Chapter 010
Jongharng Chioujen
"Sir! Mr. Jongharng! Wake up, Sir!"
Chioujen faintly heard someone calling him. His head hurt so badly. Then he felt something shaking his body. Chioujen slowly opened his eyes. He was in a prone position. It was clear that someone had shaken his shoulder. When Chioujen tried to raise his right hand, his hands felt very weak. With difficulty, he managed to hold his head. After catching his breath, then he turned around. Now he lay down. His face was facing up. He saw a figure staring at him anxiously.
"Hannrong?" Chioujen could recognize Hannrong's face. With Hannrong's help, he tried to get up and sit down. After that, Hannrong helped him up and led him to one chair there.
"What's the time now?"
"It's morning, Sir!"
"It's already morning?"
"Yes, Sir"
"What time?" Chioujen repeated the question he had just asked.
Hannrong quickly lowered his head to look at his wrist. "Half-past eight, Sir!" The building custodian then sat down on another chair in the room. His face looked like an inquisitive person. "Why are you here?"
"I do not know." Chioujen looked around him. He realized he was not on the tenth floor. He tried to remember what had happened. But the still aching head made it hard to remember.
"Then I'll take you upstairs now! Can you walk?" Hannrong rose from his seat.
"I will try."
Hannrong helped Chioujen to his feet. It turned out that this time Chioujen was able to stand up straight. He could even walk without Hannrong's help. Hannrong immediately accompanied Chioujen to go up to the tenth floor. The door of unit 1008 was unlocked, so Hannrong could open the door right away. Arriving in the main room, Chioujen right away sat on the sofa that was there.
After sitting for about five minutes, Chioujen slowly started to recover his mind. Little by little, memories began to appear in his mind.
"How did you find me on the ninth floor, Hannrong?"
Hannrong sat with his back straight. "As soon as I arrived, I immediately went up to the tenth floor, Sir! I was going to say something related to the things that happened yesterday. But I didn't find you in this unit. Then I started to check the other units. All units on the floor ten was locked. Then I went down to the ninth floor. I found one unit on the ninth floor with the door open. I went inside and found you, face down and unconscious inside."
Chioujen faintly began to remember what happened earlier. But many things are still unclear.
"How did you fall unconscious in that unit? Did anyone attack you?"
Chioujen looked at Hannrong. He didn't even know what had happened. "There's no ghost in this building, right?"
Why am I even asking such a strange question? My mouth and brain may be out of sync!
Hannrong's face turned slightly pale upon hearing Chioujen's question. Although Chioujen's head still hurt and it was challenging for him to concentrate, Chioujen could still clearly see that Hannrong was shocked. After being stunned for a few seconds, Hannrong replied at a slow tempo. "As far as I know, there is no such thing, Sir! There are no ghosts in this place. There has never been a complaint about it from the tenants. Why do you ask such a thing? Did you meet a ghost in this building last night? What's it like, Sir?"
Wow! Amazing questions! But even though he looks a little scared, I think this young man doesn't believe in ghosts at all.
Chioujen smiled. "Of course not. I just noticed something odd. Now I remember a little about what happened. I fainted because head hit something in the room twice. The first hit the wall, and the second hit the floor."
"I think you should see a doctor." Hannrong looked anxious. He leaned forward to get a better look at Chioujen's head.
Chioujen touched his head. Felt sore and painful. "Ah, it's just a bump and a bruise. I think it's all right. Don't worry."
Hannrong still looked confused. It was apparent that he didn't know what to do next. Chioujen could understand the young man's attitude. Something like this must have never happened before in that place. The young man's attitude made Chioujen feel pity. "Never mind! Don't think about it anymore. You just go back to the ground floor. I'm fine now. Oh yeah, you said that as soon as you arrived, you went straight up to the tenth floor to look for me. What are you actually going to ask?"
Hannrong, who had already prepared to stand up, then continued to sit down. "Look, Sir. Last night, you said that a sedan car had stopped in front of the building. Well, when I came, I saw it too, Sir. But the car was parked a bit far from the gate of this building, Sir! Maybe about 100 meters. So I came here. I want to talk about it."
"Oh, so they're still lurking out there. You go back to work as usual. As long as they don't come into the courtyard of this building, so be it."
"Okay, Sir! Then I'll come down now."
Chioujen nodded. He watched as Hannrong immediately came out of unit 1008.
So the car is still there! This is very suspicious. Why are they keeping an eye on this place? Did it turn out that there was something hidden in this building? Or maybe someone is hiding in some corner of this building? It could be that they were waiting for the person to come out to catch him.
