Chapter 104
Chapter 104
Jiang Li stopped in her tracks.
Time was running out.
She couldn’t afford to keep searching blindly like this.
Room 404 was indeed hidden for some reason.
But it had to exist.
Details…
Was there a detail she had missed?
Jiang Li closed her eyes, quickly mentally reviewing everything that had happened since she arrived on the 4th floor.
The trash piled up in the corridor, the notices on the walls, and the waitress delivering food…
The waitress had grumbled something:
“I’ve only been delivering meals for a few days, and I’m already starting to grow muscles.”
…That was it!
She had delivered food.
Jiang Li snapped her eyes open.
In a corridor so cluttered with trash, using a food delivery cart would definitely leave tracks on the floor!
Jiang Li looked down at the red carpet in the corridor.
The red carpet was filthy, almost entirely covered in food waste.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this entire corridor a “garbage pit.”
Yet, amidst all the trash, there was a narrow path cleared through the center of the carpet.
This was a barely clean trail, worn down over years of pushing a food delivery cart back and forth.
The path extended from the Buffet Area all the way to the door of Room 414.
Jiang Li’s eyes flickered.
414… only one digit off from 404.
Could it be this one?
Just then, a cheerful female voice rang out from the electronic screens in the corridor.
“The 2:30 ‘Big Eater Food Show’ is starting in thirty seconds! Let’s count down together…”
The voice sounded like it was cheering for a food show, but to Jiang Li, it felt like her own death countdown!
Only thirty seconds remained until 14:30!
Jiang Li didn’t dare delay for a second. Pushing the food delivery cart, she sprinted toward the door of Room 414.
“…Twenty, nineteen, eighteen…”
Jiang Li raised her hand, intending to knock.
However, her gaze fell upon a line of small text at the bottom of the room number plate.
The text was red.
Set against the reddish-brown background and the red lighting of the corridor, it was easy to overlook if one wasn’t paying close attention.
Jiang Li scanned the words:
[The Man in 414 Is Irritable, The Man in 404 Is Gentle. Dear, don’t knock on the wrong door when delivering food~]
Jiang Li’s hand froze mid-knock.
Judging by the tracks on the red carpet, the destination for food delivery should indeed be this door.
Since she was sure this was the right door, the problem… could only lie with the room number itself!
Jiang Li observed it closely.
Among the three digits of the room number “414,” the middle digit “1” looked like an enlarged version of a suitcase combination lock.
Upon closer inspection, the digit appeared as though it could be toggled up or down.
Meanwhile, the female voice on the corridor’s electronic screens continued to ring out.
Her tone was cheerful and high-pitched:
“…Five, four, three…”
Only three seconds left.
Jiang Li’s breath hitched involuntarily.
She placed her finger on the middle digit “1” of the room number and pushed it down firmly.
The digit “1” shifted to a “0.”
Room 404 appeared!
“…Two, one, zero!”
At the very moment the female countdown reached zero, Jiang Li knocked on the door.
*Knock, knock-*
“Hello, food delivery.”
Jiang Li lowered her hand and squeezed her cold fingertips.
In the rush, she realized her fingers were slightly trembling.
The door to Room 404 opened.
Inside the cramped room, a face glistening with grease appeared.
“Got it. Just leave the Service Cart at the door for now.”
The man’s voice sounded simple and honest.
Jiang Li glanced at him and gave a professional smile.
“Of course, sir. Please enjoy your meal.”
Jiang Li left the Service Cart and walked away from the doorway.
However, she was secretly shocked.
Rather than a normal human being, this so-called Guest of Room 404 felt more like a “monster.”
The man’s physical build was more than three or four times larger than Jiang Li’s.
The man’s body was a mass of fat, stacked in ring-like layers.
From his legs to his waist, then to his arms, neck, and face, everything was divided into several thick folds.
In the cramped space behind the door of Room 404, the man could no longer walk out head-on.
He was sitting slumped on the floor sideways, squeezed into the entryway behind the door of Room 404.
Every gap in the entryway was filled with the fat overflowing from the man’s body.
Jiang Li had never seen anyone like this.
“Waitress, please wait a moment.”
Jiang Li was halfway down the hall when the Guest of Room 404 called out to her.
Jiang Li stopped and turned back.
“Sir, is there something I can help you with?”
Jiang Li returned to the door with a smile.
At that moment-
The man in Room 404 used his bloated fingers to pinch the last bit of food off the Service Cart and stuffed it into his mouth in one go.
“Another cart, please.”
The man sucked his fingers, making some wonderful “slurping” sounds.
Jiang Li looked at the food on the cart, which had been mostly devoured, and was stunned for a moment.
“Certainly, sir. Please wait a moment.”
Jiang Li pushed the Service Cart away.
She felt a momentary sense of trance.
Was this kind of eating speed even real?
Jiang Li even began to suspect that this Room 404 Guest might not be staying in the hotel because he didn’t want to leave.
Rather… he simply couldn’t fit into the elevator and couldn’t leave the hotel at all!
Jiang Li speculated whether the man was forced to eat frantically for some special reason.
But the fatter he got, the more it hindered his ability to move like a normal person.
It might even… overload the elevator.
Thus, he was trapped here.
Thinking about this along the way, Jiang Li unknowingly arrived at the 4th floor’s Garbage Disposal Window.
The garbage at this window had already overflowed.
With no other choice, Jiang Li had to dump the food scraps from the Service Cart outside the window.
The amount of trash in the corridor increased a bit more.
“Waitress, please hurry up, thank you.”
The man’s urging behind her was non-stop.
“Coming, sir.”
Jiang Li gave a casual reply.
She then hurriedly pushed the Service Cart toward the Buffet Area.
She still needed to get a Positive Review from this man, so she couldn’t afford to be too careless.
Jiang Li entered the Buffet Area.
The food in the area was self-serve.
However, more than half of today’s supply was already gone.
It was likely consumed by the Room 404 Guest during the morning.
Jiang Li walked around the Buffet Area, picking out a variety of foods.
“Newcomer, there’s a prepared cart here.”
A Cook in the Kitchen called out to Jiang Li.
Jiang Li turned around and saw a hand reaching out from behind the Kitchen curtain.
That hand was pointing at a food delivery cart in the corner.
Jiang Li glanced over.
On that food delivery cart in the corner, there were many sea crabs freshly prepared by the Cook.
The sea crabs had just come out of the pot, still emitting white steam.
“Waitress! Hurry up! Thank you!” The man’s urging echoed through the corridor.
While the Cook was “thump-thump-thumping” as he chopped vegetables, he instructed Jiang Li:
“Just deliver this! I know he’s in a hurry, so I prepared it specifically for you.”
Jiang Li weighed her options, left the cart she was holding, and pushed the prepared food delivery cart out.
As she pushed the cart toward the exit, she looked at the furthest corner of the Buffet Area.
The seafood that had originally been placed there was mostly untouched.
Jiang Li looked toward the back kitchen.
Printed on the Kitchen curtain were the rules for the 4th-floor back kitchen.
[Clear Spring Hotel – 4th Floor Kitchen Rules]
[1. You can trust the Cook completely. The Cook never lies.]
[2. Please supervise the kitchen’s hygiene. If the food hygiene does not meet the standards, you can call the hotel’s internal reporting number: 4949.]
Jiang Li scanned them with her Eye of Truth.
Both rules were true.
“Brother Cook, can the guest in Room 404 eat seafood? Is he allergic?” Jiang Li asked an extra question.
The Cook behind her focused on chopping vegetables and responded casually:
“Don’t you worry, he’s not allergic. If I’m lying to you, may my whole family drop dead.”