The ride-hailing car dropped Huang Ling off at the hotel entrance. Just before she got out, the driver finally worked up the courage to ask which barbecue place she'd bought from—it had been tempting him the whole ride.
Huang Ling gave the barbecue restaurant a free shout-out before getting out of the car.
Back at the office, only Xiao Li was there.
"Where's Luo Shuang?" Huang Ling handed over the barbecue.
Xiao Li didn't take it immediately. Instead, she pulled out a few tissues to lay on the table to keep it from getting too dirty, and moved the files on the desk further away: "A guest in one of the rooms asked for a pillow, so Luo Shuang took one over."
Speak of the devil.
Luo Shuang smelled the barbecue from afar: "Smells amazing."
"Come eat." Huang Ling pulled out a chair for Luo Shuang.
Luo Shuang sat down without ceremony: "By the way, guess who I ran into on my way back."
Huang Ling bent over, half-leaning on the desk, filling in the handover log for Luo Shuang: "Who? Which room needed the pillow?"
"0709." After finishing business, Luo Shuang seamlessly switched to gossip, "I saw Liang Wenpei."
Huang Ling's writing hand paused.
It was only a brief second, but Luo Shuang caught it: "Your heart wavered?"
"No." Huang Ling was stubborn, weighing in her mind whether looking illiterate or still caring about Liang Wenpei was more embarrassing. In the end, she chose the former: "After being abroad so long, I forgot how to write the character for pillow."
"I don't believe you." Luo Shuang took a bite of the lamb, so tender it melted in her mouth. "Guess what he came to the hotel for."
"She's Miss Song in 2608's attorney. Isn't it normal for her to come to our hotel?" Huang Ling finished the handover log and returned the pen to Xiao Li.
"No." Luo Shuang shook her head, looking mysterious and hesitating for a long time before speaking, "He booked a room. He came to our hotel to sleep."
Xiao Li listened to the gossip, blinking and perking up her ears, afraid of missing a single word.
"Whatever. Maybe he just has too much money." Huang Ling's expression remained indifferent.
Luo Shuang didn't buy it: "I heard from Wen Hanchi before—his mom bought him a house before he even graduated. He has a home but won't go back. Who do you think he's here to see?"
Huang Ling straightened her back and tugged at her uniform, looking proud: "Maybe we should be more confident. It's our hotel, our excellent service that attracts people."
"Why aren't you more confident then?" Luo Shuang said, then saw Huang Ling pretend to be angry and try to hit her. She dodged and laughed: "Aren't you two good friends?"
"We're done." Huang Ling missed her swing, pulled her hand back and patted her own shoulder. It was still early, so she planned to analyze next week's client information and then go sleep in one of the guest rooms.
"Why are you two like kids?"
Hearing Luo Shuang's words, Huang Ling's mind drifted slightly.
Did she still like Liang Wenpei?
Huang Ling didn't know. She couldn't tell if it was because she'd always been competitive since childhood, so her possessiveness was extremely strong.
Or maybe it was because she was nostalgic and set in her habits—rather than trying someone new, she preferred staying in familiar territory.
Unable to figure it out, Huang Ling simply stopped thinking about it.
She fired back at Luo Shuang: "Why are you saying the same thing as Wen Hanchi?"
Luo Shuang surrendered: "Don't mention him. Bad luck."
Without further banter with Luo Shuang, Huang Ling returned to the office.
The office was quiet, and it seemed to provide fertile ground for her to figure out her true feelings toward Liang Wenpei.
When they were together, she'd said she planned to go abroad in the future, and he said he'd stay at their school to continue his master's.
Neither had interfered with the other's chosen future. Everyone was working hard to walk the path they'd set for themselves, and no one asked the other to sacrifice anything. With perfect mutual understanding, the day after they celebrated their third anniversary, they each returned to their dorms and broke up.
Huang Ling had to admit that there was a moment when she'd been extremely selfish in resenting Liang Wenpei's approach.
