Chapter 38. Picking a fight? I'm not a hundred-yuan bill.
Xia Chan arrived at the Ya Hai Tian Ze Hotel at 2:30 a.m. She took a quick taxi.
.
After getting off the car, I hurried through the back door of the lobby to the hotel's back plaza, where I saw a large group of people gathered noisily around the hotel's private basketball court.
Behind the "Yahai Tianze" building is a private area that has been transformed into an outdoor swimming pool, sports area, and small garden.
However, the hotel is located within the inner ring road, and the enclosed area is small. The so-called basketball court only has one basketball hoop, and it's mostly for decoration; very few people actually play basketball there.
Around 2 a.m., a tall, slender figure was playing basketball under the hoop. A group of people surrounding him were also extremely agitated, shouting:
"How can anyone sleep like this! Can't we just go back already?!"
"Who's playing basketball here in the middle of the night? It's so noisy!"
"Is that a celebrity?... Who is it? I'll post him online tomorrow!"
"Isn't your hotel going to do anything about this? He's a customer, but we're not customers too?!"
"The police have been called! The police have been called..."
"I'm so sorry, I'm really so sorry..."
"We'll contact this customer right away! We're sure we can resolve this quickly... We're sorry!"
Yu Lianxin and several front office staff and security guards were repeatedly apologizing to the crowd with smiles. Guan Bohan's bodyguards and assistants were also trying to stop them from taking photos while communicating with them.
Guan Bohan wore a large baseball cap and a black mask that completely covered his face, seemingly oblivious to the surrounding noise as he dribbled and shot the ball.
Yu Lianxin gritted her teeth and went behind him, forcing a smile. She said, "Mr. Guan... could you please not play basketball tonight? This basketball hoop is for decoration and shouldn't be used for playing. It will also disturb other customers' rest..."
"Listen to yourself, a basketball hoop can't be used to play basketball?" Guan Bohan scoffed, and as he spoke, he made a perfect three-pointer. "They're so noisy, get rid of them."
Yu Lianxin's face paled, and she stood there, momentarily at a loss. Guan Bohan glanced at her, then smiled faintly, and scoffed, "Didn't you say I could come to you for anything I needed?"
Her face immediately became even more embarrassed.
Guan Bohan gave another sarcastic laugh and ran forward to retrieve the ball. Yu Lianxin glared at his back, muttered a few complaints in her mind, and then turned back to continue apologizing.
Xia Chan rushed over at that moment, "What happened?"
"Manager Xia!"
"Manager Xia!"
Upon seeing her, her colleagues rushed over as if they had found a lifeline.
Although Yu Lianxin was somewhat reluctant, she still breathed a sigh of relief quietly and hid behind her.
After hearing the whole story, Xia Chan remained silent for a moment, then instructed her colleagues, "All customers affected tonight will receive a 50% discount on their room rate, plus a free 20% off coupon. You all go and reassure the customers first; I'll handle Guan Bohan's situation."
Her colleagues immediately nodded and went back to trying their best to communicate with the customers. She looked like a leader, and her words seemed to have authority. Seeing this, the customers stopped arguing and accepted the situation. With the employees' reassurance, they all went back to their rooms.
When only Guan Bohan and some hotel staff remained on the court, Xia Chan smiled and said to the players, "Mr. Guan, would you like to rest for a while tonight? It's too late, and prolonged exercise is not good for your health. I promise you that you can come and play ball whenever you want tomorrow during the day."
Guan Bohan continued shooting, pretending not to hear.
"To express our apologies, we will provide you with appropriate compensation."
Still ignoring it.
After a brief individual basketball show, a few colleagues who remained on the court began to feel a growing unease. Yu Lianxin silently lowered her eyes, concealing a hint of worry.
Xia Chan lowered her eyes slightly as if pondering something, then suddenly looked up and smiled.
"How about this, Mr. Guan? I'm sure you're playing ball here alone in the middle of the night because you're bored. How about I play a game with you? If I win, you can go back and rest first, as I said. Playing ball is physically demanding and can affect your cardiovascular health. It's for your health's sake."
