Chapter Seventy-Five: The Little Inn

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The character for “seal” is composed of two “earth” radicals and one “inch.” When you stack layer upon layer of earth to bury something, you must know your limits; one careless move can end up hurting others. Sometimes, what finally crushes a person is precisely that small, thoughtless harm.

Sun Tiantian glanced sideways at Shen Yixia, who was intently tapping and swiping on his phone. Her brows knit together as she recalled what Zhang Yunxi had mentioned earlier about a traitor in their midst. With a cold tone, she asked, “What are you doing?”

Shen Yixia was startled by Sun Tiantian’s sudden question and stammered, “It’s nothing… I’m just bored… playing on my phone… to pass the time…”

“What are you playing?” Sun Tiantian’s voice grew colder. She extended her right hand. “Give it to me, let me see!”

“There’s nothing to see, really. This is a critical moment—”

“Hand it over! Right now! Immediately!”

Zhang Yunxi, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around, glanced at Shen Yixia, then at Sun Tiantian, and asked expressionlessly, “What are you two up to?”

Sun Tiantian pointed at Shen Yixia’s nose, her tone angry. “He’s been on his phone ever since we got in the car. I told him to let me see, but he refused. He’s definitely hiding something!”

Zhang Yunxi cocked her head to look at Shen Yixia, flexed her wrists, and a cold smile flickered on her lips. “Oh? So what’s on your phone that you can’t show us?”

Shen Yixia’s face flushed. “It’s really nothing…”

Han Yuan, who had both hands on the steering wheel, winked at Shen Yixia through the rearview mirror. “I get it, it must be some teacher’s masterpiece, right? I was into learning those things when I was young too, it opens your eyes… But, young man, I need to set you straight. There are two ladies in this car. That sort of thing isn’t exactly appropriate.”

“What teacher…” Shen Yixia muttered awkwardly. “I really wasn’t doing anything, just playing a little mobile game.”

“Then why won’t you show me?” Sun Tiantian snorted coldly. “I bet it’s some kind of spy game!”

“What spy game… I’m just at a tense, exciting moment…” Shen Yixia glanced at his screen. “Oh no… I’ve hit the top score!” He turned his phone toward Sun Tiantian and Zhang Yunxi. “See? I really am just playing a game. You two distracted me and I could’ve cleared this level…”

Sun Tiantian saw the game on the screen and pursed her lips. “Please… acting so serious over some match-three game…”

“Oh, come on. I don’t like that fruit-slicing game. It’s too bloody and violent…” Shen Yixia pouted. “Don’t look down on match-three games. They’re not for just anyone. They really test your powers of observation and spatial reasoning. If your IQ is below 250, you won’t understand it at all. In this field, I’m pretty much a master—I’ve left plenty of people in the dust. That sense of accomplishment is far better than slicing up a bunch of watermelons…”

Sun Tiantian looked at him with disdain. “So, Mr. 250 IQ… what level are you at now?”

“That’s exactly why you need to sharpen your observation skills,” Shen Yixia said, pointing to the upper right corner of the screen. “See here? Level 16! Impressive, right? It took me ages to get this far. Don’t be discouraged—you might not reach my level right away, but if you put in the effort, I believe you’ll get there someday…”

Sun Tiantian burst out laughing. “So high, huh…” She cleared her throat. “I don’t need someday—give me three minutes, and I’ll be at level 16. Do you believe it?”

Shen Yixia pursed his lips, clearly doubtful.

Sun Tiantian sneered, pulled out her own phone, quickly downloaded the match-three game from the app store, and, putting on a bored expression, started playing rapidly. Two and a half minutes later, she turned her phone toward Shen Yixia and yawned. “Three minutes was too long—I only needed two and a half for level 20. Honestly, it’s too dull, too childish. I could play hundreds of levels with my toes…”

Shen Yixia looked as if he’d been struck by lightning, staring wide-eyed at her screen. His world seemed to collapse as he forced out three words: “Impossible!”

Zhang Yunxi frowned deeply, pondered for a moment, then said icily to Shen Yixia, “Let me see your phone.”

“No way…” Shen Yixia’s face fell. “You can’t do it faster, can you?”

“Give it here!” Zhang Yunxi ignored him, her voice cold as ice.

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Shen Yixia gave a soft “oh,” handed his phone to Zhang Yunxi, and muttered, “Why so fierce? That’s not cute at all…”

Zhang Yunxi took the phone, exited the game, opened the messaging app, saw that the most recent message was from a day ago, then checked both the inbox and outbox of the text messages—nothing unusual. She frowned, returned the phone, and offered a word of advice. “Play fewer games if you want to keep your IQ. At this rate, you’re not going to be a 250 IQ genius, you’ll just be a plain old 250.”

Shen Yixia took back his phone, sniffled miserably, and shut it off. Leaning against the window, he gazed at the passing scenery with a look of solitary sorrow on the upper half of his face, though the corners of his mouth curled in a sly smile. “Master was right… women down the mountain are tigers…”

A few hours later, the Wuling van stopped in front of a small motel on the outskirts of Lvteng City. Han Yuan turned off the engine, breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at the darkness outside, and pointed to the neon sign. “Let’s just sleep here tonight. We’ll talk about what to do next in the morning.”

Zhang Yunxi nodded and got out of the car, then suddenly remembered something and paused. She pressed her lips together. “I left in such a rush—I think I forgot my ID card.”

Sun Tiantian got out, stretched, and hugged Zhang Yunxi’s arm, speaking sweetly. “Don’t worry, Yunxi. I have my ID—we can share a room.”

