In the eleventh year of the Republic of China, one evening in early autumn, Tonglu.
In Andu Si Lane, south gate of the city, through the window of the second floor room of a small Chinese-style building, you can see a young man leaning on a wicker chair in front of his desk, looking at something in his hand with a solemn expression.
In his hand was a piece of letterhead, which he had accidentally taken out from the hidden compartment of the desk drawer just now when he was rummaging through boxes and cabinets.
This man, who is in his twenties, is named Xie Liuyun and is a bridge engineer.
The room he is staying in now is his father's bedroom. Since his mother's death, the father and son have not communicated much, and he rarely enters this room.
Now, in order to find out the reason for his father's disappearance, he can only look for useful clues in his father's room.
When he saw the wooden box containing the letter, he was very excited, thinking that there might be something important hidden in this secret box that would help him find his father.
But when he saw the letter in the wooden box, he was disappointed. His father did not leave a word about his whereabouts.
Moreover, what was written on the letter made him feel even more confused after reading it.
The hidden compartment in the drawer is not big, just big enough to put down the wooden box.
When he took the wooden box out of the drawer, Xie Liuyun's heart was beating hard and he was very nervous.
This is an antique rectangular flat wooden box. I can't tell what material it is made of, but it is dark red in color.
As a bridge engineer, Xie Liuyun was familiar with all kinds of building materials and boards. After smelling and touching it, he guessed that the box should be made of mahogany.
The workmanship of the box is simple and unsophisticated, with no dazzling decorations. There is only one word engraved in the center of the top cover of the wooden box.
Xie Liuyun held up the wooden box and placed it under the desk lamp. After carefully identifying it, he saw that it was the character "Yong" and the font was a small seal script that is rarely used nowadays.
Generally speaking, the words that can appear on the utensils, in most cases, represent the surname or identity of the owner of the utensil, to demonstrate the ownership of the utensil and the status of the owner.
This is just like after a construction project is completed and accepted, in order to commemorate the construction process and highlight the construction significance of the project, it is necessary to build a monument and write a book to show it to the world.
Looking at the word "Yong" on the wooden box, Xie Liuyun was very puzzled. If "Yong" represents the surname, as far as he knows, there are no relatives named "Yong" in his family?
If the word "Yong" represents a name, Xie Liuyun racked his brains and could not find anyone with the word "Yong" in his name among the relatives and friends he knew.
This wooden box with the word "Yong" engraved on it exuded a sense of mystery, which made Xie Liuyun feel very strange.
He had never seen this wooden box before, and he didn't understand how this unknown wooden box could appear in the drawer of his father's desk.
This was his father's personal belongings. He shouldn't have checked it privately, but now that his father's safety was at stake, Xie Liuyun decided to open the wooden box and see what was inside.
He slowly opened the wooden box and found a written letter inside. However, the cover of the letter was not sealed, but the stamps had been affixed.
The handwriting on the envelope was not my father's, but looking at it this way, it looked like it was a letter that was ready to be sent at any time.
Why didn't my father send this letter?
Xie Liuyun was confused.
After taking out the letter from the wooden box, Xie Liuyun found a folded letter under the letter, lying quietly at the bottom of the box, waiting for someone to find it.
Xie Liuyun hurriedly took out the letterhead and opened it eagerly. As expected, what he saw was his father's familiar handwriting.
He softly recited the words on the letter, "A group of steep green skyscrapers, carefree and forgetful of years. I look for ancient paths through the clouds, listen to the flowing springs by leaning on the rocks. The green cows lie down in the warmth of the flowers, and the white cranes sleep in the high pines. As I speak, the river looks like dusk,
"Alone in the cold smoke".
This was a poem written by his father. Xie Liuyun couldn't remember whose poem it was for a moment, and he had no intention of studying the meaning of the poem.
Under this poem, there are two lines of words written by his father, all of which are instructions to himself, "Liu Yun, when you see this note I left you, send this letter. Don't worry about anything."
, it has its own destiny!”
At the end of the letter, there was written the word "Tingsong", which was the name of Xie Liuyun's father.
Xie Liuyun was confused after reading it. He didn't know what his father's intention was.
