The gift shop was small, and the items were crowded and arranged in a disorderly manner. The star stickers and posters that students liked were hung on one wall, and the other side was hung with animations. Many of the ornaments were covered with a layer of dust, and it seemed that they could not be sold at all.


    Why is this store still open? Wade wondered, and found that the older female store owner was staring at him at the counter. Obviously, he didn''t look like someone who would go to such a store, and the store had just opened, and the lights in the room were not even on.


    Wade walked over and wanted to speak, but he was reluctant. He didn''t believe in this kind of thing in his heart, and felt like an idiot.


    "What''s the matter?" the store owner asked him.


    Wade took out a business card from his pocket and handed it over, asking awkwardly: "Have you heard of this name..."


    The shop owner looked at it in confusion, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he stood up quickly, saying "You are finally here", and took something from the shelf and placed it in front of him.


    It was a music box, a very old style. When you open the lid, there will be a little man dancing. It can be used as a dressing box, and there are two small drawers underneath. Wade then noticed that only this music box had a transparent cover on the outside to prevent dust, and the others did not.


    "Is this for me?" Wade was not sure.


    "Lewis left it for you," the shop owner took out a leather-covered notebook from under his counter and placed it next to the music box, "and this."


    Wade was full of doubts. He flipped open the book and glanced at it. It was full of words. He didn''t read it carefully for the time being. He couldn''t help asking: "When did she leave it?"


    "It''s been almost a year. If it weren''t for waiting for you, I would have closed this crappy shop a long time ago."


    That means Lewis had left the things here before he was caught. Did she make up her mind to kill people at that time? But why did she leave something for him? Wade really didn''t remember meeting Lewis.


    How could a person who didn''t know him at all leave something for him in advance and know that he would definitely see him before he died.


    "Did she leave anything else besides these?" Wade asked.


    "She said she would wait for someone with your name to come and then give you the things. As for the rest, you can understand it by looking at what is written in the book."


    "You kept it for her?"


    The shop owner''s face showed "what else?"


    "Do you know that she..." What Wade didn''t say was, do you know that she was helping a criminal, and that this person was already dead.


    "I know, I know..." The shop owner sighed, "This small place has such a person, and it has been spread all over the place."


    That''s what he said, but Wade only saw regret on the face of the shop owner. It was obvious that no matter what the result was, at least the woman in the gift shop didn''t think Lewis was a bad person.


    "I know what you''re thinking," the shop owner lit a cigarette, "I tell you, I''ve been in this place all my life, and I''ve run this shop for 20 years. I''ve seen too many people, and many people''s badness can be seen from childhood. Lewis and her mother and daughter are not bad people. I believe in my own eyes."


    Wade actually sneered at this statement. If everyone relies on their feelings, what is the use of the law.


    "But she has already pleaded guilty."


    "So what, a mother, in order to avenge her daughter, it''s worth it to be shot."


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    It was at this moment that Wade truly realized that it was not Lewis''s excuse, but that she had always believed that her daughter did not commit suicide, and even outsiders knew it.


    But, what was the reason?


    "Didn''t her daughter commit suicide?" After thinking about it, Wade asked.


    "How could a child who was still saving money to buy a birthday present for her mother commit suicide before her mother''s birthday? I can''t figure it out."


    Hearing the store owner say this, Wade''s occupational disease came back, and he couldn''t help but ask what was going on. And he always had to figure out why Lewis left something for him, otherwise he would feel uneasy holding it in his hands.


    "It was 19... 1998 or 1999..." The shop owner took a puff of cigarette and squinted his eyes in the smoke.


    That was before 2000. One day, a middle school girl walked into her shop and walked around for several times. Finally, she stopped in front of this music box and asked her the price. This music box is made of copper, which is considered expensive in this store. Even if the shop owner decided to make less profit, the price quoted was far beyond the girl''s budget.


    In those days, children from ordinary families didn''t have much pocket money. If they brought their meals to school, they would have even less money. The shop owner asked her if she had any New Year''s money. The girl said that there were only her and her mother at home, so how could she have any New Year''s money.


    Even so, the girl still wanted to buy this music box as a birthday gift for her mother. The shop owner saw her sincerity and decided to give it to her at the purchase price. So the girl gave the shop owner a little deposit and left her name, asking the shop owner to give her some time. She would work hard to save money and would definitely come to buy it before her mother''s birthday.


    The girl''s name was Ella, and the shop owner remembered it very clearly.


    Later, the shop owner put the music box away, but Ella never came, and the shop owner gradually forgot about it. Almost a year passed, and the shop owner noticed the music box again when he was counting the goods, and then he remembered it again. She wanted to put it out and continue selling, but she couldn''t help but wonder if Ella didn''t save enough money and was embarrassed to come.


    The shop owner thought it was okay to break the contract, and wanted to return the deposit to Ella. The shop patrons were students from two nearby schools. She deliberately asked students from the same school, but she heard others say that Ella had committed suicide, and it had been a long time.


    At that time, the shop owner thought how could it be possible, Ella was obviously a girl who still had hope for tomorrow.


    The shop owner felt sorry and wished he had given the music box to Ella. She was also a mother, and she couldn''t help thinking about what Ella had said about her mother being the only one at home. How would the single mother who lost her daughter survive? So the shop owner decided to hand the music box to Ella''s mother anyway, at least to let the mother know that her daughter had wanted to buy her a birthday present.


    For this reason, the shop owner went to the school to inquire and got Ella''s landline number. Lewis answered the phone.


    Lewis came to the store, listened to her story, sat there for a while holding the music box, and suddenly started to slap himself. The shop owner tried his best to stop him, and Lewis finally burst into tears.


    Lewis bought the music box that day. Although the store owner kept saying that it was a gift to her, she insisted on putting down the money. Lewis''s back looked lost that day. She was as thin as a piece of paper and her face was pale. The store owner shouted "Think more positively" several times at her back, but Lewis did not turn back.


    At that time, the store owner really felt that Lewis could not live. She was afraid that she had done something bad with good intentions and stimulated Lewis instead.


    Fortunately, after a while, she met Lewis by chance, and she finally let go of her heart. I don''t know what she went through, but Lewis''s condition seemed to be better. Later, Lewis would occasionally go to her store to sit for a while, but he didn''t tell her anything. The only thing she knew was that Lewis firmly believed that his daughter did not commit suicide and was always looking for the truth.


    Later, Lewis didn''t come for three or four years. When he appeared again, he took the music box and notebook and said that he wanted to deposit them in her store. Only a lawyer named "Wade" could take them away.


    At that time, Lewis even wrote out the name specifically for fear of making a mistake.


    That was the last time the store owner saw Lewis. After that, he heard that she was arrested and the police seemed to have visited her former residence. Amid the rumors, the store owner still kept the two things and waited for Wade to appear.


    This may be the fate between her and the mother and daughter. Even if the people are gone, she wants to give this fate a good end.


    "Now that the things are in your hands, I feel at ease." The store owner breathed a long sigh of relief, "I can also close the store and retire."


    After leaving the gift shop, it was time for the children to go to school. The narrow streets were crowded with students in school uniforms and parents sending their children. Although there were more cars, the situation was no different from before.


    Wade stood there with two things that seemed to have nothing to do with him. In a trance, he felt that time was going back, back to the years when he and his sister went to school together.


    However, his sister has been gone for more than ten years.


    It was only a little more than a year later than Ella.