59: Green hat next to the trash can

Wang Fugui, of course, didn't dare to go.

That night, the door to Room 301 was locked tight. Wang Fugui lay in bed, listening to the faint sound of high heels walking next door, his heart hanging in suspense all night like a thief.

Chen Yun didn't knock on the door again either.

When work started the next day, the atmospheric pressure in the Injection Molding Workshop was terrifyingly low. Chen Yun wore a pair of large sunglasses, her red lips as vivid as if they had been soaked in blood. She stood by the production line, holding a scoreboard, and every worker who passed by her felt a chill down their neck.

When Wang Fugui passed by carrying goods, she didn't even lift an eyelid, as if the woman who had worn silk pajamas and sought pleasure last night didn't exist at all.

"The calm before the storm." Liu Big Head squatted in the corner smoking, looking at Wang Fugui with schadenfreude. "Deputy Director Wang, can your kidneys still hold up?"

Wang Fugui ignored him and kept his head down, working.

But he didn't expect the storm to come so quickly, and in such a soggy manner.

At 8:30 PM, it was the peak time for getting off work.

The factory broadcast suddenly rang out: "Emergency notice. Due to a water pump failure, the East District Public Bathhouse, originally scheduled to open tonight, is suspended. Employees, please find your own solutions..."

A chorus of wails erupted in the dormitory building.

In Guangdong during the sweltering heat of July, not taking a shower was practically lethal in this era without air conditioning.

In Room 301, Wang Fugui had just taken off his work vest and was about to go to the washroom to rinse off with a basin. Lin Xiaocao was sitting cross-legged on the bed, holding a cattail leaf fan, lazily fanning Wang Fugui.

"Knock, knock."

It was that familiar knocking sound again.

Twice, light and crisp, as if knocking on one's heartstrings.

Lin Xiaocao's fanning hand paused, her small face instantly falling, her cheeks puffing out like a pufferfish. "Again?"

Wang Fugui's scalp also tingled. He looked at his bare torso and quickly grabbed a T-shirt to put on before going to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, a strong scent of Lux soap wafted in.

Chen Yun stood at the door.

This time she wasn't wearing pajamas, but a set of casual light pink short-sleeved shirt and shorts. Her hair was tied back with a few wet strands hanging by her ears, and she was carrying a pink plastic basin.

The basin was packed full: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, scrub... a whole bunch of bottles and jars, with a thick white bath towel draped on top.

"Um..." Chen Yun brushed a stray hair by her ear, her gaze bypassing Wang Fugui to stare directly at Lin Xiaocao in the room, her lips curling into a half-smile. "What a coincidence. The factory bathhouse is broken, and my water heater just went 'bang' and seems to have burned out."

She turned her head to look at Wang Fugui, her tone as natural as if she were returning to her own home. "Lend me your bathroom to take a shower."

It wasn't a request; it was an announcement.

Wang Fugui was stunned. "This... Supervisor Chen, this isn't very convenient, is it?"

"What's inconvenient about it?" Chen Yun took a step forward, forcing Wang Fugui to step back. "We're all neighbors; we should help each other. Or is it..."

She glanced at Lin Xiaocao on the bed, intentionally drawing out her voice. "Are you afraid your 'younger brother' will be jealous?"

With this heavy accusation leveled at him, Wang Fugui was suddenly speechless.

"I want to wash too!" Lin Xiaocao suddenly jumped off the bed, rushing over like a small cannonball and grabbing Wang Fugui's arm. "Brother, let's wash together!"

Chen Yun gave a light laugh, her gaze disdainful. "Two grown men washing together? Aren't you afraid of it being too cramped? Fine, I wash quickly; I'll be out in half an hour."

Having said that, she didn't give the two of them a chance to react at all. She squeezed past them into the room and headed straight for the simple bathroom converted from the balcony.

*Click.*

The bathroom door closed.

But it wasn't locked tight.

There was even a gap left, about the width of a fingernail.

Within three minutes, the sound of splashing water rang out.

Room 301 was already small, and the bathroom was only two meters away from the bed. The sound of the water was so loud it felt like it was pouring directly onto their hearts.

Immediately after, steam drifted out through the crack in the door.

In the cramped space, which originally only smelled of sweat and a bit of mosquito coil smoke, it was now rapidly filled with the expensive, cloyingly sweet scent of body wash.

The scent was too overbearing, like countless invisible little hands burrowing into their noses.

Wang Fugui sat on the edge of the bed, his whole body stiff.

That damn "talent" inside him began to act up again. Listening to the sound of water hitting her body and smelling the increasingly strong fragrance, his blood began to accelerate, and his body temperature soared.

Images he had seen yesterday uncontrollably surfaced in his mind—the looming curves under the dark green pajamas.

"Brother," Lin Xiaocao suddenly called out to him.

Wang Fugui was startled. "Wh-what's wrong?"

"It's hot." Lin Xiaocao said with a dark face, throwing the cattail fan aside and grabbing the remote control.

