Chapter 21: Fruit Sandwich

"Don't you know? Apparently, the transportation companies are looking for volunteers because the majority of the bus drivers are either too weak or too old to drive the bus in these conditions. The company and government have become desperate since China is still under quarantine."

"I see..." Willow nodded, "So, he's not really a permanent driver."

That did make some sense. Hearing that brought some relief to her as she thanked the girls and went to go buy some bread at the closest bakery she could find. She feared that she would need to spend hours without finding a single one opened, but she came across a cafe that was just about to close.

"Lucky!" She muttered with a wide satisfied smile under her mask. Upon entering the cafe, she noticed that aside from her, there was only two other people at the counter. One had a laptop near the register typing away. His shiny black hair was in this faux hawk style with gel, but he wore casual clothing of a korean pop-rock shirt, and torn blue jeans. It made her think as if he actually lived in this cafe as he sipped a cup of coffee sitting next to his laptop. The other was a young boy with a blue baseball cap with black hair sticking out from under the cap, black t-shirt, red shorts, and little sneakers. How can she tell what the boy is wearing so clearly?

Because he's the only one that gave her such a strange feeling. As she closed the door, the bell chimed behind her and the man's eyes shifted from the computer to her. He closed his computer and got up as he grabbed and put on a blue apron that had been lying out of her sight, "Welcome. Due to the situation with the virus, we do not allow dine-in at the moment."

"Can I have a sandwich?" She called out.

"What kind?"

As she was about to answer, a voice shouted, "Fruit sandwich!"

Eyes turned to the boy as he called out with brow eyes staring at the front register with great expectations. The man frowned with great dissatisfaction as he put on his mask, however, Willow laughed, "Okay. I'll have two fruit sandwich. One for the child and one to go."

The man turned to her in confusion, but she smiled back under her mask. As if knowing she was smiling, the man sighed and began working with his face hidden under the mask. In ten minutes, he finished the food and placed her package and change on the table after he took the cash she placed on the table. Then, she got back on the bus that came for the rest of her journey to Hebei.

It was only after she got back on that she realized, she never took into consideration. She tried to talk to the other people, but they kept their distance away from her when she realized that she didn't have her mask on because she just had the sandwich. She quickly put it back on, but nobody was willing to change their attitude around her and she was too tired to continue asking as she just sighed as she thought about trying the map of the bus route later on. Like that, she spent quite some time on her phone searching up a hostel in Hebei and switching from one bus to the next.

Surviving on the sandwich and bits of fruits she brought with her, she finally made it to the outskirts part of Hebei. Using the allowance her teacher had given her, she managed to find a small hostel with, at least, modern lighting and electrical outlet where she charged her phone all at the cost of ten dollars in US currency value. She sighed as she laid down on the bed with the rest of the random girls that have been snoring away that night in their own bunk beds.

The hostel she found was actually pretty small and cramped, but the price was the cheapest she could find at the outskirts of Hebei. Granted there may have been better ones, but it's still good. Except for the swinging front door of the hostel room that would sometimes squeak much to her annoyance.

As she hugged the duffel bag in her bed with her casual clothes still on, she noticed that the door had stopped squeaking followed by a loud bang and she sighed. It's only the first night outside of her teacher's place and she already got trouble. Though the sound seemingly awakened the three men as they talked about it for a bit, they soon returned to their slumber leaving the night to continue to sing its silent tune.

As the moonlight shined through the barred window in the living room, Willow quietly stuck her head out from the doorway of the girl's room. She was very careful when she opened the door. Though it squeaked a little, she looked back on the beds and saw that the curtains sheltering the other three girls were still closed and unmoved.

Seeing this, she looked back at the living room when she noticed something quickly dashed across cold white tiles of the living room. The shadow was a small and swift as it moved from the shelf to the table drawers before looking through the open cabinets. She sighed and glanced at the clock on the wall just above the boy's room doorway.

It was twelve, basically midnight.

She sighed as she noticed the dark shadow move about the room swiftly before slipping through the bars on the open window. After leaving the doorway and closing the window, she sighed and went back to sleep.

The next morning, she was awoken by the call of the manager of the hostel, who walked in the room and saw the mess. She brushed her messy black hair into a ponytail with the plastic comb and walked out of the girl's room. What met her was the attention of three men. A couple in their late twenties and an elder man in his fifties, it seems.

"Did the girls came out last night?" The old manager who stayed in the men's room questioned in harsh Chinese with a frown as he pointed towards the disheveled pieces of fabric and the table cloth that slid off the table.

"We shouldn't have." The eldest woman said glancing at them as they engaged into the Chinese conversation.

