Chapter 21: The Underground Wine Cellar

  The only private villa in the northern suburbs, with a front yard filled with red roses on both sides of the road. In the center is a small angel fountain pool, where water sprays out from the mouth of an angel sculpture and falls into the pool in a beautiful arc. The grey and white two-story European-style building has a high, cone-shaped glazed tile roof, with a small balcony facing the courtyard on the second floor, and black double-opening carved doors.

  Upon entering the hall, there is a metal-edged ceiling with intricate carvings, multi-layered crystal chandeliers, delicate paintings hanging on the milky white walls, and glossy large marble floors... The dazzling decorations make everything seem so unreal.

  "Miss, hello! I am Yu Guanjia here, please follow me this way!"

  A middle-aged man in a black suit approached me, slightly bowed his head, raised his right hand to his chest, and led me through the doorway on the right side, up a white spiral staircase. Along the railing of the second floor, he continued forward until we reached a brown arched wooden door at the far end. He bowed his head again in a gesture of invitation, then stepped aside.

  Is Zhang Jiu Yu inside? Won't his mother be together with him?! How can I go in alone like this?! Watching the butler walk away, it seems I can only take care of myself. Calm down, calm down, since I've already entered, what's there to be nervous about.

  Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale...

  She gently patted her face, straightened her waist, and knocked on the door three times in rhythm. There were light footsteps approaching from inside the door, which was opened by a middle-aged aunt who didn't seem to be his mother. She looked stunned for a moment, then smiled warmly and stepped aside. I also smiled and nodded hello, pulled at my skirt hem, and walked slowly into the room on tiptoes.

  This is a study, with a large brown bookcase against the wall at the far end, and books or exquisite handicrafts scattered in the square space. In front of it, there is a wooden desk with only a pen holder made of logs and a table lamp with a rice-colored shade, looking clean and tidy. On the storage cabinet next to the desk, a flower vase with smooth lines and luster holds a bouquet of beautiful white lilies, adding a touch of vitality to the room. To the left of the desk is a steel mesh fabric sliding door, and through the slightly open door gap, you can see the colorful and warm painting on the wall - Van Gogh's "Sunflowers".

  "Come in." A soft male voice came from behind the sliding door.

  I adjusted my breathing and walked over as steadily as possible, pushed open the door, inside was a raised platform like tatami, made of white wood, compared to the dark brown outside, the color tone was much lighter, sunlight shone through the arched frosted glass window, making it warm and serene.

  Zhang Jiu Yu was leaning lazily against the low tea table, wearing a white suit, white shirt, and a light blue tie with floral patterns. His hair was styled in a 3:7 ratio, fixed in place with pomade, looking very neat. He had the standard look of a man from the 1930s, but on him it looked particularly dashing. His right hand propped up his head as he gazed at me with a fleeting look of surprise in his eyes, which quickly turned into an icy expression.

  "Where's your mom? Didn't you ask me to come see her? Can I leave after seeing her?" My feet were a bit numb, so I directly sat down at the door with my butt, this shoe is going to be taken off and put back on, I can handle it.

  "She won't be back until tonight when the banquet is held, what's the hurry?" A smile played on his lips, and his voice was full of magnetism.

  "What time does it start?" Looking at the clock, it was only three o'clock. Getting up early and being busy for half a day, I was really fooled.

  8 o'clock.

  "So you want me to come this early?" I gritted my teeth, doesn't this person consider other people's feelings at all?

  "King's mother, you go down first." He lightly ordered, and the aunt called King's mother immediately closed the door and left. Then his cold gaze turned to me again, "My girlfriend is not that easy to be, you need to have some awareness."

  "Afternoon, I asked you to come over today is to give you a good supplement... My mom does wine business, so for the wine, you should understand a little bit." He stood up and pulled out a white thick book from the bookshelf, with three high-footed cups filled with red wine on the cover, in the middle right position, written in bold font: "The World Wine Encyclopedia".

  He carefully handed me the book, and it seemed that everything about his mother was very careful, he was indeed a boy with an Oedipus complex!

  "I really don't know much about wine, and I won't be able to finish reading this in one afternoon. Even if I do finish it, I definitely won't remember anything." I waved the book in my hand at him, having flipped through it casually earlier - the dense text made me dizzy. "Why don't you just tell me what's important? Your mom isn't going to be watching over me as I take a test or something?"

  "Who knows, there will be many business partners tonight, so don't embarrass me, or you'll be in trouble." He gave me a sharp glance, took the thick book from my hand and put it back in its original place. "Follow me."

  "Is your mom going to introduce you to someone?" I trailed behind him, making small talk. "So you want me to pretend to be a demure lady and fake being your girlfriend to get past this?"

