"Hello, how many rooms?" Seeing Su Hao push the door open, the hotel receptionist's face showed a standardized smile.
"I'm not checking in; I want to ask if my sister booked a room here?" Su Hao took out Peilin's photo from his phone.
"Sorry, we cannot disclose guest information." The hotel receptionist shook her head and said earnestly.
"Cannot disclose guest information?" Su Hao raised an eyebrow, smiling as he stared at the receptionist: "So, Peilin did book a room here?"
"Uh… I don't know!" The receptionist's face immediately turned red as she realized she had let something slip.
"Don't worry, I understand, I'll give you a five-star review later!" Su Hao gave the cute receptionist a thumbs up.
After confirming that Peilin was here, Su Hao felt a bit relieved. Now he just needed to find Peilin's room.
The receptionist probably wouldn't give out Peilin's room number, so it seemed he could only use an item from the Points Mall .
Putting away his phone, Su Hao was about to turn around when the receptionist suddenly called out to him.
"Hey! Wait!"
"What's wrong?" Su Hao turned his head back, puzzled.
"I haven't finished speaking yet." The receptionist tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered, "We really can't disclose guest information, unless you are a relative of the guest."
"You mean… I need to show proof of identity?"
"No need." The receptionist stared at Su Hao's face: "I remember you. Last time you came here with that beautiful woman to book a room, I was the receptionist then."
"Oh… sorry… I didn't recognize you." Su Hao scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
"It's okay, that beautiful woman is much prettier than me, so it's normal that you don't remember." The receptionist waved her hand and asked curiously, "Is her name Peilin? Are you two arguing now?"
"Something like that."
Su Hao nodded, wondering if the receptionist would slap him on Peilin's behalf if he were to say that he had fallen in love with Peilin's mother.
"How did you two get into a fight, and why?" The receptionist quickly pressed, her eyes sparkling with intense gossip.
"Over a trivial matter." Su Hao casually brushed her off and quickly changed the subject: "Is it convenient to tell me which room Peilin is in?"
"Of course, she's on the sixth floor, 602." The receptionist smiled.
"Alright, thank you." Su Hao nodded at the receptionist, hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Can I have a room card for her room?"
"That's not possible." The receptionist said solemnly, "If I get caught, I'll be fired."
"Okay, but thank you anyway." Su Hao smiled and turned to walk towards the elevator.
"Good luck, make that beautiful woman change her mind." The cute receptionist waved at Su Hao.
Su Hao smiled and nodded, then the elevator doors closed.
Watching Su Hao leave, the receptionist couldn't help but recall the scene from a few hours earlier.
At that time, Peilin had come here looking haggard to book a room, and she had shown the receptionist a photo of Su Hao.
"If this person comes looking for me, just say I'm not here."
The receptionist still remembered Peilin's incredibly complex expression when she said that, as if she both hoped Su Hao would come find her here and worried that he wouldn't.
"I didn't expect him to actually come. This must be what they call soulmates. No matter where the other person goes, they can find her immediately, and they're both so handsome and so beautiful."
The receptionist cupped her face, her eyes full of stars, having already imagined Su Hao and Peilin's story as a Korean drama.
…
"602… it should be here."
Exiting the elevator, Su Hao arrived at room 602, his expression somewhat complex.
If he remembered correctly, he and Peilin had spent the night in this very room last time.
"Thump, thump, thump!" Gently knocking on the door, Su Hao cleared his throat, preparing to change his voice.
"Su Hao Ge?"
Peilin's surprised voice came through, foiling Su Hao's plan to pretend to be a server and trick Peilin into opening the door.
"How did you recognize me?" Su Hao stared at the door, puzzled.
"Through the peephole." Inside the room, Peilin looked at Su Hao through the peephole, her face full of conflict.
"Damn it, I actually didn't think of that!" Su Hao cursed under his breath, looking at the peephole on the door.
"Su Hao Ge, please leave. I know why you're here, and I'm not going back." Peilin turned and leaned against the door, saying firmly.
"I…" Su Hao felt a bit dejected, seeing his mission fail before it even began.
"Peilin, I'm here to apologize. Things aren't what you think." Rubbing his forehead, Su Hao forced himself to calm down.
"Then what is it? You know what you did last night!" Peilin snorted, gritting her teeth.
"I… I admit what I did last night was wrong." Su Hao took a deep breath: "Just as you said in your letter, I don't love you; I only treated you as a tool."
"Then why are you still looking for me? Get out! Get out of here!" Hearing Su Hao's blunt words, Peilin felt her heart shatter.
Why? Why aren't you even willing to tell a lie to coax me? Am I so detestable to you?
Peilin's face was covered in tears, and she pounded heavily on the door, as if it were the hateful Su Hao.
"Peilin, don't get agitated, I haven't finished yet." Su Hao pressed against the door and said softly, "I really didn't love you before, but after reading your letter today, I think… I've fallen for you."
"What did you say?" Peilin was startled and suddenly turned her head to look through the peephole.
"I said, I might be in love with you."
As if knowing Peilin's thoughts, Su Hao slowly squatted down, placing his face in front of the peephole.
"Peilin, I didn't realize you did so much for me. I read that dictionary, and I'm very touched, truly very touched. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because that dictionary has nothing to do with you! I just simply like Chinese!" Peilin pouted, saying haughtily.
"I know, you just want to return to my hometown with me and live a happy life." Su Hao chuckled.
"You saw it?" Peilin's face flushed a bit as Su Hao pointed out her little secret.
"Of course, Peilin, come back with me, we will live a happy life." Su Hao rubbed his eyes, speaking sincerely.
"Happiness? How will you give me happiness?
Su Hao Ge, I can accept your philandering, I can accept you having other women, but the one thing I absolutely cannot accept is my mother being among those women!
How will others look at me? How will I introduce you to others?
My boyfriend is secretly in love with my mother? Don't you think that's absurd?"
Peilin wiped away her tears, her voice mournful yet every word was a stab to the heart!
"I…" Su Hao opened his mouth, unsure what to say.
"There's no need to say anything, Su Hao Ge, please leave. I wish you happiness in the future."
After Peilin finished speaking, she slowly squatted down and hugged her knees, her tears finally uncontrollable, pouring out.