Travels in Progress: Guangzhou (1)

"This bus looks a bit different from the one I saw in the video," Sigrika said, puzzled. "It looks much more luxurious."

"That's right, normal buses don't have things like mini-fridges and snack cabinets, do they?" Lynae said, crunching on a chocolate bar she'd taken from the snack cabinet.

"Keep your voice down, Lynae," Aemeath reminded them. "A-Yu and the others are sleeping in the back."

"Oh, sorry." Lynae immediately lowered her voice.

She turned around to check and found that Xiao Ling and Dania were indeed lying peacefully in the back seat, fast asleep with eye masks on... Seriously, can this seat actually be used as a bed?

"The owner is a straightforward person. He was worried that you wouldn't be comfortable on the long journey, so he specially bought a semi-sleeper bus. He was also worried about the smell in the bus, so he did a thorough deodorization of the whole bus and added an air purifier as a backup. Then he added a few other things, and this is the result you see. There's a refrigerator, a snack cabinet, and it's soundproof. If you ask me, what's the difference between this and a motorhome?" Qiushui chatted with the passengers while driving.

Lynae knew perfectly well who the boss Qiushui was talking about was: Xiao Yue's elder brother and Xiao Ling's maternal uncle. Only that kind middle-aged man could have such abundant wealth.

(Your uncle is a late-game hero!)

However, seeing how soundly Xiao Ling and Dania were sleeping, she also wanted to try out the semi-reclining chair to see if it was comfortable.

Lynae fiddled with the electronic buttons next to her seat for a while before finally figuring out the correct way to use the semi-sleeper bus. After properly fastening her seatbelt, she lay down comfortably, put on her eye mask, and went straight to sleep.

Sigrika, sitting next to her, had been taking pictures with her phone the whole way, saving the scenery along the way in her album. Unfortunately, she couldn't use her camera properly here, so she had to settle for something else.

Crimson Snow and Roccia chatted idly, mostly about their recent lives. However, Crimson Snow's gaze towards Roccia always seemed to have a deeper meaning, though it was unclear whether Roccia noticed.

Little Ai and Hajipiao are in the gaming group. They are playing a game with headphones on. Even without speaking, they have a silent understanding, which is tough on the players who are their opponents.

Morning and Chisa are a classic STEM pair, but Morning is someone who can't sit still and will spend some time working even in the car. Chisa, on the other hand, quietly rests her head against the window, with the MP3 player playing songs through her headphones.

Although Augusta and Iuno were sitting together, they were each doing their own thing and not disturbing each other. Iuno was reading a book, while Augusta was wearing headphones and watching videos. The two rarely communicated.

Cart's group had more interaction. Lupa was particularly excited about traveling to other places and couldn't sleep along the way, so she could only chat with Cartethyia and Phoebe. The two girls she was chatting with were very supportive and readily agreed to her requests.

As for the group of the Shorekeeper, Encore, who was sitting in the middle, had already fallen asleep long ago, Chun was taking a nap by the window, and the Shorekeeper were silently flipping through a creased book. Upon closer inspection, four large characters were stamped on the cover of the book: "The Old Man and the Sea".

Of course, as the person closest to Qiushui, she would occasionally chat with this loyal subordinate, even if it was just to cope with the long journey and use some casual conversation to dispel the driver's fatigue. It was the most inconspicuous way she could think of to 'protect' him.

In short, in this quiet atmosphere tinged with soft whispers, the bus was speeding towards Guangzhou on the highway.

"This is Guangzhou? Hmm... there aren't any sheep here?" Sigrika jumped out of the car, looking at the surrounding skyscrapers with some confusion.

"Pfft, 'Guangzhou' is just what the locals call this city, it doesn't mean there are actually sheep in this city," Aemeath with amusement, making Sigrika blush.

"If you want to see sheep, you have to go to the grasslands, where cattle and sheep roam in herds," Xiao Ling said with a light laugh.

After all the girls had safely disembarked, Xiao Ling walked ahead, followed closely by the others, all the way to their accommodation for this trip to Guangzhou —a five-star hotel.

To be honest, Xiao Ling wasn't worried about not having a place to stay while traveling. After all, his family's businesses were everywhere, even in remote county-level cities, let alone provincial capitals like this.

The group, carrying large and small bags, entered the hotel, attracting the attention of surrounding customers.

Xiao Ling placed a jet-black card and everyone's ID cards on the front desk. The clerk, who was yawning at the front desk, was startled when he saw the black card and immediately put on a big smile to serve the group of distinguished guests.

"One king-size bed room and eight twin-bed rooms," Xiao Ling said gently.

"Okay, let's get started."

While waiting for the staff to arrange their accommodations, Xiao Ling explained to Sigrika the origin of the name "Guangzhou" (meaning "City of Rams").

The name "Guangzhou" comes from the ancient saying of "five rams carrying grain."

Legend has it that in ancient times, five auspicious clouds appeared in the sky above the South China Sea. Five immortals, dressed in five-colored robes, each rode a celestial ram of the same color, and each ram held a stalk of excellent rice with six ears of grain in its mouth. They descended upon Chuting, which is now Guangzhou.

"The immortal gifted ears of grain to the people of Guangzhou, wishing them eternal freedom from famine. After speaking, he ascended into the sky and departed. The five immortal sheep, reluctant to leave the mortal realm, turned into stones and remained on the hillside. From then on, Guangzhou enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests, gradually becoming a prosperous land in Lingnan."

"To commemorate this history, the people who benefited from this benevolence named the city ' Guangzhou,' though you could also call it 'Sui City.'"

"Wow! Senior is so knowledgeable!" Sigrika, true to her fangirl nature, clapped enthusiastically.

"Uh... actually, you can find all this information online..." Dania gave a helpless smile.

After chatting for a while, the efficient waiters quickly arranged rooms for Xiao Ling and his group.

"I'll stay in the king-size bed room. As for the remaining eight twin rooms, you can allocate them as you like." Xiao Ling waved the room key in her hand to the women behind her.

"A-Yu, which floor do you live on?" Aemeath asked.

Your room is on the ninth floor, and mine is on the tenth floor.

"Alright! Let's not delay, let's go choose a room now~" Aemeath said energetically, "Ugh~ I'm a little tired after carrying all this luggage..."

"How much stuff did you bring?" Dania asked curiously.

"So much stuff! Live streaming equipment, laptops, skincare products, and even some snacks..."

"Is it okay to stream live on a laptop?" the Rover asked with concern.

"It's okay, I bought the best one, the live stream should be fine!" Aemeath nodded vigorously twice.

"Alright, alright, let's chat later." Roccia clapped her hands. "Now let's go upstairs and choose our rooms. Whew~ I need to catch up on some sleep too."

"Let's set off now, so as not to delay your precious beauty sleep, Sister Luo," Xiao Ling said with a light laugh.

The group had no objections and walked toward the elevator, chatting and laughing, ready to go upstairs and choose their respective rooms.

Shortly after they left, three stunningly beautiful women arrived at the front desk with their luggage.