Chapter 2

No one was at the front desk.

The innkeeper, Luo Yi, walked behind the counter, picked up the receiver with one hand, dialed a few numbers, and whispered into the phone, "Hurry and die."

After saying that, he hung up as if nothing had happened, turned to the dusty travelers, and asked, "Do you have a reservation?"

Lin Jinyan replied, "Yes."

"What name?"

"Lin Jinyan."

"Seven people, but the room type hasn’t been decided yet." Luo Yi glanced up from the computer screen, his expression calm as he looked at the group before him.

"We’ll discuss it," Su Linlin said.

Luo Yi picked up a book and began reading.

Zhou Yao leaned over the counter and asked, "What room types do you have?"

"Seven, six, four, three, two, one."

"And the prices?"

"Double and single rooms are 300 per room. The rest are calculated by beds. A seven-person or six-person room is 60 per bed, and a four-person or three-person room is 100 per bed."

Xia Yun suggested, "There are seven of us, so let’s take a seven-person room. It’s cheaper, and it’ll be easier to take care of each other."

The boys remained indifferent, not voicing any objections. Tang Duo and Su Linlin, however, hesitated.

Zhou Yao glanced back at them. "I’m not staying with the boys."

Luo Yi continued reading his book without looking up.

Standing beside Zhou Yao, Su Linlin added, "I’ll stay with Zhou Yao. I don’t sleep well, so it’s not convenient for me to stay with everyone."

Tang Duo chimed in, "I’ll stay with Su Linlin. How about this—the boys take the triple room, and we four girls will take the quad. Perfect."

Xia Yun nodded. "A four-person room? I must’ve misheard earlier. I thought we’d need a seven-person room, but this works out perfectly. The four of us can stay together."

Lin Jinyan confirmed to Luo Yi, "We’ll take one triple room and one quad."

"How many days will you stay?" Luo Yi asked.

"One or two months, maybe. We’ll pay for a week first, and then weekly from there."

"That works."

Zhou Yao asked, "Can we get a discount for such a long stay?"

Luo Yi glanced at her, his expression neither warm nor cold. "No."

"Why not?"

"Policy."

"Whose policy?"

"Mine."

Zhou Yao raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and said, "Well, that’s a shame."

Luo Yi held the bank card and asked, "Are you still staying here?"

"Yes."

Luo Yi swiped the card, handed it back to Lin Jinyan, and said, "Register your ID cards. All seven of them."

The group quickly handed over their ID cards, exhausted from their two-day journey from Chengdu. Tang Duo sighed, "I’m so tired. Can I go to the room first?"

Zhou Yao, who was leaning on the counter watching Luo Yi work, turned and smiled, "Go ahead. I’ll handle the ID cards."

Relieved, the others headed upstairs, leaving Zhou Yao at the counter.

…

The wooden stairs creaked as they climbed.

Tang Duo remarked, "Zhou Yao’s smile just now is a sure sign she’s up to something."

Su Linlin was puzzled. "Up to something? What could she do with our ID cards?"

Tang Duo hesitated, and Xia Yun added, "Have you ever seen Zhou Yao haggle over a price before?"

Su Linlin shook her head. "Never. She did seem strange today. Maybe she’s not feeling well?"

Xia Yun didn’t reply, but the thought lingered.

…

Back at the counter, Zhou Yao leaned closer, watching Luo Yi as he copied the information from each ID card onto the form.

"Your handwriting is beautiful," she commented.

"Thank you," he replied without looking up.

His fingers were just as striking—long and slender, with well-defined joints. The exposed part of his arm showed smooth, powerful muscle lines. It was a stark contrast to the thin, pale hands of her schoolmates.

"My handwriting is awful," Zhou Yao admitted.

Luo Yi didn’t respond verbally, but the faint curl of his lips suggested he had heard her.

"Do you offer free breakfast here?" she asked casually.

"No."

"Why not?"

He raised his head, his expression neutral. "Policy again?"

