Early the next morning, Yao Zhen was sleeping soundly when he was woken by a phone call. The manager was calling for help, saying a crowd of stranded tourists was causing a scene in the lobby and asking him to come down.
The young master washed up and went downstairs grumbling. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator and saw the massive crowd, his head started to ache.
Over the past two days, due to the sudden typhoon, small hotels and guesthouses on the island had suffered severe damage, and many were without power. Several large resorts had been requisitioned by the local government to house tourists, including this one.
Since the government was paying, the people placed here didn’t have to spend their own money, but their rooms were the lowest tier—whole families squeezed into one room. They couldn’t enjoy the full hotel services unless they paid out of pocket, and they were unhappy. Meanwhile, the original guests felt their space was being invaded, that they’d wasted their money, and weren’t getting the service they deserved. They were unhappy too.
Listening to them argue in a chaotic mess, Yao Zhen just felt it was a hassle and wanted to sneak back upstairs and play dead. The manager kept explaining that the typhoon was an “act of God” and the hotel would protect everyone’s interests, but no one believed him.
Someone recognized Yao Zhen as the manager and turned their anger toward him. “We paid money and your service is lacking. Is it too much to ask for compensation?”
Yao Zhen wasn’t in the mood to argue. He said directly, “The hotel is full, we can’t upgrade rooms. We can issue vouchers as compensation, but refunding fees or paying out cash is impossible. If you keep causing a scene, we’ll just have to call the police.”
He knew these people were just trying to extort money. He wasn’t going to indulge them; if this crappy hotel went bankrupt, it’d be even better—he wouldn’t have to stay here anymore.
His tone and attitude were too aggressive, instantly enraging the crowd. “What kind of attitude is that from the hotel?!”
The verbal conflict escalated quickly. Someone with a hot temper even tried to swing at him. The security guards failed to stop him, but just as a fist reached Yao Zhen’s face, a hand reached out from behind him and firmly caught the man’s wrist.
Liang Jiming, appearing out of nowhere, forced the man to a halt and warned coldly, “This isn’t the mainland. If you actually lay a hand on him, we can sue you until you’re bankrupt. Are you planning on going to jail here?”
Intimidated, the man showed a flash of panic. He hesitated and took a step back, but wouldn’t back down verbally: “So your hotel is the local bully here? You think you can just brush us off with a few vouchers?!”
“Airport closures, airline delays, and hotel rooms being requisitioned are all beyond the hotel’s control.” Liang Jiming stated the facts flatly. “As long as basic services are provided, your demand for cash compensation lacks a reasonable basis and will not be supported. Making a scene won’t help.”
Yao Zhen glanced at him. If he didn’t know how much Liang Jiming despised him—and that there was no way he’d normally step in to help—he would have suspected the guy had recovered his memory.
The troublemaker was indignant. “Who are you? Their service is bad, they have to pay!”
“Harassing us won’t solve the problem,” Liang Jiming’s voice was steady and brook no argument. “If you continue to use these gather-and-pressure tactics to make unreasonable demands, the nature of this situation will change. The hotel has every reason to seek legal means to maintain order. For guests eager to leave, this will only add unnecessary trouble and records. Think carefully.”
Perhaps his personal aura was too strong; even simple words coming from his mouth carried immense weight. The man who had tried to throw a punch opened his mouth but didn’t dare shout again.
The manager seized the chance to say the vouchers had no restrictions on use and promised to add more staff to ensure service during the stay. The atmosphere was no longer as hostile. As the manager explained further, the crowd began to disperse. Once the first person headed to the front desk to claim a voucher, others quickly followed.
A farce was thus resolved by a few words from Liang Jiming.
Liang Jiming turned his gaze to Yao Zhen. “It’s settled.”
Yao Zhen was stunned for a moment. He asked, “…Did you remember something?”
Liang Jiming paused, catching the key note in his tone. “Do you really not want me to remember?”
“It’s not about what I want,” Yao Zhen said coldly. “I’m dying for you to remember. My Ah-Ming wouldn’t be so heartless as to not want me anymore and tell me to go back.”
He performed the mix of spite and slight grievance so well that Liang Jiming began to feel uncertain again. Yao Zhen huffed and turned his face away.
“…” Liang Jiming decided to change the subject. “I need a phone.”
Yao Zhen was impressed by how shamelessly he could accept “soft rice” (living off a partner). The young master curled his lip and called Xiao Wei to go buy one.
The manager came over at the right time. The trouble was mostly over, but there was still a pile of documents waiting for Yao Zhen’s signature—he was, after all, the person in charge.
Yao Zhen was annoyed. “Fine, fine, let’s go to the office.” He turned and warned Liang Jiming, “Baby, wait for me in the room. No wandering off.” He wouldn’t miss a chance to take a verbal jab.
Liang Jiming acted as if he didn’t hear. As soon as Yao Zhen left, he turned and walked out of the hotel, planning to take a walk.
The wind was even lighter that day; the typhoon weather would likely pass completely soon. His mind was still a blank slate; everything around him felt entirely alien.
