The inner side of the gold earring had a small letter “h,” almost unnoticeable unless viewed closely or under specific lighting conditions. It was uncertain whether it was an abbreviation of the earring’s brand or the owner’s intentionally engraved name.
Examining the shimmering little trinket in his palm, the gold had a unique, heavy texture and a golden sheen. A pair would be worth even more; a single earring was practically useless unless melted and sold to a gold shop.
Ningma shook his head, wondering how to deal with the earring, it would be inappropriate to keep it. Handing it to the hotel might make it easier to find the owner, assuming the person who lost the earring even cared.
Alternatively, he could put it back where he found it. But what if the whereabouts of the other earring were investigated? Adhering to the principle of “less trouble is better,” most troubles arise from proactive actions.
Ningma inserted the earring back into the painting, examining it once more. He had to admit, it didn’t look out of place on the medieval woman in the picture; it even made her look more lively with the added embellishment.
He looked out the window. Besides the continuing mountain rain, dusk was gradually fading, and the distant mountains were shrouded in a dark undertone, with night about to fall.
After tidying up a bit, Ningma changed into some casual home wear. The afternoon’s excitement combined with three hours of sleep made him feel particularly hungry. He took the elevator down to the ground floor, passed through the lobby, and once again went up to the second floor of the podium building, heading straight for the Chinese restaurant without a second thought.
He sat in the same seat as at noon, with a pot of green tea. In the rising fragrance of the tea, he ordered a few dishes. While waiting for the food, he looked around the restaurant. Compared to noon, there was one more occupied table, belonging to the couple who had been clamoring to leave early in the morning.
Besides them, the mother and child and the two middle-aged businessmen from noon had also chosen the same spots. What was strange, however, was that their tables were a mess of dishes, yet they showed no sign of leaving, as if waiting for something.
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[Please go to the source web page to read, the following content is automatically replaced to prevent collection] You – me, big – small, more – less, up – down, left – right….
Perhaps they just didn’t know how to spend the rest of their time. The hotel before reopening felt like an isolated island. Although they could connect with the outside world at any time through their phones, the physical isolation still made it difficult to feel at peace.
Ningma sipped the light tea, an ordinary jasmine tea. Its bland taste was incomparable to the pine tea in his room. He wondered if the restaurant could order the same kind?
“Excuse me,” he waved to a waiter and was told that there was no so-called “pine tea,” so he had to lightly turn his head towards the window, feeling a little irritable in the spreading night.
“Uncle,” he was interrupted by a child’s voice, “are you a foreigner? Can you speak English?”
Ningma turned around to see a seven or eight-year-old girl, her face eager, bouncing out words one by one: “hello, I’m Liuxiaonan.”
Deep features, a face with sharp angles, especially a pair of eyes like carved knives. Despite the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and the silver threads mixed in his black hair, he still had an aristocratic air, especially in the elegant, ancient-style environment, making him look even more exotic.
But he didn’t deny it, “No, little friend,” Ningma smiled, “I’m not a foreigner, just from an ethnic minority.”
“Ethnic minority?” The little girl looked enlightened. “What ethnic minority are you?”
“Qiang people,” Ningma looked up and noticed that the girl’s mother was staring at them with a slightly nervous expression. He smiled to indicate that it was okay, and then looked down at the little girl and said kindly, “Are you guessing that I’m a foreigner so you can practice your spoken English? Although I’m not, my English is still pretty good, how about we chat in English for a bit?”
The little girl immediately became excited again, “yes, sir,” with a childish voice, “may I ask your name?”
One big and one small conversed in English. Considering she was only of school age, it was unexpected that she could spit out a string of sentences with a somewhat childish tone. Her vocabulary was not inferior to that of children who were ostensibly native English speakers. Had domestic early childhood training reached such a level?
Before long, the food was served. The little girl looked back at her mother, who gave her a look, seemingly as prearranged. The little girl immediately turned around and ran back with a string of “nice to meet you’s.”
Ningma smiled. He didn’t expect that staying in a foreign country for a few years would mean that he would still use the language of another country after returning. As he ladled rice, his eyes swept over the mother and child across from him. The little girl was very excited, talking non-stop in a low voice, and the mother was looking at her child with affection.
He didn’t know if it was just an illusion, but the food in the evening seemed much more delicious than during the day, especially the stir-fried bitter greens with cured meat, which were cooked just right. Before long, he had already eaten two bowls of rice.
He was hesitating whether to have another bowl, even though it went against his usual eating habits when he suddenly noticed one of the two businessmen sitting in the corner walk around the tables and chairs towards him.
“Excuse me, sir, may I ask, are you a local?”
The man was wearing a Polo polo shirt and an Ebo watch. He was also in his forties, with his hair combed neatly. Although his words were respectful, they carried an undeniable tone.
Ningma shook his head. “No, I’m also here for tourism.” Sometimes a kind lie can avoid most of the trouble.
“Hmm,” the middle-aged man seemed to understand and didn’t beat around the bush. “Well then, sorry to bother you,” he said, and left directly.
Ningma noticed out of the corner of his eye that the other, slightly older man also stood up. After his companion returned, the two didn’t linger and left the restaurant together.
At the same time, the mother and child sitting diagonally across from him also got up to leave. The little friend specifically looked this way, giving Ningma a playful smile when their eyes met.
Being interrupted during his meal made him lose his appetite, so he simply pushed away his dishes and leaned back in his chair with satisfaction. He sat for a while, preparing to pay the bill and leave, when the waiter brought over a small bowl.
Unlike the “pine mushroom” at noon, this small bowl contained a layer of light egg-yolk-colored condensed milk, sprinkled with a ring of thin white crumbs on top. “This is a special dessert from the hotel, please enjoy.”
He wanted to ask what the dark stuff at the bottom was, but the waiter walked away quickly. Ningma picked up a piece. As he brought it closer, a faint pine resin fragrance wafted over, with the same ingenuity as the “pine mushroom” soup he had at noon.
Sure enough, it had a faint pine mushroom aroma upon entry, which couldn’t be concealed even when covered in dairy products. The fragrance, richness, and taste were stimulated by the taste buds in his mouth just right.
The only downside was that there was too little, otherwise, the aftertaste of this divine delicacy would be even longer.
After tasting the amazing dessert, there was no reason to stay. Ningma looked at the time, a little past 8 PM. He left the restaurant and returned to the lobby, unexpectedly encountering the day manager whom he saw in the nighttime lobby.
“Mr. Ningma,” Manager Lunzhu greeted him, “Good evening.”
If he remembered correctly, the hotel lobby managers were on a rotating shift system. Logically, she shouldn’t be here, but he still responded with a smile, “Good evening. By the way, I wanted to ask, is the road to the hotel open yet?”
“I’m sorry,” Manager Lunzhu said apologetically, “As far as we know, it’s still not. If there’s any news about the road opening, I’ll let you know as soon as possible.”
“Hmm,” although he could guess the answer, he was still a little depressed.
“The hotel is showing the latest movie in the multi-function entertainment hall tonight,” the lobby manager introduced, “If you go now, you should only miss the beginning.”
“Movie?” That was a bit unexpected. It was still early, so it wouldn’t be bad to watch a movie to pass the time.
“Yes,” the lobby manager pointed to the passage across the lobby, “Just go straight from there, and there are our staff members at the entrance.”
“Okay, thank you,” Ningma turned and walked towards the passage. After taking two steps, he suddenly remembered something. “By the way, the lobby manager from last night, surnamed Huang, why isn’t he here tonight?”
“Oh,” Manager Mingzhu still had a professional smile on her face, “Manager Huang is on a business trip today and I’m covering for him for two days.”