Xiang Xiaotong put on a mask and sunglasses, opened the car door, and got out. A bodyguard immediately opened a parasol.
As she stepped into the hotel lobby, black-clad bodyguards stood in every corner. Each moved in exactly the same way, holding a suit jacket in one hand. To the uninitiated, it looked as though they were merely carrying clothes, but anyone who knew what they were looking at would have been terrified, because there was definitely a gun beneath each jacket.
"Team Leader, there's another award-winning mathematician in the elevator, Mackintosh Irene." The radio on Team Leader Liu's shoulder crackled softly.
"I know Eileen. We're old acquaintances." Xiang Xiaotong hurriedly spoke up.
She quickened her pace to the elevator. Two black-clad bodyguards were standing inside, along with a short, plump Nordic woman wearing a simple floral dress.
"Eileen!" Xiang Xiaotong greeted her happily. "It's me, Xiang Xiaotong. We met at the Mathematics Summit before!"
"Xiang Xiaotong? You... How did your face change so much? I almost didn't recognize you!" Eileen was startled, then delighted. She opened her arms and hugged her. "Congratulations on winning the Chen Prize! Winning the Chen Prize has been my lifelong dream, but you got there first!"
"What are you talking about? Isn't winning the Gauss Prize just as impressive? Congratulations to both of us!" Xiang Xiaotong laughed loudly. "My face didn't change. I just put on heavy makeup because I didn't want the media to photograph my real face."
Eileen suddenly understood.
Team Leader Liu stood to one side with a hand resting beside the elevator buttons, silently waiting for the two mathematicians to finish exchanging greetings. He took the opportunity to ask, "Ms. Eileen, which floor is your room on?"
"I'm on the seventh floor!" Eileen said. "Thank you!"
"Forget the seventh floor