Although making phone calls at night always made people uneasy, compared with the very real crisis looming ahead, it all seemed acceptable.
With trembling fingers, Tang Qisheng called the maintenance department. The phone rang many times without an answer. Just as Tang Qisheng was about to give up and try something else, the call suddenly connected. A deep male voice came from the other end, groggy and full of impatience. "Maintenance department. Who's this?"
Tang Qisheng kept his voice very polite. After all, it was the middle of the night, and it wasn't right to bother the maintenance staff. "Hello, this is Room 3017. The wall clock in our room is broken. Can you fix it?"
"I can, but it's too late now. Let's do it tomorrow," the man replied casually.
Tang Qisheng felt somewhat reassured. "Sorry, but we'd like to have it fixed right now. Would that be possible? Sorry for the trouble."
"You want me to come all the way over in the middle of the night to fix a lousy clock? Are you crazy?" The man sounded extremely rude, as if the call had woken him up. "Aren't maintenance workers people too? You can't just order us around like this! Go to sleep when it gets dark. Whatever it is, wait until tomorrow. That's it."
With a bang, the man hung up. None of the words Tang Qisheng had prepared got used.
If the man wouldn't come over, then he wouldn't come over. At least Tang Qisheng could ask him what time it was.
After waiting for a few minutes with no response from the other end, Tang Qisheng had no choice but to steel himself and call again.
This time, the man was even more overbearing than before, already on the verge of cursing him out.