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墨書 Inktalez
The front desk was empty.
The inn's Boss, Luo Yi, walked behind the counter, picked up the receiver with one hand, dialed a few numbers, and quietly instructed on the phone, "Hurry up and die."
After speaking, he casually hung up the phone and looked at the few weary travelers in front of him, asking, "Do you have a reservation?"
Lin Jinyan replied, "Yes."
"Under what name?"
"Lin Jinyan."
"Seven people, no room type specified." Luo Yi raised his head from the computer screen and calmly looked at the young people in front of him.
"We'll discuss it for a moment," Sulianlin said.
Luo Yi picked up a book and started reading.
Zhou Yao leaned over the table and asked him, "What types of rooms do you have?"
"Seven, six, four, three, two, one."
"And the prices?"
"Double Room and Single Room are both three hundred per room. The others are charged by bed: Seven-Person Room and Six-Person Room are sixty per bed; Quad Room and Triple Room are one hundred per bed."
Summer Melody said, "There are exactly seven of us, so let's stay in the Seven-Person Room. It's cheaper, and it's good to have everyone together for support."
The boys didn't mind and remained silent. Tang Shangri-La Duo and Sulianlin hesitated to speak.
Zhou Yao glanced back at them, saying, "I won't stay with the boys."
At the front desk, Luo Yi was reading a book without looking up.
Sulianlin moved closer to Zhou Yao, saying, "I'll stay with Zhou Yao. I have a bad sleeping posture at night, so it's not convenient to stay with everyone."
Tang Shangri-La Duo said, "I want to stay with Sulianlin. How about this: the boys can stay in the Triple Room, and the four of us girls can stay in the Quad Room. That sounds great."
Summer Melody replied, "Is there a Quad Room? I thought I heard wrong earlier. I thought we needed one more person to say we would stay in the Seven-Person Room. Now it's settled; we four will stay together."
Lin Jinyan said to Luo Yi, "One Triple Room and one Quad Room."
Luo Yi asked, "How many days will you be staying?"
"Maybe one to two months. How about we pay for one week first? After that, we'll pay weekly."
"That works."
Zhou Yao asked from the side, "Can we get a discount for staying so long?"
Luo Yi shifted her gaze towards her, neither warm nor cold, and replied, "No."
"Why not?"
"Rules."
"Who made the rules?"
"I did."
"…"
In the end, Zhou Yao raised her eyebrows and shrugged, saying, "Oh, what a pity."
Luo Yi held a bank card and asked, "Are you still staying?"
"Yes."
Luo Yi swiped the card, returned it to Lin Jinyan, and said, "Please register your ID. — Seven cards."
The IDs of seven people were quickly collected. The group had come from Chengdu and had been on the road for two days, exhausted. Tang Shangri-La Duo called out, "I'm dead tired; can I go back to my room first?"
Zhou Yao was leaning on the counter, watching Luo Yi write. Upon hearing this, she immediately turned around and smiled, saying, "You all can go back; I'll take care of collecting the identification cards."
Everyone felt relieved, and Tang Shangri-La Duo casually took Zhou Yao's bag.
...
The wooden stairs creaked as Tang Shangri-La Duo said, "That smile from Zhou Yao just now is a sign of mischief."
Sulianlin was surprised. "Mischief? What does she want our identification cards for?"
Tang Shangri-La Duo replied, "..."
Summer Melody added, "When have you ever seen Zhou Yao buy something and haggle over the price?"
Sulianlin shook her head. "Never. She's acting really strange today; is she lacking oxygen?"
Summer Melody responded, "..."
...
Zhou Yao was leaning on the counter, tilting her head to watch Luo Yi register the identification cards—copying the information from seven ID cards onto the form one by one.
"Your handwriting is very beautiful," Zhou Yao said.
"Thank you." He didn't lift his head.
His fingers were also attractive, long and well-defined; a small section of his arm that was exposed looked good as well, with smooth muscle lines that suggested strength.
