Lubricant Is Necessary To Make A Passage.

"Fine, let's get to the work. What I am supposed to do?" She eagerly wanted to get done with this because she knew her grandmother, she would end up creating some other kind of havoc if she did not rush.

"Just pick it up from the left side, I would do the rest."

Lin Yuzhong did not mean to really make her bear the weight of the big open shelf, he just wanted someone to help him in keeping up the shelf from the surface such that when he move the other side of the shelf, the voice of it dragging on the floor as well as the balance of the things kept in it could be maintained.

Picking up the arms of the shelf from one side in coordination with her on the other side, he slowly moved it to the other direction keeping the girl stable at her spot.

The weight of the shelf wasn't much so she was able to hold it without feeling any extreme burden over her. And moreover, the way Lin Yuzhong was holding the shelf, he made sure that most of the weight was on him.

After he reached the other side, he gave a hint to her and they slowly proceeded to keep the shelf down as lightly as they could to prevent it from making any thud sound.

Placing the shelf on the surface, he stood up from his bent position and slowly dusted off his hands as he scanned the closed wooden door which had been hidden by the shelf. It had been about ten months or so since Lin Yuzhong last used this route and the way the door was emerging dilapidated and moldy, he was sure that after him no one else had come over here.

Only a few people from his batch including Jiang Yi Ming were aware of this backdoor which was initially built to form a direct link to the library from Sr-1 that later on due to some unknown reasons was not used and in fact was kept hidden by building a small storeroom over it.

After a successful basketball match last year with another school, Lin Yuzhong and his teammates were locked in the building where they had returned to protect themselves from the sudden unalarmed stormy rain. At that time because of getting bored while waiting for the rain to come to halt and for someone to rescue them, they ended up undergoing a tour of the whole building including the science laboratories which non-science students were usually refrained to visit.

From going through all the science labs they somehow landed up on the terrace where one of them by chance noticed a galvanised sheet hiding the door of the storeroom and that was how they were able to find this staircase.

They had continued using it in secret even after getting warned by the watchman who was notified about their adventure through some unknown source.

The little deer he had brought along was curiously moving her gaze between the door and him. Lin Yuzhong tried to open the door with a light push but that was of no use.

Maybe because the door was not used for months it was now jammed to a fixed place because of which even after a couple of strong pushes, it was not budging.

He thought about just going through the same way back they came to the terrace but knowing that it had not been even an hour since they were stuck here, he was sure all the helpers would be still cleaning the down floors.

Having no other choice, Lin Yuzhong keenly started rummaging through the storeroom.

"What are you looking for?"

"Lubricant"

Since it was a storeroom, the possibility of having something like oil or anything which could act as a lubricant was pretty high and soon enough he found a bottle of oil fell on the floor behind the shabby and crumpled cardboard box. Only a little amount was left in the bottle but that should be more than enough to pour it on the sides.

Because he was feeling a girl looking at him all the while he was moving around, it was getting difficult for him to concentrate so as to bring an end to this uncomfortable feeling, he decided to change her focus of attention by talking.

"You should not use English to converse at school."

Her expression turned into helplessness as she leaned on the wall behind, "I know that but I can't speak Chinese either."

He paused in his work and turned to look at her. With confounded eyes, he stared deeply at her, "But you are Chinese."

She laughed at the way he took his time to examine her features before stating. "Obviously, I am."

"It is just that I lived most of my life in foreign countries so am not good at Chinese."

Just as she completed her sentence he had already finished pouring the oil on the sides and was already pushing the door. With a creaky sound, it got opened a couple of seconds later and just like that, another clump of dust ended up welcoming them.

Because Lin Yuzhong was standing right in front of the door some of the particles of dust went inside his mouth and nose which brought the fit of coughing.

Instinctively while coughing hard, he brought his dirty handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose but was stopped by a soft hold.

"You shouldn't use this one. It is already dirty." Pulling out her handkerchief from the pocket she handed it to him. "Here, use this. I have not used it so it should be fine for you to use."

"Tha-*cough cough*" He was about to thank her but another fit of coughing made it difficult for him to even utter. He felt the same hand shifting to pat his back lightly while her other hand was busy searching through her pockets.

A sprayer was soon brought out from her pocket and after opening the lid she put it in front of his mouth as she ordered, "Open your mouth."

Lin Yuzhong did as he was instructed not exactly in the right mind to make out or even worry about what was going on. Due to the pain along with the sourness he was feeling in his throat and itching in the nose his eyes were brimmed with tears.

But after feeling a cold spray of a mint-flavoured medicine, a calmness swept deep into his throat. Taking deep breaths he opened his eyes to find a hand clutching the sprayer right in front of his mouth and after turning his face slightly to the right side, a face filled with worry and anxiousness came into his view.

"Are you fine?" Maybe she realised their proximity when he continued looking at her with his teary eyes and red face so she hurriedly withdrew her hands and stood maintaining a suitable distance between them.

His voice was still hoarse because of the coughing, "Yes. Thank you."

Lin Yuzhong's red face was slowly returning to its natural colour as he again covered his nose and mouth with the handkerchief she had given to him and gradually inspected the corridor leading to darkness, "This is actually a safe place to go through but probably because it is not used in a long time, it is filled with the dust."

Because of how frequently they used to use this route when they were in Sr-1, they never came across this much dust after the very first time they had used it.