Most of the books owned by Kerry were about finance and economics. She picked a book up and
flipped through it, and there was nothing in it. So she picked another book and did the same thing.
Soon, she flipped through all the books on the bottom shelf. And at that time, John knocked on the door
and walked in with a glass of hot water.
“Miss Chu, please drink some water.” John placed the glass on a table, and he glanced at the book
Venus was holding, and found it was a book about geography. “Miss Chu, are you interested in
geography?” He asked.
Venus froze. She soon realized John was looking at the book she was holding, and she recovered
herself and said: “Oh, not very much. But Kerry’ s books are so specialized and boring. And this is the
only one I can read.”
“Oh, I see. I’ll leave you to your reading. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
John walked out of the room. He leaned against the door and listened, but he could only hear the
sound of turning pages. “What is she looking for?” He thought.
Venus couldn’t reach the books on the top shelf, so she grabbed a chair and stood upon it. She
focused entirely on those books, and she paid no attention to the bookshelf so she didn’t notice the
little button on the shelf.
An hour later, Venus had searched among all the books. And she then opened all the drawers and
looked behind all the paintings hanging on the wall. But she found nothing. She sat on a chair, feeling
exhausted. “Where can it be?” She thought to herself.
She drank the water in a gulp and decided to look for it in other places.
“Wait a second. I haven’t searched Kerry’ s bedroom yet. The chance is slim but it’s worth a shot.” She
thought. “Tomorrow is Saturday and Kerry will be home. So I must hurry.”
So Venus went to the second floor. She looked around and found there was no one nearby, and she
moved slowly to Kerry’s bedroom. She pulled the door handle, opened the door, slid into his room, and
shut the door behind her quickly.
Everything in Kerry’ s bedroom looked exactly the same as always. The curtain, the carpet, the
armchair in the balcony. Nothing changed. The sheet on the bed was still the blue one. And two pillows
were placed on the bed.
“Wait a second. Two pillows? He really believes that I will come back, doesn’t he.” Venus thought.
There was a cabinet and a wardrobe in the bedroom. In the cabinet there were some magazines Kerry
loved to read before sleep. And in the wardrobe there were some of his fancy suits, and three black
wallets, which were empty.
“Where the hell did he hide the treasure map? Did he bury it under the ground?” She thought.
Venus’ spirits sunk. She was about to leave the bedroom, but before she walked out, she noticed there
is a safe behind the wardrobe. She got excited. She walked towards it and tried to open it.
Surprisingly, the safe was not locked at all. She opened it with ease. But when she looked into it, she
found the safe was filled with cash. There were at least five hundred thousand in there. Venus couldn’t
understand why would he keep so much money in an unlocked safe.
“He is obviously overconfident with the security of his villa. But I guess no one has the guts to steal Ye
Family’s money.” Venus thought.
“Miss Chu?” John called her suddenly. “Where are you? It’s time for lunch.”
Venus rushed to the door and listened. She walked out of the room when his footsteps receded. She
then stayed at the hallway for two minutes before she went downstairs and towards the kitchen.
“John, are you looking for me?
John was arranging the chopsticks. He said smilingly: “It’s time for lunch. I couldn’t find you anywhere,
so I called out to you.”
Venus scratched her head and said: “Eh, I was just in the bathroom.”
“Oh, I see. Now have lunch.” John kept setting the table. A flicker of a smile crossed his face, because
he knew Venus was lying.
Venus took a nap in the afternoon. When she woke up, she walked around the villa aimlessly in the
hope of stumbling into the treasure map.
John called Kerry and reported to him what she had been doing all day. “She is now playing with these
ornaments. This morning she went to your study and your bedroom.”
“Alright. I know.” Kerry hung up the phone. He swiveled the chair and called his secretary and said:
“Secretary Liu, bring me the tourist brochure of this city, the one you made last time.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be there in a minute.”
......
It was late in the afternoon when Kerry went back home. Venus was at that time throwing stones into
the lake. She was just too bored.
“The lake will be filled by your stones if you keep throwing.” Kerry walked towards her at a leisurely
pace. The sun was setting. The sky behind him was dyed red. His eyes were smiling. He looked so tall
and fair, and he reminded her of a prince from these fairy tales.
Venus was amazed by his appearance. She said: “There are not that many stones.”
Kerry sat beside her and said: “You are so bored. Why don’t you grab a book and read?”
Venus said: “Your books are too boring.”
“Tomorrow is Saturday. Do you have any plans for this weekend?” Kerry looked at her.
“No. I am not familiar with this city.”
“Do you want to travel around this city? Last time I wanted to show you around but you had a fever. So
tomorrow we can go.” Kerry said casually. He wanted to take her out for a walk, so that she could stop
thinking about what happened yesterday.
Venus’s eyes were alight with excitement. She said: “Sure! Do I need to take anything?”
“We won’t come back tomorrow night. So you should bring some extra clothes and your toiletries.”
“Yes, sir!” Venus said.
Kerry looked at her and found her eyes were so brilliant. He felt she is like a cat. Sometimes she is
tender and sometimes she is naughty. He had a desire to hold her in his arms and rub her head.
The next day, Venus put on her gray sportswear, a pair of white sneakers and a pair of big sunglasses.
She also had a backpack and in her hand was a finely made paper bag.
“Put it in the car. My backpack is too small.”
Kerry took the paper bag and threw it into the car. He was also dressed in a causal way. He wore a
white t-shirt as usual, a pair of jeans and a pair of white sneakers.
“Where are we going today?” Venus asked excitedly.
“There are many rivers and lakes on the outskirts of this city, and there is an ethnic minority living by
these waters. The scenery there is amazing.”
Venus remembered he mentioned that place before. Her friends also told her about the wonderful
scenery there.
“Are we going to live there tonight?”
“Yes. We are going to live in a hotel.”
“That sounds exciting.” Venus looked expectant.
They arrived at the place after two hours’ drive. It was Saturday, and there were many tourists.
The moment Venus got off the car, she was amazed by the scenery there. She had a feeling that she
was in a beautiful Chinese ink painting. The bridges were made form stones. There were docks at the
side of the lake. Small bars were bustling with customers, and some little girls were doing laundry at
the side of a small river.
“Let’s go.” Kerry said.
“Sure.”
The sun was scorching, and Venus’ sunglasses were not enough to protect her from the sunshine.
Luckily, when they walked across the stone bridge, they saw an old lady was selling sun hats. So
Venus picked one. She put it on and asked Kerry: “What do you think?”
Kerry answered smilingly: “You look amazing.”
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