Walking out the main entrance, he found a commercial street a short distance away, mostly small shops selling local products. Liang Jiming stood at the street corner, staring at the traffic light that changed every few seconds, lost in thought.
Suddenly, a voice called from behind: “Excuse me, sir?”
He turned around, looking confused. It was a shopkeeper who asked in heavily accented Chinese, “You came to buy noise-canceling earplugs a few days ago? My shop didn’t have them then, and I said I’d get them for you the next morning. You never came back. Do you still want them?”
Liang Jiming’s expression flickered. He asked, “You’ve seen me before?”
The shopkeeper looked him over, confirming he hadn’t mistaken his man, and nodded. “You came in saying you needed noise-canceling earplugs for a long-haul flight. My shop is the only one around here that sells them. You said you were leaving the island the next morning, so I specifically went to the warehouse to find a pair for you.”
Liang Jiming’s eyes narrowed… He was originally planning to leave this place?
……….
Back in the office, Yao Zhen finished signing the documents with lightning speed, his signature looking more like chaotic scribbles, and dismissed the manager.
Tossing the pen aside, he seemed to remember something as he stood up. He called the manager back and warned: “The man I rescued is one of mine now. If he asks any of you, the official story is that he came here with me. You don’t know anything else. Got it?”
The manager felt a surge of panic. This young master sent from the corporate headquarters was unreliable and a headache to deal with on a normal day, but now he wanted to deliberately hide someone’s identity? Was this even legal?
Yao Zhen shot him a sidelong glance. “What, you have a problem with that?”
The manager stammered, “N-no, sir.”
“Then do as I say,” Yao Zhen commanded.
“Understood…” the manager replied.
As Yao Zhen walked out of the office, he saw his assistant returning and asked, “Where is he?”
Xiao Wei blinked in confusion. “I just got back with the phone. I went upstairs to knock, but no one was in the room. I assumed he was here with you, Young Master.”
Yao Zhen furrowed his brows. So disobedient. I told him not to wander off, and where did he go now?
Liang Jiming returned to the hotel, and just as he reached the front courtyard, he saw Yao Zhen hurrying out. He stopped in his tracks, watching the man who claimed to be his lover stride toward him, but he stayed rooted to the spot.
“Where did you go?” Yao Zhen’s voice carried a hint of reproach, his face a mask of worry.
And he was worried. If Liang Jiming just ran off like that, his game would be over before it even started. How boring would that be?
Liang Jiming looked at him, silent for a moment, before saying, “Our affair was discovered by your father, you were exiled here, and I followed you?”
“Yes,” Yao Zhen said with an innocent face. “What’s wrong?”
Liang Jiming asked, “Then why was I planning to leave?”
Yao Zhen: “…You were leaving?”
Liang Jiming said calmly, “I originally planned to take a long-haul flight out of here the day after the accident.”
Yao Zhen’s heart skipped a beat. For a second, he thought the man had remembered everything, but he quickly realized something was off. If Liang Jiming had actually remembered, he would have bolted already instead of standing here arguing.
He quickly steadied his mind. His eyes first showed confusion, then a look of utter disbelief. “You were going to leave? Fly where?”
“…” Liang Jiming wanted to ask that too. Where was he going?
He suspected the young master in front of him was spinning a web of lies, but Yao Zhen’s reaction wasn’t the guilt of being caught; it was genuine shock and incredulity.
Liang Jiming’s brows knitted slightly.
Yao Zhen took a breath and said self-mockingly, “So that fight we had… you had already decided to leave. You really didn’t want me anymore.”
Liang Jiming watched as Yao Zhen’s eyes slowly reddened. “…” Suddenly, he was at a loss for words.
Yao Zhen’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly, looking as if he were about to cry. In terms of acting, while he wasn’t professionally trained, he had been a master at playing the victim and acting pitiful to fool his parents since he was a kid. Tricking an amnesiac “idiot” was child’s play.
His tears pooled perfectly in his eyes, threatening to fall but holding back. He choked out, “No wonder you told me to go back yesterday. You had planned to abandon me all along. Are you actually faking the amnesia? Are you pretending not to know me just so you can break up with me?”
The phrase “the guilty party filing the suit first” was perfectly embodied by Yao Zhen.
Liang Jiming’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “No.”
He didn’t even know what he was denying. When he first walked back, he was almost certain he was being played by this young master. But now, under the tearful accusation of Yao Zhen, he became uncertain again. He even felt a flicker of guilt.
If Yao Zhen wasn’t lying, and he had forgotten the man only to repeatedly doubt him… wasn’t that actually quite cruel?
Yao Zhen lowered his head, forcefully suppressing a laugh that was about to break his character. When he looked up again, he still had that teary, aggrieved look. He gazed at Liang Jiming: “Do you really not want me anymore?”
Liang Jiming felt uncomfortable under that gaze. He couldn’t understand what kind of trouble he had invited upon himself before the memory loss. “It’s not that….”
Even if he said he didn’t want him now, he didn’t know where he could go. Better to just take it one step at a time.
He’d just eat the “soft rice” for now.