The novel opens with a description of the author's room. The author is bewildered by the fact that two famous people have read his work. He is sure that they are both influenced by the "manhua" or Chinese literary tradition, but he does not know what to make of this fact. He feels that he has already fallen for the "jiu jiu da da" or the "masochist mode" of the woman who has just left. He asks the woman if she has already left the room, and the woman replies that she did not, and that the door has not been locked. When the author asks if the woman has locked the door, the woman responds that she has, but that the doors are not locked. He realizes that the woman did not lock the door when she left, and he is puzzled by the lack of safety in the room.