A piece of Japanese incense

The three of us sat around the dining table, which was filled with green food: stir-fried rapeseed, spinach and eggs, mushrooms and water spinach, tofu soup...

Yutuan tapped the edge of the bowl with chopsticks, chattering with a sad face: "There's not even any meat at all, how can I eat it~ Ahhhhh..."

Yuyi raised her hand to stop him: "Hey, Yutuan, please don't be so presumptuous. Have you forgotten what the master told you this afternoon?"

Yu Tuan stood up and took the steamed buns from the steamed bun basket on the opposite corner of the table: "Humph, you don't want to chase me away, right, girl?"

As Yutuan sat down, there was a "bang".

Yuyi and I looked at each other, held back our laughter and pretended not to hear.

"What's that sound?" Yu Tuan asked.

We pretended nothing happened and focused on eating.

"Didn't you two hear it?"

Yuyi and I nodded.

Yu Tuan scratched his ears and said to himself, "Am I the only one who heard it?"

I shook my head helplessly.

I felt sleepy after dinner, so I went to boil some water with Yutuan to take a bath and then go to bed.

"Girl! Come over here and take a look!"

Yutuan and I returned to the dining room, and Yuyi was holding a note in her hand.

"The matter has been exposed, leave quickly."

"Where did you find this?" I asked nervously.

"Under this plate." Yuyi showed the bottom of the plate. "I was packing up the dishes as usual and was going to put them at the door. When I picked up the plate, I felt something strange. I looked at the bottom and found a note!"

"Girl, are you going to pack your things? Did the master pass them down to us?"

"It shouldn't be. If we were really discovered, we would be guilty of deceiving the king. There would be no need for them to bypass the guards outside and send a message to us." I responded.

Yu Yi asked curiously, "Could it be Xiao Han?"

"We are still trapped here, how can she pass through so many checkpoints and pass the message to us?"

"So... is it the same as last time, someone delivered the wrong lunch box?"

"This villa is remote, with no village in front and no shop behind. Fang Juexia and I are the only ones moving in today. If the message was delivered to the wrong place, do you think the messenger would be so stupid?" I turned my head to look at Yu Tuan.

The room fell silent for a moment. I thought for a moment and then put the note back into the groove of the plate.

"Girl, what does this mean?"

"Since he has seen through our secret but has not reported it, it means that he has other plans, or he is simply reminding us with good intentions. Let's wait and see what happens, pretending that we didn't notice it, and see if he will send us another message."

"Oh, I understand. Should we just keep quiet for now? Pretend we know nothing!" Yu Tuan said thoughtfully.

I blinked, raised my eyebrows, smiled crookedly, and put the plate into the food box.

On the second day, the rain stopped and the sky was clear. A few white clouds were floating leisurely. The mountains in the distance were clearly visible, surrounded by clouds and mist. The wet leaves sparkled with crystal light. The breeze blew across the small pond in the yard, rippling the water. The sunlight danced on the water like countless golden stars.

We moved chairs to the yard to bask in the sun, watching the little goldfish in the pond swimming flexibly in the water, sometimes spitting bubbles and sometimes shaking their tails.

The messenger did not make any further moves, and everything seemed to return to normal.

"Girl, let's go into the house. It's so sunny and I don't want to get tanned." The jade ball slid in the water in the pool, and the goldfish went with the flow and was swept into the whirlpool of water.

"Hurry up! If you don't get into the house, the goldfish will be killed by you."

We returned to the room laughing and joking. I glanced across the table and saw that the two books on the table were placed just right to the right of the center. However, before going out to bask in the sun, I clearly placed the two books at the lower right corner of the table.

Yutuan was the first one to suggest going out to bask in the sun. She moved a stool and went out first. Yuyi went out with me, and the three of us returned to the house together.

I looked around vigilantly, and apart from these two books, nothing in the room seemed to have been touched.

(My memory is not wrong. Could it be that there are other people in this room besides us? Is that why our secret was overheard by others?)

Thinking about it, I picked up the two books, dragged them back to the yard, and said in a nonchalant voice: "Yutuan, Yuyi, have you not read books recently? Come on, let's continue to bask in the sun, and by the way, let me test you to see how many words you know!"

"Who are you looking down on, girl? How could you not know how to read?"

"Go out! Girl, the blisters on your body haven't gone away yet, don't stay in the sun!"

"Don't make so many excuses. I think you are almost illiterate. How about this, I point to the words in the book and form a sentence to see if you understand what it means!"

"Tsk! Come on! I'll let you see how powerful I am!" Yu Tuan rolled up his sleeves unconvinced, eager to try.

Fortunately, I had already read this storybook, so I quickly flipped through the pages and found the word I needed.

"House!" Yutuan read out loud.

"Tsk!" I responded with wide eyes, "Hush! You have to form a complete sentence!"

"Ohhhhh, do it again!"

Yutuan and Yuyi gathered together, their eyes fixed on the books.

I searched through them one by one, pointing out what I wanted to say: There seems to be someone in the house.

"what?!"

"what?"

Yutuan and Yuyi cried out in surprise at the same time.

I glared at them and continued to point: Don't move lightly, say something else.

I randomly pointed out a sentence in the book, and Yuyi understood it instantly, and blurted out: "If you don't think twice before doing something, you will regret it in the end!"

Yu Tuan then reacted and shouted regretfully, "Oops! You're ahead of me! I don't accept it! Come again, come again!"

I gave a thumbs up in agreement and continued to point out: still, have, no, return, no.

Yu Tuan nodded and said loudly: "A true gentleman watches chess without saying a word!"

I tightened the corners of my mouth, trying to suppress a smile, and flipped through the words I needed: door, close, tighten, click, and go.

Yuyi looked back, exchanged glances and smiles with me and Yutuan, and shouted, "Hey, girl, you're just thirsty, why make it so complicated! I'll go get you some!"

Yu Tuan stretched himself lazily, laughed and walked into the house, saying as he walked: "I don't know how long it has been since anyone lived in this villa. The house is very damp and has a musty smell. I think I should light some incense."

The two of them quickly closed all the doors and windows, walked out, and sat by the pond, and we pretended to sit together and read.

Yu Tuan took the teapot from Yu Yi and chuckled, "Yu Yi, you actually poured water for the girl!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!"

Yutuan covered her mouth and stopped talking.

Time passed little by little, and only the sound of gurgling water echoed in the air.

Yu Tuan whispered: "Girl, are you overthinking it? There is no movement."

"Bang! - Snap - Crack -" sounds came from inside the house.