Although he didn’t mind Edward Carter remarrying, he was already grown up and had no intention of accepting a new mother. After all, Edward Carter was rarely home anyway, and he was used to living alone. The woman might not even welcome him as extra baggage, so it was better for everyone to live their own lives.

“My wife, of course, is your mother. That’s an undeniable fact. By the way, son, my wedding is in a few days. You must come, okay?” Edward Carter said carelessly, as if nothing ever bothered him.

“Where? When?” William Carter asked.

“Luoyang, about a week from now,” Edward Carter replied.

“The college entrance exam is in a few days, and the time you mentioned is exactly when the practical test is scheduled. I plan to take the practical test, so there’s a conflict. Even if I wanted to go, I couldn’t,” William Carter said helplessly.

He was willing to attend the wedding, but this time he really couldn’t make it.

“Time flies. You’re already about to take the college entrance exam,” Edward Carter clearly didn’t remember this at all, and after hearing it, he sighed a little.

William Carter didn’t have much expectation for Edward Carter, but hearing this, he still felt a bit disappointed, afraid that Edward Carter had even forgotten he was graduating from high school this year.

“Dad, do you know there’s a metal biscuit tin in the walk-in closet at home?” William Carter suddenly asked.

“Biscuit tin? What biscuit tin?” Edward Carter asked in confusion.

“It’s a square metal biscuit tin, about thirty centimeters on each side, with a cartoon bear on the lid…” William Carter carefully described the features of the biscuit tin.

“Oh, that’s the bear biscuit tin. I used to eat those a lot when I was a kid, but that brand hasn’t been sold for years. The biscuit tin at home is probably left over from back then. Why are you asking about it?” Edward Carter said.

“There’s a cell phone inside that bear biscuit tin. Did you put it there?” William Carter felt his heart beat a little faster, because that phone was the mysterious one he had found.

Chapter 9: The Mysterious Phone

“Cell phone?” Edward Carter looked puzzled, and after a while suddenly said, “Are you talking about a phone with a white metal body, black screen, no buttons, about five or six inches in size?”

“That’s right, that’s the one. Is it yours?” William Carter asked in surprise.

“No, that belonged to your grandfather. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about it,” Edward Carter said with a smile. “That phone was your grandfather’s treasure.”

“Grandpa’s treasure? Where did he get it?” William Carter sensed something odd in Edward Carter’s tone and pressed further.

Edward Carter then explained the origin of the phone, leaving William Carter utterly astonished.

William Carter’s grandfather was a carpenter back in the day, but not just any carpenter who made tables and chairs—though he could do that too. His main job was building replica ancient wooden structures.

When the old city of Guide was being rebuilt, they wanted to restore its ancient appearance, so many replica wooden buildings were needed. William Carter’s grandfather took the job and worked in the old city for over a year.

During that time, while working at the construction site, they dug up a dried-up ancient well. They were rushing to finish the job overnight, and in the middle of the night, there were hardly any outsiders around—just William Carter’s grandfather and a few workers.

When the ancient well was unearthed, a faint glow seemed to shine from below. The workers thought they had found some treasure. After discussing it, they decided to go down the well to dig for riches.

After going down, they found an old, decayed wooden box. The box was almost completely rotten, with many cracks, and the light was coming from those cracks.

The workers brought the box up, thinking there might be treasure inside that they could split, maybe enough to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

But when they opened the box, it turned out to be a cell phone. Phones were just becoming common at that time, but it wasn’t anything rare.

What’s more, the phone was lit up at first, but as soon as they took it out, the screen went black as if it had no power. There were no buttons on the phone, and they couldn’t find a charging port.

William Carter’s grandfather and the others were very disappointed. They thought someone had played a prank and put the phone in there. It looked broken and worthless, so they lost interest. In the end, William Carter’s grandfather just tossed it into his tool bag.

Later, the phone was brought back to the Zhou family. William Carter’s grandfather didn’t throw it away, just stored it in the utility room. When Edward Carter was a child, his grandfather had told him this story, but back then it was told as a ghost story, so Edward Carter remembered it clearly.

“That broken phone can’t even be turned on. When I was a kid, I even took it to a phone repair shop to ask how much it was worth. I thought I could trade it for a few packs of cigarettes, but the repair guy said it was worthless, so I just tossed it in the biscuit tin. You’re not thinking of selling it, are you? Phones haven’t been around long enough to be antiques, and old models are worthless,” Edward Carter said.

William Carter thought to himself, “Good thing you didn’t trade that phone for cigarettes, or I’d be crying right now.”

“That phone never turned on before?” William Carter asked again.