Journey of Lies

Jiang Xia was puzzled, and pressed the numbers one by one.

"Beep beep beep—Incorrect—"

"What's wrong? Did you remember it wrong?" Ren Jiayi asked as she stepped forward.

"Maybe I remembered it wrong." Jiang Xia put the backpack on top of the suitcase and found the brochure with the password written on it.

"I remember correctly..." I re-entered the six-digit number, but it was still incorrect.

"Was it changed later?" Ren Jiayi glanced at the password. "This was probably set by the original owner. Xiu Jie should have changed it, right?"

Jiang Xia herself was a little unsure, but she vaguely remembered the day after Xu Xiujie proposed to her.

He specifically mentioned this house, saying, "I wrote the password in the brochure."

The two planned to sell a house in Chiang Mai while on their honeymoon, so Jiang Xia didn't open the brochure to look at it carefully.

Completely bewildered, Jiang Xia randomly typed in Xu Xiujie's birthday.

"Beep beep beep—Incorrect—"

After thinking about it, I realized that the two of them had installed the combination lock on their new house in China together last month, and Xu Xiujie had set her birthday as the password.

Jiang Xia pressed his birthday button, the mechanical device inside the door lock made a turning sound, and the door opened.

"See, you got it wrong. Have you been sleeping poorly lately?" Ren Jiayi helped open the door and pushed the suitcase inside.

Jiang Xia closed the brochure, still pondering it, when she heard Ren Jiayi say, "This house has such great natural light. And these pieces of furniture, Xu Xiujie definitely chose them, right?"

I casually placed the brochure on the side cabinet by the entrance, and wiped the surface of the cabinet with my fingertip; there was a thin layer of dust.

Before Jiang Xia had finished exploring the first floor, Ren Jiayi received a call from her boyfriend.

"He made plans to go out with friends today, and then he remembered me," Ren Jiayi said with a helpless smile, turning her back to answer the phone. She spoke sweetly in English to the person on the other end, "Baby, yeah, I told you...ok, just send me..."

As soon as Ren Jiayi hung up the phone and turned around, before she could even speak, Jiang Xia said, "Go ahead and get busy."

"You should get some rest. I'll pick you up at six o'clock tonight. I've booked a restaurant with a view of the sunset."

"Okay, see you tonight."

After watching Ren Jiayi leave, Jiang Xia went upstairs to the second floor.

The first floor, with an area of ​​nearly 100 square meters, is not partitioned, and the living room and open kitchen are integrated into one. The second floor is divided into four rooms.

Next to the stairs is the walk-in closet, which is filled with various easels and drawing boards. The shelves that were originally used to store clothes are now full of art supplies and some handmade items.

Next to the walk-in closet is the master bedroom, with a 2.2-meter bed and dark gray bedding. The entire room seems to have a fourth color besides black, white, and gray.

The master suite has an ensuite bathroom, with several dark gray bath towels placed beside the porcelain white bathtub.

Suddenly, several bird calls rang out.

Jiang Xia looked in the direction of the sound and realized that the bathroom window was not closed.

Have they not closed the windows for six months?

Jiang Xia silently cursed Xu Xiujie's carelessness and went to close the window tightly.

I turned around and turned on the tap to wash my hands, but I only heard two gurgling sounds from the tap, and no water came out.

Is the sluice gate closed?

Jiang Xia could only dust off her hands. As her right hand approached, she suddenly smelled a perfume scent.

It has a strong powdery smell.

She occasionally suffers from allergic rhinitis, so she has never had the habit of using perfume.

And this flavor is definitely not what Xu Xiujie used.

Jiang Xia stood in front of the mirror, not even daring to look at herself, afraid of seeing the disappointment on her face.

The room was unbearably hot and stuffy. Jiang Xia felt like she couldn't breathe, so she fled to the first floor, pushed open the floor-to-ceiling glass door, stepped outside, and took a deep breath.

*

Resort hotel.

Sheng Zhi lay on the rocking chair on the balcony, the roof blocking out the sunlight, and a gentle breeze ruffled the hem of his linen trousers.

He booked a country-view room, which was farther away from the other rooms and much quieter. It was a detached log cabin with a second-floor balcony facing a vast wheat field.

He sent a message to the client a quarter of an hour ago, but has not yet received a reply.

