Chapter Twenty-Four: Danqing Society

  The amount of money, in the end, still wasn't counted clearly. Because I and Dengcao were counting and counting, we would forget how much we had counted to. In the end, listening to the rumbling protest from my stomach, I simply gathered all the money on the bed into a briefcase and didn't bother to count it.

  We picked up the hotel's guide map from the bedside and decided to go for a buffet meal first. Incidentally, we would try to gather some information about the Danqing Society.

  I took the elevator, or rather, I should say I got off on the 4th floor of the hotel. As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, a huge dining hall with an area of hundreds of square meters appeared before my eyes. The long tables covered with white cloth were filled with all sorts of food, quietly waiting for guests to enjoy. At that moment, I estimated that there were only two people who had come to dine, including myself and Deng Cao. Oh, and of course, Deng Xin was also included!

  "Help yourself, take whatever you want to eat and as much as you can eat." Compared to the restraint of Lamp Grass, I was actually more relaxed. I picked up a snow-white ceramic plate from the dining table, walked towards the dazzling array of dishes with unknown flavors, and whispered to Lamp Grass.

  Looking at the plate of Italian spaghetti in front of me, my saliva suddenly started secreting rapidly. I glanced around and found that the waiter didn't seem to care about me, so I swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Then, I picked up the fork placed beside me and began to pick up those thick noodles...

  "What the heck, who cooked this? Dare to cut it off from the middle?" I silently cursed as I struggled to pick up a strand of noodles and put it into my bowl.

  "Sir, is there anything I can help you with?" The big hotel is really different, just look at the service staff's attitude. Seeing me struggling with the noodles, they didn't even wait for me to speak and came over to ask if everything was okay.

  "You're just in time, help me hold this plate!" I wiped the virtual sweat from my forehead with a raised hand, picked up the large plate of ziti on the dining table and handed it to the smiling waiter.

  "This way, it's much more refreshing!" I said with a kind smile as I continued to scoop the rice noodles from the plate held by the waiter. Soon, I had scooped enough for my portion.

  "Thanks a lot! Otherwise, let's have some food together?" I warmly invited him to join me for the meal after he put the plate back on the dining table.

  "Please take your time, if you need any help, just let me know!" The waiter took two steps back, his hands clasped together at his abdomen, and bowed slightly towards me. As for my invitation to have dinner together, he remained silent.

  After the waiter walked away, I continued to add some other dishes to my plate. For example, a certain creamy baked snail. The little thing really looked cute, but I didn't know how it tasted.

  "What's this?" After I had chosen the food I liked, I found that Deng Cao and Deng Xin had already occupied a small dining table close to the window, eating with their heads down. I walked in front of them, and Deng Cao took a glance at my plate and asked!

  "It seems like a face!" I sat down, picked one up and took a sip, savoring the flavor with Ah Qi.

  "Can monks also eat meat?" I exclaimed in surprise, looking at the bones that had been gnawed clean on the table and the palm-sized piece of beef on the chopsticks!

  "Hmph, you're a rare sight! Wine and meat pass through the intestines, but Buddha stays in the heart, do you understand? Let me go get another serving." The lamp grass stuffed that palm-sized beef into his mouth, letting the sauce drip down from the corner of his mouth, stood up and said to me.

  "Meow!" After the lamp grass walked away, the lamp core lying on the table looked at the small snail in my plate and called out. It seems that this cat is intentionally trying to taste it. Anyway, I don't have to spend money, as long as you open a room in the hotel, you can enjoy the free buffet. So, I picked up a few with a fork and put them in front of it.

  "Pfft, pfft!" The lamp wick stuck out its tender little tongue, tilted its head and swept away the few small snails. A moment later, it scrunched up its face and spat them all out. Then, kneeling upright, it stuck its head into the lamp grass's cup and rinsed its mouth with the juice inside.

  "Don't you like it?" I picked up a snail and threw it into my mouth, tasting the flavor and asking Deng Xin. Only after asking did I feel stupid, talking to a cat, can it understand human words?

  "Meow!" Soon, I felt even more stupid. The lamp post actually shook its head very seriously at that.

  "Nima! Is this a cat or a spirit?" I secretly wondered about the true identity of Deng Xin.

  After eating and drinking to our heart's content, I and Dengcao walked out of the dining hall with a round belly, while the waiters scattered around the corners of the dining hall looked at us with admiring eyes. They couldn't help but admire us, because the two people and one cat in front of them had eaten enough food for 10 people. On the long table, some plates were completely empty, such as the one that held the steak.

  "Hiss! Have you eaten before?" Walking into the elevator, without any regard for the fact that there was still a female elevator attendant inside. The elevator door closed with a long hiss and then asked me.

