There was no title on the cover of the book, only a signature that had been worn to a blur. Faintly, only the character "Cui" could be made out.
Xia Sanghuan's mind went blank for a moment.
Her master's surname was Cui.
His name was Cui Qin.
She adjusted her state and casually asked, as if by chance.
"Grandpa, what's this?"
The old man had no intention of hiding it and said bluntly.
"It's a notebook about the Black Bone Spiritual Treasure."
"… What?"
She asked in a soft voice, hardly able to believe it.
Just then, Leng Chuanjin, who happened to be passing by, walked over.
"What are you talking about?"
He naturally put his arm around the girl's shoulder.
Xia Sanghuan shivered involuntarily.
"What's wrong with you?"
He lowered his head and frowned at her.
"Nothing. I'm just a bit cold."
She forced a smile at him, but it looked rather strained.
After all, this notebook might be related to her master. Just thinking about this made her heart pound violently.
Now her master was missing. Whenever there was the slightest bit of news about him, she couldn't stay completely calm.
It could be said that during the time she lived on Qingshan Slope, apart from Xia Laosi, her master took care of her the most.
Fortunately, she had excellent mental fortitude and quickly regained her usual composure.
However, her previous nervousness had been noticed by Leng Chuanjin.
Why was she so tense?
The man pursed his thin lips. He always felt that this notebook was not as simple as it seemed to the girl.
But he didn't press further, because he knew that the more he pressured her, the less likely she would talk.
He had seen this notebook before. Back then, when he was almost at his wit's end because of Jing Zhan's illness, Grandpa Fu had shown it to him.
But because the old man had made an agreement with the person who gave him this notebook, he still couldn't lend it to him.
Fortunately, he finally found the Black Bone Spiritual Treasure.
And he also found Xia Sanghuan.
The girl wanted to ask how this notebook came about, but her second brother seemed determined not to leave her side. She had no choice but to give up, thinking that she would ask clearly after they got home.
However, Leng Chuanjin actually stayed at the Fu family until nearly midnight on the pretext of discussing something with his elder brother—although it was already very late when they got home.
"I'm leaving."
The man looked back at the girl who was pushed out by her elder sisters to see him off.
"Goodbye."
She said goodbye to him crisply and then turned around to leave.
Before she could take a single step, she was hugged by the man behind her.
"What are you doing?"
She struggled a little but couldn't break free.
"Happy birthday."
The girl paused for a moment.
"You've already said that."
"I know."
The man let go of his hand.
"I hope you can be this happy every day."
After saying that, he waved at her and turned away.
The girl watched him drive away before going back into the house.
Everyone else had already gone to bed. She tiptoed over, picked up the notebook on the table, and went back to her room.
She turned on the light in the bedroom and found that she was hardly sleepy at all.
She simply took off her evening dress. After some hesitation, she put this dress together with the one her second brother had given her before.
Although it wasn't made by her second brother, at least it matched his suit.
She pressed the button on the table lamp, spread out the notebook, and sat down at the table to read.
Rather than a notebook, it was more like random records of data and analyses. Some of them seemed to be wrong from today's perspective.
Although the handwriting was a bit different, it could be seen that this notebook was indeed written by her master.
Her expression became more and more solemn.
Why was her master's notebook in Grandpa's hands?
What was the connection between her master and Grandpa?
Would Grandpa know any news about her master?
Countless questions crowded into her mind. As the night deepened, her tired body began to show signs of exhaustion.
She put the notebook in the cabinet and locked it up uneasily.
Since the next day was still the weekend and she had stayed up too late last night, she simply let herself sleep until she woke up naturally.
The family knew that she was tired and didn't bother her.
The first thing Xia Sanghuan did after waking up was to go to the pavilion in the back garden where Grandpa often stayed to look for him.
When she walked over with the notebook in her arms, Grandpa was lying leisurely in a wicker chair, sipping tea.
Since Fu Kai's leg had recovered, he no longer had to stay by that troublesome grandson's side all day.
"You're here?"
Before the girl could say a word, the old man asked.
"How did you know I would come?"
She sat down on the stone bench opposite Grandpa in surprise.
"It would be strange if you didn't come."
The old man opened his eyes.
"Judging from your reaction last night, you care a lot about this notebook."
"Ask whatever questions you have. I'll answer anything I know."
He sat up from the wicker chair, poured a cup of tea for himself and the girl, looking ready for a long conversation.
Seeing that Grandpa was so straightforward, she didn't beat around the bush.
"Grandpa, could you tell me how you got this notebook?"
The old man took a sip of his tea and began to recall the scene at that time.
"It was probably more than thirty years ago. Your grandma and I were still relatively young then. While your dad was at school, the two of us went to a place far away from Yuntan to climb a mountain."
"Everything was going well when we were climbing, but your grandma suddenly said she heard a ghost crying."
"I said it was broad daylight and there couldn't possibly be a ghost. Then I walked over to her and found that there was indeed some noise."
"However, it wasn't a ghost. It was an injured man calling for help."
Hearing this, the girl's heart tightened involuntarily.
If her guess was correct, this man calling for help was probably her master.
"Your grandma and I took some tools and medicine and went down to rescue him."
"The man was seriously injured. Your grandma and I didn't know much about first - aid knowledge."
"Fortunately, he knew a lot and managed to apply the medicine and stop the bleeding by himself."
Grandpa Fu tried hard to recall the scene at that time.
"Afraid that something might go wrong, your grandma and I took him to the hospital and covered all his medical expenses and later nursing costs."
"On the day he was discharged from the hospital, he said he had no way to repay us, so he gave me this notebook. He said it was his most precious thing and asked me not to lend it to others."
"He also said that when he had the chance in the future, he would definitely come back with enough money to get this notebook back."
Grandpa's expression looked a bit desolate.
"As it turned out, after that farewell, we never saw each other again."
"Grandpa, do you know that man's name?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"He was in a coma most of the time, and he seemed very anxious when he left."
"Only the cover of his notebook had a name on it, but only the surname could be seen."
So the notebook had been damaged to this extent even then.
The girl couldn't help but hug the notebook in her arms tightly.