The temperature has dropped these past few days, and Tang Li is so cold that she can't sleep.
I was thinking of just making do for one night, but this is simply not an option.
She picked up the phone on the bedside table, intending to call the front desk and ask them to change her room, as the air conditioner in this room was broken.
But to my surprise, even the phone was broken and I couldn't get through.
It was the middle of the night, and it was so cold that there was nothing else to do. There was only a thin blanket on the bed, so Tang Li could only wrap herself in a bathrobe, sleepy-eyed and confused, and go to the living room with her phone in her hand.
The receptionist in the lobby was fast asleep.
"Hello, the air conditioner in my room has been replaced, could you please let me have another room?"
Tang Li was already speaking very loudly, but the receptionist's snoring was even louder.
"Wake up! My air conditioner is broken!"
Just then, another customer walked in through the door. He was tall and thin, wearing a black windbreaker.
The boy's baseball cap was pulled low, revealing only half of his face, and his clothes looked somewhat disheveled.
Tang Li felt somewhat wary when she encountered a boy dressed like this in the middle of the night.
The boy glanced at her.
Tang Li wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she clearly felt that the boy's gaze lingered on her for more than two seconds.
They didn't know them either.
Tang Li turned to the side.
The boy carried the chill of the outside air as he walked over and suddenly slammed his fist on the computer at the front desk.
With a "bang," the receptionist, who had been snoring on the chair next to her, finally woke up.
Who is it? Check-in?
The receptionist stretched leisurely, sizing up the two people in front of her.
The boy pointed at Tang Li, "She needs to talk to you, she goes first."
Tang Li gave him a grateful look.
She explained, "The air conditioner in my room has been replaced, could you please help me find another room?"
The receptionist was a little impatient, but still helped us change rooms.
"Pack your own luggage, 2802."
After saying this, he handed a new room key to Tang Li.
Tang Li felt a little unhappy about his service attitude, but she thought that she was in a foreign land and would just make do with it.
Tang Li turned around and heard the receptionist talking to the boy.
"What about you? Didn't you book your hotel online?"
The boy's voice sounded somewhat low, "I only have 50 yuan on me right now!"
This is a young voice; judging from the voice, the person is at most around 25 years old.
The receptionist was getting impatient. "Young man, are you kidding me? You only have 50 yuan on you. Are you going to sleep on the street? You're not going to become a beggar, are you?"
Tang Li turned her head and glanced at the desolate street outside.
She returned, took out her phone, and said, "I paid for his accommodation tonight. It's cold outside, so get some rest."
The receptionist deducted the money from Tang Li's Alipay account. After watching Tang Li turn and leave, the receptionist handed another card to the boy.
"Your room is on the 3rd floor, near the left staircase."
The boy nodded and turned to look in the direction Tang Li had left.
He didn't even have a chance to say thank you before Tang Li was gone.
Tang Li thought that tonight's encounter was just a coincidence, and that they might not meet again tomorrow.
The next day, the boy reappeared in the hotel lobby, and Tang Li saw him again.
Tang Li didn't know if the encounter was by chance or if the boy was there specifically waiting for her.
"Thank you for lending me the money last night."
The boy stepped forward to express his gratitude, his voice cool and slightly chilly.
"It's nothing, just a small favor."
He then asked, "So where are you going today?"
"I'm going..." Tang Li was about to say that she was going to Nancheng, but then stopped herself.
The stranger asked her what she wanted.
The boy clearly saw the evasive look in Tang Li's eyes. "You don't need to be afraid. I don't want to hurt you. I think you're a good person."
Good person...
Tang Li chuckled. She was indeed a good person, having traveled all the way to an unfamiliar city just to find her ex-husband's biological mother.
"How about we have breakfast together? It's on me."
The boy nodded and followed behind Tang Li without refusing.
“It must be tough for a girl like you to travel alone. Do you need a bodyguard?” he suddenly suggested.
Upon hearing this, Tang Li couldn't help but chuckle, finding it quite amusing.
She sized up the boy. "With your skinny arms and legs, can you protect me? Besides, little brother, this is a society governed by law. Who would dare to act recklessly?"
Tang Li believed that she would not encounter any danger on this trip.
The boy, still looking very serious, volunteered, saying, "Don't underestimate me, I've studied martial arts for over ten years."
More than ten years of martial arts training? It doesn't look like it at all.
"Really? Do you really have that ability?"
The boy stood up, his thin, upright body like a poplar in the wind. He chopped down hard on the wooden chair they were sitting on, and the chair quickly cracked.
The boy lowered his head, looking somewhat embarrassed. "It seems... you have to pay for the chair, but I don't have any money on me."
Tang Li: ...
"Alright, I believe you are truly capable!"
For no reason at all, I lost another 150 yuan.
The boy told Tang Li very seriously, "Sister, I'm not lying to you. The security in Nancheng is very bad, especially in the suburbs. You're pretty, so you're more likely to run into bad people."
Tang Li seemed unable to refuse this enthusiastic young man.
But she needs to confirm some things.
What's your name? How old are you?
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