Chapter 39: Qiong City
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
After falling for the first house, the rest felt a little underwhelming. It was true—love at first sight always had the upper hand.
The two circled back to the original sales office. Since closing time was near, everything was rushed. Lin Su barely had time to process what was happening that important day before Xiaowei handed him a small golden hammer tied with a red bow.
The essential “smash the golden egg” ritual for buying a house. But Lin Su glanced at it and didn’t see any spectacular prizes. The slogan shouting felt silly. He was about to refuse when he turned and saw Shi Wenze raising his phone toward him with a goofy yet adorable smile. That instant, Lin Su’s heart softened, and he abandoned his principles. Maybe smashing the egg wasn’t so bad after all.
Amid the applause, Lin Su completed his first golden egg smash. His luck was undeniable—he won a six-day, seven-night double occupancy stay in a super-luxury five-star hotel in Qiong City.
What a coincidence—he was heading to Qiong City on a business trip tomorrow, and today he’d lucked into a double suite. Shi Wenze had worried before that Lin Su might not be comfortable in a cheap single hotel room on the trip and thought about upgrading out of pocket. Now that money was saved, and Xu You could enjoy the trip, too—though whether he wanted to was another question.
After booking the room, Shi Wenze took Lin Su back to Qinghu Garden. Si Longqiu was watching TV in the living room. Surprised to see her son, she asked, “Why are you back?”
Lin Su was momentarily speechless. Why can’t I come back? Am I not my mother’s child?
He said, “I’m here to pack. Heading to Qiong City tomorrow.”
“Going with Xiao Shi?” Si Longqiu said with an I knew it expression before turning back to her melodramatic romance show, casually reminding, “Be safe.”
Lin Su had to point out, “He hasn’t caught me yet.”
Si Longqiu stared at the heroine on TV, crying in the rain. “Ha ha ha ha ha.”
Lin Su took a deep breath. Forget it—the show was probably too ridiculous to analyze. Packing was more important.
He dragged out a suitcase from the closet. Qiong City was a coastal tourist spot; most visitors wore bright, colorful shorts. But an artist had standards. Lin Lu stood in the doorway, munching on an apple. “How many days are you going? Why pack so many T-shirts?”
“Don’t know.” Lin Su wasn’t good at folding clothes and forced his sister to help. With an apple in her mouth, Lin Lu helped with one hand while mumbling, “Don’t know?”
Lin Su kept his cool, “Yeah, it’s a secret.”
Lin Lu was stunned by her brother’s “insider” cold tone. Public servant families were definitely mysterious. Impressive.
Before they finished packing, a polite knock came at the window. A small yellow-clad monster struggled down from the delivery truck with a large shopping bag. “Hello, please sign here!”
Lin Su opened it and quickly scanned to pay but held onto the receipt for a long time. Qingji waited, puzzled. “Is there something wrong with my service?”
“No,” Lin Su said. “I just feel weird that you didn’t try to ‘steal’ customers from SF Express this time. Feels like something’s missing in the usual shopping ritual.”
The yellow-clad monster complained sourly, “We got officially warned by the postal authorities for unfair competition—attacking rivals behind their backs. Even if they don’t know, it’s inappropriate. I was fined five hundred yuan last month.”
Clearly, the monster committee was seriously working on peaceful coexistence between monsters and humans.
After Qingji left, Lin Lu read the promotion slip aloud. “Even faster than that courier everyone knows, by half a day. What’s the difference between self-deception and naming names outright?”
“Not interested,” Lin Su said, dumping a pile of stuff from the bag—including but not limited to dinosaur pajamas, dinosaur underwear, dinosaur slippers, and a dinosaur mug.
“Is this what you’re taking on the trip?” Lin Lu picked up a T-shirt and inspected it. “So ugly. Why so realistic?”
The siblings shared a strong genetic sense of style. Lin Su thought it was a miracle these products existed at all. But Shi Wenze liked them. His boxers were even detailed to the broken Chinese virtual bone dragon in the theropod suborder, so Lin Su had to have at least one sauropod T-shirt to keep the balance.
Lin Lu said, “Okay, no more. I don’t want to hear about grown men’s joys anymore.”
Lin Su tossed her the clothes. “Go age them. Don’t let him know I bought them on purpose.”
Lin Lu said, “You’re so fake.”
Lin Su offered, “A thousand bucks.”
Lin Lu replied, “You’re on!”
She tossed away the apple core, grabbed some clothes, and dashed out the window. The little white dragon, with brother’s battle robe in its mouth, darted skillfully through the clouds. The brand-new tags flapped in the wind, stinging her face.
