State the name of the hotel you booked, register your ID number, enter your real-time image information into the public security system, and finally take the room key handed to you by the staff.

As the elevator ascended, Xue Jing gazed at his reflection in the mirror, his thoughts still lingering on what had happened ten minutes earlier.

It's funny, really funny. Ha Yue, who couldn't even open a mineral water bottle cap when she was dating him, easily lifted his suitcase weighing over 50 pounds with one hand.

If it weren't for the extensive targeted arm strength training she underwent over the past four years, it would be obvious that her previous vulnerability when she was with him was also a facade.

With a "beep," the door to the penthouse suite was unlocked. Without checking the room's layout or condition, and before the door behind him had even automatically locked, Xue Jing pulled his suitcase straight into the bathroom, grabbed the showerhead, and started rinsing the suitcase with hot water.

The stains, which had been dried by the wind, were broken up by the powerful jet of water and flowed down the waterproof polycarbonate grooves onto the sloping floor tiles.

The water flowed into a whirlpool and slowly disappeared into the drain where drainage was ineffective.

The 6,000 yuan pure black Rimowa bag looked clean again, but an indescribable stench gradually filled the air, like excrement or strong humic acid, a smell that Xue Jing was unfamiliar with, the smell of a live pig.

Xue Jing threw down the showerhead, turned on the bathroom exhaust fan, and started patting the dust off his coat with a towel from the rack.

But after dealing with it for less than ten seconds, he felt a strong sense of impatience and simply took off his coat and threw it directly into the sink.

He'd just find a trash can and throw it away; he really didn't want to see that piece of clothing that Ha Yue had taken care of for even a second longer.

His self-consistency was gone, his composure had vanished, and he now felt a dizzying sense of being overwhelmed by disgust.

Just now, in front of Ha Yue, he had to mobilize almost all his willpower to make his posture appear unhurried and relaxed.

Only Xue Jing himself knew how much he wanted to curse, and not only that, he also wanted to laugh out loud.

It's already dramatic enough to run into your ex-girlfriend in a place like this, but the worst part is that she brazenly lied in front of everyone on the bus, saying she was his loyal reader.

How ironic! What a fine teacher Xue is, and what a fine phrase, "humbly seeking advice."

Ha Yue had played many roles in his life: his first love, his muse, the path closest to marriage, his private literary critic, and even his romantic executioner. But until the day she swiftly severed their connection and became a stranger to him, she was never a fan of his works.

A work of art is a derivative of the author; it is the crystallization of the author's personal thoughts and wisdom.

Since she broke up with him because she despised his literary talent, she completely trampled on his personality. How could she possibly take the initiative to read his books if she looked down on him so much?

His writing may resonate with many like-minded people, but Ha Yue will never be one of his book fans, because his books are not bound in RMB. Ha Yue only likes money; RMB is fine, but USD is even better.

Furthermore, his Weibo followers are not just over a million. As of today, he has 2,214,300 followers. Even if 99% of the new followers were bought with his own money, it is enough to prove that Ha Yue is not paying attention to his recent situation at all.

How could I forget? Making things up is her forte.

Close the glass door to the bathroom. The old underfloor heating wasn't very warm, but Xue Jing didn't feel cold. When people are extremely angry, their faces turn red, which is quite a strange effect. He looked around but couldn't find an air conditioner in the room. He walked to the window and opened four windows in a row, letting the cold air fill the room before he could barely feel the heat on his face subside.

This fraudster is really good at lying and covering up his lies.

If he hadn't vividly remembered the horrific scene of their breakup, he might have even believed that she was genuinely worried about him catching a cold, which was why she told him to shut up.

She didn't want him to speak, probably because she was afraid he would expose her lie and question her about the past like a stubborn fool.

With a "ding-dong," my phone rang in my pocket.

It was Ha Yue, the girl he had just exchanged phone numbers with downstairs, who sent him a text message.

Xue Jing closed his eyes, took two deep breaths, and unlocked his phone to read her messages.

"Would it be convenient to add each other on WeChat? If it's not too much trouble."

