I collect cultural relics in the human world

Hand in the dark

I don't know if it was because she was too tired, but He Si slept very well. The nightmares that she was worried about did not invade her, and she felt more peaceful in her sleep than when she was awake.

She sat on the bedside, stretched out, and picked up her phone. 3:12.

"Phew, it's time to sleep until tea time."

Just as I was thinking about it, the numbers on the screen jumped again, and the time came to 3:13.

He Si, a staunch materialist, stared at her phone. She suddenly felt that this number was unlucky, and she felt uncomfortable. The phone on the bedside table started shouting like crazy, and her eyelids jumped twice.

"Hello, is this Miss He? This is the front desk."

"It's me." He Si was in a nervous mood and answered briefly.

"The hotel has prepared afternoon tea for guests who want to experience it. It's in the cafe on the first floor. Will you have time to join it?"

"I..." Thinking of the wonderful hallucination in the early morning, the words of rejection were swallowed as soon as they reached his lips, "What time does it start?"

"The event is scheduled for 03:30, and relevant short films about the hotel will also be played at the tea party. It is expected to end in about an hour."

"Okay." Even though the other party couldn't see it, He Si nodded seriously - maybe the distinguished guest would also go. Thinking about this, she, who had never liked group activities, became inexplicably looking forward to it.

He Si flipped through the hotel introduction brochure placed on the bedside table, then put on the black windbreaker hanging on the side, briefly freshened up, and set off towards the coffee shop on the first floor.

Although she had learned from the brochure that this space was artificially polished and modeled on the round potholes commonly seen in Danxia landforms, when she stood at the gate of her destination, she saw that it was perfectly integrated with the surrounding furnishings. In the Tiancheng Cafe, you can even see traces of water erosion on the exposed red cliffs. You can’t help but be shocked by the original ecological style that comes to you.

Every detail here is soaked with the painstaking efforts of the architects, which is really admirable.

He Si stopped and saw someone already in the hall.There is a man and a woman sitting near the bar. They seem to be having a good conversation, but their gestures are still a bit deliberate. They must be unfamiliar friends. A little further away from the bar, a young woman is sitting alone at a round table. , wearing headphones, writing furiously in front of the computer; and in the far left corner, the old gentleman whom I saw only in the early morning sat upright, with his eyes lowered, and his fingers kept sliding on his mobile phone, seemingly very busy.He Si felt happy and immediately walked in that direction. She was embarrassed to sit too close to the old man, so she sat down at a table not far away from him.

"Miss, here is the menu."

As soon as He Si sat down, the waiter in the cafe appeared next to her like a ghost, making no sound, which startled her.

"This." She pretended to be calm and casually clicked on a picture of a cake decorated with lemon slices.

"Need a drink?"

"Well..." He Si was a little distracted. She was looking at the old gentleman unscrupulously through the cover of the waiter. He looked ordinary. He Si had already met him twice, but she still couldn't find anything to remember.However, he was dressed very elegantly. He wore a sky-blue Chinese-style gown with gold rims on the cuffs. Under his shiny black trousers, he wore a pair of olive-green silk shoes, embroidered with dark patterns.There was no cake on the table in front of him, but there was steam rising from the pot of hot tea. He Si's eyes shifted and gradually came to his mobile phone - Xiaoxiaole?She tried her best to stretch her neck, which was indeed a relief. It was so cute that this elegant and simple old man had such a down-to-earth hobby. The corners of He Si's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

"Our autumn limited-edition Osmanthus Drizzle Latte is very good." After waiting for a while, there was no answer, and the waiter gave a thoughtful reminder.

"Then this latte, thank you." She said, finally looking away from the left side of her eyes.

There was another chatter at the door. He Si looked out and saw a woman with a selfie stick walking towards her. She was broadcasting live to the screen as she walked. The sound that reached the cafe was hers.She was a little far away, so He Si couldn't see her appearance clearly, but she was tall and thin, with long flowing hair. She wore a loose white sweater over a red halter-neck dress. She had the air of a Hong Kong-style beauty lingering all over her body. She should be a The anchor of the video website.He Si rarely watches live broadcasts, so she doesn't know the person coming, but the handsome guy following the beauty looks familiar to her. Jiang Huai is a popular contestant in a recent escape room variety show. Because of his role in the little milk dog and the little girl The persona that can easily switch between wolf and dog is loved by women nowadays. The chewing gum package in her trouser pocket happens to have this handsome face printed on it.

This experience event was so grand. It was the first time for He Si to see live celebrities so close. Thinking that she was just a college student, she couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive.

Several more fashionable people came to the coffee shop one after another. He Si didn't like to be sociable and was concentrating on the coffee and cake in front of her. She was eating happily when she suddenly caught a glimpse of a stuffed animal leaning against the door from the corner of her eye. The wall flashed past.But before she could take a closer look, everyone happened to have arrived. The lights in the hall gradually dimmed, and a white curtain slowly lowered next to the bar. After soft music, a promotional video occupied everyone's attention.

"Hello, can you turn off the live broadcast?" The man who was sitting at the bar turned around with a kind tone, but his face was dim in the light of the video.

