The Secret of the Laundry Room
Old Li is the night security guard at this chain hotel. His daily job involves strolling around and occasionally dealing with minor disputes, such as guests getting drunk and throwing up in the hallway. Recently, he noticed a strange phenomenon: young, student-looking individuals, carrying bulging bags, would check in and head straight for the hotel's laundry room.
At first, Old Li thought the students were facing emergencies during their travels and needed to wash clothes. But after several consecutive days of this, he felt something was amiss. After all, the hotel's laundry service wasn't cheap; how could the students afford it? He began to pay attention to these students. They typically only stayed one night, checking out the next morning with their bags of clothes all clean and dry.
"They're not here to stay; they're clearly here to do laundry!" he muttered, complaining to the young lady at the front desk. The girl curled her lips. "Uncle Li, young people's brains work differently nowadays. Maybe they think our laundry room does a better job."
Old Li didn't believe it, of course. He decided to investigate.
That night, another student arrived, carrying large bags. Old Li watched his every move. After checking in, the student indeed went straight to the laundry room. Old Li secretly followed, standing by the door, pretending to be checking the fire hydrant.
Inside the laundry room, the washing machines were whirring. The student skillfully put his clothes into a washer, then took out a small packet of laundry detergent from his backpack and poured it into the machine. Old Li's heart skipped a beat; the detergent wasn't the hotel's, it must be his own. He became even more certain of his guess: these students were "wool-pulling," using the hotel's washing machines to wash their own clothes.
Old Li didn't directly confront the student; instead, he took out his phone and snapped a picture of the student pouring in the detergent, planning to hand it over to the manager the next day.
The next morning, Old Li arrived at the hotel early. The manager's face turned livid after seeing the photo. He immediately summoned all hotel employees for an emergency meeting.
"This is outrageous! Someone is using our hotel's resources to wash their own clothes! They must be severely punished!" the manager roared, wanting to grab those "wool-pulling" students and teach them a harsh lesson.
"Manager, I think maybe it's not that simple," Old Li said cautiously. "I've been observing for several days. These students only stay one night, and when they check out the next morning, their luggage is noticeably lighter."
"What does that prove?" the manager asked impatiently.
"It means they're not here to wash clothes, they're here to spin-dry them," Old Li said slowly. "Last night, I noticed that while they used their own detergent, they didn't use the dryer after washing; they took the wet clothes away."
The meeting room fell silent, everyone stunned.
"Spin-dry? What are they doing with wet clothes?" the manager frowned, completely perplexed.
At this point, an intern suddenly exclaimed, "I know! They're succulent growers! A classmate of mine does the same thing. He soaks the succulents in water, takes them out, and spins them dry to prevent root rot!"
The manager gaped, and the other employees looked at each other, dumbfounded. It turned out that these "wool-pulling" students were actually using the hotel’s washing machines to spin-dry their succulents!
The manager couldn't help but laugh and cry. He had originally intended to righteously punish these "wool-pulling" individuals but found that he had made a big blunder. He slumped back in his chair, suddenly feeling that the world was absurd and somewhat helpless.
Old Li, watching the manager's expression, sighed inwardly. He remembered when he was young, he did a lot of silly things to save money. Perhaps this was another side of life, filled with helpless struggles and unexpected absurdities. He walked over to the window, looking at the bright sunshine outside, wondering what strange things might happen tonight.
He took out his phone, opened the picture he took yesterday, zoomed in, and looked closely. The person was blurry, but the packaging on the detergent in his hand didn't seem to be laundry detergent, but... a special nutrient solution for succulents. Old Li sighed softly; he felt something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.