Old Mage's Gift

Chapter 40: The Old Mage's Gift

Given the Heroine Yin's fear of cars, Cheng Yun didn't hail a taxi. Instead, he and the Heroine Yin slowly walked back under the scorching sun.

The Heroine Yin was fast when running, but walking was quite slow for her. Perhaps it was because her legs were short.

By the time they returned to the hotel, Cheng Yun had already finished his beer, while the Heroine Yin still held the can of Sprite in both hands. She lowered her head, pressed her lips to the opening of the can, and took tiny sips.

She found this thing, whether called Sprite or a drink, to be sweet and cold, and incredibly delicious!

A Debon Express delivery truck was parked outside. Even before pushing open the glass door, Cheng Yun saw that the front desk was piled high with large items wrapped in kraft paper and woven bags, almost completely covering it. A delivery man in uniform stood by the counter, enjoying the air conditioning, sweating profusely. Cheng Yan stood beside him, head bowed, signing a delivery receipt, her black hair cascading down her snow-white neck.

As Cheng Yun walked in, he asked in surprise, "The beds are here?"

Cheng Yan glanced at him, calmly handed the receipt to the delivery man, and said, "Yes, and the cabinets, tables, and chairs are here too."

"We're going to be busy," Cheng Yun said, feeling a headache coming on.

"Lots of smaller items will arrive later; the delivery driver just called," Cheng Yan said. She glanced at the large items piled at the front desk and began rolling up her sleeves. "Come on, let's two carry the big ones up first, and you can move the smaller ones yourself."

"What?" The Heroine Yin's head suddenly poked out from behind Cheng Yun, looking at the items.

"The beds and cabinets, for setting up the dormitory rooms, which will be your future dormitories," Cheng Yan said, then glanced at Cheng Yun, frowning slightly. "Aren't you going to start?"

"Can you handle it?" Cheng Yun asked, sounding worried.

Cheng Yan didn't reply, just stared at him coldly. "Then why don't you try carrying all of this up by yourself!"

"I'll do it!" the Heroine Yin volunteered.

"You?" Cheng Yan looked at the Heroine Yin with suspicion, then chuckled. The Heroine Yin looked a full head shorter than her.

Without another word, the Heroine Yin grabbed a bundle of bed frames, thicker than her own body, with one hand and slung it over her shoulder. She strode briskly upstairs! After only a few steps, she turned back, even freeing one hand to scratch her head, and asked, "Um... where was I supposed to put it?"

Cheng Yan and Yu Dian stared, dumbfounded.

"Oh, I get it," the Heroine Yin said, not daring to linger. She quickly went upstairs.

"Um..." Cheng Yun scratched his forehead. "You know, when God closes a door for someone, he opens a window. Maybe... God opened a French window for her."

"Wow!" Little Yu Dian's mouth opened slightly.

Cheng Yan stared at Cheng Yun in astonishment for a moment, then looked away, seemingly unable to think of a better explanation.

Turning back, Cheng Yun and Cheng Yan carried a bundle of bed frames upstairs together. Cheng Yun managed better, but Cheng Yan clearly found it difficult, gritting her teeth the whole way. This made her even more amazed at the energy contained within the Heroine Yin's small frame.

The front desk had surveillance cameras, so Yu Dian wasn't afraid of thieves. She also helped carry some smaller items upstairs.

With the Heroine Yin's help, the pile of goods at the front desk was moved to the end of the third-floor corridor in less than twenty minutes. This was precisely where the four dormitory rooms were located.

"Should we assemble them first?" Cheng Yun asked, turning to look at the Heroine Yin.

"Of course, we should assemble them first. Aren't you on duty tonight?" Cheng Yan replied with a frown. She followed Cheng Yun's gaze to the Heroine Yin, then looked at Cheng Yun, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.

"Let's assemble them first," the Heroine Yin said. "I'm also quite interested in my future... employee dormitory."

"Okay," Cheng Yun finally nodded.

For ease of shipping, all the beds, cabinets, tables, and chairs were disassembled. Each bed frame, table board, and chair board needed to be reassembled according to the instructions. Moreover, to ensure structural stability, the process required quite a few tools and meticulous attention to detail. Any mistake would affect the user experience later on.

Fortunately, the manufacturer and seller had already considered this. Assembling the beds, cabinets, tables, and chairs was not complicated and didn't require high assembly skills. The instructions were detailed, and each part was numbered with a sticker. As long as they followed the sequence strictly, it would be fine.

Cheng Yun took out all the tools, took a deep breath, and began assembling them with Cheng Yan.

He assembled the beds and cabinets, while Cheng Yan was responsible for the simpler and lighter tables, chairs, and coffee tables.

The Heroine Yin watched the fun from the side, occasionally helping Cheng Yun with some of the heavier physical labor. After all, many parts for assembling the beds were very bulky, and lifting them steadily to a high place often required the combined strength of two large men. With the Heroine Yin, it was different; she housed the strength of hundreds of strong men within her.

