Chapter 10: A Key
Staring at the WeChat message, Fang Xiaocao blinked.
“The attic?”
“A hidden compartment?”
She muttered the words to herself.
Checking the time, she figured it would still be a while before Liu Feifei returned with the contract. Biting her lip, she decisively closed the villa’s front door.
Picking up the key Liu Feifei had left behind, she headed straight upstairs.
Villa No. 5 had four and a half floors—one basement, three full floors above ground, and the “half” was the attic.
Fang Xiaocao climbed the stairs to the third floor.
At the end of the hallway, she found a small room that led to the attic ladder.
Pushing open the attic entrance, she climbed up.
The attic was completely empty.
But it was also spotless, showing that the cleaners hadn’t slacked off—someone regularly maintained this space.
There were four windows in total, allowing plenty of daylight inside. A large window on each side of the entrance and a smaller window at the front and back.
She glanced at her WeChat message and rolled her eyes.
“Which one is the second window? How am I supposed to count?”
Future me is definitely messing with me.
If she didn’t specify, didn’t that just mean I’d have to check every single window?
With a resigned sigh, she started with the large window on the left.
Squatting down, she knocked along the wall beneath the windowsill, brick by brick.
Nothing.
She moved on to the front-facing window.
Still nothing.
Switching positions, she tried the large window on the right.
“Are you kidding me?!”
She cursed under her breath and stomped toward the small window at the back of the attic.
No hidden compartment under the right-side window either.
“This is ridiculous! You’re messing with me on purpose!”
She grumbled, completely forgetting that she was cursing at herself.
Reaching the small window, she sat down and began knocking.
Finally!
A hollow “thud” sounded from the second-to-last brick near the floor in the corner.
“Got it!”
She gasped in excitement.
Pressing on it, she heard a soft click, and the hidden compartment popped open.
Inside was a small drawer the size of a single brick.
Lying inside was a strangely shaped key.
Nothing else.
Fang Xiaocao picked it up and turned it over in her hands.
No markings. No clues.
She pocketed the key, grabbed her phone, and sent a message to Hot Noodles.
“What does this key open?”
【Contact does not exist!】
“Huh?”
Seeing the notification, Fang Xiaocao nearly threw her phone.
Being strung along like this was beyond frustrating!
【Ding!】
The sudden notification sound startled her so much that she dropped her phone.
“Damn it, who now?!”
Muttering curses, she picked it up.
Luckily, she had been sitting on the floor, so it wasn’t damaged.
Unlocking her phone, she saw the new WeChat message.
She had a feeling—yep, it was Hot Noodles.
【Hot Noodles: Next time you curse me, remember who I am first.】
As expected.
But the smug tone made her want to smash her phone for real this time.
“Definitely doing this on purpose!”
She huffed, scrunching up her nose.
“What is this key for?”
She typed back.
【Hot Noodles: Take the ladder to the basement. On one of the walls, there’s a hidden door. That’s where the key fits.】
“Here we go again…”
“She’s absolutely messing with me!”
Fang Xiaocao growled at her screen.
“Which wall?!”
She fired back, fuming.
【Contact does not exist!】
Fang Xiaocao: …
“Come out and face me! Let’s go down together!”
She even sent a voice message.
【Contact does not exist!】
Fang Xiaocao was speechless.
Closing the hidden compartment, she climbed down the attic ladder.
Shutting the attic door behind her, she jumped off the last rung and grabbed the ladder, hauling it downstairs.
Reaching the living room, she set the ladder near the basement entrance and checked her phone.
Half an hour had passed.
“Feifei should be back soon.”
She murmured to herself.
Deciding not to investigate the basement just yet, she unlocked the basement door, carried the ladder inside, then quickly darted back out.
It was dark in there.
And a little scary.
Nope. She wasn’t dealing with that alone.
At the basement entrance, she fumbled around the control panel for a while before finding the light switch.
She pressed it.
The basement lit up.
“Wow… even the light switches are fancy in a luxury villa.”
She muttered in awe.
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
The doorbell rang.
Fang Xiaocao shut the basement door and ran to the front entrance, checking the video intercom.
It was Liu Feifei!
She opened the door.
“Sis, you’re back!”
She greeted with a bright smile.
“How was it, Xiaocao?”
“Not scared being here alone?”
Liu Feifei teased as she stepped inside.
“Not at all!”
Fang Xiaocao grinned.
She had been too busy treasure hunting to be scared!
“Good, let’s sign the contract.”
Liu Feifei chuckled, settling onto the couch and placing the printed contract on the coffee table.
Fang Xiaocao skimmed through it.
No problems.
She picked up the pen and signed her name.
Liu Feifei took the contract, pulled out a POS machine, and placed it on the table.
“Swipe your card.”
“Once the payment goes through, the villa is officially yours.”
She smiled.
“Got it!”
Fang Xiaocao took out her card.
Liu Feifei inserted it into the machine and tapped a few buttons.
“Just enter your PIN.”
Fang Xiaocao nodded, typing in the numbers.
Transaction complete!
Her phone chimed with a deduction notification.
“All done!”
She handed the POS machine back.
“It’s yours now.”
Liu Feifei grinned.
“I’ll handle the remaining paperwork.”
She packed up the contract and got up to leave.
“If you want to stay overnight, I can call the cleaning team for a full top-to-bottom refresh—free of charge!”
Liu Feifei added with a wink before heading out.
(End of Chapter 10)