Monsters out for a walk hurried out of the way, afraid of being knocked over by the speeding dragon. Only one still-not-fully-grown qilin cub was dozing by the roadside when the dragon’s whipping tail splashed water on his face. Annoyed, he charged after the dragon, his black, lightning-wreathed body cutting through gusts of wind. He suddenly slammed on the brakes and stood majestically in front of the white dragon. “You—”
The white dragon wasn’t quick enough and crashed solidly into him. Bang.
Both monsters winced in pain, clutching their noses as they crouched for a long moment. The qilin cub was about to scold the white dragon but realized it was a little girl and weak in combat. He gave a proud “hmph” and prepared to leave. But the white dragon called out politely, “Can you give your sister some lightning?”
The qilin cub froze. He stamped his front hoof on the clothes, turning them into a puff of black lightning, and stalked off without a word. Mission accomplished, the white dragon returned to the Qinghu villa with the clothes, ran them through the washer and sanitizer, and dried them. The aging effect was truly impressive.
At two a.m., Lin Lu returned the clothes to her brother, sighing, “You’re such a schemer… handsome and good at acting. Have a safe trip, bye-bye!”
Everyone kept reminding them to be safe. No one really believed the sad truth—that none of them had been in love yet. The miserable, misunderstood sorrow flowed like a tide at midnight. The only thing that didn’t fit the mood was the dinosaur pajamas. No matter how you looked at those bloodthirsty mouths, they just didn’t have the right to sadness. Lin Su struggled for half an hour but finally decided to let it go and get some good sleep. He dreamed all night about the Jurassic.
Shi Wenze lay tangled in a pile of thick vines in a primeval forest, pointing at a nearby dinosaur. “Is that a Goby Microhorn or a Carnivorous Bovine Dragon?”
Who would have thought? Wilderness, bondage, antennae, beast form—and in the end, it turned out to be a science channel.
Lin Su was tormented by dinosaurs all night and woke up the next day still dizzy when they arrived at the airport. Xu You’s energy was visibly low, too, until they discovered they were flying first class.
“No way,” Xu You exclaimed, flipping his boarding pass over and over. “Our department has that kind of perk?”
“Nope, tickets have been cheap lately.” Shi Wenze hooked his arm through Xu You’s. “Lin Su and I actually won ours on merit, so we’re using them this time. The department only has to reimburse your ticket and hotel. Of course, you’re welcome to stay with us if you want.”
Xu You scowled. “You’re sick. Why would I want to be a witness to your love story? I’m staying at a 188-yuan budget hotel!”
“Fine, suit yourself.” Shi Wenze said, “I heard that suite goes for 18,888 a night.”
Xu You gasped. What kind of capitalist decadence was this? One night cost the same as a hundred nights elsewhere? After thinking for a while, he lowered his voice and asked, “If I stayed in that room, could I ask the waiter for unlimited free mineral water refills?”
Shi Wenze patted his shoulder, amused that this supposed freeloader still had some charm. “You could.”
First class turned out to be a delight. The flight attendants happily indulged his appetite for both Chinese and Western meals and even offered him samples of different champagnes and wines.
Xu You, completely sincere and wide-eyed, smiled showing his little tiger teeth, radiating an adorable frankness that made the flight attendants take extra care of him. They brought him cake and fruit, and when they landed, handed him several bags of gummy candies stuffed into a large paper bag.
While others slept on planes, Xu You shopped. Shi Wenze gave him a thumbs-up. “Good. No need for me to worry.”
Xu You shot back, “Get lost!”
Lin Su called a ride-share and gave Xu You one last chance. “Are you sure you want to stay alone at a budget hotel?”
Xu You hesitated.
Lin Su added, “If we don’t stay together, you’ll have to taxi back and forth every night for tutoring.”
What kind of logic was that? Xu You tried to argue, “You’re my teacher, shouldn’t you come to me? Plus, I have a mission!” But he didn’t dare challenge the inspection team and could only stand there, words caught in his throat. Eventually, the impatient Shi Wenze shoved him into the business van. “Sit still and behave!”
“Whimper!” A world that prioritized romance over friendship was cold, but thankfully gummy candies were sweet. Xu You focused on eating them the entire ride.
Qiong City’s climate was much hotter than Chengdu’s. Without air conditioning, they breathed in wave after wave of humid heat. The scenery was beautiful, but it wasn’t the peak tourist season, so there weren’t many guests checking in.
When Shi Wenze entered the hotel lobby, he immediately spotted a very familiar statue—a several-meter-tall Poseidon holding a trident, overseeing the guests with a bountiful gaze. It was an exact replica of the golden sea god statue at that public bathhouse!
Lin Su rubbed his throbbing temples. What more could he say? Boss Jijiao was a hotel tycoon, through and through!
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