In recent years, the women he has encountered can be roughly divided into two categories. One category consists of women he sets up on his own initiative, who find their targets in tourist hotspots like Phuket and Pattaya and use various techniques to create romantic encounters. In most cases, he can get wealthy and beautiful women to spend money on him before establishing a relationship.

Another type is helping others get divorced; if a definition is necessary, this identity can only be described as a professional male mistress.

However, if you stay in these two places for too long, you'll attract too many unwanted romantic entanglements, and then you won't be able to stay any longer.

Having been in Bangkok for more than half a year, I've become familiar with several well-known bars, especially one that was acquired by Chinese people, where the resident manager is also Chinese. After getting to know him, I can see that he's made a name for himself at the bar.

Unexpectedly, the other party not only did not drive him away, but also often reserved a good spot for him and frequently brought him drinks so that he could stay a little longer. His appearance was very popular with local Thai girls and Japanese and Korean women, especially Koreans who were most attracted to his charm. He even learned a few Korean phrases to please them.

The order from Jiangxia was recommended by that manager.

Based on his speculation, the client was a friend of the manager, and he felt it inconvenient to ask the manager about the client's background.

Holding his phone and flipping it back and forth, his intuition told him that the client must also be in Chiang Mai.

Just then, my phone emitted a message notification tone; it was from the client.

Don't worry about finding me; I'll find you at the right time.

Sheng Zhi frowned. The more mysterious the other party was, the less he wanted to comply with their wishes.

*

After searching around, Jiangxia finally found the sluice gate behind the house.

After much effort, I finally managed to turn it on, but there was still no water in the room.

Fortunately, the circuit was working properly. The living room's circulation fan was on, and with three ceiling fans in the entire living room and all the doors open, the cross breeze was very comfortable.

Jiang Xia took off the four-piece bedding set and threw it into the washing machine, intending to wash it later when there was water. After rummaging through drawers and cabinets, she finally found a clean four-piece bedding set in the storage cabinet on the first floor.

Hsu Hsiu-chieh paints all year round, and his clothes get dirty every day. He has developed the habit of washing all his dirty clothes and bedding as soon as possible.

After changing the bedding, Jiang Xia was covered in sweat.

Just as she was about to go downstairs, Jiang Xia suddenly paused, looked back at the master bedroom, and noticed that the newly changed bedding was dark purple, and not even a solid color; when the sunlight shone through, it revealed golden patterns.

The dark purple bedding didn't look out of place in the black, white, and gray room, but it just didn't feel like his style.

Although Xu Xiujie is an artist and painter, he rarely puts his mind to things in his daily life, and he gets his bedding and clothes from chain stores like Muji.

Jiang Xia turned around and returned to the master bedroom. He lifted a corner of the thin blanket and found the washing label with the brand name embroidered on it.

A quick online search revealed that this is a local Thai brand with a store in Chiang Mai.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

It is Shengzhi.

Perhaps because Sheng Zhi knew about Xu Xiujie's affair, Jiang Xia felt that his phone call was like a lifeline.

"What are you doing?"

Sheng Zhi's voice came through the receiver, and Jiang Xia unconsciously turned to look at the empty living room.

"Pack your things... By the way, I don't have any water here. Do you know why? I checked the water valve. It might have been turned off before, but even after I turned it back on, there's still no water."

"Do you owe water bills?" Sheng Zhi reminded her.

Xu Xiujie has been back in China for more than half a year. If he has overdue water bills, it is possible that his water supply will be cut off.

Jiang Xia went downstairs with her phone in her hand, and almost missed a step because she was distracted.

Hearing Jiang Xia's quickly suppressed gasp, Sheng Zhi sat up from the recliner. "What's wrong? Should I come over and help?"

"No need..." Jiang Xia subconsciously refused, but then, thinking of all her doubts, she said, "I'll send you the address."

……

Half an hour later, Jiang Xia heard the sound of a motorcycle passing by outside.

None of the houses around here are occupied, and the alley is almost a dead end. How could there be a motorcycle sound?

After a few more beeps, Jiang Xia got up and walked outside. Before she even reached the gate, she saw Sheng Zhi riding a black scooter at the gate.

"Did you rent this motorcycle?" Jiang Xia hurried a few steps and pushed open the door.