Why am I, a cook, always involved in cases?

Lin Zhiruo's eyes were attracted by a window lattice with a unique style.

Its design seems to incorporate Western elements, with unusually slender window frames, as if crafted to capture every ray of light.

However, this ingenious design seems to be disturbed by the lush chestnut tree outside the window.

The sunlight can only shine through the gaps between the leaves and fall into the house in patches. There is only one place that can be fully embraced by the sunlight.

There, the shelves against the wall have faded in color due to the erosion of time,

But one of the square areas has retained its original luster, as if suggesting that a precious item was once placed there for a long time.

Just as Lin Zhiruo was looking around, the tall eldest son slowly spoke and recounted their story:

"As you have heard before, my father left us without teaching us his secret skills. All he left me was this simple little house."

The second son gently patted the cabinet in the middle of the room and said:

"And I got this."

The youngest son handed over a transparent round object. Upon closer inspection, it was a work of art carefully crafted from thin jade, with a bottom as smooth as a mirror.

Lin Zhiruo originally thought that the name "Lin Diao" would refer to a wooden product or fine pottery, but she never imagined it would be such an exquisite jade product.

It seems that the relics obtained by the three people each contain extraordinary value.

However, Lin Zhiruo keenly noticed that there seemed to be an indescribable sense of alienation between her two brothers and her youngest son.

She thought to herself: What should I do?

Lin Zhiruo's eyes moved between the three people, noticing that their hands were covered with calluses typical of craftsmen, and the youngest son's hands made her even more suspicious.

His hands were covered in red and swollen welts, some of which appeared to be burns.

The second son sighed and stroked the cupboard, saying:

"I really don't understand what my father was thinking. He left me this relic with great difficulty, but there is only one key, and it doesn't fit into the keyhole at all."

Lin Zhiruo followed the second son's gaze and saw a metal part firmly fixed to the floor at the bottom of the cupboard.

The key seemed to be used to open the middle drawer of the cabinet, but the second son said he couldn't insert it. What was going on?

The other three drawers seemed to share a key, but he said the most important key was missing.

"I gave the hut to my eldest brother, and the cupboard is mine, but I can't take it away."

The second son said this irritably, while the eldest son nodded in agreement.

In comparison, the youngest son looked a little melancholy.

He said softly:

"Maybe it's because Father wants us to have a tea party together like we used to."

After hearing this, the two brothers looked disapproving.

"You're lucky. What you get can be converted into cash immediately."

"Yeah, even if it's just this thing, selling it will allow us to live a good life for a while."

To Lin Zhiruo, these words sounded as cruel as driving away a stray dog.

Lin Zhiruo was full of doubts and gently touched Liu Wu, indicating that he should ask some questions.

Although Liu Wu frowned, he seemed helpless against Lin Zhiruo and had to walk towards the three brothers.

"By the way, what exactly was the content of that will?"

He asked, trying to confirm again.

"Oh, last words, those are what this kid just said."

The eldest son replied.

"They said we should have tea together like we used to, but we had no idea what that meant."

Lin Zhiruo was puzzled. Parents always seemed to hope that their children could live in harmony.

However, it seems difficult to get a glimpse of the full truth based on these clues alone.

Just as Lin Zhiruo was thinking hard, the mother of the three came in with a tray and placed tea in the middle of the long table.

"Please use."

She spoke briefly and turned to leave the hut.

On the long table, the space in front of the cupboard was empty, with three teacups placed on it, and two teacups placed in the front, obviously reserved for Lin Zhiruo and the others.

The three brothers sat down, and they deliberately adjusted their positions, as if everyone had a fixed place to sit.

Lin Zhiruo speculated secretly in her heart.

Sunlight streamed in through the tall window, the light extending all the way to the front of the cupboard.

Recalling the tea parties in the past, if I had sat in that empty seat, I would have been blinded by the sunlight.

If the light had been extended further, it might have reached the cabinets, but it didn't seem to reach that far as there were no signs of sunlight on the cabinets.

(Traces of sun exposure?)

Lin Zhiruo stood up from the chair and walked to the window.

The big tree outside the window blocks the sunlight, limiting the time it shines in.

She stood at the window, staring at the cupboard.

The location of the keyhole on the cabinet inexplicably attracted her attention. It was not the keyholes for the three drawers above, but the single keyhole at the bottom.

Lin Zhiruo walked while thinking, which attracted strange looks from the three brothers.

Liu Wu held his forehead with his hand and sighed softly.

Lin Zhiruo suddenly realized that the feeling he gave her before was similar to that of someone else, and it turned out to be Gao Zhongcheng.

A strange feeling of sudden enlightenment came over her.

Liu Wu exhaled impatiently and looked at Lin Zhiruo unhappily.

"Did you find anything?"

he asked.

"That locked drawer can't be opened, right?"

Lin Zhiruo asked back.

"It used to be openable, but my father built some kind of mechanism, so it can't be opened anymore."

The second man replied.

"Only one key?"

"It's the only one I have. My father also said something incomprehensible. He said that if you break the keyhole, the things inside will also be broken, so you can't just destroy it."

Lin Zhiruo walked to the cupboard and looked at the keyhole carefully.

Something seemed to be stuck in it, but she couldn't pinpoint why.

(Is the cabinet nailed to the ground for some special reason?)

Lin Zhiruo thought about this while organizing her thoughts in her mind.

She once again examined the relics the three brothers had acquired: the cabin, the cabinet, the forest sculpture.

The cupboard had a lock that wouldn't open.

Then, her eyes fell on the forest eagle brought by her youngest son, and new doubts arose in her heart.