Chapter 35. Crossing the Summer Boat, I'm sorry.
At the Yahai Tianze Hotel, just past 8 a.m., the lobby was already bustling with activity yet orderly.
The 270° surround floor-to-ceiling windows are spotless, the warm golden marble floor is immaculate, and the wheels of suitcases roll smoothly and dully on the floor.
As the group walked in from outside the hotel, the doorman immediately opened the door for her with utmost respect, calling out, "Manager."
The person in the lead nodded and they walked together to the front desk.
There were three or five guests checking in at the front desk. The sweet-looking and neatly dressed receptionist was answering their questions in a gentle voice. Upon seeing the newcomers, they all stood up respectfully and greeted them with a smile, "Manager Xia."
Good morning, Manager Xia!
"Manager Xia!"
...
"Good morning." Xia Chan nodded slightly and smiled in response. The receptionist's eyes reflected a striking, aloof, and radiant face that even her ordinary attire couldn't conceal.
Her hair had grown long and was neatly combed back into a professional updo. She was wearing the hotel's standard business suit.
A black suit, a white shirt, and matching black trousers accentuated her tall waist and long legs; the clean, sharp tailoring perfectly flattered her figure. The uniform was impeccably pressed, with only a few faint wrinkles at the hem indicating the wear and tear of a busy night. The silver-gray nameplate on her chest clearly read: "Xia Chan, Front Office Manager."
Several guests checking in at the front desk couldn't help but look at her. She smiled politely and nodded to each of them to welcome them. She then gave a few brief instructions to the staff behind her before heading to the back hall.
The staff room in the back is completely different from the front hall. It has the same warm yellow crystal lights, but clothes, lipsticks, shoes, takeout boxes and other items are scattered around the room.
Several young girls were also huddled together, chattering away, with short videos playing on their phones.
"He really issued a statement?"
"Yeah! That's really cool... I thought celebrities wouldn't dare to issue statements for international brands like this."
Wow, how much will the penalty for breach of contract be...? It'll probably have to buy a whole building!
Xia Chan walked to the door and coughed lightly. The people inside immediately put away their phones and reflexively stood up. When they saw it was her, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and pat their chests, saying:
"Oh, Manager Xia...it's you!"
You scared us to death!
Xia Chan chuckled and stepped forward to take off her wrinkled and dirty coat, asking, "Why haven't you left yet?"
They were all front office staff who worked the night shift last night, and they should have handed over their shifts by 6 a.m. this morning.
"Don't even mention it." A girl with Du Na's nameplate pouted, unable to hold back her complaints. "We were supposed to be handing over the shift, but then Deputy Manager Yu suddenly sent us a task, and we can't leave. He said a celebrity is checking into the hotel tonight, and he sent out a whole bunch of requirements, like a supermarket receipt! We've been helping the housekeeping department with this for ages and we're still not done!"
Xia Chan stuffed her discarded coat into the closet, then turned her head. "Who is it?"
"I don't know, it's all so secretive, and Deputy Manager Yu won't tell us either," Du Na said. "Anyway, it's just a bunch of trivial things. Things like the rooms have to face south, the beds can't be facing the window, the meals have to be made by a first-class chef with a certificate... tonight we have to eat non-spicy Sichuan food, the water temperature has to be kept at 40 degrees Celsius, etc... Do they think they're the emperor on an incognito tour!"
Xia Chan smiled and took the request form handed to her, pulling it down as if it were a supermarket receipt from a big shopping trip.
The points she mentioned were actually quite good; Xia Chan even noticed among them:
I don't eat shrimp, but the soup must have the flavor of shrimp.
The pillow must be a 13-centimeter-long cassia seed pillow;
The duvet cover must be wrinkle-free, and all bedding must be scented with sandalwood...
He couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.
"He's a gentleman."
"Right! It's tough! Even emperors in ancient times weren't this fussy." Several girls couldn't help but complain. Du Na, noticing Xia Chan's less-than-ideal complexion, asked, "How about you? How's it going? Has everything been resolved last night?"
"I guess it's resolved." Xia Chan sighed deeply.
Last night, it wasn't originally Xia Chan's shift, but a guest in the housekeeping department had an accident, so the deputy manager on duty, Yu Lianxin, had to call Xia Chan over.
It was around 1:30 a.m. when a guest in the double room claimed that his seven-year-old son had eaten something at the hotel that night that caused him to vomit and have diarrhea. He was making a huge fuss and demanding that the hotel management come out and give him an explanation and compensation.
