The next day, the men of the Su Family all went to work again.
Lin Wanyi took the nanny to the market, hoping to buy some fresh fish to make soup for Nuannuan.
Nuannuan was the only one left in the little house.
Oh, no, there was also a leopard.
This was exactly the chance Nuannuan had been waiting for.
She ran downstairs, opened the living room door, and beckoned to the snow leopard dozing in the yard.
"Big Kitty, come in."
The snow leopard immediately trotted inside and rubbed its big head against Nuannuan's legs.
Nuannuan closed the door, took hold of the snow leopard's tail, and led it upstairs to her room.
"Big Kitty, help me with something."
She pointed at the floorboard beneath the bed.
The snow leopard tilted its head, not understanding what the cub wanted to do.
Imitating a little mouse, Nuannuan lay on the floor and picked at the gap around that floorboard with her fingers.
Here. Get it open, she instructed the snow leopard in her mind.
The snow leopard seemed to understand.
It walked over to the bed, lowered its head, and sniffed the floorboard.
Then it extended a front paw.
That paw could easily tear open its prey's throat during a hunt. Now, however, it carefully slipped its sharp claw tips into the gap around the floorboard.
There was a faint click.
It easily pried up one corner of the seemingly seamless floorboard.
Nuannuan's eyes lit up.
The snow leopard raised its head and looked at Nuannuan, as though asking: like this?
Nuannuan nodded vigorously.
Encouraged, the snow leopard applied a little pressure with its paw.
Creeeak-
The entire floorboard lifted away intact.
Beneath it was a small, square cavity.
Inside lay a rusty tin biscuit box.
That's it!
Nuannuan's heart beat fast.
She lay down, reached out her little hands, and lifted the cold tin box out of the hole.
The box was heavy and covered in dust.
On its lid was a picture of a little foreign girl in a dress, smiling brightly. But rust had left the girl's face mottled and indistinct.
Holding the box, Nuannuan sat on the carpet, a little dazed.
What could Mommy have left inside? Pretty beads, or tasty candy?
She tried to open the box.
But the lid was rusted firmly shut, and her little hands lacked the strength to open it.
"Big Kitty..." She looked to the snow leopard for help.
The snow leopard came closer and sniffed the tin box, then opened its mouth, gripped the edge of the lid with its teeth, and gently pried it up.
Click.
The lid came loose.
The smell of old paper and ink drifted out of the box.
Nuannuan leaned closer curiously and peered inside.
There was no candy in the box, nor were there any beads.
On top lay a thick stack of diaries with kraft-paper covers that had begun to yellow.
Beneath the diaries lay a photograph.
It was black and white.
In the photograph, an exceptionally beautiful woman held a newborn baby. The woman wore a gentle smile, and her eyes looked exactly like Nuannuan's.
The baby was Nuannuan herself.
Nuannuan reached out a little hand and gently stroked the woman's face in the photograph.
"Mommy..." she called softly.
Before she knew it, tears fell onto the photograph, spreading into a small wet patch.
Just then, the bedroom door was pushed open.
"Nuannuan, Uncle's home."
Su Mingfeng walked in carrying a paper parcel containing the roasted sweet potatoes he had bought for Nuannuan.
As soon as he entered, he saw Nuannuan sitting on the floor in tears, holding a dust-covered tin box.
Beside her, the snow leopard was clumsily licking the tears from her face.
"Nuannuan, what's wrong?" Startled, Su Mingfeng hurried over. "What's this?"
His gaze fell on the open tin box.
When he saw the diary and the photograph, his whole body jolted.
He recognized that diary. He had given it to his younger sister, Su Mingyue.
He picked up the photograph. On the back was his sister's delicate handwriting:
"My Nuannuan, on her third day in this world. May your life be filled with warmth, peace, and joy."
Su Mingfeng's eyes instantly reddened.
He gathered Nuannuan and the tin box into his arms.
"These are... things Mommy left behind." Nuannuan pushed the box toward his chest.
Su Mingfeng suppressed the ache in his heart and reached out to sort through the contents.
Besides the diaries and photograph, a neatly folded drawing lay flat at the very bottom of the box.
It was an extremely complicated drawing done in pencil. It depicted the lay of mountain ranges, marked with all sorts of incomprehensible symbols and data.
One glance was enough for Su Mingfeng to find it somewhat familiar.
He picked up the drawing and unfolded it.
Just then, footsteps sounded downstairs.
"Mingfeng? Where's Nuannuan?" It was her third uncle, Su Mingzhe. His project had finished early that day, so he had stopped by on his way back to see Nuannuan.
Su Mingzhe came upstairs. He was a scientist, curious about everything.
"Oh? What's this?" His gaze was immediately drawn to the drawing in Su Mingfeng's hands.
He walked over, and after just one glance, his expression changed.
For the first time, that face, which always wore a gentle smile, showed shock and gravity.
He snatched the drawing from Su Mingfeng's hands and held it close, examining it carefully.
"This... isn't this..." Su Mingzhe's voice trembled. "This is Project 713's top-secret sketch of the mineral vein distribution! What's it doing here?"
Project 713?
Su Mingfeng's heart lurched.
He remembered.
Five years ago, his younger sister Su Mingyue and her husband had been core members of Project 713.
When they died, the official conclusion had been that they had encountered a catastrophic flash flood. Their deaths had been ruled accidental.
Yet now, this top-secret drawing, which should have been stored in an archive with the highest security classification, had turned up among his sister's belongings.
A terrifying thought arose in Su Mingfeng's and Su Mingzhe's minds at the same time.
Perhaps their sister's death back then... had not been an accident at all!