"Ah?" The anchor in the red dress was busy interacting and didn't hear the man's words clearly.

The man seemed a little impatient, and the lady sitting next to him also turned around.

"It's like this. I am the editor in charge of People on the Journey. This is the travel blogger of our website. We were invited with a mission this time. We have to do a special issue planning for the hotel. Your live broadcast like this will affect Our collection and evaluation of information..."

"What!" A sharp voice interrupted the editor's gentle explanation.

"Who are you!" Unexpectedly hearing such a reply, the irritated man stood up and walked back.Something wasn't right. He Si was alert. The female anchor's voice had obviously changed her tone just now. Her tone was full of panic. It wasn't a provocation, but it seemed like she had seen something terrible.

"What is it!" The young woman who had been sitting typing also jumped up. "Something is grabbing my feet!"

The man paused when he heard this. At this moment, a small black handprint crossed the curtain. It was very light and fast, without a trace of hesitation. There was a sharp sound, and the white curtain shook twice invisibly, and then The color was lost and the whole hall was dark.

He Si knew that this time it was not her hallucination, because the screams one after another immediately broke the quiet and comfortable atmosphere before.

"Turn on the light! Where is the light?" He Si recognized Jiang Huai's voice and subconsciously walked in the direction of the sound.

"It's probably a power supply problem. Don't panic, just go to the door slowly."

An old and gentle voice sounded behind her, and He Si's pounding heart calmed down a bit, but just as she was about to lift her feet, a chill crept up to her ankles, and something wrapped around her.

Worse, He Si felt like she was submerged in the cold sea water, unable to move, breathe, or make a sound.She didn't dare to lower her head and turned her eyes to look down. A shadow darker than the night squatted at her feet. As if sensing her gaze, she slowly raised her head.

"No, no, no, no!" He Si said crazily in her heart. She didn't want to look into the eyes of this thing, but for some reason, she couldn't even muster the strength to turn her eyes.The surrounding air became thicker and thicker, gradually turning into fluid, gradually freezing her eyes, ears, mouth and nose.

"What are you doing standing still? Go towards the door."

In despair, He Si suddenly felt someone slap her vest hard, and then the warmth returned to her chest. She didn't dare to think too much, and hurriedly grabbed the old man's clothes and walked out.

"Is everything okay?" Jiang Huai was counting people at the gate. When he saw the last two people walking out, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's going on? Is this how you treat guests in your hotel?" The anchor in the red dress had recovered from the fright. She did not stop the live broadcast, but held up her mobile phone aggressively. Judging from the various special effects floating on the screen, The incident just now obviously increased the popularity of her live broadcast room a lot.

"Sorry, sorry..." The waiter bowed repeatedly, obviously not knowing what happened.

"It's probably a line problem. New hotels that focus on original ecology often encounter this kind of problem." The website editor stepped forward and stood between the two of them. His words were much more sophisticated, and he sounded like he was accepting money to help others solve their disasters.

"Didn't you say something grabbed your feet, are you sure?" The travel blogger did not let go of this detail. He came to the girl with code letters and encountered a supernatural event while exploring the store. This was the fame he dreamed of. Chance.

"I'm not the only one. Strange things also appeared on the screen. Didn't you see it?" The girl did not answer directly, but led everyone to recall another question.

"Yes, then... are those children's hands?" A girl with smoky makeup and dreadlocks also joined the discussion, showing a shrinking look that didn't match her dress.

"I'm sorry, it was my little grandson who was too naughty and scared everyone."

It was still that gentle voice. Behind him, the little boy he met this morning showed half of his head and said reluctantly: "I'm sorry."

"Oh, why are there so many naughty kids everywhere?" The anchor in the red dress flipped up her wavy hair, tilted her head and saw the little boy's appearance. The original sharp voice was a bit softer, "He looks quite cute."

The boy curled his lips, looking pitiful.

"But..." He Si knew that what she had just experienced was not as simple as a naughty child causing trouble, but she just said two words when she saw the old man's eyes piercing over to her and he shook his head slightly at her.

What does this mean, scapegoat?He Si was full of doubts but did not dare to say more, so she took out a piece of chewing gum and put it in her mouth in an attempt to calm down.

"Hey, there's a fan here." The anchor in the red dress obviously saw the portrait on the candy wrapper, smiled and patted Jiang Huai and joked.

He Si was a little shy. She didn't want to attract the attention of others and didn't bother to explain, so she shrank back from the crowd.

After the shock, the strangers outside the coffee shop became warm. In addition to the few people I saw before, the hotel also invited fashion designers, architectural commentators, virtual life game players, and even two professional hotel testers. Sleeper, but that old gentleman...

He Si turned her head and looked at the man who saved her life. He was squatting to comfort the little boy who looked aggrieved. He did not participate in everyone's discussion from beginning to end.Who was he, what did he know, and why did he let that little boy take the blame?
"What about you, old gentleman, what do you do?" Jiang Huai also noticed the old man and asked casually.

"Your Majesty." The old gentleman raised his eyes slightly, his voice filled with an indifference that would make people thousands of miles away.

(End of this chapter)