Chapter 191: I should say there's only one room left

The underground parking lot of the mall was full of cars; when they arrived, Xu Yanfeng parked his car in an open-air spot across the street. A sudden downpour made things very inconvenient, so he returned to the mall to buy a black umbrella, told Xia Xi to wait where she was, and went to move the car.

Xia Xi sat on a public bench at one side of the supermarket entrance, hunched over with elbows on her knees and cheeks in her hands, watching the tall figure holding a black umbrella walk into the rain; instinctively she pulled out her phone, found a good angle, and aimed the camera at him to take a photo.

She chose to save it to the encrypted album.

This album contains only photos of Xu Yanfeng, plus a few of them together; the couple shots are pitifully few, ninety percent being his solo pictures, which she has collected one by one to savor later.

The rain came down too hard for the umbrella to help much, and Xu Yanfeng's pant leg got wet, a noticeable dark stain. He walked to where he had parked, slid into the driver's side, folded up the dripping umbrella, started the engine, and drove to the curb directly opposite the supermarket entrance; there was still a short distance to Xia Xi, but a barrier had been set up, preventing the car from passing.

Xu Yanfeng opened the car door, got out holding the umbrella, and in two trips loaded his purchases into the trunk.

On the last trip to pick up Xia Xi, he gripped the umbrella handle with one hand and held her shoulder tightly with the other, pulling her completely into his embrace so that no wind or rain could touch her.

Xia Xi easily got into the car, clean and dry from head to toe, but Xu Yanfeng's sleeve was half soaked and his shoulders had some rain on them.

"The weather forecast is really misleading, pouring like this without any prior warning." Xia Xi took a tissue to wipe the water droplets off his clothes, thinking of their companions who had rushed down the mountain in the rain, and sighed, "We're better off; they have to go back to the guesthouse soaked."

Xu Yanfeng fastened her seatbelt, then used the navigation to search for nearby hotels.

Xia Xi's words proved prophetic; it was peak travel season, and the surrounding hotels had jacked up their prices outrageously yet were still fully booked. She said, half laughing, half crying, "I was still worrying about them; at least they have a place to stay tonight, while we have no idea where we'll sleep."

"I won't let you sleep on the roadside."

Xu Yanfeng gave a light laugh, drove the car farther away, and headed straight to Xi Ting.

Outside it was dark as night, while the hotel lobby was bright as day, like two different worlds. Compared with the previous hotels, this place was conspicuously empty and quiet, with a desolate stillness where you could hear a pin drop, yet also more splendid and magnificent.

Xia Xi closely followed Xu Yanfeng's steps to the front desk, resting her arms on the cold marble counter.

The two front-desk staff wore dark blue uniforms, with matching silk scarves around their necks, hair neatly tied back, hands clasped in front, wearing standard smiles, and spoke clearly and pleasantly: "May I help you two?"

"Two rooms." Xu Yanfeng pulled out his ID, pressed his finger on it, and pushed it forward.

Xia Xi gave the front-desk attendant a look, avoiding Xu Yanfeng's gaze, and quietly raised her index finger to signal the number "1".

Out of caution, the front desk asked them, "Is it one room or two?"

Xu Yanfeng turned to look at Xia Xi beside him; she quickly lifted her hand, pretending to touch her nose, glanced aside as if studying the nearby potted plant. Xu Yanfeng helplessly reminded her, "Your ID."

"Oh." Xia Xi slapped her forehead, retrieved her ID from a compartment in her bag, and placed it on the counter.

The front desk quickly opened two rooms, handed over two key cards, and kindly directed them: "Sixteenth floor, exit the elevator and turn left, the two adjacent rooms."

Xu Yanfeng's sleeves and pant legs were both wet; eager to shower, he grabbed the room cards and headed for the elevator. Xia Xi lagged a beat, covered her mouth with her hand, and whispered to the front desk, "What I meant with that gesture was, you should say, 'Sorry, we only have one room left here.'"

The two front-desk attendants: "……"

"Xia Xi?"

