The old man replied, "Those who had an affair with him have been cleared of suspicion and have all gone home."
"What about Manager Zhang? What's her relationship with Boss Zhang?"
"No, she is Zhang with the character '弓' (bow) and '长' (long). Boss Zhang is Zhang with the character '立' (upright). They are homophones but different characters. Little Zhang is very capable. She has been here for several years, and it seems like she has been here for..." The old man rubbed his forehead and thought for a few seconds, "I think it's been five years."
Manager Zhang?
Shekh rubbed her forehead; she seemed a little dizzy again.
The fragrant smell of burning wafted over, and following the scent, she found it on Lu Xiaohui and asked the old man, "Do they have any children?"
The old man waved his hand: "I don't know, I've never seen it before."
Shi Jinzhe: "Have you been here for quite a while? You seem to know a lot. Do you know anything else?"
"Hey, I always come here to soak in the hot springs. The Peace Hotel is cheap, and the distance doesn't matter. It's just a few dollars to take the bus. It's even cheaper in the summer off-season, so I save money. I come here every year at this time. As for anything else, I haven't heard of anything else."
"It's fine." Shi Jinzhe smiled faintly and helped the boneless Shehe to sit up straight.
Ever since Xiao Fang mentioned that some people worship snakes, she's been in a state of complete relaxation, and now she's even limp and clinging to people while standing.
"Are you newlyweds?" The old man believed he wasn't like other old-fashioned people who thought being too affectionate in public was immoral.
He enjoys watching this kind of sweet and saccharine stuff; young people should be more enthusiastic.
The couple was so close together that it made him blush. They were practically intertwined. What else could this be but a newlywed couple!
The old man's smile deepened: "Your wife is quite clingy; you two have such a good relationship."
"...She...uh..." Shi Jin tried to explain to her for a long time but couldn't get any answers.
Sheikh turned his head to look at the old man, "Wife? You mean me?"
She had heard people say she was clingy more than once, but the word she always heard was "girlfriend".
Shi Jinzhe told her that this was the term used to refer to a female partner before they were officially married.
After marriage, girlfriends are changed to wives; this was the first time Sher had ever heard the word "wife."
The old man nodded with great enthusiasm; he was clearly newly married and was even a little embarrassed.
"What about the man after marriage...?"
Shi Jinzhe covered her mouth, gave the old man an awkward smile, and led her away from the crowd.
With such a strong thirst for knowledge, he'll have to explain a whole bunch of things to her later. He can spend all day just explaining about his girlfriend.
We're not in a relationship, so why am I your girlfriend?
Can't we hold hands, hug, and sleep together if she's not my girlfriend?
Why would you be called a jerk if you didn't acknowledge me as your girlfriend?
And what does it matter to me if you get called a scumbag?
Especially the last question, Shi Jinzhe spent half the night giving Shehe examples, telling her that if she denied it every time, she would be annoyed to death by some people.
He didn't go too far, only leading Shekh to the corner of the corridor, ensuring that the angle was still good enough to see the verbal sparring over there.
Lu Xiaohui over there seemed to be saying, "This is my solution. If you're not happy, go find another hotel." She had a "what's the use" attitude.
The argument continued relentlessly, but fortunately Meng Chengxi was still keeping an eye on things.
Seeing that Shi Jin was leaving, he turned back and mouthed a question.
Shekh pulled the hand off his mouth. "After marriage, the girlfriend is called wife, but what about the boyfriend?"
Shi Jinzhe and Meng Chengxi shook their heads to indicate that they were fine. While multitasking, Shi Jinzhe blurted out without thinking, "Call me husband."
He immediately realized what he had said and covered Shekh's mouth again.
She likes to imitate everything and says something like, "You can't just call someone that."
Shehe had barely finished learning the new words when they were swallowed back down. She felt that she might have been too gentle with Shi Jinzhe these past two days.
He got carried away.
Shi Jinzhe couldn't see her eyes, but his keen intuition told him that if he didn't take his hand away, Shehe would bite him.
"I'll take my hand off, don't talk nonsense."
Shekh neither nodded nor shook her head. After the hand was removed from her face, she asked, "Can't I say those two words?"
"cannot."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid of going astray."
In fact, Shi Jinzhe knew that he had already stepped onto this path with one foot.
But he couldn't be sure if this was the suspension bridge effect from the previous survival game, or just the overthinking caused by a long-term lack of love.
Because of the game and Sheikh's special circumstances, their way of getting along has become completely reversed.
If we add more of these artificial catalysts, what's the difference between that and taking a shortcut?
Even if you eventually obtain something like this, it will be fleeting. No matter how magnificent a mirage is, it's still fake. Relationships that don't have a foundation will eventually break down.
Shekh silently met Shi Jinzhe's gaze, and saw his own reflection clearly in Shi Jinzhe's pupils.
He had a pair of eyes that seemed to know sadness, and when he gazed at someone, it was as if he had something left unsaid, making her always want to hear what else he had to say.
But Shi Jinzhe only looked and didn't speak. Shekh couldn't understand what he was trying to say in his eyes, so he had to ask, "Why would you go astray if I said this?"
Shi Jinzhe snapped out of his thoughts: "Perhaps it's because... once a person goes astray, they can never come back."
Shech received an answer that was essentially meaningless, and immediately felt that his emotions had been wasted.
She pushed Shi Jin away and broke the glass, then headed back to the lobby.
Those players are right, they really are crazy, she can't understand them.
As the argument was nearing its end, Lu Xiaohui agreed to refund all the hotel fees on the spot. The Peace Hotel would be solely responsible for the girl who had gone mad, and her family would be notified of the compensation. Her colleagues who were traveling with her would not be allowed to handle a single penny.
She rubbed her knees, exhausted from arguing: "Zhang Wang, you handle the refund for them, I'm going back now."
Manager Zhang, wearing a red shirt, responded and began processing the refund.
Meng Chengxi and Xiao Fang left the dispersed crowd and walked towards the corridor.
Too many people were arriving one after another, so Shi Jinzhe decided to go back to his room to talk about it later.
Seeing that there were many people crowded in front of the elevator, the four of them decided to take the stairs instead.
The stairwell of the Peace Hotel is narrow and longer than that of a typical building. When you open the fire exit, the door is about four meters away from the steps.
When he reached the junction of the third and fourth floors, Sher stopped. It was that same smell again.
She followed the scent and found a small amount of gray powder that hadn't been cleaned up in the corner.
Shi Jinzhe had previously crushed the powder between his fingers. Sheh smelled it between his fingers and told the others with certainty that this was the same scent she had smelled on both Manager Zhang and Lu Xiaohui.
“It’s incense ash.” Xiao Fang was very familiar with it. “It’s the kind of incense used for offerings.”
Meng Chengxi also found some incense ash in another corner: "Someone burned incense here, either Manager Zhang or Lu Xiaohui. Lu Xiaohui has mobility issues, so it might be Manager Zhang."
Shi Jinzhe seemed to be deep in thought, then turned to look at Shehe, "You said you find this scent very pleasant, right?"
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