Guan Bohan suddenly stopped dribbling and looked at her with a mixture of surprise and disdain.
"you?"
"Me," Xia Chan said firmly. Her colleagues were also surprised.
Yu Lianxin and the others looked at her with strange and astonished eyes.
Her unusually confident demeanor seemed to surprise and amuse Guan Bohan, who then patted the ball and agreed.
"OK."
Xia Chan breathed a sigh of relief silently, immediately took off her suit jacket, and rolled up her sleeves and trouser legs.
Heels with heels are not very convenient, so she just kicked them off and went barefoot onto the field from the sidelines.
This was a bizarre combination of teams, and his colleagues, along with his bodyguard and assistant, all found it strange and intriguing, and involuntarily held their breath.
After Xia Chan calmed her breathing and prepared herself, she bent down slightly in front of Guan Bohan, ready to defend. The first person to score ten goals would win.
They stood silently facing each other when Guan Bohan, who was dribbling the ball, suddenly moved!
He made a feint, his movements as nimble as a cheetah—he feinted to her left but turned to her right!
Xia Chan sensed his intention first and tried to block to the right, but due to the significant difference in size between men and women, she was slightly off guard and failed to stop the ball from his hands. Guan Bohan swiftly dodged her and made a layup.
The ball goes in!
The people around them unconsciously clenched their hands, unsure whether to be excited or disappointed.
Guan Bohan turned to look at Xia Chan, who was barely able to stand, his tone sarcastic.
That's it?
Xia Chan took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to calm herself down.
She hadn't touched a basketball for several years, and all her reactions were based on her memories of the habits she had.
Scenes from the past flashed through Xia Chan's mind quickly and carefully; she was determined to recall everything as fast as possible.
Countless times, she had faced off against men of vastly different size, and many people around her had called out her name.
Xia Chan!
Xia Chan! Keep it up!
Xia Chan! The most handsome!
...
Many times, a gaze has been silently watching from below the stage, quiet and gentle, yet always seeming to instill strength in people.
Xia Chan quickly opened her eyes, "Again."
Yu Lianxin and her colleagues stood dejectedly to the side, having completely given up hope. They knew they couldn't win and found the manager's move naively laughable.
Guan Bohan chuckled sarcastically again, preparing to launch another ruthless attack. He dodged her like a cheetah as she attempted a dunk—but Xia Chan deftly slipped past her at that moment.
Her body spun and twisted rapidly, and she scooped up her prey like a hawk!
Before anyone could see what was happening, the ball had already been intercepted from Guan Bohan's hands and landed in hers.
Then she quickly ran in the opposite direction, leaped and launched a perfect three-pointer from beyond the three-point line—
Bang!
Basketball goes in!
The ball bounced off the ground with several muffled thuds.
Guan Bohan seemed stunned for a moment, staring at her in astonishment, unable to recover. The group of colleagues were also stunned for a moment, and after a couple of seconds, they seemed to realize what was going on, almost letting out a gasp, but for fear of disturbing the customers, they forcibly restrained themselves.
Her eyes lit up instantly, like those of a soaring eagle, exceptionally bright, bursting with an unprecedented sharpness, and an undeniable, piercing arrogance. She stared at Guan Bohan and said calmly, "Again!"
Guan Bohan stared at her blankly, as if in astonishment.
After successfully completing the first shot, the subsequent shots became easier.
Two, three, four...
Seven, eight...
When the tenth ball went in, the front desk staff couldn't help but let out a suppressed cheer.
Yu Lianxin stared at her in astonishment.
Xia Chan's face was already covered in a thin layer of sweat, and her breathing was labored. Her usually neatly combed hair was a little messy, and the beads of sweat clinging to her cheeks gave her a natural radiance. After catching her breath, she straightened up and smiled at him as officially as ever, "Mr. Guan, I won. Now, can you go back to your room to rest as we agreed?"
Guan Bohan stared at her with a look of surprise and doubt, his eyes filled with alarm. For a moment, he wondered if she had possessed his body.
Is the person in front of me the same person as the one I just saw?
