chapter 5

I didn’t immediately add him as a friend.

I planned to message the Downstairs Sister first.

Downstairs Sister is a university student. Because of a previous mix-up with a package, there was a small misunderstanding, so I have her as a WeChat contact.

If Property Management comes to inspect, logically they should start from the bottom and work their way up.

Although it’s possible they might go from the top down.

But it’s safer to ask first.

Me: [Hello, I’m your upstairs neighbor. I wanted to ask if Property Management is coming to check doors and windows tonight?]

I held my phone, waiting for a reply that didn’t come for a long time.

It was already close to ten o’clock at night. Maybe she had already fallen asleep.

502 hadn’t sent any more messages either.

At that moment, I suddenly realized that Property Management seemed to have been inside 502 for quite a while.

Does it really take more than twenty minutes to check doors and windows?

I’d been standing near my door the whole time, and hadn’t heard anyone come out of 502.

I pressed my eye to the peephole again.

The corridor outside was pitch black.

Only the safety sign glowed faintly green.

The dark, narrow hallway looked a bit creepy at this hour, like a black hole trying to suck me in.

I quickly looked away.

Just then, my phone vibrated twice in my bag.

It was a message from Downstairs Sister.

She replied: [Yes, they just finished checking my place.]

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems I was influenced by today’s news pop-ups, getting a bit paranoid.

People really can scare themselves to death.

I shook my head, my eyes drifting back to the message on my phone.

At that moment, I felt something was off.

But I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.