《Time Hotel》


 Sage Light

    12 June.


    It has been raining for a long time.


    Ethan walks under the dark sky with his umbrella, accompanied by a tall girl, silent.


    The hustle and bustle of the streets, the sound of rain and sirens, the honking of shopping malls, the scuffling of tyres on the ground as cars braked, all failed to make a dent in their minds.


    The two of them walked through the busy streets, through the alleys where only the sound of rain remained, and eventually entered an old neighbourhood, stopping at the door of a building''s unit.


    "You go back, I''ll stay put for now." Ethan held up his umbrella for her to walk through the door, but stopped himself, "There''s still a bit of cargo to be delivered to the hotel today, and people have been waiting for two days."


    The young girl''s cool and delicate face couldn''t see the slightest emotion, only her eyes were a little red and swollen, she stared at him, nodded, then faintly spat out a word, her voice a little muffled-


    "Good."


    "Did you bring the key?"


    "Brought them."


    "Hmm." Ethan held up his umbrella and turned to leave.


    "You come back early too." The young girl stood inside the door watching his back, still with little expression, until he was far away, then she continued to turn and enter the building.


    A small umbrella couldn''t cover two people, let alone a gale force wind. In order to make Elaine less exposed to the rain, Ethan wet most of his body, but on this June day, at most, it was just a little bit cool, and he didn''t feel cold at all.


    On 8 June, seventeen-year-old Elaine finished her entrance exams, which was good news for the whole family.


    With her incredible grades, it wouldn''t be hard for her to get into Harvard University. Or if not, like Ethan, she could get into the Illinois Institute of Technology, the university where Ethan and Elaine''s parents work.


    But the worst thing that could have happened to Ethan was a tragedy.


    On 9 June, Ethan and Elaine''s parents were out shopping for window mats when they were involved in a car accident involving a large truck.


    It was a bolt from the blue!


    But the truth doesn''t change by anyone''s will. It''s happened, and it can''t be reversed. From disbelief to grief, Ethan and Elaine eventually came to terms with the accident, and with the help of their relatives and colleagues, they went through the process of the accident, cremation and funeral.


    Walking to the entrance of the neighbourhood, Ethan stopped a taxi, put away the umbrella and shook out the water, sat in, and then rubbed his stiff face hard. His eyes were sore and bloodshot.


    Soon, the taxi stopped at the bottom of a three-story building next to the Illinois Institute of Technology, and through the window he could see a brand-new hotel sign, Warm Heart Pavilion, hanging on the building.


    Ethan''s parents had recently invested in the hotel, and most of the rooms had already been renovated, and all the supporting facilities had been put in place, with only a few scattered decorative ornaments and the like, so it could be said to be ready for business soon. Ethan''s parents'' intention was to make the remaining rooms into bedspace rooms for travellers with limited financial means who need to stay in the university town for a period of time because of exams or business trips, and to compete with the day-rental rooms in the school''s vicinity.


    But then came the bad news.


    There was a van parked in front of the guesthouse with the back seat removed and filled with goods. There was a young man in the driver''s seat and a young man in the passenger''s seat, waiting in boredom, gulping down smoke with a cigarette in his hand.


    Ethan, dripping wet, apologised to the taxi driver before getting out of the car and walking towards the van, greeting the two men.


    Ethan''s parents'' accident had delayed the delivery of the goods for two days, and the two men knew about it. They didn''t sound impatient, put out their cigarettes, comforted Ethan, and helped him carry the goods upstairs. After Ethan settled the payment, the two men went downstairs and drove away in the rain.


    Standing at the top of the stairs, examining the small coffee table, bed sheet covers and a bookcase that took up a lot of space, Ethan took a deep breath before he started to move.


    He hadn''t slept much in three days, but he had a lot of deliveries coming in the next two days, so he couldn''t afford to rest.


    The thing about life is that you have to go on anyway, unless you''re weak enough to end it. So Ethan chose to take over the unfinished guesthouse, continue with the renovation, and then, as his parents wanted, open it before the college entrance exam scores came out, taking advantage of the fact that many high school graduates would be led by their parents to the university side to see their future schools and make a profit.


    Just as well, it was time for him to graduate and make a career.


    By mid-afternoon, he had placed everything where it should be, and took a taxi back, before finally squinting.


    When he woke up early the next morning, he had to start dealing with the at-fault party and the insurance settlement.


    Elaine is not yet an adult, but also got up very early, after washing up, she has been expressionless and followed him, pretending to be strong and mature.


    There is nothing to investigate, the traffic police quickly issued a road traffic accident certificate, the other party is of course fully responsible. The total amount of compensation for death, funeral expenses, Elaine''s alimony and moral damages, plus many other miscellaneous damages, was less than a million and a half.


    Big lorry drivers tend not to be stingy with their insurance, and with their life savings, they can afford to pay this amount. And the family had sold their house and offered to increase the damages in the hope of getting a letter of understanding from Ethan and Elaine, a bargaining chip that went from $100,000 to $200,000 in the hope of increasing the chances of reducing the bastard''s sentence in court.


    Elaine was apathetic, and Ethan didn''t agree.


    Ethan''s parents had always had personal accident insurance, and the payout for both of them added up to over a million dollars.


    Their lives, in exchange for less than three million.


    In fact, the salary and benefits of university professors are very good, Ethan''s parents'' salary has just been invested in a hotel, and there are still more than a million left. However, no amount of money can make up for the pain in Ethan and Elaine''s hearts, especially for Elaine, who lost both parents before she was even a teenager.


    15th.


    The driver''s wife has been grinding on the siblings for three days, and Elaine is still cold, hardly ever leaving the house.


    But Ethan is a little shaken, seeing the haggard woman like them struggling to cope with two crying children. The crash had destroyed two families, and the woman and the two children she was holding were the third.


    Of course it was the bastard''s fault, he was a murderer in Ethan''s eyes, but did the two children need to be added to the list of victims?


    On the evening of the 16th, he wrote a letter of understanding.


    Ethan''s grandparents died young, and he still has a grandfather, but the old man waved his hand and said he wanted nothing, and left everything to the siblings to discuss amongst themselves.


    Because Elaine is still a minor and still in school, the family left her two houses, one with a market value of nearly three million and one with a market value of about one million. Ethan inherited the nearly $3 million invested in the guesthouse and the $1 million or so that Ethan''s parents had deposited in the bank, and at the same time he had to act as Elaine''s guardian, providing her with all of her tuition and living expenses while she was in college.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.Once they had sorted everything out, the court judgement came down, and the compensation came in, and was divided equally between the two siblings as part of their inheritance. Elaine''s portion, however, was held in trust by Ethan.


    At their home near the university town, Ethan and Elaine ate their dinner in silence, no one talking, the atmosphere was a bit low.


    Twelve days had passed since the accident, and the two siblings looked much better than when they were busy with the funeral, but they were still suffering from the shock inside.


    Ethan finished his meal, put down his chopsticks, and broke the silence with his voice: "The results of the college entrance examination will be out tomorrow, right?"


    Elaine raised her eyes and looked at him, gave a nonchalant hmmm and lowered her head to continue eating.


    Ethan was a bit speechless, not knowing how to answer.


    At this time, Elaine raised her head again, and asked in a cold manner, "Your hotel, it''s almost time to open, right?"


    "Almost, it will officially open the day after tomorrow." Ethan said, "I''ll make another trip over there tonight to take care of some last minute things and check it again, if there''s a problem, it can be solved tomorrow day."


    "Well, I''ll order you a flower basket to send over then."


    "......" Ethan fished two hundred dollars out of his pocket and handed it over, "for the flower basket."


    Elaine reached out and took the money without moving as she lowered her head and shaved her food, ignoring Ethan.


    "I''ll leave you to finish eating and wash the dishes then. Squeeze less detergent." Ethan said, standing up and heading out the door. He didn''t get a response from Elaine until he went out and closed the door again.


    That''s to be expected.


    The guesthouse was very close to the small north gate of the university, a ten-minute walk away, and by this time the guesthouse was completely ready, except for the few rooms that were to be used as hostels that hadn''t been officially renovated yet. The facade on the ground floor was brand new and well-equipped.


    Ethan firstly checked the equipment at the counter, switched on the computer, and opened the background pages of various internet and travel platforms to see if the opening audit had been passed.


    After that, he went upstairs to check the rooms one by one, including all the electrical equipment and sofa beds and cabinets, carefully, not dare to be sloppy.


    He had completed his financial independence through self-employment in his first year of college, and knew better than others the value of caution.


    Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from the storage room at the stairway entrance - the


    Click ......


    The sound was soft, like someone tearing paper.


    Ethan immediately frowned.


    This building was a bit old, but it had just been renovated, so it wasn''t so soon for there to be rats, right?


    Ethan shook his head, feeling that it wasn''t a good sign, and turned around to head towards the nearby warehouse.


    With a click, he opened the door, clicking the lights on in the process.


    Inside the warehouse were neatly folded sheets and towels, disposable toiletries were placed in boxes on the other side, this kind of environment if a mouse got in it was not really good to find it out, but it also had to be found out.


    The warehouse wasn''t as brightly lit as the guest room, it was a little dim, and Ethan, at least, didn''t notice anything unusual or see any mice or anything like that.


    It was tricky.


    Just as he was about to rummage around a bit more, he suddenly heard another sound-


    CRACK!


    It was a much louder sound than the one he had heard earlier next door, as if the wall had been ripped open by someone.


    Ethan turned his head and his eyes widened.


    The wall was cracked!


    Only to see a large piece of latex paint fell off the wall of the recently decorated room, the torn wallpaper was hanging in the air, and the wall had appeared fine cracks at some time, like a spider web.


    Ethan''s heart sank, then he turned and ran.


    There was no earthquake now, and Chicago couldn''t have had such a big one, it was just a simple cracked wall, but it wasn''t like that hotel renovation company had hacked his parents'' money either, because the building''s walls had been built more than ten years ago.


    But it was a fact that the wall was cracked, and he shouldn''t be standing here anymore anyway. As for the reason, it wouldn''t be too late to wait down and see what happened before pursuing it!


    But he had just taken a step when the ground began to shake violently, the fine cracks on the walls widened steeply, and it was at this point that the characteristics of an earthquake began to manifest.


    The whole house looked like it was going to be torn apart by a huge amount of energy!


    Ethan quickly gripped the door handle and twisted it, then tried to pull the door open with all his strength, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t pull the door open.


    "Shit!"


    He cursed angrily and looked back, finding that the walls and ceiling behind him had been covered with hideous gaps at some point, and in the gaps was a deep black, like an abyss that could devour people. Wallpaper in the form of fragments fluttered in the air, fluttering, latex paint and putty powder gargled down, as if his end had come.


    Suddenly, there was a loud boom, and a piece of the ceiling fell in front of him, smashing the dust!


    "Ahem!"


    Ethan pulled on the door as hard as he still could, using all his strength, but the door loomed as if it was stuck due to the deformation of the wall.


    He finally gave up and quickly ran to a nearby corner and crouched down with his head in his hands, no longer harbouring any thoughts of running out.


    Here is the junction of the second and third floors, since the tremor is so strong, the whole building is afraid that it can not be saved. I missed the beginning of the earthquake, so running out now is like sending myself to death.


    He only hoped that Elaine would survive without any danger, and that his collapsed ceiling would form a triangle with the wall, and that he would be rescued after a period of starvation.


    Suddenly, his eyes widened again in overwhelming shock.


    By this time the entire room had filled with huge gaps through and through without collapsing, and the gaps were pitch black and nothing could be seen!


    His senses told him that the building hadn''t collapsed yet either!


    The wallpaper fragments were still flying in the air, but gradually disappearing; some walls were surrounded by gaps, but it was as if they were being held by some kind of force, staying where they were; the door he had initially pinned his hopes of escaping on was also silently twisting, revealing a hole big enough for him to drill out, but there were clearly no shattered walls pressing against it, and behind the door there was still a pitch blackness in which he couldn''t see the slightest ray of light.


    "Zip ......"


    The lights had not gone out completely until now.


    The room went completely dark.


    Ethan realised now that the darkness that had been in those gaps earlier was a darkness that even the light could not shine through.


    He realised that he might have been caught in a situation he couldn''t understand, maybe it was one of those paranormal events he had never believed in, or maybe it was just a dream.


    Hopefully just a dream.


    The darkness didn''t last long, hinging on the falling ceiling, he lost consciousness with a bang.

 Chapter 2: The Old Mage, the Visitor from the Otherworld

    Like closing his eyes and opening them again.


    I don''t know if it was an instant or how long it had been, but there was already light before his eyes-


    Ethan found himself in a space with no end in sight, like the barren depths of space, with his feet seemingly stepping on a layer of completely transparent glass, and underneath the glass was endless darkness, as overhead, as all around. In front of a standing oval blue luminous body, seems to have no entity, is nothingness, the surface of the luminous body haunted by a layer of light dense, it is the only source of light in this space.


    In addition to this, can not see a grain of dust, a point of light. The whole space is only himself and this standing oval-shaped luminous body, the blue light can not be illuminated, there is no object can make it reflect, this side of the world is still dark and can not see the boundary.


    Ethan was dumbfounded, his mouth wide open, at this moment he should have been thinking, but he couldn''t raise a single thought in his mind.


    Apart from the shock, there was only a blankness.


    This space gave him a strange feeling, like another world, but also like the centre of the universe, as if it had existed since the beginning of the universe.


    And what was even more frightening was that he felt that from the beginning of the birth of this space, he had already been here.


    There is a ...... feeling of becoming one.


    Ethan stood dumbfounded for a long time before coming back to his senses, but he was still confused - he had absolutely no idea what had happened or where he was now. Even though he could feel the luminous body from a long way away, as if he had the same root as it.


    "What''s ...... going on here?" Ethan felt like some kind of surreal situation had befallen him.


    Then as if he already knew what was going on, he reached out and made an imaginary pulling motion to the side, actually pulling a door directly through the void!


    Bright, shimmering light filtered through the door, and the carpeted hallway appeared before him.


    Ethan was stunned again, it was actually the hotel stairs.


    Immediately he stopped thinking about it and ran out in a flash, clanking down the stairs.


    What life changes, strange encounters, he could not care about these! Both of his parents had just died, and he was already satisfied that he was still alive. If he had really died just now, he didn''t know how Elaine, a big girl with a bad personality and a bad temper, would survive if she was left in this world.


    Running to the ground floor facade in a single breath, he sat down on the couch with his arse in the air, glancing at the stairs with a palpitating heart, taking a few deep breaths and glancing around before picking up a glass of water to drink.


    The earthquake was obviously fake, Chicago''s geology couldn''t have been that big, it was all brought on by that space and the glowing body. And he still had no idea what had happened.


    That luminous body couldn''t talk and no one had told him what was going on, he didn''t even know if it was good or bad.


    A glass of water finished, and he gradually calmed down inside.


    From what he had experienced, it seemed like the chances of it being something bad were low, but he couldn''t see any shades of good either.


    He fumbled for his mobile phone and glanced at it, the time showing it was the next morning with a full signal.


    A night spent in a coma.


    No calls, no texts.


    Ethan couldn''t help but sigh, he hadn''t returned home for the night, that girl didn''t even have a word of greeting, in the end, is it still the only closest relative in the world ah, said that we are dependent on each other?


    Just when he gathered his courage, ready to go upstairs again to find out, the phone rang.


    It was Elaine.


    Ethan quickly picked up the phone, "Hello?"


    "I called you last night to ask why you didn''t come back and I couldn''t get through." Elaine got right to the point, just sounding a little tired, "Nothing happened to you, right?"


    "Of course nothing happened, I just ...... had a bit of a mix up over here last night, I was pretty busy late, so I slept at the hotel." Ethan explained, a little embarrassed.


    "Didn''t go out drinking, did you?" Elaine frowned, but she didn''t ask more questions, and directly said, "Are you coming back for lunch, should I order you a takeaway?"


    "...... There are still dishes in the fridge, right?"


    "Hmm."


    "Then I''ll come back and cook." Ethan looked at the time, it''s only ten thirty now, it''s a short taxi ride back here.


    "Okay."


    Elaine hung up the phone after saying that.


    Ethan put down the phone, shook his head helplessly, stood up and prepared to go out, but couldn''t help but look back and inhale deeply, feeling unusually tired physically and mentally for a moment.


    Walking out the door, when he was locking it, but he couldn''t help but fold back again, taking a step outside the warehouse.


    The door was firmly shut, all but indistinguishable from yesterday.


    Ethan took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob, hesitating for a long moment before gritting his teeth and opening the door.


    Inside the darkness, the space can not see the edge, an oval-shaped luminous body stands quietly suspended, dense long around.


    Ethan gulped imperceptibly.


    It seems that the sheets and covers, toiletries and other things have to be re-bought!


    Why don''t we just report it to the state?


    Soon, he returned home.


    Elaine was wearing a pair of light blue denim shorts with a pure white short-sleeved t-shirt lying on the sofa, the hem of the t-shirt was tied into the shorts, a pair of snow-white jade-like long legs crossed, holding a book in her hand and looking at it.


    She is one metre seven, tall and long legs, high face value, high IQ, is the character of high cold, bad temper.


    Ethan said hello to her, she was indifferent, and Ethan didn''t care, washed his hands, rummaged around in the fridge for a while for ingredients, and then went into the kitchen to start cleaning up.


    The house was close to two hundred square feet and had been bought about ten years ago. At that time, the two professors, when they bought this suite was also quite cheap, and now it is a big profit.


    It was a special time, and he was already too tired inside, so even though something so unbelievable had just happened, he was too tired to think much about it.


    The last ten days or so had put him in the habit of not thinking much. Because if he couldn''t help but think about it, if he stayed in this house during these ten days, any object could evoke the grief of his parents'' death and the memories of his past. He would be lost in thought for a long time, wasting time, unable to extricate himself.


    Perhaps the saddest part of the death of a loved one is not the moment of death, but after the cremation of their body and burial of their ashes. Later in life, any detail around us may remind us at any time that our loved ones have left us. Each time is a process of meeting the past, and coming to our senses is like stripping flesh and blood from bone.


    The half-pack of cigarettes left on the coffee table, the room where the quilt is neatly folded but no one ever enters again, the green bushes swaying in the wind on the window sill, the moonflower blooming at the right time, and the quietness of the late night ......


    All can bring back memories.


    A son of ginger shredded pork, a fried phoenix tail, two bowls of rice, two people lowered their heads and ate in silence.


    When the rice was almost eaten, Elaine contained the head of the chopsticks and examined Ethan, the girl also developed the habit of eating Chinese food, after a long time coldly said, "You are a little absent-minded today!"


    Ethan looked up and frowned at her, "Huh?"


    Looking at him, who was clearly distracted, Elaine frowned again and pursed her lips, "I said, you''re a bit absent-minded today."


    "Eh ......" Ethan froze, then revealed a pleased smile, "You can actually tell that I''m distracted, so it seems like you''re really growing up... ..."


    "Hey!" Elaine rolled her eyes and interrupted him by tapping the bowl twice with her chopsticks. Thanks to her, she thought that this guy was sad plus fatigued, and was afraid that he wouldn''t be able to walk away, ready to patiently comfort him for a moment or two!


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.¡¡¡¡"Can''t you taste that one of the dishes you fried is very salty and one has a heavy MSG flavour?" She pointed at the dishes with her chopsticks.


    "......"


    Ethan stood up and put down his chopsticks, "There''s something else going on over at the hotel, I''m going over there, you wash the dishes."


    He had decided that he was going to go and find out what was going on.


    "Hmm." Elaine responded faintly, seemingly a little uneasy, so she added, "Remember to give me a word when you run into trouble, and if there''s anything you don''t understand, you can also come and ask me."


    Ethan''s face darkened slightly, but he still managed to squeeze out a smile and returned, "You can check your results tonight, right? Remember to give me a call when you check. And ah, even though you''ve graduated from high school, college doesn''t mean slacking off, no matter which college you get into, you have to study hard, got it?"


    Now it was Elaine''s turn to have a black face.


    "Can you stop talking to me in such a parental tone?"


    "Fine, but please also note that I''m the older brother and you''re the younger sister! And one more thing, I''m your guardian now, and you chose it."


    "Ridiculous, do I need you to worry about that?" After Elaine finished her sentence defiantly, she started to clean up the dishes with a dark face, her movements wide enough to show her inner dissatisfaction.


    Indeed, she could have also chosen to have her grandfather in the countryside as her guardian, but she ended up choosing Ethan. everyone respected her opinion, and that''s how the matter was settled. When she''d made the choice, she''d expected Ethan to run her through this one day, but it wouldn''t be for long, and she''d be officially eighteen years old in a half-dozen years.


    Or she could dump the guy early if she could prove she had financial independence-


    The guy had been able to be financially independent his freshman year, and seemed to be making a lot of money in college, so there was no reason she couldn''t do it.


    Ethan went back to the hotel once more, and walked into the original warehouse once more.


    On the way in he even thought it was just a hallucination, or a dream of his own, that maybe if he opened the door again he''d see a brand new change of sheets and duvet covers and toiletries and hygiene products. But the truth was that the space still existed, and the things in the original warehouse were destined to be re-bought.


    Ethan held the door closed at nothingness, and reopened it with a pull out of thin air, and so on back and forth several times.


    "Is it really a big warehouse?"


    He mumbled in a voice that could only be heard by himself, afraid that if he was loud enough for anyone to hear him he would feel offended.


    Then he forked his feet and looked down at the nothingness at his feet, forcing himself to calm down first before boldly walking over to stand in front of the glowing object.


    "What on earth are you ...... May I ask your honour''s name?"


    "Hello?"


    "Switch on!"


    "System?"


    No response!


    And then Ethan tried various methods to test the space and the luminous body.


    There was practically nothingness under his feet, and when he crouched down and reached out to touch it, his hand could go down easily, but when he stepped on it it was very hard, and he would not fall down himself.


    This made him feel very strange.


    He felt more "science fiction" than "mysterious".


    As it seemed, this oval shaped blue glowing body was nothingness, no entity, the belt can be reached in, can also be pulled out intact.


    Even a hand can go in, and most of the time you can''t touch anything, but once, Ethan did. ......


    Water!


    That''s right, water, and it scared him so much that he jerked his hand back.


    The water smelled odourless and seemed to be just plain old water, but he couldn''t confirm it.


    It made him think that the ghostly blue glowing body was probably connected to somewhere else, and that this place was in fact constantly shifting-unless it had just been someone at the other end who had picked up a glass of water for him to touch.


    "The Rosen Bridge? Does it look like this?"


    "Or a metaphysical space gate?"


    "Or maybe we should report it to the state!"


    Ethan muttered to himself, but a sudden stirring in his heart, a feeling that really baffled him.


    Thus, he revealed a confused look again.


    Adolescent young boys will still sigh after the first time: ah this feeling turns out to be like this ah! ...... But he didn t even know how to name this feeling.


    Without having time to experience this unfamiliar feeling, he heard a sound, if any, coming from the source, and the source of the sound was the luminous body.


    The rhythm was generally calm, with slight ups and downs, and the syllables changed very quickly, not in any of the languages he was familiar with. It was like someone chanting, a pale, persistent voice, gradually moving from far to near, from fuzzy to clear ......


    Ethan hastily pulled out of thin air and opened the door, standing at the edge of it, cautiously watching the luminous body, ready to snatch the door open and slam it shut again!


    Suddenly, the syllables stopped!


    A slightly old hand reached out from the luminous body and clasped the edge part of the luminous body. At the same time, dense and complicated symbols appeared steeply in the dark space, flying haphazardly in the air.


    He opened his eyes wide, his black pupils reflecting the blue oval-shaped luminous body and the flying mysterious symbols.


    A foot came across the border!


    The shoe is quite strange, with a patch.


    Ethan looked down.


    When both feet appeared at the same time, he looked up and saw that a person was already standing in front of the luminous body. The man was staring at him with a calm face and a kind expression, and the sky was filled with obscure symbols that flew around him without stopping, uncountable numbers of them, spreading into the distance in the dark space.


    Gulp!


    Ethan gulped again.


    He quickly burrowed out, slamming the door shut with a backhanded thud! In one last startling glimpse, he saw a look of consternation on the old man''s face.


    With his back against the door, he kept gasping for air.


    It was too damn scary!


    Instead of rushing away, he pressed his ear against the security door and listened to the movement inside.


    Nothing could be heard.


    No knocking either.


    Yes, the door was invisible on the inside, even void and non-existent. When he wanted to open the door, he could do so with a pull of his hand, no matter where he stood, but he wasn''t sure the old man had it in him.


    He went downstairs and drank a glass of water to calm his nerves, and sat there for a long time before he was sure that the old man, who looked like an otherworldly hobo, really couldn''t open that door.


    In other words, he was probably the only one with the ability to open the door, in which case his senses were correct - that space could be considered his "half home".


    Well, half.


    Ethan was torn between turning it over to the state or not for a while, but then he felt that the old man didn''t look like a bad guy, so he plucked up his courage and decided to go up and take a look.


    Curiosity killed the cat.


    He opened the door a crack and glanced inside very calmly, and saw nothing before he widened it again with confidence.


    At that moment, a force suddenly appeared out of nowhere, pulling him in forcefully, and he was unable to resist it in the slightest.


    A few moments later-


    That old man stood in front of him, his hand leaning on a staff inlaid with a crystal ball the size of an apple, his expression remained calm, his eyes were already a little cloudy, but they were flickering with an unattainable light of wisdom as he looked at him, "*&%£¤#$%#......"


    Ethan: "????"


    The old man frowned slightly, then nodded, raising his staff slightly as a blue light flashed from the crystal ball.


    "My name is Nathan, probably ...... a caster from the Otherworld, nice to meet you."


    "???"


    Ethan inclined his head to stare at him, confused.

 Chapter 3: Please Teach Me Spells

    Like an otherworldly hobo the old man exuded a wise, friendly colouring, and if it hadn''t been for his patched shoes and robes Ethan would never have associated him with a hobo.


    Once Nathan had introduced himself again in more detailed words, Ethan began to look him over again.


    He looked very old, his hair was white, his pupils were slightly cloudy from age, and his face was kind, but not wrinkled. He was wearing a very simple cloth robe, with four or five patches on the front alone, and in his hand was a staff of about one metre eight, the thickness of a baby''s arm, which was quite eye-catching because there was a crystal ball the size of an apple embedded on the top of the staff.


    Other than that, there didn''t seem to be anything special.


    But Ethan thought he was special all over, especially when he stepped out of the glowing body, made himself understand his unknown language, and told himself: he was from the Otherworld and a spellcaster.


    "My name is Ethan," Ethan said quickly, "Master Spellcaster, may I ask what you are doing here?"


    "Hmm?" Nathan didn''t answer him, but rather narrowed his eyes slightly as he surveyed him for a long time before letting out a helpless sigh, "You''re a lucky man, aren''t you?"


    "Huh?"


    "I sensed the appearance of a space-time node, close to my world, so I came over to take a look." Nathan said with a smile, then held out his hand and spread it out, in the palm of his hand there was a miniature soap ordered by the hotel, the soap read Warm Heart Pavilion.


    "May I ask if this flows from here?" Nathan asked.


    "No!" Ethan denied decisively.


    "Oh."


    "You said you were just stopping by to take a look?"


    "Yes."


    "Then please go back." Ethan''s mind was reeling.


    "I think you need my help." Nathan, unimpressed by his attitude, smiled.


    "You''re wrong, I don''t need it."


    "You have a lot of doubts you need me to answer for you."


    "No thanks."


    "......" Nathan was baffled, then shook his head helplessly before turning to point at the glowing object again, "Don''t you want to know what that is? Don''t you want to know what this place is?"


    "Thank you, you''d better go back."


    "It already exists, I''m just one of the first to come, but I won''t be the last. You should feel lucky, or at least relatively lucky, that I was the first one you met and not someone else." Nathan said, "It''s a staging area, a steady stream of people will come here next, some may be weak in comparison to you, some may have the power to destroy your world, but what you''re not sure about is if every one of them has a good temper."


    "Eh ......" Ethan was a little shaken, then he said, "But I''m not a superhero, I can''t be held responsible for something this big. If not, I''ll close the door, I don''t want this warehouse anymore!"


    Nathan shook his head again and gazed at him calmly, "Some people are going to have to stay here for a while, maybe some can live without food or water, but some can''t stand the hunger and thirst. Some will starve to death here if you close the door."


    "I neither know them nor am I a god."


    "Yes, I understand what you mean, and I''m not a god either, but I''ve decided to help you out here." Nathan said calmly, smiling slightly at him, "If you could easily decide whether someone who had nothing to do with you lived or died, I think the vast majority of people would let that person live."


