Water vapor
The phone at Schindler's customer service center rang in the afternoon with a stylized urgency.
Zhou Jianxing was busy in the maintenance room, replacing the capacitor of an old electric fan, when the intercom phone at her workstation suddenly rang. She took off her gloves, patted her work pants that were stained with dust and oil, and picked up the phone.
"Engineer Zhou, I've got a call for you," said Zhang Li, a customer service representative. "Ms. Wen, who's in Lanyuewan A7, has a repair request. She says the water in her bathroom is unstable, fluctuating between hot and cold. She specifically requested you come, saying you did a great job last time. Are you available now?"
"Mr. Zhou? Are you listening? Can I go?" Xiao Zhang's voice sounded again.
"Ah? Here!" Zhou Jianxing snapped back to his senses. "Yes, it's convenient. I... I'm getting ready to leave now. I'll be there in half an hour."
When the busy tone came, Zhou Jianxing seemed to have lost some of his strength and slowly put down the receiver.
She stared at her greasy hands, then looked at the cold metal tools in the toolbox next to her.
·
Standing in front of the carved gate hidden by dense green shade again, Zhou Jianxing felt more nervous than last time.
Beads of sweat trickled down her temples, wetting the collar of her dark blue workwear. She raised her hand to ring the doorbell, feeling a chill on her fingertips.
The door was opened quickly.
Mrs. Wen was standing inside the door.
She had obviously just finished a shower, with her long black hair draped over her shoulders, wet and dripping with water.
Drops of water slid down the line of her neck and sank into the soft, knee-length white bathrobe wrapped around her body.
The bathrobe was tied loosely around the waist, outlining her slender waist. The neckline was slightly open, revealing her deep collarbone and a small piece of delicate skin that was slightly red from the heat.
Her cheeks also had a flush from the bath, with a light pink showing through the delicate whiteness. Her lips were as plump and moist as a ripe peach. Her eyes seemed more moist and hazy than usual, with a hint of lazy haziness.
"Master Zhou, thank you for making this trip again." Mrs. Wen's voice was sweet as if soaked in moisture, like honey flowing into her ears.
She stepped aside and said, "Come in, it's too hot outside."
Zhou Jianxing's eyes were like a frightened rabbit, quickly passing over the flushed skin and dripping hair, and his heart began to beat faster and faster involuntarily.
She nodded stiffly, stepped over the threshold almost at the same time, and whispered, "Mrs. Wen, sorry to bother you. The company sent me to inspect the water heater."
Wen Lingyi noticed Zhou Jianxing's uncoordinated body movements and a gentle smile appeared on the corner of her lips.
The air conditioning in the villa was turned on very high, which was in stark contrast to the scorching heat outside, but Zhou Jianxing felt even hotter.
The mixture of the refreshing scent of shower gel and the cool floral fragrance, as well as the warmth emanating from Mrs. Wen's body temperature as she just got out of the bath, enveloped her like an invisible net.
She didn't dare to look up, her eyes fixed on the toes of her dusty old sneakers, and she bent down to put on shoe covers.
"The bathroom is the first one on the left at the end of the first floor." Mrs. Wen's voice sounded behind her. The warm breath with water vapor seemed to brush against Zhou Jianxing's ear, making her shrink her neck. "Sorry to bother you. The water temperature suddenly changed when I was taking a shower. It was very uncomfortable."
"Okay...Okay, I'll go check it out right away." Zhou Jianxing, as if he had been pardoned, carried the heavy toolbox and walked quickly to the end of the corridor.
The corridor was covered in soft carpet, which muffled the sound of footsteps. Zhou Jianxing quickly found the first room on the left. The door was ajar, and a richer, moister, warmer scent continued to flow out from the crack.
She took a deep breath, suppressed her restless heart, and gently pushed open the door.
The bathroom is very large and decorated in a minimalist Nordic style, with white and light gray as the main colors.
At this moment, the entire space was shrouded in a hazy vapor. The huge floor-to-ceiling frosted glass separated the shower area, and it was from there that the vapor diffused, blurring the mirror and the smooth tiled walls, and making the air thick and warm.
The heating system on the top was still humming, trying to dispel the thick humidity, but with little effect.
The air was filled with the aroma of high-end shower gel, mixed with the unique dampness of water molecules, and a subtle body fragrance that belonged only to Mrs. Wen. It penetrated Zhou Jianxing's nostrils and made her feel a little dizzy.
The glass sliding door of the shower area was open, and there were traces of undried water on the floor.
The water heater that Mrs. Wen mentioned had "unstable water temperature" is a simple, well-maintained white square box embedded in the wall next to the shower area.
Zhou Jianxing calmed himself down and tried to focus on his work.
She walked under the water heater, put down the toolbox, squatted down, opened the toolbox, and took out a multimeter for detecting voltage and necessary tools.
She deftly opened the cover of the water heater, revealing the circuit board and components within. Donning insulating gloves, she picked up a multimeter and, with a focused expression, began to test the power supply voltage, the resistance of the heating tube, the temperature sensor signal... Each step was carried out strictly according to the protocol. Her fingers moved across the cold components and instruments, her movements gradually steadied by concentration, temporarily suppressing the panic within her.
However, just as she was getting into the mood, she heard light footsteps behind her, accompanied by the rustling sound of her bathrobe fabric.
Zhou Jianxing's body tensed up again in an instant.
Mrs. Wen came in.
Her bare feet stepped on the cool tiles, her white ankles as delicate as works of art. The hem of her bathrobe swayed gently as she walked, revealing her equally white and slender calves.
"I'm afraid I can't explain the specific problem clearly," Mrs. Wen's voice rang out in the mist.
She gently closed the bathroom door.
“Click.”
