Chapter 10 It's so hot here, take me outside (Part 3) Xiaoli, who...?

Xia Zhu noticed a door half-open on the left side of the stairs on the first floor. She peeked through the crack and saw that it looked like a warehouse. Boxes of goods were stacked up and filled the entire warehouse. A rat scurried from the left side of the open space to the right.

"What are you looking at!" The door was suddenly pushed open, and two men wearing armbands, cigarettes dangling from their mouths, shouted at her indistinctly.

Xia Zhu straightened her back and raised her arms to do chest expansion exercises.

"It's nothing, nothing. Just taking a walk around to get some exercise." She patted her shoulders as she walked into the yard.

Standing in the courtyard, the sky was overcast and it looked like it was about to rain. The clouds, unable to bear the weight, froze overhead and stopped moving. She turned her neck, waved her arms, and imagined if she could grow wings and fly away from the clouds, perhaps she could leave this place.

Xia Zhu swayed her waist and kicked her legs as she slowly moved toward the small tiled building next to the gate.

Occasionally, a few people would come out of the cafeteria after finishing their meals.

Surprisingly, there was no front door blocking the entrance to the tiled building. Xia Zhu walked a few meters away from the door and secretly peeked inside. The building was dimly lit, and there was a security guard's room at the entrance. From her angle, she could see a man sitting in the security guard's room eating a boxed lunch.

The absence of a gate was a good thing for her, but it posed a problem for the people in the security room. Xia Zhu looked around. In ordinary factories of this era, surveillance cameras probably weren't installed yet. If it was a human-to-human surveillance, then there would be times when they got tired and needed rest. She wasn't sure if the security room had a night shift system, but she still planned to come and check it out tonight.

With some time to spare, Xia Zhu decided to go back to her dorm to see if there were any useful clues left.

When I returned to room 215, no one had come back yet. I couldn't open any of the drawers on my desk except for my own. There was only an alarm clock on the desk, which showed 12:15.

She walked around the room; the space was so small that she could see everything at a glance.

Zhou Xiaoli's bed was completely empty. She suddenly remembered the light coming from the upper bunk last night, so she lifted her blankets and stepped on the edge of the bed to search the upper bunk.

Xia Zhu told herself that this was a dream, so she could put aside morality and etiquette for now and focus on getting out.

The girl in the upper bunk had good living habits. After getting up, she folded her quilt neatly at the foot of the bed. Xia Zhu flipped open the pillow and found a flashlight and a book under it.

The book cover read "Plum Blossom Mark," and Xia Zhu knew it was quite famous in that era.

It seems the person in the upper bunk hides under the covers every night, reading romance novels with a flashlight.

Suddenly, the people in my dreams seem so real. They love delicate hair clips, hum little tunes while working, and even if they don't sleep at night, they'll still cry in bed for their ill-fated love stories despite having big dark circles under their eyes.

These people are real and vivid, as if they once existed. Xia Zhu seems to understand the meaning of obsession and desire.

That is, no matter how the world changes, the people and things I cherish will remain deeply etched in my mind.

She arranged the pillows and had just sat down in her chair when the dormitory door was pushed open, and He Yujiao came in talking.

"I heard that the last time we took leave to go to the hospital, we ate pork liver and pork intestines in the cafeteria for lunch! Tsk tsk, I wonder when the next time will be, so unlucky."

The girl from Xia Zhu's upper bunk also came back with them.

"Xia, have you eaten? Are you still feeling unwell?" He Yujiao asked Xia Zhu as soon as she saw her.

"Thank you, I feel much better."

"That's fine then." He Yujiao said, taking off her blue work jacket and lying down on her bed. She glanced at the time, "I'll lie down for a while, I have to go to work again in ten minutes."

The female workers' lunch break, including mealtime, is only half an hour, which is really harsh.

The girl with dark circles under her eyes in the upper bunk walked over and sat down on a chair. She glanced at the name on the girl's name tag.

"Xiao Yan," Xia Zhu called to her, "Could I borrow your flashlight tonight? I've been getting up at night a lot lately, and the bathroom is too dark, so I'm a little scared."

Wu Yan glanced at Xia Zhu.