When Xia Chan arrived, she immediately advised the guests to take the child to the hospital for a check-up first, but the guests refused and insisted that they pay a compensation amount first.
Xia Chan had no choice but to repeatedly assure them that they would take full responsibility. She then asked a few people to accompany them to the hospital. After the doctor's examination, it was discovered that the child was lactose intolerant and had secretly drunk yogurt from the buffet at dinner.
“…What kind of people are these!” Du Na was speechless and complained, “Since coming to this hotel, I’ve seen all the weirdos I’ve never seen in my eight hundred lifetimes. I don’t know if I’ll be able to have some peace in my next life after I’m so angry to death in this one.”
It is said that people are divided into different classes, and those who work as wage earners are the lowest class, while those in the service industry are in the deepest hell.
You have to keep a straight face and smile even when someone points their finger at you and insults your ancestors. You have to even go up to meet a slap in the face, and then you have to ask with a fawning smile, "Does your hand hurt? Is your mouth dry? Do you want me to rub it for you and pour you a glass of water?"
Xia Chan smiled faintly, showing no anger, and instructed them, "You all go to the guest room to get some sleep at different times later, as we have to hand over shifts tonight. I'm going to get two hours of sleep too; I'm a bit too tired after staying up all night."
The girls nodded immediately and said goodbye. As Xia Chan was leaving, she happened to run into someone else at the door and paused slightly.
He was a man with a decent appearance, over 1.8 meters tall, neither fat nor thin. His well-tailored hotel uniform suit made him look dignified. He stood at the door of the female staff room as if waiting for someone.
Several girls peeked through the crack in the door and immediately started teasing him.
"Oh~"
"Senior Brother Song, you're here again?"
"Are you here to visit Sister Xia Chan? Would you like us to make room for you to have a private chat?"
Xia Chan glanced back at them helplessly and called out, "Senior Brother."
Song Yalin was Xia Chan's senior in college, two years ahead of her in the same major. He was also the one who brought her to Asia Ocean University.
After graduating from high school, Xia Chan was admitted to the Hotel Management Department of Shencheng University. After enrolling, she experienced a period of confusion and aimlessness. The year she graduated, her graduating class was hit by a wave of unemployment, and even ordinary undergraduates were finding it difficult to find jobs. It was Song Yalin, who was already working as a manager at the Asia Ocean Hotel headquarters at the time, who recommended her to Asia Ocean.
Asia Ocean Group has many types of hotels, such as "Asia Ocean Tianze", which is a new type of high-end series targeting young people.
In addition, there are express, business, vacation, and apartment types, etc.
The management trainee program at Asia Ocean Group has stringent requirements, fierce competition, and a high attrition rate.
Xia Chan had been rotating through various types of hotels for nearly half a year and finally made it through. After becoming a full-time employee, she was assigned to the "Tianze" store in Yuhui District for rotation.
She worked there for over five years, gradually rising through the ranks to become a supervisor and manager, and just a month ago she was promoted to front office manager. Meanwhile, Song Yalin is already the manager of the Asia Ocean Headquarters Hotel.
"I just got off work. The front office manager who was on the night shift yesterday took the day off, so I covered for him all night. I heard about what happened here last night, so I stopped by to check it out."
Song Yalin smiled politely at them as a greeting, and then handed Xia Chan a bag of things.
"How are you? Stayed up all night, are you feeling alright? Are you tired? That's the downside of working in a hotel, there are always too many unexpected things. If I hadn't covered for you yesterday, I would have come over in the middle of the night..."
"Oh my~ Are the headquarters and Tianze store on the same route?"
"How come I didn't know?"
"This is the first time I've ever heard of this!"
The girls immediately started teasing each other without saying a word, and Song Yalin coughed lightly, covering his mouth, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
Some things don't need to be said; everyone understands. Xia Chan accepted the Red Bull and coffee he offered, smiled calmly at him, and said, "Thank you, senior brother."
Xia Chan didn't say much to Song Yalin. Both of them had stayed up all night, and she sent him back early on the grounds that they both needed to rest.
After seeing Song Yalin off, Xia Chan went to the guest room department, booked a room, put her things on the table, and went to the bathroom to remove her makeup and go to sleep.
Her makeup skills have improved considerably. Work demands that she master even things she dislikes. She can now significantly enhance her appearance with just basic foundation, lipstick, and eyebrows.
