Engagement Party 4

When Mei Ching walked into the stock room, the door easily opened. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case of Ya Nuo. Ya Nuo is still outside the stock room and rattling the door knob because it wouldn't open. After two minutes of twisting and turning the old rusty door knob, her hands turned red. She decided to try one last time before she asks a staff for assistance.

'How did she open it like eating a piece of cake when this stupid knob is so old??'

One of the cleaning ladies was told that the ladies restroom was closed and decided to come take a look. She thought it was weird for guests to see the restroom closed sign because before any scheduled occasions and events, cleaners must scrub every corner of the bathroom to ensure the customers' satisfaction during their stay. She's been working for this company for twenty years, so she wouldn't make this type of rookie mistake.

When she turned into the hall, she saw Ya Nuo trying to open the locked stock room door and asked politely, "Miss, is there anything I can assist you with? This door doesn't open without its key."

Ya Nuo loosened her hands on the door knob, "Are you sure?"

Cleaning Lady: "Yes. Only staffs who work here could have access to the key. The knob will turn when you try to open the door, but without the key, no matter how much strength you use to push the door open, it won't. May I ask why you're trying to get into the stock room?"

Ya Nuo: "I am the one who got engaged tonight, and I dropped my engagement ring under the door crack, so I was trying to get into the room to find it. The ring is very expensive, and I need it back before my fiance realizes that I lost it moments after he placed it on my finger..."

The cleaning lady looked at Ya Nuo's outfit and listened to how polite and humble she was while she spoke, "Congratulations to your engagement. I have the key to this room with me, so I can open it for you. If you need any assistance in searching for your engagement ring, please let me know and I will be more than gladly to help you."

Ya Nuo smiled gratefully and shook her head, "It's alright. I can look for it myself. You must be busy with your work, so I don't want to delay you any further. It is already a great help for you to open this door for me. Thank you very much!"

Before opening the door, she warned Ya Nuo about the old stock room being dusty and awfully grubby. In her mind, Ya Nuo was thinking how dirty the old stock room could be if every room that she's been to had been grand and beautiful looking. She also wondered about how Mei Ching got the key to this room if this is her first time here.

Ya Nuo thought inwardly, 'Some girls mistaken the stock room for the restroom earlier, but she knew where the restroom signs were and even placed it for the correct door. Not only that, she knew where to get the key and got inside the room so smoothly. Even the cleaning lady needed a bit of time to open this door. This means... that this is not the first time she's been here and she knows this place enough to make all these arrangements.'

After opening the door, a strong musty stench filled up their nostrils making them cover their nose and mouths instantly. The cleaning lady had asked Ya Nuo again before she left, "Miss, are you sure you don't need any help looking for your engagement ring in this room?"

Ya Nuo thanked her for offering help, but she could look for it herself. Before she left, the cleaning lady had placed a piece of wooden block on the floor so that the door won't close on its own. She also handed Ya Nuo a mask to cover her face from the dust in the room.

Ya Nuo turned on the lights to get a better view of the room. When the lights flickered on, she regretted her decision. She saw thick layers of dust on top of many tightly closed cardboard boxes that were on top of one another, floating particles of dust in the air, stacks of untidy documents with infested paper mites and a broken window that is probably used to ventilate the room.

She whispered silently to herself, "Damn, and I thought the underground attics were bad. This could be as bad as the attics. Now, why would Mei Ching want to come into a disgusting room like this? What did she have to do?"

She quickly scanned the room for anything irregular or anything that looked misplaced. In a split second, she already noticed traces of string like trails on the piled up dust by the window. The window was broken, so it opened barely halfway.

"Hmm... this is not enough to fit a grown up woman, so she couldn't have climbed out to the restroom. What are these trails? It stops when it reaches the restroom window... so there must have been something at the end of the string, but what?"

She thought of what happened before Mei Ching went into the room and after she left the room.

"Right! Her hands were empty. This means that she never brought anything in and out of this room, so the evidence must be still here. Since she came in here recently, and there are stringy trails, then the place she touched while being in here would have less or no dust at all!"

She looked at the areas by the window and boxes that were opened. Finally, at a hidden corner, she found an opened box filled with supplies. She found strings with dust residues on it, and some white handprint wall decorations and transparent posters.

"Oh? But then... What could she have done with these? Why did Gu Wing get that scared for? These are just regular supplies that anyone could find anywhere. I guess I'll have to come back here later. If I stay any longer, people will wonder where I went. Now just one more place to go to now... the bathroom."