    "However it''s not easy, I''m taking too much of a risk." Ethan countered subconsciously.


    "It''s not as big as you think, it''s just that you don''t know how to control those people because you don''t know anything about them right now." Nathan said, "But that''s okay, I can teach you."


    Without waiting for Ethan to speak, he added, "It''s true that maybe this thing isn''t as easy as I just made it out to be, but it''s not like you''re getting nothing out of it. It can bring you very rich things, more than you can imagine, and even more than I can imagine."


    "Hmm?"


    "You moved." Nathan said with certainty.


    "I''m not." Ethan flatly denied, then sat down on his knees, "Come on, Gramps, let''s take our time."


    Nathan smiled and also sat down without any formalities, then he began to narrate, "This is a space-time node, which can also be called a space-time relay point, roughly equivalent to a relay station connecting various universes. It exists in every world, but it doesn''t necessarily awaken, the awakening here refers to becoming a ''relay station''. The vast majority of space-time nodes are dormant, and there is one in our world; I once found it and spent ten years by its side, so I sort of know it."


    "But unfortunately, it stayed ''asleep'' in our world. Until it changed location again and I lost it."


    Ethan listened with a dumbfounded face, he was not the protagonist who had his IQ forcefully reduced by a certain system, this kind of peculiar thing expressed incompetence in understanding even if he tried to understand it with his known knowledge.


    Fortunately, acceptance and understanding were two different things.


    Nathan continued, "Almost no one knows the principle of its existence, how it was born, according to the vastness of the universe, its lifespan and uncertainty, almost no one can find it in the long river of years, and the people who can guard it until it awakens are almost non-existent, and more often than not it remains asleep until the world dries up. And the probability of someone being around when it awakens is even lower, I had spent ten years researching it, trying to open it, but as you can see, I didn''t succeed."


    "Becoming one with it is a very low probability, and you were so lucky to meet it in such a coincidence constructed by the endless universe and the long years."


    Ethan couldn''t help but tug at the corner of his mouth, "So I''m one with it?"


    "Yes. It would probably take an incredibly demanding coincidence."


    "But what''s the point?"


    "I''m here in this place now, and after that, I''ll need your help if I want to leave it, return to my original world or continue on to some destination." Nathan smiled at him politely, "At the same time when there is another person travelling through time and space in a nearby world, if the distance is too far or their own ability is not enough, they will need to borrow the time and space nodes of this world as a transit, and that''s when they will need your help."


    "What if I ...... I don''t help?" Ethan asked again.


    "They won''t be able to leave." Nathan said, "Maybe some will be trapped in nodespace until they die, or maybe some will figure out some way to get from nodespace into your world for the rest of their long lives, and then you might be in trouble."


    "Eh, you''re intimidating me." Ethan was a little offended by the change from persuasion to intimidation, "And this has nothing to do with you, does it."


    "I''m telling you the truth." Nathan looked at him calmly, "I''ve seen other opened time nodes, but only once have I seen a time node fused with a particular creature. Theoretically, you would have a lifespan on par with that of a space-time node, followed by contact with endless worlds for as long as you wanted, so long enough to reach a height infinitely close to that of a god in the broadest sense of the word, so in fact you''d probably outlive this universe."


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.¡¡¡¡"That''s not just your responsibility, it''s also your opportunity." Nathan withdrew his gaze, "How many times have I tried to touch that opportunity and failed to do so."


    "......" Ethan fell silent, those words all sounded too much.


    His mind started to go on and on: if this old man was telling the truth, would he take the idea to himself? He himself did not get the "awakening" time and space node, so he planned to rob his own? If so, then he ...... simply give it to him.


    "Then I simply let this thing to you, do you know how to transfer this thing?"


    "......" Nathan was speechless.


    Ethan finally realised that the thing was not transferable, which was a relief to him, at least it reduced the possibility of this Old Pharaoh plotting against his money.


    Afterwards, the old law master began to explain to Ethan about space-time nodes, but it was mostly theoretical knowledge, that is, the results of his former research, and there was no practical support.


    It looked like Old Master Fa was a very powerful person, and the patched vestments should be his pretence, but there were many things that he said he could not know until he had researched them as well. If Ethan was willing to cooperate with his research, he would share the results with Ethan.


    And according to Old Pharaoh, he came here but could not leave on his own. Because the space-time node had completed fusion with Ethan, which was equivalent to having a consciousness, which was beyond his expectation, now he needed Ethan, the consciousness of the space-time node, to learn to operate the space-time node before he could send him back. But he wasn''t in a hurry to leave, the purpose of his coming here was to study the continuation of the space-time node and look for more wisdom, now this was better, at least the space-time node could actively cooperate with him.


    Ethan thus became the subject of Old Pharaoh''s research.


    Old Master Fa actually did not rely on spells to cross the border, but instead relied on a scroll made of a strange material, which was now floating above Ethan''s head, illuminated by a ghostly blue light that was very obvious. It was only because Ethan hadn''t raised his head before that he didn''t notice it.


    However, after arriving in this space, it seemed that the Old Master of Law had lost the scroll for the time being, and he demonstrated it to Ethan on the spot - he floated up and reached out to grab the scroll, only for the scroll to suddenly disappear and then appear on the other side. Ethan was able to hold the scroll in his hand.


    The old master used the term "rules of the game" to describe this phenomenon, because he couldn''t figure out the principle for the time being.


    The two of them studied for two hours, but they failed to figure out how Ethan operated the space-time node, but Old Master subverted Ethan''s inherent knowledge in a few sentences.


    For example, this space actually did not have a ground at all, it was only because Ethan was used to stepping on the ground, so this space fictionalised a ground out based on his perception. When the Old Master convinced him of this fact, the "ground" disappeared, and he began to fall, and it took him a lot of effort to get back on his feet. He could be anywhere he wanted to be without being bound by "space".


    It was then that Ethan realised that he was truly one with the space. And he gradually came to realise that this might be an unshakeable fact.


    After a long time, he had almost finished playing, so he looked at the time on his mobile phone and said to Old Master Fa, "I''m tired after all this time, let''s go out and talk."


    The time shown on his mobile phone was already evening, and if there was no difference in the flow of time between this space and the outside world, in a little while, Elaine should have called him to report her results.


    The facts proved that there was a difference in the flow of time between the two spaces - when he stepped out of the space, his mobile phone showed the time as nine thirty-six, and when he returned to Earth and connected to the internet, the mobile phone time was immediately synchronised to nine thirty-nine.


    Across the board, there is only that much difference.


    Stepping out of the door, Old Master Fa turned back and squinted his eyes to survey the door, and said, "It seems that the space-time node and this place have accomplished a very interesting combination."


    Ethan didn''t chime in, but instead headed downstairs, "Master Mage, come down for a drink."


    Old Master Mage followed him down the stairs.


    He reached out and rubbed the metal escalator, felt the softness of the carpet with his feet, and then glanced at the one room on the first floor, pondering, a strange gleam in his eyes.


    Everything seemed to be hidden from his eyes.


    As he sat on the small sofa on the ground floor, sipping warm water from a paper cup, he still surveyed everything as far as the eye could see.


    The streetlights and stalls outside, the dark city, the occasional hustle and bustle of cars driving by, the Internet cafe across the street from the side door, the computers at the counter and the chandeliers and water fountains overhead ......


    He was wise beyond Ethan''s wildest dreams.


    Quickly, he placed his paper cup on the clear coffee table and said, "I can see you''re a material civilisation that appears to be in a relatively rudimentary stage, and as far as I can tell from what I''ve seen so far, it''s pretty even in terms of development."


    Ethan tugged at the corner of his mouth.


    It''s still relatively elementary? Take a look at your patchy clothes before you start talking big!


    He asked, "What about your world?"


    "Our world!" Old Master Fa pursed his lips slightly, looking very stylish, "In your words, we should perhaps be called a mystical civilisation, a magic civilisation, a sorcery civilisation or something like that, or an energy civilisation, a supernatural civilisation, I don''t know how to describe it."


    Old Master Fa pondered for a while and said "In our world, there is a kind of people who master marvellous abilities, they are probably similar to your scientists, medical doctors, philosophers and so on. I have searched for many words in the language of your world, perhaps I should use words like mage, sorcerer, spell caster to describe our group of people ......"


    At this point, Ethan''s eyes widened abruptly and stared at him, "You ...... you''re speaking English now!!!"


    It was just after he himself had made a phone call, this old Frenchman had actually learnt English?


    "Yes." Old Master Fa nodded, "I just acquired the language of your world."


    "Acquired it from where? It won''t be from my brain ...... "Ethan suddenly froze, "Wait, the language of our world? Not the language of our country?"


    "Yes, I acquired the language of this world from this world." A strange gleam in the eyes of the Old Master of Law affirmed his question, "Your country''s, other countries'', modern, ancient, still in use, lost ......"


    "......" Ethan looked shocked, "Master Fa, please teach me your spells!!!"

 Chapter 4 Opening of a small hotel

    Old Pharaoh stares at Ethan with a slight sideways glance.


    Ethan stared at the Old Pharaoh as well.


    The principles of this marvellous tactic were undoubtedly beyond his imagination, but it didn''t matter, he just had to be able to use them.


    "I wouldn''t mind teaching you the theory of spell casting, but I must also confess that I really don''t see any magical talent in you at the moment." The Old Master of Law opened his mouth and said indifferently, "It doesn''t really matter, you can completely make up for this flaw with a long life span, or find ways to change yourself over the course of your long life. But there is one thing that is fatal-"


    "The most basic and important point of becoming a mage, a strong desire to learn, I do not currently see it in you."


    "Perhaps, it is because you are too old." The old mage paused the ground with his staff. "Every newborn baby is full of curiosity about this world, he will always be excited to explore everything in this world, but unfortunately, if no one retains this inquisitiveness in him, after tens of thousands of times of asking questions and having them perfunctorily answered, he will become a person who takes the world for granted, he will get used to the rules and likenesses of the world, and won''t bother to ask what it is anymore, and won''t go back to the question of why it is the way it is."


    "He falls back into the mundane, he gets stuck in the trivial, and if he doesn''t come out of it, he''ll never be a good spellcaster again." The old mage said as he kept his eyes on him.


    "......" Ethan didn''t answer.


    It seemed that he had somehow been hit by a space-time node, and then he had to start running for the two goals of "peace on Earth" and "guests from other times not being starved to death". But now this Old Master has told him in two words that these still can''t change his salted fish nature, at most, it only makes him become a special salted fish.


    If what this Old Dharma Master said was true, he also possessed a very long lifespan, and for a salted fish, this seemed to have only made it more difficult to mingle and die.


    "What then?" Ethan asked.


    "Maybe magic isn''t always for you." The old lawgiver said, "You''re going to live a long life anyway, so you can take your time and choose one of the other paths."


    "Weak question, with my talent, how long would it take me to learn in magic to the point where I know languages at will like you?"


    "Hmm?" The Old Master of Law looked him over carefully, "10,000 years or so, but the truth is it could be a bit shorter, and I can''t confirm at what point you''d be exposed to something that could change your own conditioning."


    "And how long did it take you?"


    "Me? The spell didn''t exist in the world when I learnt magic, so I don''t have a reference point." The old mage shook his head with a honeyed smile, "But taking a mage in our world who can pass the mage exams, it''s about five or six years to learn it from scratch to the point where you can use this spell."


    "......"


    Ethan was devastated.


    "Right!" Ethan suddenly remembered something, his eyes eagerly staring at Old Master Fa, "Lord Fa, since your world is a magical civilisation ...... are there spells that bring people back from the dead?"


    "Resurrect from the dead?" Master Fa looked at him and narrowed his eyes, "No wonder your temperament is so low, have you recently lost a loved one?"


    "Yes, my parents just passed away unexpectedly."


    "I''m so sorry." The Old Law Master bowed his head and continued, "We have many medical techniques that can save a person who died accidentally not long ago, provided that the corpse is not badly damaged. Although the necessary medical equipment is lacking right now, I''m still happy to give it a try. I wonder if your parents ......"


    Ethan''s face turned hard for a moment, "But what if it''s already cremated?"


    "Then there''s nothing that can be done." The old lawman said faintly.


    "Aren''t you ...... a mysterious civilisation? There''s no other way?" Ethan remained undeterred.


    "Necromancy spells aimed at ordinary humans have fatal flaws, and their private use is strictly prohibited by international law." The Old Master of Law seemed to have read his thoughts and said bluntly, then added after a pause, "And the rules of the world are different, in your world, the speed of the soul''s dissipation may be faster than the rotting of the flesh, so unfortunately, the knowledge and ability I have is not enough to help you for the time being."


    Ethan was greatly disappointed, but luckily, he had long since grown to accept this fact these days.


    "Is there any other way then?"


    "This I can''t give you a definite answer, there are infinite possibilities in the world, and a person can only control limited knowledge even after a lifetime." Old Master Fa calmly said, "The physical body is the carrier of life, the soul is the backup of the physical body, together they record a life. We also once thought that they could not be copied and replaced, but then the rapid development of the times proved that it was just our previous technology that was insufficient. Now we have proved that the flesh can re-breed the soul, and according to the soul can remake the body, but who knows if the world still records every life that passes through it in another way that we don''t know."


    Ethan was a little lost, but got the general idea.


    The old lawman glanced at him and smiled without saying more, turning to survey the facade of the guesthouse.


    "From the decor of this house, it appears to be an inn?" He changed the subject.


    "Yes. My parents ran the inn when they were alive."


    "Hmm." The old lawgiver nodded, "That''s just right."


    "Eh ......"


    "I''d like to go out and get acquainted with your world, is that okay with you?" Old Pharaoh looked at him solicitously.


    "It''s not like I can stop you." Ethan spread his hands helplessly.


    "But you should learn to stop me." Old Master Law got serious and seemed to be playing the role of a mentor, "A lot of people coming across the border in the future aren''t simple characters, and if you can''t learn to control them, they''ll make a mess."


    "Good!" Ethan nodded gravely, "Then I''ll forbid you to leave this place as the head of the Time and Space Transit Station."


    The Old Law Master stood still and looked at him helplessly.


    "Alright, why don''t you change your clothes before you go out." Ethan said, "This clothes on you, it is really a bit strange, and ...... too much like a beggar."


    "Do you have extra clothes here?"


    "No." Ethan was baffled, "I have them at home, I''ll bring them to you tomorrow."


    "Is it okay if I go upstairs first then?"


    "Make yourself at home."


    "Good."


    Old Law turned and headed upstairs.


    Ethan sat inside the counter, looked at the time it was past eleven, and sent Elaine a message telling her he wasn''t going back tonight.


    That''s when he remembered that the roof of the building was locked.


    But that shouldn''t be too hard for that old lawman, should it?


    "Shuttling from other worlds, what a skill!" Ethan was still in awe even now.


    It was beyond his understanding, but he was pretty quick to accept what had happened to him.


    Rooftop.


    Old Master Fa easily opened the plum blossom lock that locked the iron grill door on the roof of the building without any psychological burden, and then stood on the edge of the rooftop to look into the distance.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.¡¡¡¡The brightly lit city was reflected in his somewhat cloudy eyes, a building was stacked on the ground like blocks, the roads and bridges lit up by streetlights were like a glowing belt, vehicles travelled like flowing water, neon illuminated the night sky as well, and there were aeroplanes with flashing points of light flying by.


    Light shook in his eyes.


    A rudimentary material-technological civilisation.


    The Old Pharaoh lowered his head, inexplicably touched by something.


    When he looked up into the night sky again, there were suddenly more images in his pupils, as if time had reversed, a thousand years in a flash.


    The first ancient ape stood up from the forest, and the first colony left that vast grassland.


    Hunting became breeding, conflict became war.


    Villages became nations, symbols became poems, calls became songs.


    Order was perfected, culture sublimated.


    Viruses raged, technology evolved, the sound of camel bells brought communication, and insatiable desires sparked world wars.


    Every civilisation has pretty much travelled the road ......


    After a long time, the old mage withdrew his gaze and let go of his staff, which stood peacefully beside him without falling.


    A complicated and inexplicable symbol began to flicker in his eyes again, constantly changing more and more.


    After a long moment, he sighed, "Rules ......"


    This universe never seemed to have seen a civilisation system similar to theirs, at best, someone had imagined legends whose outward manifestations were more similar to theirs. The rules of this world were unfamiliar to him, suppressing his abilities to a very low level, and it would probably take some time for him to slowly adapt to them. Fortunately, he himself had already reached a high level and had experience in cross-border travelling, otherwise if he had been a lesser mage, I''m afraid he wouldn''t have been able to use even a single low-level spell, and would have been left with nothing but his hands full.


    Turning around and walking down the stairs, he asked Ethan for a room card, and walked back to his room-


    A modernly decorated single room with a one-metre-eight bed and a long simple table embedded in the wall with a chair, a single sofa, and appliances such as an LCD TV, air conditioner, kettle and hairdryer. The window was not too small, with a floating bay window, and the bathroom was not too big or too small, more than enough to be used as a bath.


    He found soaps in the bathroom with " Warm Heart Pavilion" written on them, leaving him dumbfounded and shaking his head.


    Walking over to the long table, the old fae pulled out a chair and sat down, casually clicking his hand and a hovering transparent screen frame appeared in the air - littered with unfamiliar text, and new text pulsating.


    "June 1385 of the New Calendar, came to a strange world and found a newly awakened space-time node, close to the world, and that space-time node has merged with a living being."


    "......"


    "The experiment proves that space-time nodes are irrefutably different. In addition the space-time node is controlled by the living spirit in a fused manner, and the living spirit exists in a manner similar to the ''consciousness of the space-time node'', the specifics of which are to be investigated subsequently. There is a discrepancy between space-time nodes fused with living beings and those without masters, and it is not yet possible to prove whether the fusion causes the discrepancy or the discrepancy causes the fusion ......"


    One by one the text surfaces as if it were writing about experimental data, but more like an experiential reflection.


    Meanwhile there were already many, many texts on this, all about space-time nodes. Most of the time Old Pharaoh would add something to the back of it, or sometimes he would scroll up and insert some words in the middle, or change something.


    And Ethan remained at the counter, waiting for twelve o''clock to arrive, and thinking at the same time, feeling unusually tired.


    He was a salted fish, why should he shoulder the responsibility of a superhero? He was powerless, how should he deal with those time-travelling bigwigs in the future?


    It seems that the Old Master upstairs is the only person he can rely on at the moment!


    As soon as twelve o''clock passed, he went online with his own hotel on the major platforms, glorified the hotel introduction, and also went upstairs to sleep.


    Ethan had rightfully not slept well.


    He hadn''t slept well in over ten days, but last night was especially bad.


    The time nodes, the old wizard, the otherworldly travellers that would pop up again at some point, all made him feel extraordinarily distracted. Tricky, agitated, apprehensive, excited, all sorts of emotions were going through his head, making him toss and turn and toss and turn until he fell into a deep sleep late into the night.


    Ethan thought a lot.


    He didn''t think about the fact that he could change the fate of Earth any day now, he just wanted to live out his life uneventfully. He would also never be a nanny for those travelling through the world, at most a somewhat special innkeeper.


    After falling asleep, he had a dream.


    In the dream, there were many high mountains, one after another, and many rivers, a hundred of which flowed into the sea, as if he had switched perspectives, travelled countless unfamiliar roads, and looked at countless magnificent landscapes.


    He was woken up by his alarm clock just at dawn.


    Ethan had cycled to get breakfast and come home.


    Elaine was rightfully not up yet, and he entered and put a breakfast on the table, then went into the empty master bedroom to grab two sets of his father''s clothes before he breezed out again.


    Returning to the hotel, he knocked on Old Master Fa''s door and handed over the clothes and breakfast, ''''My clothes will look weird on you, these are my father''s old clothes, so if you don''t mind take them and wear them for a couple of days. Here''s breakfast, and I don''t know if you''re comfortable with it."


    Saying that, Ethan looked the old Frenchman up and down again and said, "It might be a little short on you, but not by much."


    Father was over one metre eight, which was considered tall within the older generation of southerners, but this old Frenchman looked pale, yet he was at least one metre nine, about the same height as Ethan. Luckily, his father was a bit chubby and bought his clothes a bit bigger.


    The old farrier in the patched robes took the clothes and smiled, "Many thanks."


    "You''re welcome. If you want to go out remember to change your clothes, the hotel will officially open today, I don''t know if there will be any guests, if you let others see you wearing the clothes you are wearing now, they will probably treat you as a psychopath." Ethan said, "If nothing happens, I will recruit a cleaning aunt and cashier in two days, you''d better not miss the trap in front of her, otherwise it will be troublesome."


    "I know." Old Master Fa looked at him lightly and added, "It''s to have this kind of attitude now, this kind of tone, a very equal dialogue, to tell future visitors what to do and what not to do."


    "......" Ethan closed the door directly.


    This old Frenchman was afraid that he had been a tutor at a magic academy when he was young!

 Chapter 5: The Hotel is Open

    He laid a red carpet in front of the door, yesterday ordered a few flower baskets also delivered, placed on both sides of the door, figure a colourful.


    Did not invite friends and relatives, also did not pretend to spread some confetti intention, the opening is probably like this, too much pursuit of rehearsal and the form of the future business is not much help.


    It wasn''t long before the old mage came down and sat on the sofa, watching the scene indifferently.


    Ethan sat at the counter and yawned.


    "Looks like you didn''t sleep very well last night." The old mage smiled, "Was it too much excitement?"


    "Insomnia for quite a while, do you mages have a cure for insomnia?" Ethan asked without looking up.


    "A lot of spirit spells can do that, it''s just that they''re all at least second level spells, or spells that the state strictly requires a special licence to use on special occasions." The old mage said calmly, "There are those that can make you pass out instantly, those that can make you lose consciousness, those that can make a day pass as soon as your eyes are closed and opened, and those that can make you have sweet and nice dreams, do you want to try?"


    "Could be." Ethan responded coldly.


    "Whichever one you want to try, I''ll satisfy you tonight." The old mage''s voice was pale and his tone calm.


    "...... "Ethan was silent, "I want the kind that doesn''t dream, and preferably I can sleep through the night, I won''t lie, I haven''t had a good night''s sleep in over ten days."


    "Understandable." The old mage nodded, then turned his head to survey the surroundings, "An inn is supposed to let people have a good rest, in our world, every inn will have devices to soothe and calm the mind and increase the quality of sleep. I can instead set up one for your inn as well, no one else will be able to feel it anyway, consider it as my room fee for staying here on loan and an opening gift for you!"


    "Hmm?" Ethan froze, "There''s such a thing?"


    "It belongs to something very simple in our world." The old mage twisted his head and surveyed the wall as he spoke, "Let me set up a spell for you."


    "Then thanks a lot."


    After about nine o''clock, out of Ethan''s expectation, there were people coming over one after another with baskets of flowers to show their support.


    He hurriedly went out to receive them.


    At first, the bosses of the supermarkets and restaurants on the left and right sides saw him arranging the flowers, and in the spirit of good relations, they brought a small, cheap basket of flowers over to congratulate him. Then there were his parents'' colleagues, the professors and lecturers of the university, whom Ethan had some impression of. Then there were about ten students, Ethan reckoned that they were students in his parents'' class, graduate students or something like that.


    At one time, the flower baskets were placed in front of the hotel, giving people a feeling that "this boss has a wide range of relationships".


    We didn''t stay long, congratulated each other, drank a glass of water, some people would remember Ethan''s parents, sat down and said a few words, and some people left without saying anything.


    It wasn''t until eleven o''clock that Elaine rode her bicycle slowly down the street.


    In the front basket of the bike was a small miniature flower basket.


    Ethan stood in the doorway, looking at her with an expressionless face.


    Elaine parked her bike at the curb and locked it before walking over with the small flower basket, frowning at the piece of the doorway that looked like it wasn''t cheap, then looking up at Ethan again, she said, "You didn''t have to buy so much even if you were pretending to look good! Don''t know how to be thrifty at all!"


    "These are from the teachers and students at the school." Ethan said expressionlessly, glancing at the small flower basket in her hand again, "I can see you''re quite thrifty."


    "It''s okay." Elaine said lightly, placing the small basket of flowers in her hand casually on the ground -


    It was the cheapest of the baskets, the smallest of the baskets, a real bamboo basket with miscellaneous flowers in it, not a decorative basket for the opening of a business, Ethan guessed that he could have taken it for twenty or thirty dollars at the most, and perhaps Elaine had even shopped around and cut down on the price.


    Elaine pushed her way into the hotel facade and caught a glimpse of the old mage sitting on the couch. Frowning, she looked to Ethan and asked in a whisper, "This is ......"


    "Guest." Ethan replied without a trace of emotion.


    "A guest so soon!" Elaine looked at the old mage again, "Rather auspicious."


    The old mage nodded at her, "Hello, young lady."


    "Hello." Elaine smiled faintly in return, then her eyes surveyed him with some suspicion, frowning.


    "What''s wrong?" The old mage asked with a kind smile.


    "I won''t hide it from you, it''s quite a coincidence, my father used to have a dress that looks very similar to this one you''re wearing ......," Elaine was amazed, "and a pair of trousers that are exactly the same, ergo, the shoes actually have a pair of exactly the same ones as well! "


    "...... "The old mage''s face stared for a moment, then smiled slightly, "What a coincidence."


    "Don''t believe it yet, it''s true!" Elaine said, "Because my father''s pair of trousers got a cut on the back of his buttocks, that day my mother went out to work on her business, I was the one who sewed it for him, and the sewing ...... wasn''t very nice, so I remember it vividly."


    The old mage sitting on the sofa leaned slightly towards the backrest of the sofa, his movements somewhat unnatural.


    Ethan was the one who was so embarrassed that he almost blushed, "Don''t dwell on these coincidences, you should explain to me first, I gave you two hundred dollars, and you brought such a thing over?"


    Elaine sniffed and turned her head, looking at him with a serious face, "The gift is light."


    "How much is that flower basket?"


    "Two hundred."


    "How much exactly?"


    "Twenty-five."


    "...... "Ethan was speechless and changed the topic, "You should be filling out your aspirations, right? Have you figured out which school you want to go to? What major?"


    "Please just mind your own business!" Elaine frowned in displeasure, "How many times do I have to say, don''t talk to me in a parental manner."


    "......" Ethan was helpless and a little embarrassed in front of the old mage, "So what''s for lunch today?"


    "Risotto, spicy hot pot!" Elaine didn''t think twice, "You don''t have time to go back and cook, order takeaway."


    Ethan dryly ordered takeaway and secretly helped Old Mage order one as well. He felt that calling on Old Mage and Elaine to eat together didn''t seem too good to say, one day or two days was fine, you can''t eat together every day. However, the old mage also expressed great understanding.


    In the afternoon, he printed out a job notice and posted it outside, as well as posting it online, and sat at the counter in a drowsy state, waiting for customers to arrive.


    Elaine went home after lunch, expecting to lie at home for the whole day.


    At four in the afternoon, a "hello" woke him from his doze, and Ethan looked up to see a young couple standing in front of him, the guy quite handsome and the girl a small, cute type.


    "Hello." He said with a quick cheer, "Sorry, I dozed off and fell asleep this afternoon."


    "May I ask if you have a room now?" The girl asked, her voice sweet and polite.


    "Yes."


    "What price, please?"


    "The prices are all right here." Ethan pointed to the price list on the back, "Regular single standard rooms are a hundred and two, but there are also business, deluxe, and themed ones. We''ve just opened, everything is brand new and all discounted, it''s a good deal, how many days are you two planning to stay?"


    The two people looked at the pictures and decisively chose a couple''s themed single room, and stayed for three days in a row without any consideration.


    The single dog was abused.


    But no matter what, this was the first business of the opening, Ethan checked them in with a very good attitude, and when he handed them the room card, he also said, "If you have any problems, you can come to me, and if you need any help, just say so. The washing machine is provided free of charge, and you can let me know if you don''t have enough hangers."


    The girl took the boy''s hand, birdlike, and smiled sweetly, "Thank you."


    Ethan was in tears, "Please refer your friends if you have a comfortable stay."


    Warm Heart Pavilion''s price list is not falsely labelled like many other hotels, but is realistic. The new shop has no reputation, only more discounts.


    The couple were not from Chicago, they seemed to have nothing to do and came to visit, as to why they lived next to the university, Ethan did not know.


    In the afternoon, when it was almost time for dinner, the girl came down from upstairs with a peachy face, holding the boy''s arm intimately.


    Ethan looked at them expressionlessly.


    "Hubby ah, where are we going to eat~"


    "How should I know, I''m not familiar with this side either!"