The slight sound of the lock closing in the quiet and humid bathroom made Zhou Jianxing tremble involuntarily when she heard it.
His heart sank suddenly, then began to beat restlessly, hitting his chest, making a dull and huge echo. Zhou Jianxing could clearly hear his own heartbeat.
In this enclosed space filled with Mrs. Wen's scent and moisture, the air seemed to be sucked out in an instant, leaving only sticky humidity and a disturbing fragrance.
Mrs. Wen was standing half a step behind her and even had the glass sliding door closed.
Zhou Jianxing could even feel the damp body temperature emanating from her, hear her subtle breathing, and see the shadow cast on the ground when the hem of her bathrobe swayed gently.
Zhou Jianxing's mind went blank again, and his fingers, which had just stabilized, began to tremble uncontrollably again.
She pretended to be calm and continued to touch the test point with the test probe, but the shaking of her fingertips caused the tip of the test probe to slip on the metal contact, making a slight scraping sound.
"Don't worry," Mrs. Wen's voice came from behind, her hoarse voice like a scrap of paper, gently scraping Zhou Jianxing's tense nerves. "Is it because the space is too small and you can't use it?"
The voice was very close, so close that the hot breath seemed to brush against Zhou Jianxing's sweaty neck.
Only then did Wen Lingyi discover that there was a small red mole behind Zhou Jianxing's ear. As she got closer, the mole became redder and redder, like cinnabar dotted on Zhou Jianxing's skin.
Zhou Jianxing shuddered and shook his head violently, almost twisting his neck. His voice was dry and hoarse, "No... No! Mrs. Wen, you... just stand a little further away. Be careful... be careful not to get hit by water or tools..."
She forced herself to concentrate and speed up the test. However, the voltage was stable, the current output was smooth, the temperature sensor feedback was sensitive, and the heating tube resistance was normal... All the data clearly showed that the water heater was operating well and there was no sign of any malfunction.
No problem? Then what about the "unstable water temperature" Mrs. Wen mentioned? She didn't dare look back, so she just had to bite the bullet and recheck the water valve connections and the mixing valve more carefully, even testing the water flow at different levels.
The result is still the same - everything is normal.
"Mrs. Wen..." Zhou Jianxing's voice was uncertain. She still had her back to Mrs. Wen, staring at the instrument screen. "I... I checked twice, and all the parameters of the water heater are normal. There's no blockage or abnormality in the water lines. Are you sure it's the water heater? Could it be... a sensory error in the operation of the mixing valve?"
The silence is particularly long and sticky in the steaming water vapor.
Then, Mrs. Wen's voice sounded, closer than before, with a lazy, almost sighing tone: "Really? Everything is normal..."
She seemed to have taken another half step forward. Zhou Jianxing was sure that if she turned around now, she would bump into Mrs. Wen. The distance was so close that she could even hear Wen Lingyi's heartbeat.
Mrs. Wen's scent enveloped her so richly that she could almost feel the hem of Mrs. Wen's bathrobe gently brushing against the fabric of her work clothes.
The fabric seems to have become an extension of the skin, as if it is covered with sensitive sensors.
She shuddered suddenly, and the small screwdriver in her hand fell to the wet tile floor with a "click".
Zhou Jianxing closed her eyes helplessly. Shame and panic almost overwhelmed her. She bent down to pick it up in embarrassment, but her fingers were shaking and she failed to pick it up the first time.
A white, tender, and delicate hand, one step faster than her, gently picked up the cold metal screwdriver. Wen Lingyi's soft body pressed against Zhou Jianxing's back, and the water droplets at the ends of her hair rolled down Zhou Jianxing's neck and slid down very slowly.
The cold water drops were like boiling magma, burning Zhou Jianxing's whole body.
Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned her head.
Mrs. Wen bent down slightly, and the collar of her bathrobe opened a little because of this action, revealing a deeper, delicate and seductive curve.
She took the screwdriver and did not hand it to Zhou Jianxing immediately. Instead, she gently stroked the cold metal rod with her fingertips.
His eyes fell on the sweaty back of Zhou Jianxing's neck, where tiny beads of sweat shone slightly in the dim light of the bathroom.
"Master Zhou," Mrs. Wen's voice was very soft, almost whisper-like, mixed with moisture, and penetrated Zhou Jianxing's ears. "Your hands are shaking badly."
Her gaze slowly moved from Zhou Jianxing's sweaty neck to her earlobe, which was also abnormally flushed and almost dripping with blood.
"Are you nervous? Or is it... too hot in here?"
Her gaze, as if it were real, slowly swept over Zhou Jianxing's back, which was violently heaving due to nervousness, and over her hands, which were tightly clutching her overalls, with her knuckles turning white, and finally, stopped at her lower lip, which was bitten due to extreme nervousness.
Zhou Jianxing felt like she was nailed to the spot, unable to move. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, and the only thing left in the world was the body behind her, emitting warmth and fragrance, and those watery eyes that could absorb a person's soul.
The sticky water vapor in the air seemed to solidify into a solid object, tightly wrapping around her.
Time stretched infinitely in this misty bathroom, each second unbearable. The ambiguous scent, thick as substance, flowed and stretched silently through the moist, warm air, a taut string that seemed ready to snap at any moment.
The hand holding the screwdriver finally slowly reached Zhou Jianxing's eyes, its fingertips almost touching her sweaty, cold palm.
"Hold it steady." Mrs. Wen's voice was as soft as a sigh, with a barely perceptible smile. "It's okay if you dropped the tool. It's just... the water temperature isn't stable. Looks like I need to look for it more carefully, right?"
Her words were meaningful, her eyes were fixed on Zhou Jianxing's flushed cheeks, and the corners of her lips curled up in a very faint arc, enough to make Zhou Jianxing's heart stop.
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