Unlike the hands of the senior and junior students at school, which were both delicate and pale.
"My handwriting is ugly," Zhou Yao said.
He didn't respond, merely curling the corner of his lips as a reply, but it was hard to say it wasn't just a formality.
"Do you provide free breakfast here?" Zhou Yao asked casually again.
"No."
"Why not?"
He lifted his head to glance at her, his expression unremarkable.
"Is it another one of your rules?"
"Yes." He lowered his head and continued writing.
"Then—no free breakfast?"
"Twenty per person."
"…"
"Ah, right. I almost forgot." Zhou Yao inadvertently raised her voice, and Luo Yi looked up at her again.
"We haven't had dinner yet. You have a cook here, right?"
Luo Yi pointed with his pen, "The kitchen and dining area are over there. We close at ten in the evening." He handed back another copy of an ID card he had finished transcribing. Zhou Yao's sharp eyes caught sight of the next one being hers, and she quickly said, "My ID photo is really ugly."
He glanced at it and couldn't help but twitch his lips.
Zhou Yao laughed and said, "Every time someone sees my ID, they think I've had plastic surgery."
Luo Yi was in the middle of writing her name when he heard this. He looked up to examine her closely; his gaze met her face briefly before shifting back to the ID card, and he smiled lightly.
Zhou Yao asked, "Is your ID photo good-looking?"
Luo Yi pointed his chin toward the wall beside them.
On the wall hung the inn's business license, legal representative certificate, and so on, along with a color print of his ID card. The person in the ID photo looked handsome and charming.
Zhou Yao felt it was unfair. "The police officer taking your picture must be your relative, right? Oh? Your name is Luo Yi? Not a bad name—sounds like someone who runs an inn."
Luo Yi ignored him.
Zhou Yao quickly observed his information; he was Han Chinese and seemed to be here specifically for business. He glanced at his age, nearly thirty, but he didn't look it.
"Let me take your ID," he said, tossing his pen aside and shaking his slightly sore wrist.
Zhou Yao counted—seven cards. He then noticed a small pot of dry, spiky plants on the table and asked, "Is this Camel Grass?"
"You know it?"
"It's everywhere in the Northwest."
Just then, a girl rushed in, darting behind the counter. She couldn't stop in time and bumped into Luo Yi. Luo Yi winced and frowned as he lightly tapped her head.
She grabbed his arm to steady herself. "I had diarrhea and stepped away for a bit."
Luo Yi replied, "You're not getting a bonus this month."
"Please don't!" The girl shook his arm, pretending to cry.
When Luo Yi looked again, the area in front of the counter was empty. Zhou Yao had left without him noticing.
...
"Damn Couple's Inn!"
Zhou Yao returned to the room with a dark expression. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Sulianlin still taking photos. Oh no, even Summer Melody and Tang Shangri-La Duo were taking pictures— the room was a deep red color, rich in ethnic characteristics, warm and beautiful. In the center of the room was a fire pit for cold days, with four Tibetan-style wooden benches against the walls. Next to the benches were small Tibetan storage cabinets, and on two walls were several wooden windows painted with colorful patterns. Outside the windows, the forest valley was fully visible. The other two walls had hollowed-out niches displaying small aluminum pots and tin bowls used by local ethnic minorities. The floor was covered with a carpet featuring ethnic patterns.
"Yao Yao, come take a picture; you're the last one!"
"Isn't this room a pleasant surprise?"
"Hurry up, hurry up; let's take a photo with all four of us."
The unnamed anger rising in Zhou Yao extinguished with a roar.
She laughed and ran toward Sulianlin's selfie stick.
"I was wondering why this place is more expensive than others; it turns out it's worth it," Sulianlin remarked while looking at the photos on her camera.
"Thank goodness we stayed in the Quad Room," Tang Shangri-La Duo said. "The decor in the Seven-Person Room isn't as nice as this. — I really love this place—"
Before she could finish her sentence, loud cursing came from downstairs, as if someone was arguing.
