Chapter 11: Locked in the Studio with Shen Yanli

After delivering the ginger soup, Tang Tian wheeled the serving cart downstairs and returned it to its place near the kitchen.

Just as she set it down, Zheng Liyu approached her and handed her a set of keys.

“You’re scheduled to clean the art studio tomorrow.”

Tang Tian looked at the keys she was being given. From the memories in her mind, she confirmed that this was indeed part of the arrangement. Only then did she take the keys.

“Alright.”

Zheng Liyu turned to leave, her expression betraying a flicker of unease—but Tang Tian didn’t notice.

Early the next morning, just as dawn broke, she woke up. After tidying herself up, she went to have breakfast first.

She had gotten up too early—the chef had just arrived and asked her to come back a bit later.

Left with time on her hands, Tang Tian decided to head to the art studio first. It wouldn’t be too late to eat after she finished cleaning.

The art studio wasn’t far from the villa. It was a standalone sunroom. Aside from the occasional visit by a few gentlemen who came to sketch or paint, the place was mostly deserted during the day.

Originally, it had been assigned to a daytime housekeeper for regular cleaning. However, after several mishaps where servants accidentally damaged some of the gentlemen’s paintings, the butler no longer dared allow ordinary servants near the studio.

They had reassigned a more meticulous housekeeper to maintain the studio. Since the space wasn’t very large, cleaning it wouldn’t take too much effort.

The sunroom stood nestled amidst blooming flowers and lush greenery, like a beautiful oil painting brought to life.

Tang Tian arrived at the door of the sunroom, opened it, and stepped inside. It wasn’t particularly dirty or messy. Many of the paintings were covered with canvas cloths.

The sunroom was larger than she had expected. Some of the plants inside even stood taller than she was. With her view partially obstructed, she could only see part of the sunroom from where she stood.

Without wandering around, Tang Tian found a broom and mop and started cleaning the floor. She worked steadily until the entire floor was spotless.

The sunroom also had a small terrace accessible by stairs. She noticed it earlier when she was on the other side of the room, but feeling too lazy to walk over at the time, she decided to leave it for later.

Now, after filling a bucket with clean water and grabbing both the mop and mop bucket, she began to wipe down the framed paintings. Just as she finished, she found herself standing right beneath the terrace.

She dropped the cleaning cloth into the bucket and picked up the mop bucket, ready to head up to the terrace.

She climbed the stairs to the terrace, and though the view before her was breathtaking, it couldn’t compare to the figure standing there—that sight alone left her stunned.

“…Mr. Shen?” she called out softly in surprise.

Shen Yanli stood bathed in the golden light of the sunrise. He turned to look at her. Dressed in a work uniform that hugged her graceful, curvaceous figure, she was slightly out of breath, her chest rising and falling gently with each inhale. The soft glow of morning light caressed her porcelain skin, making her all the more captivating.

Her wide, glistening eyes were filled with astonishment, her lips slightly parted.

For a fleeting moment, Shen Yanli had the urge to capture her in a painting—but then he remembered her previous behavior and promptly suppressed the thought. Better to avoid inviting unnecessary trouble.

“Hm.” His tone was as indifferent as ever.

Tang Tian was surprised he was up so early. Had he come here at dawn just to paint?

Well, he had his painting, and she had her mopping. She sighed inwardly—such was life. It was time to accept her own ordinariness.

Tang Tian had just about finished mopping the terrace. As she passed behind him, she stole a glance at his canvas—it was a sunrise, the horizon drawn with refined precision. It was the kind of work worthy of exhibition.

No wonder he got up so early—he’d been here to paint the sunrise.

Just as she was about to head downstairs, a dull thud came from below, followed by a sharp click…

Tang Tian suddenly remembered—when she came up earlier, there had been a latch on the outside of the door…

That sound just now—there was no mistaking it. It was the unmistakable click of the latch being locked into place.

A foreboding feeling crept over her. She placed the mop back in the bucket and quickly descended from the terrace, heading straight for the door of the sunroom.

It was, indeed, shut. Taking a deep breath, she grasped the handle and turned it. The lock from the inside was functional, but the door still wouldn’t budge—it was the outer latch that had been fastened. No matter how hard she pushed, the door wouldn’t open.

Only then did Tang Tian recall the subtle expression on Zheng Liyu’s face when she handed her the keys.

So this was what she had been planning all along…

She didn’t have time to get angry. Taking out her phone, she tried to call the butler or one of the other servants. But just as the call was dialing, the screen displayed—no signal…

Tang Tian: “…”

No wonder they locked her in here.

At that moment, Zheng Liyu, who had just done the deed, was feeling uneasy. Yesterday, she had seen Liu Xiaozhi crying and went to ask what had happened.

But Liu Xiaozhi refused to say a word. Still, when she saw Tang Tian walk by, her expression turned even more pitiful.

Zheng Liyu recalled the moment Shen Yanli had held an umbrella for Liu Xiaozhi. It was true—Mr. Shen usually treated Liu Xiaozhi differently.

And if Liu Xiaozhi really managed to latch onto Mr. Shen…

If Zheng Liyu stood on her side now, there would be no shortage of benefits for her in the future.

So she had shared her plan to lock Tang Tian in the sunroom with Liu Xiaozhi. Though Liu Xiaozhi had outwardly expressed disapproval, Zheng Liyu could see the hesitation in her eyes—it was obvious she truly loathed Tang Tian.

