Also, Xie Dang had been very unhappy about Jiang Jiusheng’s decision to abandon the cello for the lowly guitar, thus initiating her foray into the sleazy entertainment industry. Since then, Master Xie had been inconsolable, stewing in his rage, yet Jiang Jiusheng made no effort to pacify him.

Thanks to the effectiveness of the meds for menstrual pain, Jiang Jiusheng fell asleep soon after.

It was eleven o’clock, and a starry night hung above the cool fall air. In the Security Room at the Silver Royal Manor, the security guard had nodded off. Rudely awakened by the pain of his head lolling and hitting the table, he rubbed his forehead sleepily and went back to sleep.

“Hey, wake up!” Another security guard rushed into the room and began shaking his sleeping colleague. “Wake up already!”

Tearing himself away from dreamland, the sleepy co-worker asked, “What is it?”

“Something’s wrong with the controls. There is no visual of the Level 7 corridor in Block 7.”

Suddenly wide awake, the security guard adjusted the display and confirmed that visual control had malfunctioned. “Probably a short circuit; I’ll go take a look.”

Better safe than sorry, since there was a celebrity on that floor.

While one of the guards went to investigate the defective controls, the other remained in the security room. The streetlamps outside cast a shadow of a person moving back and forth by the window.

Security Guard Li did a time check and looked out the window to see a very tall man standing under a pine tree in the distance, head lowered as though searching for something. As he moved around, his lanky shadow in the mystic moonlight exuding a godly presence.

Although not familiar with the classics, Guard Li was reminded of the lines “a gentleman of breeding; strong and upright as the bamboo lining the river,” which he had overheard a high-school girl muttering a few days ago. What a handsome picture.

Opening the window, Guard Li greeted the man under the tree. “Doctor Shi, have you not turned in yet?”

Having moved in just a few days ago, the friendly and mild-mannered Doctor Shi had already become a familiar face among the security guards and many in the community. Who could forget that traffic-stopping face! In fact, the classic lines that the guard had overheard recited by that high-school girl from Block Nine had been used to describe him.

Lifting his head, Shi Jin stepped out from the shadows of the trees, his black shirt lit with specks of light from the streetlamp shining through the gaps in the trees. In his usual gentle tone, he explained, “I’m looking for my dog, but I’m not familiar with the area because I’ve just moved here.”

Guard Li scratched his head, feeling embarrassed for staring at this man who managed to look attractive even in the dark. “Let me help you,” the burly guard exclaimed.

“Thank you.” Shi Jin rolled up his sleeves, showing slightly sweaty arms and added, “It’s a white Pomeranian.”

To ease his anxiety, Guard Li picked up a flashlight and quickly left to look for the dog.

Ten minutes later, the white Pomeranian was found in the basement carpark at the northern end of the community, happily chowing down on a dog biscuit. And ten minutes after he returned to the security room, Guard Li realized that he had lost the spare electronic keys to Apartment 702.

Fifteen minutes had passed. Pouring Bomei some imported dog food, Shi Jin said, “Here you go, good dog.”

Jiang Bomei ran happily to her bowl for her feast of imported bone-shaped dog food.

“Stay on guard. I’m going to say goodnight to Mummy,” Shi Jin said as he swirled the keys in his hand and left the apartment with a smile.

The computer screen on the table showed a black and white view of the entrance to 702 across the corridor.

Curling up with her food, Jiang Bomei fell asleep.

It was a quiet fall night with the wind gently scraping against the windows and slivers of starlight spreading across the room. Jiang Jiusheng had a strange dream. In it, she could not see anything but seemed to hear a beautiful voice calling her “Sheng.” Although the person appeared blurred, she saw a blood-stained white shirt and a voice calling her name repeatedly. And this person had the most breathtakingly exquisite pair of hands.

Up at seven, she did 40 minutes on the treadmill and took a shower. The living room of her duplex was renovated in the modern, minimalist style and faced east with a floor-to-ceiling window adorned by sky-blue drapes with decorative knots. The window was flanked on one side by a randomly structured CD rack and a teardrop-shaped hanging seat on the other.

There were three rooms on level one: the bedroom, the living room, and a walk-in wardrobe that took up almost half the floor space. Level two was her personal music space, including a recording studio, a lyrics room, and even a small-scale performance studio, all built with special soundproof material. Level two was a restricted area where only Jiang Jiusheng’s band members and manager Mo Bing were allowed. Not even assistant Qiao was allowed up there.

After her exercise, she selected a folk CD and slid it into the retro CD player. The air was soon filled with a soothing and melodious tune.

Turning on her phone, Jiang Jiusheng realized that she had three missed calls from the security room and returned the call.

“Hello, Miss Jiang.” Jiang Jiusheng immediately recognized the voice of Guard Li.

“My apologies,” she said. “I went to bed early last night and didn’t pick up any calls. Is anything the matter?”

Very politely, Guard Li explained, “Last night, the spare keys that you left with us appeared to be missing, but they were relocated this morning. Sorry to bother you.”

Unless they were dealing with perverts, electronic keys could not possibly have been replicated in one night. And since the keys had been located, security had put it down to a simple case of misplaced keys. Just as well that they had not woken the resident the night before when she hadn’t returned their calls.

Jiang Jiusheng did not pursue the matter further. “No problem.”

Guard Li added, “Oh, there is one more thing I need to mention, Miss Jiang. The visual controls for the corridor in your block have been unstable over the past few days, and the facility’s team has deployed people to investigate. We apologize for any inconvenience, and please call us immediately if you encounter anything abnormal. We have a security team on duty around the clock.”

Miss Jiang was a popular artist, and although this was an upscale residential community with a comprehensive security system, there had been incidents of stalker fans creating havoc, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Okay, thank you.”

Having thanked him, Jang Jiusheng hung up, put on some light makeup and prepared to step outside. She opened the door and came face to face with the owner of 703.

With a faint smile, Shi Jin said, “Morning.”

As if by reflex, she replied, “Morning, Doctor Shi.”

She didn’t want to sound too familiar by saying “Shi Jin” or too distant with “Mr. Shi,” so Jiang Jiusheng settled for “Doctor Shi.” In fact, Jiang Jiusheng quite liked the term. While she had no particular preference for doctors, she felt that this was an appropriate title for him.

They walked toward the elevator. As Shi Jin pressed the down button, Jiang Jiusheng kept her gaze averted so as not to appear to be staring at his hands.

“Want this?”

It was a yellow peach-flavored yogurt drink, presented by those beautiful hands. Like an old friend, Shi Jin made the offer in his soft voice, casually and naturally.

Jiang Jiusheng stared at the bottle of yogurt drink and at Shi Jin’s hand, which was holding it.