A Tale Told to Earn Their Trust

Chen Chuan said frankly, "I learned about you two from Senior Fang, then found out where you lived through other sources.

"As for why I came, I have some questions about the older generation. You don't have to take my word for it. I have something that proves who I am."

He picked up the bag he had set down, opened it, and took out a notebook. He handed it to He Zhilan, who had stepped forward.

He Zhilan took it and recognized it at once, her face lighting up. "This is... Senior Apprentice Sister Zhen's Notebook? It's the keepsake she gave our teacher back then. There's no mistake." She turned to He Ruihai, who was still seated, and shook the notebook excitedly. "I helped her buy this! Look, the corner of this page is missing. I said we should exchange it, but Senior Apprentice Sister Zhen said no. She said the No Gap Faction sought what had no gaps precisely because gaps existed. She had flaws herself, so it was only right that her notebook did too. It's been so many years..."

As she spoke, she looked at Chen Chuan, a light growing in her eyes. "You have Senior Apprentice Sister Zhen's Notebook. You... you're her son. You're Xiao Chuan, aren't you?"

"Yes, Senior. It's me," Chen Chuan said.

"It really is you! I knew it!" He Zhilan grew emotional, her voice rising. "You look so much like Senior Apprentice Sister Zhen. Your brows and eyes are almost identical. Your eyebrows are just as neat and beautiful, black as ink, as though they'd been drawn with a brush. And your eyes have that same spark. They're so bright."

He Ruihai, however, barely moved from his seat. He looked at Chen Chuan and said, "The notebook is real, but I