She was hurt and angry. She felt he didn't really value the relationship, completely forgetting that her own approach was exactly the same as his.
The two of them didn't break up because someone made a principled mistake—it was that one second they were happily celebrating three years, and the next, the relationship came to an abrupt end.
Perhaps because of that, whenever she saw him again, she'd always pay attention to him, just like when they were dating.
But thinking of the breakup text he sent, she'd childishly want to be at odds with him, refusing to show even a hint that she still pined for him, to keep from losing.
The more she thought about Liang Wenpei, the more muddled her head became.
Huang Ling shook her head, clearing Liang Wenpei from her mind. She pulled up the files of key clients from their last checkout, carefully studied the room layout from that time, took out her notebook, and jotted down all the key points that came to mind.
Her writing hand was startled by the sudden ringing of the office phone, making her characters come out crooked. She crossed them out, picked up the phone, tucked it between her shoulder and cheek, and started writing again.
"Hello."
"Hello, the guest in 1008 says there's a problem with the room equipment."
Huang Ling hung up the phone and stood up.
The other two were still outside finishing their barbecue, so Huang Ling decided to just make the trip herself.
The elevator carried her up to the tenth floor. Huang Ling stopped in front of room 1008, tugged at her hotel uniform, and straightened her appearance before knocking.
"Hello, this is housekeeping. Is there a problem you're experiencing?"
The door took a moment before being opened from the inside.
The person inside had already changed out of the suit he'd been wearing not long ago. His bathrobe hung loose and carelessly, the collar wide open. The familiar scent of black cedar that had clung to him after his earlier shower was gone, replaced by the hotel's standard citrus fragrance.
His hair was dripping wet. Standing this close, Huang Ling could see exactly how the water droplets rolled down the contours of his neck, then slid down a slide on his chest and abdominal muscles.
Liang Wenpei, standing inside the room, didn't look at her. He held the door handle and shifted sideways, making space for her to enter. "There's a problem with the equipment."
Huang Ling stared at his profile, catching every bit of that awkward, guilty look on his face without missing a detail. She didn't believe him. "Lying impotent."
As soon as she said it, a gust of wind hit her face as the door slammed shut. The sound was thunderous.
Huang Ling instinctively closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the door was completely shut. In the past, being treated like this would have only made Huang Ling angry, but this time she felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
She cleared her throat and, putting on airs, asked through the door, "Is the guest all set then? I won't disturb your rest."
Huang Ling turned and walked away, her mood inexplicably good. But she hadn't taken two steps before the door behind her opened again. Before Huang Ling could turn around, a damp, warm hand grabbed her arm and yanked her backward. Her entire body was dragged into the room. Before she could even see who was in front of her, her back slammed into the light switch on the wall.
Most of the lights in the room went out instantly.
A wet hand forcibly tilted her chin up. The only light left was the dim ambient lamp beside the bed. With that faint glow, Huang Ling could barely make out the person in front of her.
She felt him drawing closer and closer, the hot breath scattering across her face growing hotter by the second.
Hormones mixed with citrus scent flooded Huang Ling's nostrils. The more she breathed, the dizzier her head felt.
His nose was already pressed against her cheek, so close that the next step could happen at any moment.
The hotel uniforms were custom-tailored and especially form-fitting. Even without looking down, she could feel herself loosen—the buttons of her jacket being undone. Before he could make his next move, she spoke.
"Did all your legal knowledge go to the dogs?" Huang Ling retorted sarcastically.
The moment the words left her mouth, the hand restraining her suddenly released.
Only then did Huang Ling feel like she could breathe again. Refastening the undone buttons of her jacket, Huang Ling smoothed out her clothes. In that instant, she seemed to transform back into the meticulous, diligent Huang Ling of the workplace.
"If there's nothing else, I won't disturb your rest."
Huang Ling reached for the door. Behind her came his mocking laugh.