  "Stop talking nonsense."

  On the empty and spacious corridor, his white sneakers and my high heels made a loud and abrupt sound as they hit the floor. In such a big house with no more than ten people including the butler and servants, and his mother rarely coming back home, if I were him, I wouldn't want to live alone in this villa without any sense of home. No matter how large the rooms are, how good the decoration is, or how much money he has, it can't compare with the warmth of having family members around.

  Downstairs, through the lavishly decorated living room, around a curved porch, to an equally enviable kitchen. All-white kitchen utensils, with a texture that surpasses the level of TV commercials.

  On the snow-white wooden floor, there was a switch. He used his fingernail to gently pry up a slightly loose wooden plank, and a rusty door ring appeared before my eyes. Then he bent down, straddled his legs, grasped the iron ring with both hands, and slowly pulled it up. Inside was a stone staircase leading downwards, a cool breeze swept in, carrying some damp air. There was actually an underground room here! I stared wide-eyed, feeling incredulous. A secret passage in the kitchen? I had never heard of or seen anything like it before.

  "What's he doing standing there?" He pressed a button at the entrance and white light shone out from inside.

  "Is this where the prisoner is?" I asked cautiously, feeling like this was an upgraded version of a private prison cell, given its secrecy.

  He habitually raised the corner of his mouth, smiled slightly: "Are you still afraid that I'll lock you up? Don't worry! You're still useful at night, I won't make things difficult for you now."

  The evil spirit's eyes glanced at me, turned around and walked towards the depths of the stairs first. I followed nervously, holding onto the hard concrete wall, this shoe is really making me want to kick it off.

  Finally, after a difficult journey, I arrived at the flat ground. In front of me was an intricately carved ancient wooden door. The inside was pitch black, and all I could see was the edge of the floor illuminated by the light, with grey diamond-shaped cement tiles. What's inside? After staring for half a day, there was no movement, and it didn't seem to be a living thing, so it shouldn't be a prison cell...

  He gave me a funny glance, lightly twisted his hand and the door opened. He then reached out to grab me and walk in, I struggled for a moment, what did he want to do to me?

  "Let me go! What kind of place is this? You brought me here in the dead of night, what for?" I tried to shake him off with all my might, but his iron-like hands gripped me tightly, and a sense of foreboding rose up in my heart.

  All I heard was his cold laughter, and his ghostly face instantly disappeared into the darkness, taking me with him.

  Still holding my hand, secretly stretching out to grab something, shoes tripped on a hard object, stumbled forward and fell into a warm embrace, face red and heart racing, hurriedly struggled to stand firm, limping and continuing to be pulled along, feet could no longer hold on, really wanted to just lie down. "Plop" sound, suddenly brightened up in front of me, the place I was in made me let out an exaggerated exclamation of surprise.

  A rich, dark brown wine rack, filled with various red wines, forming a wall of wine, very impressive. The rack is in the shape of a staircase, with as many as 21 levels, neatly arranged with bottles tilted at an angle of 15°. A soft yellow light source hangs from the deepest part, illuminating a beautiful painting. On the ceiling, there is a beautifully painted mural, and embedded in the wall is a white central air conditioner. On the console table, there are decorative flower arrangements...

  "How beautiful..." My soul was as if being lured away, a smile on my face as I slowly shook my head.

  "Your facial expressions are really rich." A playful laugh entered my ears, and I suddenly came to my senses. He tilted his head and looked at me with a mocking gaze, "Had enough?"

  It turned out that he had been intentionally trying to scare me all along, how despicable! The evil aura in his pitch-black eyes matched unexpectedly well with his entire white attire.

  "What are you going to teach me?" I dodged his gaze and swallowed hard, "If we don't hurry up, time will run out."

  I just lost my composure, and he made fun of me, but I was really shocked by the scenery. I didn't expect that under the small kitchen, there would be such a vast expanse of sky, majestic and magnificent.

  He walked to the wine rack, faintly ordering me to come over, then pointing at each bottle of wine to explain the origin and history of various red wines. I was dizzy from listening, but seeing his serious face, I couldn't help but cooperate despite my surprise. The only ones that left an impression on me were the world-famous Bordeaux red wine and Changyu, Great Wall. People always pay the most attention to the best, so I believe these should be enough to deal with his mom.

  I didn't expect Zhang Jieyu to be so knowledgeable about red wine, being familiar with all sorts of wines. As his mother's successor, he indeed needs these professional qualities.

  "Remember, don't mess up." He warned me with a straight face, always serious when it came to wine, "Next I'll teach you how to taste, this is the most important step."