Shen Yixia raised his right hand sheepishly. “I don’t have my ID either…”

Han Yuan rolled his eyes. “Don’t look at me. I’m still technically serving my sentence. Do you think the police would give me back my ID? I was planning to just tough it out in the van tonight anyway, and don’t even think about bunking in with me. The Wuling’s small enough for one, and besides, I snore loud as a jackhammer…”

Shen Yixia pouted and, still grinning, walked toward Zhang Yunxi and Sun Tiantian. “Yunxi, Tiantian, how about the three of us squeeze in together tonight?”

Sun Tiantian spat on the ground. “In your dreams, shameless. Go cool off somewhere else.”

With that, she linked arms with Zhang Yunxi and swaggered off toward the motel.

As Shen Yixia turned back toward the van, Han Yuan immediately locked the doors, started the engine, and waved. “I have to go see a friend. I’ll pick you up in the morning!”

Shen Yixia watched as the Wuling drove off, his body stiffening in the night wind. Shivering, he glanced at Zhang Yunxi and Sun Tiantian, who were almost at the motel entrance, and sprinted after them. “Ladies, I’ll just sleep on the sofa, I swear…”

Sun Tiantian glanced back at Shen Yixia, then quickly led Zhang Yunxi to the front desk. She pulled out her ID and slapped it on the counter. “Hello, we’d like a double room, please.”

The middle-aged woman at the desk, plump and weary-faced, was engrossed in her TV drama on a tablet while munching on sunflower seeds. She glanced up at the two and replied indifferently, “No double rooms left.”

Sun Tiantian quickly asked, “What rooms do you have left?”

The woman pointed at a board on the wall without looking up. “No singles, no doubles—just one couple’s room left.”

“We’ll take the couple’s room, then!”

The woman looked up again, her expression odd. “Two women in a couple’s room?”

Zhang Yunxi frowned. “Is there a problem?”

The woman spat out some seeds. “Couple’s rooms here are always for a man and a woman. Two women in a couple’s room… some people might not want it after you’ve stayed there. It’ll hurt business in the future…”

Sun Tiantian’s eyes flashed. “Why would anyone care that we slept there? We don’t mind who’s been in it before us! That’s discrimination. I could file a complaint!”

“File away if you want. My couple’s rooms are only for a man and a woman,” the woman said impatiently, eyeing their linked arms. “The news says we should promote the right values in relationships. If people find out I let a room to the likes of you, it’ll only cause trouble…”

Zhang Yunxi cleared her throat. “Ma’am, you’re mistaken. We’re not what you think.” She pulled her arm free from Sun Tiantian’s. “If there were other rooms, we wouldn’t be asking for the couple’s room.”

The woman shrugged, grabbed another handful of seeds, and said, “Sorry, there are no other rooms.”

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Sun Tiantian looked back at Shen Yixia, who was now approaching, stomped her foot in frustration, grabbed his arm, and said to the woman, “Now it’s fine, right? Hurry up and give us the room—I’m exhausted…”

The woman’s expression grew even stranger. She pointed at them. “Three people, one room?”

Sun Tiantian clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and forced out, “Is there a problem?”

“No problem… Young people these days, you sure know how to play…” The woman cleared her throat. “Let me see your ID cards for registration…”

Sun Tiantian pointed at her ID on the counter. “It’s right there!”

The woman looked at Zhang Yunxi and the baffled Shen Yixia. “And theirs?”

Zhang Yunxi bit her lip. “We don’t have ours on us. But the three of us are together, and we’re only taking one room. Can’t you just use her ID?”

“No can do…” The woman shook her head. “Everyone staying has to be registered. If there’s only one ID, only one person can stay.”

Their pretty little fantasy burst like a soap bubble. Shen Yixia, suddenly sobering, protested, “Why? If you think we’re sneaking in an extra person, we can pay more…”

The woman pointed at a nearby sign on a tripod. “That’s not the point—see? The police put that up… Real-name registration, anti-vice, anti-trafficking. I can’t mess up police business for your few bucks.”

Sun Tiantian was grinding her teeth, about to explode, when Zhang Yunxi quickly squeezed her arm, signaling her to calm down. She cleared her throat and winked at Sun Tiantian. “All right, Tiantian, you just stay here tonight. I’ll go see if I can find somewhere else to crash. We’ll call later…”

Sun Tiantian instantly caught on, heaved a dramatic sigh, and said to the woman, “Guess that’s the only way…” She turned to the woman. “Now there’s no problem, right? Please hurry up, give me the key,” she said, pointing to her bandaged leg, “I’m injured, you know.”

The woman scowled, spat out a seed, and briskly registered Sun Tiantian’s information, handing her the key and ID. “Deposit’s 200, room is 260, total is 460.”

Sun Tiantian quickly paid by phone. “Done. Which room?”

“209, all the way at the end on the second floor. Make sure you check out by noon tomorrow or I’ll keep your deposit…” The woman glanced at her phone’s payment notification, plopped back in her chair, and focused on her drama, ignoring them from then on.

Zhang Yunxi signaled to Sun Tiantian and headed outside. Shen Yixia hurried after her, sighing. “Yunxi, looks like it’s just you and me braving this cold winter’s night together…”

“Get lost!” Zhang Yunxi circled the motel, glanced up at a second-floor window that blinked three times, breathed into her hands, then backed up, sprinted toward the wall, sprang up, grabbed a protrusion with her left hand as she started to fall, hauled herself up, braced her right foot, and climbed onto the first floor’s awning.

Catching her breath, she climbed higher, and in moments stood on the second-floor windowsill, tapped gently on the glass, and, when Sun Tiantian opened it, slipped inside with ease.

Shen Yixia stared dumbstruck at the now-closed window, gave a thumbs-up, and muttered, “Impressive, truly deserving of praise!” Another gust of cold wind snaked down his neck and he sneezed heavily. Wiping his nose, he felt the chill seeping up from his feet, and, staring at the window, shouted, “What about me?!”