Chapter 3: The Dilemma of Property Management Companies

  In early March 2010, I rearranged the layout of my home and the old CRT TV was officially eliminated. Coincidentally, a domestic electrical appliance supermarket was having a promotional activity for International Women's Day, so I spent a large sum of 3000 yuan to buy a 32-inch LCD TV with USB external connection and online functionality. When the merchant delivered it to the downstairs of my building, I proudly raised the signature pen in my hand, under the envious and longing eyes of the surrounding neighbors, and signed my name on the "Caring for Farmers' Three Rural Products" confirmation form handed over by the delivery staff.

  After the installation, I tried it for a few days and the effect was very good. So until today, I am still using that TV. At that time, in order to show off my high-end electrical appliances, I invited Hu Zongren to my home to watch with me a high-definition Hollywood blockbuster I had just downloaded from the internet, "The Hurt Locker".

  I heard this film won an Oscar.

  My home is absolutely not short of beer, and both Hu Zongren and I are good drinkers. We can finish almost half a box of Lao Shan City beer with a bag of peanuts, so when he comes to my house, the first thing he does is open the refrigerator to find beer to drink. Cai Jie was not at home that day, specifically what she went to do I forgot, so Hu Zongren and I, two big men, sat silently in front of the TV, appreciating this very controversial and cruelly depicted movie.

  When I saw it halfway, Hu Zongren's phone rang. I pressed the pause button and was about to despise Hu Zongren for answering the phone while watching a movie. However, Hu Zongren answered the phone and said, "Ah, teacher, I have something to attend to this time and can't leave. Can I come over directly after I'm done?"

  Hu Zongren's phone was an older model, so even though the speakerphone wasn't on, I could still hear the voice on the other end of the line mixed with static. I couldn't make out what the other person was saying, but from their tone, it sounded like a woman and she seemed anxious. Hu Zongren placated her with a few words, saying he'd be right over as soon as he finished up, then hastily hung up the phone.

  Then Hu Zongren asked me, "You've answered the phone, why don't you continue to put it on?" I thought to myself that Hu Zongren is not a local, and he said on the phone that he would come over as soon as he was busy. This means that the other party must be in Chongqing locally, so he must have received some business. So I asked him, "Is there something you need to do?"

  He took a sip of wine and said, "Nothing's wrong. It's just that someone came to find him yesterday and asked him to take a look at the houses in their neighborhood. It seems like there's something wrong with that building." I asked Hu Zongren, "But aren't you not into Feng Shui?" Hu Zongren said, "From what the other person said, it doesn't seem like a Feng Shui problem, but rather that there's something in a certain place in that building. Let's finish watching this movie first, and then I'll go over. No rush."

  I pressed the play button, but I couldn't calm down and watch the movie anymore.

  This is my personal bad habit, I must admit. Although before that, I and Hu Zongren had been entangled with Ze Wu Dao to the point of exhaustion, although in the end it was a happy ending for all parties involved, but it made me feel an unprecedented sense of withdrawal from that period on. But I'm just this kind of person, the more I don't want to get involved in these things, the more I try to avoid them, but when I really find out that these things are so close to me, I can hardly control my itchy heart.

  Smoking is addictive, drinking is addictive, it seems that catching ghosts can also be addictive.

  I absent-mindedly watched for over 10 minutes, but I really couldn't bear it anymore. I directly pressed the power button and the whole living room returned to silence. Hu Zongren glared at me with anger in his eyes, as if saying "What do you mean by turning off the TV when I was just getting into it?" I looked at him and said, "We can watch TV later, but now let's go take care of that order you received. I'll go with you!"

  I'm emphasizing this specifically: if I can't help, then so be it; but if I do help, just treat me to a meal and that's enough, I don't want any money.

  It turned out that in all the deals I did with Hu Zongren afterwards, we would share the commission, because we both understood that if you take someone's money, you have to help them solve their problems, no matter how much money it is, you have to take some, otherwise it's called meddling and creating unnecessary trouble.

  Judging from Hu Zongren's understanding of me, I think he had seen through my mind at that time. He knew that I was actually getting restless and eager to act. So he drank the remaining half bottle of beer with a gurgling sound, saying "Alright, let's set off".

  "We've both had a drink, let's just take a taxi!" I said to Hu Zongren.

  Good! He replied, truly a law-abiding good middle-aged man.

  I hailed a taxi at the entrance of the residential area and headed straight to Yuanjia Gang. Hu Zongren didn't say anything else to me in the car except for the destination, Yuanjia Gang, because he was worried about scaring the taxi driver. The driver works hard every month, and life is not easy. Hu Zongren has a habit of chatting with taxi drivers. I used to think he just liked to talk too much, but one time when I asked him why he loved chatting with drivers, he told me that it's because taxi drivers are the most familiar with the city. They must have heard a lot about the city's trivial matters, and sometimes by casually asking around, they can continue to dig deeper and make a deal.

  Hu Zongren is quite careless, but he's not stupid.

  After getting off at Yuanjiagang, Hu Zongren told me about the simple process of what he knew when he received the call yesterday.

