Volume 1, Chapter 58: This Girl Is Sick

The security guard was likely a newcomer. Speaking in his hometown dialect, he gave the impression of someone desperately eager to do a good job while remaining completely flustered.

He stood not far away, making frantic hand gestures.

"Turn, turn, turn! Keep going, back up, back all the way up!
Oops, wrong way, you turned the wrong way!
Right, just like that. Back up, back up, keep backing up!
Good, stop!"

A novice commander had run into a novice driver!

A simple task of backing into a parking space dragged on for a full ten minutes!

Guodong wasn't the only one feeling awkward; the other three people sitting in the car had lowered their heads long ago, pretending not to know him at all.

Pushing the car door open, the security guard trotted over eagerly.

"This way, bosses, please come right in!"

Guodong nodded, thanked the man with a straight face, and led the other three toward the front desk.

It was resplendent and magnificent, looking extremely high-end!

This made Meng Yingcai and his young girlfriend, who had never enjoyed such a place before, feel a bit out of place!

"Guodong, maybe we should just go back and eat somewhere else? Things here must be pretty expensive!"

"Expensive my foot, it's free!"

Guodong put on a calm facade and walked up to the front desk.

The front desk was still the same front desk, except the manager had been replaced.

"Hello..."

Before she could finish the sentence, the receptionist found herself unable to go on.

She desperately wanted to blurt out: Why are you guys here again!

Those words stayed trapped in her throat.

After all, the previous lobby manager had been fired just a few days ago.

Heaven knew what the real reason was.

In case she made a mistake and the new manager caught wind of it, the loss wouldn't outweigh the gain.

"Do you have a reservation?"

Here it comes again!

Hearing this, Meng Xiaohan felt a twinge of panic and took a couple of steps closer to Guodong.

Guodong reached into his pocket, fished out a card, and tossed it onto the desk.

"I told you last time, I know Liu Lan, but you people just wouldn't listen.
Well, look at it now. Your Chairman Liu sent me this card. See if you still need a reservation this time!"

The receptionist reached out and took the card. The more she looked at it, the more relieved she felt!

How fortunate that she hadn't blurted out any impolite remarks.

She glanced back and forth between Guodong and Meng Xiaohan, then down at the card in her hand.

She suddenly understood why the former manager had been fired.

"What? Is this card fake or something?"

Seeing that she remained silent for so long, Guodong frowned.

If this card turned out to be useless, he swore he would cut ties with Xianghe Group once and for all.

Even if Xie Minmin showed up personally, it wouldn't change a thing!

"Sir, please go right up to the second floor!"

Phew!

Guodong let out a sigh of relief and subconsciously grabbed Meng Xiaohan's hand with his right hand.

At that moment, he could feel that Meng Xiaohan's palms were covered in sweat.

This casual hand-holding left the two people behind them utterly dumbfounded.

What was going on here?

Were these two actually a couple?

Meng Yingcai's father had never mentioned anything about this, so he was completely in the dark!

As for Tian Fang, the lingering tension in her heart vanished completely at the sight.

Just then, led by a waiter, the group of four arrived at a private dining room on the second floor.

When the door swung open, the sight inside made the four country-folk draw sharp breaths of astonishment.

"How gorgeous!"

"So beautiful!"

Hearing the exclamations around him, Guodong felt a surge of pride, though he was also quite shaken himself.

He had known that Xianghe Hotel was wealthy and famous!

He just hadn't expected it to look like this!

The waiter was clearly professionally trained, vastly superior to the security guard at the entrance.

Hearing their gasps of wonder, the waiter maintained a polite smile without showing any other expression.

"Four guests, please come in!
The front desk has already notified Chairman Liu.
Chairman Liu is currently entertaining other distinguished guests, but he will come over to greet you all as soon as he is free!"

Originally just a polite remark, Guodong waved his hands frantically upon hearing it!

"No need to go to all that trouble, we're just having a casual home-style meal.
Right, bring me a shredded pork with sharp peppers, a twice-cooked pork, a cucumber and pork slices, a stir-fried tomato and egg, and also..."

As Guodong rattled off one dish after another, the waiter's expression grew increasingly awkward.

When Guodong finally paused after listing seven or eight dishes in one breath, she could no longer hold it in.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir, but we don't serve many of the items you mentioned here!"

"You don't?"

Guodong felt a slight displeasure rising in his chest. "Such a huge hotel, and you can't even make these dishes?"

The waiter possessed truly exceptional professionalism.

She managed to keep her smile intact even under these circumstances.

Meng Xiaohan, standing nearby, felt utterly embarrassed and frantically scratched the palm of Guodong's hand to warn him.

Yet Guodong completely misinterpreted the gesture.

He assumed Meng Xiaohan was simply too nervous.

"Never mind then, just bring us the menu and we'll order ourselves!"

Unable to endure it any longer, Meng Xiaohan grabbed Guodong's arm and pulled him into the private room.

Right at that moment, an inopportune voice cut through the air.

"Country bumpkills! Never seen the world, yet trying to copy others and dine here!"

The voice was exceptionally grating.

Almost instinctively, everyone turned toward the doorway.

A very fashionably dressed woman was walking past the entrance.

She was quite pretty with a tall figure, though perhaps a bit too thin!

Guodong's stubborn temper flared up instantly.

How could such a pretty girl speak with such a vicious tongue?

Just as he was about to step outside, Meng Xiaohan stopped him.

"She's already gone, don't go looking for trouble!"

Irritated, Guodong pointed in the direction of the girl and muttered, "That girl is sick in the head!"

Meng Xiaohan rolled her eyes. "Knowing she's sick, why are you lowering yourself to her level?"

The waiter nearby, anxious to avoid any incident, quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Sir, the young lady who just passed by is a regular guest here. As you correctly guessed, she really is ill!"

Oh?

Meng Xiaohan stood frozen, momentarily lost for words.

The other young couple also furrowed their brows in puzzlement.

The waiter smiled and explained, "That young lady suffers from severe anorexia. She has no appetite for any kind of food.
The only reason she comes to our hotel is because she can actually tolerate our cuisine.
Apart from our dishes, she can't keep anything else down!"

Guodong chuckled and shot a triumphant glance at Meng Xiaohan.

"See? I told you she was sick!
What kind of nonsense anorexia is that, it's just a malfunction of the spleen and stomach.
If my grandfather hadn't washed his hands of the medical world, two acupuncture needles from him would cure her right up!"

Meng Xiaohan curled her lips, shoved him down into a chair, and scolded impatiently, "Just eat your meal and stop meddling in other people's business!"

Meanwhile, in the private dining room next door, Liu Yang, having just finished a phone call, returned to the table.

"Chairman Wang, didn't you want to meet that fruit grower? He's here!"

Chairman Wang, who was in the midst of eating, paused slightly at these words.

"Where is he?"

"Right here in the hotel, in the room next door. I've already had the staff prepare a suite for them.
He just arrived with some friends. Would you like to go over and say hello?"

Chairman Liu glanced at the freshly served food and wine on the table and shook his head. "Let's wait a little while longer!
They've only just arrived, so it wouldn't be appropriate for us to barge in right now.
Once they've nearly finished eating, I'll bring Huanhuan over to toast them!
When you're asking someone for a favor, you must show proper manners!"

Liu Yang smiled and raised no objections.

Even for someone of his stature, facing a heavyweight tycoon like this still made him a bit nervous!