Since the weather was very hot, Little Yu Dian would occasionally come up to check on them, bringing water and such. Each time she saw the cargo outside the corridor gradually decreasing and the messy components on the floor turning into formed shapes, she would be amazed.

They worked from two in the afternoon until six, and Cheng Yun had assembled two four-person rooms' worth of beds and cabinets. Cheng Yan had already assembled all the tables and chairs. Looking at these two rooms, apart from being a bit monotonous, they looked quite presentable.

Since most of the rooms had been booked, Little Yu Dian also came up to help, participating in the effort.

The four of them were covered in sweat. It wasn't until the takeout ordered by Cheng Yan arrived that Cheng Yun clapped his hands and said breathlessly, "That's enough for now. We'll finish the rest tomorrow night when we have time. Let's go eat first."

"I need to take a shower first," Cheng Yan said, being very clean. "You're on duty tonight, right? I'm free, so I can start assembling some cabinets."

"Then how about... I continue on duty tonight," Little Yu Dian said softly. "You guys finish it up and don't drag it out until tomorrow. I'm free anyway. Of course, if you're too tired to continue today, Mr. Cheng, then just pretend I didn't say anything."

"That works! Since our hands are still warmed up, it should be faster," Cheng Yun agreed.

The Heroine Yin stood nearby, holding an instruction manual, still frowning and engrossed in reading it. Suddenly, she looked up and asked in confusion, "How exactly do you guys know how to do carpentry just by looking at this piece of paper?"

After dinner, Little Yu Dian continued to sit at the front desk, typing on her keyboard, while Cheng Yun and Cheng Yan continued their work.

There were differences between the facilities in the eight-person and four-person rooms, but not significant ones, nor were they about quality. Cheng Yun simply didn't want all four rooms to be identical. While they were slower at the beginning due to being unfamiliar with the assembly, they sped up later. By evening, they almost doubled the number of beds and cabinets for the two eight-person rooms, but Cheng Yun and Cheng Yan finished them in just three hours, by ten o'clock.

The Heroine Yin swept away all the packaging paper, ties, ropes, and foam from the floor, instantly making the rooms clean and tidy.

By this time, all four rooms had decorative wallpaper applied, with beds and cabinets against the walls, a table in the center, and a chair for each person. Yu Dian, at the front desk, received several more small packages, likely decorative items for the rooms, but Cheng Yun had no energy to deal with them today.

"Whew!" He let out a long sigh, surveying his labor, and was quite satisfied.

It was a pity that Anju Hotel had been renovated by a professional hotel renovation company, with the design plans approved by Professor Cheng and Professor An. From Cheng Yun's perspective, although Anju Hotel's rooms had a modern and stylish design, the layout still followed traditional hotel specifications. Furthermore, the old building they rented was not conducive to layout modifications, and many structural and design concepts clashed with Cheng Yun's aesthetic. If he were to renovate it according to his own ideas now, it would require a great deal of effort, and some of the previous investment would be wasted.

Therefore, he could only start with these four rooms.

Cheng Yun never expected he'd end up taking over this hotel... How should I put it? Life is unpredictable!

After a quick shower, he went downstairs and took over from Yu Dian at the front desk. Cheng Yun then sat there, spacing out. Time ticked by, and after 11 PM, the guests dwindled. Bored, he leaned his chair back, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

July 5th, 2016, Cloudy.

Cheng Yun had gone to bed early last night and woken up early this morning, as he was on the day shift today.

At precisely ten o'clock, the Old Mage returned, leaning on his cane as he ambled in from outside.

At this moment, Heroine Yin and Cheng Yun were both sitting at the front desk. Seeing the Old Mage's attire, their jaws dropped. The Old Mage was wearing beige casual shorts and a plain red t-shirt, a straw hat on his head, sunglasses perched on his nose, leather sandals on his feet, and a backpack like a middle schooler's on his back. It was the standard ensemble for a domestic tour group uncle or aunt, but because he was tall, it gave him a unique aura.

"M-Mage, where did you go?" Cheng Yun stammered, his mouth agape. "And your outfit..."

"What's wrong?"

"Did you go on a beach vacation?"

"The last stop was a country near the sea, New Zealand, I think!" the Old Mage said. He placed his backpack on the sofa and took out some small trinkets. "On my way back, I heard people say that in your world, travelers have a custom of bringing back items from their destination as gifts for friends and relatives. But by then, I had already reached Jinguan."

"There is such a saying." Cheng Yun looked at the few items he took out: small seashells, Christian accessories, and some trinkets that clearly had an overseas style. He couldn't help but pause—

"So... did you buy them at the Jinguan wholesale market?"

"...Absolutely not." The Old Mage glared at him displeasedly. "I went back for ten minutes to get them one by one."

"Amazing." Cheng Yun could only give him a thumbs-up.

The defense presentation ended today, but it didn't seem to go very well. I wonder if I'll pass.

And in the following days, I'll have to revise this and that, prepare these materials and those materials. It's so annoying