"...Yes, I am Chen Kejiao. Oh, you're Mr. Xiao?"
Although the girl was smiling, there was no warmth in her smile. She remained exactly the same as always. Yes, it was precisely because of her aloofness and competence that I recognized the little girl in the photo: Chen Kejiao!
Since the young woman surnamed Chen got money from Master Gu through me, she's vanished without a trace—probably off to make more money; her Chen family real estate and Qingshui Garden are still waiting for her to save them. So I easily deduced that the Chen family, desperately needing a large sum of money, sold the villa to my wealthy rival, that retired sage. Although most of her personal belongings were taken, a photograph was left behind in the rush, carelessly tossed into the warehouse by the later cleaner…
I asked with a smile, "Ms. Chen, do you live in Villa No. 18 in Chun Kong Mountain?"
Chen Kejiao said coldly, "That was before."
I realized I had made a huge slip of the tongue, and quickly said, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. Just pretend I meant to congratulate you on moving to your new house. Do you know the person who bought your villa?"
“I didn’t know him. I only found out his name was He Tiandou when I was processing the property transaction. He was said to be an overseas Chinese.”
A major discovery! At least I know what this old guy's name is now. But I soon realized that his name is actually a homophone for "fighting against the heavens."
Chen Kejiao asked, "Mr. Xiao, is there something you need from me?" Although this girl's tone was still cold, she didn't seem as impatient as before. It seemed that she finally realized that she owed me a huge favor.
I thought for a moment and finally said, "Let's be frank, Ms. Chen, did your previous home have any dark rooms or similar places?"
Chen Kejiao asked warily, "Why are you asking this?"
"...There's no time to say more. I'm in your house right now. Don't you know whether I'm a bad person or not?"
Chen Kejiao laughed for real this time: "I always thought you were a bad person before, but I don't know that now. Besides—" Chen Kejiao lowered her voice and said, "I feel like I have an obligation to keep this a secret for the new owner of the house, don't I?"
I bluntly said, "Don't forget you still owe me a favor!"
I heard Chen Kejiao sigh over there. We've interacted a few times, and she always makes that sound whenever I show my true self.
Chen Kejiao was speechless for a long time before finally saying resolutely, "There are secret rooms. You should know that my father loves collecting antiques so much that he must have such a place, but I will never tell you. However—if you also have a big house and want to build a secret room, I can give you some advice."
I asked, puzzled, "What are you talking about? I don't have a big house! I bought my house from your family, didn't I? The walls are so thick that even if you dug a secret room, you could only hide 500 yuan there..."
Chen Kejiao sighed again: "I mean, if you had a villa and wanted to build a secret room, I suggest you build it in the living room..."
That's when I realized what she meant. Chen Kejiao was afraid that telling me directly would cause trouble, so she had been hinting at it.
I ran downstairs as fast as I could: "Go on, I really need your advice on this!"
Chen Kejiao slowly said, "The darkroom must be placed in the most inconspicuous place, so it definitely can't be behind the picture frame, because the darkrooms in movies are all behind the picture frames..."
As I listened, I waved to signal everyone to be quiet, and once they understood what I meant, they all followed me around listening.
I walked past the still life sketches on the wall and came to the medieval-style fireplace.
Chen Kejiao said, "...It can't be built next to the fireplace either, because the fireplace will occasionally be lit. Not only will the temperature affect your treasured items, but that layer of soot, which is different from other places, will give away the location of the dark room..."
I walked past the fireplace, exasperated, and said, "Just tell me where... uh, tell me where I should build it, that's all!"
Although I couldn't see it, I felt Chen Kejiao chuckle and say, "Then think about where it's most unsuitable to build it?"
Damn it, she's actually interested in playing games with me now.
I said, "Of course it can't be built on the wall where the door opens, because that's the thinnest part. Surely you don't only hide 500 yuan in your house, right?"
Chen Kejiao said approvingly, "It's in that direction."
I was dumbfounded. Even though it was a villa, a giant flowerpot couldn't possibly fit inside that load-bearing wall. Could it be that the thing wasn't hidden in a secret room?
Chen Kejiao said, "Actually, you're right. The thickness there isn't suitable for building a secret room, so the door to the secret room should be built on the floor against that wall."
I interjected, "You're talking about the basement."
Chen Kejiao ignored me and continued, "To avoid making a mess of the living room, I suggest you put the secret room outside the house. The floor is just an entrance. By the way, the real location of the secret room is outside the house, under the lawn."
Shi Qian listened attentively the whole time, and then suddenly said, "Wouldn't digging in from the outside just mean he could take it all?"
Chen Kejiao had obviously heard this. Perhaps the old house had finally stirred up her arrogance. Chen Kejiao retorted defiantly, "Don't worry, if anyone tries to take advantage of us from the outside, you can use 1.5-meter-thick steel plates as building materials. If they try to force their way through, there's a 100,000-volt high-voltage power line waiting for them 0.5 meters down!" Shi Qian stuck out his tongue.
I said impatiently, "How much did your electricity bill used to be per month? Stop rambling and just tell me where the entrance is!"
"See the third window to the right of the door? When the sunlight shines in at a 30-degree acute angle, the resulting light patch is exactly the entrance to the dark room—this is just my suggestion." Chen Kejiao never forgot to cover for herself.
I went to the window, which was high up, about 3 meters high. I used the long curtain rod to measure for a while, and at a 30-degree angle, I found the approximate location of the entrance.
"Tell me how to open the door!"
“This step of the design is no less impressive than completing a fine work of art. First, find that universal remote in the living room, set the air conditioner to 28 degrees, then go to the garage and press the cancel button three times over that old Ford, then…”
I said in a frantic voice, "Slow down! Your dad's legs are good enough, he still has to run around to get into the secret room... Do you think he might have already changed the password for 'Fighting Against Heaven' to tune the TV to the news and the radio to 'Midnight No Loneliness'?"
Chen Kejiao: "..."
Just then, a loud crash was heard as Xiang Yu brought back a marble sculpture weighing one and a half tons from outside and smashed it there.
Chen Kejiao hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
"Alright, it's all over now. We'll open the door ourselves."
I can already see that dark entrance on the floor...
Chapter Ninety-Five: The Protector of Flowers
As soon as the entrance opened, Xiang Yu was about to rush in, but I grabbed him and said, "Be careful, there might be traps."
Isn't that something often shown in movies? They'd shoot out a volley of arrows or spray poison in a secret room all the time.
Just then, the alarm blared. Li Yun said, "With the alarm activated, everything should be fine."