Journey of Lies

Standing to the side, even the wind felt warm against my skin.

Jiang Xia tugged at the collar that was stuck to her body, and only then did she realize that she was such a coward who clung to life.

Thinking back to the day I identified the body in the morgue, Xu Xiujie had been pulled from the water. He had some obvious injuries from being pulled out of the water, and he also had the effects of being soaked in the river. He was lifeless, yet he looked so painful.

In terms of being afraid of death, Xu Xiujie was far superior to her.

After waiting for more than forty minutes, government officials arrived, and the hotel was completely sealed off. The hotel management temporarily had no decision-making authority.

To calm the guests and prevent further heatstroke, hotel staff began distributing bottled water and snacks.

Listen to the staff explain one by one that they are currently waiting for the safety inspection to be passed.

Clearly, the hotel lacked the capacity to respond to emergencies; the two cases of bottled water were quickly distributed to the person in front of Jiangxia.

After coming down from the 27th floor and standing in the sun for almost an hour, Jiang Xia was exhausted and could only sit in the corner of the flower bed to rest.

My stomach, which had just recovered from a couple of days ago, is now rumbling and cramping as if due to stress. The blazing sun is shining on my back, and large beads of sweat are running down my hair and into my collar.

Jiang Xia hunched over, rubbing his stomach, and the next second, a pair of familiar casual shoes appeared in front of him.

It's him again...

Before Jiang Xia could speak, a bottle of mineral water with the cap just unscrewed was handed to her.

Jiang Xia was taken aback and looked up at him.

"Want to drink or not?" Sheng Zhi pretended to take it back.

"drink."

Jiang Xia took the water, tilted his head back, and drank almost half of the bottle in one gulp without touching the opening.

The feeling of receiving rain after a long drought slightly changed her opinion of the man in front of her.

"Drink it all, they'll bring out more water later." Sheng Zhi raised his chin and sat down next to Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia didn't stand on ceremony with him and simply drank all the water.

Now that the stomach pain had subsided, the people waiting around were losing patience and began crowding forward to question the staff about the next steps.

Under the midday sun, people who were used to air conditioning couldn't stand it after more than an hour.

"Or let us go back and get our things! We didn't bring any personal belongings with us!"

"Yeah, I didn't even close my room door, and my phone was about to die."

"We don't have much money on us, and we can't go anywhere else..."

……

Suddenly, a girl's crying came from the other side of the flower bed.

"Mom, I'm so scared... I can't contact my classmates. They went out this morning. I was woken up by being shaken, and I ran downstairs... I still can't reach them, Mom, I want to go home..."

On the other side, a middle-aged couple was arguing.

"Look at the driver you hired, he just doesn't want to come. What are we supposed to do?"

"Try to understand, there was just an earthquake, people are probably panicking too."

"Why is he panicking? He doesn't need to run during a small earthquake, but he can't run during a big one! Now he's definitely going to miss his flight."

"If we can't make it, so be it. We're here to have fun, so let's just treat it as a couple more days."

Jiang Xia realized that his flight was at 3 o'clock, and he probably wouldn't make it now.

Suddenly, a cell phone rang.

Sheng Zhi got up to answer the phone; it was Hu Junxi calling.

"Jun-hee, how are things on your end?"

"I'm fine here. I saw on the news that your area is really bad. Are you alright?" Hu Junxi asked anxiously. "Are you outside right now?"

"Yeah, I was having breakfast on the first floor when the earthquake happened, thankfully I was okay."

Hu Junxi was relieved and couldn't help but say, "If you ask me, you were unlucky with this deal."

"Natural disasters are unavoidable," Sheng Zhi said calmly. "I guess I won't be able to fly to Chiang Mai today. The hotel is temporarily closed."

"Then I'll come pick you up. I didn't even feel the tremor here." Hu Junxi prepared to get dressed and go out.

"Forget it, traffic is paralyzed now. The main roads in my area are completely blocked. I wonder if there will be any aftershocks later..."

Suddenly, there was another person in the shadow on the ground. Sheng Zhi subconsciously turned around and saw that it was Jiang Xia.

"I'm hanging up now."

After hanging up the phone, Sheng Zhi was somewhat surprised that Jiang Xia had come to find him.