"Isn't there a light bulb on in the bathroom?" After saying that, she thought for a moment, "Yeah, that light bulb is just for decoration. You can take it; I put it next to my pillow before I go to sleep. But please be quiet when you come in and out; I don't sleep well."

Xia Zhu nodded vigorously to the side.

She spent the whole afternoon seemingly working diligently and efficiently at her workstation, but in reality, she was planning something big in her mind. Xia Zhu was even looking forward to the operation that night.

The workday doesn't end until 7 PM, and some workshops even have overtime work until 9 or 10 PM. Back in their dormitories, the girls are exhausted and go to bed early.

Xia Zhu lay on her back on the bed. He Yujiao had fallen asleep as soon as she came back. Wu Yan, who was on the upper bunk, had just turned off her flashlight, and Xia Zhu heard her turn over.

No light could see through the gap in the curtains. It was already late at night and all was quiet. Xia Zhu estimated that it was around two o'clock in the morning, if the time she had been mentally calculating was roughly right.

Carefully examining the wood grain on the bed frame above her head, Xia Zhu counted to 120 and quietly sat up. To make it easier for her to sit up without changing her clothes before bed, she gently slipped on her shoes in the dark, stood up, and reached out to feel around the edge of the upper bunk. Sure enough, she found a flashlight.

She tiptoed carefully to the door and slowly turned the lock. Although she regretted not having a roommate during her four years of high school and never having lived in the same room with anyone else, Xia Zhu knew that having her sweet dreams disturbed would be unpleasant, so she tried her best not to make a sound.

The door lock clicked in the darkness. She opened the dormitory door, and a fragrant aroma wafted into the dark corridor. She wrinkled her nose; it was that same smell from noon.

Xia Zhu had just stepped into the corridor when she suddenly felt a chill on the back of her neck. From the dark dormitory behind her came faint, mournful sobs.

She slowly turned her head, and the sound of crying came from Zhou Xiaoli's bed. There was no obvious movement in the darkness, and she couldn't see anything unusual, but something still felt off. She looked away and was about to turn and leave when she suddenly stopped.

An arm's length away from her head, a pair of bright, round eyes were staring unblinkingly at Xia Zhu.

Wu Yan was not asleep. She lay on her side, mostly wrapped in the blanket, with only her unusually large eyes showing as she looked towards the door.

Xia Zhu slowly turned her head away, pretending not to see, thankfully she always had a blank expression.

She closed the dormitory door behind her. The corridor was narrow and dimly lit. She turned on her flashlight, but it was just a regular household flashlight, and the beam could barely illuminate the area under her feet. She looked around and saw that everything was dark and gloomy, as if there was a thick fog. She walked towards the stairwell based on her memory.

With each step down the stairs, the air around her felt increasingly heavy. By the time she reached the corner, beads of sweat had formed on Xia Zhu's forehead, and every step was incredibly difficult, as if she were doing weight training, carrying a sandbag weighing over a hundred pounds on her back. She dared not think about it too much, but thankfully she was usually rather slow to react. She simply kept her head down and walked on, imagining herself on the mountain path home, focusing intently on her toes.

Thinking this way made me feel much more relaxed, and I even wanted to hum a tune.

Fortunately, the journey was smooth and they did not encounter any night patrols. The iron gate on the first floor was not completely closed and opened with a pull, and Xia Zhu finally stood in the courtyard.

She turned off her flashlight, looked around in the cold light of the full moon hanging in the sky, and made sure no one was there. Then she quickly crossed the yard and walked towards the small tiled building.

A dim light shone from the security room. Xia Zhu leaned against the door, listening to the intermittent storytelling from the radio. She guessed that the guards were probably dozing off in the middle of the night. After a while, apart from the radio's narration of "Lu Su set up a banquet on a warship by the river...", there was no other sound.

She peeked halfway in and glimpsed a person slumped over a desk under the window. Judging from the rise and fall of their back and their deep, even breathing, they seemed to have been asleep for a while. Without waiting any longer, she took a deep breath, went straight in, and strode past the security room with an air of self-righteousness and entitlement. All the while, she kept her eyes fixed on the person slumped over the desk, noticing that there seemed to be a notebook or something similar under them, and the lampshade next to them was covered with a thick layer of dust.

