Chapter 5

Riya's flight landed late in the afternoon at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Riya and her friends were exhausted from the two days journey. They were also irritated that they had to wait for ten hours for their flight to Dubai. That pissed them off the most. They were in a line, waiting to come out of the plane. One or two people were trying to cut the queue but the people blocked them from allowing those people to cut. Riya, Aliya, Lucas, and Holly got their bags in their hands. They were making sure their bags were safe. Holly was getting irritated that the people were squeezing themselves into her. Riya was uncomfortable because everyone was touching her. She did not like people touching her.

Finally, they made it out. Riya could breathe. She wanted to feel the breeze but she was only feeling the heatwave. It was very hot in Shanghai, worse than South Africa's hot weather. Riya, Aliya, Lucas, and Holly were walking out of the plane. They were looking at the airport while walking. The outside building looked very modern with unique features. They entered the building with more shock. The inside looked more modern than the outside. Holly was looking at the famous artists on the billboards, promoting products. Aliya and Lucas were a little nervous but excited to be here. The four of them went to the other department to collect their luggage. Six large pink luggage appeared in front of them. Riya, Aliya, and Lucas were looking at the luggage with a blank expression.

"Whose luggage is that?", Lucas asked.

"Those are my luggage.", Holly said with excitement.

The three of them were looking at Holly. "Why do you buy so much?", Lucas asked her.

"They are arranged. One for shoes, one for pieces of jewelry, two for clothes, and two for make-up.", Holly explained.

Riya, Lucas, and Aliya froze like ice when they heard the arrangement. Holly bought her entire bedroom with her. Holly was struggling to pull out her luggage. Lucas shook his head to wake himself up then he went to help Holly. Aliya and Riya did the same. Lucas and Riya took two bags. Riya found these bags super heavy. Lucky, there was a trolley nearby. Riya immediately took it before anyone did. Lucas placed the other two then collapsed on the luggage. Aliya and Holly stopped because of him. They needed to put the last two pieces of luggage right now because their arms were getting sore.

"Get up you lazy ass. These bags are heavy.", Aliya was being serious.

Lucas removed himself from the luggage and helped the ladies. Riya went to get her luggage. She ran quickly to get them before they disappear again. Holly went to help her out. Riya picked up two bags. Holly picked up two more which were heavy.

"What do you have in those bags?", she asked Riya.

Riya looked at her. "Clothes, more clothes. The other things I will buy.", Riya answered.

"For carrying clothes, those bags are heavy."

Aliya and Lucas finished collecting their luggage. Each of them had a trolley with their luggage on the trolley. They were going to the pickup department. As they were walking, they were looking at the airport. There were not many people in the building. There were so many shops and cafés. All of them came out of the building. They were waiting for public transport.

A black van with red roses painted on the van appeared in front of them. Riya looked at the writing 'The Rose Valley Hotel'. A middle-aged man came out of the car. He was wearing a red button shirt to represent the company. He stood in the front and bowed to Riya, Aliya, Lucas, and Holly.

"My name is Mr. Han. Mr. Wu Yingjie sent me here to pick you up.", he did a small introduction.

Riya was examining the man for a minute. Aliya, Lucas, and Holly were waiting for Riya to finish. "Well Mr. Han, we are the new employees of the company. I'm Riya Moodley, this is Lucas Reddy, Holly Taylor, and Aliya Essop.", she introduced her friends and herself.

"Nice to meet you all. Let's go to the apartments quickly before it gets dark.", Mr. Han looked like he was in a hurry.

The four of them took the luggage. Mr. Han helped them out. Everyone went to the boot to pack their stuff. Mr. Han opened the boot for them. Riya, Aliya, Holly, and Lucas were shocked by the size of the boot. All their stuff could fit in there. Mr. Han put all their luggage according to their colors. Riya opened the sliding door and she was amazed by the structure. There were three rows of seats with two seats in the two rows and three seats in the last row. Riya entered the van first then her three friends. Mr. Han hopped on the driver's seat. He put on his seat belt and drove away from the airport.

Riya, Holly, Lucas, and Aliya were looking out of the window to look at Shanghai. This was their first time in China. There were so many tall buildings made mainly with clear glass. It was already getting dark. Most of the lights were coming on. Each building had so many colorful lights and unique patterns. There were so many billboards with artists promoting products. There were also so many international brands on every corner. Holly and Aliya were looking at all the clothes from the shops. They were so excited to be here. Riya was admiring the buildings until she noticed an empty field. It was odd that there was a dark empty field in the middle of no way. On the fence was written 'no trespassing. Riya felt confused about this.

"Mr. Han, why does it say 'no trespassing' by that field?", she asked him.

Fear appeared in Mr. Han's eyes. He took a deep breath and spoke. "It's an abandoned harbor. The authorities forbid us from going there for our safety.", he answered.

Riya could tell that he was hiding something. There was more to that harbor. She left it because she was more interested in the buildings. Mr. Han still had fear in his eyes. Aliya, Holly, and Lucas were now curious about that harbor. They looked at each other for a moment. They were curious about it.