The TV was playing My Fair Princess.

Lin Xiaocao pressed the volume button up with all her might.

"You are the wind and I am the sand, lingering and winding to the ends of the earth..."

The deafening singing instantly drowned out the sound of the water in the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, Chen Yun was applying body wash to her body. Hearing the commotion outside, her movements paused for a moment, and then she let out a cold laugh.

Childish.

She intentionally turned the showerhead to its maximum flow and then leaned her body forward, letting the water strike the tiled wall to make an even crisper and louder sound.

This was a war without smoke.

Twenty minutes later.

The water stopped.

The bathroom door was pushed open, and a cloud of white mist billowed out, instantly making the simple dormitory look like the Silk Cave.

Chen Yun walked out.

She was wrapped in that white bath towel, its length barely covering the middle of her thighs. Her exposed shoulders and calves were steamed pink by the hot water, and her skin looked as good as a freshly peeled egg.

Her hair hung down wetly, water droplets dripping from the ends onto her collarbone and then sliding into that bottomless cleavage.

"Whew, that's much better."

While drying her hair, Chen Yun naturally walked to the side of Wang Fugui's bed.

She didn't sit on the empty stool; instead, she plopped down right next to Wang Fugui's pillow, even bouncing twice on the bed.

"Fugui." Her voice was lazy, with the hoarseness typical of someone who had just finished bathing. "Even though your mattress is a bit hard, sleeping on it should be quite steady. Unlike the one at my place—it's too soft, makes my back ache."

These words were loaded with meaning, incredibly flirtatious.

At this moment, Wang Fugui was sitting at the table with his back to her, drinking cold water, not daring to look back at all. "Um... now that you're done washing, you should head back quickly. It's getting late."

"What's the rush?" Chen Yun stood up slowly, her gaze provocatively sweeping over Lin Xiaocao, who was on the verge of exploding with anger.

"Thanks."

She picked up the basin and walked out, swaying her hips with great charm.

The moment the door closed, the room fell into a deathly silence.

The air was completely filled with that woman's scent.

Lin Xiaocao stared at the closed door, her chest heaving violently. She turned her head and stared fixedly at the bedsheet where Wang Fugui had just sat and where Chen Yun had now left an indentation.

"So filthy!"

Lin Xiaocao suddenly erupted.

She rushed into the bathroom as if searching for some evidence of a crime.

The next second, a scream came from the bathroom.

"fox spirit! Shameless!"

Lin Xiaocao rushed out, holding a pair of disposable chopsticks. At the end of the chopsticks, she was holding a pair of black lace panties that hadn't fully dried yet.

The fabric was pitifully sparse, and the sheer lace pattern looked particularly glaring under the light.

"She left them on purpose!" Lin Xiaocao's eyes were red with anger. "Brother! Look at her!"

Wang Fugui looked at the thing, and his brain felt a "buzz"; he almost had a nosebleed.

This Supervisor Chen... she's playing way too bold!

"Throw it away! Throw it away right now!" Lin Xiaocao screamed, not giving Wang Fugui any chance to explain.

Holding the panties with the chopsticks like she was carrying an unexploded grenade, she rushed out the door in her slippers.

"I'm going to throw out the trash!"

Wang Fugui sat by the bed, looking at the empty doorway and letting out a long sigh.

He fished out a cigarette but found his hands were shaking so much he couldn't even strike the lighter.

This life is impossible to live... Downstairs, by the trash can.

Lin Xiaocao disgustedly tossed the chopsticks along with the black lace into the green trash can.

"Pah! Shameless!"

She cursed, then turned and ran back upstairs in a huff, intending to force Wang Fugui to change the bedsheets.

Less than half a minute after her figure disappeared into the stairwell.

A swaying figure emerged from the darkness.

Zhang Qiang had just returned from the card room. He had lost two hundred yuan, and his mood was as rotten as mud in a gutter. He had half a stubbed-out cigarette in his mouth and was about to spit into the trash can.

By the dim yellow street light, he immediately saw the conspicuous object on top of the trash can.

It was a bundle of black held by chopsticks.

In this era, lace was still a rarity, especially such finely crafted lace.

As if possessed, Zhang Qiang stopped and reached out to pick the thing up.

It was wet.

It carried the scent of the expensive Lux body wash that he knew all too well.

Zhang Qiang's hand shook violently.

This brand, this style.

He had seen it the day before yesterday when Chen Yun was hanging out the laundry. At the time, he had wanted to touch it, but Chen Yun had slapped his hand away.

Those were his wife's panties.

Just now... who threw them away?

Zhang Qiang suddenly looked up, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly in the direction of Rooms 301 and 302.

The one who just ran up... seemed to be that little white face roommate from next door?

A glowing green rage, mixed with alcohol, instantly rushed to the top of his head.

"Wang Fugui..."

Zhang Qiang clenched the wet bundle of lace in his hand, his teeth grinding audibly.

"You've fucking gone too far!"