    "But didn''t you say there must be a lot of good food by the university?" The girl pouted, "I want to eat Chinese food, pack it when I come back, and order takeout in the middle of the night."


    "Fine, fine." The boy sighed, his tone full of pampering, "Let''s ask the boss!"


    "Yes!" The girl instantly came into the spirit and looked at Ethan, "Boss, may I ask what''s good to eat around here? Don''t go too far, well ...... it better be cheap and tasty."


    Ethan forced out a smile, "Go out and turn left, walk all the way to the head, about fifteen minutes away, star hotel level and generally less than ten yuan, the university''s various canteens perfectly meet your requirements. If you''re too embarrassed to go, that''s fine too, the shopping street next to the university is perfectly capable of letting you eat for half a month without getting tired of it."


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.¡¡¡¡"Boss you''re so funny." Little stars twinkled in the girl''s eyes as she stared at Ethan''s still handsome face.


    "......" Ethan watched them leave lovingly.


    Once he also had a very beautiful girlfriend, school flower level, everything is good, really, and then hard drive bad ...... ah not for some reason broke up.


    Behind came a light footsteps, Ethan turned his head to look over, the old mage walked down from the stairway.


    "It seems that you are not available." The old mage said regretfully.


    "Yeah, I''m the only one right now who can''t get away for a while." Ethan pursed his lips, "Why don''t you go in and work on it yourself, and when my sister gets here I''ll ask her to cover it for a while, then I''ll come back for you."


    "I can''t open that door." The old mage shook his head and said, "No need, I haven''t seen a lot of one time node alone, it''s hard to study it left and right, it''s just a waste of time, I can only get the results I want quickly if you cooperate."


    "Can''t anyone else open it from the outside besides me?" Ethan mumbled to himself and looked up at the old mage again, saying, "Go back to rest then, I''ll meet you in your room when I''m free."


    "Well, thank you very much, this knowledge is a great asset to me."


    "You are too kind."


    Ethan looked down and continued to operate his mobile phone to advertise the hotel while the old mage turned and headed upstairs.


    It wasn''t long before a delivery boy wandered around outside the guesthouse, looked up at the sign, and pushed his way in with a bag of stuff, "Hello, takeout."


    "Hmm?" Ethan was slightly confused, "I didn''t order takeout."


    "No way? This is the Warm Heart Pavilion!" The delivery boy froze for a moment and took out the list on the takeaway package and looked at it, "You''re Mr Elaine ...... aren''t you? The mobile phone number is ¡£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡£ Right?"


    "......" Ethan was a little embarrassed, "My name is Ethan, and the takeaway was probably ordered by my sister."


    "I''ll put it here then!"


    "Thanks."


    "Give a good review sometime!"


    "Okay."


    The delivery boy turned around and walked out of the shop, while Ethan lifted the takeaway and looked at it, it was heavy and he could smell the distinctive aroma of double peppers.


    Soon, Elaine came wandering over on her bike, locking the bike at the door and walking in, she asked Ethan, "You got the takeaway, right?"


    "Yeah."


    "I ordered the diving rabbit."


    "Smelled it."


    "And a brussel sprout."


    "Mmm."


    "Two bowls of rice."


    "That''s a lot of work."


    "It''s okay, it''s ninety-eight in total."


    "I''ll let you break the bank."


    "Pay up!" Elaine frowned at him, "Don''t give me the slip, you''re the guardian and you want to hack my money! How can there be someone as lewd as you?"


    "......"


    Gotta! This is the time to make him a guardian!


    Ethan looked tired and already hungry, and the two of them quickly sat down on the couch, unpacked, and placed their meals on the glass coffee table to eat.


    "After dinner later you say nice things about our hotel online." Ethan fished out a universal room card and put it on the table, "And go upstairs and take some pictures, don''t break your bragging rights and don''t use heavy photos. By the way, 202 and 208 are already occupied."


    "That''s nasty." Elaine took the room card.


    "Everyone does it." Ethan bristled, "What are you going to do with a summer holiday this long?"


    "For you to care?" Elaine frowned reflexively, "It''s only been half a day since I''ve talked about you, your parental addiction is back, isn''t it!"


    "I meant to say that if you''re planning on getting a part-time job for the summer holidays you can come over to my place, it''s pretty easy over here, just sit at the counter and keep watch." Ethan couldn''t help but sigh.


    "Not going to." Elaine flatly refused.


    "Why?"


    "Why do you want a part-time job?" Elaine asked rhetorically.


    "Don''t all students want to find a part-time job to do during the holidays to earn some money to live on and still get some exercise?"


    "I don''t have to."


    "Why not."


    Elaine turned her head to look at him coldly, swallowed the rice in her mouth, and said only after a long time, "Because I have two houses and an inheritance of more than a million dollars."


    Ethan was stunned and actually felt speechless.


    He heard Elaine because her parents had just died not long ago and she didn''t have the heart to go out and work part-time.


    "Then how are you going to spend these two months or so of summer holidays? There''s no way you''re going to stay home and read every day." Ethan''s tone softened, his eyes glancing upstairs, "A friend said to me this morning that having death around us should make us more aware of what a wonderful and incredible thing life is, and thus make us appreciate every day we''re alive, which kinda makes sense to me."


    Elaine was silent before saying, "Don''t worry about it, I''ll go to the gym, go hiking, travelling, just mind your own business. I can help you if you can''t manage, but you don''t manage me."


    "Okay." Ethan finally couldn''t hold it in, "Actually, it''s because I can''t recruit a counter cashier at the moment and I''m too busy to do it alone, so I want you to come over and help out so I can take a break."


    "......" Elaine was speechless, "Do you have to beat around the bush?"


    "Think about it?"


    Elaine didn''t nod right away, but looked up at him.


    The guy had deep dark circles under his eyes, and his skin looked dull and dry, and his face, which was still quite good-looking, had thus become tired, causing the whole person to look dishevelled.


    From the time of the accident until now, he didn''t seem to have had a good rest. After the funeral, he had to work on the compensation, and then he had to go around doing the formalities for the transfer of the inheritance. The preparation for the opening of the hotel is also not a simple matter, have to look around for the right price and good service laundry, in the morning to make breakfast for themselves to put on the table before going out, and in the evening and come back to cook for themselves .......


    Ethan hadn''t said any of this, but Elaine knew all of it too.


    And she wasn''t sure yet if the guy had the same sleepless nights and frequent dreams about Mum and Dad as she did.


    "Well, it''s kind of pathetic to see you with an overindulged face, so if you''re a little nicer, I might consider helping." Elaine adjusted her emotions and said in a cold voice, "Forget the pay, I''ll quit when you find a cashier."


    Ethan froze for a moment, then squeezed out a face he found disgusting himself and shouted, "Then please, sister~~"


    Elaine''s face darkened, "Disgusting!"


    "......"


    "Alright, I''ll consider working for you as a receptionist, but the daily meals must be prescribed, you can''t be vague about what I want to eat!" Elaine made a strong offer.


    "Eh? Front desk??"


    "......" Elaine''s face sank, "On top of that, I want sixty dollars a day!"


    Ethan froze, "I thought you said you didn''t want a salary?"


    "Eighty."


    "And ...... it''s gone up still!" Ethan was speechless, "I''m outside to find a body petite body soft pretty cute girl to do summer holiday part-time job a month at most 3500 it, this is not what physical work, most of the time you sit here to read and play mobile phone on the line."


    "Girl?"


    "Female high school students." Ethan said sizing her up, "You used to be one, unfortunately it just expired."


    "Go find your high school girl then!" Elaine''s delicate face seemed to be covered in a thin layer of frost, and she flung down her chopsticks when she finished, "I''m done eating, I''m going back."


    "Fine, fine, eighty!" Ethan sighed, "Consider it as pocket money for you."


    Elaine''s face darkened again, hearing that tone of voice from him made her want to rush up and bite him hard, but seeing the exhaustion on his face, she held back.


    Ethan spent the next ten minutes or so teaching Elaine to operate the counter equipment and the backend of the website, and would have let her pretend to demonstrate it all over again, but she waved it off with a very impatient hand.


    "Well, do you think I''m as stupid as you are, go to bed, room 203!" Elaine frowned, "Get out of my face with bloodshot eyes, it''s like watching a horror film!"


    "......"


    Ethan took out the rubbish and threw it away before heading upstairs.


    He had wanted to go to bed, he was too sleepy, but he was afraid he was going to lose sleep again, so he walked towards 202 across the street and knocked on the old mage''s door.


    The old mage''s pale voice soon came from inside, "Come in."


    "......" Ethan fumbled for his universal card, swiped the door open, pushed it open and said, "Old Venerable, the hotel''s smart lock can''t be opened from the outside without a room card... ..."


    He was stunned before he finished his sentence, "Venerable Master, what are you doing?"


    The old mage was sitting by the window, facing the light through the window at dusk outside, his worn robe on his knees, a needle and thread in his hand, concentrating on threading the needle in from one end of the robe and pulling it out from the other end ......


    "Hmm?" The old mage looked up at him at the sound of his voice, some doubt in his eyes - could it be that Earthlings don''t know how to mend clothes?


    "Shall I get you a pair of presbyopes or something?" Ethan tugged at the corner of his mouth, concerned.


    "No, I''ve got pretty good eyes, and on a good day I can see the storm cyclones on Jupiter. Besides it''s all coming to an end." The old mage looked down and tied the thread in two knots, without seeing any movement on his part the thread snapped automatically, then he put away the needle and thread, "Let''s go, I think you''ll want to learn to control the time nodes as soon as possible, but we''ll just work on it for an hour today, you''ll need to rest for the rest of the day."


    "Good."

 Chapter 6: Catching an Adulterer in the Room

    One hour later, the node space.


    The old mage leaned on his staff and looked at him with satisfaction, "This one hour''s gain is greater than the month I stayed next to the node in the first place! Thanks a lot, Ethan!"


    "I should thank you too." Ethan was feeling mentally fatigued, "If it wasn''t for you, I don''t know how long I''d have had to fumble around to discover all these features of this thing, or even if I''d even realised it was possible."


    "There is so much more to be discovered, and perhaps some that I wouldn''t have thought of either." So said the old mage, "That''s enough for today, I can see you''re tired, don''t worry, I''ll let you sleep dreamless and undisturbed until tomorrow morning. Tonight when no one is around, I''ll set up the spell formation, so your rest will go much smoother in the future. I remember that I also have items with similar functions, so when I look for them, I''ll give them to you tomorrow so that even if you''re not at the inn in the future, you can still use them to sleep peacefully through the night."


    "Thanks a lot." Ethan was quite touched.


    "Sort of a living expense I put here for you." The old mage said, "The cooking this noon was very delicious."


    "Er, sorry!" Ethan then remembered that the old mage hadn''t eaten tonight, "I''ve been too upset lately, it''s inevitable that I''ve made a mistake, I''ll order a takeaway for you."


    "Actually, I won''t starve to death if I don''t eat." The old mage shook his head in embarrassment, "I''m definitely not asking you for food ......"


    Ethan ordered a takeaway for the old mage, only to realise that Warm Heart Pavilion was not yet searchable on the map, so he downloaded a few more commonly used mapping software and reported it. Then he went down and instructed Elaine to be safe on night duty and told her not to leave it on too late, before going upstairs to his room under Elaine''s constant dislike.


    The old mage cast a spell on him and he fell into a deep sleep.


    Magnificent and peculiar karst landscapes, brightly coloured plateau landscapes, endless sea waves, desert sand dunes stretching straight to the sky, the wind blowing through the bamboo sea seems to carry a clear aroma, the salt lake as a mirror on the earth reflecting the sky and white clouds ...... Scene after scene of the scenery once again into Ethan''s dream, frame after frame of the beautiful picturesque just like that silent. The beauty of the picturesque was silently displayed in front of Ethan, leaving him puzzled and bewildered.


    It is often said that when you think about something, you dream about it at night, and Ethan was indeed a lover of nature, but he had no time to think about it these days, and he had never even seen those landscapes.


    He was troubled in his dreams as well--


    Obviously maintaining the ability to think lucidly, he couldn''t feel his own presence, nor could he control his movements, nor could he even do a very simple act of looking down and examining himself, nor could he have any effect on those images in the dream. It was as if someone had tied him up, put virtual glasses on him that could not be rotated, and placed those images in front of his eyes in a compulsory manner, while he could not even close his eyes.


    He was therefore very resistant, and even a little afraid.


    The next morning, he woke up and turned around, feeling groggy in the head, as if he hadn''t slept all night, and his spirit was even more fatigued.


    "The old mage is such a pit!"


    He still had a slight impression of last night''s dream, but it was only sporadic and had become blurry as well. He vaguely remembered how real last night''s dream was, that the great beauty of the scenery could only be created by the ghostly work of heaven and earth, and exceeded the scope of his imagination. But he could hardly recall those clear outlines now, and it seemed to grow more and more blurred as he sat up in bed for a while -


    That was the way with most dreams; they began to be forgotten when you woke up.


    So Ethan rolled out of bed in a hurry and ran outside in his trousers and shirt.


    As a qualified "research subject", of course, he had to report his situation to the big brother! In his mind, he was afraid that the big brother was the most likely person in the world to solve these strange troubles for him!


    Ten minutes later, the old mage finished listening to his description.


    "This situation is quite rare." The old mage narrowed his eyes and examined him, "I''ve already cast the Wei Sleeping Technique on you, medical grade, and it''s impossible for you to dream naturally again! Obviously the space-time node is affecting you, there can be no mistake."


    "Trouble?" Ethan asked nervously, in that case, wouldn''t it be useless to take sleeping pills!


    "Trouble! I can tell that your brain didn''t get more than two hours of rest last night, if your dream was really as real as you say it was, and not an illusion attached to it. It''s likely that your brain wasn''t resting at all while you were dreaming, and your brain cells were activated in the same state as when you were awake." The old mage said, "An ordinary person''s body is neither as fragile nor as strong as you think, so if you can''t rest, you won''t last long!"


    "What then?" Ethan froze.


    "You start by carefully describing how you felt when you had the dream, what happened in the dream and all that stuff, I need to determine why you had the dream first before I can do that." The old mage said calmly, smiling slightly, "And don''t be too nervous, I don''t think you can find anything in your entire body that would be hard for me to figure out, as long as I can figure out why."


    "Okay."


    Ethan could only mentally shout Big Brother''s might.


    "I remember being very conscious, but I couldn''t move or change anything ...... I can''t remember some of those images very well, but I still remember parts of them, and I think it must have had something to do with that space-time node, which gave me a view of the other world... ... "Bit by bit, Ethan said a whole lot in detail, then looked at the old mage with bated breath.


    The old mage countered line by line, "First of all you can''t guarantee if you were awake in your dream after you''ve woken up, in other words, everything you felt in your dream could have been an illusion given to you by the dream! Including the realisation that you''re awake, that you know you''re dreaming and so on."


    "Secondly ......"


    "This last point is also flawed. If you simply feel that the images in your dream are incredibly real and beautiful and you can''t recall a clear picture of the dream, it''s likely that you simply felt it was real and beautiful in your dream, and that the dream simply gave you a false perception that wasn''t the case." The old mage said, "It''s easy for a person to fool their perception."


    "Not true!" Ethan frowned, "I remember certain images of it clearly, that could never have been a view created by my own dreams! Because it was just too strange, too beautiful, completely beyond my imagination!"


    The old mage smiled in disbelief. Ordinary people in fact had a hard time understanding themselves, because it was impossible to concretise the concept of themselves, it all came from perception.


    And an ordinary person''s ability to perceive, the strength of their consciousness, and the ability to discern truth from falsehood was simply too fragile.


    But he doesn''t refute it.


    Ethan mused, then said, "I remember at least two views. One is the endless forest of mountains. Because it was so treacherous and spectacular, I was overwhelmed when I looked at it, like a spike standing on the earth, hideous and looming! But in fact each mountain is ten thousand feet high, and each has its own characteristics, from the ecological environment to the surrounding human environment every detail is incredibly clear! I feel that if these are all views I''ve conjured up, my brain might have burnt out."


    The old mage''s face changed colour, his expression steeped in gravity, and he said, "There''s another one, continue."


    "And another one is a salt lake with a side of sky." Ethan said and fell silent, "Because ...... before my parents died they said that this summer holiday our whole family would go on a trip to the West Sea together, and I really wanted to see the Chaka Salt Lake, but in the end ...... I wasn''t able to go. So I was very impressed with that lake. I remember that lake from a high altitude view presents a shape similar to a duck, the throat of the duck is built a very majestic and magnificent castle, there are still a few families on the tail, and the rest of the place is a mine for extracting salt ......"


    The old mage pursed his lips and fell silent, thinking quickly, and after a long time, he actually came to a direct conclusion, "You did see the scenery of another world, obviously caused by the space-time node. But I didn''t think that there was also my reason in there."


    "Your reason?" Ethan froze.


    "The forbidden land of Wanshan was once home to a colony of High People from the Indah state, whom the ancients called demons and who were constantly at war with mortals. And I was born on the shores of the Goose Lake, it is truly beautiful, we call it the Realm of the Celestial Gods." The old mage finished calmly and looked up at Ethan, "You saw the landscapes of my world, and you saw those landscapes through my perspective if I''m not mistaken."


    "Your family turns out to have a castle that big?" Ethan was beyond surprised, the image of the old mage mending his clothes to the dusk glow was still fresh in his mind!


    "...... I really don''t know what to say about you, this isn''t something you should be focusing on right now, is it?" The old mage was a bit helpless, "That castle if I remember correctly was the military garrison of the then Wolves of the Northland family of the Kingdom of Kano on the shores of the Goose Lake, and my family was one of the few families on the tail end of it, one of them. I come from a family of salt workers."


    "Oh." Ethan nodded, "You said those landscapes were your perspective?"


    "Yes!"


    "How did you come to that conclusion?" Ethan thought this was ridiculous, more ridiculous than the time node mandatory slide show he was shown.


    "Firstly, that castle completely disappeared a thousand years ago with the overthrow of the Kano Kingdom; secondly, Goose Lake was converted into a tourist attraction long after the expansion of the Iron Horse Kingdom, and it stopped producing salt a long time ago; and thirdly, many towns were established around the later Goose Lake, which had been set aside as a spaceport before I left. So there''s no way you could have seen a castle, a few families and a salt mine, the image you saw was at least a thousand years old."


    Ethan was dumbfounded.


    Then the old mage smiled bashfully, "A thousand years ago, the Kingdom of Kano designated Goose Lake as a military restricted area, and anyone flying over it would be considered provocative and receive an air-to-air strike from the Wolves of the North."


    Ethan was dumbfounded, "You ...... you actually lived for over a thousand years!"


    "......"


    "Then how did you ...... you fly up there?"


    The old mage revealed a honeyed smile and shook his head, instead of answering, he said, "This problem is more tricky to deal with than I thought, the complexity of the space-time node is not something I can penetrate, and I still don''t know what the cause is at the moment. But we can start with you yourself first, improving your spiritual power and resistance to deal with this situation."


    He then took out a card the size of an ID card, "This is what I said I would give you last night. It''s quite old, but I haven''t used it much, and its functions are quite well preserved, it''s an object used by mages to aid in meditation, it can quickly calm a person''s mind and get rid of distractions, and it can also allow ordinary people to sleep better. It''s just that this one doesn''t seem to be able to cope with your situation anymore."


    Ethan took it dully, the card was thin, thinner than an ID card or a bank card, probably about the size of a playing card, but it was hard and had a brassy colour throughout.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.¡¡¡¡"The spell I set up at the hotel last night apparently didn''t work on you either." The old mage shook his head, "Next I will teach you a meditation method, it can improve your mental power, make your brain stronger and more resilient, during meditation it can allow you to quickly regain a better state of mind, and it can also increase your resistance to foreign invading forces. And this card happens to help you enter a better meditative state."


    "No problem!" Ethan nodded gravely and heavily, then looked straight at the old mage and said, "Thank you so much!"


    He felt that this meditation method was definitely not that simple!


    Perhaps it hid the secret of becoming a god! It couldn''t be said to be the inheritance of a certain great emperor from the desolate ancient times!


    Thus, he began the process of learning the meditation method.


    This was also his first contact with a magical civilisation, and being enchanted by an old mage before didn''t count.


    The meditation method was surprisingly simple, but Ethan felt that it was exactly in line with the truth of the Great Dao, and didn''t underestimate it because of that, instead, he learnt it extraordinarily seriously. So much so that he learnt faster than even the old mage had expected.


    Just as he was attempting the first step of the meditation method for the first time and was on the verge of succeeding, he suddenly heard a knock on the door from across the room.


    "Knock knock ......"


    Then came Elaine''s cool voice: "Ethan, get up! Don''t tell me you''re still in bed!"


    "Eh." Ethan was embarrassed, "Is the soundproofing so bad in a normal single room ......"


    He looked at the old mage, who also looked at him.


    To get out or not to get out?


    At this time, he heard Elaine''s voice again, "Ethan, open the door! You''re still pretending you didn''t hear me aren''t you, it''s ten o''clock, if you don''t open the door I''m going to come in myself!!!"


    It was actually quite a whisper, and basically didn''t bother anyone, but the hotel was just too quiet in the morning.


    "......" Ethan was helpless.


    As he opened the door to exit the old mage''s room, he was just in time to see Elaine with her universal card in her hand ready to swipe the door to his room right open. She was also carrying a bag of Xiao Long Bao  and a tube of soya milk in her hand.


    At once, Elaine froze.


    The two looked at each other.


    One was wearing gym shorts and a white t-shirt, sweat plastering his hair to his forehead, his cheeks slightly flushed, obviously having just returned from a morning jog.


    The other wore big trousers, bare upper body, flip flops, hair messy, dark circles under the eyes deeper than yesterday s colour, temperament than before yesterday did not rest also looks dishevelled and tired, obviously ...... just sucked dry by the female ghost of Lanruo Temple essence.


    Elaine subconsciously took a step back, looked at the door number above her head, and then looked next to her.


    That s right ah!


    The two looked at each other speechless.


    After a long time, Ethan broke the silence and snapped, "Just ...... just got back from a run, huh?"


    Elaine just stared at him blankly, not answering at all, when she came back to her senses, her first action was actually to stand on tiptoe and incline her head straight over Ethan to look into the room-


    An old man with grey hair!


    The expression on her face gradually changed from stagnation to shock, and she looked at Ethan fixedly for a long time before she shoved the buns and soya milk into his hand and said, "I brought you breakfast ...... ".


    Without waiting for Ethan to explain, she turned her head and left!


    Walking out two steps, she turned back, "By the way, the buns and soya bean milk are seven fifty, plus I eat ...... a total of thirty eight fifty, transfer it."


    After saying that, she accelerated her steps.


    Ethan opened his mouth, but actually didn''t say anything, her figure disappeared in the entrance of the building.


    Ethan went back to his room, feeling mentally weak, and stayed sitting there for a while before going to wash up, then ate breakfast and changed into some clothes and went downstairs.


    The couple had only gone out at this time too, and both were standing by the till talking to Elaine about something. The girl had a questioning gesture, while the guy''s eyes kept flicking if anything towards Elaine, but with some detectable coyness.


    Ethan walked over to them, nodded with them and asked with a smile, "Out and about?"


    "Yeah, was about to ask how to get to the tube station." The girl turned her head and smiled sweetly at him, just like boys like to look at pretty girls, she also likes to look at handsome men, "Already asked though."


    "It''s good to ask." Ethan nodded.


    "Well, looks like you didn''t get much rest last night!" The girl saw the dark circles under his eyes on his face at a glance.


    Hearing this, Ethan showed a look of embarrassment, while Elaine couldn''t help but tug at the corner of her mouth.


    Unexpectedly, these two small actions of theirs were caught by the girl, who then looked at Ethan and then at Elaine, and seemed to have made some associations.


    Only to see her face blush slightly, she said, "Then we''ll go out first, see you tonight!"


    "Okay, see you tonight."


    The girl who pulled the boy out of the door suddenly revealed a strange expression, then turned her head to her boyfriend and said, "That handsome guy is quite handsome, but it''s a pity that his girlfriend is too pretty, haha, it''s almost draining him dry!"


    "Yeah!" The boy''s face showed envy, such a pretty little girl!


    Hotel.


    Ethan looked at the couple''s backs and couldn''t help but be filled with envy and jealousy - why should people be able to sleep until almost eleven o''clock with their warm girlfriends in their arms, while they have to go into the night alone and still suffer from some kind of transcendent power!


    Then the two of them were left in the hall.


    Ethan couldn''t help but feel doubly embarrassed at the thought of this morning''s events.


    Elaine kept her head down and didn''t say anything.


    Ethan realised that he couldn''t let this embarrassment continue to fester, or else it would really be unmanageable!


    So he pretended to be unintentional and asked, "What time was your shift last night?"


    "A little after one, I closed the door and went to bed when no one was there." Elaine lowered her head and opened the backstage by herself, flipping to yesterday''s check-in record, which showed the name of the couple just now.


    The girl''s name was Cynthia and the guy''s name was Liam.


    And there was no occupancy record for room 202!


    "It''s almost past one o''clock. Usually nowadays, if people are looking for accommodation very late, they book it online in advance, and if they don''t, they''ll call to get in touch, so they don''t really have to stay open too late." Ethan nodded, and after a moment of silence, asked again, "So what time did you wake up this morning?"


    "Seven o''clock." Elaine didn''t look up.


    "Did you have any guests last night?"


    "Yes, two." Elaine returned coldly, then looked up at him and said, "You were up all night last night, weren''t you, even the others could tell. I''d say shouldn''t you pay a little attention? Rest earlier?"


    "Eh ...... it''s not what you think." Ethan hurriedly explained.


    "Then which is it?" Elaine said, "Look you can''t even walk down a flight of stairs!"


    "......" Ethan was speechless, "You say how come your thoughts are so bad at such a young age! It''s because I''ve not been sleeping well lately, I''ve been suffering from insomnia, and I''ve been having some nightmares at night, and it just so happens that that guest seems to know a bit about Chinese medicine and metaphysics, so I went to ask him for some advice."


    Elaine slowly raised her head to look at him, her eyes narrowing slightly, then lowered her head again without saying anything.


    After a while, until Ethan grew apprehensive inside, she sighed imperceptibly and spoke quietly, "Chinese medicine has its merits, but don''t be too superstitious about it, or those charlatans who don''t have a licence to practise, and don''t go superstitious about metaphysics or anything like that. If you can''t sleep, take melatonin, if you can''t, take sleeping pills, and if you can''t rest well, rest a little longer."


    "Well I know." Ethan nodded obediently.


    Elaine fumbled for her mobile phone and started ordering takeaway, while not even looking at him, she said, "I''ll take a nap at noon today, and then it''ll still be my shift, so you go and take a nap, sleep as long as you like. Tomorrow morning you''ll come back to turn in your shift."


    "Tough luck." Ethan fumbled with his phone as well, "I''ll recruit a receptionist as soon as I can."


    He posted a few more hotel cashier job postings online, then went out and printed out a few job postings to put up in front of the hotel, in front of the school, at newsstands, and the like, and by the time he came back, Elaine had already gotten her takeout.


    The two guests from last night checked out, and Ethan went to clean up the room after dinner, then went back to the counter to switch shifts with Elaine.


    It wasn''t long before the old mage came down again.


    This time he was still wearing Professor Chen''s trousers but had on one of Ethan''s white shirts, and as he walked up to Ethan he said, "It''s okay if I go out for a walk, right?"


    "It''s okay." Ethan nodded, then looked him over carefully, "You won''t get lost though, will you?"


    "That''s not so bad." The old mage smiled, "Not to mention the level of my transcendent abilities, our world also came from the level of civilisation you have now, and I was old enough then that I am familiar with the living conditions of this era."


    Ethan froze, thus realising the clearly more advanced civilisation of the old mage''s world than Earth''s, and the depth of the old mage''s seniority.


    "So you must have no problem living in our world, right?" Saying this, he fished out a few hundred dollars from his pocket, "You''re an old man, so you have no problem buying a new set of clothes when you go shopping, right? Wearing my father''s all the time, that girl will probably get suspicious."


    "Eh ...... okay." The old mage took it helplessly.


    He hadn''t bought his own clothes for an unknown number of years, and what he said about going out for a stroll was by no means going out shopping like an ordinary person.


    The old mage had travelled around the kingdom when he was young, and then gradually spread his footprints all over the world, whether it was the Forest of Ten Thousand Mountains, which was regarded as a forbidden place for demons, or the Sky City, which was revered as the realm of the gods, he had been there! But about eight or nine hundred years ago, after he had received all the world''s praise, he suddenly disappeared from the public eye.


