! I went to the trouble of lending you my umbrella, and you actually forgot to take it!” he said irritably. “Luckily I met a girl who lives in the same residential area, otherwise not only would my good deed have failed, but I would have been soaked by the heavy rain!”

Faced with his accusation, Su Wanluo was speechless. She clearly remembered taking the umbrella downstairs, but heaven knows how it appeared in his desk again?

Could it be that the bracelet had retrieved it for her?

“I… I thought I had lost it…” Su Wanluo said awkwardly. “This new umbrella… I intended to compensate you with it.”

The puzzled expression on his face completely disappeared, and he shook his head laughing: “I really give up on you! How can you be so absent-minded? Then how did you get home?”

In his laughter, Su Wanluo’s face became redder and redder. She didn’t know who exactly that girl who went home with him that day was to him? Just like she didn’t know whether the last thing she lost was his umbrella, or him?

Su Wanluo was too cowardly to ask, and even specially checked whether the bracelet on her wrist was fastened securely. If it was the same this time, regardless of whether the bracelet fell off or not, would she lose what she had found back again?

She thought hazily about when exactly she had started noticing him.

Was it on the sunlit playground when he ran toward her dribbling a basketball, his face full of brilliant smiles? Was it when he sang loudly without stage fright in an auditorium of thousands? Or was it during one of their accidental eye contacts, so close she could see her own reflection in his eyes, making her afraid to look into his eyes ever since?

She was very certain of her own heart, but uncertain of his. Just like with Kele or her former friends, she was too stupid to ever figure out what kind of world she was really in.

Perhaps not getting an answer was the best result for her?

“What’s wrong? You seem very unhappy today?” He seemed to sense her unusual silence.

She looked at his slightly upturned hair and asked quietly: “Do you have something that you’d rather it stayed lost than find it back?”

“Hm?” He hadn’t expected her to ask such a question.

“Never… never mind what I just said.” Su Wanluo knew she had said something strange and pressed her lips together, not knowing what to do.

He was silent for a while, then sighed softly: “When I was small, I saw a neighbor’s child had a very cool remote-controlled car. I was very envious, so I used all my New Year’s money to buy it. I played with it outside for an entire afternoon, and I’ll never forget that feeling of satisfaction. But when I got home, after my cousins learned that I had spent all my New Year’s money on this remote-controlled car, they all laughed at me for being a fool and said that money could have bought three identical remote-controlled cars. I felt both ashamed and regretful, and cried loudly right then.”

He scratched his head embarrassedly: “I pressed this remote-controlled car to the bottom of a box and never played with it again. Every time I think of this incident, the shame and regret I feel far exceed the happiness this remote-controlled car brought me. So sometimes I can’t help thinking, how good it would have been if I had accidentally lost this remote-controlled car back then. That way, what remained in my heart would only be faint regret.”

Su Wanluo looked at him with understanding until she made him feel uncomfortable all over.

“Sorry, I need to step out for a moment.” Su Wanluo suddenly stood up and rushed out of the classroom.

“Hey!” He called out worriedly, then sighed helplessly in the end.

He looked at the empty classroom and suppressed the urge to chase after her.

He put the basketball aside. He hadn’t returned to the classroom because he saw her arrive at the playground, but had shortened his morning basketball practice by an hour long, long ago.

He took out his books from his bag and began studying very seriously.

He knew his academic performance was far inferior to his deskmate’s. But in order to attend the same university as her, he had to study very hard. Because by then, he would tell her what he had never dared to say…

[Moonstone: Also called “lover’s stone,” because it has a “moonlight effect” – a mysterious blue or bright white glow appears in the center of the gemstone that resembles moonlight, which is why it’s called moonstone. For centuries, moonstone has been one of people’s favorite gemstones. People believe it can awaken gentle passion in one’s beloved and bring beautiful romantic love like moonlight.]

Su Wanluo rushed out of school and ran all the way to the entrance of Mute House before stopping, gasping heavily. She looked again at the bracelet on her hand that now had only two gemstones left, took a deep breath, and pushed open the old wooden carved door.

“Welcome.” The antique shop owner’s elegant voice rang out. When he saw it was Su Wanluo entering, there was no surprise on his face, but rather his smile deepened.

“I… want to return this bracelet to you.” Su Wanluo placed the bracelet on the counter, then quickly stepped back as if avoiding a snake or scorpion. Although it was morning, the shop was still pitch black, with only the candlelight from the two Changxin Palace Lamps at the entrance flickering ghostly within the palace maid’s sleeves.