"I heard a noise last night and came out." Willow answered, "There was something that darted across the room and I thought it was a cat. It slipped out the window, so I closed the frames and checked the door."

"Ah, a cat." The manager frowned deeper, "You mean that a cat snuck out and messed with the money box."

He then brought out the broke money box at his side. Understanding the man's intention, she raised a brow and folded her arms, "I don't remember seeing the money box out here. Also, since you're the manager, would you leave the money box out here?"

"That's not important." The man responded with an angry scowl as he hugged the box with one arm, "The money in the money box is missing."

Willow, seeing this, sighed. She had to admit that, amongst all the people and patients she had met during these two lives, this was the worst acting she has seen. The man was fidgety and his arm was covered in sweat. Not to mention, shallow breathing and dark circles under his eyes. Idiot. She shook her head and said, "Is there a camera around here, then?"

"There's no video camera yet." The older of the two other men said shaking his head.

Hearing this, the other women watched Willow with an exasperated sigh. The woman could've just lied and said she didn't leave the room and let the men sort out the situation amongst themselves instead, but she just had to admit to the truth.

"Then, let's do this." Willow said with a sigh, "Let's make a bet."

"A bet?" The manager glared, "Don't take light of this situation."

"Of course not." Willow agreed before she added, "But, you should not make light of my diagnosis."

"Diagnosis?" The manager frowned in confusion.

"That's right." Willow nodded, "In this day and age, illness and injuries aren't the only things doctors can diagnose on. I'm a medical student from a university near Hebei city. Let's make a bet, manager. If you can guess who is the culprit behind the stolen money, I'll give forty dollars to charity on top having the money returned to you. If I guess correctly, I'll decide what to do with the forty dollars and hand the money back to your superior."

"This isn't the time for games!" The red faced manager snapped, "Hand over the money!"

"Shall we play it or not?" Willow firmly asked, "Or do you want me to report to the police followed by the whereabouts of the cash?"

"Once I call the police and my superior, you'll have to hand it back to me anyway." The manager glared at her and snapped out his cellphone.

However, the moment he opened the phone, the screen turned black. Bewildered, the man tried to turn it on numerous times, but failed. He scowled and glanced at Willow with an ugly expression across his face before he cursed, "Damn it! Stupid phone..."

He turned to the other guys, "You guys-!"

"O-Our phones aren't working either." The younger-looking of the two stammered nervously and showed their blackened phones.

The manager cursed under his breath and turned to the women. All three had already begun checking on their phones but turned up with a blackened screen. Willow took hers out too and threw her smartphone onto the couch situated next to the manager. A black screen. In disbelief, the manager took her phone and double-checked. All seven of their phones weren't working. Everyone checked their batteries as the manager did the same for both of their phones with each movement turning his face paler by the minute before facing her. However, what greeted his sight was Willow raising her brow in surprise before her eyes widen. The manager growled, "You know something about this?"

She shook her head, "No, I don't. However..."

She turned to the door, "The door."

Already, the eldest amongst the women hurried over and turned the knob of the wooden door. She shuddered before turning to the men, "Help!"

"Right!" The elder of the two men hurried over and tried to open the door.

However, Willow figured that it had been useless anyway, and she was right. It wasn't long before the two turned around shaking their head with wide eyes of fright. This time, the manager threw away the box and marched over to the door. With a scowl, he readied a fist and slammed it into the wooden door only for him to fly back five feet into the table making the rainbow fabrics fly and tearing the white table cloth stuck between the edge and the wall.

Willow raised a brow. She heaved a small sigh. This child really wants to play along, huh?

"Wh-What's going on?!" The youngest of the women shouted in bewilderment as she hugged the woman's arm who was slightly older than Willow

Willow recalled her name starting with a Qi. The younger man went over and helped the old manager up. Willow walked over to the door and touched the bare wood as her fingers could feel the heat radiating into her fingers as if she was touching a heater. It was then a thought came into mind as she sighed and shook her head with a small whisper, "You're really curious, huh?"

"Until the mystery is solved nobody can leave the room." A voice called out that sounded deeper than what she had heard before from behind the door.

Hearing his voice, Willow started to grow a little nervous as well. Finally, she shook her head again in exasperation and stepped back, "Then, after we play our little game, then you'll let us out?"

"That's how I imagined." He replied.

"You son of a turtle!" The manager cursed as his face returned to the red hue, "You dare lock us inside! Just who are you?! Wait till I call upon the owner!"

"What if I said that it was the owner that permitted me to do this?" The male voice hummed with a tinge of amusement in his tone, "He did mention having a bad premonition this morning. Hence, why I'm here in his place. Until the matter is solved, nobody can leave the room. You guys should know better than to trick the owner."