    He opened the scroll that had the ability to travel through time and space, and so, in search of more wisdom, he resolutely began to travel through time and space - travelling between the major universes to see the very different civilisations.


    In his eyes, of course, not only spells, magic technology is called wisdom, there are also a variety of different cultures, the different ways of thinking of the people who grew up in different universes, the social environment and structure of different times, and even the differences between species and so on, in his opinion, are valuable treasures! Not only him, but also many other people in their world may have a great desire for this "knowledge that can enlighten them at any time".


    Because even if they were to say that this knowledge would not help them in their magical attainments, there is absolutely no mage who would think that magic is the entirety of their life. Life is so complex, so long and so short, how to have a rich and full soul is the lifelong pursuit of many mages.

 Chapter 7: The World of the Old Mage

    At around two in the afternoon, Elaine finished her nap and came down the stairs. She yawned as she rubbed her sleepy eyes, "I''ll go back and get a change of clothes and come back to turn in my shift ah ...... hmm?"


    She fixed her eyes on Ethan, who was crouched on the counter sleeping soundly, not making a sound at all.


    Like he was dead!


    Elaine sighed helplessly and walked across the hall in diameter, pushing open the glass door and heading out.


    The sunlight at the end of June was very scorching, causing her to frown and reach out her palm to cover her forehead as she picked up her car and headed home.


    Almost as soon as she had left, the old mage also happened to return from outside carrying a shopping bag. Thinking about the shopping experience he had just had, the old mage would still show a few embarrassed looks.


    He glanced over at Ethan, who was crouched asleep on the counter, and carried the clothes upstairs, and then down again when Ethan had woken up from his nap, his face looking much better than before.


    "Well, back." Ethan greeted.


    "Hmm." The old mage nodded and fished out a few tickets from his pocket and handed them back to Ethan, "This is the money left over from buying the clothes, give it back to you."


    "Well, there''s no need to be so polite ......," Ethan glanced at the tickets and was instantly a bit baffled.


    Good lord, he seemed to have given the old mage a total of four hundred dollars, after all, summer clothes were cheap and he wasn''t rich! As a result, the old mage left him more than three hundred and fifty back ......


    "Where did you buy these clothes?" He asked.


    "I found a wholesale clothing city on the Internet, where there are quite a lot of people, may be to see that I am old, so I dispose of a set of clothes to me." The old mage said.


    "Wholesale town!!!" Ethan looked down at the table, then continued to stare at the old mage incredulously, "You travelled this far in two hours!"


    The old mage smiled faintly and said, "Yes. You seem to be in much better spirits than in the morning after sleeping for two hours!"


    "Yeah?" Ethan froze and stopped dwelling on it and sighed, "It might have something to do with the fact that I just slept. By the way, I''ve been repeating the first step of the meditation method before I go to sleep, and every time I finish meditating I feel a little tired, but immediately I feel that my essence has become a little bit stronger, this is a normal phenomenon, right?"


    "...... "The old mage was silent for a while, then revealed a somewhat embarrassed expression, "It''s been so long in the past that I''ve pretty much forgotten about it. But the results should tell us something."


    "Then when my sister wakes up from her nap and comes down to turn in her shift, let''s move on to learning the next step!" Ethan was a little excited, "By the way, what''s the name of this meditation?"


    "Well, let''s see ah...... seems to be the Iron Horse Kingdom''s Beginner''s Raw Basic Meditation, Set 7, Simplified Version." The old mage doused all his expectations with a single sentence.


    "......" Ethan.


    As if he had seen the dullness in his expression, the old mage immediately added, "But I''ve optimised it, the way of meditation is a lot more scientific than the one that was implemented at the beginning, and the effect should also be better."


    "In the beginning ...... should ......" Ethan couldn''t help but be a little silent, "The Iron Horse Kingdom is that kingdom that expanded to Yan Lake a few hundred years ago, right? Is it still around now?"


    "Still there." The old mage affirmed the firmness of this ancient kingdom, "But it seems to have been reduced to a third world country."


    Ethan squeezed a far-fetched smile at him and immediately got up, walking out of the counter, "Keep an eye on things for me, I''ll go up and see if Elaine''s awake from her nap."


    He was just about to go upstairs when he saw Elaine, wearing a visor and carrying a large watermelon in her hand, push open the door from outside and look at him, "Awake?"


    "Erm, when did you go out?"


    "Just now." Elaine said, glancing lightly at the old mage.


    "You keep watch then, I''ll go upstairs and rest."


    "Wait!" Elaine shouted.


    "Huh?"


    "I brought you melatonin and sleeping pills I bought earlier and didn''t finish." Elaine calmly took half of the watermelon that had been cut in half and placed it on the counter, sticking a spoon in the middle of the red flesh, and then stuffed the other half into the cooler with the drinks before fumbling for another small bag and tossing it to him, "The dose of melatonin is 5mg, take one to try it out and if it''s not enough, take two. Sleeping pills are best avoided until you have to, I had a hard time prescribing this much."


    "Okay." Ethan took the medicine and went upstairs.


    The old mage followed him calmly, while Elaine stood inside the till, watching their backs and yawning.


    In Nodespace, Ethan sat on his knees.


    "Lord Lawgiver, I think we can proceed with our research on the space-time nodes first, followed by a bit of time left over before we can spend it on learning about meditation." Ethan raised his head and said to the old mage, who had already lost most of his interest in the "National Primary School Students'' Radio Gymnastics".


    "Good." The old mage smiled and didn''t say much, "Then let''s first study how to identify the energy recovery of travellers and props today."


    "Hmm!" Ethan remained seated on the ground.


    It had been proven countless times before that Old Mage''s experiments didn''t require him to physically cooperate, and in this space, it didn''t make sense at all in what position he was in.


    With a wave of his hand, the old mage fumbled for the large staff again, and stuttered twice at his feet - the extraordinarily tawdry looking staff didn''t seem to serve any purpose other than to make the old mage look more like a mage and to match some of his habitual movements.


    "Let''s first establish a standard, tentatively delineated in percentages, and later subdivided into energy scales ...... I can clearly sense the total amount of energy and existing reserves of myself and the scrolls, and you have a certain level of perception of the beings and objects that enter this space, so it''s simple enough --as long as you confirm which part of the sensation you perceive is related to our energy, and then find out how it changes and corresponds into the standard, it''s fine."


    "Good!" Ethan said.


    "Most of the previous experiments were me sharing my findings to you, this time it''s your turn to share your results to me." Perhaps the old mage would not be able to use the results of this research in his lifetime, but he just had a paranoid pursuit of knowledge.


    "Good!" Ethan said.


    "Now I''m going to help you amplify your senses, and you''re going to remember every sense you can feel."


    "Yes!" Ethan said.


    An hour of time passed.


    "Let''s put this research on hold for today, it''s not something that can be done in a short period of time, let''s move on to the next research project." The old mage paused his staff again, "I took some time last night to think about it, although I haven''t had time to make a formula to analyse and verify it, I think you should have more than just a hold on this space, I think we can try to excavate in that direction."


    "Good!" Ethan said.


    "You''re really ...... ugh!" The old mage shook his head, "Let''s get started then."


    "Good!" Ethan''s expression was frozen.


    It was as if he had gone back in time, to high school.


    Teacher: Because sinB (sin squared A + cos squared A) = ¡Ì2sinA, right?


    Ethan: Hmm.


    Teacher: so sinB = ¡Ì2sinA, right?


    Ethan: Hmm.


    Teacher: Now the result comes out, right?


    Ethan: Hmm.


    Teacher: And what is the result?


    Ethan: ......


    About an hour and a half later-


    "Well, that''s it for today." The old mage smiled, "You''re learning meditation quite quickly."


    Ethan sat down on the ground and put his meditation aid card away, feeling like a wreck already.


    He looked up at the old mage but didn''t move, instead he asked, "Lord Lawgiver, I''m actually curious, do gods exist in your world? I seem to have heard you mention the word demon."


    "God? What is a god?" The old mage looked at him and smiled helplessly, "The original god was just an answer in people''s minds, its purpose was to explain why this world and life are the way they are, and after all, it was just a tool that people fantasised to fill in the gaps in their perceptions and eliminate their inner fears and trepidations."


    Ethan froze, "And then what happened?"


    "Later?" The old mage''s expression became even more helpless, "You have to understand that any god in the broad sense does not exist, and any god in the narrow sense is not a god. This is something that we mages are more than clear about. This is because during the long development process of our world, too many races and individuals who fancied themselves as gods or were once honoured as gods were pulled off the altar by the rapidly advancing magic technology."


    "So!" Ethan frowned, "And what kind of world is your magical world?"


    "Our world?" The old mage revealed a smirk, "To say the least, the background of our world is quite different from your world! The difference lies in the difference of subtle rules, so we don''t have natural sciences, and it''s hard for us to breed natural sciences, because before natural sciences, we already had magic. We had a longer feudal age than you guys, those primitive-like wars we lasted for tens of thousands of years, and then the development of civilisation changed everything, including magic and spellcasters ......"


    "Magic was no longer used to roll fireball spells, and no one formed casters into mage warbands ...... We began to use magic to make weapons, magic to create cities, magic to build bridges across canyons and highways across deserts, and magic to take us off-planet to explore our realm! ...... "The old mage looked at him as he seemed to be listening with some fascination, and couldn''t help but feel a pang of amusement, "But boy, these are only external differences after all."


    "Apart from the differences in background, the climax and decline of cultures, the wars that start up and gradually subside, the kingdoms that go from being established, to rising, and then to falling into disrepair, the goodness, the greed, the order, the violence, the rules, and the desires, these are always more or less the same!" The old mage looked at him and said, "People in both worlds are actually doing pretty much the same thing. I perceive that people in your world also love to use a metaphor, the wheel of history, do you know why that is?"


    "Why?" Ethan asked, "Isn''t it because the wheel will crush everything? It leaves everything behind into the past?"


    "Because the wheel is a circle that goes round and round." The old mage drew a circle in the air with his hand, and white lines emerged, gradually evolving into the style of an ancient wagon wheel and turning abruptly, "When the wheel of history rolls and turns, even if it keeps moving forward, it''s just a change of time setting to play out the same story!"


    "Is ...... it?" Ethan narrowed his eyes at the dripping wheel.


    He didn''t retort, nor did he have the heart to think about how to do so, even if he could always pick out the flaws if he wanted to.


    The old mage had lived twelve hundred years.


    A thousand years might not seem long, but for ordinary people, it was like a long road with no end in sight. That''s why ordinary people may never be able to imagine what a spellcaster who has lived for thousands of years is really like - how he thinks, what kind of experiences and insights he has had, being wiser than we can imagine, or hopelessly pedantic.


    Ethan didn''t want to think about it, because he was sleepy.


    The experiment with the old master had helped him a lot, and he had learnt the second, third and fourth steps of meditation from the old master, who said that he should be able to deal with it for a while, and he wanted to go back to sleep and try it out.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.¡¡¡¡In order to avoid accidents, he ordered a takeaway for the old mage before going to bed and chose to have it delivered from six o''clock.


    This move proved to be a wise one, as he slept straight through until eleven at night without dreaming or insomnia. When he woke up he was almost so relieved he wanted to scream.


    Insomnia was terrible!


    It was also the first time he realised that a good night''s sleep could be so comfortable!


    Unfortunately it was just a little hungry.


    As Ethan stumbled down the stairs he saw that Elaine appeared to be being pestered at the cashier''s desk by a crisply dressed young man of about twenty.


    Ethan''s sleepy eyes popped open.


    The youth looked to be about the same height as Elaine, Ethan estimated him to be at most 5''5", with a figure that might fall into the standard category in the eyes of many little girls, but in Ethan''s opinion it was skinny, estimated to be at most a hundred pounds or so. This kind of height and weight is good to be a good person, if you are fighting and causing trouble, a push can push a heel.


    Ethan immediately put down his heart, and only then slowly walked down the stairs, at the same time carefully measured up this young man---


    He is a little handsome, probably one third of himself, cotton shorts, white t-shirt, loafers, wearing a string of decorative beads on his hand, looks like a clean and clean "little brother".


    However, it was already past eleven o''clock at night, and Ethan still smelled the vague smell of alcohol. There are a lot of bars and nightclubs next to the university, although most of them are relatively innocent, but there is no lack of encounter-themed, so it is very likely that this guy just came back from the nightclub, failed to have an encounter, so he came here alone to look for a place to stay. Otherwise, it was because of a failed love affair, depressed mood or something like that that he ran out to get drunk.


    Obviously, the drunken man was instantly captured by Elaine''s still green and delicate face and tall figure.


    Ethan came closer and closer, but the young man did not notice, only stared straight at Elaine, and also squeezed out a smile that he thought was very elegant: "You also did not say whether you have a boyfriend, I''m not necessarily chasing after you, just like this just leave a sentence not to give, it''s a little bit too unkind, right?"


    Elaine glanced at Ethan in her afterglow, and continued to look at the youth coldly, saying, "We welcome you to stay, but if you want to get drunk, you''d better get out of here!"


    "Is that so mean?" That youth froze, "I just want to make a friend."


    "I don''t want to make friends with you."


    "Wow little beauty, people are so pretty, how come you have such a bad personality! Is it so hard to stay one?" The youth smiled helplessly and bitterly, "If you have a boyfriend, I''ll turn around and leave, okay? I''m not the kind of person who loves to dig up people. But if you don''t have a boyfriend, give me a chance, give me a chance! Let''s add a WeChat, whether we can chat together depends on fate, what do you say?"


    "No stay!" Elaine''s eyes were a little cold.


    This person is not a retard, right?


    "Little beauty don''t be so cruel, right? Give me face, okay, give me a step down, okay?" The youth begged bitterly, "If I give WeChat, and then you find it inappropriate afterwards and you delete me again, it''s my fault, if you don''t even give it, then it''s your fault ......"


    In the course of the youth''s chatter, Elaine has expressionlessly picked up a thick and heavy Atlas book placed on the computer desk in front of her and shrugged her shoulders, and before the youth could finish speaking, she swiftly turned her body sideways, and then the strength of her waist drove her arm to swing up and speak the book as a brick forcefully smashed the side of the youth''s face-


    "Wrong you sister!" Elaine shouted in a cold voice!


    There was a bang!


    The youth''s body lurched and sat directly on the ground, his head was dizzy and he was unconscious.


    Ethan, who was watching the battle from a few metres away, laughed.


    Elaine''s temper was not only high and cold, but also explosive, and she was really practised. This youth didn''t necessarily weigh more than her, and his height was about the same, Elaine reckoned she could beat him up twice.


    But businessman, to make peace is precious.


    So Ethan stepped over, see the youth seems to have been confused, sitting on the ground for a long time did not react, and quickly went over to reach out to pull him up, mouth also said: "Aiya brother what''s wrong with you! Why are you suddenly sitting on the ground? Drink too much, right? Quickly get up get up ......"


    The youth blinked twice and shook his head fiercely, looking incredulously at Elaine, the Atlas, which was comparable to the Oxford Dictionary, still sitting on the counter.


    He held out his hand as if to point it at Elaine.


    With a snap, Ethan held his hand down, "Steady brother, don''t move or you''ll fall again!"


    The youth twisted his head to look at Ethan, his face was full of confusion and bewilderment, he opened his mouth and let out syllables from his mouth, "This chick ......"


    Ethan pursed his lips and let his hands go.


    Only to hear a thud, he sat down on his arse again!


    The sciatic nerve suffered a heavy blow, directly causing his face to twist in pain, and he couldn''t say a word.


    Ethan hurriedly grabbed his arm again to yank him up, with Ethan''s height and weight, this weak youth was lifted up like a doggy: ''''See, told you to stay still, fell again! Come on come on where do you live, I''ll take you back!"


    Snap!


    A student ID card fell out.


    Ethan picked up the student ID card and looked at it, then he was happy: "Yo, it''s still a junior ah! You''re only a freshman and you''re going out to hang out in a bar?"


    Ethan looked the young man up and down before saying, "Your physique is similar to a comedian!"


    The young man looked up at him, his face twisted, and he stifled his words, "Brother, I was wrong."


    Gotta! It''s no fun anymore!


    Ethan simply stopped teasing him, released him, and also patted the non-existent dust on his clothes and said, "Okay, I won''t bother with you if you know you''re wrong, usually either drink less, if you''re drunk, you have to pay attention to it, pestering a human girl for contact information in the middle of the night, and not letting go even after you''ve been rejected, what kind of words is that!"


    The youth stifled an ugly expression, under the effect of alcohol amplifying the emotions actually have a kind of impulse to cry.


    He didn''t want to lose face!


    In the end, he touched his arse and limped out the door, and stood in the doorway, scanning left and right for a few moments before finding a direction to continue looking for the hotel.


    Ethan turned back to Elaine.


    The two looked at each other, one couldn''t help but smile, while the other was cold and expressionless.


    After a long time, Ethan stifled a sentence, "It''s a good thing you used the book to hit, or else with that physique of his, he wouldn''t have to give you a slap and be confused?"


    "I have my measure, I don''t need you to remind me!" Elaine said coldly, and after a pause, she added, "If the shop wasn''t open, I would have picked up the book and huffed at him!"


    "Well, it''s not like I blame you." Ethan said, "Shouldn''t have let you on night duty in the first place, girls aren''t very safe at night, everyone will subconsciously classify girls as the category that is good for bullying ...... especially your kind, besides those who really want to commit crimes, it will also attract quite a lot of dilettantes."


    "Dilettantes like this?" Elaine looked disdainful.


    "A young man who doesn''t know what he''s doing." Ethan said helplessly, "In case a taller and stronger one really comes, and you''re that impulsive to make a move, causing him to get annoyed, I''ll see what you''ll do next!"


    "Then I didn''t see you come to my aid just now!" Elaine''s tone hid some dissatisfaction.


    "I saw that you could handle it, but if you were a taller man, I''d still have to do it!"


    "Can you stop thinking you''re so great?" Elaine gave him a sidelong glance, "Still a weakling!"


    "......" Ethan stared at her in surprise, "A weakling? Come on, have you ever seen a five-foot-nine seventy-something kilo weakling?"


    "One metre eighty-eight, in shoes, it''d be nice to be one metre eighty-five without them!" Elaine despised, "And if fat is useful isn''t a pig able to eat a tiger?"


    "Net height of one metre eighteen! Thanks!" Ethan was a little annoyed that this girl was always lifting the bar with him, "And I''m not fat, I used to be on the basketball team, okay!"


    "Used to."


    "And I have abs and pecs!"


    "Used to."


    "You win." Ethan had no choice but to raise his hands in surrender.


    "I''m telling the truth, you''ve completed the reverse process of developing a great physique in the first place." Elaine glanced over him, then back to his face, and said, "You''re in much better spirits after half a day''s sleep, and you''ve got the strength to argue with me!"


    Ethan helplessly skimmed his lips, what law he had.


    In the beginning, he often exercised and loved sports himself, of course he had a good body. Later on, when he started to be busy with his business, he gradually did less exercise, and at most went out for a run on a whim. From the third year of college to resume single, very decadent for a period of time, coupled with the fourth year of college will not be in school, negligent exercise and eat well and play well, of course, to grow fat.


    Not wanting to argue with Elaine about that aspect, he walked in to sit at the counter and said, "Go to bed, I''ll keep watch tonight."


    "Not sleepy." Elaine said lightly, picking up the large book and flipping about a third of the way through it, looking down at it, "Sit here if you can''t sleep, if I get sleepy early I''ll go upstairs and rest, if not I''ll sit here with you and see if any dilettantes come over to let you round out the bull you just bragged about."


    "......" Ethan said, "I''m so hungry."


    "Should be hungry too." Elaine nodded with her book in hand, her fingers flicking over a page, "I''m having a barbecue tonight, with barbecued ribs and aubergines, barbecued chicken wings, beef and lamb ......"


    "Elaine!!! you''re going a bit overboard!!!" Ethan blackened his face and said in a deep voice.


    Elaine, however, ignored him and said to herself, "By the way, I also ordered a cold small carp for the main meal."


    "Enough!" Ethan''s face darkened even more.


    "Why is it enough?" Elaine''s face still couldn''t see much expression, and she didn''t raise her head, "Have you forgotten how you treated me when you were little?"


    "It was so small then! Do you have to hold a grudge that much!?" Ethan was just speechless.


    "I''m small now too, I''m not an adult yet." Elaine said faintly while reading a book, "So I only have to ask you as a guardian to be a little more patient."


    "Fine." Ethan pursed his lips and sighed helplessly, then fished out his mobile phone and opened the takeaway software, "I''ll order a takeaway now, what do you want to eat? ...... Don''t say yes, I''ll order exclusively what you love to eat, anyway, I''m so hungry right now, I feel like I could eat a cow."


    Elaine: "......"


    Ethan really did order a whole lot of food, and Elaine really did keep forcing herself not to grab it. Except that she had secretly taken the incident to heart and went upstairs with a horribly grim face.


    It was a little after one in the morning when the hotel closed and went upstairs to bed.


    At this time, the old mage is still awake, the bottom of the door of the room at the gap through the blue light, in the dark environment is particularly conspicuous.

 Chapter 8 Recruitment

    25th June.


    By this time, candidates from all over the country have checked their results, and most of them should be preparing to volunteer or have already done so. Many of the candidates who are planning to study here have gathered their like-minded classmates or brought their parents along and are excited to visit the Illinois Institute of Technology.


    It was the third day that Warm Heart Pavilion opened.


    Business is suddenly booming.


    Warm Heart Pavilion received more than twenty orders on different platforms this morning alone, ranging from today to three days from now.


    Elaine is a little excited about this, while Ethan is relatively more calm.


    With the convenient transport and many hotels here, this amount of foot traffic isn''t enough to make the merchants raise their prices, well, the hotels around the school won''t consider raising their prices until the first few days of the school year, but the increase won''t be much, not compared to smaller cities.


    Ethan bought two bags of frozen dumplings outside this morning, borrowed the suite''s mini-kitchen to cook them, and quietly brought a bowl over to the old mage before sitting down with Elaine on the ground floor to eat.


    Suddenly, the computer beeped again.


    There was another order!


    Ethan hurriedly put down his bowl and went over to order the confirmation before walking back to Elaine, ''''Business is definitely good these days, I reckon that apart from the deluxe suite, the rest of the rooms will be full! We can''t both stay here, we''ll have to pick one of us to go home and sleep."


    Elaine takes a dumpling with her fork, chews slowly and nods her head, "Not bad, I originally thought there was absolutely no business prospect for Mum and Dad to set up a deluxe suite in a small hotel like this, but now it seems to be necessary, so that in future we can go to the neighbouring food market and buy food and come back to cook our own meals."


    "......" Ethan said breathlessly, "I say, if the rooms get tight in a few days, just go home and sleep, I''ll take the night shift!"


    "I thought you said the deluxe suites weren''t full?"


    "But the deluxe suite isn''t a family suite, there''s only one bed!" Ethan said helplessly.


    In fact, the deluxe suite could choose to install a cot, but it could definitely only be installed in the bedroom, the mini living room was not large enough. And the two siblings were already at this age, if it wasn''t for any special circumstances, sleeping in one room was obviously not appropriate.


    "There''s a sofa!" Elaine, however, said, "I''ll sleep on the living room sofa! Otherwise, if I go back, who''s going to cook and eat for me?"


    "You can go back after you''ve eaten."


    "No way! I have to eat late at night sometimes!"


    "......" Ethan only nodded and said, "Well, it''s also possible ...... that no one will book a deluxe suite at all, and then we can each have one, there''s two of them anyway."


    "See, the only purpose of setting up this room is to let us sleep by ourselves." Elaine said.


    "...... can''t actually say it has no business prospects at all!" Ethan shook his head and said, "Not to mention how many well off students there are in the university, the neighbourhood itself belongs to the more prosperous business district, many white-collar workers from other places travel here to talk about business and so on, and with company reimbursement they won''t care about the price of the room. It is as a small hotel wants to compete with the big hotels in this kind of high-end room, it is really a bit undesirable."


    "Just as well, we''re staying on our own." Elaine said.


    When Ethan''s parents were preparing to invest in the guesthouse, his father left his job when he did the start-up design and market research, so the burden fell on his mother. But with the mother really can not do this kind of work, which fundamentally led to the guesthouse positioning is not clear, the room type is very clutter -


    Even a little idiot like Elaine could see that!


    It was a three-storey building, not old to say the least, but not built in the last few years either. It''s been remodelled and renovated to make it the Warm Heart Pavilion it is now.


    Warm Heart Pavilion has 39 rooms in total, ranging from bed rooms for young travellers to themed rooms for couples, and from mini-budget rooms to luxury suites. This also confirms the traditional businessman thinking of the two professors, who, through their research, came up with a wide range of accommodation needs of potential customers in the surrounding complex environment, but neglected to consider the positioning of the brand, which is probably the same way of thinking as academics in the guesthouse industry.


    It''s not a bad idea, as many hotels have done it before. Warm Heart Pavilion, thanks to its unique surroundings, sells out its economy rooms and its themed rooms to couples.


    After breakfast, Ethan stood guard at the hotel, while Elaine actually went back to bring all the pots and pans, oil, salt, vinegar and other things, and threw them in the stairway storage room from the ground floor to the first floor.


    It was close to noon before the first customer arrived - the


    Two shy and youthful looking boys, carrying school bags, in youthful casual wear and trainers. They had booked a deluxe standard room.


    When Ethan was checking them in, Elaine was sitting next to him quietly reading a book, with some blonde hair falling naturally from one side of her cheek, while the other side of her hair was lifted behind her ear, and her silent demeanour and cool, delicate melon-faced face made her temperament seem extraordinarily superior.


    The two boys were inevitably attracted to Elaine, looking down at Ethan, but their afterglances kept darting to Elaine''s face intentionally or unintentionally.


    "Deposit one hundred." Ethan said lightly, looking over at the two of them, "You''re from New York, huh?"


    "Yeah." One of the boys said.


    "Come over to hang out?"


    "Well, filled out the school over here, thought I''d live here for years to come, came over to check it out first." The boy smiled and looked over at Ethan with another hint of a vaguely smug look, and said offhandedly, "Booked a place to stay closer to the school, by the way."


    "So ready to go to Illinois Institute of Technology ?" Ethan matched.


    "Hmm." The boy nodded and glanced at Elaine again before continuing, "You can just walk in and out of the university, right? Does it close at night?"


    "It''s not closed, feel free to come in." Ethan said.


    "Oh."


    "Room 218, deposit slip and IDs for both of you, please keep them." Ethan smiled and handed them the slip and their IDs, "Upstairs please turn left, if you need any help just let me know."


    "Good!"


    The two boys reluctantly made their way up the stairs.


    It was then that Ethan turned his head to Elaine and questioned, "Look, everyone else has filled out their volunteers, what about you?"


    "Didn''t fill it out." Elaine didn''t raise her head.


    At this point, the boy who was talking to Ethan before hastily slowed down his pace, and in the process pulled his companion, and some lustre began to shine in his eyes.


    So that pretty and elegant young lady had just finished the college entrance exam? She looks so pretty, I didn''t expect that she is actually the same age, since this is the case, doesn''t it mean that she can make a friend or something?


    At this time they heard Ethan say in dissatisfaction, ''''But you have to give me a word about which school you want to go to, right? Didn''t you used to say you hoped to go to Harvard?"


    "I don''t bother thinking." Elaine sneered, "What difference does it make? Just pick any one when the time comes!"


    "How is there no difference? Harvard excels in literature, medicine, law, and business, while MIT focuses on applied science and engineering, and artificial intelligence is top-notch." Ethan was helpless.


    The two boys'' bodies shook as they looked at each other.


    "I''ve told you many times Ethan!!! just mind your own business and leave me alone!" Elaine retorted, her tone full of helplessness, "Does it really make that much of a difference which school you choose, didn''t you grow up white and chubby after four years of studying here?"


    "I didn''t do well in the exams before I went to Illinois Institute of Technology, well, if I wanted to be like you, I would have gone to Harvard!" Ethan was speechless, this is both a brother and a mother.


    The two boys were no longer interested in continuing to listen, what they had heard so far had already made their hearts a little stuffy, no longer daring to deliberately sluggishly dawdle, accelerating their pace up the stairs, back to their rooms.


    Ethan and Elaine still argued for a while, before the topic of "life planning and values" turned to what to eat for lunch today.


    In the afternoon, Ethan received a phone call from an applicant, a recent graduate of an art school next door, who wanted to work as a cashier.


    Ethan talked to her for most of the day, and finally she said in a hesitant tone, "Can I ...... think about it for a while, and then call you if I want to come?"


    Ethan knew it was mostly hopeless, but still nodded and agreed.


