Book 1: Chapter 139


    At first nce, I thought that the woman was A Ning. I was so shocked that I felt as if my scalp had gone numb.


    For too many years, my memory was still stuck at the moment right before her death. Even though it had been more than ten years now, it felt as if my body had been run over by a high-speed train as soon as I thought I had recognized her.


    But I immediately found that I was wrong. Although this woman looked very simr, there was still a difference between her forehead and lips.


    As I breathed a sigh of relief, I found that my palms were sweaty and my heart was beating so fast that it sounded like thunder in my ears. Hong Ding Shuixian stood up and sat next to Xiang Dun, who was sitting across from me.


    "This is my friend. It''s a chance encounter." He said to the people at his previous table. He then looked at me and I quickly lowered my head to eat. I watched as he hooked his arm around Xiang Dun. "Boy, why are you here? Didn''t you have some good business a while ago?"


    Xiang Duns face turned red as he looked at me and pushed Hong Ding Shuixians arm off, "My bossboss is heredont talk about personal matters."


    Hong Ding Shuixian looked at me and called out a greeting, "Hes my colleague from another line of business. Chance encounter, chance encounter. I just want to chat with him a bit."


    With that said, he pulled Xiang Dun to his feet. Xiang Dun gave me an ambiguous look, his full face of embarrassment. I merely shrugged. I could guess why he took so many selfies on his cell phone. I sighed in my heart and thought, <em>God is fair</em>. I listened in as Hong Ding Shuixian asked him, "Didnt that sister want you? Did you two not mesh well?"


    "That woman doesn''t recognize anyone once she puts her pants on." Xiang Duns voice faded as he moved further away. I looked at the A Ning look-alike again. She didnt shy away, but looked me straight in the eye. My eyes involuntarily dropped and I turned my head, feeling like a wretched middle-aged man. <em>If this woman is sitting with Hong Ding Shuixian, is she a customer?</em>


    I didnt understand it at all.


    After taking a few more bites of my food, I decided not to wait for Xiang Dun. When I passed by him, I took a cigarette from his pocket and put it in my own pocket before leaving the dining room. The waiter who had stopped me from smoking before came back to take out the garbage. I took the cigarette out of my pocket and made sure he was looking at me before I hooked my arm around his shoulder and pointed to the door with my chin.


    When the two of us went out, I gave him the cigarette but didn''t smoke it myself. Instead, I just sniffed the smoke and started chatting with him.


    He was a chemical engineering student in a university in Cangzhou. He broke up with his girlfriend and ran here to find sce in the southernnds. He spent all of his money, so he came to work here. I could tell he didn''t find sce in the southernnds, only poverty. Moreover, I could tell that he was a person who didnt like working in hotels. People in the service industry needed patience after all. He had already spoken ill of the people on the fourth floor in front of me, which was a huge mistake because he didn''t even know which floor I was on. This clearly showed that he didnt care much about this job.


    Dissatisfied people often had big weaknesses, and the fact that he had easily noticed someone about to smoke meant that he was also in the habit of smoking.


    After chatting with him for a while, I told him that I came here to find a girl. I had been looking for her for several years and paid special attention to any news about her. She had stayed in this hotel before, so I wanted to stay in the room she had stayed in. She used to live on the fourth floor.


    He patted me, "Brother, emotionally speaking, there are only two kinds of people: those who are used to saying goodbye and those who arent. People who arent used to it will have more and more things weighing them down. Theyll just keep getting slower and slower."


    I snorted. "You didn''te up with that yourself, did you?"


    He shook his head. "A previous guest said it. He said that the road is very long and it takes a lot of knowledge to choose what you bring forward with you."


    I could probably guess who said it. <em>Youre almost blind, yet youre still sharing chicken soup for the soul </em>(1)<em>with others. Youre still so idle.</em>


    The waiter told me that two-thirds of the fourth floor was filled with members of that team. They were particrly strong and umunicative, but this hotel wouldnt offend them since there was such arge upancy rate and they were willing to pay such a high price for their rooms. Those people came from all over the country, so the hotels kitchen had been very busy recently. They even had to re-make several dishes for the fourth floor.


    The waiter took a hard drag of his cigarette and said, "Let me tell you, all those people on the fourth floor youre seeing are small fry. The big bosses on the fourth floor are in three rooms in the northeast corner. Those doors are never open and I havent seen those people since they came here. I only met them once when they checked in. I dont know what theyre here looking for. He looked at the mountains outside where the fog was starting to descend.


    It suddenly urred to me that when ck sses trained me, he had a unique way of conveying words that fit his style.


    "I am your father," I said to the waiter.


    He looked at me and I took out a thousand yuan. He was stunned for a moment and then took it. "Do you know him?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Chicken soup for the soul is feel-good motivational stories (often used disparagingly because the stories don''t really effect change in people''s lives)