“What? Where am I?”
When she opened her eyes, she found herself facing a row of gleaming copper showerheads. Water pattered onto the blue-white tiles, while more than a dozen pale figures drifted through the billowing steam.
“What kind of dragon palace is this?” Her startled cry mingled with the sound of the water. In the neighboring stall, a plump auntie scrubbing her back jolted, and the bar of soap in her hand smacked down by Jiang Zhao’s feet.
“Has Jiang gotten a fever?” A red-lacquered wooden door creaked open, and a young woman with braided pigtails poked her head in. “Quit dawdling or there won’t be any hot water left. Last time, you fainted halfway through your bath, and Section Chief Shen had to...”
“BOOM!”
The metal water pipe suddenly let out a thunderous shriek. Jiang Zhao instinctively grabbed the soap and raised it in a defensive stance. The hot-water pipe shook violently inside the wall, and a surging jet of water slammed into the floor, spraying water three feet into the air.
“The hot-water pipe’s burst again!”
Amid the overlapping screams, Jiang Zhao stared at the twisted metal pipe and sucked in a breath. “What demon dares to wreak havoc here?” Before she could finish, the fleeing women crowded into her and knocked her off balance. Her towel and the bar of soap slid across the wet floor...