As Xia Chan had predicted, although she had cleverly resolved Guan Bohan's predicament that night, it also marked the beginning of Guan Bohan becoming increasingly critical and fault-finding.
The following evening, just as Xia Chan and her colleagues officially changed shifts, Du Na rushed over from the deluxe suite, "Manager Xia! Guan Bohan..."
"..." Xia Chan sighed, rubbing her forehead.
In Guan Bohan's suite on the 32nd floor, several front-of-house and catering staff stood in a row at the dining table, silently facing a bowl of soup.
As soon as Xia Chan saw the bowl of soup, she knew what had happened and asked Du Na softly, "Didn't I tell you that shrimp can't be put in the soup?"
“He asked for the soup himself,” Duna said with a troubled expression. “He even asked for double the amount…”
They even said that only if she came in person could the problem be solved.
Du Na had already told her this on the way here, and Xia Chan instantly guessed what he wanted to do. She pursed her lips and touched Guan Bohan's sunglasses, saying, "Mr. Guan, shall we make you a new bowl right away?"
"No." Guan Bohan's face was hidden behind sunglasses, making his expression unreadable, but his lips curled into a deep smile. "I want this bowl."
She paused slightly, then said, "Then, may I pick them out for you?"
This sentence seemed to suit his taste perfectly. He smiled even more deeply, leaned back casually and arrogantly, and gently gestured with his hand to indicate "please".
Xia Chan sighed softly and turned her head to let them go back to their posts.
The tiny shrimp shells were the hardest to pick out; Xia Chan's wrists were stiff from picking them all that day.
After she finished choosing, Guan Bohan simply said, "It's cold, I'm not drinking it."
Xia Chan pursed her lips slightly, her expression remaining unchanged, and said with an official smile, "Wishing you a pleasant life." She then went out and dumped the trash into the bin.
On the third day, Guan Bohan said that her cassia seed pillow was five millimeters too short, and she even got a ruler from somewhere to measure it precisely so that she could exchange it.
Xia Chan went to the storeroom and changed the pillows seven or eight times, but she still couldn't find one that satisfied him. In the end, she asked Xia Chan to bring back the first one.
On the fourth day, he said the clothes he washed didn't smell right and asked her to take them back to wash again.
On the fifth day, she said the sandalwood incense on the quilt had faded and asked me to go over and re-scent it.
Day 6...
Xia Chan wasn't unaware that Guan Bohan was intentionally targeting her. The fact that she had beaten Guan Bohan on the basketball court that day had already spread throughout the hotel and even to other branches.
Xia Chan's senior apprentice, Song Yalin, even called to specifically instruct her not to confront the guests head-on.
Everything he did seemed like a form of revenge against her. He made her do even the smallest things herself.
She had to deliver meals to him, clean his room, tidy up his soiled and washed clothes, and take care of the room's necessities every day...
The hotel staff, seeing this, couldn't help but feel extremely sorry for Xia Chan. At the same time, all departments were exhausted. Xia Chan said, "Just bear with it a little longer. If you can handle Guan Bohan well, you'll be able to handle any kind of guest with ease in the future."
"Manager Xia, you have such a great attitude..." several of the younger management trainees couldn't help but admire. Du Na proudly replied, "That's why she's a manager!"
Yu Lianxin changed her clothes discreetly to the side, glancing at Xia Chan while concealing a hint of schadenfreude. Xia Chan, completely oblivious, joked with them a few more times before saying, "Going to serve the ancestors," and left.
That day, Guan Bohan's task for Xia Chan was to clean the suite.
Last night, I don't know what sudden idea this ancestor had, but he transported more than ten kilograms of foam to decorate the suite as a "snowflake room". In the end, the light foam particles were scattered everywhere, and even the vacuum cleaner could not clean them up.
Xia Chan wrapped transparent tape around her hand and carefully stuck on the tiny bubbles bit by bit.
The room was filled with foam, just like a room full of beautiful snowflakes that would drift away at the slightest touch.
Guan Bohan stood leisurely to the side, arms crossed, watching her clean up. Suddenly, he asked with interest, "Hey, how come you know how to play basketball?"
