7: Chapter 7 Staying at a Hotel Together

"Don't they all report on September 1st? How can it be delayed until the 3rd? Besides, wasn't it written clearly in the admission notice?" Zhang Huaijing was a bit displeased.

"I'm sorry, Brother Jing. The admission notice says the 3rd and 4th. I forgot, and then I just took it for granted that reporting was during these two days. Look, the 1st was a Saturday, so..."

Zhang Huaijing saw her good attitude—she was playing the pity card quite well—and most of his anger dissipated. He asked, "Can't the school process it early? We're already here."

"No."

"Then what do we do now?"

"Stay somewhere for now."

Zhang Huaijing was speechless. She lowered her head, her face slightly flushed, looking like she was saying, "I was wrong, punish me," but her large, watery almond eyes were darting around.

Was this kid playing some kind of trick?

Zhang Huaijing went out of the car to ask around himself, and it was exactly as Jian Yun said.

Helpless, he had to drive to a nearby four-star hotel to check in.

The receptionist looked up at the two and asked, "One room or two?"

"Two."

"One."

Zhang Huaijing and Jian Yun spoke at the same time.

The receptionist looked at them in confusion, and Zhang Huaijing also looked at Jian Yun in confusion.

A faint blush brushed across Jian Yun's face as she hurriedly smoothed her hair, which wasn't even loose. "One room."

After saying that, she suddenly reached out and grabbed Zhang Huaijing's arm, pretending to say, "Your place is so expensive. It's 680 a night, so two rooms would be 1500. It's too expensive. Dad, you're a laid-off worker. It was hard enough for you to scrape together my tuition, and we don't even have living expenses yet. We can't waste money on accommodation. So, Dad, one room is enough for us."

Then, she asked weakly, "Sister, it's okay for me to stay in the same room as my dad, right?"

"Oh, no problem. So you're father and daughter. Dad looks so young." The receptionist had a hundred thousand 'whys' in her heart, but she still showed professional poise and followed along with Jian Yun's words.

"My dad just looks young, but he's actually 45 years old," Jian Yun said solemnly.

Just as she finished speaking, the valet handed the Mercedes-Benz car keys to Zhang Huaijing and said, "Sir, your car has been parked in the underground garage. This is a photo of the parking spot, please take a look."

He showed it on his phone.

The receptionist glanced at the photo and saw a beautiful Mercedes-Benz with a hood ornament. These two didn't look like people who couldn't afford an extra room.

"My dad is a driver, he drives for someone else. Sometimes he uses the official car for personal use, haha," Jian Yun explained with a smile.

Zhang Huaijing gave her a sharp glare but didn't expose her trick to avoid embarrassing her in person.

He still pampered her.

"The father is Zhang Huaijing, and the daughter is Jian Yun." The receptionist held their ID cards, her tone both stating a fact and asking a question.

Jian Yun hurriedly said, "Uh, this, I took my mom's surname. Right, Dad?" She kicked him under the table.

Zhang Huaijing endured the pain and cooperated, "Yes, her mom's surname is Li."

The receptionist let out a surprised 'Ah'.

Jian Yun was so angry her two pigtails almost stood up.

"No, it's Jian," Zhang Huaijing quickly corrected himself.

After registering the information, Zhang Huaijing took the suitcase and got into the elevator. Jian Yun followed closely, her face flushed.

They saw a man and a woman in the elevator, completely ignoring everyone else, hugging and cuddling, stuck together like two pieces of sticky rice cakes.

Jian Yun rolled her eyes at them and said, "Dad, you're forty-five already. Running so fast, can your old bones handle it?"

Zhang Huaijing's nose almost twisted with anger, and he said crossly, "I can handle it, I won't die. Daughter, let me ask you, was your math taught by a PE teacher? One room is 680, how does two come to 1500?"

"Dad, was your math taught by a music teacher? Don't you know how to round up? I was just using hyperbole to emphasize how shockingly high the price is."

The couple in the elevator glared at them and also started a conversation: "Honey, the new semester is coming soon. How many PE classes are you teaching?"

"Six. How many music classes are you teaching?"

"It doesn't matter how many. When you encounter idiotic students, even a god couldn't teach them, haha."

Could it be such a coincidence? They ran into two teachers.

