Chapter 516: Coaxing Old People Is Much Harder Than Coaxing Children

Finally Du Xiaojuan and Zhao Xinyi, dragging big bags and small bags of luggage, took Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan to take the subway.

Taking the subway required walking to the B Northeast Exit of Beijing Railway Station and taking Line 2.

Originally, there were already large crowds at the train station and high-speed rail station, plus now it was the off-duty peak hour, plus now it was the day before National Day, after work today they would start a long holiday, so, unsurprisingly, inside the subway station it could be said to be a sea of people, people pressed against people, people piled on people.

Li Xiulan and Zhao Xinyi took Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan, first lining up to buy subway tickets, at that time the subway did not yet have the function of swiping a mobile phone to pass through the gate, and they had not handled a Beijing subway card, so they could only first buy subway tickets, and then they could enter to ride the subway.

After entering the subway, they took the escalator down to the waiting area, lining up at the crowded subway station entrance, lining up for quite a while, finally with great difficulty squeezing into the subway car.

After this round of trouble, it could be said to be exhausting to body and mind.

Zhao Xinyi couldn't help but quietly complain to Du Xiaojuan:

"To save this bit of money, they go through all this trouble, I don't know what those two old people are thinking?"

Du Xiaojuan could only smile bitterly, saying nothing.

Zhao Xinyi said again:

"Actually they didn't save much either, subway tickets are five yuan per person, four people together is twenty, taking a taxi is eighty yuan, just sixty more, sixty yuan can save a lot of unnecessary trouble, why not do it?"

Du Xiaojuan said:

"This is the difference in concepts between us and the older generation, so-called generation gap."

Du Xiaojuan herself didn't think anything of it, before when she was in Guangzhou, she had squeezed on the subway plenty.

Her company was near Guangzhou Subway's deadly Line 3, and the off-duty peak hour was also very crowded.

Seeing Li Xiulan and Wang Zhanggen, these two old people, with expressions of exhaustion and restraint and unease, she couldn't help but feel some heartache.

Wasn't this just eating bitterness for no reason?

They didn't need to spend money themselves, yet they insisted on squeezing onto the subway.

"Uncle and Auntie, are you all right? If you feel uncomfortable in any way, tell me."

Du Xiaojuan asked with concern.

Her meaning was, if those two old people felt uncomfortable, they could get off at the next station and exit, then take a taxi.

"Very good, just a bit crowded."

Li Xiulan, holding the handrail, said thus.

She was used to enduring hardship, this bit of bitterness, to her indeed was nothing.

But to Wang Zhanggen, whose body was originally not very good, it was not very pleasant.

Wang Zhanggen held the handrail, his complexion already not very good.

The overly crowded environment made him very uncomfortable, feeling he could hardly breathe.

But he still gritted his teeth and persisted.

After all, this was his own choice, he couldn't blame it on Du Xiaojuan and Zhao Xinyi.

Besides he also felt, gritting his teeth would get him through, soon they could reach the hotel, no need to change to other transportation.

But they didn't know, from Beijing Railway Station to Xijiao Hotel, taking the subway would take nearly an hour.

There were no seats on the subway, they had to stand for nearly an hour.

Besides Line 2 to Xizhimen Station required transferring to Line 13.

This transfer station was a bit far, they had to walk four or five hundred meters inside the station, taking about five minutes.

After getting off Line 2, Wang Zhanggen could hardly bear it.

He hurriedly said:

"How much longer until the hotel?"

Du Xiaojuan, seeing his appearance, couldn't help but worry, and hurriedly said:

"Soon, after transferring, ride three more stops, arriving at Wudaokou Station, Uncle, why don't we find a place to rest for a while?"

Wang Zhanggen hurriedly nodded:

"Good, good."

So several people inside the subway station found a chair to rest temporarily.

Du Xiaojuan had Zhao Xinyi take out the candy they had bought on the high-speed rail earlier, gave Wang Zhanggen some candy to eat, and Wang Zhanggen then recovered.

"If I knew taking the subway was this much suffering, I would have taken a taxi."

Wang Zhanggen, always extremely stubborn, at this time had softened his mouth.