After being silent for almost two minutes, Chioujen felt thirsty. He dragged his feet into the kitchen with wide strides to get a glass of water. Chioujen could already remember a lot more. Last night, he had time to boil some water. So there must be some water in the electric kettle by now. Chioujen lifted the kettle. Feels heavy. There was still quite a lot of water in the kettle. Chioujen immediately poured the water into the glass and took a quick gulp. He holds his head. Still hurt. He was contemplating whether he should go to the hospital to have his head injury checked.
He walked back into the main room of the unit. He lay down on the sofa. Even though he was trying hard to remember what time he woke up last night, Chioujen still didn't know how long he had been unconscious. Chioujen somewhat regretted that he didn't pay attention to the clock last night when he woke up. So right now, there was really no way of knowing how long he had actually been unconscious.
But apparently, he still can't rest. Something else was waiting for him. Only seconds after he started to lie down, he heard a knock on the door. Besides sounding very loud, the knock was very disturbing. The beats, which were more like banging, were carried out in succession without a pause. Chioujen lazily got up from the sofa. He trudged towards the door. When the door opened, he saw Hannrong standing with a panicked face. His face looked much more stupid than before.
"What's wrong Hannrong?"
"Look, Sir! There's someone in the elevator!"
Chioujen was surprised.
So there really was someone else in this building! Last night I wasn’t dream.
"Calm down!" Chioujen tried to calm Hannrong, who looked confused. "Who's in the elevator?"
"I don't know, sir!"
"You did not know? Didn't you see them getting into the elevator?"
"No Sir! They seem to have been there before I came."
"How do you know that someone was in the elevator?"
"They're banging on the elevator walls. Maybe they're trapped in the elevator!"
"You mean elevator number four?"
Chioujen had heard his friends tell him that the number four elevator in the building was indeed a bit strange. It can be off on its own, so people can get stuck inside.
"That's right sir!" Hannrong replied steadfastly.
"Where's the elevator stuck? On what floor?"
"From the sound of banging on the elevator walls, it looks like the elevator has stopped on the eighth floor, sir!"
"Okay! Then we're going there now!"
Chioujen, then together with Hannrong, walked towards the elevator. Arriving in front of elevator number three, they went straight into the elevator. After descending to the eighth floor, there was indeed a banging sound. If Chioujen, who was in elevator number three, could hear the banging sound clearly, then the people trapped in elevator number four must have used metal tools to hit the elevator walls. The banging sound is also not only coming from one source. Chioujen believed that at least two people were trapped in elevator number four, which was stuck on the eighth floor. When the elevator doors they were in finally opened, Chioujen held back Hannrong, who was about to step out. Chioujen then pressed the button to close the elevator doors again. Hannrong looked at Chioujen with an astonished look.
"We don't know who was inside the elevator," Chioujen said.
"That's right sir, we don't know."
"All the doors are locked, so the person trapped inside the elevator must have entered yesterday."
Hannrong nodded. His face looked even more astonished.
"The people who entered this building yesterday were you, me, those unknown people and, of course, Mr. Duanmuh."
"Right sir! I have also told you that yesterday Mr. Duanmuh was here."
"You didn't see him leave here. So it's possible that Mr. Duanmuh is still here."
"Yes Sir! I agree with you."
"Since we can't find him, then he must be in a hidden place."
"Right sir!"
"A stuck elevator is a hidden place."
"Yes, Sir!"
"It means that the most likely person trapped in the elevator is Mr. Duanmuh."
"Right sir! Well then, now we have to get him out of the elevator next door. Let's not delay any longer."
"Just a moment." Chioujen grabbed Hannrong's shoulder. He stared at the young man. "Do you think he would be happy to see you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You left this building without locking the door. As a result, a bunch of unknown people could barge in. What if it turned out that they intended to do evil to Mr. Duanmuh? So, to avoid them, Mr. Duanmuh had to hide by trapping himself in the elevator?"
Hannrong, who was a bit stupid indeed, was dumbfounded at Chioujen's words. "But sir,…." Hannrong then fell silent. He didn't continue. It was evident that the young man didn't even know what he wanted to say.
"You left the building unattended, then someone came in. Then you come back again. The people came out of the building. Then you didn't check if Mr. Duanmuh was okay. You even went home. Do you think he would be happy if he saw your face right now?"
Hannrong's brow furrowed. Chioujen didn't know Hannrong was really thinking or just imitating someone who was thinking.
"Then what should I do, sir?"
"Later, you just tell him you went out for a while to do something. You didn't lock the door because you thought it was only a matter of minutes. Turned out, for some reason, your business took a long time. No need to say that you met your friend at the stall near the crossroads. Don't tell him you chatted with your friends there. Mr. Duanmuh will be even more angry if he finds out. What if later he complained to your employer? I think it will be difficult for you to be able to keep this job of yours."