Xia Chan didn't answer, she just kept sticking the foam to her face, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Receiving no response, Guan Bohan gave a slight smirk, the tone of which was neither sarcastic nor playful.
"Manager, have you gone mute again?"
Xia Chan sighed helplessly, and gave an official smile as if she had finished her work. "Isn't this a normal thing?" She looked up at him. "No one wears their heart on their sleeve."
Guan Bohan paused for a moment when he met her gaze, inexplicably feeling a slight sense of disorientation.
These past few days, everyone has thought he was deliberately targeting Xia Chan, and Guan Bohan included. But it wasn't revenge; rather, he just wanted to verify something.
That day on the basketball court, she played basketball with him. The fierce aura she exuded at the end made him feel like she could almost devour him. He also always felt that she wasn't as submissive and kind as she appeared on the surface.
That intrigued him, giving him a sense of novelty and a rare feeling of challenge and defiance from the opposite sex.
But these days, no matter how much he picks on her, she seems like a fake person.
She exudes a faint sense of human-machine interaction, as if nothing can affect her.
It made him wonder... was that person really her that day?
Has he truly possessed someone?
Guan Bohan smiled again after a moment, "I just didn't expect a girl like you to know how."
“This has nothing to do with gender,” Xia Chan said. “Don’t they have women’s basketball in the Olympics?”
"..." Guan Bohan was speechless for a moment, and suddenly felt that this person seemed to have another ability, which was that he could always respond to him with ease.
Whether it's punching cotton and leaving him powerless, or having a faint smile no matter how his opponent attacks and leaving him speechless, he always feels frustrated.
Looking at her profile, he pursed his lips and for some reason felt a sense of defiance. Then, as if remembering something, he chuckled, "Hey, do you know that your deputy manager seems to dislike you?"
Xia Chan didn't answer. He wanted to find some weakness in her and continued, "Weren't you quite formidable against me the other day? How come you seem helpless against your own people? As a leader, if a subordinate doesn't like you, tell me, isn't that a failure as a leader?"
Xia Chan still didn't answer, but just kept doing what she was doing, a slight smile playing on her lips.
Her ambiguous smile almost bewildered him, and after a while, still puzzled, he couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly.
Before he could speak again, Xia Chan looked at him and smiled, "Mr. Guan, I'm not a Renminbi. There are so many people in this world, isn't it normal for a few to dislike me? Don't you also dislike me?"
Her eyes were dark and direct; though she was smiling, there was no real joy in them. "Besides," she said, "does everyone find you pleasing to the eye?"
Guan Bohan was taken aback by this almost gentle retort, and for some inexplicable moment, she felt a slight sense of disorientation when she met those eyes.
Although she was smiling, and her smile was gentle, he could clearly feel the sharpness in her eyes, like thorns.
It felt like it could pierce through his eyes and hurt him.
Soon, he chuckled deeply again, then straightened up, took two steps closer to her, stared into her eyes, and said, "Yes, I don't like you, and I know you don't like me either."
"But if I don't like you, I can make things difficult for you; if you don't like me, you can't do anything about it. Compared to that, aren't you the one who's worse off?"
As he got closer, he realized that her eyes were truly pure black, with faint lines inside, like arrows, so sharp they seemed to pierce through one's heart.
Xia Chan took a small step back, maintaining a distance from him, and smiled again:
"Mr. Guan, you are the customer, we treat you like royalty. Whatever your needs, we will do our best to meet them; it is our duty."
"So what's so tragic about it? It's just about working to earn money. Besides, how many jobs like those of animals aren't miserable?"
"However, you don't like me, yet you insist on having me appear in front of you every day. It seems rather pathetic, doesn't it? But I would still like to kindly remind you that although we have signed a strict confidentiality agreement, there are many people and gossips in the hotel. As a public figure, Mr. Guan, you should be more careful. This matter has been settled, so I will be leaving now. I still wish you a pleasant life every day."
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Author's Note: Thank you "Moonlight Wealth" for the nutrient solution! [Sprinkling flowers]
I'm a little late today, sorry! [pity]
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