    In the afternoon, a few young girls who had just finished their high school entrance exams came one after another, all of them looking beautiful, and even less so, all of them were also clear and lovely, making Ethan marvel at the quality of the next youngest sisters.


    Unfortunately, all of these sisters came with their mums or sisters, and Ethan had already graduated.


    He had also finally recruited a cleaning aunty, so he didn''t have to do the cleaning himself. Auntie Tang is a descendant of Chinese immigrants who had to come out to work because her family was having a hard time making ends meet.


    On the morning of the 26th, he slept until ten o''clock.


    Last night Ethan was on night duty because a guest had booked a room but took a very late flight to Chicago, so he waited until after two o''clock in the middle of the night. Afterwards, he had gone to see the old mage and learnt the fifth and sixth steps of that schoolboy''s meditation, and by the time he went back to bed it was three in the morning.


    Last night seems to have dreamed, he vaguely feel a little bit, but can''t remember anything, looking in the mirror and found that he looks pretty good, let''s just pretend that he didn''t dream.


    In that case, that meditation method is still quite effective, only so two o''clock to see the effect of extraordinary.


    Ethan''s interest in it had been revived.


    Elaine was on duty this morning, and he had just walked downstairs when he was greeted by Elaine''s deadpan face, and then heard her complaining, "Ethan, you''re getting lazy, and you don''t even get up to make breakfast anymore!"


    "Heh ......" Ethan yawned and was just about to dislike her back when suddenly his phone dinged.


    "Hmm?" He hurriedly touched his phone to see that it was a text message from an unfamiliar number, politely worded.


    "Hello boss, I saw your recruitment news on the internet, because I sent you a station message and you didn''t seem to see it, so I hastily sent you a text message, please understand if I''m disturbing you. Here I would like to ask your hotel has recruited cashier? If not can I come and have a look first?"


    Ethan had just finished reading when another message came through, still from the same number.


    "Ah yes, my profile is available online with the username Evelyn, you can also take a look at it first to see if it meets your requirements."


    Ethan didn''t bother to look at the profile, sitting smoothly on the couch, a call was made back.


    And Elaine immediately frowned and asked, "Who texted you and who are you calling?"


    Ethan listened to the beeping sound coming from his phone while he replied back, "There''s a person who wants to come over to work as a cashier, she said she wants to come over to take a look, so I''ll call and communicate with her first."


    Elaine''s frown tightened as she listened.


    The phone didn''t beep twice before it picked up.


    "Hello, how are you, I''m the owner of Warm Heart Pavilion, my name is Ethan," Ethan spoke.


    There was silence on the other end of the line, then a somewhat timid female voice came through that didn''t sound very old, "Ethan, hello, my name is Evelyn."


    Ethan frowned, then he said decisively, "Hello Evelyn, about our hotel''s requirements for the front desk cashier, the cashier''s scope of work and the pay scale I''ve already written all of them on the job posting, and we haven''t recruited any suitable cashier yet, so if you think it''s suitable, feel free to come over to have a look. I also highly recommend you to come over and take a look, after all, there are some things that are not easy to say clearly over the phone, and it is also easy for you to get an idea of the hotel''s location and environment."


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.¡¡¡¡There was another moment of silence on the other end of the phone before he said, "Then ...... then I''ll come over now, is that okay?"


    "So soon!" Ethan was a bit surprised, "Of course, anytime. You can search the hotel name directly on the map to find the location, it''s very close to the north gate of the university."


    "I know, I live near here." Evelyn said, "I ...... I''ll hang up then?"


    "Okay, bye." Ethan was a little tired.


    This girl listened to the voice at most graduated from college, well, it is almost the same age as him, but listening to her on the phone always felt that she did not have a lot of confidence and was not very sociable, so he could not help but wonder if this girl was really suitable for the job of a front desk cashier in a hotel......


    But the front desk cashier is also very simple, as long as the IQ is not low, the character is not bad, there is no problem.


    At this time, Ethan received another text message -


    Hello boss, I''ll be there in about an hour, I won''t interrupt your lunch, right?


    Ethan shook his head again and replied back, "No."


    Then he opened his mobile phone software again and clicked on the girl''s profile. Looking at the avatar''s photo was quite clear, Asian face, about twenty years old, but when he looked at the profile, she was actually twenty-four years old, two years older than Ethan.


    "Well ......"


    Whatever, this girl is quite polite, anyway, it''s just a small hotel, where are all the requirements!


    Let''s just recruit one to deal with it!


    Thinking about it, Ethan turned his head to Elaine and said, "This one''s pretty solid, she said she''d come over to check it out, and if the job materialises, you''ll be liberated."


    Elaine turned her head and stared at him, silent for a long time before stifling the words, "That would be best!"


    It said an hour, but in half an hour at the most, Evelyn was at the door of the hotel -


    She walked across the street from the guesthouse first, then cautiously looked through the glass door at Ethan and Elaine sitting at the counter, and after a while she gritted her teeth and made up her mind to avoid oncoming traffic and cross the street towards this side.


    Ethan only saw the glass door of the hotel being pushed open by a somewhat pale hand, and then a girl in a white blouse with a black overskirt walked in. She was about one metre six and a half tall, a bit thin, with a clean face, but her face was a bit not so good, as if she had been malnourished for a long time.


    As soon as she entered the door she looked at Ethan and Elaine with some constraint, her voice dripping with timidity: "Hello, is this Ethan?"


    Elaine sized her up and looked at Ethan again.


    "Hello." Ethan stepped out of the counter and examined Evelyn who looked like she was out looking for a job for the first time, "You must be Miss Evelyn, I''m Ethan."


    "Hello, I''m Evelyn," Evelyn was even a little afraid to look directly at him, and hurriedly lowered her head and took out a folded A4 paper from her small handbag, which was a little bit worn out, revealing the word CV written on the head of the paper, which had obviously been returned many times.


    Er ...... "Ethan eye twitched.


    Um, is there ...... something wrong?" The girl looked at him in silence, "Why ...... why aren''t you talking?"


    "No, no." Ethan hurriedly came back to his senses and said, "Since you''ve decided to come over, I''m sure you understand the requirements, salary and job tasks on the job posting."


    "No, no!" Evelyn waved her hands in a hurry and shook her head with a flushed face, then pointed to the job posting stuck on the door, pointing at one of them with one hand and said, "I ...... don''t know if I meet your requirements."


    Ethan looked down at it.


    Elaine also craned her head sideways to look over.


    Only to see this paragraph on the job posting: decent features, good-looking image, optimistic personality, and able to work hard.


    Evelyn was pointing to this paragraph, with her head down and eyes glancing upwards, peeping at Ethan with apprehension.


    Elaine''s face suddenly darkened, ''''Ethan you are really capable! Everyone else''s big hotels only require proper features, how dare you put the word good-looking on it!"


    "Ahem." Ethan coughed and said to Evelyn, "Don''t dwell on these details."


    "Oh." Evelyn nodded.


    "Let me explain the hotel to you first." Ethan smiled, "The guesthouse is new, I''m the owner, and this is my sister, Elaine."


    "Hello hello." Evelyn hastily bowed her head, "I''m Evelyn, please take care of me."


    "Hello." Elaine nodded and squeezed out a smile.


    "Don''t be polite." Ethan waved his hand and continued, "My sister has just finished her college entrance exams, and is just helping out here now, and will be going off to college later on, so at the moment this guesthouse is de facto just me and a cleaning aunty named Tang. And there won''t be many cleaning aunts working, if you decide to do it here, after that for a while it''s probably just me and you on shifts. Of course, after the next semester starts, I''ll recruit a part-time weekend student at the university next door, so that you and I can have double shifts. And now, well, the semester has come to an end, and it''s probably not easy to find a part-time weekend job, so you might have to work hard for a little while during the two months of the summer holidays, working full shifts."


    "Hmm." Evelyn nodded her head in a small hmmm, indicating that she could accept this arrangement.


    At the same time, she also stole a glance at Elaine, because Elaine was really pretty and her face was so open-looking that if she didn''t wear a school uniform, she couldn''t tell that she had just finished her high school entrance exams, no matter from her appearance or temperament.


    "It''s nothing really, this hotel of ours is not as good as a big hotel, it''s only about thirty rooms a day when it''s all filled up, the workload isn''t that big, so I guess most of the time you''ll be sitting on the counter and playing. Even if you work on the weekends, the truth is that it''s just a different place to play." Ethan continued, "And I''m not interfering with what you play when there are no guests, as long as you don''t wander off and serve attentively when there are guests, and the rest of the time you can do whatever you want."


    "Mmm!" Evelyn nodded vigorously, then asked, "And can I ...... bring my own computer?"


    "Sure." Ethan gave her a look.


    "Hmm." Evelyn, sensitive to his gaze, hesitated and whispered back, "I''ve always wanted to find a job like this where I have a lot of free time during the workday that I can organise at my own discretion."


    "But most jobs like that pay very little." Ethan said.


    "No, that''s okay."


    "......" Ethan nodded at her simplicity and straightforwardness, then asked, "Do you have something you want to do? An internet side project or something?"


    Evelyn blushed and lowered her head, not answering.


    "In that case, then, a job as a front desk cashier at a small hotel meets your needs perfectly." Ethan said, "All you need to do is operate the hotel management system and the backend of the hotel booking website, accepting bookings and operating on the booking information, checking in guests and keeping the front desk clean and hygienic. And then when the guest makes some requests, within reason we can give him a better stay. And the free time in this you can do what you want."


    "I''m not going to use that ...... system." Evelyn whispered.


    "I''ll teach you."


    "Hmm."


    "Are you feeling alright?"


    "Yeah."


    "So let''s talk about hours and shift arrangements, pay arrangements, food and housing and all that." Ethan said, "For shifts, there are day and night shifts. The day shift is 8 hours from 9am to 5pm. The night shift is nine hours from five in the afternoon to two in the evening, but if there are guests arriving late at night, the night shift will have to work harder. Of course, if you have something that requires you to temporarily switch shifts or leave early, we can discuss that too. I''m very easy to talk to."


    "I ...... I''m usually fine." Evelyn said.


    "Then let''s talk pay. Previously we were talking about a monthly salary of 2200 plus commission, since we don''t have double shifts for the past two months, moving you to 2400 plus commission and reinstating it when we have double shifts is okay with you, right?" Ethan asked.


    "It''s okay." Evelyn nodded honestly.


    "Food and lodging are included in the hotel. The food is with me, I definitely won''t treat myself badly. If you want to live, because the staff dormitory is not ready yet, so in principle, you can live in whichever room is available, so you will live better, but the disadvantage is that sometimes you have to be entrusted to move things. Of course, if you work day shifts and don''t want to live here, you can do whatever you want. Because I heard you say earlier that you live around here." Ethan said, "But if you''re not going to eat here, you''d better give me a heads up to avoid food waste."


    "Hmm."


    "There doesn''t seem to be much more to say, the hotel isn''t big, all the rooms are in this building, the one at the top of the stairs from the ground floor to the first floor is a storage room, and there doesn''t seem to be much to look at." Ethan said looking over at her, "If you think it''s okay, let''s sign the contract and I''ll pull the job posting."


    "Hmm." Evelyn nodded as she continued to look at the ground, "So when can I start?"


    "That''s up to you, preferably as soon as possible." Ethan glanced at Elaine and added, "Because we''re really short a front desk cashier."


    "Would tomorrow be okay? I don''t have much to do."


    "Could be." Ethan smiled, "So are you free this afternoon? I can teach you to operate the equipment and systems, the backend web pages, and by the way, the hotel, ah the do''s and don''ts, I can give you the lowdown on that as well."


    "I''m always free." Evelyn whispered.


    "Okay then!" Ethan said, "By the way, have you had lunch yet? Why don''t you eat here? Feel my cooking skills on the way."


    "......" Evelyn hesitated, but still nodded and said, "Okay."


    And Elaine just stood by and watched with a helpless face as they smoothly negotiated everything together and signed the contract.


    Then Ethan went upstairs to stir-fry and cook, leaving the two of them at the front desk, one sitting at the front desk playing with her silent phone, the other just surveying the surrounding area, also silent and not opening her mouth to make conversation.


    Ethan had lived in a dormitory except for his freshman year, and the rest of the time he had rented a room outside. Originally, his understanding of cooking was only at the level of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and fried shredded potatoes, he liked Chinese food, but the restaurant''s were too expensive, and he had to gradually learn to stir fry and cook.


    Until later there is a girlfriend ...... even more so that his cooking skills are getting better every day.


    Soon, a simple three dishes and a soup was served.


    A potato burnt ribs, a minced meat aubergine, plus a green vegetable, a tomato pill soup.


    The three of them would use the coffee table at the front counter as a table, Evelyn and Elaine sat on the two sofas, while Ethan brought a short bench. Because the coffee table is shorter, the bench is more comfortable than the sofa.


    Such a simple table of food, but Evelyn sat at the table constrained, secretly constantly gulping. However, due to the etiquette, she could only take small bites, even only the plate in front of her, while her eyes constantly scanning the table.


    During the meal, Ethan talked to her about the workflow and some detailed rules and regulations, while Evelyn kept nodding her head. Elaine, on the other hand, sat on the sidelines, unable to interject, as if she were a transparent person.


    After dinner, Elaine was sent off to do the dishes.


    When she came down after washing the dishes, she saw Ethan busy teaching Evelyn the operating system at the counter, still acting as if he didn''t see her.


    Elaine finally couldn''t help herself and said with a cold snort, "Since you''ve found the front desk, it''s none of my business! You pay me my salary and the takeout money for the past few days, I''ll pack up my things and go back!"


    Ethan waved his hand, "Okay, okay ......"


    Elaine froze, then turned indignantly and went upstairs.

 Chapter 9 The practitioners of this industry are surprisingly so miserable

    Evelyn was already twenty-four, but her body was thin and small, with no mature temperament at all, walking beside Ethan like a freshman schoolgirl. She came over still wearing a formal summer OL uniform, seeing that it wasn''t expensive, mainly because her temperament didn''t match with this outfit at all, couldn''t find any hint of self-confidence, cheerfulness, or steady maturity, or even just the opposite.


    She was so simple and introverted that it was a bit unlike her, and through chatting Ethan also learnt that she had been living alone, which really made one wonder how she had survived all these years on her own.


    By almost two in the afternoon, Ethan had taught her to use all the equipment and systems used at the front desk, and because it was so simple, she was a fast learner. More time was spent by Ethan and her discussing the work side of the organisation.


    Evelyn was very unassertive, basically nodding her head and saying yes to whatever Ethan said, as if she would feel happy if she was offered a job that paid her with food, accommodation and a lot of personal time. Especially since the food was still good and the accommodation was good, at least better than her own small room in a rented house that she shared with others.


    Business had been good for the past two days, with customers coming in one after another, so it was a good time for Evelyn to practice and get some hands-on experience.


    Ethan was there to teach her the ropes and point out her faults, which were basically impeccable, except for the fact that she was too shy and timid when it came to interacting with the customers.


    At about four o''clock, Evelyn went back to pack up her things, and Ethan was again left alone at the front desk of the hotel.


    In the evening, Elaine rode over on an expressionless bike, and as soon as she walked in the door, she sat on the couch playing on her phone without lifting her head, in a gesture of absolute refusal to talk to Ethan.


    Ethan helplessly ended the bill tally and said to Elaine, "I''m going out for a while, you stay here and keep watch!"


    "No!" Elaine didn''t look up.


    "Just keep watch for ten minutes or so!"


    "No!"


    "What''s with the temper tantrum ......" Ethan was angry and amused, "Stop it, count me out okay."


    "Just no!" Elaine got angry every time she heard him speak to her in that "parent to child" tone, "Didn''t you find a cashier? Why should I work for you if you don''t pay me?"


    "She doesn''t start until tomorrow." Ethan froze.


    "Oh! All but kicked me out, only to try and get me back because someone else didn''t show up for work, is that such a good thing?" Elaine huffed.


    "Eh? Wasn''t it you who said you were leaving? And you still have a look of finally being relieved ...... I thought you finally didn''t have to work for me here and felt an immense sense of relief all over!" Ethan felt puzzled, "How can you say I kicked you out? Your anger is a bit unfounded, isn''t it ......"


    "The wages are all settled!"


    "Then ...... you return to me?"


    "......" Elaine directly ignored him and continued to look down and play with her mobile phone.


    Ethan was helpless: "I am going out to buy groceries, if you don''t help me keep watch, will you eat takeout again tonight?"


    Elaine stood up with a brush, inserted her phone into the front pocket of her skinny jeans in a fluid motion, and then stepped into the counter with a stride, standing, "I''m going to have sweet and sour pork and boiling fish."


    "What a pain in the arse to pack the fish!" Ethan frowned, "Just stir-fry two random dishes!"


    "I want boiling fish."


    "You girl! Why are you so troublesome!"


    "Boiling fish!" Elaine glared at him, "You said I''d help you with the front desk, you can''t treat me poorly when it comes to food!"


    "Good! Boiling fish!"


    "And sweet and sour pork."


    "Good! Sweet and sour pork!"


    "The boiling fish should be super spicy!"


    "Okay! Super spicy!"


    "Hmph!"


    "......"


    Ethan walked out with a heavy face, there was a food market not too far away next door, about a five minute walk.


    About an hour later, the boiling fish and sweet and sour pork were on the coffee table, the boiling fish was padded underneath with Elaine''s high school maths textbook, which was actually just right.


    Elaine was extremely satisfied, her face looked much better, and she served a bowl full of rice to start eating.


    In her eyes, Ethan was basically not capable of anything, including Ethan''s achievements during his college years, but also could not meet her eyes, because the money Ethan earned had little to do with her, and could not reach her card. The only thing that was different was cooking - she was one of the direct beneficiaries and by far the biggest. So she appreciates that aspect of Ethan.


    She also appreciated Ethan''s ex-girlfriend for coaching Ethan''s cooking so well.


    Only now there was one more person to share Ethan''s cooking with her, and that person was a young female front desk cashier.


    ......


    The most common thing around every university is not cybercafes, hotels, or even clothing shops, but cheap and simple rental houses all around the university.


    Many students do not care how good the surrounding environment of the rental housing location is good, and not on the house decoration, hardware configuration has too harsh requirements, as long as the school is close, air conditioning and hot water is enough. Many people don''t even need a kitchen, as long as they can get rid of the cramped dormitory and difficult to get along with roommates, so that they and their girlfriends have a place to live together, they don''t even need a kitchen, just rent a bedroom is enough.


    The exam party is a little bit more demanding, but also just the pursuit of a little quieter.


    It''s not uncommon to find four or five bedroom apartments around the school, each of which can be rented to a student or a couple for a cheaper eight or nine hundred dollars, or a thousand dollars for a more expensive one, which is much more profitable than renting it out as a whole.


    The tenants are often six or seven people crowded in such a house, regardless of gender, shared living room kitchen and bathroom. The master bedroom had its own bathroom, but the rest of the house had to queue for a shower.


    Evelyn rents the smallest room on the fifth floor of an old, unassuming residential building with no lift.


    There were five bedrooms rented out, and the one she rented was the only one without air-conditioning and a window, making it unbearably hot and stuffy every summer. Even the landlord, who had become familiar with her over time, felt sorry for her and brought her an electric fan.


    In a family, such a room is either used as a storage room or a study room, and of course the price is cheap, only six hundred a month, one deposit and one payment, which is suitable for her financial situation.


    It was six o''clock and Evelyn was suffering from the stifling heat of the room at dusk, fortunately she was weak and not too sweaty.


    Outside in the living room came the sounds of a couple who were leaving for the day saying goodbye to the others, who were moving back to the dormitory in the next few days to cope with the department''s final inspection, and the aroma of takeaways ordered by a number of her shared roommates, while she sat silently on the hardboard bed in her small room, enduring the hunger pangs that coursed through her stomach.


    In front of her was the already packed luggage, except for the bedding and a folding table, all the clothes for winter and summer added up to a small trolley case and a backpack.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but think of the lunch today and subconsciously gulped.


    She was too embarrassed to go and add to her meal this lunchtime, so she only ate a small bowl, and with her irregular diet for a long time, she couldn''t eat much before she was full. However, whenever she thought of the plate of stewed pork ribs with potatoes on Elaine''s side and her own helplessness when she wanted to eat it but was too shy to reach out her chopsticks, she felt a vague pain in her heart - even if she could only eat the potatoes, it would be fine!


    And remembering that from tomorrow onwards she would have a stable meal, and that she would not only be able to continue to do what she wanted to do, but also have a stable job, she was full of hope for the future!


    Unfortunately, tonight ......


    Evelyn rubbed her stomach, fished out a second-hand Apple 4 from her bag that had been knocked around many times, and opened the takeaway app.


    Most of the time in the past, this takeaway software''s function was to provide her with a platform to quench her thirst for plums, even if she was willing to eat a good meal she wouldn''t be willing to pay for that delivery fee, she would rather walk half an hour to the shop to eat by herself. The only time she would consider it was when a new shop opened or when a takeaway company was competing with a really big discount.


    But today was destined to be a different day!


    It was almost the end of the month, and she was also leaving here tomorrow, which was a bit of a bummer when she thought about it - she''d been living in this little room for almost two years now, and it wasn''t easy to find such a cheap room with its own space.


    So she was prepared to put her blood down, have a good meal, and pay tribute to the blood and sweat she''d spilled in this place.


    "Just ...... keep it under twenty dollars!" Evelyn said to herself, then familiarly tapped a few filters on the takeaway software and started looking.


    About half an hour later, the phone switched off prematurely on low battery.


    "......" Evelyn sighed as she had long since become accustomed to the old machine''s temperament, while really letting her choose she probably wouldn''t be able to, "There''s still two loaves of bread in the fridge... . forget it, let''s just go downstairs and have some noodles."


    She sat in her room for a while, thinking that she really should have offered to start work tonight, but she was too embarrassed to ask, what if her boss saw what she was up to?


    It was only when she heard nothing else moving in the living room outside that she opened the door and tiptoed out the door and headed downstairs.


    The next day.


    Evelyn was usually meant to sleep in until twelve so that she could save on a lunch, yes, a breakfast at noon would suffice, two loaves of bread would definitely feed her. Instead, she got up at six today, put on her rucksack, pulled her suitcase in one hand, carried a folding table-board and bundles of pillows and duvets and the like in the other, opened the door and left silently, and then dragged the trolley-suitcase and bedding laboriously down the stairs, one step at a time -


    Compared to yesterday''s couple saying goodbye to their shared flatmate, her departure was literally unnoticed.


    She didn''t dare to drop the trolley case, it was very expensive to buy it again if it broke, so she just had to grip it tightly through gritted teeth until her hands were sore and limp, and descending to the bottom of the stairs already made her feel like her arms were about to break.


    That''s when the mobile phone rang!


    Evelyn let go of the trolley case in a hurry, not caring about her aching arm muscles, she felt out her mobile phone to see---


    The note was for her boss, which she had just set up last night.


    "Hey ...... hey Ethan take it easy, I''ll be right over." Evelyn picked up and said in a rush.


    "You don''t start work until seven, it''s just under six twenty, why are you panicking!" Ethan''s gentle voice with a smile came from the other end of the phone, "I was trying to ask how much luggage you have, do you need me to come pick you up."


    "No ...... not much." Evelyn''s arm is still sore, hearing this can not help but slightly warm eyes, "I ...... I''ll be there in ten minutes or so."


    "Well, remember to be careful crossing the road."


    "Well ......"


    Early morning on the 27th of June.


    It''s only six-thirty and Ethan''s eyes are still a little sore from his night shift last night which lasted until two in the morning. He had only slept for about four hours and his head was groggy, but remembering that skinny, simple girl from yesterday, he pressed his alarm clock to get up.


    He seemed to have had another dream last night, and it was still filled with mountains and rivers, as if the old mage had never seen anything but scenery in his life.


    Growing a pair of false eyes.


    It was light before six in the summer, but this morning a mist had risen in the city, making the streets a little hazy and making the morning extra cool.


    Ethan stood in front of the hotel, looking out over one end of the street, and reached up to cover his mouth and yawned, only to feel his eyes grow more and more sore.


    He reached out and rubbed them, and just as he lowered his hand, a thin figure appeared in the misty street.


    Startled by the coolness of the morning, Ethan actually had a jolt.


    He would remember this morning for a long time to come - that thin girl dragging a large bag of luggage, walking stubbornly step by step along the edge of the street towards him. In the fog her silhouette faded from blur to clarity, to life, like a long remembered silhouette finally recalled.


    Ethan hurriedly walked over and took the bundle of pillows and quilts in her hand under her dumbfounded gaze, then pulled her trolley case and said with a frown, "Didn''t you say you didn''t have much luggage? Told you I''d pick you up!"


    Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief and lifted the small folding tabletop in front of her with both hands as she followed him, saying in a red-faced, nervous mumble, "Thank you, Ethan."


    Ethan smiled, pulling her luggage into the guesthouse, mentioning it all the way to the stairwell storage room on the first and first floors, "Some of the luggage that you don''t use often should be put here for now, when you need to use it, I''ll entrust you to make a trip, and for the common necessities, you can pack them out first, and take them to room 311 on the third floor. When the youth hostel over there is renovated, you will pick a room to stay in."


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.¡¡¡¡"Hm." Evelyn nodded, then opened the trolley case on the spot and took out a plastic pocket of toiletries and an old laptop, charger, etc., and closed the trolley case again before holding the stuff up and looking at Ethan, "It''s ready."


    "Eh ......," Ethan froze, this girl was carrying such two large bags, but the stuff was pretty small.


    "Alright, I''ll take you." Ethan helped her pick up the folding tabletop and headed upstairs.


    Two ticks swiped the room open and he opened the door, an aisle appeared in front of Evelyn''s eyes while the floor was covered with a soft dark red carpet, looking forward to see what the living room looked like, "If no guests book this room, you''ll be staying here for now."


    "Huh?" Evelyn walked in, looked at the mini living room and the apparently different dress from ordinary single rooms, and then looked back at Ethan, uncertainly asked, "I ...... stay here?"


    "Business is good these days, all the other rooms are expected to be fully booked, and this is the least likely to be booked out." Ethan laughed and said, he was also a little helpless, "Just enjoy it for now, when those youth hostels are renovated, you won''t be able to live in such a big room."


    "I ...... "Evelyn looked at the sofa in the living room and turned to face him, "I''ll just sleep on the sofa, it''s quite wide."


    "No need to be so shabby, sheets and covers don''t cost much to clean once." Ethan felt he was still generous, at least he wasn''t one of those crooked bosses who only knew how to make money.


    "Oh." Evelyn then nodded in agreement.


    "Then why don''t you clean up, I''ll go down and make you guys breakfast first. work starts at 9:00 ah."


    "I don''t have anything to pack." Evelyn said putting her toiletries in the bathroom, the large tub nearly blinding her.


    By this time Ethan was gone and she stood in the room, craning her head in bewilderment to survey it. If it wasn''t for the fact that she couldn''t live in this room all the time herself, she would definitely feel a sense of unreality.


    A brand new mini-kitchen, a small but well appointed living room that even had a small projector and a computer. Outside were floor to ceiling windows and a large balcony facing the east, the curtains half hidden, the early morning sunlight just filtering in, decorated like a house inside a TV ......


    This is the most expensive room in the whole hotel.


    Evelyn couldn''t help but pull the curtains all the way back and pushed the floor-to-ceiling window open and walked out, taking a deep breath.


    In the distance, you could see the school building of Yida and a small half of the sports field, while the rest of the area was blocked by a forest of tall buildings. In fact, the line of sight was not considered good, but it was already very precious to her.


    When she thought of the small room with no windows, which was just a little bit bigger than this bathroom, she felt a pang of emotion.


    "Oooh~~"


    Evelyn gave herself a fist bump and turned to close the window, grabbing her computer and charging cable and heading downstairs.


    She was probably aware of the hotel''s recent situation, as Ethan had told her yesterday - it would be doing better business lately, but the suite wasn''t easily booked out, and the rest of the rooms were in short supply. So she''d probably be staying here for the next few days, and after a few days of slowing down, she''d probably move to a mini-single or standard single room.


    Evelyn walked over to the front desk on the ground floor, checked the equipment, placed her laptop on the desk, plugged in the computer cable, and began to launch herself into a frenzy with her chin propped up.


    It wasn''t long before Elaine pushed the door open from outside and came in, she looked a little worse for wear and caught a glimpse of Evelyn sitting at the counter.


    Evelyn also rushed back to her senses, looked at Elaine and wanted to greet her, but she didn''t know what to call her, and held her face red for a few seconds before finally stifling a sentence, "Good morning, boss."


    Elaine froze, then nodded naturally, "So early for work, huh?"


