When she opened the door and looked into the corridor, she saw several hotel employees gathered around the elevator, some dozen meters from their room. A guest in pajamas was lying on the floor.
Sister Fang stood not far away, dazed, clutching her arm.
“Quick, call an ambulance!”
One employee shouted loudly. Another pulled out a phone with trembling hands and called for an ambulance.
Sensing that something was wrong, Chen Qingqing hurried over. “What happened?”
Several of the employees turned around. One of them was holding a fire extinguisher and trembling all over, muttering, “I didn’t kill anyone.”
The rest were frightened out of their wits. They could only tremble, unable to say a word.
Chen Qingqing frowned, her voice turning stern. “I’m asking you what happened!”
Her sharp reprimand brought everyone back to their senses. Trembling, they explained what had happened. “We—we came to deliver food to this guest just now. Who knew that the moment we opened the door, he lunged out and started grabbing and biting people.”
A young female employee with somewhat disheveled hair tugged at her sleeve, her voice breaking with tears.
“My—my clothes were torn up. He was incredibly strong. He grabbed my arm and tried to bite me.”
“Sister Fang rushed over to stop him, but he turned around and bit her!”
She swallowed and continued tearfully, “Then Brother Li was afraid he would keep hurting people, so he picked up the fire extinguisher and hit him on the head. And then—and then he collapsed!”
The man they called Brother Li was the same employee who had been the first to greet them at the hotel entrance.
Chen Qingqing glanced at him. When he noticed everyone’s eyes had turned toward him, he hurriedly dropped the fire extinguisher, his face going white with fright. “I didn’t kill anyone!”
“No one said you killed him.” Chen Qingqing lowered her head and watched the unconscious guest for a moment. “He’s still breathing. Tie up his hands and feet, then take him to the lobby and wait for the ambulance.”
Everyone was utterly at a loss, but fortunately Chen Qingqing had given them instructions, and they immediately got to work.
“Make sure you tie him up tightly,” Chen Qingqing reminded them. “Otherwise, he’ll bite people again when he wakes up.”
Everyone nodded repeatedly.
“You, wait.”
Chen Qingqing stopped the woman whose clothes had been torn and rolled up her sleeve to inspect her arm.
Thankfully, only her sleeve had been ripped. Her arm was unharmed.
The woman’s lips trembled. “I saw the news online. They said some kind of virus has been spreading recently, and that people will catch the disease if they’re bitten or scratched… Have I caught it too?”
Chen Qingqing said, “Don’t scare yourself. You won’t get it if you weren’t injured.”
“…Really?”
Chen Qingqing was growing impatient. “Really.”
The woman immediately bowed to her again and again in gratitude. “Thank you! Thank you!”
Chen Qingqing ignored her and turned to Sister Fang. “What about you?”
After hearing their conversation, all the color drained from Sister Fang’s face. She slowly lowered her right hand from her forearm, revealing a purplish-blue bite mark.
“I was bitten.”
“Ah!” The woman let out a short scream, immediately covering her mouth as she stared at Sister Fang in terror.
“Y-you’re going to get sick!?”
“Not necessarily.” Chen Qingqing frowned.
“Come with me.”
Chen Qingqing took Sister Fang by the wrist and led her toward the room.
Lin Bai, who had witnessed everything, immediately opened the door wide. After the two entered, he glanced at the woman who had followed them and stopped her. “You should go back. We’ll take care of this.”
The woman gave two awkward little laughs. Lin Bai then closed the door.
Sister Fang was pulled down onto the sofa. She looked toward Chen Qingqing, who was pretending to rummage through her bag, her voice trembling. “Guest, am I really going to get sick?”
“I already told you—it’s not certain.”
Chen Qingqing reached into her backpack, but in reality, she was searching through her spatial realm.
A moment later, she took out some alcohol and cotton balls and disinfected the wound on Sister Fang’s left arm.
As she cleaned the wound, Chen Qingqing explained, “That guest was only infected just now, so the virus isn’t very contagious yet. The chances of transmission at this point aren’t high.”
“Besides, the wound only looks frightening. It actually isn’t very deep.”
“So the possibility that you were infected is very small.”
From the moment she decided to disinfect Sister Fang’s wound, Chen Qingqing had never intended to keep anything hidden.
Since she had already saved her, she might as well save her all the way. If Sister Fang understood the reason behind it, she wouldn’t panic so badly if she encountered a similar situation in the future.
Sister Fang listened in a daze. Watching Chen Qingqing’s smooth, practiced movements, she felt both grateful and impressed. “Thank you. How do you know so much?”
Chen Qingqing paused but did not answer.
She tossed away the used cotton ball, then handed Sister Fang a single antibiotic pill. Looking directly into her eyes, she said seriously, “The zombie virus will break out very soon. If you have any relatives you trust, reunite with them as soon as possible.”
“It’s better for a family to stay together than to be scattered.”
Sister Fang froze and did not come back to herself for quite some time.
She couldn’t believe it, but Chen Qingqing had no reason to lie to her after treating her wound.
“My daughter is studying in the south… I have to warn her to protect herself as soon as possible, then find a way to reunite with her.”
The more Sister Fang thought about it, the more frightened she became. She hurriedly pulled out her phone and was about to make a call.
Chen Qingqing pressed down on the phone. “You need to think carefully about whether you want her to come back or whether you’re going south. Once the harsh winter arrives, the north will be harder to endure than the south.”
“After you’ve decided, whether you or she books the tickets, choose a time when there will be as few people traveling as possible.”
“You’ll also need to gather supplies in advance—you know what I mean, right?”
Sister Fang nodded repeatedly. “Prepare more things—food, drinks, daily necessities. I understand!”
Chen Qingqing said, “Good. And don’t forget medicine and things for self-defense.”
She handed Sister Fang another blister pack of antibiotics. “Take one pill three times a day. If you haven’t mutated by tonight, you should be fine.”
“Guest… thank you!”
Sister Fang’s eyes brimmed with tears. Her legs went weak, and she was about to kneel to Chen Qingqing.
Chen Qingqing moved two steps to the side. “There’s no need. Hurry home and get ready.”
Lin Bai helped Sister Fang to her feet and said gently, “There isn’t much time. Hurry back and discuss everything with your daughter.”
“Ah, all right! You’re both good people! The best people in the world! Heaven will surely bless your whole family and keep you safe…”
After seeing Sister Fang off, Lin Bai turned around and saw Chen Qingqing sitting on the edge of the bed, looking somewhat dazed.
“Wife, what’s wrong?”
Chen Qingqing looked at him. “Husband, do you think what I did was right?”
Lin Bai smiled. “How could it be wrong? You saved her life.”
He sat down beside his wife. “Is there something about it that’s making you uncomfortable? Tell me.”
Chen Qingqing leaned against her husband’s shoulder and sighed softly.
“I had originally decided that I wouldn’t help anyone else this time.”
After all, in their previous life, their whole family had suffered because of their kindness more than once.
“So that’s what this is about.”
“But I believe we didn’t help the wrong person this time. From the moment we entered the hotel, Sister Fang had been rushing around helping us with everything. I don’t think she’s a bad person.”
“But what if she is a bad person?” Chen Qingqing looked up at her husband helplessly.
She was afraid that she had judged wrongly.
“Even if she is a bad person, we can deal with her.”
“Wife, the children and I will always be your support. You don’t need to worry about the consequences. Just do what you want.”