A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 426 Blue and Green

After changing her clothes, Feng Yushu left the room and went to the front desk to find the acting manager of the Xiangzilan Hotel.

The original manager has been taken away by the police to give a statement. Now, a young male bartender named Li Chengkun is temporarily acting as manager. As for why a bartender can temporarily act as manager, it's probably because he is the hotel owner's son.

"Hello ma'am, how can I help you?" Acting Manager Li Chengkun asked with a smile.

The saying goes, "Respect the clothes before the person." Even setting aside her status as a VIP client, Li Chengkun could tell from Feng Yushu's attire and demeanor that she was of noble birth. Her elegant and dignified speech and manners, as well as her skin condition which was better than that of most female college students, further confirmed this.

Based on his father's business experience, women with this kind of temperament are usually the wives of important people—it's impossible for successful career women to have such qualities, because building a career requires a lot of effort, and they can't possibly live a life of luxury like the wives of officials and wealthy women who never lift a finger.

With a smile on her face, Feng Yushu asked gently, "I heard that someone fell from the 16th floor this morning. It was a young couple who were in college. Is that true?"

Li Chengkun thought to himself, "As expected," and said with a forced smile, "That's right. Young people like to seek thrills, but they don't know how to control themselves and have wasted two precious lives."

As he spoke, Li Chengkun shook his head and sighed.

“Is that so…” Feng Yushu nodded, then said, “But it seems that yesterday a girl attempted suicide by cutting her wrists in your hotel’s bathtub? Admittedly, it’s inevitable to encounter various accidents when running a business, but accidents at your establishment… seem to be happening a bit too frequently?”

Li Chengkun quickly denied it, shaking his head and saying, "No, no, no, Madam, you may have heard some false rumors. That little girl named Lin Beibei did not actually commit suicide by cutting her wrists. Instead, she used a plastic fake knife to film a video and wanted to post it online to gain traffic."

"Is that so?" Feng Yushu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"That's it." Li Chengkun's expression was serious and his tone righteous. "We stopped her video as soon as it started filming. That fake fruit knife is still in the police station's evidence storage room. Young people always crave attention, so it's not surprising that they'd do something sensational to get it..."

Feng Yushu, however, seemed to be deep in thought and said, "But how did you know that Lin Beibei was hiding in the bathtub faking wrist-cutting to film a video? And how did you rush over to stop her as soon as the video started filming..."

Li Chengkun was stunned. Oh no.

Feng Yushu crossed her arms and continued, "I heard that the previous occupant of Lin Beibei's room placed a hidden camera in the bathroom and filmed her cutting her wrists, which is why the hotel was able to get there in time to stop her, but?"

But if, according to the hotel, the hidden camera was placed by a previous resident, how did the hotel see the footage captured by the camera?

Li Chengkun's smile was somewhat stiff, and he didn't know how to answer for a moment.

“Tell me the truth.” Feng Yushu mimicked Ning Zhe’s expression from her memory, adopting a calm and indifferent demeanor, and said casually, “If you don’t want this matter to be widely exposed.”

Li Chengkun shook his head with a wry smile: "Fine, I admit defeat."

Meanwhile, on the 21st floor, Ning Zhe stood in front of the door and rang the doorbell.

The doorbell rang for a while, but no one came to open the door.

Is he not here? Ning Zhe thought for a moment, then turned around and left the corridor's surveillance range. He transformed into a bee and flew into the room through the gap in the ventilation fan.

A bee landed on the carpet and transformed into an ordinary figure with distorted features. Ning Zhe, using the identity of 'Fenwu', walked around Xia Hua's house, where many crumpled manuscript papers were scattered on the floor.

“The hotel rooms are cleaned regularly by cleaning staff. These papers must have been thrown on the floor recently, no more than 4 hours ago.”

Ning Zhe bent down and picked up a wad of manuscript paper. He unfolded it and found some different colors scribbled on it. The messy strokes had no pattern, and it looked like he was just testing the colors. It's quite normal for an artist to buy new paints and then do a few random strokes to test the effects before actually painting.

Ning Zhe spread the manuscript paper out on the coffee table, then picked up another wad of paper and unfolded it. The content was exactly the same as the previous one: messy brushstrokes and colors, with the occasional indistinct outline of a few figures or objects. It wasn't really a painting, just a simple trial run. One sheet, two sheets, three sheets—Ning Zhe picked up the manuscript paper on the floor one by one to examine them; they were mostly the same.

"Who are you! How did you get in?!"

A roar came from behind him. Ning Zhe turned around and saw Xia Hua, wearing a knitted sweater and jeans, standing behind him, holding a stainless steel baseball bat and looking at him warily.

"……you guess?"

Fenwu's voice was plain and unremarkable, and Ningzhe's words were devoid of any emotion, as if he were stating a statement rather than a question.

Xia Hua gripped the baseball bat with both hands and cautiously glanced back; the door was still properly closed.

"Stop looking, the hair you had caught in the door crack is still there," Ning Zhe said casually.

How did he know? Xia Hua was shocked and unconsciously gripped the baseball bat tighter. Although he was an artist by profession, Xia Hua was also a fan of detective novels and often used some of the tricks from detective novels in his real home.

Hair caught in the door crack, a thin layer of dust sprinkled on the entrance carpet... and so on.

Xia Hua has been living alone for a long time and has very little communication with his parents. He spends all his time online and has no friends in real life. The only people who know about his hobby are two or three online friends he has never met.

...Which netizen opened their personal information box and came to the real world to verify it?
Xia Hua thought about it more and more and it seemed very possible.

"Whatever you're thinking, it's not what you think, so stop overthinking."

Ning Zhe bent down and picked up a stack of crumpled manuscript papers from the coffee table, unfolded them into a fan shape like playing cards, and said, "Our great painter seems to have encountered some troubles."

"Stop pretending!" Xia Hua roared. "Anyone can tell I'm troubled by this ghostly appearance. What are you pretending for?"

Ning Zhe glanced at the deep dark circles under his eyes and smiled: "That's true."

"...But then again..."

Changing the subject, Ning Zhe flipped the manuscript over, presenting the haphazard colors to Xia Hua, and said:

"The brushstrokes and colors on these manuscript papers may seem haphazard, but they are actually traceable. The most obvious pattern is:"

The colors painted on each sheet of paper appear to be completely random, but they are not actually random. Only various other colors such as red, purple, yellow, and pink are truly randomly applied to the paper, while blue and green are present on every single sheet.

Ning Zhe laid out the manuscript papers in a row on the coffee table and then said:

“I checked every single sheet of paper scattered in the living room. The various colors on the paper were dazzling, but only blue and green appeared on every single sheet at the same time, without missing a single one.”

"Judging from the brushstrokes on the paper, you must be testing colors, repeatedly testing colors. Our great painter is having trouble, and his trouble is, unsurprisingly, related to the colors blue and green."

Seeing the growing seriousness on Xia Hua's face, Ning Zhe smiled slightly:
Am I right, esteemed great painter?

(End of this chapter)