"Just act like the media is making up stories about you being his girlfriend and make you so moved that you want to give him your heart? " The man's voice dropped lower and lower, each word was gritty, like sandpaper scraping across someone's heart, "Shen Wanci, you're not that kind of teenage girl still immersed in those CEO romance novels, are you? This low-level flirting is worthy of your excitement?"

"Sorry, I'm a stray dog. I just like this set," Shen Wanci pulled his hand away from her arm: "It's better than some people, married for three years and no one knows I'm his wife."

Bo Jingzhou pursed his lips: "If you want to go public..."

Shen Wanci heard the first half of his sentence and knew what he was going to say. She interrupted, "No need, everyone knows we're divorced now, so it's impolite to keep pestering me. Let me remind you, not long ago you said, 'Whoever brings up getting back together is a dog,' So Mr. Bo, are you ready to be that dog?"

Bo Jingzhou's handsome face alternated between paleness and redness, his jawline tense with anger. His heart was filled with fury, wishing he could strangle the woman before him who seemed so oblivious to his feelings.

Shen Wanci took advantage of the fact that he was stimulated by her, his self-esteem soaring. She got back into the car, started the engine and drove away, leaving a faceful of exhaust fumes for Bo Jingzhou.

At the entrance of Xiangsongyuan, Jiang Yazhu let out a soft "hum" and turned to get into a Rolls Royce with the doors open.

……

This weekend, Shen Wanci and Qin Yuezhi made plans to eat at a new internet-famous hot pot restaurant. Halfway there, they received a call from the mysterious boss, "Come to the villa, there's work."

"Where is he now?" Since signing the contract, that person had vanished like a ghost. She tried to contact him, wanting to inquire about her mother, but messages and calls went unanswered.

"Mm."

"Could you..."

It's already midnight. Shen Wanci finally made an appointment with Qin Yuezhi, a popular internet celebrity hot pot restaurant, after three days of trying. She didn't want to disappoint her, so she wanted to ask if they could have dinner first and then go. Before she could finish speaking, the call ended.

Shen Wanci took a breath and apologized to Qin Yuezhi with a sorry face: "Yuezhi, they found me over there and said there was work, I have to go."

Qin Yue frowned: "That half-mountain villa?"

"Mm."

“I’ll go with you,” Qin Yuezhi said without waiting for Shen Wanci’s agreement, and turned the car towards the villa. “I’ve heard that the villa has been unoccupied for many years. There are plenty of other places to restore artifacts, but they insist on having it done there. If something really happens, even if you scream your lungs out, no one will be able to hear you. I always feel like this person is up to no good.”

If they really wanted to be honest and upfront, they wouldn't be afraid to show their faces. They say they're interested in Wanci's technology, but they're not sincere about recruiting her. First, they send two men who have no idea what they're doing to play the bad cop, then they use a photo of Wanci's mother and an unidentified person to tempt her. Then he comes out to play the good cop, covering himself up like a mummy for fear that someone might see his face.

This whole thing, no matter how you look at it, doesn't seem like something a good person would do.

Qin Yue analyzed these concerns, which were also Shen Wanci's concerns. But if you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you get tiger cubs? This was something she had already prepared for when she chose to expose herself in the first place, "Don't go, if something really happens, we both jump in together, not even someone to call the police."

"I'll just go in once, scout the area, and if anything ever happens, I'll be familiar with the surroundings to help the police get here faster. Every few minutes saved is valuable."

Shen Wanci: "...Although it makes sense, I always feel like you're cursing me. Just step on the point, will you close your crow's mouth? What if it comes true?"

"Bah bah bah, you spit three times quickly too, the bad ones won't work and the good ones will."

The car was parked in front of the villa. Because it was on a hillside, with lush vegetation and having been unoccupied for a long time, it felt rather eerie. I didn't feel this way last time I came here. This time, I guess I was influenced by Qin Yuezhi's words.

Before getting off, Qin Yuezhi sent her location to Qin Heyi, "If I don't contact you in twenty minutes, call the police. I'm here with Wanci to see her new workplace address."

After that, he clicked a few pictures of the villa and sent them over.

After a few minutes of ringing the doorbell, the maid came to open it. The interior of the villa was no different from the previous time, "Mr. is waiting for you in his study on the second floor."

Shen Wanci thanked them and was about to go upstairs with Qin Yuezhi.

The servant stopped her and said, "Master doesn't like to see strangers. Please wait a moment for the lady in the living room."

Although Qin Yuezhi wasn't at ease, before things got ugly, she respected the other person's quirks. "Just call me, or shout directly if you need anything,"

She hesitated for a moment, "When you didn't come out after ten minutes, I went to look for you."

The villa's sound insulation is very good. If you really wanted to be malicious, it's possible they even have a signal jammer installed. She was constantly checking her phone and had full bars, able to send and receive messages normally, but she didn't know what was going on upstairs.

Shen Wanci was touched. "Good."

On the second floor, in her study, she knocked on the door. Inside, super thick blackout curtains were drawn tightly, making it pitch black.

Because of the light filtering in from the corridor, I could just make out a person standing in the shadows cast by the curtains.

They're all so dark, still pretending to be innocent. Either they have something hidden in their hearts, or they're planning something big and afraid of being caught.

Are you alive?

"On the desk," The man's voice sounded smooth, but it was unclear whether it was his natural voice or altered.

Shen Wanci didn't care if he agreed or not, she directly touched the wall switch to turn on the light. On the desk was a painting from the early Qing dynasty. The damage was average, and any handy craftsman could fix it independently:

"I want to see the life my mother took just before she died."

Although it's unknown if mother's death had anything to do with the painting, its appearance and subsequent sudden disappearance were so coincidental that it was bound to raise suspicion.

"Not for the time being."

"When will this work?" She was going to sign the contract, completely because the other party mentioned her mother and acted as if they knew everything about her past.

"Ms. Shen, allow me to remind you that we are merely employer and employee. You have no right to demand this from me. As for the painting, you will be able to see it when you are qualified enough."

Shen Wanci sneered, unyielding: "What qualifies as being qualified? Does it mean I have to wait until I'm seventy or eighty?"

"Don't worry, you can wait that long, old..." His voice trailed off, probably because he almost said the wrong thing. There was a suppressed irritability in his voice: "We can't wait that long either. If you want to see that painting sooner, just show your abilities well. When you reach your mother's level, even if you don't want to, she'll force you to."