Filled with anticipation, I dialed the phone number for Qu Songhe from the documents.
"Hello..." came an old woman's voice. What...?
"Who is this?" the woman asked.
I steadied myself. "Hello, I'm trying to reach Qu Songhe."
The woman seemed a bit hard of hearing. "What? Speak up."
I had no choice but to raise my volume. "Hello, I'm trying to reach Qu Songhe."
*Speak up—Qu Songhe.* After going back and forth like this a few times, the other party finally understood what I wanted.
"Qu Songhe? Never heard of him," the woman said.
I was utterly depressed. After finally making myself understood, the result was she had never heard of him?
"Alright, thank you," I said politely, reluctantly preparing to hang up, when I heard a distant voice from over the line: "Old Qu, pick out a few bottles of good wine for me..."
It felt like grabbing at a straw of hope. "Hello, um..."
Just as I wanted to ask who "Old Qu" was, the other person hung up.
Really, things were just starting to look up.
Seeing me bang my desk, Xu Bai—who was taking care of things himself—came over.
Annoyed and disgusted, I said, "Go away. Finish what you're doing before you come back over."
Looking at the information Xu Bai gave me, Qu Songhe was somewhere in City B; then I picked up the information sheet from HR, and Qu Kang's hometown was somewhere in City H.
I dialed Qu Kang's number, but it was still turned off.
Closing my eyes to think, should I go to City B or City H? I couldn't quite make up my mind.
Xu Bai wiped his hands and wanted to come over again.
I said, "Go to the bathroom and wash your hands. Use soap to wash them clean before you come back."
Xu Bai said, "I really don't know why you've become so particular. In the past, not only did you not wash your hands, you even wiped them on me and I didn't say anything."
I kept a blank expression.
Xu Bai waved his hand. "Alright, alright, I'm going to wash them now. What a pain, being so picky with demands like a woman."
Watching Xu Bai go into the bathroom, I quickly called out to Little System.
I asked, "Little Tong, Little Tong, are you there?"
The system replied, "I'm here. What does the host need?"
I asked, "Should I go to City B or City H? Do you know where Director Qu is?"
The system answered, "Host, finding Qu Songhe and completing the corresponding tasks is your main challenge for these past few years. Little Tong cannot cheat for you, oh."
I said with grievance, "It's already been seven months without any progress. Can't you give me a hint?"
The system hesitated for a few seconds. I chuckled inwardly—there was hope.
The system said, "As for a hint, the hint is..."
Nervous and expectant, I asked, "What is it?"
The system replied, "The hint is that the results of going to City B or City H are no different."
I wanted to keep asking, but Xu Bai had already finished washing his hands and came out.
Putting his hands in front of me, Xu Bai twisted the corner of his mouth into a very unhappy expression. "Look, look, they're washed. This is fine now, right?"
I was speechless. "Fine, fine, get out of here."
Xu Bai asked, "Well? Did the information I gave you come in handy?"
I said, "The call went through, but the current situation is like this..."
After listening to my explanation, Xu Bai understood. "So, are you torn between going to City B or City H right now?"
I answered gloomily, "Yes..."
Xu Bai said, "What's there to be torn about? Just pick one, and if you can't find him, go to the other—isn't that simple? Transportation is so convenient these days."
I fell into thought.
Xu Bai said, "Since the phone call to City B went through, we can go to City B first."
I fell into thought.
Xu Bai asked, "Did you forget how to drive after losing your memory?"
Huh? Huh? Did the conversation just take such a sharp turn?
Xu Bai pushed my shoulder. "I'm talking to you. Speak."
I said, "It seems so. After losing my memory, I don't remember how to drive."
Xu Bai offered, "I have a car. How about I drive you to City B? Aren't I a great buddy?"
I asked, "Does our family have any property in City B?"
Xu Bai replied, "Let me think—there's a five-star hotel, and we can stay there as soon as we arrive."
I said, "That would be wonderful! With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, rooms are so tight. When I went to book a hotel just now—"
Realizing I had let something slip, I quickly shut my mouth.
The temperature around Xu Bai dropped again. He gave me a sinister look for a long while, making my heart jump into my throat.
After half a minute of this chilly aura, Xu Bai finally spoke: "You—booked another room?"
I mustered up the courage and nodded.
Xu Bai continued with his chilly aura: "Is it also this hotel?"
I trembled. "No."
Xu Bai upgraded to a gale-force wind: "You specifically booked a room at another hotel?"
I gave up struggling. "Yes."
Xu Bai's gale raged: "Why?"
Come on, let the storm rage even harder; I was already fearless: "Because you made the room I originally booked smell weird, and I was uncomfortable, plus the hotels here were fully booked."
I still didn't dare tell the truth. The main reason was actually Xu Bai—this guy seemed to find many things about me abnormal, and besides, he was a bit split personality-wise.
Instead of turning into a typhoon, Xu Bai returned to normal. "Didn't I have the hotel staff clean it? How could there still be a problem? I'll go complain to them."
I said, "Forget it, let's set off for City B tomorrow and cut out the pointless stuff."
Xu Bai asked, "You're going out?"
He took a stride with his long legs and grabbed me again. So annoying.
I said, "I don't want to stay in the neighboring room. I'll pack up my things, go stay at the hotel I just booked for the night, and rendezvous with you tomorrow."
Xu Bai didn't let go. "If you dislike that room next door, stay in mine, and I'll go stay in yours."
I stared into Xu Bai's eyes. This guy wasn't backing down at all.
I had no choice but to compromise. "Fine, I'll stay in your room. Let go."
Xu Bai let go and then grabbed me tighter. A sudden urge to flare up hit me—he was always grabbing people without letting go; didn't he know gentlemen use their words and not their hands?
I said angrily, "Didn't I tell you to let go?"
Xu Bai remained indifferent. "Where else are you going?"
I said helplessly, "To cancel the room at the other hotel."
Xu Bai let go of his hand. "Do you need me to accompany you? Or we can cancel it tomorrow."
I remembered I still had un-dried laundry there. "Fine, I'll cancel it tomorrow. I'm tired, you should go to the room next door."
I was truly getting annoyed with this person and directly showed him the door.
He could probably sense the thick displeasure and urge to get rid of him in my words, so Xu Bai didn't say anything more and went to the adjacent room.
The next morning, while still half-asleep, I was woken up by a pounding on the door.
I had fallen asleep very late last night and had barely dozed off before being disturbed. The bed-tempering I never had in my past life was now in full force.
"Who is it?" I opened the door and roared angrily.
Looking closely, I froze slightly. Xu Bai and... Zou Wen?
The three of us stared at each other with wide eyes until Zou Wen finally broke the eerie silence. "Zhi, is it convenient to come in and talk for a moment?"
My early morning roar had prompted one or two neighboring guests to step outside to see what was going on.
It was a bit awkward. After apologizing to my "neighbors," I turned sideways to let Xu Bai and Zou Wen into the room.
Zou Wen wanted to speak again, but Xu Bai glanced at me. "Did you go thieving last night? You've got two huge dark circles under your eyes—go brush your teeth and wash your face first."
I nodded. I was indeed very sleepy and needed to wash my face to wake up.