BOOK 5. This is mainly a love story following the couple through their first meeting and going on to finding out about each other, they survive a few difficult situations and have to deal with other problems along the way. Crime, violence, becaus...
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Peoples shoes can tell you alot about the person wearing them, whether their feet were comfortable or not, or the price they were willing to pay or if it was the job requirement. Zhao Yunlan was at present sitting on the pavement watching feet walk past, trying to convince himself that he liked his job but failed miserably when it started to rain and he gave up.
He was a detective and most of his work entailed warm dry places but this was one experience that he was never going to repeat. There had been an increase of muggings in this area and his team were scattered around in the hope of catching the culprits. At this time of the day, most of the passers by were heading for home after a tiring day with no patience for the man sitting on the pavement in the rain, but one person did slow down long enough to give Yunlan a folded newspaper to put over his head and dropped some money in his cup before he walked away.
Yunlan didn't look up at him but he did study his shoes, not very expensive, comfortable, smart but would need to be heeled soon. This person walked alot and he stood nearly all day, also he earned a steady wage but by the age of the shoes, he was sensible when it came to buying clothing, he bought things to last, good value for money.
Enough he thought, I'm cold, wet, miserable, and going home, signalling to the rest of his team who were more than glad to do the same and several more people joined the crowd after finishing their work. His car was in an underground car park quite close to where he was sitting, so he didn't have far to walk to get out of his wet layers, swapping them for dry clothes in the boot of his car and hopped in the front seat, closing the door before he switched on the heater. He had brought a thermos of hot coffee and poured himself a cup which was still warm, enjoying every mouthful, feeling the heat return to his cold body. Even the muggers were not going to work in that weather, and drove out of the garage heading home.
Yunlan lived alone in an old mansion style building on the outskirts of the city. He had seen the for sale sign displayed for years without any one being interested in buying and had asked the estate agent for a viewing mainly out of curiosity, but also because his family had roots in this area. He was amazed at the price which had been dropped due to lack of interest and the longer it lay empty, the more work it needed to bring it up to a tolerable standard, or so he'd been told. He loved everything about it, there were too many rooms to examine in one visit, which left him with surprises after he'd bought it, rooms that he hadn't seen. Tonight he would open another one after his long cold wet day at work, he needed something to cheer himself up, lift his mood, and this seemed like a good idea.
After he had eaten and returned his dishes to the kitchen, he headed towards the library on the ground floor. The estate agent had given him a guide to the house, similar to a small map showing where some of the interesting features could be found and he followed the directions given for the library entrance, which were quite accurate. The white double doors were not locked but also had not been used for a very long time causing them to creak slightly as Yunlan pushed them open, finding himself staring at an enormous three floor high area, housing books on every level. He was lost for words, never had he seen such a large private collection of printed books, audio books, manuscripts, books in Braille for the blind and he couldn't believe his eyes. He switched on the lights which provided some illumination but barely enough to read by, after daylight was gone.
