Xiang Yuanyuan and Yang Chenguang did not stay long before they each left. Du Ruo returned to his room to sleep; he was in urgent need of rest. Climbing the mountain in the morning had consumed a great deal of his physical strength, and the descent had been even more thrilling. If he did not rest now, Du Ruo suspected his Essence, Qi, and Spirit attributes would drop below 8 again.
However, Du Ruo only rested for a little over an hour before getting up.
"It seems that going for mountain running exercises right now is still a bit too much. Although the effect is good, it is also too exhausting."
Getting up from the bed, Du Ruo felt even more exhausted than before he slept, his whole body aching, though his mind felt much better.
Looking at the various scratches on his arms and legs, Du Ruo thought for a moment and found a pair of long pants and a long-sleeved shirt to wear. Du Ruo's current clothes were mostly casual and breathable; although wearing long sleeves and pants looked a bit strange, he did not feel overly hot.
After eating a meal at the small shop nearby, Du Ruo went to the Bed and Breakfast front desk, sitting in the lobby playing on his phone while enjoying the air conditioning. After all, he was the Boss here, and since Yang Ling had just taken over, he might be able to help out if there was anything needed.
"Hey, I'm asking you guys, are you okay? We haven't even started climbing the mountain yet, and you all look so listless. I told you to practice martial arts with me, but you wouldn't listen. Now you're struggling, aren't you?"
Just as Du Ruo was sitting in the lobby feeling bored, a man outside pushed open the glass door of the lobby. After opening it, he didn't come in immediately but stepped aside to let his companions enter, all the while talking non-stop.
"Who says I'm struggling? I'm just a bit carsick. It's just a small Mount Huang; you'll see how I conquer it tomorrow."
Three men and two women walked in behind him. One of them had a pale face but refused to admit defeat, and the other two also looked like they hadn't rested well.
"You still have the nerve to say that? If you hadn't insisted on waiting for the sunrise to practice boxing on Mount Yandang yesterday, would we have failed to get a good night's sleep?"
One of the girls rolled her eyes at the man who opened the door and said unhappily.
"Hello, are you Xingyi Qiangzi?"
At this moment, Yang Ling, who was sitting at the front desk, spoke up to inquire, interrupting the conversation of the group of six.
"Yes, I am Xingyi Qiangzi. We booked the room yesterday and chatted online. Can we check in now?"
The man who opened the door, that is, Xingyi Qiangzi, waited for everyone to enter before coming to Yang Ling to start the check-in process.
Hearing the name Xingyi Qiangzi, Du Ruo couldn't help but take a few extra looks at him.
The group of six were all wearing sun-protective clothing and sun hats, carrying small backpacks, and holding trekking poles. They all looked quite young, either university students or young people who had just graduated.
"Xiao Ling, let me take them to their room."
Just as they finished registering, two more people walked in from outside. They looked like tourists who had also booked rooms. At this moment, Du Ruo took the initiative to walk to the front desk, letting Yang Ling go to receive the newly arrived guests.
"Alright, Boss. They are staying in the detached house number 888. Please trouble yourself to take them over."
Seeing Du Ruo take the initiative, Yang Ling agreed and told the young people to follow Du Ruo.
"So you're the Boss here."
Along the way, the others didn't seem to have much interest in chatting, and one even looked like they were too sleepy to keep their eyes open, following the group's footsteps mechanically. Only the one with the screen name Xingyi Qiangzi was full of energy, looking around while not forgetting to chat with Du Ruo.
"Hmm, are you university students? How come they look a bit..."
Since the other party was chatting, Du Ruo, as the Boss, couldn't show a bad attitude, so he walked and chatted with him with a smile.
"It's nothing, they just didn't sleep well. We are university students. Since we don't have classes this week, we decided to travel together to challenge climbing three mountains in five days."
"Mount Lu, Mount Yandang, and Mount Huang?"
"Yes, we have already finished climbing the first two. We plan to rest in the room for a while, wash up, then buy tickets in the afternoon to climb Mount Huang, climb through the night, watch the sunrise tomorrow morning, and then descend the mountain. We'll return here tomorrow morning to rest and head back to university in the afternoon."
Qiangzi explained their plan.
"Travel commando?"
After hearing this, Du Ruo felt his scalp tingle. It wasn't that he admired their energy or ideas, but he was simply afraid that these people wouldn't be able to return after going up the mountain this evening.
This was no joke. Climbing a mountain at night already carried a certain level of danger and required high mental concentration. With everyone except this guy named Qiangzi looking so listless, Du Ruo was truly worried they might have an accident. After all, if something happened, it would only add trouble to his Bed and Breakfast, but he didn't know how to persuade them.
"Yes, yes, yes, that's the popular travel commando style. I didn't expect the Boss to know so much! But Boss, you look a bit weak. Do you want to practice martial arts with me?"
Qiangzi looked at Du Ruo's somewhat pale face and the fact that he was wearing long sleeves and pants in the summer, looking like he was afraid of the cold. He felt that Du Ruo must be very weak, so he puffed out his chest while speaking, trying to look strong.
"Practice martial arts?"
"Yes, practice martial arts. I practice Xing Yi Quan. Boss, do you want to practice with me? I guarantee that after practicing for a while, your body will be strong. Look at me, I've been climbing mountains for several days and I'm perfectly fine, still full of energy."
"Xing Yi Quan?"
"Boss, what's with that expression? Xing Yi Quan is very powerful. How about it? Do you want to learn from me? I'll teach you for free. I spent six thousand in tuition fees to learn it back then."
Qiangzi became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, clenching his fist to make his biceps bulge and waving them in front of Du Ruo.
"Ahem, well, let's put Xing Yi Quan aside for now. I just think your classmates might not be able to climb the mountain tonight. The temperature on the mountain is more than ten degrees lower than here, especially at night. Did you bring long sleeves and pants?"
Du Ruo felt he was about to lose control of his expression. He really didn't expect this university student to want to teach him martial arts, and Xing Yi Quan at that.
He hurriedly coughed and changed the subject, signaling Qiangzi to pay attention to the state of his companions.
"It's fine, this bit of cold is nothing. How could someone who practices martial arts be afraid of the cold? My classmates will be fine too. Boss, you don't need to worry. We are doing great; they are just a bit carsick. After sleeping for two hours, they will be full of energy again."
Qiangzi didn't care at all and, unwilling to give up, asked Du Ruo again: "Boss, are you really not going to learn martial arts from me? I'm really not charging any money."
"No, no, I'm not suitable for strenuous exercise recently. We've arrived at the room. You can go in yourselves. If you have any questions, just send a message to the front desk."
Seeing the other party's attitude, Du Ruo knew that these university students wouldn't listen to advice. Modern university students were very individualistic and had their own strong opinions; ordinary persuasion was useless. Du Ruo decided not to say anything more; he had brought them here, and he couldn't be bothered to care anymore.
This detached house of the Bed and Breakfast had three or four rooms, which was very suitable for team building or large families to stay in, while the guest rooms were individual rooms suitable for couples or small families. Relatively speaking, it really wasn't expensive, so even in the off-season for tourism, it had a high occupancy rate.
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