《Once Upon a Time in a Foreign Land》Chapter 083 : Zhonghang Qiuzhen
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Qiuzhen looked at the back of Hanrong, 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, Hanrong was standing before Qiuzhen again. He was holding a string of keys. Based on Hanrong's hand movements, it wasn't hard for Qiuzhen to conclude that Hanrong didn't know which was the Manager's room key from the string of keys. After four tries, the door opened.
Qiuzhen 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."
Qiuzhen nodded. "All right! It's all right. I've been in dirtier rooms than this many times."
They entered the room. Hanrong 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, Hanrong. Let me look for it myself." Qiuzhen felt sorry for the young man.
"Alright, Sir!" Hanrong didn't argue at all.
"Hold on! Can you bring me a rag and duster?"
"Yes, Sir!"
Hanrong went to get the things Qiuzhen asked for. About five minutes later, he was back again with the cleaning tools. When Hanrong tried to clean the room, Qiuzhen stopped him. "No! Just let me do it. You go back to the reception desk."
"Alright, Sir!" Hanrong nodded respectfully.
After Hanrong left, Qiuzhen started treading every corner of the room. First, he cleaned the table and chairs he would use. After that, Qiuzhen 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, Qiuzhen finally found something.
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He found the floor plan of the building. The floor plan looked like a blueprint for the building. Qiuzhen was not without reason when he thought the plan looked like a blueprint. Unlike the actual blueprints, this floor plan that Qiuzhen 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 Qiuzhen's hand had turned yellow. Qiuzhen 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. Qiuzhen wasn't an architect, so actually, he knew little about these things either. He examined the papers one by one. Qiuzhen felt that there was something strange about the plan, but he didn't know where exactly it was.
Qiuzhen 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. Qiuzhen 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, Qiuzhen didn't sleep. After about ten minutes, Qiuzhen 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. Qiuzhen took a walk inside the building. Hanrong, who was cleaning the reception desk, caught Qiuzhen walking around in circles without a clear direction. The youth tilted his head when he saw Qiuzhen's behavior.
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"What are you doing?" Apparently, Hanrong couldn't help but leave any comments or questions.
"Ah! I am looking for a new idea. Don't worry, it's harmless!"
Qiuzhen answered Hanrong's question with a laugh. It's only natural that people were surprised to see what he did. Qiuzhen himself was surprised at first, too. Like some of Qiuzhen's other habits, he got this habit from Shanquan.
Decades ago, when he had first seen Shanquan do such a thing, Qiuzhen had often laughed at him. But over time, even Qiuzhen himself also behaved like that. Qiuzhen had forgotten exactly when he started to change. According to the confessions of those he had known since childhood, the change in Qiuzhen's habits occurred gradually. Actually, it was a little strange because Qiuzhen started to imitate Shanquan's habits just after he moved from the city where Shanquan lived.
Hanrong didn't ask anymore. He continued the work he was doing. The innocent young man looked quite diligent.
Qiuzhen 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. Qiuzhen didn't know how Hanrong could put up with such a work environment. While at work, Qiuzhen met and talked to at least ten people every day. So such a quiet atmosphere was quite foreign to Qiuzhen.
"Hanrong!" Qiuzhen said in a low voice after he returned to the front of the reception desk.
Hanrong had already finished cleaning the reception desk. He was writing something on a white paper. Qiuzhen didn't see clearly what Hanrong wrote. He could only see irregular scribbles. Maybe it was not writing, but a work of art.
"What's the matter, Sir?" Hanrong 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." Qiuzhen used his index finger to point at the floor.
"You mean the basement floors?"
"Yes." Qiuzhen 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."
Hanrong had an expression full of surprise and confusion. "Is that so, Sir? I never knew there was a B4 floor."
Hearing Hanrong's answer, Qiuzhen felt himself getting even more excited. There were things he could investigate in that place. As it turned out, it wasn't only Shanquan that had affected him. Songfei, whom he had known relatively recently, had also passed on some things to him.
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