Chapter 97
Chapter 97
There were twenty rooms along the entire length of the corridor.
Only one of them was the real Room 501.
If she truly couldn’t distinguish which was which, her last resort would be to clean every single room.
But that plan was simply unrealistic.
Jiang Li had less than fifteen minutes, and she was tasked with cleaning the “Executive Suites” of the Clear Spring Hotel.
An executive suite here spanned a full 300 square meters.
Fifteen minutes was only enough time for Jiang Li to finish cleaning one room.
She didn’t have the luxury of time to waste on others.
She had to find the real Room 501!
Jiang Li walked up to the doors and compared them carefully.
Every door was tightly shut, each bearing a plaque for Room 501. They looked exactly like they had been copy-pasted.
From the outside, there was no difference at all.
Jiang Li frowned, lost in thought.
Just then, the time reached 9:45 AM.
Dozens of doors swung open simultaneously.
Immediately after, twelve identical old men emerged from their rooms at the same time.
The remaining eight doors stayed firmly shut.
Jiang Li quickly memorized the positions of the open doors.
This meant the real Room 501 was among these twelve open rooms.
However, picking one out of twelve was still no easy feat!
Jiang Li stood at the end of the corridor, guarding the entrance to the Hot Spring Pool.
Now, all twelve old men were heading toward her.
What should she do?
If they all entered the Hot Spring Pool, it would be even harder for Jiang Li to judge!
Which one was the real one…
At that moment, the sound of “Animal World” playing on the corridor’s electronic screen caught Jiang Li’s attention.
“…This is a very rare scene on the African savanna. A male lion has caught an antelope calf that was born less than two hours ago.
“However, what is quite astonishing is that the male lion, who should be cruel, is actually using his tongue to lick the wounds on the calf’s body…”
Jiang Li looked up at the screen.
Seeing the footage, a flash of inspiration struck her mind.
She quickly pulled out a heart, threw it to Red Infant, and whispered a few words in his ear.
Following that, a series of noises erupted in the corridor.
Jiang Li pushed over the cleaning cart, creating a loud crash.
Then came the cry of a child.
“Ow!” Red Infant’s backside hit the floor as he tumbled down.
He clutched his knee and wailed, “I fell and hurt my knee! It hurts so much! Is there any kind person who can help me? Waaaah, it hurts!”
Red Infant squeezed out a couple of tears and sat on the ground, putting on a pitiful act.
More than half of the twelve old men walking over acted as if they hadn’t heard a thing, bypassing Red Infant and heading straight into the Hot Spring Pool.
In the end, only three remained.
But… these three were exactly what she needed!
The note Jiang Li had picked up when she first stepped off the elevator clearly stated:
“The Old Man is a well-known ‘Mr. Nice Guy.'”
Based on that sentence alone, the Old Man could not possibly sit idly by when faced with an “injured child”!
Of the three old men who walked over, one did not have a white cane and appeared to have normal vision.
The other two were blind men using canes.
Jiang Li narrowed her focus onto the two blind men.
One of the blind men had a kind demeanor. He said in a raspy voice, “Little friend, Grandpa has medicine in his room. Do you want to go back to the room with Grandpa to get treated?”
The other blind man had a much harsher attitude.
He stomped his cane irritably. “Where are your parents? Leaving a child here all alone? Is the injury serious?”
Red Infant quickly responded with a sob, “It’s really bad, I’m bleeding.”
“…Fine, come back to the room with me first. It’s too dangerous for a kid to be running around!” The grumpy Old Man furrowed his brows, looking thoroughly displeased.
The two old men were both waiting for Red Infant’s response.
Red Infant didn’t say a word, turning instead to look at Jiang Li.
It was a high-stakes choice between two options.
Most of the netizens watching the Live Streaming Room leaned toward the first Old Man. After all, he clearly looked more like a good person, while the second Old Man wasn’t necessarily “bad,” but he just seemed less trustworthy than the first.
The bullet chat was flooded with messages, all insisting that she should choose the first one.
Jiang Li fell into deep thought.
A deadlock like this was impossible. If one of them was a fake, then he had to have a flaw somewhere!
Jiang Li’s mind raced. Suddenly, a detail flashed through her consciousness.
She quickly looked up, glanced at the two men, and then gave Red Infant a meaningful look.
Understanding the signal, Red Infant stood up and took the second Old Man’s hand.
“Grandpa, I’ll go with you.”
Red Infant left with the fierce-looking Old Man.
A wave of sighs erupted in the Live Streaming Room as everyone speculated whether Jiang Li had made the wrong decision. However, Jiang Li didn’t look worried at all.
She was absolutely certain that the first Old Man was a fake!
She carefully recalled what that Old Man had said:
“Little friend, Grandpa has medicine in his room. Do you want to come back with Grandpa so I can apply some for you?”
How could a blind man apply medicine to a child?
Being able to say something like that meant he wasn’t blind at all. His blindness was an act! He had pretended to be blind to lure Jiang Li into making a mistake. But since Jiang Li had spotted the logical flaw in his speech, it actually helped her break the deadlock.
The real Room 501 Guest led Red Infant to a door in the middle of the hallway. At that moment, the room numbers on the other doors began to change, no longer showing “Room 501.”
Even the identical old men turned into ash after their faces contorted in agony.
Jiang Li glanced at the room numbers on this floor. The arrangement of all the rooms had been completely scrambled. Room 501 was located right in the middle of the corridor.
Jiang Li felt lucky she hadn’t relied on “common sense” and assumed that Room 501 would naturally be at the end of the hall.
After Red Infant followed the Old Man into the room, Jiang Li tidied up her cleaning cart and pushed it to the door of Room 501.
*Knock, knock-*
Jiang Li raised her hand and knocked.
“Housekeeping,” she called out.
“Come in!”
Jiang Li left her cart at the door and took her cleaning tools inside.
The rules stated that rooms should be cleaned between 09:45 and 10:00, but they didn’t mention that guests weren’t allowed to remain in the room. Therefore, Jiang Li wasn’t violating any rules right now.
While she was cleaning, the slip of paper in her pocket began to feel warm. Jiang Li pulled it out to look. The second rule had appeared!
It seemed the trigger for the second rule was entering the correct Room 501.
Jiang Li looked down and quickly scanned the rule.
[Clear Spring Hotel – 5th Floor Rules]
[2. Do not agree to any request from the Room 501 Guest unless he leaves Room 501.]
“Excuse me, waiter, could you do me a favor? Look under the bed for me; I think my slippers fell under there.”
The Old Man’s low, raspy voice drifted over.
Jiang Li’s back stiffened. The Waiter Rules immediately flashed through her mind:
[Remember, the customer is God. Do not anger the customer at any time.]
If she refused the Old Man, he would get angry, and Jiang Li would violate a rule. But if she agreed to his request, she would also violate a rule.
What should she do…