Why add him on WeChat? His WeChat ID has never changed; isn't it still on her blacklist?

Soon, another message appeared on the screen; Ha Yue was talking to herself.

"By the way, are you free tomorrow afternoon? There's a pretty good music-themed barbecue place downtown."

Why eat barbecue so late at night? Do you still think he's a clueless young girl just experiencing first love, unaware of the unspoken rules between men and women after dinner and drinks?

What is she thinking? Now that things are tough for her, she suddenly finds him more attractive after he started making money, right?

Want to get back together? No way.

Serial scammers won't stop, but shouldn't those who are scammed have some basic self-respect? There's a limit to looking down on others.

Anger can really burn you to the point where your hair is smoking.

Without a second thought, Xue Jing ignored the two messages, threw his phone on the bedside table, and started calling the front desk using the landline.

It's too hot on the rooftop in late autumn; he needs a standing fan.

At 6:40, Ha Yue, who was a kilometer away, sneezed several times in a row in front of Lou Zhiyun.

When she dropped her ex-boyfriend off at his hotel, the tricycle's dashboard was already showing low battery, and her phone's battery was also running low. She stopped by the roadside and sent Xue Jing two messages in one go, then put her phone back in her pocket, trying to use the remaining battery to charge it at the nearby convenience store.

After walking for ten minutes, just as we were about to reach the big locust tree where the convenience store was located, the car completely lost power while going uphill and slid down the steps onto the asphalt road.

Ha Yue sighed and got off the car, pushing it with all her might. Suddenly, a dark shadow sitting on a plastic stool in front of the convenience store grew longer and then moved quickly toward her.

At first, Ha Yue was startled by the hands gripping her handlebars, thinking that a burly man was trying to steal her bike under the cover of night. But when she saw Lou Zhiyun's face under the streetlight, she let out a "ha" to silence the scream that was about to burst out of her mouth, and frowned in confusion as she asked him, "What are you doing here?"

"Is there anything you urgently need? Let me open the shop and you can go in and get it first."

"No, well, I bought a bag of chicken legs this afternoon but haven't paid for them yet..." It was true that Ha Yue owed him several tens of yuan, but the main problem was that he hadn't given away the movie tickets in his pocket.

After saying this, Lou Zhiyun blushed, walked around the tricycle to the back, and helped Ha Yue push the power-discharged vehicle up the steps.

Ha Yue turned around to thank him. She remembered that Lou Zhiyun was a regular customer of her business. However, in the two years since the store opened, there were at least several thousand regular customers, if not ten thousand. Business people always greet every customer with a smile. She hadn't paid special attention to this young man in front of her. Hearing him say this, she remembered that she had indeed taken a hundred yuan from him before locking the store in the afternoon.

She recognized him; this person often came to buy chicken legs to add to his instant noodles.

"I'm sorry, something came up at home and I had to leave in a hurry. Please wait a moment, I'll give you the change right away."

With Lou Zhiyun's help, Ha Yue parked the tricycle at the entrance and quickly took out the key from her waist bag to open the shop door.

The lights in the convenience store were still on. Ha Yue went behind the counter, broke a hundred-yuan bill into smaller denominations, and took out fifty yuan from the money box, handing it to Lou Zhiyun, who was standing outside the door looking down at the piglet.

"I've kept you waiting for so long, so I'll give you these chicken legs at cost price, I won't make any profit. Next time this happens, just call me and I'll transfer the money to you. Don't waste your time."

Lou Zhiyun felt a little sweetness when he received the seventy yuan. The most important thing for a businessman is to pursue profit. Although the chicken leg wasn't much, he felt that Ha Yue was giving him a discount of more than ten yuan because she also had feelings for him.

He had noticed before that every time he came to the store to buy something, Ha Yue would smile and round down the price for him.

I've had my share of pennies and cents, but this was the most satisfying one yet.

Thinking this way, Lou Zhiyun's confidence in striking up a conversation with Ha Yue was boosted. Not only did he not leave, but he also peeked out of the store and chatted with Ha Yue.