Taking advantage of the quiet early morning, the plan went off without a hitch. Though Zheng Liyu felt a bit uneasy, she comforted herself: if this could help her curry favor with the future Madam Shen, then it was worth it.

Neither Zheng Liyu nor Liu Xiaozhi realized that Tang Tian wasn’t the only one locked inside the sunroom—Shen Yanli was there too.

Inside the sunroom, Tang Tian was still searching for a way out. To her disbelief, such a spacious sunroom hadn’t been designed with even a single window!

And another thing—she couldn’t for the life of her understand why the latch had been installed on the outside of the door. Weren’t latches supposed to go on the inside?

Tang Tian was at a complete loss. What now? Her phone had no signal—was she supposed to jump from the second-floor terrace?

As much as the thought crossed her mind, there was no way she’d do it. She was afraid of heights to begin with, and even if she weren’t, she still wouldn’t dare. What if she ended up with a broken leg or a fractured bone? No way.

“Stop looking around. There’s no signal here, and no windows,” Shen Yanli’s voice came from behind her.

Tang Tian turned around. Seeing him so composed and unbothered instantly calmed her nerves a little. She wasn’t the only one locked in here—Shen Yanli was too. And he didn’t seem anxious at all, which must mean he had a way out.

“So how do we get out of here?”

Shen Yanli gazed out beyond the glass window. “Wait for someone to come.”

Tang Tian: “…”
She had actually expected a real solution.

“What if no one comes?” She was starting to feel irritated. The sunroom was stuffy and unbearable. Once the sun rose higher, it would get even hotter and more suffocating.

“What’s there to be afraid of? If worse comes to worst, I’ll be your burial companion,” he replied.

Tang Tian’s eye twitched. He still had the mood to joke around?

“It’s so stuffy…” she muttered.

Shen Yanli glanced at her, walked in a certain direction, pulled open a drawer beneath the table, and took out the remote control for the air conditioner. He turned it on.

In the otherwise quiet sunroom, the low hum of the outdoor unit could now be heard buzzing faintly from outside.

Only then did Tang Tian notice that there were several air conditioning units here, all installed in the corners.

“Let’s just wait for a bit,” Shen Yanli said as he set the remote down.

Tang Tian walked over to a wooden chair and sat down, resting her chin in her hand, staring blankly ahead. Being messed with like this first thing in the morning—how could anyone be in a good mood?

As for who had locked her in the sunroom, the only possible suspects were the household servants. At this hour, the cleaning staff probably hadn’t even arrived yet.

Besides, the only ones who knew she was coming to clean the sunroom today were Zheng Liyu and a few others.

Tang Tian let out a soft sigh. Playing tricks like this was truly infuriating.

Shen Yanli sat on the wooden chair opposite her, observing her from that position.

“Want to know who it was?” he asked.

Tang Tian looked at him, puzzled.

“You know who it is,” he said.

He had been on the terrace earlier and probably saw who went in and out of the sunroom.

“I saw it,” he said, but didn’t directly reveal the person’s identity.

“You saw? Who was it?” Tang Tian asked. There were no cameras inside or outside the sunroom—only the villa had surveillance. But the villa was so large that it wouldn’t be difficult for someone to get around to the sunroom unnoticed.

Shen Yanli didn’t answer her.

Seeing that he was ignoring her, Tang Tian pressed further, “You’re not going to cover for that person, are you?” Could it be the female lead, Liu Xiaozhi? That would make sense, since Shen Yanli was one of the male leads.

But would Liu Xiaozhi really do something this… stupid? This kind of thing would definitely get exposed. Sister Wu would never keep a servant who pulled such tricks around. After all, this was no small matter—if an accident happened, or someone got hurt, Sister Wu would certainly take that into serious consideration.

Liu Xiaozhi couldn’t be unaware of the consequences she would face after doing something like this.

“No, she wouldn’t,” he said.

Tang Tian was getting impatient with his slow pace, so he finally spoke up.

“Come up to the terrace. I want to use you as a model to paint a picture,” Shen Yanli proposed, clearly implying that if she didn’t agree, he wouldn’t budge on revealing that person’s name.

Tang Tian had never been a model before, but to get the information without trouble, she nodded in agreement.

She had seen in TV dramas that models for painters usually held one pose without moving.

Once on the second-floor terrace, she looked around.

“I don’t want to stand,” she said. She wasn’t sure how long he would take to paint, and standing too long would make her legs numb. She preferred to sit.

Rarely showing such gentlemanliness, Shen Yanli placed a chair on the terrace, positioning it so she could sit with her back facing outward.

“No need to stand, just sit,” he said as he adjusted her position.

Tang Tian sat down on the chair, feeling a bit awkward as he stared straight at her. She crossed her arms defensively.

Shen Yanli chuckled at her guarded gesture.

“Relax. Put your hands down by your sides, stretch your legs out a bit, and move your right leg forward…”

She adjusted her posture according to his instructions. The process wasn’t complicated.

“When you finish painting my head, let me know. I’ll take a short nap.” She had gotten up too early and had already cleaned the sunroom once; now sitting in the chair was making her sleepy.

For some reason, when Shen Yanli heard her say “painting my head,” he found it oddly amusing and couldn’t help but smile.

“All right.”