The four of them looked at each other, and Sulianlin excitedly ran outside, saying, "Let's go take a look."
Zhou Yao replied, "Can you change your habit of wanting to see the commotion?"
The four leaned over the stair railing to peek into the Common Area.
It turned out that a guest preparing to check out had gotten dirty water from the floor on her shoes and was arguing with the staff.
Sister Gui, the cleaning staff, was mute and was mumbling incoherently, but it could barely be understood as, "I'm sorry."
She knelt on the ground, trying to wipe the shoes of the female guest with her sleeve.
"You're making it dirtier! Don't touch!" The female guest, pulling her suitcase, screamed and kicked her away, causing Sister Gui to fall to the ground. A resident hurried over to help her up.
"What are you kicking her for?" the Front Desk Girl argued, holding back her anger. "You clearly stepped in the water basin and got your shoes dirty yourself."
"Who told her to put the water basin at the bottom of the steps? When she saw a guest coming, why didn't she remind me? She's mute!"
A guest couldn't stand it anymore and said, "She already apologized; don't take advantage of the situation."
"Did she say it? I didn't hear it. Let her say it again."
Sister Gui was trembling in anxiety, opening her mouth several times but unable to say a complete sentence as she stammered.
The Front Desk Girl wanted to step forward to argue but was held back by Sister Gui, who kept waving her hands in frustration.
The female guest glanced at Sister Gui with disdain and sneered, "I was wondering why you couldn't say a word for so long. It's not that I'm targeting you, but this inn looks so upscale; why can't you hire some normal staff?"
The Front Desk Girl could no longer hold back: "Are you blind? Can't you see such a big basin?"
The female guest exploded at once: "How can you speak to a guest like that? Where's your Boss? Get your Boss out here!"
"What's all the noise about?" A magnetic male voice came from outside.
Luo Yi walked in, holding a cigarette and stepping over the threshold.
Seeing him, the female guest's expression softened for some reason. Zhou Yao rolled her eyes, thinking that the beauty standards really weren't just her thing.
The female guest explained the situation to Luo Yi, saying she had stepped into a dirty water basin and that the Front Desk Girl had been rude.
Luo Yi looked at the front desk and asked, "Is that true?"
The young girl held her head high, quite defiant: "She kicked Sister Gui; I didn't kick her back, which is already generous."
"Look at what kind of employee this is," the female guest seemed to find evidence and immediately accused her.
Luo Yi flicked off some ash from his cigarette, his expression calm as he asked, "How do you want to resolve this?"
The female customer took the upper hand: "These shoes cost a thousand dollars a pair, and if they get dirty, I want compensation. Also, Cleaning Aunt may not be able to speak, but she—must apologize to me."
Front Desk Girl: "Don't even think about it!"
"Boss is here, so you better behave!" The female customer had a look that suggested she would get an apology one way or another. After saying this, she turned to Luo Yi, waiting for him to apply pressure.
Luo Yi took his last puff of smoke, stubbed the cigarette into the ashtray, and turned to her: "What if she doesn't apologize?"
Even Boss had this attitude; the female customer was somewhat incredulous and, with a fierce exterior but weak interior, said, "Then fire her and see if she apologizes."
"I have another solution," Luo Yi said, putting his hands in his pockets and raising his chin. "How about you immediately leave my inn? I won't pursue compensation for the medical expenses and lost wages of my employee that you caused."
"You—?!" The female customer was astonished; she didn't expect this businessman to not treat customers as gods.
Luo Yi looked at Sister Gui and said, "I still need to do business, so I won't make things difficult for this customer. The deposit won't be refunded to her; it will serve as compensation for you. It's a bit less money, but please don't feel wronged."
The female customer was shocked: "No refund on the deposit? You—you're—I'm going to complain about you!—This inn is a scam! This place is a scam!"
Luo Yi walked behind the counter, pulled out a piece of white paper, and wrote the words "scam" in large letters with a marker. He rudely shoved it into her hands and said:
"Here, stick it on the front door."
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