"Yes," he replied, returning to his task.

"So—no free breakfast?"

"Twenty per person."

"…"

"Oh, I almost forgot." Zhou Yao raised her voice slightly, catching Luo Yi’s attention.

"We haven’t had dinner yet. Is there a cook here?"

Luo Yi pointed with his pen. "The kitchen and dining room are over there. We close at 10 p.m." He handed back another copied ID card. Zhou Yao quickly noticed her own was next in line. She blurted out, "My ID photo is terrible."

He glanced at it and couldn’t help but smile slightly.

Zhou Yao laughed. "People always think I’ve had plastic surgery when they see my ID."

Luo Yi was copying her name. He looked up at her briefly, then down at the ID again, smiling faintly.

"Does your ID photo look good?" Zhou Yao asked.

Luo Yi nodded toward the wall.

There, the inn’s business license, legal representative license, and a color print of his ID card were displayed. The man in the photo looked remarkably handsome.

Zhou Yao felt a twinge of unfairness. "The officer who took your photo must’ve been a relative, right? Oh, your name is Luo Yi? It suits you—sounds like someone who runs an inn."

Luo Yi didn’t respond.

Zhou Yao quickly checked his information. He was Han Chinese, probably here for business. She noted his age—nearly 30, though he didn’t look it.

"Here’s your ID card," Luo Yi said, tossing the pen aside and shaking his wrist.

Zhou Yao counted the cards—seven in total. She noticed a small pot of dry, thorny plants on the table and asked, "Is that camel grass?"

"You recognize it?"

"It’s common in the Northwest."

As they spoke, a girl rushed behind the counter, bumping into Luo Yi. He frowned and patted her head.

She grabbed his arm for balance, explaining, "I had to leave my post for a bit—I wasn’t feeling well."

Luo Yi sighed, "No bonus for you this month."

"Nooo—" she whined, grabbing his arm and shaking it playfully.

When Luo Yi looked up again, Zhou Yao had disappeared.

…

“Curse this Couples Inn!”

Zhou Yao stormed back to the room, her face dark. When she opened the door, she saw Su Linlin still taking pictures. My God, she was going to lose it. And now even Xia Yun and Tang Duo were snapping photos. The room was dark red, filled with ethnic charm—warm and beautiful. In the center was a bonfire for cold weather, with four small Tibetan wooden couches against the walls. Tibetan cabinets stood by the couches, and the windows were adorned with colorful patterns, offering views of the forest and valley. The other two walls housed closets filled with local ethnic cookware. The floor was covered with a richly patterned carpet.

"Yaoyao, come take a picture. You’re the only one missing."

"Isn’t this room amazing?"

"Come on, let’s take a group photo."

The anger rising in Zhou Yao subsided in an instant.

She smiled and joined Su Linlin by the selfie stick.

"I was wondering why this place costs more than others," Su Linlin mused as she reviewed the photos. "Turns out it’s worth every penny."

"Good thing we chose the four-person room," Tang Duo said. "The seven-person room isn’t as nice as this. I’m loving this place—"

Before she could finish, the sound of arguing drifted up from downstairs.

The four of them exchanged glances, and Su Linlin, ever the curious one, dashed out excitedly. "Let’s go see what’s happening."

Zhou Yao sighed, "Can’t you change your habit of loving drama?"

The anger that had flared in Zhou Yao’s mind quickly extinguished itself. She smiled and hurried over to join Su Linlin at the selfie stick.

"I was wondering why this place is more expensive than others. Turns out it’s worth every penny," Su Linlin exclaimed, glancing through the photos on her camera.

"Good thing we chose the four-person room," Tang Duo remarked. "The seven-person room isn’t as well-furnished as this one. I really love this place—"

Before she could finish, they all heard shouting coming from downstairs, as if someone was in the middle of an argument.

The four of them exchanged glances, and Su Linlin, ever curious, dashed out excitedly. "Let’s go see what’s happening."

