Chapter 04
That figure turned out to be the girl who stuck with him inside the elevator. In his dreams, she even appeared. The girl smiled at the man and then sat on a chair that was there. She said nothing, just sat and read a magazine on the table in front of the chair.
The man then sat on another chair next to her. They both fall silent. About two minutes later, The girl stopped to read and turned to look at the man.
"Please choose the candy you like."
Just a brief sentence, and then she continued to read the magazine.
"I don't want to eat candy," replied the man.
Again, the girl stopped reading, then said, "What do you need now?"
"I am starving. Is there any food here?"
The girl looked at the man deeply.
"What would you like to eat?"
"Anything is fine," replied the man quickly.
"Looks like I still have some leftovers this afternoon. I'll check first. " The girl then got up and moved towards the door that separated this room from the back room. A few moments later, she returned from behind the door.
"Do you eat horse meat?"
The man flinched at the question the girl asked.
Eh? Horse meat? Does this girl eat horse meat? Perhaps horse meat is typical meals here.
The man had never eaten horse meat. But after being starving like now, any food he could eat.
"After eating horse meat, your body will feel a little hot. Mutton, Lamb, or goat meat can raise your body temperature. But horse meat will make your body much hotter." The girl explains nicely.
The man nodded at this. He didn't know whether or not the information was accurate.
But the current temperature is already hot enough!
The man muttered inwardly. But then he was laughing and says.
"Okay. It sounds good to me."
The girl directly went back into the back room and came out with the tray full. The man stared at that.
This isn't meat leftover from lunch. It's a jumbo portion!
The man became excited after seeing the dish that has just arrived. With joy, he straight away devoured the food. While eating the horse meat, he suddenly felt his teeth biting into something very solid!
Suddenly the man woke up to find himself chewing the big sash beside him. His gums felt a little sore as his teeth bite the tip of the bag sling made of iron.
Luckily, I chewed the stuff I brought myself. If only I ate this girl's backpack or worse, that would be a big problem!
The hunger that whacks was getting worse. He didn't know what time it was. He hoped it was already morning so he wouldn't have to wait too long to look for food. The man looked at the girl, who was still sleeping soundly.
Suddenly a voice came from next door. Apparently, someone turned on the third elevator, which was beside this elevator. The man right away got up and walked towards the side of the elevator where the girl was leaning. With his remaining strength, he pounded the side of the elevator. Hoped the sound would be loud enough so the people who currently used the next door elevator could hear them.
Based on the sound, it seemed the next door elevator reached the 8th floor. Then continued upwards. The man quickly opened the bag he was carrying. He was looking for a tool that could make a loud noise when he used it to hit the elevator side. He unexpectedly discovered an iron handcuff.
Iron handcuffs? Ah, of course, my friend loves playing detective. Naturally, there are tools like this. Under these circumstances, there is no time for prejudice!
With the handcuffs in his grasp, the man pounded the elevator side. By then, the girl had awakened. Realizing what the man was doing, the girl quickly opened her backpack and picks up a big wrench, and followed the man banging on the elevator side.
She surprised the man.
Wrench? Does this girl have a wrench in her bag? What a girl! She is full of surprises!
The two of them violently pounded the elevator side. The next-door elevator appeared to be going down, but then going back up again. After that, going down again. It seemed the person next door was trying to find the origin of the thud's sound.
Soon the elevator next door stopped. There was a knock on the elevator door. Apparently, that person has gotten out of the lift. Now that person was standing in front of the elevator on the 8th floor.
"Is there anyone inside?"
The girl and the man could clearly hear the voice.
"Please! Please! We were trapped here!"
The girl and the man shouted together for help.
"Please wait a moment! First, I'll try to turn the elevator on!"
Then they could not hear the person outside anymore.
"He's opening the panel on the outside to activate this elevator," the man explained to the girl.
"Yesterday, you did the same thing, right? Because when I pressed the button in front of the fourth elevator downstairs, the lights didn't turn on at all. But it suddenly turned on when I was on the 12th floor."
