Chapter 17

Fu Xiling gestured with his chin toward the hotel's glass revolving door, smiled faintly, and asked Shi Zhi, "Coming?"
The car was very quiet. Shi Zhi still narrowed her eyes, looking at him with a flat expression.
Fu Xiling felt that if he teased her any more—no, he wouldn't even need a full sentence—if he added even a few more words, Shi Zhi would immediately grab her review materials, slam the car door, and leave.
Before leaving, she might even slap him.
"Where did your mind go?" Fu Xiling spoke in time before Shi Zhi exploded, and even tried to blame her for overthinking. "I have a meeting here. Going alone is boring."
Shi Zhi's evaluation of him was, "Are you sick?"
Fu Xiling got out of the car, casually tossed the keys to the attendant who came to greet them, and tilted his head at Shi Zhi. "Let's go. It's more comfortable than your school's self-study room."
On that point, he wasn't wrong.
Shi Zhi followed him through the revolving door. The fragrance and cool air hit her face—genuinely comfortable.
The hotel floor tiles were polished to a mirror shine, reflecting the glitter of the chandelier and their figures walking side by side.
Fu Xiling said, "If I were really sick, I should've taken you to the hotel at 23 on the next street."
After thinking it over, he suddenly laughed. "Actually, I should've brought you there."
Shi Zhi didn't understand what he meant and glanced at him.
Catching her gaze, Fu Xiling said, "That hotel's Shen Jia's family business. Did he ever tell you what his family does?"
Shen Jia really hadn't.
In half a year together, Shi Zhi and Shen Jia still hadn't gotten to the stage of talking about each other's family situations.
Only, Shen Jia didn't like showing off, while she hid it on purpose.
The one who loved showing off was walking beside her now. He pressed the elevator button and boasted shamelessly, "But the hotels under his family are a bit weak. Not as good as ours."
Shi Zhi looked around—
This hotel really did a good job. It was probably five-star: lavish decor, spacious and imposing.
The staff they met all wore gentle smiles and greeted them politely with "Good afternoon."
Several foreigners were checking in at the front desk. It looked like some kind of group event; they'd booked the hotel together.
Two foreigners got into the elevator too. They unfolded a tri-fold brochure and studied the dense English text.
One asked his companion in English whether they'd seen the conference location.
Maybe the brochure design was too complicated. The two foreigners didn't figure it out and kept the elevator doors from closing. From their conversation, they planned to go back to the front desk to ask.
Fu Xiling pressed the button for the sixth floor and spoke to them in English, telling them the exhibition hall was on the sixth floor.
The foreigners looked suddenly enlightened and finally pressed the close-door button.
They enthusiastically asked Fu Xiling if he was also here to attend the exchange conference.
Fu Xiling smiled and said he wasn't, and could only be considered hotel staff.
It seemed the foreigners were here on business for the first time, so they asked about nearby food and fun.
Fu Xiling's English was very fluent. He chatted with them easily, introduced a food street not far from the hotel, and recommended several specialty restaurants.
When they arrived at the floor, they said goodbye.
Shi Zhi had been quiet the whole time. Only when the elevator doors closed again did she speak. "Sounds like your English is pretty good?"
She expected Fu Xiling to be modest, but he said, "I'm good at a lot of things," so Shi Zhi stopped engaging him.
Fu Xiling brought Shi Zhi to the top floor. There was an office the size of a business-suite.
Staff came in, took instructions, ran an errand, delivered the documents Fu Xiling needed, and also brought fruit, pastries, and a pot of brewed chrysanthemum tea.
The room was huge. The sofa could seat ten or so people.
Fu Xiling read the documents without looking up. "Review. If you need anything, tell me and I'll have them prepare it."
The central AC temperature was just right. Shi Zhi leaned into the sofa and flipped through her notes. At first she couldn't focus, splitting some attention to listen to Fu Xiling talk with the staff—
"A lot of new hotels are starting to offer butler service, one-on-one communication. We don't plan to do that kind of business yet, but we still need to ensure guests can reach someone 24/7..."
Shi Zhi rarely discussed serious matters with Fu Xiling. She'd always taken him for an idle rich kid.
Now it seemed he wasn't all about eating, drinking, and having fun.
Later, Fu Xiling went out to his meeting. Shi Zhi adjusted to the environment and reviewed seriously.
The next time she was distracted was when Fu Xiling—at some point unknown to her—sat down in an armchair diagonally opposite her and tapped the table.
Shi Zhi still had formulas in her head. Startled, she frowned and looked over—
Fu Xiling was holding a cup and drinking tea. "Not eating, not drinking—afraid I'll poison you?"
"If I only had that much nerve, I wouldn't have come out with you."
Shi Zhi put down her book and reached for fruit.
She still wore the Hetian jade bracelet. Skipping over the small pile of cherries in the fruit platter, she used the fork to pick up a piece of watermelon and put it in her mouth.
Fu Xiling set down his teacup and suddenly asked, "Has Shen Jia come looking for you recently?"
"No."
"I figure he won't, either."
Shi Zhi glanced at Fu Xiling and almost wanted to ask why.
But seeing Fu Xiling slowly sipping tea like some princeling, she suddenly felt intensely resentful of the rich and didn't want to give him the chance to act all smug.
"His friend did."
Shi Zhi briefly described how Shen Jia's friend had come to find her, said Shen Jia seemed to be in a bad state, and had even cried.
Fu Xiling lowered his head to look at his phone. He stayed silent for a long time. Just when Shi Zhi thought the topic had passed, he suddenly asked, "Softened up?"
Shi Zhi looked at Fu Xiling.