The rain came down hard and fast.
I didn't even need to explain. The man shouting at the top of his lungs had already realized what was happening.
When he saw Lü Qiaolan and me, he didn't greet us. Instead, he rubbed his temples and made a call, presumably to contact the fire department.
As I remembered it, when people ran into trouble, they either called the police or the fire department. Either way, the government was there to help, so you didn't have to worry about being left on your own.
That was, assuming you could reach the right department.
The man said nothing before hanging up. He picked up the receiver again, then set it down and checked the phone line.
I had a bad feeling.
Almost at the same time as the man, I took out my phone. Not a single bar of signal showed on the screen.
I didn't make a call, but the man did. I could tell from his expression that it hadn't gone well.
Only then did the man look up at Lü Qiaolan and me. "You two can't stay here. The phones aren't working. Come upstairs with me, quick!"
He seemed to be the only staff member on duty at the hotel.
He took some keys from the front desk drawer, then went upstairs and knocked on the doors one by one.
There weren't many guests staying at the hotel, but many of them were police officers from out of town.
At the man's shout, several officers came running out.
They had just discovered a major lead and had been busy for most of the day, so now they were all exhausted. They came from different places, and some of the officers were surprised to hear there was flooding. For a moment,