Zhou Yao sighed. "Can’t you ever resist the urge to watch a scene unfold?"

They leaned over the stair railing, peering down into the common area.

It turned out that a guest who was about to check out had gotten her shoes dirty from mop water and was now arguing with the staff.

Mrs. Gui, who had been cleaning, was mute. She stammered, her fragmented words barely audible: "I’m sorry…"

She knelt on the ground, trying to wipe the shoes with her sleeve.

"Don’t touch them, they’re filthy!" the guest shrieked, pulling her suitcase closer and kicking Mrs. Gui away. The poor woman fell to the ground, and another guest rushed over to help her up.

"Why did you kick her?" the girl at the front desk demanded. "You were the one who stepped into the basin and got your shoes dirty."

"Who told her to put the basin under the steps? She should have warned guests when she saw us coming! She’s dumb!"

Another customer couldn’t stay silent any longer. "She’s already apologized—don’t be so unreasonable."

"Did she really? I didn’t hear it. Let’s hear her say it again," the female guest sneered.

Mrs. Gui trembled with anxiety, trying several times to speak, but only managed to utter a few "ah ah" sounds. The more anxious she became, the harder it was for her to form a sentence.

The girl at the front desk wanted to step forward and argue, but Mrs. Gui held her back, shaking her head and making frantic "ahhh" sounds.

The female guest looked at Mrs. Gui with disdain and sneered, "I was wondering why she hadn’t said anything for so long. I’m not trying to be mean, but this inn seems so upscale—why can’t you hire some normal employees?"

The girl at the front desk snapped back, "Are you blind? How could you miss such a big basin?"

The female guest exploded with anger. "How dare you talk to a customer like that? Where’s your boss? Call your boss out!"

"What’s going on here?" A deep, magnetic voice came from the entrance.

Luo Yi walked in, a cigarette in hand.

The female guest’s expression softened when she saw him. Zhou Yao rolled her eyes, thinking that she wasn’t the only one who cared about appearances.

The female guest quickly recounted the incident to Luo Yi, emphasizing how she had stepped in dirty water and how rudely the girl at the front desk had spoken to her.

Luo Yi looked at the front desk girl and asked, "Is that true?"

The girl raised her head confidently and said, "She kicked Mrs. Gui, and I didn’t kick her back, which is already more than she deserves."

"Look at this employee!" The female guest pounced on this, as if she had found the proof she needed.

Luo Yi calmly flicked the ash off his cigarette and asked, "How would you like to resolve this?"

The female guest, feeling triumphant, said, "My shoes cost 1,000 yuan. If they’re dirty, I need compensation. And, it’s one thing if the cleaning lady can’t speak, but this girl must apologize to me."

"Don’t even think about it!" the girl at the front desk shot back.

"Watch your attitude while the boss is here!" The female guest looked as if she expected Luo Yi to force an apology.

Luo Yi took the last drag of his cigarette, stubbed it out in the ashtray, and turned to her. "And what if she doesn’t apologize?"

Even the boss’s indifference caught the female guest off guard. She stammered, "Then fire her and see if she apologizes."

"I have a different solution," Luo Yi said, slipping his hands into his pockets and raising his chin. "Why don’t you leave my inn right now? I won’t ask you to cover the medical bills and lost wages for kicking my employee."

"You—?!" The female guest was stunned. She hadn’t expected this businessman to reject the customer-is-always-right mindset.

Luo Yi turned to Mrs. Gui. "Sister Gui, I have other business to attend to, so I won’t make things difficult for this guest. I won’t return her deposit, but I’ll give it to you as compensation. Don’t feel bad if it’s a little less than you expected."

The female guest was outraged. "You’re not returning my deposit? I’ll file a complaint! Your inn is a scam! This is a scam!"

Luo Yi walked behind the counter, pulled out a sheet of white paper, and scrawled the words "Black Shop" with a marker. He stuffed it into her hand and said, "Here, go ahead and stick this on the door."

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