Xu Yanfeng pressed the elevator up button; since the elevator was already on the first floor, the doors opened immediately, and just as he was about to step in, he noticed Xia Xi wasn't beside him, turned to look for her, and saw she was still talking to the front desk in a mysterious manner.

Hearing his call, Xia Xi sprinted over, linked her arm with his, and entered the elevator.

The two front-desk attendants exchanged a glance, both smiling knowingly, thinking that the pretty girl just now was hilarious.

Working in the hotel industry, they receive all kinds of customers every day and have often seen guys try to pick up girls this way—for example, greeting them in advance, slipping them money, saying they'll bring a girl over later to book a room, and telling the staff to lie that only one room remains, so the guy can naturally end up sharing a room with the girl he likes. Of course, they would refuse such situations.

But this was the first time they'd seen a girl try to pull a fast one on a guy…

Thinking of that guy's appearance—handsome and striking—his arrival seemed to make the already bright lobby even brighter. When he took the key cards, his hand had even knuckles and long fingers, unmistakably the hand of someone raised in comfort.

It made sense for the girl to try to scheme him.

The elevator rose, stopped at the sixteenth floor, the two stepped out and turned left.

The corridor was carpeted with thick pile, making their feet feel like they were walking on clouds, deep and shallow, with no solid sensation. Xia Xi lifted her eyes to glance at Xu Yanfeng; he looked utterly proper, showing no trace of lust, yet her heart raced and her breath alternated between light and heavy.

Perhaps her willpower wasn't strong enough.

Xu Yanfeng held the two room cards, handed one to her; she took it dazedly without even looking at it. He stopped in front of a room, swiped the door open, paused, and said gently, "Take a hot shower first; I'll take you to dinner later."

Xia Xi nodded obediently, though she actually hadn't heard a word he said.

Xu Yanfeng pushed the door open with one hand; the room's light strip automatically switched on, revealing a clean, luxurious space. He stepped inside, and Xia Xi followed him in a dazed manner.

As Xu Yanfeng was about to close the door, he noticed a "tail" behind him and chuckled, "What are you doing? Your room is next door."

Having said that, he lifted the back of her shirt collar, led her to the door of the other room, took the key card from her hand, placed it on the sensor, the lock released, and inside was an identical layout—a warm-toned small living room met the eye, and further in lay a bedroom for rest.

Xu Yanfeng escorted her inside, reminded her to lock the door while showering, then stepped out and closed the door for her.

He lowered his head, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, returned to his own room, turned on the shower, rinsed off, put on a bathrobe, called housekeeping, and asked them to take his clothes for dry cleaning.

Xu Yanfeng, finding it inconvenient to go out in his bathrobe, called Xia Xi: "Hungry?"

She hadn't eaten lunch, and later only had a little snack to tide her over.

Xia Xi had also just finished showering, was about to blow-dry her hair, her wet long hair hanging in strands, dripping from the ends: "A little."

Xu Yanfeng said, "Wait for my clothes to finish drying, I'll have them sent over, then I'll take you out to eat."

"Mm. Blow-drying my hair will take a while anyway."

Xia Xi put her phone on the washstand, plugged in the hair dryer, hot wind blowing on her face, her cheeks inevitably heating up; she looked in the mirror and couldn't believe how red a person's face could get.

Xu Yanfeng's phone rang again; he was already waiting outside the door.

Xia Xi pulled the door open, her face against the edge of the door panel: "Can't you just knock? Why are you calling me instead?"

"Afraid you wouldn't hear me." Since entering the hotel, she's been constantly spacing out.

Xu Yanfeng took her hand and went out; the rain was still falling, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling, they hadn't planned to go out to eat, and instead had dinner at the hotel's internal restaurant.

Returning to the sixteenth floor, Xia Xi hooked his finger and shook it playfully: "It's still early; you're not going to sleep this soon, are you?"

Xu Yanfeng raised an eyebrow: "What do you want to say?"

"I'll go to your room to hang out a bit." Xia Xi held a takeout dessert from the restaurant, her fingertips almost crumpling the paper box's handle, "Or you could come to my room for a while instead."