“Oh? Have you already found what you wanted to retrieve?” The owner looked at the bracelet with only two gemstones remaining, and a trace of disappointment flashed through his slender phoenix eyes.

“No, I haven’t found it back.” Su Wanluo shook her head like a rattle drum. “But I don’t want to search anymore.”

“Oh?” The owner raised an eyebrow and asked with interest: “May I know why?”

Su Wanluo stared at the sparkling bracelet on the counter. Images of Kele and her friends flashed through her mind as she said painfully: “Because I understand now that things I’ve lost never truly belonged to me in the first place. I won’t regret it, nor do I need to feel sorry about it.”

She didn’t even think about her deskmate anymore. She had never possessed him, so how could she lose him?

Actually, what he had just said was right. His remote-controlled car model represented only his immature childhood, just like her Kele and friends. She could have noticed the problems earlier. If she had talked properly with her parents about Kele back then, and communicated openly with her friends, there wouldn’t have been the pain of discovering the truth.

But she had noticed nothing, just hiding in her own world like an ostrich. The bracelet hadn’t done anything – it had only guided her to see clearly the path of the past.

She could see very clearly now.

So the bracelet was of no use to her anymore.

“I understand.” The owner smiled slightly. “Then, I wish you never lose anything again in the future.”

“I will.” Su Wanluo quietly clenched her fists and walked out determinedly. This time, she would use her own strength to properly cherish what she currently possessed and strive for a future she wouldn’t regret.

The owner watched her much stronger back, lost in thought. Only after her figure could no longer be seen through the window lattice did he withdraw his gaze and pick up the bracelet from the counter, examining it carefully.

“Hey, you just let her leave like that?” From the depths of the antique shop, a tall figure slowly emerged. It was a man wearing a white coat, with fashionable hair and handsome looks. He dressed stylishly but wore a tacky red cord around his neck, with a snow-white jade ornament hanging from the end of the cord. The jade had a warm luster and was carved with exquisite craftsmanship with four characters: “Long Life and Longevity.”

The man was holding a white dog in his arms. This dog had a tuft of black fur around its mouth and was very cute.

The owner chuckled: “You heard it too. She said it herself – for things that are lost, she won’t regret it, nor does she need to feel sorry about it.”

“Then what about this dog? Not giving it to her? You urgently called me out yesterday just to save this dog. I’m a surgeon, not a veterinarian!” The handsome man complained dissatisfiedly. The dog in his arms licked his palm ingratiatingly.

The owner smiled faintly upon seeing this: “Her family doesn’t allow pets. Even if we returned it to her, it would still be given away. But it seems to like you quite a bit, so you keep it.”

The handsome man looked down at the dog in his arms: “Keeping you is fine, but the name Kele is too tacky. I’ll call you ‘Apache’!”

The owner wasn’t concerned about the dog’s name. What he cared about was the bracelet that had returned to his hands.

“Eh? When I saw you yesterday, wasn’t the dragon on your clothes coiled around your right arm? How did it get to your back?” The doctor had always thought the owner was wearing just a plain black Zhongshan suit today, until he turned around and was shocked to discover that on the owner’s back, a deep red dragon was coiled, occupying his entire back, glaring menacingly at the owner’s pale nape. Due to the exquisite embroidery, under the dim light, this dragon looked almost alive.

“You saw wrong.” The owner didn’t turn around and said flatly.

“No, how could I have seen wrong?” the doctor insisted. He was a doctor! How could he mistake a piece of clothing? Especially with such a lifelike dragon on this Zhongshan suit – it would be hard to forget even if one wanted to.

The owner was silent for a moment: “This is another outfit. What I wore yesterday and today are not the same piece.”

A suspicious pause… The doctor furrowed his handsome long eyebrows and slowly approached the owner, studying the dragon on his body carefully.

The owner imperceptibly pulled away and changed the subject: “It’s a pity that this Fragrant Concubine’s bracelet can only achieve perfection when all the gemstones disappear completely. Having missed this opportunity, the next time it sees sunlight will probably be 125 years from now.”

The doctor’s mouth twitched twice, and he laughed awkwardly: “You always say these things to scare people. As if it’s really true!”

The owner solemnly put the bracelet back in the box, turned around and smiled slightly: “I never tell lies, really.”

Just as he spoke, the red dragon behind him quietly bared its fangs…