When that name was spoken, fragmentary images surfaced in Jiang Nuan’s mind.
Blinding white lights. Someone stroking her hair and saying, “You are our only hope.”
She shuddered. It was the fear that came from the depths of her soul—the fear of being touched by cold instruments and examined like a specimen by countless pairs of eyes.
Jiang Nuan frowned, trying to see those fragments of memory more clearly.
Someone tugged at her sleeve.
“Sis? What’s wrong?” Young Lu Shiyan looked up at her, his clear eyes reflecting the sudden pallor of her face.
“…I’m fine.” Jiang Nuan came back to herself, suppressing her unease as she followed the line forward another couple of steps.
But that bone-deep chill wouldn’t go away.
What had that been? Another fragment of memory?
The viewpoint had been very low—clearly that of a child. And the terror of being examined like a specimen had felt frighteningly real.
A horrifying thought suddenly sprang into her mind. That terrifying memory, which had never appeared before, had most likely also been sealed away by Bai Siyuan.
But why?
Judging by the timeline, this childhood memory should have taken place long before she was taken in by the Bai family. She might not even have known Bai Siyuan yet.
Why would he go to such lengths to seal away a part of the original owner’s childhood—a childhood that probably hadn’t been a happy one and had nothing to do with him?
What was Bai Siyuan trying to conceal? Or was there something he was afraid of? Was he afraid that one day she might remember those unpleasant memories?
But what truly made her scalp prickle was how real that memory had felt, as though it had happened to her.
If it had only belonged to the original owner, why had her very soul been trembling?
The soul didn’t pretend.
A wild thought forced its way into her mind.
Could it be… that what she believed was her recent transmigration had been a lie from the very beginning?
That record from the old era had matched her previous life so closely, and now there were these strange sensations… Could it be that she had transmigrated here much earlier than she thought? So early that she had already been here at the time of that child’s memories?
She couldn’t help shivering again.
Whatever the truth was… the first thing she would do after leaving the restricted zone was find a way to obtain that record from the old era.
She had to know exactly where her life had begun.
“Sis, are you cold?” Young Lu Shiyan suddenly asked.
He released the sleeve he had been clutching all this time and took off the scarf around his neck.
Before Jiang Nuan could react, he had already risen onto his toes and wrapped the soft scarf, still warm from his body, around her neck. He even helped adjust it for her.
The sudden warmth eased her racing heart somewhat.
“I’m not…” Jiang Nuan had just begun to refuse when young Lu Shiyan reached out with his own warm little hand and took her cold one.
“My hands are warm,” he said, looking up at her.
The child’s hand was like a little stove, its heat dispelling some of the bone-chilling cold in her.
She watched his serious profile and did not refuse again, letting him hold her hand.
The line moved slowly forward, while the sweet scent of roasted chestnuts drifted through the air.
“Sis,” young Lu Shiyan said, his gaze falling on their joined hands, as though the last glimmer of the stars still lingered there. “There’s something I want to ask you.”
The warmth softened Jiang Nuan’s heart. She lowered her head to look at the little adult beside her. “What is it?”
Young Lu Shiyan hesitated. Amid the warmth of their clasped hands, he began to tell her a story.
“There was a bird locked inside a tower. Every day, someone outside the tower would come and look at her through the window.”
“That person had promised to secretly open the window, but later he thought that if he opened it, the bird would fly away and never come back.”
“So he still hasn’t opened it, and the bird is angry and refuses to speak to him.”
Young Lu Shiyan looked up. His eyes, so much like those of the grown-up Lu Shiyan, were filled with confusion.
“Sis, do you think that person should secretly open the window?”
A bird imprisoned in a tower?
Jiang Nuan’s body stiffened.
The cold wind blew over from the frozen lake, but the warmth around her neck and in her palm helped settle her thoughts.
She blinked, suppressing the emotions rising inside her—emotions she couldn’t quite name.
What kind of story was this?
Imprisonment? Redemption?
The books young Lu Shiyan read were seriously questionable…
Jiang Nuan tightened her grip around his little hand and said gently, “What do you think? Should he open it?”
Young Lu Shiyan was silent for a moment before answering in a low voice, “But if he opens it, the bird won’t be there anymore.”
“But you came to ask me, which means you already have an answer in your heart,” Jiang Nuan said with a smile.
Young Lu Shiyan looked up at her.
“You asked me whether he should open the window, not how to keep the bird in the tower without making her angry. Isn’t that right?” she said.
His long lashes trembled. He nodded, then turned his head toward the white smoke rising from the chestnut stall and fell silent.
Seeing how quiet he had become, Jiang Nuan couldn’t help ruffling his hair again. “Your friend will like the roasted chestnuts you bought.”
She didn’t know who the child locked inside the laboratory was, but whoever it was must be very important to young Lu Shiyan for him to care about them so much.
“Really?” Young Lu Shiyan’s eyes lit up.
“Mm.” Jiang Nuan nodded. “Because you chose them so carefully. Your friend will definitely be able to feel the thought behind them.”
Young Lu Shiyan tightened his grip on her hand, as though he had found courage in her words.
—
“Shiyan!”
Lu Zhaoming’s voice came from nearby.
Jiang Nuan had just finished buying the chestnuts. She turned around and saw him and Lin Zhou hurrying toward them.
Lu Zhaoming stopped in front of them. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“It’s fine.” Jiang Nuan shook the bag of roasted chestnuts. “We just finished buying them, too.”
Lu Zhaoming glanced at the scarf around her neck and at their clasped hands. His eyes softened.
“Shiyan likes you very much,” he said. “He usually doesn’t like interacting with strangers.”
Jiang Nuan lowered her gaze to the little boy beside her. He was hugging the chestnuts and seemed lost in thought.
“Maybe we just hit it off,” Jiang Nuan said.
If only the grown-up Lu Shiyan were half as adorable as he had been when he was little.
“It’s getting late.” Lu Zhaoming patted young Lu Shiyan on the head. “We should head back.”
“Okay.” Young Lu Shiyan nodded, reluctantly releasing her hand. “Sis, will you come to the party Uncle Lin Zhou mentioned?”
Lin Zhou’s eyebrows shot up in exasperation. “How many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Big Brother! I’m still young!”
Young Lu Shiyan didn’t even glance at Lin Zhou. He only looked at Jiang Nuan.
“I will,” Jiang Nuan replied gently.
No matter what, she still had to investigate the clue involving the drawing pen. Besides, the people from the Lighthouse had just sent her an invitation.
Young Lu Shiyan immediately brightened and waved at Jiang Nuan before returning to his father’s side.
Jiang Nuan touched the scarf around her neck. She was about to take it off and return it to him when Lu Zhaoming stopped her.
“Keep it,” Lu Zhaoming said warmly. “Consider it Shiyan’s welcoming gift to you.”
With that, he took young Lu Shiyan’s hand and turned to leave.
Jiang Nuan stood where she was, watching the two adults and the child walk away.
After walking a few steps, young Lu Shiyan turned back once more and waved at Jiang Nuan. “See you at the party, Sis!”
Jiang Nuan watched them disappear into the distance, her fingers brushing over the scarf as her mind began turning over something else entirely.
At the party, she had to see the “Zero” in the laboratory.
She needed to verify a suspicion so absurd that even she hardly dared believe it.