In just two seconds, Sheng Zhi guessed what Jiang Xia was going to do.

"What's up?"

"...Could I borrow your phone to make a call?" Jiang Xia said softly. "I was in such a hurry to come down that I forgot my phone."

Sheng Zhi nodded, then deliberately asked, "Call your husband?"

Jiang Xia looked away and remained silent.

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me, then forget it. There's a lot of privacy on a phone, and I don't know you that well."

Sheng Zhi made a move to leave, betting that Jiangxia would beg him for help.

"This is for my parents, please."

Seeing that things were going well, Sheng Zhi unlocked his phone and handed it to her, giving her some space, and went back to sit down by the flower bed first.

Jiang Xia dialed his mother Zhao Lan's number, and it was answered after less than two rings.

Hearing Jiang Xia's voice, Zhao Lan breathed a sigh of relief, her voice choked with emotion as she said, "Mom almost thought something had happened to you, and we couldn't get through on the phone... Your dad and I were so worried!"

Jiang Xia reassured Zhao Lan on the other end of the phone, trying to report only good news and not bad, saying it was just a small earthquake.

A few minutes later, Jiang Xia returned the phone to Sheng Zhi, thanked him, and sat down again.

Sheng Zhi asked her casually, "Only one?"

"Um."

Jiang Xia originally wanted to call Ren Jiayi, but she didn't remember Ren Jiayi's Thai phone number, so she could only wait until she got the phone to inform Ren Jiayi that she wouldn't be able to get to Chiang Mai today.

"Aren't you going to call your husband?" Sheng Zhi twirled her phone, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Jiang Xia glanced at him. "You don't seem like the type to gossip."

Knowing that he couldn't get an answer from her, Sheng Zhi changed the subject.

"I still don't know your name?"

"I've already thanked you for lending me your phone."

Sheng Zhi turned to look at her and said, "Are you particularly wary of people, especially those of the opposite sex? Don't you have any male friends? Or is it that your partner forbids it, which is why you're so averse to me?"

Jiang Xia was lost in thought, and Sheng Zhi had guessed half of what he meant.

She really doesn't have many male friends, and even her female colleagues make up more than 80% of her workforce.

She thought Xu Xiujie liked it this way, but later she found out that Xu Xiujie didn't care who she dated at all. She got tired of it and got used to her fixed circle, and rarely had any male friends.

Gazing absently at the vehicles slowly moving along the road in the distance, Jiang Xia touched his bare ring finger, lost in thought.

Xu Xiujie died just a few days after she started wearing the wedding ring. She probably lost a few pounds and her finger circumference shrank, which caused it to fall off while swimming.

Sheng Zhi noticed her somber expression and felt that she was mysterious and unfathomable.

My phone vibrated; it was a message from the client.

[There was an earthquake in Bangkok, are you still able to fly to Chiang Mai today?]

Sheng Zhi replied to the message with one hand, expressionless: 【No, I'll look again.】

The other party has read the message but has not replied.

Sheng Zhi couldn't understand what the relationship was between the client and Jiang Xia. If he was a devoted and crazy pursuer, why didn't he care about Jiang Xia's safety at all?

Even if it were another relationship dispute, it shouldn't be like this...

After waiting for three hours, a sunny day followed by rain prompted the government to open the lobby and restaurant on the first floor to guests. The power could not be restored temporarily, so a generator was used to power several high-powered fans.

After waiting a while longer, the hotel manager finally received the permit.

The megaphone was handed to the translator, and the person in charge offered several emergency solutions.

After a temporary assessment by government agencies, the buildings have met the structural standards for continued occupancy. New and returning customers whose travel plans were affected by the earthquake are welcome to stay in rooms on the tenth floor and below, with room rates discounted by 20%.

The first proposal immediately sparked dissatisfaction among the crowd.

"That won't do. Even a 20% discount isn't that much of a bargain, and besides, we've already missed our flights. Changing them is not only troublesome but also expensive..."

"I wouldn't dare live here. Look at these huge cracks; this building is practically a dangerous structure!"

"That's right, we don't agree! We want to check out!"

Soon the person in charge brought up the second option.