"Yes, you are right! My friend taught me this trick," replied the man.
A moment later, the elevator lights came on. When the elevator shook pretty hard, the man felt that the girl seemed a little anxious. But nothing wrong happened. After that, the elevator door opened. They could see someone wearing a blue uniform was standing in front of the elevator.
"It turns out you are still here, Mr. Duānmù," said the uniform man.
"Thank you, Hànróng. Luckily you came quickly," said the man who had been with the girl all night.
Hànróng, the custodian in the building, was a young man in his late 20s. He was tall and well-built. But, from the looks of his face, people could see that he was a little less smart. The man realized the young custodian was surprised to see them. Besides the man he already knew, a girl was standing there. He turned to the man.
"It's a long story," said the man. "Now we first go down, then talk." The three of them got off with the fourth elevator.
Once at the ground floor, the man, who was called Mr. Duānmù by the building custodian, speedily ran toward the restroom. He stopped briefly and turned to the girl. At first, the girl seemed didn’t understand. The man pointed downwards so that the girl then realized what he meant. The man knew that the girl must have wanted to go to the restroom too. Immediately the girl ran after the man.
After finishing the restroom matter, they gathered in a room on the ground floor. Hànróng gave them hot tea. While drinking tea, the girl and the man took a turn telling their stories to Hànróng.
"Yesterday, I went out for a while. I didn't lock it because I thought it was only for a moment. It turned out that for some reason, my business took a long time. When I came back here, I met those people. When I asked what they were doing, they said nothing and just walked away. I saw three people in the building. But in the SUV parked outside, there seemed to be three people as well. So I think there are six people in all. After that, I locked and went home right away.”
"The night watchman didn't come?" asked the girl.
"When I came home, he was not there yet. When I came this morning, he was not there either. So I don't know what time he comes and goes. I don't even know if he comes or not," replies Hànróng.
Hànróng then looked at them. With a slow tempo, he said,
"Something like this………"
The man called Duānmù understood what Hànróng meant. Criminal acts were the law enforcers' thing. So as good citizens, it was their duty to report this matter.
However, the man also understood this kind of thing would create difficulties for Hànróng. His absence at the time would probably make him got sanctions.
"Regarding that matter. We also don't know whether those people have actually committed a crime or not. So for the time being, we will postpone reporting to the authorities," the man continues his speech.
He did not tell Hànróng about a call from his friend. He did not want to burden Hànróng with these things. What's more, he knew Hànróng's brain capacity was somewhat below average. He was concerned that the information would cause Hànróng to feel depressed.
"Thank you, sir," replied Hànróng.
"Well, the important thing is we're okay." The man says in relief. "This bag belongs to Mr. Gōngyáng. I will bring it home. " Said the man to Hànróng.
"Oh, please, sir. Is there still a lot of stuff upstairs?" asked Hànróng.
"There are still many," replied the man. "But he only asked me to get this bag."
"Apart from him, there are still some people whose belongings are still here. I don't know when this building will actually close down." Hànróng explained.
"Thank you. I think we have to go now."
After saying that, the man and the girl at once stood up and prepared to leave the room.
"Do you not go upstairs to clean your body first?"
Hànróng advised the man.
"Ah, no need. I have to hurry, "says the man. Suddenly he patted his forehead because he remembered something.
"Can I use the phone for a while," said the man.
"Please, sir," said Hànróng. Then the man right away uses the phone there. The phone was connected to a box. People had to put the coins inside the box to make a call. The man did not use the phone for too long because he only called home to say that he was okay. After that, the girl and the man quickly left the building.
For security reasons, this time, they exited through the back door of the building. The backyard of the building was roughly the same size as the front yard. From the back door, they walked towards the small door that was on the back fence wall. Behind the door was an alley that led to the station.
"Now, where are we going, sir?"
"I am hungry. How about we have breakfast first at one of the food stalls at the station?"
The girl clenched her palms while cheering. The man could see that the girl was thrilled to hear his answer.
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