Tong Lu felt her heart sink. This time, she heard it loud and clear. The person who made the noise was in tremendous pain — as if he was a phoenix bursting into a ball of flame in order to be reborn or a woman in labor. 'Is my brother-in-law ill?' Tong Lu quickly rushed into the study and knocked on the bedroom door.
"Brother-in-law, are you in there? What's happening to you?
"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, are you ill?"
Tong Lu had called out to him multiple times, but nobody responded. She could not wait outside the door any longer. She turned the doorknob and pushed open the door. She struggled to do so, but she eventually managed it. Once she entered the room, she realized that there were two chairs on the other side of the door. One was lower than the other. Together, they formed a stair-like structure. Someone short could climb on top of them to open the door.
Tong Lu glanced around. "Brother-in-law, are you around?"
