chapter 1

I glanced back at the door; my boyfriend probably wouldn’t come in for a while.

So I quickly pulled a textbook from a stack of books on the desk and flipped through the pages.

I found the draft paper tucked inside, with a simple sketch drawn on it.

These past few days, whenever Li Wenzhou wasn’t around, I’d used a clumsy method to measure the villa bit by bit and roughly drew this floor plan.

The sketch showed that there was an extra space to the north of the Study, about twenty square meters, but there was no visible entrance at all.

That’s when I realized there was a Secret Room in the villa, with someone locked inside.

It was eleven o’clock at night. Uneasy, I closed the textbook and walked slowly to the north wall, pressing my ear against it to listen.

My ear was like a stethoscope, listening here and there. Through the thick wall, the sounds were faint and elusive.

I pressed along the base of the wall, listening as I walked, feeling with my hands, hoping to find a Secret Door or some kind of mechanism, just like in TV dramas or novels.

But after several days of searching, my fingerprints were almost staining the wallpaper, yet the wall remained smooth and innocent, nothing but a plain surface.

I tapped lightly and lowered my voice to ask, “Is anyone there?”

My voice was too soft to penetrate the wall, but I couldn’t help asking, and continued to knock with my knuckles.

Knock, knock, knock.

Is anyone there?

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock.

Suddenly, without warning, Li Wenzhou pushed the door open and entered.

I reacted quickly, straightening up at once, but didn’t have time to step away from the wall. I forced myself to stay calm and greeted him, “Mr. Li.”

I didn’t understand how he could come in so suddenly, without footsteps or knocking.

Could it be that while I was listening at the wall, he was outside listening at the door for a long time?

A chill ran down my spine. I stood stiffly, frozen in place.

“Yiyi, why are you standing there?” Li Wenzhou looked at me with a gentle smile and asked softly.

I quickly calmed down.

“Sir, I was reciting lines, trying to get a feel for the language.” I raised the Hamlet script in my hand. “Whenever I recite, I like to pace around. You know that…”

He nodded, came over, and patted my hair. “We’re together now, so don’t call me ‘Mr. Li’ anymore. See, I don’t call you ‘Miss Yang’.”

Li Wenzhou looked at me deeply. He was over forty, with a few lines at the corners of his eyes left by time, but it only added to his profound charm.

His considerable academic achievement lent this middle-aged man an artistic aura. Time had treated him kindly, and his extraordinary temperament fascinated me.

“I’m used to it. I can’t change.” I said softly.

He laughed aloud, opened his arms, and hugged me. “Then don’t change. I rather like it-it’s exciting.”

I leaned into his embrace, but turned my head to look at that wall.

“It’s late. Shall we rest?”

“Okay, Mr. Li.” I replied obediently.

He asked casually, “How far did you get in your recitation?”

I paused and answered, “Act Three, Scene One: ‘To be, or not to be, that is the question.'”