Chapter 042
Jongharng Chioujen
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Although everything was smooth, the journey was quite tiring. Luckily, for some reason, that day was quieter. Chioujen arrived at his destination at almost one o'clock in the afternoon.
"Good afternoon Mr. Jongharng!" Shantyan Hannrong's face brightened when the young man saw Chioujen.
"Good afternoon Hannrong. How are you today?"
"I am fine, Sir! How about you? Is your head not hurting anymore?"
Chioujen laughed. "My head is fine. Don't worry."
Actually, Chioujen still felt a little uncomfortable. Especially on the head, which was previously hit quite hard. But he didn't want to exaggerate it. There were far more important things for him to do.
"Would you like to take more things from Mr. Gongyang's unit?" Hannrong leaned forward.
Chioujen's purpose in coming to the building was not to take some of Songfei's belongings. Chioujen was still curious about what happened to him yesterday. He would check the ninth floor one more time. He knew he would most likely not find anything. But at least he could get rid of the curiosity that had plagued him since yesterday.
"Look, Hannrong. I'm still curious about what happened yesterday. So this time I'm going to check the ninth floor. I hope today I can find a clue as to what really happened last night."
Hannrong was dumbfounded at Chioujen's explanation. But, it wasn't long. Hannrong got up from the reception desk. He stepped forward towards Chioujen right away. "Do you need my help?"
"If you are willing, of course, I will be delighted."
"Thank you, Sir! I am delighted to be of assistance to you."
"But shouldn't you be on guard here?"
"I guess it's fine if I have to leave this place for a bit. Besides, sitting here all the time doing nothing is pretty boring."
"I hope this won't be a problem," Chioujen said.
Hannrong shook his head, smiling. He walked towards the entrance of the building. After locking the front door, he returned to where Chioujen was standing.
"What if someone visits this building while we're upstairs?"
"I usually lock this building when I go out for a while when I have a little need. The situation is similar to what is happening now." Hannrong's voice sounded steady.
"Then they'll just stand by the locked door until you come back?"
"True, Sir! But that rarely happens."
After that, the two of them went up to the ninth floor. When they got there, they immediately checked carefully. They found plastic food wrap in front of the service lift on that floor. The service lift has been out of service for a long time, but it was possible that someone was standing or sitting there. Hannrong couldn't remember exactly when was the last time he cleaned the floor in front of the service lift. Hannrong said that last week several tenants came to this building. Maybe it was those people who left the trash.
Hannrong couldn't tell how long these things had been here! It seemed that Hannrong was telling the truth.
Next to the service lift was a small room. The room was unlocked, so they could easily get inside it without having to go downstairs to get the key. Inside the room, there were several things scattered about. Chioujen guessed that this room was used as a warehouse. On one side of the room, there was a fairly large object. It was made of metal. Chioujen didn't know what it was. It looked like a chest, but at the top, there was nothing that looked like the lid of a chest in general. There was only a layer of metal. This thing was like a box bench with a hollow inside.
"Is this a bench?" Finally, it came out of Chioujen's mouth.
"I don't know, Sir! This stuff has been here for a long time."
"Can you open it?"
Hannrong shook his head.
The two of them began to grope the entire surface of the object. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that there were small cracks that they might be able to use to pry open the top of the coffin-like thing. However, since it was impossible to remove the iron layer by hand, Chioujen asked Hannrong to get down to his room to get the right tools to pry the metal layer out.
The time Hannrong took to retrieve the tool turned out to be slightly longer than Chioujen had expected. After Hannrong arrived, they tried to open the thing that looked like a chest. It turned out to be almost empty. Inside was only a metal coin. Apart from that coin, there was nothing else inside.
Chioujen took the coin. Instinctively, he studied it for a moment. It was an ancient coin. He wasn't an expert in that field, so there weren't many conclusions he could draw. Chioujen then put the coin into his trouser pocket.
Since he felt there was nothing else he could do, Hannrong asked Chioujen for permission to return to his post. He said that he had left the reception desk too long. Chioujen had realized from the start that he couldn't hold back Hannrong for too long. Chioujen thanked Hannrong.