    "Yeah." Evelyn nodded, "It''s not early."


    "It''s still ...... not even seven o''clock!" Elaine looked up at her watch, rather like a boss, "Where''s Ethan?"


    "Upstairs, making breakfast."


    "Oh." Elaine nodded and took a seat on the couch, napping in silence with her head down.


    She didn''t know what was going on, but she had been fine staying at the hotel for the previous few days, and she was able to sleep peacefully in no time when she lay down on the bed, but yesterday, after she came home, she was alone in her empty home and familiar bed, and her parents'' voices and smiles flashed through her mind over and over again. Memories like a tidal wave came, the past scene from the eyes, let her tormented, tossing and turning can not sleep. She tossed and turned and couldn''t sleep. She didn''t know how many times her pillow had been wet.


    Elaine kept touching her mobile phone throughout the night to divert her attention, but as soon as she lay down, she would start to think randomly, and it was not until her mind and spirit were tired to an extreme point that she gradually fell asleep.


    The last time she looked at her phone, it was after four.


    She woke up at six.


    "Eh? You''re just in time." Ethan came down the stairs with a bowl of egg noodles in one hand, one on the counter and the other on the coffee table in front of Elaine, "Wait if you want more chilli, I''ll bring it down later."


    "No need." Elaine said.


    "Thanks, I don''t ...... need it either." Evelyn was still a little embarrassed as the clear soup noodles with sesame oil and the fried egg sprinkled with spring onions continued to emanate a tantalising aroma.


    "Then you guys should eat first, I''ll go up and place another bowl." Ethan said and went upstairs again.


    Soon, he brought a bowl of noodles over to the old mage as well before carrying his own bowl down to the ground floor to sit side by side with Elaine on the sofa and eat.


    "Why do you look so bad, like you''ve been at an internet cafe all night!" Ethan asked, sucking in a big mouthful of noodles and adding, "It''s not because you''re scared to go home alone and can''t sleep, is it?"


    "Che!" Elaine disdained, "I''m that chicken?"


    "Not really."


    "Then don''t be!"


    "Now that we''re here, let''s eat and go upstairs and catch up on some sleep!" Ethan didn''t pursue the matter; he knew why. He knew the reason. It was a good time to use Elaine to try out how useful the old mage''s "Inn''s Universal Spell Formation" really was.


    "Fine!" Elaine muttered, quickly ate all the noodles in one bowl, grabbed the universal room card on the counter and went upstairs.


    Watching her back, Ethan froze, still wanting to shout at her to wash the dishes after eating!


    Fortunately, the receptionist girl was very understanding, after drinking the soup cleanly, she whispered to Ethan, "Anyway, there''s no one now, I''ll wash it, I''ll finish it in a moment....... You should have gone to bed quite late last night, right, go and rest too."


    "No need."


    "That would make me ...... very embarrassed." Evelyn little girl slightly pursed her lips and said, this morning''s egg noodles can be much more delicious than the cold bread that used to be taken out of the fridge!


    "You wash it then." Ethan put the bowl down dryly, "I''m going upstairs to rest, and I''ll be up before noon to cook."


    "Well, please ...... please."


    Evelyn stood at the counter with her bowl in her arms in a regimented manner and watched him go upstairs before carrying it towards the sink in the corner. She licked her mouth, feeling the flavour of the scented oil still lingering on her lips. I don''t know how long it''s been since I''ve had a breakfast that was this good.


    Ethan slept soundly and didn''t get up until eleven o''clock, when he went to the market to buy leftovers for a simple three-course meal.


    Of course, for Evelyn, this was the kind of food she hadn''t eaten in a long time.


    Ethan put the food on the coffee table, brought the dishes, took off his apron and wiped his hands with it before heading upstairs, "Eat if you''re hungry, I''ll go upstairs and call her."


    "I ...... am not hungry." Evelyn said as she looked at the three plates of food and swallowed hard.


    About five minutes later, Ethan led a sleepy Elaine with messy hair downstairs. And Evelyn hurriedly put away the impatience in her eyes and sat down obediently on the small bench and handed them the dishes and served the meal.


    The three of them started without a word.


    Evelyn was still restrained and only ate the plate in front of her, but her eyes were already being spotted by Ethan and Elaine as she darted around the table uncontrollably.


    "Ahem." Ethan coughed, moved the pot of taro chicken in front of Elaine to Evelyn''s body, and said, "Eat whatever you want, don''t be so formal, but we''ve already agreed on the food."


    "Well." Evelyn blushed.


    "And no surprise we''re going to be eating at the same table for a long time, you can''t keep being so embarrassed." Elaine chimed in, "Look at me, I''m not even shy when I don''t do anything and still lollygag on my food."


    "Got it ......," hearing them say that, Evelyn was even more embarrassed.


    Soon, she finished a bowl of rice, lingeringly looked at the dishes on the table, put down the chopsticks and said, "I''m full, you guys ...... eat slowly, I''ll wash the dishes later."


    Elaine helplessly pulled her back.


    Ethan also laughed, and cooperated with Elaine to give Evelyn another bowl of rice, saying, "Eat more, you still have to work in the afternoon!"


    Evelyn only felt her cheeks burning red, facing the newly added bowl of rice and the dishes that were still left on the table, she paused a little, and finally slowly grabbed her chopsticks, "Then ...... then I won''t be polite."


    "Well, don''t even be polite in the future." Ethan said, "You can eat a few taels of rice if you eat even more!"


    "Hmm."


    Evelyn finished her meal and consciously went to wash the dishes again, then sat back down at the counter and quietly probed the empty stairway - Ethan had gone upstairs to do whatever he was doing and didn''t know when he''d be coming down, and Elaine had left after she''d finished her meal.


    Only then did she open her old laptop and enter the password.


    The laptop was still the one she''d saved up for in college, and wasn''t expensive in itself; it had been repaired a few times up until now, and while it still worked, the keyboard had worn out a bit.


    It doesn''t matter, she has already familiarised herself with the position of each key, and can''t press the wrong key even with her eyes closed.


    The sound of the keyboard with a plastic texture began to echo in the front desk, at large intervals. Whenever a customer came up or down the stairs and passed by the front desk, Evelyn would stop like a frightened deer and watch the customer surreptitiously. It wasn''t until the guest had left that she would carefully continue to press up on the keyboard. From time to time, she would incline her head in thought for a moment, or lean on her chin for a while, recalling what she had just been shocked out of by the customers.


    The afternoon passed quickly and Evelyn stretched and moved her sore neck and fingers. She couldn''t have been more pleased with the job -


    As Ethan had said, the work was really easy. Business had been excellent for the past few days; she''d taken on a total of twenty or so customers throughout the day, but each one would only take her a few minutes, and the rest of the time she was free to organise.


    Although she was always being disturbed by customers and delivery boys coming in and out, it wasn''t like they could see the laptop behind the front desk, and at most they would just give her pause.


    It was nothing compared to the food.


    Ethan didn''t come down until close to five o''clock, and was going to hand over his shift to Evelyn, but Evelyn blushed and waved her hand, going so far as to say, "You ...... can go and rest for a bit longer, I''d like to be on duty for a bit longer."


    Just now she still had a little something left to do, so she just finished it here, so as not to go up and have to go back to half a day again.


    And Ethan was confused.


    Was there such a thing as an employee!


    Eventually he dully agreed to his employee''s request, somewhat reluctantly. He felt sure he wouldn''t have agreed to it if he didn''t have cooking to do.


    When Elaine came back from outside, she was also taken aback when she saw Evelyn, who was still on duty, and frowned, "Why are you still on duty?"


    After saying that, she also glanced at Ethan and asked, "Is it because you see that people are simple and kind and easy to bully, so you''re oppressing them?"


    Evelyn quickly waved her hand and added, "It''s me who wanted to be on duty for a little longer."


    Elaine also froze when she heard this, however, she was ultimately much more calm than Ethan, and only nodded and said, "That''s good, you can''t be too soft when you''re out and about, or you''ll be bullied."


    Evelyn nodded, knowing this very well.


    ...... but couldn''t do anything about it.


    "Why don''t you stay here tonight?" Ethan looked to Elaine, "Don''t go back. You''re also the only one in the house, and if you get hungry in the middle of the night, there''s not even someone to feed you down there."


    Elaine didn''t say anything, and sort of acquiesced.


    Although she didn''t want to admit it, but the truth is like this - in this hotel, she obviously sleeps much more peacefully, as if ...... there is a kind of reliance on her mind.

 Chapter 10: A New Otherworldly Visitor

    The strange dream still tormented Ethan at night, but this time it seemed different from the past.


    Ethan seemed to dream of a world, an alien civilisation - its development process and vicissitudes, its cultural practices and historical changes, its pride and helplessness ......


    At first the dream was filled with castles and temples of strange styles, tall, thin, stooped commoners struggling to survive, and legends of gods, demons, and legendary creatures circulating on the land.


    The kingdom''s legions fought for the king''s pride on the borders, always leaving behind a mountain of corpses and rivers of blood no matter if they won or lost, and after the saturation bombardment of the mage corps, there was hardly even any weeds growing in the ground. In order to pay for the huge military expenses and safeguard the logistics, the government increased taxes over and over again. Civilians born near war zones were even more pitiful; they were often forcibly conscripted, and no matter what the quartermasters told them to do, most of them never came back.


    Mercenary groups embarking on "dragon slaying trips", adventurers discovering new resource mines, grand duchesses lusting after each other, and young ladies having affairs with royalty all became news that spread throughout the kingdom, diverting people''s attention.


    ......


    Enemy invasions, internal uprisings, one kingdom falling, one kingdom rising, yet mostly repeating these things.


    It seemed like that world wasn''t much different from ancient China or Europe except for the fact that it possessed magic. Only the mages never stopped pursuing the truth, they used another way to manifest the rules of the universe and analyse everything in the world, which was very different from the civilization of the Earth. This is how the magical civilisation began to emerge, and how the society progressed.


    When the "civilian army" broke up the charge of the Bloodline Knights on the battlefield, and new weapons took the place of the old battlefield mages, the old feudal system began to collapse. People began to think, and for the first time, they knew what life was.


    Battle Mages withdrew from the stage of history, but instead allowed the world''s civilisation to have a faster development.


    Machines roared and runes glowed.


    ......


    Deserts that were once rumoured to be limitless were spanned by highways, bridges were erected over geodesic canyons, and traffic ran through the world. Fleets of cruisers break through the myths of the Dead Sea, armies of the developed world advance to the edges of the territories of the legendary races, and warplanes and airships challenge the majesty of the erstwhile gods.


    The world grew and progressed at such a rapid pace that people could not believe they had made it this far every time they looked back.


    ......


    Highly developed civilisations, the great fusion of races, the East and West kingdoms that you chased after each other, and the high speed development of magic made the whole world change day by day, and become incomparably unfamiliar.


    Chip intelligence, space experiments, one new term after another accompanied by one new problem after another.


    Finally, the viewpoint was fixed on a high mountain, and it seemed that the old mage was standing in this position, looking at the horizon that could be described as a huge modern city - the tall buildings even broke through the clouds, higher than the surrounding treacherous mountains, and the civilian flying objects that came and went like bees could only pass between the gaps in the buildings. One wonders what kind of heart and feelings the old mage held at that time, to be here gazing at this civilised world that was so different from his youth.


    ......


    Ethan woke up and realised it was only half past six, which was about time to get up and make breakfast.


    He sat up in bed and rubbed his swollen head for a moment. If he remembered correctly, this would be the only time he had dreamed of the old mage''s civilisation up to this point, the rest of the time it had been a mountainous landscape.


    Getting up and washing up for a few moments, he started to get busy.


    Making breakfast, he gave one to the old mage first as usual, and then went to the other end of the corridor to wake up Elaine, and the two of them walked downstairs together with breakfast in hand.


    Meeting the cleaning aunt halfway, he immediately greeted her with a smile, "Good morning Auntie Tang, have you eaten?"


    "Eaten." The cleaning aunt straightened up, one hand on the mop and one hand on the waist, showing him an amiable smile, "My granddaughter has to go to school in the morning, I ate and then came over, and by the way, I sent her to school."


    "So!" Ethan smiled, "Then we''ll go downstairs first, take your time."


    "Okay, be careful, I just mopped the floor, it''s slippery!"


    The hotel was almost open at this hour, and the diligent Evelyn said she had sat at the front desk for twenty minutes fantasising about this morning''s breakfast several times.


    Ethan brought down two drawers of freshly steamed frozen steamed dumplings and a bowl of skinny congee with eggs, while Elaine served a plate of mixed pickles and a plate of tofu curd. Except for the congee, which was a bit time-consuming, the rest of the food was very simple, and about as difficult to make as bubble noodles.


    Just after breakfast, the cleaning aunty came down and asked Ethan, "That boss, do you need to clean the stairwell on the second and third floors with the door closed?"


    "Eh, not that one."


    "I mean what about ...... the door won''t even open." The cleaning aunt muttered and found a random place on the stairs to sit down, unscrewing a water cup and drinking water.


    The cleaning aunty is called Tang Guixiang, and also lives in this area, riding a motorised auto-rickshaw over five or six minutes. But unlike Evelyn, who used to live in a rented apartment, the elderly have nothing to do and want to find some work to do, to earn some money for their children to reduce some of the burden, and in the meantime to give their granddaughters pocket money is not so tight.


    Originally, Ethan was supposed to pay for her food and accommodation, but since she lives close by, and since she has to bring up her grandchildren and go back to cook for her son and daughter-in-law at lunchtime, she doesn''t eat or live here, and doesn''t ask for more money. The downside is that sometimes she may not be around if urgent cleaning is needed.


    Probably because of yesterday''s incident, Evelyn was still very formal when she ate this morning, but at least she dared to take the initiative to add congee, and ate almost a drawer of dumplings all by herself.


    It''s just that she ate slowly, in small bites, making it easy for people to overlook the fact that she ate a lot.


    "I''m done eating, you guys take your time to eat ......," Ethan had just put down his chopsticks when he suddenly felt a throbbing in his heart, causing him to frown, "Hmm?"


    This feeling he remembered, he felt it once a few days ago, the day the old mage came!


    Elaine looked over at him, "What''s wrong? Eating flies?"


    "No!" Ethan said, standing up, "I suddenly remembered I have something else to do, so I''m going upstairs first!"


    "You just don''t want to do the dishes!" Elaine rolled her eyes, "Go go go."


    Evelyn also hurriedly swallowed the bite of bun in her mouth and said, "You guys go ahead when you''re done eating, just leave the dishes here, I''ll wash them."


    Ethan nodded and turned to head upstairs.


    As he walked around the corner of the stairs, his speed sped up and he quickly ran to the first floor and knocked on the old mage''s door.


    "Mage Mage, there''s a newcomer here!"


    "Ka!" The old mage''s door opened in response, and the face with the vicissitudes of age, embellished with a pair of wise eyes, appeared before him and said to him, "There''s no need to panic, and that one won''t be able to come out anyway if you don''t open the door."


    "Well, that''s true."


    The two of them then went up the stairs without panicking, opened the warehouse door and walked into the dark and boundless node space.


    The node space was still empty except for the luminescent body, and Ethan stared at the luminescent body for a few moments before saying, "He''s a bit slow, he should be here soon."


    After such a long time, his connection with the node space seemed to be getting stronger, and coupled with the old mage''s enlightenment, he could already sense quite a few changes in the node. Based on these changes and sensations, he could draw out a lot of information, and the old mage was equivalent to saving him a very long process of figuring things out.


    "Mage, if the visitor is not good, you old man must help more!"


    "The universe is endless, there are too many powerful creatures or races." The old mage shook his head, "I can''t be sure if I have a force advantage against that one."


    "If you protect me for an instant, we can run out!"


    "Anyone who strikes at the first glance is reckless." The old mage laughed and said, "But if a reckless person does come, I will definitely try my best to protect you."


    "...... "Ethan''s face was heavy, in case the old mage left in the future but really came a reckless man ......


    It seems that it is better to learn to cope with it yourself.


    Suddenly his face condensed-


    "Coming!"


    Only to see the luminous body suddenly flickered with light, this increase in brightness is difficult to notice without looking closely, but Ethan this time is unusually sensitive to this.


    The first thing that caught his eye was the end of a sheath, used by its owner to protrude tentatively from the luminous body - the sheath was of a very common yellow wood, partially wrapped in thin iron, and protruded two feet, beautifully formed and slightly curved.


    Next was a long, snowy, narrow blade, slightly thin, straight in the first half, with an upward curve at the tip, nearly a metre long, shaped like a goose feather, the hilt of which was vaguely visible through the luminescent body, held by a slightly thin hand.


    Ethan''s impression of China''s ancient Ming and Qing dynasties also have a similarly shaped belt knife, shaped like a wild goose plume, so the name of the wild goose plume knife. It was a type of knife that was prolonged with the development of the times and the advancement of cold weapon technology, and it was also the final pinnacle of Chinese cold weaponry, and this knife was just too much like a long knife-


    If the other world also has geese, the other world also see the goose plume and make this knife, this knife should also be named the big goose knife!


    And from this knife can also be seen, the owner of the knife does not seem to be any good, at least not like a highly educated white-collar workers, geeks and so on.


    Because the knife is not only shiny, the knife body sheath has a lot of wear and tear, depression and blood grooves are accumulated a layer of black stains, obviously the owner of the knife is not to use it as a decoration or just a simple defence. Ethan seemed to be able to imagine the bloodshed and fierce battles that this knife had been through. It must have taken a lot of slashing and clashing to wear the blade down like this.


    Without waiting for him to continue thinking, the sheath and blade suddenly retracted, and then a foot stepped over!


    This time, the owner of the knife seemed to be unusually decisive, and in just the blink of an eye, a figure in kudzu clothing with a narrow scar on its face appeared in front of Ethan''s eyes.


    There were breasts, bulging and not small!


    Ethan froze, this ...... is a female? With a long Asian face and long black hair tied behind her shoulders, she was very English.


    Then only to see this woman holding a knife sheath in one hand, the other hand is carrying a long knife, so that people feel that her whole body is permeated with danger. And coming to this space to see such a scene, she was also slightly stunned, and moments later her eyes quickly sank, staring at the two strangers in front of her.


    The murderous vigour appeared, and the murderous aura exuded outwardly!


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.¡¡¡¡Ethan couldn''t help but be chilled, only to feel that there should be a special effect of rolling blood qi churning behind her.


    "Hiss!"


    He took a deep breath.


    However, the old mage seemed to have suddenly relaxed quite a bit.


    Chapter 16: God and Ghost Invincible Mighty and Overwhelming Woman


    Ethan and Old Mage looked at each other.


    The old mage nodded at him and smiled slightly, indicating that the level of force of the visitor was within his control. There would be no need for Ethan to take defensive, flight, or other countermeasures.


    Ethan nodded along with it, and after a slight hesitation, straightened himself up and took a small step forward, looking directly at the woman.


    "Visions!"


    The snowy blade reflected his face, which was slightly distorted by the pits and dark stains on the blade.


    Ethan was stunned, holding back from stepping back and asking forcefully, "Who are you?"


    The woman stared up at him, her phoenix eyes that were supposed to look flirtatious were heavy with menace, and as she sized him and the old mage up, she returned, "&*%$#......"


    "...... "Ethan looked to the old mage, "Trouble you."


    "A show of hands is not enough." The old mage took a step forward and raised the staff in his hand high.


    The crystal ball at the top of the staff suddenly shone brightly.


    Ethan asked anew, "Who are you?"


    The woman''s posture and demeanour still revealed a strong aggressiveness, and when she heard Ethan''s voice, she was really stunned, and then coldly returned, "And who are you? And where is this strange place? Why do I understand the nonsense you are saying?"


    "My name is Ethan, you are now in a time and space transit station, and I am the administrator of this time and space transit station, which can also be called the station manager. This old gentleman next to me is currently my assistant, and he uses spells to translate the language for us. Now that you have come to my territory, it is only right that you should be questioned by me." Ethan said seriously, "Now can you put the knife down? You''re making me feel ...... disrespected."


    "You''re the station manager of what-what?" The woman frowned, ignoring his offer in the slightest.


    "......" Ethan had no choice but to repeat, "Stationmaster of the Temporal Transit Station, also known as Nodespace. You came here from another world, don''t you know?"


    "Another world ...... knows." The woman finally agreed with his words and nodded, sliding her long knife back into its sheath in one beautiful motion.


    Although Ethan and the old mage''s height had initially put a lot of pressure on her, a few moments of careful observation showed her that the stationmaster in front of her had a combat strength equivalent to 0.8 at best, well below the average of adult men in their world. And the old man didn''t look too hard to clean up after being so old.


    "So what''s your name?" Ethan fumbled for his mobile phone.


    "Phoebe," the woman spat two strange syllables out of her mouth, then craned her head to survey the dark, infinite node space and narrowed her eyes, "Is this the Upper World? How can the upper world look like this ......"


    "......" Ethan froze, Asian face, American name, something strange! It was instantly clear that she hadn''t understood a word he had just said to her.


    "Phoebe...... will be called Phoebe." Ethan looked down and typed the word Phoebe on the second line of the first column of his mobile phone form, the first being the title line.


    Phoebe looked at him slightly warily, "What are you doing? What''s that in your hand?"


    "Checking in." Ethan said without looking up before jumping to the next cell, "Everyone who comes in has to register. The gender ...... is female, right?"


    "Say! How am I going to get the hell out of here!" Phoebe''s eyes sank, she didn''t want to stay in this hellhole where there was nothing. And the fact that there were actually people in this place made her a little ...... scared.


    "You got here how you got here and you''re leaving." Ethan jumped to the next cell, "Where did you come from?"


    "How did you come ......" Phoebe did not answer his question, but slightly proudly raised her head, "I Phoebe all martial arts has reached the realm of perfection, and accidentally found the rumoured Void Order Arrow of the jianghu, so I borrowed the Order Arrow power to break the void and travel to the legendary upper ......"


    As she spoke, she touched her bosom, but she didn''t touch anything. So her unfinished words died in her belly, and her movements paused.


    Then she quickly felt around her waist.


    It was still empty!


    Phoebe''s face instantly changed drastically, ''''Void Arrow! Why is my Void Arrow gone! I clearly had such a big and long Void Arrow on my body!"


    Ethan watched in stupefaction as she fumbled around on her body, and couldn''t help but tug at the corner of his mouth as he lifted his head to look round.


    Phoebe, however, hung her head violently, her eyes blossoming with murderous intent like a lone wolf as she asked, "Where''s my Void Token Arrow!?"


    Her gaze flickered over Ethan and the old mage while quietly gripping the hilt of her blade, but judging from the movement of the five fingers of the hand holding the hilt that kept adjusting its position, she was more than likely a little nervous inside as well.


    "...... It''s not like I took your token." Ethan rolled his eyes and pointed towards her head-


    But this action startled Phoebe, causing her to instantly retreat at least five metres away, and the long knife in her hand was sheathed with a vis-a-vis sound and pointed at Ethan.


    The blade reflected the blue light of the luminous body, making it even colder!


    Ethan also froze -


    This woman seemed to leap backward and jumped at least five metres away, this ...... is really what she, a normal person with a five-foot-five frame, can do?


    Phoebe was a little annoyed, "What are you doing!"


    "I want to say ...... you see if that one on top of your head is some kind of token you''re looking for." Ethan was a little confused.


    Phoebe looked up and glanced-


    A dark golden token arrow floated about five metres above her head, causing her eyes to glaze over.


    "Brush!"


    Phoebe instantly flexed her legs and jumped upwards, actually leaping up several metres again, her arm swung with precision and grabbed the arrow.


    But when she landed and spread out her hand, it was still empty.


    "Eh?" Phoebe blinked twice, then inclined her head towards Ethan, her right hand gripping the hilt again.


    "What are you looking at me for! Is there something wrong with you people! I didn''t take your order!" Ethan, quite speechless, pointed again to a spot a little back from her head, "There it is!"


    Phoebe twisted her head and looked, it was really there.


    The picture changed suddenly!


    Only to see Phoebe constantly doing jumps in the node space that made Ethan''s jaw drop in shock, jumping up and down to grab the arrow, jumping up to seven or eight metres at the highest point. But the result was that no matter how much she jumped, she couldn''t touch the arrow, which made her a bit confused and puzzled.


    In the end she gave up jumping, stood in the same place and let out a long breath, looking at Ethan: "Is it ...... ouch so tired ...... is it you who messed up?"


    "None of my business." Ethan spread his hands.


    He had already seen based on the drawing style that this female warrior was probably not a match for the old mage.


    Then what was he afraid of?


    "None of your business? Then why can''t I get my token." Phoebe narrowed her eyes at him, "Didn''t you say you''re the station master of this haunted place? Then surely you must know what''s going on! And surely ...... surely there must be a way to get it back for me!"


    "Yeah." Ethan held out his hand and the dark gold token flew into his hand automatically, "Here, got it."


    "......" Phoebe''s eyes widened all of a sudden, her five fingers gripping the hilt of the knife quietly exerting pressure, "Give it back."


    "May I allow me to explain something to you?"


    "Give it back!"


    "Well, you take it easy, here''s the thing." Ethan said in a calm tone, "Because you borrowed this time and space prop called the Void Token ......"


    "Give it back!" Phoebe interrupted in a low voice, "It''s mine! Mine!"


    "I''m sorry, I wasn''t finished, you''re making me feel like I''m being disrespected." Ethan said.


    "Retard!" Phoebe snarled.


    Not bothering to waste more time with Ethan, in the next second, she had already drawn her long knife with a brush, and her whole body also quickly ran towards Ethan, as fast as the wind!


    ......


    She ran and ran, but found that the target of her attack always stood in that position, and the distance never drew closer.


    And Ethan also stood somewhat dumbfounded, looking at the legs that moved like stumps as she ran rapidly, muttering under his breath, "Humanoid ...... cheetah."


    Shaking his head, he came to his senses and said in a serious tone, "Forget it, this is my territory after all, although I haven''t trodden the ground well yet either, but don''t you think it''s too much effort for you to fight me here?"


    Phoebe, slightly out of breath, really stopped, but still staring at him, said, "Mine."


    "Fine, fine, yours yours. I didn''t say I was going to take yours, really!" Ethan casually threw the Void Token Arrow, and it flew up to the top of her head full of Phoebe''s earnest gaze, eventually floating at a position about fifty metres away from her.


    Phoebe looked down at Ethan.


    Ethan also looked at her somewhat expectantly.


    "Damn it!" Phoebe violently threw the long knife in her hand, which spun several times in the air and flew straight towards Ethan.


    The old mage''s eyes slightly condensed, and the long knife then stopped, strangely suspended in the air, doing a slow spinning movement, but no longer flying towards Ethan.


    Phoebe was stunned.


    Ethan, on the other hand, had a look of disappointment in his eyes, it seemed that this warrior woman could only jump seven or eight metres high.


    "I really have no interest in that baby of yours." Ethan spread his hands, "Look I gave it back to you, you just couldn''t get it."


    "Nonsense! There are countless heroes and heroines all over the world, who don''t covet the Void Order Arrow!" Phoebe said angrily, "And it wasn''t you who messed up that I couldn''t get it, just take it down and hand it over to me!"


    "Hey, please pay attention, firstly, I''m not one of those heroes and heroines, secondly, there''s not much use for me to hold the token arrow, and lastly, all of us have come to this place, who hasn''t brought a treasure on them?" Ethan was really speechless. As a gentleman, picking up gold is a basic quality. "If you don''t believe me, look at that scroll on the left side of your head, it''s even longer than your token arrow!"


    Phoebe froze, which silenced her.


    After a moment, she collected her temper, "It seems like you have a little bit of truth, but ...... but what does an inch longer mean?"


    "An inch longer is stronger." Ethan looked her up and down, "Girls who haven''t grown up don''t understand that."


    "Hmm?" Phoebe frowned not understanding, "Then why won''t you give me back my token? Station Master."


    "Allow me to organise my words." Ethan mused before saying, "Because the place you''re going to is too far away from your original world, and the energy of that time prop on top of your head isn''t enough to send you to your destination in one go. So you and your space-time prop have to make a transit stop at my place, waiting for the energy of the space-time prop to recover before you can set off again. And since I''m the station master of this space-time transit station, you must still have my approval for your next departure before you can do so."


    "A ...... staging station?" Phoebe froze.


    "That''s right, it seems your world is still primitive." Ethan said, "You''re pretty smart though."


    "It''s ...... is it?" Phoebe blinked twice, then frowned, "But I''m a jianghu person, and I''m not a government or military person, I can''t live in a stagecoach."


    "......" Ethan retracted that previous sentence.

