Du Zishu never thought that his mother's words asking him to return to Yancheng before she died would change his life.
In the old house at the end of Yanliu Lane, sixteen wooden boxes are filled with old letters and manuscripts. Each page points to a person who has been wiped out by the family - Gu Changan, his uncle and the former owner of Jinhui Shop. Following the sound of the flute through the narrow alley, he met Liu Yian: a man who looked to be only twenty-six years old. He had a calm expression and few words. He guarded a shop full of old things and never asked why he came every evening.
What he didn't know was that Liu Yian had been waiting for him for twenty years.
Because you are here. No matter who you are.
This is a story about "keeping". Keep old things, keep memories, keep a city, keep a person. Some people find beauty in the ashes, some spend their whole lives waiting for a word that has never been spoken, and some finally wait for the person who is willing to stay after the long rainy season.
Purpose: To guard things is to guard one's heart, and the place I return to is my hometown.