Chioujen was still curious about the ninth floor. He had come a long way to that place. Of course, Chioujen couldn't just go home empty-handed. He went up to the tenth floor to rest for a while. After sitting on the sofa in the main room of unit 1008 for about ten minutes, Chioujen came out again. He went downstairs to meet Hannrong at the reception desk.
"Does this building keep the blueprints of this building?" asked Chioujen. He actually knew that the blueprint for a building was unlikely to be stored in the building itself. But it never hurt to ask.
"What?" Hannrong looked at Chioujen with an incomprehensible look.
"Ah! I mean, are there any design drawings of this building stored here?"
"I don't know, Sir! There might be, but I don't know where it is."
"Where are the important documents or files stored in this building?"
"Probably in the Managing Manager's room, Sir!"
"Managing Manager?"
"It's kind of like a General Manager, but his scope of work focuses on the day-to-day management of the building. Here, we refer to the position as The Managing Manager."
A unique term!
"Oh! May I have a look around the room?"
Under normal circumstances, it was almost impossible for the building administrator to let a friend from the building's tenants enter the Manager's room and check the files in the room. However, at that moment, the situation could not be considered normal. There was no Managing Manager on duty there. So it could be said that Hannrong was the highest-ranking executive in charge of the building at that moment.
"I don't think that's a problem, sir!" Hannrong nodded. The young man seemed so sure of the decision he had made.
I hope Hannrong won't lose his job if this is found out by his superiors.
Then Hannrong escorted Chioujen to the Managing Manager's room. The position had been vacant for a long time. Chioujen didn't know since when the building didn't have a Managing Manager. However, as far as Chioujen could remember, since the first time Songfei had invited them into the building, there had been no Management Manager on duty there.
Arriving at the door, Hannrong stopped. "I forgot to bring the key, Sir. Please wait here for a moment. Let me get the key first."
Chioujen nodded.
I hope it's because Hannrong forgot to bring the key. But I couldn't rule out the possibility that Hannrong took this opportunity to report this to certain people, who are most likely not his official superiors in this building.
Chioujen looked at the back of Hannrong, who rushed away to go to his room to get the keys to the General Manager's room. The young man's movements were so fast. Not even five minutes later, Hannrong was standing before Chioujen again. He was holding a string of keys. Based on Hannrong's hand movements, it wasn't hard for Chioujen to conclude that Hannrong didn't know which was the Manager's room key from the string of keys. After four tries, the door opened.
Chioujen was slightly surprised. Unexpectedly, the room was dirty. There was a thick layer of dust all over the room.
"Sorry, Sir! This is how it is. I never opened this room, so I never cleaned it either."
"Your boss didn't tell you to clean this room?"
My boss said that I don't need to clean this room because no one is using it."
"Don't you feel strange about such an order?"
"It's a little strange, Sir. But I try not to ask too many questions."
Chioujen nodded. "All right! It's all right. I've been in dirtier rooms than this many times."
They entered the room. Hannrong looked confused at the atmosphere in the room. It was apparent that he didn't know where the files were supposed to be stored.
I think you'd better go back, Hannrong. Let me look for it myself." Chioujen felt sorry for the young man.
"Okay, Sir!" Hannrong didn't argue at all.
"Hold on! Can you bring me a rag and duster?"
"Yes, Sir!"
Hannrong went to get the things Chioujen asked for. About five minutes later, he was back again with the cleaning tools. When Hannrong tried to clean the room, Chioujen stopped him. "No! Just let me do it. You go back to the reception desk."
"Okay, Sir!" Hannrong nodded respectfully.
After Hannrong left, Chioujen started treading every corner of the room. First, he cleaned the table and chairs he would use. After that, Chioujen began to look for building plans or objects that looked like floor plans. It was tough to find something he didn't know in a strange place. But after about an hour of being there, Chioujen finally found something.
He found the floor plan of the building. The floor plan looked like a blueprint for the building. Chioujen was not without reason when he thought the plan looked like a blueprint. Unlike the actual blueprints, this floor plan that Chioujen found was not drawn on the blue paper normally used in building blueprints.