 Chapter 11: Always Remember to Keep World Peace

    It took a lot of effort for Ethan to describe clearly to her what kind of place it was.


    So the heroine looked at him blearily and nodded, "I know, but how long do I have to stay in this haunted ...... expensive place?"


    "Stay how long? Well ...... wait until tomorrow I can give you an accurate answer."


    "Tomorrow? Then is there food here?" The heroine had been travelling under the stars for more than half a month to break out of the encirclement after snatching the Void Arrow, during which time she had fought more than once with renowned masters in the jianghu, and her food and lodging had been rushed. After escaping from the encirclement she only had time to take a bath and change into a good pair of clean clothes before she broke the Void and came here, and now she was starving.


    "There''s nothing here." Ethan shook his head, "There are inns out there, but you''ll have to pay for them."


    "Then ......" Phoebe said, still eyeing him, "can you give me back my knife first, I paid two whole silver lumps for it."


    "......" Ethan waved his hand and the long, seemingly battle-hardened knife flew back into her hand.


    This hand still stunned the heroine, so after she retrieved the long knife, she no longer revealed the ferocious killing intent of a wolf like a tiger as she did earlier, but stood silently in place and stared at them. Like a primary school student waiting for a teacher to arrange a task.


    The old mage coughed and said, "It''s better to solve the language problem first, we can''t wait for you guys to leave the node space and still rely on the translation programme to communicate, right?"


    "Point taken." Ethan nodded and said, "There should be a way to solve it if you say so, right?"


    "As long as I copy the various systems of the language of your realm to her." The old mage smiled as he paused his crystal ball staff and looked at Phoebe again, "This ranger, may I approach?"


    "Not that stupid!" The Rogue shook her head.


    The old mage looked helplessly at Ethan, who instantly understood and took control of the node space to send the Rogue over.


    "...... "The heroine who inexplicably appeared next to the duo couldn''t help but have a complicated expression on her face -


    Thinking about her Phoebe originally in the jianghu also counted as a small famous character, where to go to report the name, not to say that people respectfully as the guest of honour, and then how will not be subjected to this kind of treatment. I did not expect to borrow a sacred weapon to break the void, should have ascended to the upper realm of her but somehow appeared in such a barren place, but also met so two demons and devils. Her whole body of skills actually can''t be exerted in the slightest.


    "It''s just a matter of time, these two people, even if they aren''t the seniors who were once rumoured to have shattered the void in the rivers and lakes, they are still bigwigs with strong backgrounds in the upper realms, or else it would be impossible for them to be in a position of power in this place." The heroine was calculating in her heart, "Since all those who shattered the void have such a thing, it''s best for me, Phoebe, not to offend them, lest I will still get into trouble when I come to the Upper Realm."


    "I did take an oath when I shattered the void - to leave that world, to forget the past of the jianghu from now on, and to spend my life in the Upper Realm in a dignified manner."


    And so the heroine actually closed her eyes, no longer looking more, lest she would reflexively strike her sword.


    A few moments later-


    "Eh this this ...... is also too amazing, right?" The heroine''s face was filled with astonishment, and even her longing for the upper realms increased by a lot.


    "Okay." Ethan stood in front of her with his phone, "Now go ahead and register."


    "Oh, okay." The heroine stood upright.


    "Name Phoebe, gender female, no questions?" Ethan sized her up, it was hard to imagine that such a girl who was less than six foot six was a jungle warrior.


    "No problem."


    "Okay, where are you from?" Ethan asked.


    "Where did I come from ...... where did I come from?" The warrior woman was a little confused, "Isn''t that where you''re from?"


    "Where is there?" Ethan was feeling a little tired, "People who come to this place don''t always come from the same place! You''ll have to let me know where you''re from before I can release you from this node space."


    "I ...... was born in a small village in Jasper County ...... in the western part of the Songshi Country ...... in Yokohama County ...... in that what''s-his-name town, then I mostly settled in the Yokohama Prefecture, and the place where I ended up grabbing the Void Token to shatter the Void seems to be in ......" the warrior woman tried her best to rummage through her memories, "Yes, in the forests to the west of the Jurassic Kingdom, it shouldn''t be too far from the volcano or the coast... ...Eh why are you looking at me with that odd look?"


    "I was asking what the name of the world you came from is, Warrior Woman." Ethan was bemused.


    "What''s the name of the world ......?" Woman was half confused, "It''s just called the world! What other name do you need ......"


    "Okay, understandable." Ethan nodded, "So does your continent ...... that is the earth have a name? Like our Asia, America, or something like that."


    The heroine was half confused again, "It''s just called the earth! Are you deliberately trying to amuse me?"


    "I know." Ethan silently typed the words Turquoise World into his mobile phone form and looked up to see that the warrior woman was fumbling with a paper folded four-square from her bosom. She carefully opened the paper, which was thin and not very good, with a clattering sound, and handed it to herself.


    "What is this?" Ethan looked down at it, and it did have quite a few printed words on it, a whiff of ink.


    The problem was that he couldn''t recognise any of those words.


    "A road guide, devolved by the government." When the warrior woman saw him take the paper, she abruptly retreated, "Genuine! Enough to prove that I''m a Jianghu man without a case."


    "What''s a jianghu man without a case record." Ethan muttered, then smoothly handed this road guide to the old mage, "You old man take a look."


    "Jianghu people don''t necessarily have to commit crimes, the government has the government''s laws, and the jianghu has the rules of the jianghu." The female warrior retorted with dissatisfaction, "As long as we don''t go too far, the official government has never been too idle to ask questions."


    "Blocking is better than sparing."


    "Right right right! I read little."


    Ethan looked at the old mage and saw him nod before he said to Phoebe, "Alright, let''s just say your family is clean. But we don''t have half the relationship with the officials of your world here, and this piece of paper is of limited use. And we can''t confirm whether it''s forged by you or not. You should understand this reasoning, right?"


    "Understood."


    "I''ll continue counting if you understand." Ethan nodded, "Where is your destination?"


    "The upper world, I''m going to the upper world!"


    "...... "Ethan knew that he couldn''t ask anything else, so he simply filled in the words Upper Realm in the destination column, and then asked, "Why do you want to go to the Upper Realm?"


    "Do you need to ask this too?"


    "Yes, please co-operate with me." Ethan was serious.


    "Because ...... legend has it that when you reach the upper realm you will be able to break through the shackles of the human body to reach the realm of entering the Dao with martial arts and becoming a martial immortal." The female warrior said, and then paused, her eyes revealed a few colours of yearning, "And there is no cold winter in the upper world all year round, and spring flowers bloom. There are no grudges and feuds of the jianghu, the hearts of the people are not as sinister and scary, and the commoners are not at the mercy of the dignitaries. There are no slaves passed down from generation to generation and draconian policies that make it impossible to live, everyone can live the way they want to live."


    Ethan was silent, "Who told you that?"


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.¡¡¡¡"An old friend of mine from before." The heroine said, "Then he died and his whole family was killed."


    "Well, that''s the end of the registration." Ethan said as he put away his phone, that statement from the heroine was obviously full of the definition and aspirations of a certain group of people from another world for a better life, and he obviously wasn''t going to break the porcelain vase.


    "Finished? Ready to go?" Woman asked.


    "Almost, one last question." Ethan looked at her seriously and asked, "You''re sure you won''t have thoughts of destroying the world when you get to ours, and follow the laws of our world and not cause trouble in our world?"


    "Ahem." The old mage stepped forward and said, "Well Ethan, with her level of force, it''s not enough to pose a threat to your world other than infectious diseases and otherworldly bacteria."


    "Just a routine question." Ethan shrugged.


    The heroine looked confused, "......"


    What was all this about!


    But she did understand one thing from their words - this world, even if it wasn''t the Upper Realm, wasn''t something she could do anything with.


    "Can we go out now?" The heroine asked.


    "You can, but there are some rules we have to say! It''s for the protection of that world of ours, and it''s also for your protection."


    "What rules?"


    Ethan was about to say "I haven''t thought about it yet", but given that this was a humanoid beast who could jump seven or eight metres in height at 5''5" and still thought he hadn''t broken through the shackles of the human body, he held out a hand and said "Firstly, you can''t show your level of force in front of anyone in our world, including jumping metres high ah, squeezing a steel pipe with your bare hands, running at top speed, and so on. You also know that no one in our world can do this level of force, and if you do, you will probably be caught and sliced up for research ...... and burned to death."


    Ethan was always mindful of his heavy responsibility to protect the world.


    "Understood!" Woman nodded.


    "Secondly, you have to understand that I brought you out in the spirit of humanistic concern for you, but after you go out you can''t run around, if you want to go out you have to go through me, and you have to listen to me in what you normally do. Otherwise I''ll just have to catch you back here and lock you up." Ethan said, "There are many roads in our world, it''s very complicated, it''s easy for you to get lost when you go out."


    "I, Phoebe, have travelled all over the world for so many years, how can I get lost that easily!" The heroine said, nodding again, "But I''ve taken note of what you said, and I''ll abide by it."


    "I haven''t thought about the next one yet, but you''ll just have to listen to me anyway." Ethan said.


    "Understood!" The heroine said.


    "Then you can pay for the room now." Ethan said, looking her up and down in her kudzu clothes, "You''ll take the mini single room! The room costs 138, I''ll give you a discount and count it as 120, deposit 100."


    "Huh?" The heroine froze, then mechanically reached her hand to her belt and pulled off a money pouch, from which she poured out five or six small squares that looked a bit like they were made of nickel or aluminium, spreading them out in the palm of her hand with a pained look on her face and handing them to Ethan, "That''s all I''ve got, I can''t do anything if it''s not ...... enough. Or else I''ll sleep in the woodshed?"


    "We don''t have a woodshed here." Ethan looked at the few Qianzi in her hand with a look of disgust.


    "Huh? Don''t you guys light fires for cooking?"


    "We don''t burn wood."


    "Awesome awesome." The warrior woman said she couldn''t be bothered, "What am I going to do? Is it cold here?"


    "Not really."


    "Oh! It''s good that it''s not cold!" The heroine sighed in relief, "It''s fine for me to sleep on the street, the children of the jungle don''t care about small things!"


    "The police would have chucked you out." Ethan said gently, "Do you have anything else of value on you? You can also temporarily pawn it with me first, as for you these few money ...... are all broken emptiness still keep what for, throw it away!"


    "A money penny but can buy two bread it!" The heroine was a little reluctant to give up, seriously put the five or six money pennies back into the money bag, hung back to her waist and patted it, then she thought for a moment and took out the road guide, "Now the most valuable thing I have on my body is this road guide, I spent half a silver lump to buy it from the peddler ......"


    She stopped before finishing her sentence, blinking at Ethan, "Just tell me if you want it or not, right?"


    "It''s no use me taking it! Speaking of which, you''re a girl, don''t you have any gold or silver jewellery on you?" Ethan expressed his helplessness, but seeing the lady warrior''s face of embarrassment, he could only sigh and say, "Then you''ll just have to work hard and live frugally."


    "Fine! No problem, just tell me what you want me to do!" The heroine was close to pushing up her sleeves, "After so many years of travelling the world, what kind of dirty work haven''t I done before!"


    Walking out of the node space, the heroine was filled with curiosity about this unfamiliar world, and at the same time harboured apprehension within her heart.


    According to reason, the children of the jianghu should have long been accustomed to the life of displacement, no matter where they go, they can quickly adapt to unfamiliar environments. But the truth is that many jianghu people can''t move an inch when they step out of the country, not to mention that she, Phoebe, is in another world.


    "I have extenuating circumstances." The heroine said to herself.


    Luckily that old-timer had solved the language barrier for herself, and that station master-sama seemed quite nice to talk to.


    As the first two people that the heroine saw and met when she came to this world, Ethan and the old mage were somewhat special in her eyes. The children of the jungle are most concerned with these forms.


    So the heroine followed behind Ethan and the old mage, looking around, then quietly rubbing the shiny staircase tiles with her cloth shoes, a little surprised in her eyes - the level of luxury of this place was beyond her expectations!


    Just two steps out, but the pair in front of her stop.


    Ethan said, "Mage you go down first, I''ll take her to the room to change a set of clothes, otherwise she can''t go out to meet people in this ...... outfit."


    The heroine froze on the spot, looking down and surveying her new clothes that she had only worn a few times-


    How could she not go out to meet people! The cloth cost more than two dozen coins to rip!


    "Good, then I''ll go to my room." The old mage nodded, "You take this female ranger to change her clothes, and make something for her to eat while you''re at it. I see that this female ranger is also a bit hungry."


    "Hmm." Ethan nods and after a moment of silence says, "I''ll see you when I get back ...... I have another question for you."


    "Good." The old mage smiled faintly.


    "Come up with me." Ethan said to the heroine and turned to head upstairs.


    "Oh." Phoebe glanced at the old mage descending the stairs, switched the knife in her left hand to her right, and hurried to follow Ethan, while her left hand rested on the painted escalator and rubbed against it, making a rustling sound.


    In the luxury suite where Ethan is staying - the


    The heroine surveys the room in awe, both surprised and puzzled, the thick carpet under her feet making her feel like she''s walking on a cloud.


    Ethan poured a glass of water and stood in front of her, reaching out and waving his hand in front of her eyes, "What are you doing?"


    "Ohhhh, nothing." The heroine rushed back to her senses.


    "Drink water." Ethan handed over the paper cup.


    "Thanks." Woman Man took it.


    "No need to be so polite." Ethan turned to sit on the small couch and saw that the warrior woman had no intention of taking a drink of water even though she was holding the paper cup. And it wasn''t hard to tell from her slightly puckered lips and the subconscious pursing of her lips to lick them that she was actually thirsty.

 Chapter 12: Ill be covering you from now on

    Ethan didn''t care and continued to survey her.


    This heroine was about 5''5", even shorter than Evelyn. But she didn''t give off the "she''s small" vibe at all. This probably comes from her explosive body and the body of a tough bloodthirsty temperament ...... as well as the hand carrying the long knife more than a metre long.


    The heroine originally has a slightly bewitching melon face, and a pair of very beautiful big eyes, think in the jianghu should also have a "slut fox" and other nicknames. But her eyebrows are fierce, no charm, and the left side of the face from the corner of the eye next to the narrow scar pulled down at least five centimetres long is also the beauty of the destruction of very little left. Other than that, the only thing that attracted attention was probably her graceful neck.


    It was a pity that the jianghu people''s skin was not snow-white after being exposed to the wind and sun.


    Ethan thought for a moment, getting up and walking into the bedroom, picking through the wardrobe before choosing a set of clothes that would suit her.


    A pair of Hibbing house shorts that she''d been wearing as pyjama trousers since she''d bought them, so short that her thighs were only about a third of the way covered when she wore them herself, roughly the equivalent of a pair of boxer shorts that were a little wider and styled to be able to be worn out of the house.


    A solid grey body shirt.


    "These are my clothes, so you''ll have to make do with them for now! I''ll get you a new set when we get out." Ethan took the clothes and handed them to her and said, "By the way, you do wear body suits and stuff, right? Like wraps and corsets."


    "Yes!" Phoebe took the dress, "What''s a woman walking the streets without a chest wrap!"


    "Fair enough." Ethan looked at her bulging breasts, if she didn''t wrap her breasts, when she was running away, the picture was unimaginable. "By the way, are you wearing panties?"


    "Panties?" The heroine blinked.


    "......" Ethan was silent, "If you don''t mind wearing them like this, I''ll buy them for you when we get out."


    "No problem, jungle children don''t hold back!" The heroine took the clothes and pointed to the bedroom, "I''m changing in here, right?"


    "Hmm."


    "Thanks a lot, I, Phoebe, take this favour!" She casually placed the glass of water, which hadn''t moved, on the coffee table and headed for the bedroom, still carrying the knife in her hand.


    After half a day of rustling, the heroine finally came out, "I''ll leave my clothes with you for now, don''t throw them away for me, I''ll need to wear them later!"


    Ethan looked at it and thought that the heroine''s intelligence still had something to offer - she compared the look of the body shirt and shorts that Ethan was wearing, and slipped the dress trousers over her body without putting them on backwards, or making jokes about wearing trousers inside shorts or anything like that.


    Seeing that the heroine was wearing Ethan''s shorts, which looked a bit wide, revealing a pair of snow-white well-proportioned legs underneath, straight and taut, very powerful; the upper body Ethan was wearing a bit small t-shirt on her body was still very large, almost covering her buttocks, and the bulging breasts were still pushing out the shirt with two bulges, which looked like a kind of strange temptation - -It would have been even better if she hadn''t worn her black brogues on her feet.


    Ethan silently found his flip-flops for her, "Wear these, you don''t mind, do you?"


    "Don''t mind!" The heroine said, "It''s just that won''t this ...... be weird to wear out of the house?"


    "No, a lot of people wear this in the summer."


    "What about dress trousers? Do people in your world dress like that?" The heroine tugged at the wide cuffs of her dress and shorts, "In our world, only people who can''t afford clothes in the poorer parts of the country dress like that."


    "Anyone who wears less than that." Ethan said, gesturing to her shorts, "Just out and about you''d better be careful, if there''s a breeze it might lift the shorts up and you''re inside ......"


    "OK! It''s rather cool." The heroine hangs on to his flip flops with one finger in each hand, "How should I put this on?"


    A few moments later, with her flip-flops on, the heroine emerged from the bedroom, "Can we go out now?"


    "Well, wait a minute."


    "Okay ......," Woman was already starving.


    Ethan raced downstairs to see if Elaine was there, and only when he confirmed that Elaine had gone out did he repeat his return to the third floor and say to the heroine, "Okay, we''re out the door now. But remember, it''s fine to look around like a curious baby, but don''t touch or talk around. Stay close to me, don''t run around, listen to me, and ask my opinion beforehand about what you want to do ......"


    "Curious baby ......," the heroine froze.


    "Hmm?"


    "I see." The heroine chose to bow down to the big man.


    "Good!"


    Ethan opened the bedroom door then, and Woman was right behind him, watching every move he made.


    "Right!" Ethan suddenly turned his head, "You''re going to have to leave your sword here. In our world knives and swords are controlled weapons and are not to be taken all over the streets."


    "Hmm? Not even a knife can be taken out of the house?" The always honest female warrior frowned at this time, "Weapons are the fundamentals of interdependence for jianghu people, a guarantee of life and a symbol of status. Even the officials in our world will not seize swords! Not to mention that this blade is the one I spent two silver lumps ...... on."


    "I can''t take you out to dinner without putting down the sword."


    "Ta ......"


    The long sword fell to the ground.


    The warrior woman looked at him seriously, "Let''s go."


    As he descended the stairs Woman had been following him silently, quietly surveying the suddenly richer world.


    The front desk had been air-conditioned, with cold air constantly blowing out, unusually cool for this summer; leather light brown sofas and glass coffee tables, small brightly coloured benches, counters adorned with mirrors reflecting direct silhouettes of people and various decorative items hanging on the walls; soft, pure music emanating from a desktop stereo, a ticking clock that ticked away, and a thin, skinny man sitting inside the counter constantly tapping on the keyboard of his laptop computer Little girl ......


    Of course, all of these heroines were quite unfamiliar.


    "Ta-da-da-da ......"


    The crisp sound kept coming.


    Evelyn was knocking obliviously, and a sweet smile that was hard to see on a normal day overflowed between her eyebrows, as if she had reached some kind of heavenly realm. But just then, Ethan walked down-


    Brush!


    The little girl''s body directly trembled, her smile stiffened on her face, and she stopped typing in a panic, then closed her laptop as if nothing had happened.


    "Boss!"


    "Hmm." Ethan gave her a curious look, "What are you doing?"


    "Nothing ...... nothing." The little girl panicked.


    "I see you''ve been typing eh." Ethan looked at her suspiciously, "Why are you so nervous, I''m not docking your wages, said you could just play."


    "No ...... no!" The little girl quickly waved her hands.


    "But I heard you keep typing eh ......"


    "No ......"


    "Yesterday too."


    "No ...... I was just ...... casually playing around."


    "Talking to your boyfriend, right?"


    "Huh?" Evelyn froze, then her face abruptly turned redder, "No! I don''t have a boyfriend."


    "Oh so!" Ethan nodded, "I''ll take one of my friends out for a walk first, and if Elaine comes back, have her do the grocery shopping! Um, buy more for the fridge."


    "Hmm." Evelyn nodded her head in a rush and quietly looked over at the woman behind Ethan, only to make eye contact with the other woman.


    Abruptly, she withdrew her gaze like a frightened rabbit.


    Ethan then pushed out the door with the heroine -


    A completely unfamiliar, incomparably rich and shocking world unfolded in Phoebe''s eyes!


    She subconsciously held her breath!


    The morning sunlight was perfect, bright but not too hot, reflecting a shimmering light on the freshly sprinkled streets.


    There was traffic, buildings so tall she had to lift her head to see the tops of them, ornamental plants blooming all year round in the flowerbeds, huge signboards and shops of all sorts close by; the passers-by were all dressed in cool, but good-quality clothes, and there was no one with a pout or a grovelling face or a sword or a weapon in the street; rather, there were groups of children running from one side to the other and passing her by, laughing and giggling, with a snack in their hands. Crossed her from the other side far away ......


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.¡¡¡¡The heroine was deeply shocked!


    Ethan was patient too, standing by and waiting for her, and it took a while before he said, "Let''s go."


    At this point the heroine took a quick step to follow him, "This is your world? Station Master."


    "Keep your voice down so no one knows you''re from another world." Ethan said to her calmly, not caring that a person was brushing past them at that moment.


    "Oh." The heroine nodded and really lowered her voice.


    She clattered on her flip-flops, because of her short legs she had to stride very fast to keep up with Ethan, and these shoes were really getting on her nerves, "Did you just say that girl was talking to her boyfriend? What do you mean boyfriend? But that''s just her!"


    "It''s when two people like each other and fall for each other, but aren''t officially married. In order to try and see if they fit together, the two people identify this relationship with each other ''above strangers or friends, but below husband and wife'' as a boyfriend and girlfriend, also known as lovers. The male is called the female''s boyfriend and the female is called the male''s girlfriend." Ethan said, "And naturally our world has the means to communicate with people thousands of miles away across space."


    "And that''s possible?"


    "What?" Ethan chuckled, "Surprised?"


    "It''s also ...... okay, in our world, although it''s very much not ...... recognised as such a relationship, there are actually people who are still privately engaged before they get married." The heroine was surprised by this.


    "This is not quite the same."


    "I can understand that."


    "Pfft!!!"


    "Eh? Station Master-sama, what''s that look on your face?"


    "Nothing." Ethan waved his hand in a hurry, changed the topic and asked, "What do you want to eat?"


    The heroine''s expression suddenly became embarrassed, and she rubbed her hands in embarrassment and said, "Well, I''ll just eat whatever I want! ...... Or we can just find a stall on the roadside and eat a bowl of yangchun noodles at random!"


    "Yangchun noodles are plain noodles in clear soup, right? ...... Who still eats vegetarian noodles in this day and age!" Ethan frowned, "I do know of a Chinese restaurant at the back gate of the university that is very cheap. His hot and sour noodles are delicious, and the beef noodles are also good, with plenty of beef, go over and have a bowl of beef noodles."


    "Beef noodles??" The heroine was very shocked, then she gulped and became even more embarrassed, "Then ...... that''ll break your bank!"


    Ethan glanced at her and smiled, "Let''s go."


    Along the way the heroine was again a whole lot of questions, such as what is running on the highway ah, why those people riding on two wheels as long as the legs make a strong pumping will not fall ah, who is singing and playing the musical instruments in the shop selling clothes on the street ah. Those red fruits in the window are skewered into a string of what ah why the road people take in eating ah good ah, how much a string of how much money she a money penny can buy a few strings of ......


    Ethan had no choice but to buy her a bunch of strawberry ice candy gourds and let her eat them as she walked along the way.


    It was hard to get to the noodle shop, Ethan found a corner with no one in it and sat down, ordering her a bowl of three taels of beef noodles with a fried egg and a marinated egg, the two of them staring at each other wide-eyed.


    "Lord Station Master, look at your expression ...... Did I give you trouble?"


    "No."


    "No is good." Phoebe finished with a sigh of relief, and pointed to a table next to the couple showing love, "That pair of men and women are lovers, right, what are the things they are holding in their hands? I''ve seen you use it too, is it some kind of spell or something."


    "That''s called a mobile phone, it''s one of the artefacts we use to communicate across the air with people who are miles away."


    "Oh, a mobile phone." The heroine secretly noted down the name and continued to quietly stare at those two, "Say, don''t you guys feel like it''s degrading or something when they''re so blatantly flirting in broad daylight? In our world, they would definitely be called dog men and women! Even the most famous White-haired Twins in the Jianghu would not dare to be like this!"


    Ethan turned his head to take a glance and gritted his teeth, "That''s right! This pair of dogs ...... is really indecent!"


    It wasn''t until the beef noodles were served that the warrior woman subsided a little and turned her attention to the noodles.


    She ate the noodles similarly to Elaine, by chucking the beef on top of the noodles one by one and eating it all before she started eating the noodles underneath.


    Within two bites, the heroine looked up again, "Eh? Aren''t you eating?"


    "I had breakfast."


    "Oh." The heroine was too embarrassed.


    The bowl of beef noodles came in a delicate white porcelain sea bowl with actual beef on it, and the broth was so thick and flavourful that she simply wanted to scream out and guess that the price wasn''t low!


    Phoebe had eaten beef once in the course of her journey, just that once, or at a certain big brother''s 60th birthday banquet. At that time, that big brother sent his disciples to the next village to steal two whole cows to kill, cooked a dozen pots, and the jianghu people who smelled the wind came to sit around the pots all over the grass, the flavour of the beef and the atmosphere of the feast is still fresh in her mind! And that was the only time in Phoebe''s life that she ate meat to her heart''s content.


    The flavour of beef boiled in plain water is naturally not as good as modern beef boiled with various spices and deodorisation processes, so despite the small portion, Phoebe felt it was better than the one she had eaten before.


    And the last time I was afraid to eat, afraid of being known by the government, but this time it is frankly sitting in an extraordinary decorative shop, do not have to worry about breaking the law and so on. Also with a fried egg, blowing a cold wind from a strange object.


    Phoebe felt only one word, cool!


    After finishing the noodles and drinking the soup to the bottom, Phoebe stood up and watched Ethan blearily as he settled the bill.


    The three taels of noodles were eight dollars, and the fried eggs and marinated eggs totalled three dollars, for a total of eleven dollars.


    The heroine remembered it well.


    "It seems that the money in this world is quite valuable, so big a bowl of noodles plus beef is actually only eight dollars, so counting up one''s own room fee seems to be a total of two hundred and twenty dollars ......" The heroine''s expression suddenly froze down, wrenching her fingers and blinking her eyes continuously for a long time before she She came to the conclusion--


    "Did I not sleep through more than twenty bowls of beef noodles in one night!" The heroine''s eyes widened in shock.


    She was inwardly apprehensive as she mechanically moved her feet to keep up with Ethan, feeling her whole being lose its vigour all of a sudden.


    How long would she have to work to earn back that much money?


    If she were in the original world, it would take four or five days to earn more than two hundred pennies if things went well. If it didn''t go well, it would take half a month, and she would still have to put her head on her shoulders!


    Phoebe hurriedly followed Ethan and said, "That station master, that bowl of noodles ......"


    "What?" Ethan turned his head, only to see this heroine entangled her hands tightly together in front of her body, full of tangled and embarrassed, "I don''t have any money ...... right now."


    Ethan instantly laughed, "A bowl of face value is a few dollars, count it as my treat."


    "Huh?" The heroine froze, then rubbed her hands together again and laughed, "How can this ...... this work!"


    Ethan waved his hand and continued walking forward.


    The heroine, on the other hand, followed behind at a fast pace, while shouting, "I, Phoebe, have remembered the favour of this bowl of noodles, and I''ve made you a friend! Eh you walk slowly! I''m telling you don''t take my words seriously, if you have anything to say to me, I, Phoebe, promise not to be ambiguous!"


    Ethan completely ignored her, even pretending to look like he didn''t recognise her at all, and turned straight into a lingerie shop.


    It wasn''t good to keep letting the heroine come up empty, so shopping for clothes started with lingerie Let''s go!

 Chapter 13: A mountain of debt

    For a few hundred dollars, he bought three summer outfits for the heroine to wear inside and out, and Ethan learnt that-


    Woman is D!


    The heroine is really unpretentious, and she doesn''t get upset no matter how Ethan manipulates her by telling the clerk that she''s his girlfriend or a distant relative who''s not quite right in the head. At most, she blushed very slightly and kept saying yes.