Thinking that his father had been missing for several days, his heart became even heavier.
Our story begins five days ago.
Five days ago, that is, on the afternoon of last Wednesday, Xie Liuyun, who was busy with construction and living and eating at the construction site, received a call from his father's school.
Director Wang of the Academic Affairs Office of Tonglu Middle School informed Xie Liuyun that his father Xie Tingsong had not come to work for two days. He also asked with concern if something had happened at home? Or was there something wrong with his health? Does he need school?
When I sent someone over to take a look, I found out that my father had not been at school since get off work on Monday.
After not going home for a few days, he rushed home immediately. After asking his father's colleagues and friends he knew, he found that no one knew his father's whereabouts, so he immediately went to the Nanjie Police Station in the jurisdiction of his home to report to the police.
Director Liu Changyun was an old friend of his father's. After learning that his father was missing, he immediately sent people to investigate, which made Xie Liuyun's panic calm down a little.
Over the past few days, he had searched everywhere he could think of, but he had no clue.
After another day of running around, Xie Liuyun, who had not gained anything yet, dragged his tired body back home in frustration.
When passing by the first floor, I happened to meet the tenant who rented the east room on the first floor of their home, Mr. Wang, who worked in the same school as his father.
He was going out to take out the garbage. When he saw Xie Liuyun, he took the initiative to say hello to him. He knew what was going on at his home and said words of comfort to him.
Xie Liuyun forced a smile on his face, said a few words to Teacher Wang and then went upstairs.
Teacher Wang, who was about the same age as Xie Liuyun, felt sad when he found out about his father's disappearance. Seeing that he was in poor condition, he didn't say anything more and went out to the trash can at the alley to empty the trash.
Xie Liuyun returned to his home on the second floor, closed the door, and sat on a chair in the living room, feeling very depressed.
He clasped his hands on his chest, closed his eyes, and sorted out his chaotic thoughts.
Suddenly he thought, would there be any useful clues in his father's bedroom?
Xie Liuyun felt that he should do something. He couldn't just sit there, as it would only make him think wildly.
With this thought in mind, he immediately got up and walked to the door of his father's bedroom without sleeping soundly for several nights. He opened the door, entered and turned on the chandelier, and began to search carefully.
After some searching, nothing was found.
He stood in the room, looking around, hoping to find something that would help him find his father.
He remembered that his father had the habit of writing a diary every day. He might be able to find out what his father was doing during this time and find some useful clues from his diary.
But what was surprising was that the desk drawer was empty, and he did not see his father's diary.
This doesn't look like your father's usual living habits, does it?
In Xie Liuyun's impression, his father had been using the dark brown leather-covered diary ever since he could remember.
Moreover, this diary has always been placed in the desk drawer and has never changed its location.
When he was a child, he secretly read the contents of his father's diary when his father was not paying attention.
I saw that what my father recorded in his diary were all daily trivial matters and words to express his mood. There was nothing special about it.
But even so, after his father discovered that he had peeked at his diary, he reprimanded him very severely, making him stand for a whole afternoon, and warned him not to peek at his diary again.
To this end, the father and son had their first in-depth talk.
Xie Liuyun realized that he had committed a serious violation of other people's privacy, and such behavior was not allowed even among family members.
He had never seen his father get so angry, which made the young Xie Liuyun firmly remember this lesson.
He vaguely remembered that there were five diaries in the drawer, each of which was sixteen pages in size and the same color and style.
He was a little unwilling and continued to fumble in the drawer, hoping to find something else.
Fortunately, a wooden board in the innermost part of the drawer moved slightly with the touch of his hand.
Xie Liuyun hurriedly lowered his head and looked inside, and found that the wooden board was movable.
He pushed hard with his hand, and the board immediately became loose. With a little force, he took the board out.
I saw a hidden compartment behind the wooden board, and a wooden box was placed in the hidden compartment.
He carefully took out the wooden box and placed it on the desk. Next, the scene at the beginning of this article appeared.
Now, looking at the letterhead left by his father, Xie Liuyun suspiciously picked up the unsealed letter to be sent.
He didn't know why his father left this letter in such a secret place. If he hadn't discovered it, wouldn't his father's efforts have been in vain?