“What’s he going back to do?”
Ningma was puzzled. If his leg wasn’t hurting so badly, he would have really wanted to follow and see what was up. A bellhop? Also responsible for security? Are all hotels so multi-tasking?
But in any case, he had to thank him properly. If it weren’t for him, he would probably already be cooling down, and his body wouldn’t be discovered until at least tomorrow morning.
Twice in one day! Did he have to be so unlucky?
He almost drowned in the morning, and almost fell to his death watching a movie at night…
Ningma dragged his injured leg back to the hotel lobby. The day manager, Solang Lunzhu, was still on duty at night. Seeing the guest limping towards her, she was shocked and hurried over to ask what had happened.
He only said that he had accidentally fallen. It’s always said that a kind lie is easier for people to accept than the real truth. When the hotel staff heard that it was an accident caused by the guest’s own fault, it had nothing to do with the hotel, and they didn’t have to consider any compensation. Of course, the guest didn’t have to be responsible for the extra hole in the glass walkway either.
Although everyone didn’t say it out loud, they understood in their hearts that the truth hidden behind the concealment would eventually surface, but at least not right now, or maybe wait until dawn?
Ningma asked for a bottle of iodine and gauze, repeatedly refusing the manager’s offer to help, and only breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors closed.
[You see this text, please exit reading mode, or go to the “source web page” to read normally]
[Please go to the source web page to read, the following content is automatically replaced to prevent collection] You──I, big──small, many──few, up──down, left──right….
“Ding!” The elevator went down.
And when the elevator doors stopped on the 5th floor and reopened—the entire floor was pitch black, you couldn’t see your fingers?
“What’s going on?” Ningma was at a loss. Power outage? How come there’s no electricity upstairs?
The elevator doors then closed behind him. In an instant, darkness surged in like a tide. He only felt pitch black in front of him, without even a trace of light, except for the faint green glow of the escape route sign next to the “T”-shaped corner skirting board.
Room 519, where he was staying, was the outermost room on the right, at the end of the corridor. In other words, he had to walk through a corridor that was nearly a dozen meters long, with white cloth coverings, a silent corridor, including walls covered with sound-absorbing wallpaper.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of the dark, but he wasn’t sure if there was also a power outage in the room. If there was no electricity, he might as well turn around and go back to the lobby to have the front desk coordinate a change of room.
Just as he was thinking this, the elevator in front of him made a “ding” sound. When he turned around, the light from the elevator poured out, and a staff member in a blue uniform walked out. There was no need to guess that he was there to repair the problem.
“Guest?”
The repairman looked to be in his fifties, with his temples dyed black and his hair combed back neatly. He was very fat, and his eye sockets were a little pale, probably because he often worked the night shift. He carried a small toolbox and held a strong flashlight in his hand.
The light from the flashlight shone on Ningma’s torn pants. He certainly didn’t look as refined as the tourists who usually stayed in five-star hotels, so that’s why he asked.
“Yes,” Ningma replied subconsciously. The elevator doors quickly closed again, and the white elevator room was illuminated by only a straight beam of light from the flashlight.
The repairman didn’t continue to ask questions and walked into the darkness with practiced ease. Ningma hesitated for half a second and followed him, driven by the biological instinct to seek light.
The two walked one behind the other on the soft carpet, almost without a sound, except for the light from the flashlight occasionally breaking through the thick darkness, occasionally hitting the decorative paintings hanging on the wall and reflecting strange light and shadows.
The distribution box was in an inconspicuous small door at the end of the corridor. When the repairman opened the door lock with a key, he realized that someone had been behind him all along, and asked with a mixture of incomprehension and inquiry, “What are you following me for?”
“Ah?” Ningma also felt that something was wrong and changed the subject, “I wanted to ask if the power is out on the upper floors, will there be electricity in the rooms?”
“How could that be?” The repairman pushed open the door of the distribution box, and a gust of air that had been stagnant for a long time rushed out from inside, “The lines are different.”
“Oh, I see,” Ningma immediately understood what the repairman meant. If he had known, he might as well have groped his way back just now, and wouldn’t have looked like a laughable adult afraid of the dark.
“Bang!”
They only heard the sound of air closing, and the bright lights overhead instantly lit up, and the entire corridor was immediately brightly lit, not only the wall lamps but also higher-power spotlights illuminating the place together.
The repairman then turned off two sets of spotlights, leaving only the dim wall lamps, in order to create a comfortable and warm environment to match.
Leaving them on would make people feel strange. Ningma was about to walk back after the power was turned on. 519 was the outermost room in the corridor, and he had to walk a long distance with a limp.
After walking a few steps, he heard the sound of relocking from behind. He didn’t expect repairing the power outage to be so simple. It seemed that it was just a tripped circuit breaker. But what was strange was how could the wall lamps with such high power trigger the fuse?
“Hey!”
A greeting suddenly came from behind. Ningma turned around, “What?”
The repairman stood in the middle of the “T” shape of the corridor, waving the flashlight in his hand: “Which room do you live in?”
The tone of the question contained doubt. Ningma frowned and still replied, “519!”
“519?” The repairman shined the flashlight directly in Ningma’s face, “519?”
The sudden strong light was very impolite. Ningma shielded his eyes with his hand and asked with a hint of anger, “What about 519?”
Realizing that his actions were out of line, the repairman turned off the flashlight, put the toolbox down, and walked over slowly. His tone was still very impolite, almost commanding, “Let me see your room card?”
The anger escalated again. After taking a deep breath, Ningma felt that there was no need to argue, so he took out his room card from his pocket and handed it over.
The white card was flipped over several times in the repairman’s hand. In the end, he still said in disbelief, “It’s really 519, that’s a bit interesting.”
“A bit interesting?” Ningma had been made confused again and again. Hearing those four words, he raised his voice and asked, “What do you mean by a bit interesting?” He put emphasis on the words “a bit interesting.”
“It’s nothing,” the repairman stuffed the card back into Ningma’s hand and turned to leave. This completely ignited the fire that the guest had been holding back.
Ningma took a step forward, blocking the repairman’s path. Their physical qualities were completely different. In addition, he had been suppressing his anger all along. “Please explain.”
“Explain what?” Seeing his way blocked, the repairman’s voice unconsciously became louder. He wanted to find a gap to force his way through, but Ningma didn’t give him a chance at all. He turned his body to the side and took a position.
“What are you doing!” Although Ningma was also very thin compared to him, the repairman was older and weaker. At this moment, he began to get anxious and a little flustered.
“Speak!” Ningma’s aura steadily suppressed him. “What exactly do you mean by what you said?”
Perhaps being at a disadvantage and eager to get away, the repairman reluctantly pointed at Ningma’s black card and said, “No one has stayed in 519 for a long time. I heard you say you live in 519, so of course I’m very strange, so I asked a few more questions.”
“No one has stayed for a long time?” Ningma repeated softly, “Why?”
“I… how would I know?” The repairman paused when answering, “It’s not like I arranged the room for you!”
Ningma was stunned for a moment. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the repairman slipped away, constantly looking back, afraid of being chased after. After grabbing the toolbox, he ran back to the elevator room in a few steps.
On the contrary, the guest who lived in 519, the black card in his hand was as black as ink in the dim light…