Li Xiulan, however, still spoke stubbornly:

"Take what taxi? A few more stops and we'll arrive, just persist a bit."

Her body was not as weak as Wang Zhanggen's, naturally standing and talking without back pain.

Du Xiaojuan could only smile bitterly:

"Normally, this subway isn't that crowded, today happens to be the day before National Day holiday, and now it's the off-duty peak hour, so it's like this with people pressing against people."

Wang Zhanggen rested for a while, then stood up and said:

"Let's go, hurry to the hotel to rest for a while."

Several people continued on their way.

Transferring to Line 13, with great difficulty they finally arrived at Wudaokou Station.

Exiting the subway station from the B South Exit, they still needed to walk nearly one kilometer to reach Xijiao Hotel.

This hotel was a four-star upscale hotel.

The large bed room booked for Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan cost nearly two thousand yuan per night.

Actually it wasn't usually that expensive, just thirteen or fourteen hundred, but now it happened to be the National Day holiday, so naturally the price went up.

Du Xiaojuan, in order to let Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan have a good travel experience, could be said to have put in great effort.

Mainly, this place was very close to Tsinghua University.

After leaving their luggage at the hotel and resting for a while, they could go to Tsinghua University to find Xiao Hua tonight.

Arriving at Xijiao Hotel, Du Xiaojuan did not immediately go inside.

Instead, she gave Zhao Xinyi a look:

"Xinyi, you go in first and ask about the hotel's prices; if it's too expensive, we'll find somewhere else to stay."

Actually, the hotel had already been booked online, and now they might not even give you a refund if you wanted to cancel.

But Du Xiaojuan said such a thing, leaving Zhao Xinyi stunned and somewhat at a loss.

However, she soon realized what was going on.

It was obvious that Du Xiaojuan was afraid Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan would find the hotel too expensive and refuse to stay.

To be honest, those two old people, Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan, might really do such a thing; after all, they wouldn't even take a taxi just because it cost a little more, and this hotel was so expensive that if they knew the real price, they probably wouldn't stay even if beaten to death.

If those two old people refused to stay, they would have to find another hotel, and there would be more trouble again.

So Du Xiaojuan needed Zhao Xinyi to go in first and say hello to the front desk waiter, getting the front desk waiter to cooperate, so they could tell Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan a kind lie together.

"Okay, Sister Juan, I'll go in and ask right away!"

Zhao Xinyi understood immediately and hurried into the hotel.

Li Xiulan looked up and gazed at the hotel gate:

"This hotel looks quite grand; I bet it's not cheap, right? Why don't we just find a small inn to stay in?"

Wang Zhanggen also said:

"Indeed, such a luxurious place; we rural people can't afford to spend here."

Du Xiaojuan patiently comforted them:

"Uncle and Auntie, let's see if we want to stay after Xinyi asks the price; don't worry, we definitely won't stay if it's too expensive."

Du Xiaojuan felt a bit tired at heart.

At this moment, she very much agreed with what Zhao Xinyi had said before:

Coaxing these two old people is really harder than coaxing children.

Not long after, Zhao Xinyi came out of the hotel; she had already coordinated with the hotel staff and completed the room check-in procedures.

"Sister Juan, I just asked; this hotel is having a promotion, and you can stay one night for three hundred yuan!"

Zhao Xinyi thought to herself, three hundred yuan for one night is already cheap enough, isn't it?

After all, the original price was one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine yuan per night!

Du Xiaojuan also felt that the price Zhao Xinyi made up was quite cheap, and the two old people should be able to accept it.

However, to their surprise, Li Xiulan immediately showed a face of non-acceptance after hearing it:

"This is too expensive! Why don't we go stay at another inn!"

The reason Li Xiulan reacted this way was because in her cognition, staying at an inn cost at most a few dozen yuan, and over one hundred yuan was already considered expensive.

Zhao Xinyi was immediately dumbfounded and couldn't help but blurt out:

"Ah? Is this still expensive?"

She thought the price she made up was already cheap enough, cheap enough that ordinary people wouldn't dare believe it, but she didn't expect Li Xiulan to actually still feel it was expensive!