When the clock struck midnight, Qin Yinan exited his room under the pretext of buying cigarettes. He walked around the hotel premise but didn't spot even Cheng Qingchong's shadow.
Qin Yinan believed that she wasn't at work that day or had changed to the daytime shift. He bought himself a pack of cigarette and finished one outside the hotel before returning to his room.
Perhaps because Cheng Qingchong was employed there, Qin Yinan had his first good night's sleep there in his room. When he woke up, it was already 11 am the next day.
There was still one hour until check-out, but Qin Yinan was not in a hurry. Similar to the previous night, he picked up the phone to call for all sorts of room service. To his surprise, Cheng Qingchong still didn't show herself.
After Qin Yinan took a shower and exited the hotel room to do the check-out at the counter, he came across a server that he believed he could recognize in the elevator. The reason he remembered this woman was because he saw this person twice talking to Cheng Qingchong when he joined Mr. Smith at the hotel.
Cheng Qingchong, as the hotel manager, should definitely show herself to their VIP guest, but she wasn't there for the nightshift and isn't here for the dayshift either… Is she on sick leave?
As the elevator went down, Qin Yinan glanced at the server multiple times. When the elevator almost reached their destination, Qin Yinan finally coughed and introduced himself politely. "Hello, I'm Qin Yinan, Cheng Qingchong's friend."
The server was spooked when Qin Yinan suddenly talked to her, but her face relaxed when he mentioned the name 'Cheng Qingchong'. She smiled sweetly at Qin Yinan and replied, "Nice to meet you, sir, how can I help you?"
Qin Yinan lowered his eyes and asked in a gentle voice, "I wish to ask you, is Cheng Qingchong not working today?"
When the girl heard this, she was baffled. "Qingchong? Sir, didn't you know? Qingchong has already resigned."
Resigned‽ Qin Yinan's brows furrowed deeply.
Seeing this, the server knew he really had no idea, so she explained, "Around five days ago, she called management saying she will not be coming back to work due to personal reasons. That day itself she came to finish the resignation process."
Five days ago? Five days ago, she was still staying with me… There was nothing out of the ordinary that day, so why did she decide to resign?
The elevator door opened, and since Qin Yinan didn't respond, the girl prompted him politely. "Sir, is there anything else? If there's nothing else, I'll excuse myself first."
Qin Yinan was pulled out of his reverie. He responded with a quick "okay" before adding a sincere thanks to the girl.
The girl smiled professionally back at Qin Yinan before turning to leave. After two steps, she suddenly turned to face Qin Yinan like she had just remembered something. "Oh, by the way, I hear from the other hotel manager that Qingchong seems to have left Beijing already."
Left Beijing? Cheng Qingchong is no longer in Beijing? This time, Qin Yinan didn't react in any way. He merely stopped dumbly inside the elevator before walking out of it lifelessly. He staggered towards the hotel entrance, and as the bright sun hit him in the eyes, he felt his mind was filled by nothing but a wide expanse of blank whiteness.
Comments