Xixi sniffed with his little nose, catching the faint scent of Chinese medicinal herbs lingering in the air. It was the medicine Mr. He had been drinking recently.
The herbs had a rather unpleasant smell, which Mr. He detested. However, under the watchful eyes of both Xixi and the butler, he had no choice but to take it.
As a result, Mr. He had been carrying this scent with him. Combined with Xixi's keen sense of smell, which was highly sensitive to medicinal herbs, he easily followed the lingering trail to the end of the corridor.
There were four rooms at the end of the corridor. To the left was the reception room, opposite it was the tea room. Next to the tea room was a locked room, and the room opposite that was also locked.
Xixi had noticed these two rooms were locked long ago, but his curiosity wasn't particularly strong, so he hadn't investigated further.
Finally, he followed the scent to the door of the room next to the tea room.
The door to this room was closed, but a faint light seeped through the crack.
The light was minuscule.
If one didn't look closely, it would be hard to spot.
Xixi pressed his ear against the door, but he couldn't hear any sounds from inside. As he hesitated, unsure what to do, he suddenly heard footsteps from the other side of the door.
Xixi quickly turned and ran into the reception room.
He left the door ajar, heard the sound of the door opening outside, followed by footsteps, and then the footsteps grew fainter.
Xixi peeked out.
He saw Mr. He's back. He was wearing a blue bathrobe, walking under the dim corridor lights, exuding a sense of loneliness and melancholy.
It was a stark contrast to his gentle and refined demeanor during the day.
Xixi became even more curious about that room.
He ran out of the reception room and went to check the locked room.
It was a combination lock.
And it was a latest high-tech combination lock, said to be very difficult to crack.
Xixi looked at it for a while, then turned and ran away.
The lock was not easy to open, and he didn't intend to force it. Firstly, he didn't want to pry into someone's privacy, and secondly, the lock was connected to the cloud.
If the lock was opened here, it would be displayed on the other end of the cloud.
Returning to his room, with this puzzle in mind, Xixi soon fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning, he didn't see Mr. He and went to find the servants.
While they were working, he chattered away beside them.
He was cute, and Mr. He liked him, so the servants were patient and fond of him, and were willing to answer his whimsical questions.
Xixi asked innocently, "I saw two locked rooms on the second floor. Can I go in and have a look?"
"Second floor?" The servant's expression changed. "You can't go into those two rooms."
Xixi tilted his head. "Why?"
"Because..." The servant glanced at the people working around them and pulled the child away from the kitchen, leading him to an empty staircase. "Little master, I'll tell you quietly, you absolutely must not enter those two rooms!"
She paused, then added, "No, you can't even go near them!"
"Why?"
The servant looked around cautiously, as if afraid of being overheard. "Listen to me, sir has given orders that only he can enter those two rooms. No one else can. Besides when he goes in himself, the doors are always locked, and we don't even need to clean them."
Xixi became even more curious. "Uncle He cleans them himself?"
"Yes." The servant was also very curious about that room, but knowing Mr. He's taboos, she dared not explore or ask. "I know Mr. He has always been very good to you, but sir has his taboos. No one is allowed near those two rooms, including you. Don't anger sir."
She was warning him out of kindness.
Although Xixi didn't take it to heart, he knew she meant well and nodded obediently. "I know, I won't anger Uncle." httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"That's good, little master. Go to your room to wash up. Breakfast will be served soon."
"Okay."
Xixi turned and went upstairs. Before entering his room, he looked back at the locked rooms at the end of the corridor, then walked into his room.
As soon as he closed the door, he heard a knock.
He turned and opened the door.
The butler stood at the door. "Little one, sir asked me to prepare two sets of clothes for you. See if they fit."
He held two boxes in his hands, tied with ribbon and a beautiful, exquisite bow.
Xixi opened them to take a look.
Inside each box was a white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. The t-shirt had a cute cartoon animal printed on it, with three-dimensional features that made it look very lifelike.
The jeans were also printed with various cute patterns, but the style was simple and elegant. Xixi liked them at first glance.
This was his preferred style.
He looked down at the clothes he was wearing. They were custom-made parent-child outfits with his mother, and he liked them a lot. He had been wearing them for the past two days, washing them at night and wearing them again during the day. They were certainly not dirty.
But he hadn't changed into any other style.
"Please help me tell Uncle that I really like these two outfits, but..."
The butler, wanting to know what his next words would be, interrupted him directly. "Sir specifically instructed me that if these two outfits are not delivered to you, I will be punished when I return."
"Ah?"
Xixi didn't believe him.
He found it hard to imagine the gentle and refined Uncle He punishing anyone.
Especially not the butler.
The butler said seriously, "It's true. I'm not lying to you. If you don't believe me, you can ask sir later. He really said that if I can't deliver these two gifts to you, I will be punished when I return."
"How will he punish you?"
Xixi was very curious.
The butler sighed. "For example, by sending me to a property under sir's name that he doesn't usually live in..."
"Ah?" Xixi initially thought the punishment was quite simple, but upon closer consideration, it seemed too cruel for the butler.
After all, the butler genuinely cared for sir.
"Alright, then I'll accept them. But I have a small question for you."
"Go ahead, I'll tell you if I know."
'You'll probably regret saying that after you hear the question,' Xixi thought to himself, his fair little face showing no emotion. "I saw two locked rooms in the corridor yesterday..."
The butler's expression shifted slightly.
Xixi tugged at the corner of his mouth and continued, "When I was at home, my favorite thing was exploring, exploring every room..."
Before he could finish speaking, the butler said, "Little one, you can go into all the rooms here, but absolutely do not go near those two rooms!"
"Why?"
"Because they hide things that cannot be seen by others, they are sir's secrets." The butler crouched down, placed his hands on Xixi's shoulders, and said earnestly, "I know you're curious, and I understand because you're young, but you must listen to me on this matter. Do not go near there, do you understand?"