"Okay, sir!"
Hannrong was a bit of an idiot. In fact, he could have argued with Chioujen. After he came home, the one who wandered inside this building was Chioujen. So if Shannchyuan was trapped for hours inside the elevator, it was because Chioujen failed to realize that Shannchyuan was trapped there.
"Now, please get out of this elevator. I'll go downstairs. You don't start to open elevator number four before I get to the ground floor. Do you understand?"
"Where are you going? Aren't we going to help Mr. Duanmuh together?"
Chioujen could tell that Hannrong was afraid that he would have to face Shannchyuan alone. He must have hoped for Chioujen's help in persuading Shannchyuan not to scold him.
"Mr. Duanmuh can not see me here. He can not know that I've been in this building since yesterday."
"Why sir?" Hannrong's eyes widened. His mouth opened slightly.
"All night I was here, but I didn't look for him. Why didn't I look for him? That's because you told me that Mr. Duanmuh had most likely left this building. Wouldn't he be even angrier if he realized these things? The main thing that will anger him is the fact that last night, without first trying to find him, you told me he was most likely not inside this building."
Hannrong gaped at Chioujen's explanation. His face was exactly like that of an elementary school student who had just found out that he had scored zero on the exam.
"So if I'm not here, then your error is reduced by one. That's why he doesn't need to know that I was here from last night."
Hannrong nodded. Chioujen hoped that the young man would blame himself.
After opening the elevator door, you immediately direct him to go down directly to the ground floor. Invite him to your office. Talk to him there. You can not take him up to the tenth floor. My backpack is still there. If Mr. Duanmuh sees the bag, how are you going to explain to him about its whereabouts? The point is that he shouldn't know that I was in this building last night."
Hannrong listened to Chioujen's words with reverence.
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
Chioujen wasn't sure that Hannrong had understood everything Chioujen said. But Chioujen was satisfied if Hannrong understood at least seventy percent of what he said.
"But sir!"
"What else?" Chioujen started to worry. Hannrong might have forgotten the things he explained.
"What if the person inside the elevator wasn't Mr. Duanmuh?"
I am almost one hundred percent sure that the person inside the elevator was Beaushu. But he is not alone. The question is, who is the person stuck with him?
"If that person wasn't Mr. Duanmuh, it wouldn't be a problem. You just have to ask him why he got stuck in the elevator. Then you take note of the important things he said. After that, you apologize. He's been stuck there all night, so he'll definitely want to go home soon. After that, you just let the guy go home. I'm sure there won't be any problems in the future."
If that's the case, you better get ready to look for another job.
"All right, Sir! I will do as you say."
"Is there any more?"
"No Sir! I understand." Hannrong nodded vigorously.
"Then you can get out of the elevator now. Now I will go to the stall near the intersection for breakfast. Do you want me to buy you some breakfast?"
"No, Sir! Thank you. I ate at home early this morning."
"Okay! I'll be back later to hear your story about what really happened."
Then Hannrong got out of the elevator. Chioujen hoped Hannrong would do everything according to his instructions, which was to start opening elevator number four, only after elevator number three that brought Chioujen down reached the ground floor.
At this moment, Chioujen felt he should not meet Shannchyuan. The first reason, of course, was that he felt guilty for keeping Shannchyuan cooped up for hours in the elevator. Although he didn't know that Shannchyuan was in the elevator, he should have looked for Shannchyuan after hearing Hannrong's statement that Shannchyuan was in this building.
The second was that he could not explain his presence in this building. He should have told Shannchyuan and the others that he arrived in this city yesterday and stopped by Dafeisy Tower to pick up Songfei's belongings. But he didn't do that. If he told it now, then they would surely wonder why he had to keep it a secret before? Chioujen didn't think that way at first. At first, he would only take Songfei's things and store them somewhere. In accordance with Songfei's message, not to tell anyone. Chioujen's original plan was that after placing Songfei's belongings in a safe place, only then would he meet his friends without having to say anything about it.
The third, of course, was regarding Songfei's message itself. He ordered Chioujen not to tell anyone that he asked Chioujen to take and store his things for a while. Since Songfei didn't explain who he meant, Chioujen assumed that, in principle, what Songfei meant by 'anyone' was everyone, including Chioujen's close friends. The proof was that even Songfei didn't trust his friends from the detective and mystery club. If it were to be discussed further, it would probably be very complicated. Maybe Songfei suspected everyone. Perhaps he had some reason not to let everyone know. If his friends find out about it and want to know Songfei's reasoning, let Songfei himself explain it later. That's none of Chioujen's business.
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