The plan was drawn on plain tracing paper. Although the papers were translucent, they were distinctly different from the paper used to draw the blueprints. Tracing paper was more brittle and could easily turn yellow with time. And indeed, the paper containing the floor plan that was currently in Chioujen's hand had turned yellow. Chioujen was a little worried that some parts might not be clearly visible.
He spread out the scroll on the table that had been the building manager's desk. Chioujen wasn't an architect, so actually, he knew little about these things either. He examined the papers one by one. Chioujen felt that there was something strange about the plan, but he didn't know where exactly it was.
Chioujen stared at the papers for almost an hour, but as he had expected, he found nothing but the feeling that something was wrong. His eyes felt tired and a little sore. Chioujen knew he couldn't force his eyes to work too hard. He then rested for a while. He sat on the chair in front of the table. Leaning back, he closed his eyes.
I can't think. My brain is frozen!
Even though his eyes were closed, Chioujen didn't sleep. After about ten minutes, Chioujen opened his eyes. He got up from the chair and walked out of the room. During that kind of time, when he ran out of ideas, sometimes he took walks to get new ideas. It didn't have to be a walk in an open space. Walking back and forth in a building also produces the same effect. Chioujen took a walk inside the building. Hannrong, who was cleaning the reception desk, caught Chioujen walking around in circles without a clear direction. The youth tilted his head when he saw Chioujen's behavior.
"What are you doing?" Apparently, Hannrong couldn't help but leave any comments or questions.
"Ah! I was looking for a new idea. Don't worry, it's harmless!"
Chioujen answered Hannrong's question with a laugh. It's only natural that people were surprised to see what he did. Chioujen himself was surprised at first, too. Like some of Chioujen's other habits, he got this habit from Shannchyuan. Decades ago, when he had first seen Shannchyuan do such a thing, Chioujen had often laughed at him. But over time, even Chioujen himself also behaved like that. Chioujen had forgotten exactly when he started to change. According to the confessions of those he had known since childhood, the change in Chioujen's habits occurred gradually. Actually, it was a little strange because Chioujen started to imitate Shannchyuan's habits just after he moved from the city where Shannchyuan lived.
Hannrong didn't ask anymore. He continued the work he was doing. The innocent young man looked quite diligent.
Chioujen wasn't just walking around on the ground floor. He also circled around to the first and second floors. Just like before, the atmosphere was tranquil. Chioujen didn't know how Hannrong could put up with such a work environment. While at work, Chioujen met and talked to at least ten people every day. So such a quiet atmosphere was quite foreign to Chioujen.
"Hannrong!" Chioujen said in a low voice after he returned to the front of the reception desk.
Hannrong had already finished cleaning the reception desk. He was writing something on a white paper. Chioujen didn't see clearly what Hannrong wrote. He could only see irregular scribbles. Maybe it was not writing, but a work of art.
"What's the matter, Sir?" Hannrong put the pen he had previously held in his hand onto the table.
"Since I first came to this building, I have never stepped on the floors below this ground floor." Chioujen used his index finger to point at the floor.
"You mean the basement floors?"
"Yes." Chioujen nodded vigorously. "The basement floors of this building have been closed to tenants since when?"
"About a year ago, Sir!"
"What are the underground floors for?"
"That's a car park, a backup power generator, and a few spaces that are supposed to be used by the people who work here, Sir!"
"Could you explain it to me in more detail?"
"The B1 and B2 floors are for vehicle parking, while the B3 floors are for electricity generators and workers' rooms."
"Then, how about the B4 floor?"
"No floor B4, Sir! Only B1, B2, and B3."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, Sir!"
"But in the plan of this building, the B4 floor is clearly depicted."
Hannrong had an expression full of surprise and confusion. "Is that so, Sir? I never knew there was a B4 floor."
Hearing Hannrong's answer, Chioujen felt himself getting even more excited. There were things he could investigate in that place. As it turned out, it wasn't only Shannchyuan that had affected him. Songfei, whom he had known relatively recently, had also passed on some things to him.
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