It was an earlier dinner than usual. The food was ready on a rectangular table behind the front door, and the table was set. When returning to the large living room downstairs, Mei noticed the marble fl oor was as clean as ever but the things piled up in the corners were messier than before. At the far end, two tiny rooms were identical and equally dark. One was used as a computer room with a desktop next to a folded bed and the other a garage with countless embroidery items on two or three shelves. She glanced randomly at both. The wall between them was right across from her. For a moment, the darkness in the two rooms seemed to fl oat through the air like two spectral eyes.