"Is this the number on the storefront? I thought it was your mother's. I heard from someone that this shop used to be run by your aunt, and her name was Chunni, is that right?"

Ha Yue was pulling out an extension cord next to the shelf. She didn't usually charge her tricycle at the store entrance to avoid the possibility of people stepping on the cord and causing danger, so the spare charging socket in the store was always stored in a corner of the store.

Ha Yue was busy and didn't notice Lou Zhiyun's slightly scheming way of addressing her.

She pulled out the power cord and walked to the door, but Lou Zhiyun was blocking the tiny space. If she wanted to get out of the prefabricated steel house, she had to be next to him, and Ha Yue didn't want to have any physical contact with a strange man.

So she stood at the door, took out the charger, measured the distance to make sure the extension cord was long enough to connect to the tricycle's power outlet, and nodded to Lou Zhiyun, saying, "You'd better stand back a bit, or you'll get shocked."

"Oh, okay, then I'll write down your phone number." Lou Zhiyun stepped back, making room for the doorway. Ha Yue then took the power strip and walked to the tree to charge her car. The charging indicator light came on. She reached out and touched the two little pigs that hadn't eaten dinner yet, wondering how long it would take to charge before she could hurry home.

"Hey, your phone hasn't been ringing much. I called you back, so please remember my number."

The man in front of her was talking a lot, and she began to regret her earlier politeness.

Ha Yue took out her phone, and sure enough, it was switched off. She waved the black screen at Lou Zhiyun and casually asked, "Aren't you going back to work? You've been waiting here all this time, haven't you eaten dinner yet?"

The attempt to shoo her away had little effect. Lou Zhiyun glanced at her and was also considering what to eat.

He reached into his pocket with his right hand, feeling the two movie tickets he had prepared beforehand. He was considering whether to invite Ha Yue to dinner first, since if they ate together at this time, they probably wouldn't make it to the start of the movie.

A movie ticket costs 45 yuan, so two tickets would cost 90 yuan less. They could have just eaten some popcorn together to fill their stomachs.

While Lou Zhiyun was still struggling with his thoughts, Ha Yue had already become wary. She noticed that Lou Zhiyun's right hand was always in his pocket and began to imagine that he might pull out a weapon. She immediately said loudly, "I'm closing the shop in ten minutes. My mom is waiting for me at home. Just before I turned off the phone, she told me to take the pigs home as soon as possible. She must be worried now."

Ha Yue's voice successfully attracted the attention of passersby. Among them was a little girl who often came to the store to ride the rocking horse. She happened to be taking a walk nearby with her grandmother. As soon as the little girl heard Ha Yue speaking, she immediately shouted "Sister Moon" and pulled her grandmother to run towards the store.

As she ran, she complained that her grandma was walking too slowly. "Grandma, look, I told you my sister's shop would open. We agreed yesterday that she would wait for me to finish eating before coming over to ride the rocking horse."

"Wow, there's a puppy in my sister's car!"

"Hey, Grandma, why aren't these two puppies furry? Wow, their noses are so long!"

Grandma grabbed her granddaughter's wandering hand, "Didn't you want to ride the rocking horse? Come on, there's no puppy in that car, it's a pig! Don't touch it!"

The rocking horse that accepts coins is started by Ha Yue, and the little girl begins to ride her My Little Pony back and forth.

The jarring nursery rhyme echoed at the shop entrance. Ha Yue left Lou Zhiyun behind and went inside with the old lady to discuss pig breeding techniques. Lou Zhiyun waited for a while but couldn't get a word in edgewise. He could only silently walk to his motorcycle, glancing back every few steps.

Well, I'm going to miss dinner, and the movie is probably going to be canceled too. What a huge loss this afternoon.

Before leaving, Lou Zhiyun rode his motorcycle around to the entrance of Ha Yue's shop again, mustered up his courage and shouted to Ha Yue inside: "Hey! Your WeChat ID is your phone number, right? I just added you. If your phone is on, please accept the request."

"Um, I'm going now! Remember to add me on WeChat! My profile picture is of myself!"