Zhang Huaijing and Jian Yun were extremely embarrassed.

The elevator doors opened, and the couple was in a hurry. They kissed a few times as soon as they stepped out and then rushed toward their room.

Jian Yun curled her lip and muttered softly, "Look at those teachers, they're so open. Stuck together like glue, like dry wood and fire."

"What are you saying? They were just being humorous. Do you really think they're teachers? You child, your choice of words is inappropriate, and your thoughts are filthy." Zhang Huaijing was shocked. How were kids so precocious nowadays? She was only 18.

"How am I filthy? You're the filthy one, your whole family is filthy! Especially Wang Shuting! Hmph!" With a face like ice and her full, rounded chest thrust forward, she pressed closer to him.

Feeling the pressure of an approaching army, he couldn't help but retreat, not wanting to sink to her level.

Entering room 1608, he saw it was a twin room, luckily. If it had been a king-size bed, this girl's intentions would be too dangerous.

Zhang Huaijing closed the door and pointed to the bed. "Sit down."

Seeing his serious expression, Jian Yun sat down obediently.

"Let me ask you, what exactly are you trying to do?" Zhang Huaijing wasn't a fool. He had been with countless women before. This quirky girl, Jian Yun, had tricked him into coming early and then staying in the same room.

"I'm not doing anything. Whether as father and daughter or brother and sister, staying in a twin room is fine, right?"

"It's a big problem!" Zhang Huaijing had previously felt that this girl's dependence and feelings for him were a bit over the top, but he thought it was just a normal manifestation of a teenage girl's crush. He thought that after three years of boarding school and growing older, she wouldn't have those wild thoughts anymore, but instead, they seemed to be intensifying.

"Stop having these wild thoughts and focus on your studies from now on," Zhang Huaijing warned sternly.

Jian Yun felt very wronged. Her lip curled, and tears were about to fall. She tried to hold them back, but they still burst forth from her beautiful large eyes.

She cried, "When I was ten, my mom died. This year, my dad went to prison. My old friends won't play with me anymore. They say I'm the daughter of a criminal official, that my dad embezzled a hundred million and should be executed... I can't hold my head up. I'm so miserable."

"In this world, I can count on one hand the people who care about me and are good to me... *Sob*... I just want to spend a little more time with you. I'm scared to stay alone..."

She cried harder and harder, her shoulders as thin as cicada wings trembling, which also stung Zhang Huaijing's kind heart.

He walked over, sat beside her, patted her back, and comforted her softly, "Silly girl, no matter what, Brother Jing won't leave you alone. Just think of me as your family."

"No, I don't want you to be family. I want... I..." She wiped a tear, looked up at him, and couldn't say the rest, but the meaning was clear.

"We are like siblings. I'll take good care of you, don't worry." Zhang Huaijing's pale and weak comfort clearly couldn't satisfy the girl.

She suddenly threw herself into his arms. In the moment Zhang Huaijing was caught off guard, her lips, as fresh as silken tofu, kissed his mouth.

Zhang Huaijing felt that charming fragrance of a young girl—cool, silky, moist, sweet, and beautiful. But in that instant, he pushed her away, stood up, and scolded, "Jian Yun, stop fooling around!"

After saying that, he strode out of the room and slammed the door shut.

He went straight to the first-floor reception and opened a new room. This was the plan he had already thought of; no matter what, he couldn't stay in the same room as Jian Yun.

The receptionist asked with some surprise, "Are you sure you want to open another room?"

"Yes. Even though we are father and daughter, it's still not quite convenient, right?"

"Actually, it's fine. Several groups have come to report with their children today. There are mothers and sons, and fathers and daughters staying together," the receptionist explained.

If that's the case, why didn't you say so earlier?

After getting the room card, Zhang Huaijing returned to the door of 1608 and knocked. The door opened quickly.

Jian Yun appeared before him, full of energy. "Brother Jing, let's go eat, then go shopping. Also, you didn't bring a change of clothes or a razor, right? Let's go buy them."

It was as if what just happened never occurred, leaving Zhang Huaijing stunned.

"What are you dazing for? Let's go!" she teased, pushing him out.

"I opened another room."

"You should open another one. I'm too dangerous," she stuck out her tongue, smiled at him mischievously, and muttered under her breath, "Old fogey!"