  He said that the other party was a big sister of the property management company of that building, which is a mixed-use building for commercial and residential use. The high-rise building has both residential households and many small companies such as beauty salons and advertising agencies. The building was built around 2000 and is a single-building structure with a small annex. The entire area of the annex is rented to some car sales companies and supermarkets. Recently, in the past six months, there have been continuous complaints from residents that the elevator has serious quality problems, and every time it happens, it's always young women in the building who are affected. At first, the company followed what the owner said and invited an elevator maintenance unit to inspect and repair, but found no problem at all. However, many elderly people live in the building, and because of their age, they may have become more open-minded about many things, and seeing ghosts is probably not surprising to them anymore. They also reported to the property management company that when they took the elevator, they occasionally heard a woman's crying sound coming from an unknown corner inside the elevator.

  Hu Zongren told me that it was said to be a very sad kind of crying sound.

  I've been thinking, because this kind of ghost is actually something that Hu Zongren and I have encountered many times before. Although each time they appear in different ways and with different obsessions, it can be basically confirmed that these female ghosts are all carrying a sense of unwillingness or resentment towards death. Otherwise, how would they have such strong obsessions that cause them to linger in the mortal world, scaring or even harming others?

  Hu Zongren said that on the phone, he just got a general idea and promised the property management sister that he would go to the scene today to take a look. As for the specific situation, it's better to talk face-to-face. When he said this, Hu Zongren patted my shoulder and said, "This time I'll be busy, but my family can buy two TVs like yours!"

  I gave him a white eye, and in my heart I despised him for being so narrow-minded. As we spoke, we arrived at that building.

  Although this building was built around 2000, judging from the falling of the exterior wall tiles, the developer must have chosen cheaper materials when building the house. Otherwise, even if it is affected by environmental weathering, it will not fall off so severely.

  When we were downstairs, Hu Zongren called the property management company and said that we had arrived. He asked them how to get there, but after hanging up the phone, Hu Zongren said that someone would come down to pick us up.

  The weather in March was not cold, but not warm either. I stood downstairs with Hu Zongren smoking a cigarette, waiting for the other party to arrive. From afar, I saw a woman in her 40s wearing a floral sweater and sleeve covers, slightly chubby, glance at us a few times before walking towards us. I asked Hu Zongren if this was the sister, he said he didn't know either as he hadn't seen her before. But soon the sister walked up to our side and politely said to me, "You must be Mr. Hu, I've finally waited for you."

  I said, I'm not, this is Mr. Hu, we're companions, I came with him to help out. The big sister was a bit embarrassed, then stretched out her hand and shook hands with Hu Zongren, and then led the way, circling around the back of the building, along the stairs, from the first floor to their property management office. There were originally two young male staff members in the office, but after we entered, the big sister told them to step aside for a while, so they could discuss something.

  It's not hard to see that this woman is a leader, at least in this company. After those two young men left, we sat down and the big sister enthusiastically brought us a cup of warm water before sitting back in her own seat. She first introduced herself, saying her surname was Zhang, so both I and Hu Zongren addressed her as Sister Zhang.

  Sister Zhang began to tell us the detailed process of the whole thing. The thing was like this, about half a year ago, they received the first complaint about this matter, from a 20-year-old female owner who lived on the 17th floor of this building. She said that after work, she drove home and parked her car, then took the garage elevator to go upstairs. As a result, after the elevator opened for a while, there was suddenly a gust of cool air above her head, and then her hair seemed to be pulled by something. The woman said that at that time, the force was not particularly large, so it didn't hurt much, and she could break free. So she broke free while looking up, and found that her hair seemed to be sucked into a ventilation hole on the top of the elevator, which was used to balance the air pressure inside and outside the elevator car. The woman said that at that time, she broke free, but she didn't think about it in this way at all, and only thought that maybe the elevator needed maintenance, otherwise if her hair really got stuck, it would get tangled with the elevator cable, and if the force was a bit stronger, she might not be able to break free, which would be dangerous.

  At this point, Zhang's sister handed us a product manual that the merchant had given to the developer when purchasing the elevator during the renovation. It seemed that she had prepared these things long before we arrived. Hu Zongren took it and looked at it, although he couldn't understand those mysterious parameters and specifications, but the style of the elevator was just like the ones we usually take, without any difference.

  Sister Zhang continued to say that after receiving the complaint, the property management company first apologized to the owner and then immediately contacted the elevator equipment maintenance unit's workers to inspect. Sister Zhang said that since the elevator had just been inspected not long ago, even if there was a problem with aging parts, it should have been discovered at the time of the inspection. So this time, when they asked the workers to come and check again, they said that the elevator was fine, and the ventilation hole that sucked in the female owner was not directly connected to the outside of the car, but had a Z-shaped bend pipe, which means it only played a role in ventilating the air, making the elevator's enclosed space have some slight airflow when running due to the movement of the cables. And even if there was wind, it was from the outside in, and it was impossible for anything to be sucked out from inside the car.

  Sister Zhang continued to say that although the professionals gave out the inspection results, and the property company also told the owner of the 17th floor about this result, but because both parties found it difficult to reach an agreement, and the owner didn't care too much, so the matter was dropped. However, since then, almost every month, there would be owners from different floors making complaints about the same issue, and the property company would again invite people to inspect and repair, but the conclusion was always the same: that ventilation hole could not possibly suck anything out.

  Hu Zongren and I exchanged a glance, and we both understood that the more professional and theoretical it sounded, the more likely it was to be our responsibility.