Gilded Rust - YiZhan

Chapter 10 - Empty Spaces

"This is a bathroom; you can use it if necessary. No need to go all the way to your room every time."

He took a few more steps and stopped in front of the next door. Yibo followed at a distance, his eyes darting left and right as he took in the various paintings and pictures, all matching the ones downstairs in style and subject.

"This is my bedroom, and the one ahead is my parents' for when they visit. You'll never see the inside of that room; the cleaners have seen it more often than I have, even though I've lived here most of my life."

Judging by his tone, Mr. Xiao didn't care much for the room. Since it neighboured his, maybe that was why he'd preferred sleeping upstairs in the past. Yibo could empathize; he'd have gladly slept in the restaurant had it meant putting some distance between his aunt and himself.

Next, he took him to the other side of the staircase.

"This to your left is my office; the next room is my daughter's," he said. "The angled door at the end of the corridor is my brother's room."

Yibo frowned. Hadn't his brother passed away? Or maybe he had more than one?

"It is also the room my wife uses when she's here," he added somewhat emphatically.

This confused Yibo even more. Although many couples slept apart for various reasons, and he'd already established the difficult nature of his marriage, why had he called it his brother's room? And why say that his wife used that room specifically? Yibo probably would have figured out they didn't share a room, but the brother would never have come into play. Once again, he couldn't understand why this extraneous information had been included, but maybe it related to his previous statement about using the third-floor bedroom until the birth of his child. Yibo chased the thought away. He was here to make money. He didn't need to know. He didn't want to know. The less he knew, the less likely he'd be embroiled in their problems.

Mr. Xiao, however, seemed to want to explain. He shifted from one foot to the other and once again wrung his hands as if waiting for Yibo to take the bait. However, when he didn't, the man turned to face a door next to the window.

"This leads to the balcony. We rarely use it, but there are chairs, which can be quite nice on a sunny day. There is also a door in my room."

Yibo wondered why, again, useless information was being thrown in.

Mr. Xiao forced a smile. The light above him accentuated his pale skin and the dark circles under his eyes.

"Let's go to the ground floor. I'll show you the rest of the house, then the kitchen: the one room you must care to see the most."

Yibo followed his boss, and once they reached the ground floor, the interminable house tour continued. Taking a right, Mr. Xiao pointed to a door.

"This is the parlour. We use it when my parents are around or when we have guests, which is rare. You can go there when you have free time, but it's rather garish. Not very relaxing."

They walked to the next door. This time, Mr. Xiao opened it and turned on the light.

"This is a bathroom and the laundry room. This is where you'll find the linen cabinet with towels, sheets, etc. You can also do your laundry here, but try to avoid days when the cleaners come in."

He turned the light off and continued toward the back of the house

"This is the conservatory and library. My daughter will be taking her lessons here. The tutors can eat there if they prefer," he said without bothering to show Yibo the inside.