After staying up all night, her foundation was oily in several places, and she had developed a few closed comedones on her chin.
Xia Chan pressed a handful of makeup remover foam into her palm, then opened her phone to listen to the audiobook she hadn't finished listening to, intending to remove her makeup while listening to the audiobook.
The audiobook app doesn't have a membership, so you have to watch a 60-second ad first, with faint news sounds coming from the phone.
"Open Weibo to see the full news! This morning, the brand's anti-China incident triggered by a W·S board member has become a hot topic. Contemporary young singer Shen Zhoudu issued his first statement terminating his contract, resolutely defending..."
Xia Chan's hand stopped, and her entire back slowly stiffened.
She hastily washed the foam off her face, unconsciously picked up her phone to look at it, and her lips gradually pursed into a line.
On the phone screen, Shen Zhoudu seemed to be rushing to attend some event as he stepped off the RV. A number of reporters and media swarmed around him, and fans crowded around him, handing him letters.
He was escorted by several bodyguards who waved him off one by one, but he finally stood on the steps and waved to everyone with difficulty.
He was wearing gray sweatpants, a white hoodie, and a black bucket hat and mask that almost completely covered his face.
Only in close-up shots could one recognize his eyes—light brown, like amber, with a faint beauty mark under his eye like a star accompanying the moon, clear and clean.
Xia Chan's fingertips involuntarily pressed against those eyes, remaining silent for a long time.
Over the years, he has been seen everywhere, so Xia Chan naturally knows just how popular he is now.
She had heard his songs and seen his posters at roadside bus stops.
He finally stood on a very, very big stage to sing for more people, doing what he loved... That's wonderful.
Xia Chan's lips curved slightly involuntarily, and she paused slightly as her fingertip was about to tap the "exit ad" button.
The advertisements had long since finished, and the screen was only flashing "Click here to open Weibo," with a song playing softly in the background.
The cicadas' chirping harmonizes with the strings
Turning back to that summer
Reread the memory
But it was hard to find a way to sleep through the night.
You in my memory
In the blink of an eye, it's all gone.
Remember your eyes
Like the light and shadow of midsummer
Starlight has nowhere to hide the secret in my heart.
Like cicada chirping
The distance that chases me with nowhere to escape
There are countless answers
But there was no reply.
The mountain wind blows
The lingering feeling in my heart
Fiery
But the summer that couldn't be survived
...
The song is called "Crossing the Summer".
It is his debut song and his signature work.
That same summer, on the rooftop at night, he softly hummed his own original song for her.
Xia Chan listened intently for a long, long time before finally turning off the screen and closing her eyes with a somber expression.
Xia Chan has been working day and night for years, and her sleep has not been good. In the past, she would always have to toss and turn and listen to a book for a while before she could fall asleep, but today she fell asleep very quickly for some reason.
In her dream, she seemed to have returned to a small town in summer.
The boy was dressed in white, his face indistinct, but she felt strangely safe sitting next to him. She teased him with a smile, "Chenzhou Ferry, sing a song!"
He gently began to sing for her, "The cicadas' chirping harmonizes with the strings, bringing back that summer..." His voice was as warm and pleasant as the summer breeze, awakening a tree full of cicadas and lighting up the sky full of stars.
Then the scene suddenly changed. He stood in front of the familiar courtyard, looking at her with a hesitant expression and said, "Xia Chan, I like you."
"Xia Chan, do you like me?"
She looked up at him for a long time without answering, until she herself became impatient. Finally, the words that had been lingering on her lips came out: "Chenzhoudu, I like you too."
Tears streamed down his face like falling stars, and he seemed to drift away from her like mist, fading into the distance, as he sadly said, "You lied to me."
"where have you been?"
"You lied to me..."
Xia Chan wanted to chase after him, to grab him, but she couldn't catch up; he was already too far away from her. She could only repeat the same thought to herself.
sorry.
Sunken Boat Crossing, I'm sorry...
sorry……
"sorry……"
In the spacious hotel room, the curtains were drawn, blocking out all light. Xia Chan lay on the bed with her eyes closed as if she were fast asleep, but a tear silently rolled down her cheek.
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Author's note: Sorry I'm late today [poor face]~
Thank you "Xia Luo Yi De" for the nutrient solution! [Sprinkling flowers][Heart]
The lyrics to "Crossing Summer" in this article are my own creations; my writing skills are limited, so please forgive me, everyone [laughing and crying emoji].
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