“He’s on a business trip?” Ningma asked with some surprise, “Isn’t the road blocked?”
“He left at dawn,” Lobby Manager Lunzhu explained. “There hadn’t been a landslide on the mountain yet. Any later and it might have been dangerous.”
“I see… Okay…” Somewhat disappointed, but since the person wasn’t at the hotel, there was no point in pursuing it. He asked again, “Where is the multi-function hall you mentioned earlier?”
“This way,” the manager pointed to another aisle in the lobby. “Just keep walking down there and you’ll see it. We have staff serving at the entrance.”
“Oh, okay,” Ningma turned around. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” the Lobby Manager watched the guest’s figure disappear at the end of the aisle.
Ningma walked down the aisle, his feet sinking into the soft carpet. The walls were covered in light blue wallpaper, and the overhead lights were soft. The aisle was longer than he expected. As he walked, he thought about the night manager Huang Caide, his bulging belly, his humble attitude, and the smile that was always on his face.
He’s on a business trip? Before dawn?
If he remembered correctly, they had checked the scene of the fall together around 4:30 a.m. Then, less than an hour later, he left the hotel on a business trip? Where did he go on a business trip?
And what about the injured? Were they taken to the hospital? Why hadn’t he heard the sirens of an ambulance from beginning to end?
Not to mention that they were both lobby managers. If one had a business trip planned, wouldn’t the other know? Didn’t the one he just asked this morning say he was resting in his room?
Ningma shook his head. He didn’t think a five-star hotel would be so disorganized. It might be possible in a small hotel, though.
At the end of the aisle, the space suddenly opened up into a spacious integrated leisure area. In addition to the most conspicuous “Multi-function Video Room,” there was also an indoor tennis court, a gym, an arcade, a chess and card room, and a sizable children’s playground, all separated by transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, making everything clear at a glance.
However, he didn’t see many guests. Maybe they were all watching a movie?
The hotel staff member outside the video room was the tall local young man who had delivered his luggage yesterday. If he remembered correctly, his name was Luo Kang?
Luo Kang watched Ningma walking through the passage. As he got closer, his smile widened. “Mr. Ningma, good evening. Are you here to watch a movie too?”
A simple smile is often the most contagious. Ningma smiled involuntarily. “Oh, it’s you. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, isn’t the road out of the hotel blocked?” Luo Kang said with a smile. “Since there are no guests leaving, the manager asked me to serve here tonight.”
“That’s right,” Ningma realized. He heard the sound system characteristic of a movie theater coming from inside the heavy curtains. “Has the movie started?”
Luo Kang apologized with a smile. “Almost ten minutes more.”
“Ten minutes, it’s okay,” Ningma joked. “Don’t need to buy a ticket, right?”
“Of course not,” Luo Kang stepped aside. “Please, sir.”
Ningma smiled and walked over, his peripheral vision catching the hand the attendant extended – wearing white gloves, and not as big as he had imagined. At least not big enough to palm a basketball.
Inside the curtain, it was pitch black. Fortunately, the movie projected on the back screen had changed to a different scene. Once his eyes adjusted to the dark environment, he realized the “theater” was much smaller than he had imagined.
Of course, it couldn’t compare to a real movie theater. Roughly counting, there were only seven or eight rows of seats, with five or six seats in each row, very close together. There were no armrests between the seats, more like a multi-person sofa.
Some audience members had already taken their seats, almost every row had someone. Except for the last row which was empty. In the constantly flickering light, it was hard to make out who was who. Perhaps when the movie started and the overhead lights came on.
Ningma walked to the last row and chose a seat in the middle, noting the focused light projected onto the screen from the projector overhead.
The movie seemed to be a modern suspense drama. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was “Limited Time Interrogation,” which had been widely praised by the media recently. Ningma had read the original book when he was bored. The story wasn’t complicated. It revolved around a missing 140 million RMT in cash and the financial director who was the most likely to have embezzled it. They had to find the cash in just over ten hours, but there wasn’t enough evidence to justify a limited-time interrogation.
In short, the plot was full of twists and turns, and unexpected reversals. The novel was very good, but he heard that those who had seen the film adaptation said it lacked some of the flavor of the original book. Fortunately, the audience still liked it, and it received a high rating on mainstream websites.
He might as well make up for this gap in film and television adaptations tonight, and also determine whether or not it was the same as some film critics on the internet said, in their words, a bit “unsatisfactory.”
In the small movie theater, or rather “movie screening room” to be more precise, there were people sitting in every row, about fifteen people in total. It seemed that there were more tourists stranded in the hotel than he had imagined. The seats were spaced unevenly, and from the last row, the gaps were very wide.
The projected screen had some light bleed, and the resolution wasn’t very high, but it didn’t affect the viewing experience. Especially since it was a narrative-based subject matter, it didn’t rely on full-screen special effects to attract attention. Lowering the standards, it was better to think of it as a 100-inch projection TV.
A few minutes later, Ningma was immersed in the light and shadows. After a few more minutes, his brain merged with the words he had read, and he began to actively anticipate the plot that would unfold next.
Just then, he caught a glimpse of someone entering from the entrance. At first, he didn’t pay much attention to it, until a question came from very close to his ear.
Just listening to the voice, he already judged her to be in the category of beauty, because only good-looking girls would subjectively or deliberately use the back of their throats to speak, the effect of the voice was similar to the soft and clear sound of adolescence, which had a unique attraction to an adult man’s ear.
“Excuse me, is seating here assigned by seat number?”
Her breath was like orchids, and her voice was as melodious as an oriole. Just from the voice, one could almost let their imagination run wild.
Why didn’t she ask nearby, why did she walk to the last row? Ningma was currently immersed in the movie, although the sudden female voice was a bit distracting – he slightly turned his head to take a look:
Indeed, it was the same as his first reaction. If beauties had levels, graded on a scale of ten, the one next to him who knowingly asked could at least score an 8.
Even in the dimly lit theater, the constantly changing shadows reflected a youthful and beautiful face. Her black hair naturally fell, partially covering a charming face that was very masculine. Lightly applying makeup, not hiding her bright eyes and white teeth, made her look even more pitiful and quiet.
She transcended the category of ordinary beauty, especially in a mountainous scenic area. It would have been more natural to see her in a high-end office building in an international city.
“No, it’s open seating.”
Ningma replied simply, his eyes returning to the big screen. The story in the movie had just passed a small climax, and he felt that it wasn’t as “unsatisfactory” as the online reviews said. On the contrary, it had more allegorical details that made it more worth watching.
“Thank you!”
Then she sat in the vacant seat next to him, a straight-line distance of about less than 50cm. A faint fragrance was vaguely present. Ningma stared straight ahead, but his nose recognized it as a high-end Chanel product.
Recognizing the grade of perfume is not complicated, if you can smell the fragrance, it will definitely not be very good, the really high-end ones, you will fall into addiction without realizing it…