Old Acquaintances

Old Acquaintances

Cheng Yun returned to his room feeling mentally drained. He sat there blankly for a while before washing up, eating breakfast, changing clothes, and heading downstairs.

The couple also left only then. They were standing by the reception desk, talking to Cheng Yan about something. The girl had an inquisitive look on her face, while the boy kept sneaking glances at Cheng Yan, though his shyness was fairly obvious.

Cheng Yun walked over, nodded at them, and asked with a smile, "Going out to have some fun?"

"Yeah, we're asking how to get to Du Fu Thatched Cottage by subway." The girl turned and gave him a sweet smile. Just as the boy liked looking at beautiful women, she liked looking at handsome men. "But we've already found out."

"Good, then." Cheng Yun nodded.

"Hmm, you don't look like you got much rest last night!" The girl immediately noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

Hearing that, Cheng Yun looked embarrassed, while Cheng Yan involuntarily tugged at the corner of her mouth.

Unexpectedly, the girl caught both of their tiny movements. She looked at Cheng Yun, then at Cheng Yan, seemingly making some connections.

Her face flushed slightly as she said, "We'll head out first, then. See you tonight!"

"Okay, see you tonight."

As the girl pulled her boyfriend out of the door, she suddenly made a strange expression. Then she turned to him and said, "That handsome guy is really handsome. Too bad his girlfriend is so beautiful. Haha, she's practically drained him dry!"

"Yeah!" The boy's face filled with envy. What a beautiful young woman!

The hotel.

Watching the couple's backs, Cheng Yun couldn't help feeling envious and jealous. Why could other people sleep while holding their warm girlfriends until almost eleven, while I had to spend the night alone and endure the torment of some supernatural power?

The lobby was left with only the two of them.

Remembering what had happened that morning, Cheng Yun felt especially awkward.

Cheng Yan also lowered her head and said nothing.

Cheng Yun realized he couldn't let the awkwardness continue to fester. Otherwise, there really would be no way to clean up the mess!

So he pretended to ask casually, "What time did you finish your shift last night?"

"A little after one. There was no one around, so I closed up and went to sleep." Cheng Yan lowered her head and opened the back-office system, scrolling through yesterday's check-in records. The names of the couple who had just left were displayed there.

The girl was named Zhang Yanlu, and the boy was named Ge Qing.

There was no check-in record for Room 202!

"A little after one is about right. Usually, when people look for a place to stay this late, they'll book online in advance. If they haven't booked, they'll call ahead, so there's no need to keep the desk open too late." Cheng Yun nodded. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What time did you wake up this morning?"

"Seven." Cheng Yan didn't even raise her head.

"Did any guests come by last night?"

"Yes, two." Cheng Yan replied coldly, then raised her head to look at him. "You didn't sleep at all last night, did you? Even outsiders could tell. Don't you think you should pay more attention to yourself? Go to bed earlier?"

"Uh... It's not what you think." Cheng Yun hurriedly explained.

"Then what is it?" Cheng Yan said. "Look at you—you can't even walk down the stairs properly!"

"..." Cheng Yun was speechless. "You're so young. How can your mind be so filthy? I haven't been sleeping well lately. I've had insomnia, and I've been having nightmares at night. It just so happened that the guest seemed to know a little about traditional Chinese medicine and metaphysics, so I went to ask him for advice."

Cheng Yan slowly raised her head and looked at him with narrowed eyes. Then she lowered her head again without saying anything.

After quite some time, just as Cheng Yun was growing increasingly uneasy, she let out an almost imperceptible sigh and said quietly, "Traditional Chinese medicine does have its merits, but don't become too superstitious about it. And don't trust some wandering quack without a medical license, much less become superstitious about things like metaphysics. If you can't sleep, take melatonin. If that doesn't work, take sleeping pills. If you haven't rested well, rest a little longer."

"Mm, I understand." Cheng Yun nodded obediently.

Cheng Yan took out her phone and began ordering takeout. Without even looking at him, she said, "I'll take a nap at noon, then I'll still cover the desk afterward. Go get some sleep. Sleep as long as you want. Come back tomorrow morning to change shifts."

"Sorry for the trouble." Cheng Yun also took out his phone. "I'll hire a receptionist as soon as possible."

He posted several more recruitment notices for hotel cashiers online, then went out to print a few and posted them at the hotel entrance, the school gate, newsstands, and similar places. By the time he returned, Cheng Yan had already picked up the food.

The two guests who had arrived the previous night checked out one after another. After eating, Cheng Yun tidied up their rooms, then returned to the desk and changed shifts with Cheng Yan.

Not long afterward, Old Mage came downstairs again.

He was still wearing Professor Chen's trousers, but this time he had put on one of Cheng Yun's white shirts. When he reached Cheng Yun, he said, "I'm going out for a look around. Is that all right?"

"Sure." Cheng Yun nodded, then carefully looked him over. "But you won't get lost, will you?"

"That shouldn't be a problem." Old Mage smiled. "Leaving aside the level of my supernatural abilities, our world also developed from the level of civilization you have now. I was already quite old back then, so I'm very familiar with the living environment of this era."

Cheng Yun was stunned for a moment. He realized from this that the civilization in Old Mage's world had clearly surpassed Earth's, and that Old Mage had extraordinary experience.

"So you'll have no problem living in our world, right?" As he spoke, Cheng Yun pulled several hundred yuan from his pocket. "You're an old hand at this, after all. Would it be all right for you to buy a new set of clothes while you're out? If you keep wearing my father's clothes, that girl might become suspicious."

"Uh... All right." Old Mage accepted the money helplessly.

He had no idea how many years it had been since he had bought clothes himself. And when he said he was going out for a look around, he certainly didn't mean going shopping like an ordinary person.

In his youth, Old Mage had traveled throughout the kingdoms. Later, his footprints gradually spread across the entire world. Whether it was the Forest of Ten Thousand Mountains, regarded as a demon's forbidden land, or the City of the Gods, revered as the domain of the gods, he had visited them all! Yet around eight or nine hundred years ago, after receiving the praise of the entire world, he had suddenly vanished from public view.

He had activated that scroll capable of traversing time and space. Thus, in his search for greater wisdom, he had resolutely embarked on a journey through time and space—traveling between the various universes to witness their utterly different civilizations.

In his eyes, wisdom was not limited to spells. Magic, technology, and even the various cultures that had developed in different universes, the differing thought processes of people who had grown up in those universes, the social environments and structures of different eras, and even the differences between species—all of these were priceless treasures! He was not the only one. In their world, there were many people who might yearn intensely for this "knowledge that could provide them with inspiration at any moment."

Because even taking the most pessimistic view, even if this knowledge offered no help whatsoever to their mastery of magic, not a single mage would believe that magic was the entirety of their life. Life was so complex, so long yet so fleeting. How to give oneself a rich and fulfilling soul was the lifelong pursuit of many mages.

Dear readers, although Golden was moved to tears, he still wanted to say this: Please stop wasting money sending red packets for this book... Recommendation-ticket red packets, ordinary red packets, and the like—Golden doesn't need any of them. I really can't bear to see you readers waste your hard-earned money!