Zhan met a maid while walking through the hallway.
"Good morning, will you be having breakfast?" the maid inquired of Zhan.
"Are the couple currently in the dining area?"
"Mr. Quiren and Mrs. Carmen departed early for the lake, likely to go fishing," she replied.
"What about Yibo?"
"I haven't seen him come down. Maybe he's still in his room..."
"Which room does he occupy upstairs?" he asked, directing his gaze towards the second floor. The upper level of the villa encircles the expansive living room, with a grand chandelier suspended from the ceiling at the heart of the hall.
The maid also glanced upward. Any uncertainty he felt about going to Yibo's room just moments before faded away upon hearing Lan Xie Yun's name. "Which room is it?"
"Third from the left, the last room."
He thanked the maid and, as she made her way back to the dining room, he slowly proceeded towards the grand staircase and ascended. He found himself once again captivated by the large portrait of Lan Xie Yun displayed on the wall.
"I missed you, Xie Yun, even though I can no longer see in your picture the Lan Xie Yun I met back in time," he whispered softly. "And I don't think that you did all this... No. Because you are dead. And dead people are conscious of nothing at all. So, you have nothing to do with my life... my meeting with your grandson. Everything happens because this is the flow of my life... of our life. Whatever happens to us in the next few days is because that's what we want to happen... People make their own lives..."
He inhaled deeply and proceeded to ascend the stairs. Upon entering the sitting room on the upper floor, Zhan turned left. He walked along the hallway, where the only opening in the lower house was the railing. Stopping at the third door, he carefully raised his hand and knocked gently. He waited a few moments before knocking again when he heard no response from inside.
After receiving no reply to his knock, he turned the doorknob. Driven by curiosity knowing it used to be Lan Xie Yun's room, Zhan then pushed the door open slightly and looked inside, where he was met with the soothing sounds of soft jazz music.
He entered the room, and the spacious area unfolded before him. The large four-poster bed was unmade, the imprint of Yibo's head was still visible on his pillow. At the foot of the bed is a large chest. Must be more than a hundred-year-old antique chest.
On an antique desk was a Yibo's laptop. There was no TV set in the room, but Zhan saw a speaker that's where the music he heard was coming from. Beside the antique table was a personal refrigerator.
Other than that, there is no other modern furniture in the room. Even so, this is more luxurious than Tang San's room. From the top of a bureau, several picture frames featuring Yibo are prominently displayed. Yibo with his big horse... Yibo with friends that he thinks were taken in Texas. Yibo with siblings... with his parents, and Yibo on the skating board. Zhan could guess it was taken in Lake Tahoe in Nevada.
He stepped towards the adjacent old and large wardrobe. Upon glancing into the expansive mirror, he was taken aback by his own reflection. He seems to be a thief in the making. Flanking the wardrobe were bookshelves that matched its height.
Zhan walked towards the bookshelves. Only two shelves have books lined up. And Zhan thinks it's Yibo's things when he was still studying. Electrical engineering. Zhan saw the diploma as well as the certificate of passing the board.
Then something caught his eye. At the end of the shelf. He looked up. An old painting...
" Xie Yun..."
Zhan approached the painting, attempting to grasp it, but it remained out of his reach. He tiptoed and tried to reach for the painting again. But he didn't even reach that because apart from the fact that the last shelf was high for him, the painting was still in the middle. His hand slipped, causing him to lose his balance, and in his fear of falling, he clutched the bottom of the last shelf board for support.
In Zhan's shock, the entire bookshelves moved and rotated with him because he was holding the upper shelf.
Zhan released his grip from the shelf and he tumbled to the ground.
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