"Manager Huang is putting on such a proper act now. What excellent professionalism." Liang Wenpei's voice was gritted through his teeth. "When I went to find you in England, didn't you still sleep with me several times? Now you're building yourself a chastity arch?"
Because of that goddamn "Young Master Lu"? Had she really fallen for someone else?
Liang Wenpei thought back to the second year, when he'd gone to England and she'd worn a jersey and returned to the hotel with a man.
She was someone who couldn't even tell the World Cup apart from club matches, someone who had never been interested in sports.
Had she really fallen for someone else?
Huang Ling had seen his sharp-tongued, venomous side before, but the way he was now was very different from his old silver-tongued self.
Before she could carefully discern the difference between the two, she fired back: "You're the one who came all this way. Who knows who'd be the one embarrassed if this got out."
"Hmph."
Huang Ling heard the cold laugh he forced from his throat. She turned, opened the door, and walked out without acknowledging him.
But this time, as she left, Huang Ling didn't feel the same joy as before.
Back in the office, Luo Shuang was slacking off. Lu Ming had said he was a bit tired and didn't want to play games, and she didn't feel like solo-queueing alone, so she was browsing shopping apps instead. She had uniforms for work, stayed home in sleepwear when off duty, and since returning to single life, there were no more dates—she'd saved a large chunk of her clothing budget. But the money hadn't been saved either; it had all turned into snacks and toys for Da Shun.
Luo Shuang was searching for pet treat recipes when she saw Huang Ling return looking unsettled.
Instinct told Luo Shuang something must have happened. Recalling that she'd seen Liang Wenpei check into the hotel earlier, she quietly followed Huang Ling into her office.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Huang Ling avoided Luo Shuang's concerned gaze, busying herself with tidying her desk. But anyone with eyes could tell she was deflecting.
Luo Shuang didn't believe it. "You saw Liang Wenpei?"
Huang Ling wanted to deny it, but the moment she met Luo Shuang's eyes, she found she couldn't bring herself to lie.
She leaned back, collapsing into her office chair with a long sigh, completely at a loss over what was happening.
"So why did you and Wen Hanchi break up?"
Luo Shuang pulled out the chair across from Huang Ling and sat down, tossing one of the peppermint candies Huang Ling kept on her desk for a pick-me-up into her mouth. "There wasn't really a reason. It was just that he was preparing for the bar exam back then, studying at home all day. I knew he was under a lot of pressure and busy, and at the time I was working here—Manager Zhao had just taken office and was cracking down hard with all his new rules. The inspections were so strict I cried every day and wanted to quit. When I got home, Wen Hanchi was either studying or playing on his phone—he didn't do any housework at all. I couldn't take it anymore, we had a fight, and that was it. After we broke up, I actually came to understand him. It was like finals week—studying and drilling questions at that intensity every day, the anxiety of being afraid you won't pass is torturous. It's not manual labor, but it wears you out. Honestly, in his shoes, I wouldn't want to do housework either—after finishing practice questions and memorizing material, you just don't want to do anything. But back then, my emotions got the better of me and I didn't care about any of that. I just felt like being together was too painful."
"So do you still like him?" Huang Ling asked.
"People have different standards for friends than they do for boyfriends." Luo Shuang shrugged. "If he were just my friend, I could be tolerant of a lot of things. But if he's my boyfriend, I'm going to be picky and demanding. What about you, though? What's going on with you and Liang Wenpei?"
Huang Ling didn't know how to describe what she truly felt inside. "Forget it—work!"
Seeing her instantly snap out of her troubled state and transform into someone buzzing with energy, Luo Shuang quickly tried to stop her. "No, wait—keep talking to me."
"Fine." Huang Ling flipped open her notebook. "This client is extremely sensitive to smells, so we'll need to switch out all the body wash, hand soap, and everything else to unscented versions…"
"Stop, don't tell me any more." Luo Shuang covered her ears.