"We are here.", Mr. Han said.

Everyone looked out at the window out of curiosity. A tall glassed building appeared in front of them. There was a big red rose painted on the glass windows. Mr. Han parked the car in front of the entrance. The other four came out of the van immediately after he parked the car. They were looking at the building. The building looked small to be a hotel. Aliya looked at Mr. Han.

"Is this the hotel?", she asked.

"Nope, it's the apartment building. All The Rose Valley Hotel employees are provided free apartments.", Mr. Han answered while taking out the luggage.

Riya came to help him out. "Looks fancy to be an apartment.", she said.

"Mr. Elvin Wu, the owner, loves fancy things.", Mr. Han said.

"I can't wait to see my apartment.", Lucas said while taking out the luggage.

Mr. Han looked at the four of them. "My dears, you are now part of China so there is something that you need to know. You need to keep your guides up especially you three ladies. For the past twenty-five years, women and girls have been missing almost every other day. No one knows where they are or are they still alive.", he explained.

"What's going on here though?", Holly asked.

"Rumors are going around that a gangster is kidnapping women and girls. That rumor has been going on for years. There is no evidence to prove it. He is the most dangerous gangster in the country. He has over five million men in the country. I believe there is more than that amount. Even though it's a rumor, I'm just warning you guys to be careful."

"How do we keep ourselves safe?", Riya asked.

"You just need to be careful who you are talking to. This gangster's men are always working undercover. That's why I was in hurry to bring you here.", Mr. Han looked worried.

"Thank you for warning us. It was very nice to meet you.", Aliya spoke politely.

"Here's some money for helping us.", Riya took out some notes.

"No sweetheart, I don't need the money. It was my duty to bring you here. Have a wonderful evening and I will see you soon.", he bowed to them.

"You too Mr. Han.", they bowed to him too.

Mr. Han went inside his van. Riya was watching him leave the area while the others were going to the building. Riya wanted to make sure that he was leaving here safe and sound. She should have taken his number so he could message her to make sure he was safe. Riya took her luggage to the entrance. She saw that her friends were already inside the building. Riya was struggling with her luggage. She did not how to carry four pieces of luggage at once.

"Excuse me, do you need any help?", a woman asked behind Riya.

Riya stopped what she was doing and turned around. A woman and man was standing behind her. "Yes, I'm Riya Moodley. I'm the new employee in this company. It's very nice to meet you.", she offered a handshake.

The woman accepted the handshake. "Hello my dear, I'm Susan Chen. This is my brother, Tommy Chen.", she introduced herself and the man.

Riya examined them like she always does. They had similar facial features that suited their light tanned skin. Susan had beautiful black straightened hair while Tommy had black thick curly hair. Riya wished she had that thick hair like that. Both of them were taller than Riya. Susan looked very beautiful and slim. Tommy looked very handsome and muscular.

"Nice to meet you Riya. You can call us Susan and Tommy.", Tommy said with a friendly smile.

"Okay.", Riya felt slightly nervous.

"Can we help you?", Susan asked.

"Yes, Uhm...", before she could speak, Tommy and Susan took two pieces of luggage each. Riya just wanted to say 'thank you but she would tell them later.

Riya took her one handbag and entered the building. The building was huge, filled with red roses. It looked fancy like it was the hotel. Riya could smell the roses that she started sneezing.

"Achoo!", she sneezed out loud.

Susan and Tommy turned around to look at Riya. "Are you okay?", Susan asked.

"Yep, I'm just sensitive to pollen."

Susan nodded which meant she understood. Tommy and Susan entered an elevator. Riya ran towards the elevator. She entered before the doors closed. Riya pressed the sixth-floor button. She waited for the elevator to go to the sixth floor. There was some awkward silence. Riya did not how to start a conversation with the siblings. The three of them decided to stay quiet.

The elevator made a sound. The doors opened and a long hallway appeared. Riya came out of the elevator while admiring the place. There were so many roses. Riya was going to suffer so much. In between two doors, there was a table with roses on it. Riya stopped in front of a red door that had the number 'fifty-five' written on top of the door. Riya took out her keys and opened the door. The door opened wide. The apartment was huge and spacious. Some windows were the same size as the room. Riya entered like she was in a wonderland. Tommy and Susan entered the room.

"So, do you like your apartment?", Susan asked while placing the luggage in one corner.

Riya turned around to look at them. "Like it? I love it. I'm like living in a wonderland.", she said with excitement.

Susan had a beautiful smile on her face. "You must come to have dinner with us. Tommy is a chef at the hotel and he makes excellent meals."

"I will love too. I will probably come tomorrow. We had a two days journey so my friends and I are exhausted."

"No problem. Feel free to visit us. I will also love to learn some Indian cuisine.", Tommy said with excitement.

"I will teach you and I will also love to learn Chinese cuisine too. I love Chinese food.", Riya said.

"No problem. We will leave you. We will see you tomorrow.", Susan said

"Bye."

Susan and Tommy left the room. Riya was admiring the room. She did make a good choice coming here. She was looking at the view for a while until she went to take a nap.