That's the attention to detail.

Xia Zhu turned into the corridor.

The building has two floors, and the staircase leading to the second floor is right opposite the entrance. She plans to explore the first floor first, as she will have to face the security room again when she goes upstairs.

There are five rooms on the first floor. Xia Zhu didn't dare to turn on her flashlight, so she could only get closer to see the labels on the doors.

The office consisted of clerical staff, general affairs department, personnel archives room, health clinic, and a technical department.

I tried to open several doors, but they were all locked, and the windows next to the doors were all dark, so I couldn't see inside at all.

I had no choice but to go to the second floor.

The goal tonight is to efficiently explore this small building.

Xia Zhu crouched at the corner of the corridor and saw that the security guards hadn't even changed their posture. So she turned around and went upstairs. She had only taken a few steps when a gust of wind blew in through the doorway behind her, making the pages of a book rustle. She froze on the spot, holding her breath. She heard the radio playing, "Guan Yu sneered inwardly, then suddenly raised his hand and brought down his knife. Crack! The table was split in two on the spot! The blade went straight into the wooden board, not even an inch off course."

Turning her head, she saw that the security guard in the room remained motionless despite the noise, and even seemed to be snoring. She let out a breath and hurried upstairs.

The second floor was similar to the first floor, except that there was a window at the end of the corridor. Moonlight was streaming in, making the view clearer than downstairs. After confirming that no one was there, Xia Zhu began to search room by room, finally stopping in front of a door.

A sign on the door reads "Manager's Office".

She first peered through the window by the door. It was dark inside and she couldn't see clearly, except for a corner of the desk that was illuminated by the moonlight. Xia Zhu tried hard to make out a nameplate on the desk.

It says Wang Guobin.

She was somewhat delighted, thinking that the key in her pocket might actually be able to open the door. She looked around again to confirm, then took out the key and inserted it into the lock. However, no matter which way Xia Zhu turned the key, it seemed to be stuck in the lock.

"That shouldn't be the case," Xia Zhu wondered.

Just as I was about to pull it out and try again, I heard voices coming from inside the room.

Startled, she immediately crouched down.

Seeing that the people in the room showed no intention of coming out, he pressed his ear against the door to listen.

"well--"

A sigh came from a man's voice.

"Xiaoli—" The man's voice was troubled and resentful, but his pronunciation was somewhat strange.

"Xiaoli, Xiaoli."

One sound after another.

Xia Zhu thought of Zhou Xiaoli, the pearl hair clip on He Yujiao's head, which she said was a gift from Zhou Xiaoli, and the two people who brushed past each other on the stairs, talking about who had a special relationship with Manager Wang.

Could Zhou Xiaoli's death be related to Manager Wang? Perhaps the dreamer is this Wang Guobin?

As I was pondering this, the calls of "Xiaoli" from inside the door suddenly stopped.

The next second, however, it came clearly from behind her.

"Xiaoli." A breath blew into Xia Zhu's ear.

As she turned, so did her fist. Before she could even see what was behind her, Xia Zhu's fist had already punched the thing.

It's soft and fluffy.

She turned and ran.

I ran up the stairs, past the guards who were still wide awake, and ran all the way to the courtyard.

That thing didn't seem to follow. Xia Zhu vaguely saw what should have been a ferocious-looking man, but how could an ordinary man be so soft and spongy when punched, and could instantly move from inside the house to outside?

Xia Zhu steadied her breathing and looked down at the key in her palm.

It says "Mr. Wang" but it's not the key to Manager Wang's office.

Aside from being able to roughly determine that Zhou Xiaoli and Manager Wang had some kind of relationship, there wasn't much else to be gained.

She walked toward the dormitory building, when her eyes suddenly caught sight of the dark doorway of the workshop building.

A large padlock hung in front of the sturdy iron gate.

Xia Zhu hesitated for a moment, then walked over and gently picked up the lock that secured the iron gate. It was heavy and had a considerable weight. He then inserted the key and turned it slightly, finding it strangely smooth.

With a click, the latch popped out, and the door opened.

A note from the author:

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