For guests who do not wish to continue their stay, the hotel will arrange for them to be transferred to one of its partner hotels. However, since this hotel is not part of a chain, the hotels it partners with are all relatively small, and after the earthquake, there are even fewer hotels that meet the check-in criteria, and rooms are extremely scarce.

Seeing that everyone was silent, the hotel manager offered a final solution: if there were still unused rooms, guests could find new hotels themselves, but they would only reimburse 50%.

At this moment, someone said, "These days are tough for everyone. I saw online that many apartments are uninhabitable, and people are rushing to hotels to grab rooms. Why don't we stay here again...?"

"We don't know how serious the cracks are at other hotels, so we might as well take a gamble and stay here."

As everyone was arguing, several European and American couples stepped forward to negotiate, stating that they were willing to stay but wanted the room rate halved.

After hesitating for a few seconds, the hotel manager finally offered a 40% discount on room rates.

Many people crowded around, expressing their willingness to stay. Since there were not many rooms to begin with, even the guests who were originally just watching became anxious.

In less than five minutes, all the rooms below the tenth floor were sold out.

Watching a bunch of people go to the front desk to register their information, the rest of the people were still trying to figure out what to do, like headless flies.

Some people suggested that we simply stay overnight at the airport and take the earliest flight after the route opens tomorrow.

Some people are still forwarding other rumors, saying that five-star hotels offer free room upgrades, but this place offers no service at all!

People sighed and lamented, appearing particularly small and helpless in the face of natural disasters.

As soon as they finished checking in, the hotel asked everyone to consider taking their luggage in batches.

The elevator is expected to be available again in three to six hours because the earthquake shaking requires elevator company personnel to come and inspect for safety hazards.

Considering the risk of stampedes and overcrowding if so many people go upstairs together, the hotel only allows people from the same floor to go up together in groups of three, with three security guards accompanying each group.

Many people are deterred from climbing tall buildings. Going downstairs is easy, but going upstairs is difficult. Moreover, the hotel stipulates that each group is only given half an hour and can only bring personal belongings. Large items can only be retrieved after the government's official permit is issued.

Some guests, willing to take a gamble to catch their flights, pushed forward and said they wanted to go upstairs. The hotel brought out a hastily drafted waiver, and the first group of people signed it and went upstairs.

Right now, the slightest progress makes everyone waver.

Jiang Xia didn't have her phone with her, so she didn't know if her flight had been canceled or what the situation was like at other hotels nearby. Therefore, she decisively stepped forward and signed the waiver while queuing to go upstairs.

It took forty minutes for the first group of people to come down, which was overtime.

Suddenly, a Chinese man rushed down, his face flushed and his forehead covered in sweat. He waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No matter what, you can't live here! It's full of cracks! It's terrifying!"

Other compatriots stepped forward to ask questions, and the man took out his phone to show them a huge crack in the beam inside his room on the 29th floor, which stretched all the way down to the corridor.

Jiang Xia stood at a distance, not going forward to look, clenching her hands, and made up her mind not to stay any longer.

Where are you planning to go later?

When Sheng Zhi asked her, Jiang Xia shook her head and said, "Let's go to the airport."

When it was their group's turn to go upstairs, Jiang Xia walked and looked around. Up to the tenth floor, there were no major problems, but from the twelfth floor onwards, more and more cracks began to appear.

Jiang Xia climbed to the sixteenth floor in one go, so tired that she saw stars. She leaned on the handrail and gasped for breath. But time was limited. Going up and down the stairs would take at least twenty minutes, and she still had to pack her things. She didn't dare to stop for even a minute during this half hour.

Sheng Zhi reached out his hand. Jiang Xia glanced at him, then stopped being coy and took his hand to help her climb up.

The group split up, and the security guard repeatedly emphasized that they were only allowed to take their identification documents and other important items, and that all large luggage should be sealed and placed in the room.

Jiang Xia carried a bag containing a set of clothes and documents, and her phone was full of unread messages.

The door wasn't closed, and a knock sounded. Sheng Zhi reminded her from the doorway that it was almost time.

The two walked down the stairs side by side, and Jiang Xia noticed that Sheng Zhi had hardly taken anything with him.

Jiang Xia had climbed twenty-seven floors in half a day and stood in the scorching sun for several hours. Now, his legs were weak as he went downstairs.

I had just reached the 23rd floor when an aftershock struck.