  "Thanks for the 11th floor, what did you eat?" I replied to the elevator girl and then asked back to Deng Cao.

  "Buffet!" said Deng Cao, taking out a toothpick and picking at his teeth.

  "I've never eaten!" I saw the elevator girl looking like she was struggling to hold it in, her mouth twitching at the corner. She quickly took a step back and whispered. I wanted to get away from this guy as far as possible. Even just a little bit would be good.

  "What about you?" Lamp Grass asked again, I knew what he wanted to ask. It was nothing more than how did I know the rules of eating this if I had never had a buffet before.

  "It's on TV!" I hastily replied to stop him from asking more silly questions.

  "Ding dong! 11th floor has arrived, please exit slowly, gentlemen." The elevator lady had very good professional ethics, and after opening the elevator door, she even bowed and said this sentence!

  "Hahaha, I'm dead!" But then, after the elevator doors closed, my friend and I faintly heard a long laugh coming from inside the elevator!

  "I'm never coming to Danqing again, didn't you see the way the boss was looking at me today? He kept staring at my neckline and even asked for my phone number. If my husband finds out, he'll flip out!" Just as I was about to swipe my card to enter, two women walked by hand in hand, and from one of their complaints, I heard the words "Danqing" again.

  "Two ladies, please wait!" I hastily turned around and greeted them. The term "miss" hadn't been corrupted to its current state back in the 90s, so calling someone "miss" was still acceptable.

  "What's going on?" Although they looked a bit impatient, the two women still stopped in their tracks.

  "I wanted to ask, I just heard you mention Danqing. Is it that Danqing company? I happen to have something to consult with them, but I only know it's in this hotel, I don't know the specific address. If it's convenient for you, can you tell me?" I kept a safe distance from the two women to show I had no ill intentions and then asked my question.

  "Are you looking for Danqing Studio? Ah, the house number 1111 just ahead is it. Are you also a painter?" The two women saw that I was only asking about the address of Danqing Studio, and their expressions visibly relaxed a lot. They even took the initiative to chat with me.

  "Hmm, I heard that Dan Qing invites famous artists to guide every quarter, so I thought I'd come and give it a try!" I said with a hint of shyness to the two women.

  "Little brother, don't be fooled by those advertisements. We've all been here for several months and haven't seen even half a famous person come here, let alone provide guidance. But that President Han will proactively give one-on-one guidance to some of the sisters. However, you're a man, so it's not like you have anything to worry about! I'm not planning on coming again anyway, I advise you, it's better if you don't join the club." The woman who complained earlier started advising me in a very familiar tone, with extreme dissatisfaction towards President Han between the lines.

  "Listening to sister say that, isn't the Korean director a good person?" I took two steps forward with a friendly expression and asked curiously.

  "How can I put it, he's not a bad person. It's just that this guy is too lustful." The woman with a belly full of complaints thought for a moment and shook her head.

  "Oh! So that's how it is! In that case, I'll have to think about it." I said with a disappointed look on my face.

  "If little brother doesn't have anything else going on, the sisters will be leaving!" Teasing younger brothers is undoubtedly one of these women's favorite pastimes.

  "Thank you two sisters for answering my question, see you later!" I showed a pure and sincere smile, thanking the two women repeatedly.

  "See you later!" The two women had completely abandoned their previous worries and were bidding me farewell with a very pleasant tone. Their current mood should be the same as that of men who have successfully chatted up a goddess for half a day, right? I firmly believe it is.

  "Room 1111, Dan Qing is just next door!" I said to him as soon as the two women entered the elevator and after I knocked open the door of his room.

  "How did you know?" asked Deng Cao, who was bare-chested and about to take a bath.

  "I just heard that we should take a good rest tonight and try our luck again tomorrow. I suspect that the president of the company has some problems himself." I said to Lamp Grass while pacing back and forth in my room.

  "Alright! Taking people's money, one must help them resolve their troubles after all." Deng Cao nodded in agreement with a strong sense of professionalism.

  At night, I still didn't sleep well. Firstly, I'm used to sleeping on a hard bed, and it took some time to get accustomed to the hard board bed in Lingquan Temple. Suddenly sleeping on a Simmons mattress, I really wasn't used to it.

  It was around 10:30 at night when the phone in my room rang. I picked it up and heard a sweet, yet annoying voice asking if I wanted some "service". As for what kind of service, everyone knows. What? You say you don't know? Don't pretend, brother, we're all old foxes, what are you trying to play dumb with me?

  A restless heart is a yearning heart. I am no exception, exceptionally restless, exceptionally turning over and over in bed. The only exception is that I ultimately didn't lose my innocence at the Hilton Hotel, room 1168!