    And Ethan is young and handsome, and dresses sunny, even if his temperament is a bit dishevelled, it will not make the female shop assistants suspicious.


    The whole process was almost a sleepwalking state.


    It was only when Ethan paid for his goods that she looked shocked, and at the same time, she was trying to calculate how many bowls of beef noodles she had spent in one go.


    After exiting the last Sanfu department stores'', the heroine had already changed out of Ethan''s clothes.


    She was currently wearing a plain black t-shirt and a pair of high-waisted denim shorts, the t-shirt was a little snug, emphasising her tight, powerful waist and bulging breasts, an outfit that made her feel a little ashamed. Under the denim shorts was a pair of straight and well-proportioned legs, stepping on a pair of flat women''s sandals, this kind of shoes seem to be called Roman shoes, wearing up to give her a better feeling than flip-flops. And apart from the skin above her neck, the rest of her was actually snow-white and tender, seeing as how she usually wrapped her body up tightly-


    The heroine wouldn''t be dressed like this if it wasn''t the way everyone in this world dressed!


    And it was only then that Ethan realised that this heroine had such a good figure, completely the figure of a top beauty ...... scaled down. If there was no reference around, it was absolutely impossible to tell that she was less than one metre six!


    Well, her body proportion is even better than Elaine! ...... No no no, almost almost.


    And her hair is actually not pure black, nor is it the blonde hair of Europeans and Americans, but it is slightly yellowish, like Chinese black hair dyed, and it is very natural when it is draped down. If you looked at her from the right side and couldn''t see the knife scar on the left side of her face, she would be a very sultry miniature version of a great beauty. Provided the knife wasn''t in her hand.


    ......


    On the way back, the heroine carried several bags in each hand. The bags were light, while she was very heavy inside.


    A mountain of debt!


    Soon returning to the hotel, according to Evelyn Elaine went out to buy food, Ethan hastened to take advantage of this time to bring the heroine upstairs and said to her, "You''ll stay here for now, I''ll arrange a room for you later."


    "Okay." The heroine nodded heavily.


    "I''ll start by showing you roughly what electrical equipment and facilities are in this room and how they work. By noon you''ll want to be downstairs in room 202 at the old mage''s for lunch, which I''ll have ready for you." Ethan said as he walked over to the window and pulled the curtains back, the morning sunlight suddenly filtered through the floor to ceiling windows and flooded the living room, "After that you can have a first nap in my room if you''re sleepy in the afternoon. If you don''t mind."


    "Don''t mind don''t mind!" The heroine said in a hurry. The carpet was so soft, she could just sleep on the floor!


    "Well, then follow me." Ethan walked towards the bedroom first and stood in the doorway pointing to a row of switches, "This is the switch for the bedroom lights. Since it''s an inn, there are more lamps arranged, and all you have to do is press the corresponding button and a light will come on. Like this ......"


    "Snap!" Ethan pressed a button and the inside of the dimly lit bedroom was illuminated by the main goose-yellow light.


    The heroine shuddered and looked at the light on the bedroom ceiling in shock, "What''s this this ...... what''s going on!"


    "Watch closely!" Ethan slightly aggravated his tone, "What you need to do now is learn to use it, not understand it, don''t act like a curious baby. When you stay longer later, you''ll naturally understand the principles."


    "Oh." The heroine had already learnt the meaning of the word ''curious baby'' without any teacher.


    Ethan felt that he didn''t need to go into too much detail, so he finished and headed straight for the bathroom, "Next I''ll teach you how to use the sinks, toilets and showers of our world."


    Still standing back with a strong gleam of curiosity in her eyes, the heroine faced the wall and reached out to press the light switch, which kept turning on and off ......


    Snap, snap, snap ......


    "Ahem!" Ethan stood in the bathroom doorway!


    "Oh, here it comes." The heroine rushed over towards him, her eyes locked dead on the switch on the wall, then reached out with lightning speed and snapped on all the lights in the bathroom, grinning.


    Ethan was just speechless.


    And glancing towards the bathroom, the heroine froze, "Wow! The Emperor doesn''t enjoy himself this much ......"


    The large double bathtub, the sink, the mirror and the vase sitting on the cabinet, the small decorations on the wall, where clean white and gold or other simple colours clashed, the whole bathroom was immaculate.


    "Look at this ......" Ethan said as he turned on the tap on the sink, a jet of white water burst out with a brushing sound, "That''s it, it comes out, press it down again and it switches off. And you veer it to the left in the red direction and hot water comes out, to the right and ......"


    It took about half an hour for Ethan to teach the warrior woman to use everything in the bathroom, a process that left him feeling mentally exhausted.


    And by this time the warrior woman was still playing with the shower canopy inside the bathroom with an excited look on her face ......


    He walked back over to the bed and sat down, craning his head to scan the room just in time to see the clothes that the heroine had changed out of earlier and the objects that she was carrying with her.


    A set of kudzu cloth clothes that no one would wear hundreds of years ago was neatly folded, beside the cloth clothes there was a short sword, two daggers and four slim flying daggers, a packet of something wrapped in yellow paper and a tiny bamboo tube stuffed with a wooden cork.Ethan couldn''t help his curiosity and quietly picked it up to take a look at it, only to see that what was wrapped in the yellow paper was a large packet of white powder, presumably lime or something with a similar function. And inside the bamboo tube was full of red chilli oil.


    "What a dangerous man!" He tugged at the corner of his mouth, glancing in passing at the bathroom, where the dangerous man was still playing with his feet by flushing them with the tuffy head as soon as the bathroom was turned on and off.


    After a long while, Ethan couldn''t help himself and shouted towards the bathroom, "Have you had enough fun!"


    "Huh?" The heroine poked her head out.


    "What do you want for lunch today? Have you thought about it yet? I''ll make it for you if you''re free, but if you''re not, I''ll order you takeout."


    "What takeaway?"


    "I asked you what you want to eat for lunch today."


    "I ...... I''m casual lah, I''m not picky, I can eat just about anything!" The heroine waved her hand boldly and added, "Eat something cheap, just buy some cabbage and greens to deal with it!"


    "Where am I going to pick up cabbage helpings for you ......," Ethan said, speechless.


    "No? Then a bowl of porridge or bread or something ...... I''m really not picky!" The heroine showed a torn look, "If there''s no more then I''ll actually be fine if I don''t eat for a meal or two! ...... Well, the noodles I ate this morning were well oiled and hunger resistant."


    "......"


    Ethan didn''t want to have any more interaction with her, and after teaching her to recognise the clock on the wall, he told her to go down to the old mage for dinner when it was time, and proceeded to just lock her in the house.


    At this time Elaine was sitting on the sofa playing with her mobile phone, seeing him down froze for a moment, and then said: "The food has been bought back, in the refrigerator, what else you want is best to give me now, I''ll go and buy it again, if you''re late, there will only be leftovers."


    Ethan went over and opened the fridge to have a look, this girl really did buy quite a lot, all kinds of vegetables stuffed half of the fridge.


    He couldn''t help but laugh, "Are you having a craving and want to have a feast, or do you think I''m rusty and want me to practise my skills?"


    Elaine''s expression was a little unnatural and didn''t answer his words.


    "Hmm?" Ethan acutely noticed that something was wrong with her and frowned, "What''s wrong with you? Something''s wrong!"


    "I''m not you don''t say anything."


    "Sure is a little off." Ethan clearly noticed that her tone and the way she answered was different than usual, but on second thought he couldn''t figure out exactly why she was vain.


    "You should go stir-fry! It''s eleven o''clock." Elaine looked at her watch, "I want curry beef brisket, I''ve already bought the curry and put it in the fridge. And I want taro chicken, I''ve bought millet chilli too, add more."


    "Then you go and give me a hand."


    Elaine hesitated a little, put down her phone and got up, "Okay."


    Ethan felt even more out of sorts.


    Usually Elaine only came to the kitchen to help him out when she was in a good mood or when he was just too busy, and there was no way she''d agree as readily as she did today.


    The two of them got to work in the kitchen, and while they were chopping the vegetables Ethan frowned and asked Elaine a few questions, which she passed off vaguely, and Ethan just concentrated on the cooking and didn''t ask any more questions.


    Considering that there were still two wailing travellers in the guesthouse, he purposely made the portion of the dish bigger, then made an excuse to sidetrack Elaine when it was about to come out of the pot, and secretly served a portion to the old mage and the heroine, ready to be brought over to them.


    Originally, Ethan thought that Elaine should be surprised and ask "why is the dish so small after it is ready", Ethan also planned to come up with "the dish will shrink" and other excuses to fool this silly girl, but the result was that Elaine was distracted and didn''t even ask. But Elaine was so distracted that she didn''t even ask him.


    Soon, the three of them were seated at the coffee table on the ground floor reception desk.


    Faced with her favourite beef curry, Elaine was still not eating very seriously and was preoccupied. Kind of like Ethan when he was a kid when he came back from a bad exam and was afraid of being beaten by his professor.


    And that''s when room 202 had a very different atmosphere.


    On the small table embedded in the wall was a pot of beef curry, a pot of taro chicken, half a plate of hot and sour cabbage and a pot of sweet potato and white rice. Next to them sat an old mage and a drooling wild female warrior.


    "Gulp!" The female warrior gulped, forcing herself not to just reach out and grab it to eat, "Old Mage, you''re called Old Mage, right, I heard the station master call you that. Is that how you eat every meal here?"


    "Pretty much." The old mage laughed, "The dishes are basically different every day."


    "There''s pretty much always meat and white rice!" The heroine seemed to have understood something, so it turned out that something like cabbage bread or something like that the Station Master Lord couldn''t even look at.


    "Pretty much."


    "Wow! The station master''s life is open so well ......," the female warrior was full of emotion, "If I had known, I would have broken the void earlier and come! The rumours in the rivers and lakes are indeed true!"


    "What rumours?" The old mage was quite curious.


    "The upper realm has white rice to eat all the time!"


    "Oh." The old mage nodded and said, "When civilisation develops to a certain extent, materials will definitely become more and more abundant, and no one in their realm should lack rice to eat."


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.¡¡¡¡As he said that, the old mage remembered the little receptionist girl who came a few days ago, and suddenly fell silent.


    He immediately added, "Very few exceptions."


    "Too happy!" The heroine had already taken her chopsticks and put a pile of beef into her mouth, because the soup was thick and hot, she was so hot that she let out a whimpering sound and kept inhaling, but couldn''t bear to spit it out.


    Then she ruthlessly shaved her mouthful of rice.


    "It''s so delicious! This is the best thing I''ve ever eaten in my life oooo......" the heroine couldn''t help but get teary-eyed, "Before this I''ve only eaten both stir-fried vegetables and white rice when only my father and mother were still alive, or during the Autumn New Year... ...Oooh if I have white rice to eat all the time, then still mix what jianghu, every day nest at home to eat white rice on the line!"


    The old mage laughed and slowly ate as well.


    "Alas!" The heroine no longer do more emotion, big mouthfuls of planing up rice, a bowl of rice quickly to the bottom.


    The old mage was obviously giving in to her and only ate a token amount, the rest of all the rice was basically eaten by her. Including the sour and spicy cabbage soup and the chopped peppers and garlic granules inside she ate it all.


    The heroine belched unimaginatively and stretched, revealing an expression of enjoyment, "Good ......"


    She suddenly froze, and her words were not finished, her expression steeply heavy.


    Seeing this, the old mage asked, "What''s wrong?"


    The heroine froze for a long time, turned to the old mage, and asked, "Old senior, you have to charge for these dishes, right? How much is your living expenses for this meal?"


    "I''m not sure, I''ll have to ask the station master." The old mage smiled faintly and didn''t give her the benefit of the doubt that he wasn''t paying for it.


    "With so much meat, it should be expensive, right?"


    "It''s okay." The old mage swept his eyes over the empty plates on the table, "If we go by the prices in this place, three dishes like this would probably be worth around a hundred dollars in an outside restaurant."


    "Oh my god!" The heroine''s eyes widened, and she hastily broke her fingers to count again, "A hundred dollars, all of which I ate, I definitely have to pay for the bulk of the meal, doesn''t that mean I ate ten bowls of beef noodles in one meal!"


    "Let''s split it equally." The old mage kindly said.


    "That''s also seven ...... no eight ...... or no, six ...... six bowls of beef noodles!" The Lady Warrior felt that she would only eat beef noodles from now on!


    "Lady Warrior don''t think like that." The old mage said, "The price of goods in a region where the situation is stable must be related to the per capita income, and since the people in this place can afford to eat this kind of food, it means that they can easily earn money for the food. As long as you, Lady Warrior, ''work hard and live frugally'' as the station master said, eating will definitely not be a problem."


    "Is that so?" The heroine froze, "Don''t lie to me, I may have studied little, but I''m fierce!"


    "Categorically won''t lie to the lady warrior."


    "Alright, let''s trust you for once." The lady warrior said as such, still preoccupied.


    And then the old mage calmly cast a spell, and the dishes were immediately clean as new. Then he sat down in his chair and reached out to poke his hand in the air again, tapping out the hovering screen.


    Strange words quickly emerged-


    "The people of this world classify this country''s culture as a ''pleasure-sensitive culture'', and the characteristics of a ''pleasure-sensitive culture'' are ...... I''d like to think that it''s similar to the Daqianzhou ''s culture has similarities ......"


    "The opposite of this is the ''culture of guilt'' in the west of this world ......"


    The heroine stared blankly at the screen pulsing with words she couldn''t understand at all, and couldn''t help but ask, "Old-timer, is this also a strange artefact from this world ......"


    "No, this is an invention from my world." The old mage said while smiling, but the screen didn''t stop.


    "Then what are you doing?"


    "I''m recording what I saw and heard in this world, writing it out, and when I return to my original world, these things that I''m writing down now might be inspirational to quite a few future generations."


    "Can it be used as food?"


    "Cannot."


    "Oh." The heroine who hadn''t yet broken away from her lowly interest was instantly disinterested, "Then do you have a paper or a pen ah, I also need to jot down the things that happened to me in this world."


    "Oh?" The old mage looked at her with some surprise, then fished out snow white paper and a feather quill from somewhere.


    Only to see the female warrior spread the paper on the small table board, burying her head in her desk and recording it carefully, only to write the words crookedly: "Beef noodle eight dollars, halved brined egg, fried egg one and a half, buy clothes seven hundred and six ...... Woah shit how so much!"


    The old mage silently withdrew his gaze and continued his business.


    "There is a creature in this world that is very peculiar, this creature is called a water bear worm, it is able to ...... I have conducted a simple research and magic strike, conduction, transformation and other tests on it in the absence of experimental equipment ...... "


    ......


    Elaine finished her meal and made an excuse to slip away, Little Miss Evelyn still volunteered to do the dishes, Ethan couldn''t argue with her so he went upstairs to find the old mage and the Woman.


    The Charming had just finished her calculations, and had examined them four or five times with her fingers crossed.


    How she wished that she had miscalculated, but in the end she was forced to accept the crushing truth - that


    She had only been here for half a day, and she already owed Lord Station Master eight hundred and twenty-one dollars in accounts!


    "The lady warrior is a man of honour." The old mage laughed, "Unlike those rangers in the kingdom when I was young, who tend to do anything to make a little money."


    "Alas, we can''t help it." The female warrior frowned tightly, her face full of despondency, "Jianghu people are all bitter people. The commoners are afraid to deal with us, the dignitaries dislike us for being dirty and don''t deal with us, and the government treats us as a nuisance and can''t wait for us to die out. Even when we meet people who are also jianghu people, we may fight because of dozens of money, a job that can make a living, or a little face. If we don''t follow the rules, how can we get along ......"


    Ethan entered the door just in time to hear these words, he did not say anything and did not comment.


    Where is not a jianghu, where are there no rules?


    The old mage also just smiled and said, "People who act and behave according to a rule are always better."


    Then he looked at Ethan with a smirk, "You have questions for me?"


    "Yes." Ethan nods, a little gruffly.


    Ethan glanced at the crooked bill the Mistress had written on a piece of paper, shook his head, and sat right down on the bed.


    The comforter sheets on the bed were completely new, neatly laid out without a single wrinkle, as if the old mage had never slept on them before.


    "I was wondering, the three of us are all from different worlds, but why do we have similar forms, and even ...... our biological characteristics are very similar!" Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly, the discovery made him even a little scared inside, "This obviously completely disproves our theory of evolution."


    "Evolution?" The old mage revealed an amused look, "About three hundred years ago, there was a part of our world that followed the theory of evolution as well. The theory of evolution was backed up by research findings that stated that all races in our world, whether it be the various races of humans, elves, or any other biological race, evolved from very primitive creatures. And the disagreement was straightforward - the coincidence that almost all the races of our world that possess intelligence show some sort of similarity in appearance or other biological formations such as ways of thinking is just amazing."


    "And then?"


    "Then I got the scroll and started travelling around the world, and I discovered what you''re discovering now." The old mage looked at Ethan with a wry smile, "If this is a coincidence, it''s obviously an even bigger one. So big that it''s unbelievable, so big that it''s almost impossible."


    "So?"


    The old mage looked at him with a smirk, meaning in that expression, but did not answer him, "You have discovered something quite extraordinary, boy."


    Ethan fell silent.


    It was then that the old mage sighed deeply and said, "In fact, we still have no answer to this question either. Although it seems that we have been very close to the truth from the time we discovered this question, I still keep pursuing it. Perhaps I won''t be able to get close to that truth in this lifetime, it doesn''t matter, there will always be someone who will get close to the truth in the thousands and thousands of years to come. And you''re different, you''ve got a lifespan almost equal to that of this world, unless this game ends early or the rules change, you''ll always see the final answer."


    His tone was light and calm, but for no reason at all, it sent chills down the spine.


    Ethan thought that if there was a final answer, perhaps the answer was God, the non-existent God in the broadest sense of the word.


    Of course, it might not be.


    "Relax, Lord Station Master." The old mage smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "You can never imagine the fear and dread that must have been in my heart for a mage who has spent his entire life in the pursuit of wisdom and truth, to be faced with such a difficult question that lies ahead but is destined to remain insurmountable for the rest of my life. But I am still calmly standing here doing what I should do, so you also need not feel fearful and disillusioned, there is even no need to despair, the ancients have long seen the sky high and unattainable, and you are now standing far higher than the ancients, but also saw an even more remarkable thing."


    His tone was as bland and calm as ever, causing Ethan to ghostly nod along.


    The heroine, sitting next to him and baring her lips, recalling the taste of this day''s midday meal, suddenly interjected, "What nonsense are you talking about ......"


    Ethan gradually comes to his senses, and realises what the old mage is trying to convey to him - that no matter how this world came to be, at this point in time he should get on with it.


    So he waved his hand at the heroine, "Something your IQ can''t comprehend anyway."


    "What''s wrong with my intellect?" Woman frowned steeply and raised her voice, "Speak clearly! What happened to my IQ? I was able to practice the Southern Flying Fish Blade Technique that difficult! Hey it''s really strange! After so many years of travelling in the jianghu, this is the first time I''ve heard someone talk about my IQ ......"


    "......" Ethan pulled the corner of his mouth.


    "You''re jealous!" The heroine threw out her conclusion.


    "Hmm." Ethan nodded dryly.


    The Woman fell silent.


    Then Ethan said to the old mage, "I''ll head upstairs then, and help the warrior woman introduce herself to our world this afternoon, and then we''ll continue our research tomorrow."


    "Good."


    "Mistress, come with me." Ethan said as he picked up his dishes and turned to head out the door.


    Woman rushed to follow.


    Just as she reached the stairs, a loud speaker suddenly sounded from outside: "Congratulations to our school for its superior high school entrance exam results, 15 people have been accepted to Harvard with ¡£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡£¡£ "


    Ethan suddenly froze, today seems to be the ......28 number!


    His face changed instantly.

 Chapter 14: The Head of the Household Has to Be Majestic

    The morning of the 28th was the time for Elaine to fill out her application, which she had set herself, and now ......


    He hurriedly felt out his mobile phone and looked at it.


    That means Elaine has already finished filling out the application!


    With Elaine''s character, there would definitely be no mistakes, and her grades didn''t seem to be a cause for concern. However, in light of her behaviour this morning and at noon, Ethan had a bad feeling.


    Seeing him standing still and his face cloudy, the heroine couldn''t help but frown and ask, "What''s wrong?"


    "Nothing!" Ethan waved his hand and fished out his mobile phone as he headed upstairs, calling Elaine.


    It rang once and there was no answer.


    Ethan called again before Elaine answered.


    Ethan said in a rush, "Hello, Elaine."


    Elaine was silent on the other end of the line before she hmmm''d and said, somewhat unnaturally, "Just hurry up with what''s going on, I''m on the bench press!"


    Ethan asked, "You''ve filled out your application, right?"


    "Anon ...... it''s not ...... bullshit ......"


    "I''m concerned about you!" Ethan frowned, "How can you call that crap?"


    "The application is now closed, so if I haven''t filled it out yet, am I waiting to reread it?" Elaine tugged at the corner of her mouth, "What''s that if not bullshit?"


    "So which school did you fill out?"


    "No ...... don''t bother worrying about it." Elaine''s tone was a little heartfelt.


    "What kind of attitude is that! I''m your brother and your current guardian! Filling out a wish is such a big thing, I won''t say anything if you don''t discuss it with me, I know you''ve been very opinionated since you were a child, and you have a number in your heart, but I have to at least ask about it!"


    Elaine was silent before she weakly said, "Since I have a number in my heart, why are you asking me ......"


    "I don''t fucking know!"


    "It''s not like you''re filling out an application or going to college ......"


    "Where exactly?" Ethan''s heart sank, "It''s not Harvard? That''s what you aspire to! Or Yale?"


    " Illinois Institute of Technology......"


    "What?" Ethan froze, "Say that again!?"


    Elaine was silent again before she said, "Illinois Institute of Technology , well, I''m hanging up now ......"


    "No hanging up!" Ethan yelled out at once, startling the heroine beside him.


    Elaine really didn''t hang up, but she didn''t say anything either.


    Ethan stood in the doorway of the room as well, holding the phone up in one hand and the card in the other but not swiping the door in, and it was as if the two could hear each other breathing.


    There was a long silence before Ethan took a deep breath before saying in a decisive tone, "You come back here now!"


    "No!" Elaine replied sheepishly.


    "Whew!" Ethan took a deep breath, Elaine''s answer was not what he expected, but he still tried his best to project the authority of the head of the family, "Then where are you now? I''m coming to find you."


    "Not telling you!"


    "...... Gym right? Just wait, I''ll be right over." Ethan said in a hushed voice.


    Elaine didn''t answer him.


    So Ethan hung up the phone, took his card and opened the door with two ticks, threw the heroine in and said, "Stay here, I''m going out to run some errands, I''ll be back later!"


    "Where are you going! Is there trouble?" The heroine asked in a hurry, then volunteered to beat her chest, "I''ll go with you! Listen to the old mage said that the body of the people in your world is actually very weak, not everyone knows spells, in that case ...... I''m not bragging ah, just go out to eat noodles today and see those people, I can beat 10,000 of them! Eh wait ...... my knife in your house price has not yet taken out, I go get it!"


    Ethan pulled her by the hand.


    ...... By the way, he pulled himself down!


    It was hard to stand up straight, he said seriously, "Not to fight, you just stay in your room, wait for me to come back."


    The heroine froze, then looked him up and down, "Are you not treating me like a brother!"


    "......" Ethan was speechless, "I''m going to find my disobedient sister, it''s just a family matter, what''s it like for you to tag along with a machete!"


    "So!" The heroine would be convinced.


    After all this drama, Ethan had calmed down a bit and went into his room to turn on the TV for the heroine. To give her a quicker overview of the world, Ethan puts on Chicago News, one of the more grounded and fragmented regional news programmes in the news genre.


    He then quickly opened the door and headed out while the Woman was still staring blankly at the TV screen.


    The Kaffee Gym was close to Ethan''s house, but in the opposite direction from the hotel, and it took him twenty minutes to get there.


    Ethan had just walked into the gym, ready to call Elaine and then wait for her in the lounge area, when he heard a shout mixed with surprise from behind him, "Ethan?"


    He turned his head and froze as well, " R¡£¡£¡£¡£ .rnee?"


    "Did I ...... hear you wrong, why did it feel like you just hesitated?" Renee faked a frown, then beamed with joy, "It''s been a long time Ethan, I didn''t expect to meet you here."


    "Yeah, quite a coincidence." Ethan said a little awkwardly, he had literally just barely recognised him.


    Renee was wearing a form fitting tracksuit and a pair of trainers under her feet, her already great figure was now in even better proportions. And she was wearing a single ponytail, with her hair dyed and wearing the legendary chopped make-up, living as a sporty plain beauty, fresh and pretty.


    "We haven''t seen each other since you graduated, right, I heard that you broke up with your elder sister?"


    "Er ...... broke up quite a long time."


    "Quite a pity." Renee was quite eager to catch up, but seeing that Ethan seemed to lack interest, she asked, "You came over ...... to work out? I haven''t seen you before either."


    "I came over to find my sister, she''s in here." Ethan said as he fumbled for his mobile phone, "I''ll call her to come out."


    "Okay then." Renee said, actually walking into the front desk next to her before looking over at Ethan.


    They were in the same university, she was in the Physical Education department, Ethan was a grade above her, and back in the day, Ethan and a few of the guys in the Physical Education department used to play ball together, thus getting to know her. She was actually quite attracted to the handsome Ethan, but unfortunately, Ethan had a girlfriend at that time, and she waited for a while, but she didn''t see any intention to break up with them, so she gave up. And now Ethan has broken up with his ex-girlfriend, but she ...... already has a new boyfriend.


    The little girl who had brainstormed a whole lot in an instant revealed a slight look of regret and looked up at Ethan again, only to find that Ethan was looking at her as well.


    She was instantly startled for a moment, blushing scarlet, her heart like a deer in headlights, her heart chaotic shakti chaotic thought-


    I don''t know if he knew that he liked him before, in case he doesn''t have a girlfriend now and wants to hook up with her, how should she refuse in order to show her polite and generous and maintain her image of a good girl in his heart. ......


    Sure enough, she saw Ethan walking towards her.


    She even lowered her head.


    Then Ethan''s gentle and familiar voice rang in her ears, "That, Renee ......"


    Wow such an affectionate term of endearment!


    Renee felt like she was going to be unable to take it anymore!


    "My sister isn''t answering my calls, can you help me go in and look for her? I''m really in quite a hurry." Ethan is really pissed off, that girl is not only taking the GCSE application for granted, but even now she''s not answering his calls!


    Renee: "......"


    "Forget it if it''s a bother." Ethan said awkwardly.


    "No matter!" Renee said in a huff, "Just go straight in, I''m the only one guarding here anyway, just get out quick."


    "Then I''ll trouble you!" Ethan didn''t say much and headed inside without looking back.


    Just as he walked into the gym, he saw Elaine -


    Elaine was currently wearing a pair of black sports shorts with white edges, underneath which was a pair of long and straight legs, the teenage girl''s skin was white and tender. On her upper body, she was wearing a short sports tank top, revealing a waist without a trace of fat, a beautifully defined collarbone, neck and arms. Feet stepped on a pair of Asics running shoes, feel casually take a mobile phone to take a picture can be on the cover of the impurity or in the Internet crazy.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.¡¡¡¡Sure enough, she wasn''t going to let herself make a trip for nothing, even if she was as vain as she wanted to hide.


    Ethan picked up the pace and walked over.


    Elaine was wearing boxing gloves and standing by the sandbags, seemingly practising her grappling.


    She saw Ethan as well, but instantly withdrew her gaze and continued to look at the sandbags in front of her, her body twisting before she swung a punch, hitting with a muffled thud.


    Quite a few of the men and women working out next to her were looking at her, the men were a little better, peeking at most, the women were completely bright, even taking out their mobile phones and pretending to take selfies then secretly framing her in the mirror.


    Ethan approached and saw that she was wearing headphones and her mobile phone was stuck in her trouser pocket, he couldn''t help but frown at once and asked, "Why didn''t you answer my call?"


    "Saw you having a pretty hot conversation with that pretty girl at the door! Leave you a little more time, so as not to disturb you from picking up a girl." Elaine didn''t look at him, but instead stared dead at the sandbags, and suddenly threw another straight punch before saying, "Ethan, you''ve grown in your ability, just a little while ago, you were able to hook up with the gym''s receptionist beauty, and even made her willingly risk her life to let you in!"


    "Don''t give me a diversion!" Ethan completely ignored her words, "Are you out of your mind, why don''t you go to Harvard, your grades are definitely good enough?"


    "I ...... Where I fill in is my freedom!" Elaine said sheepishly, "You seem more nervous than I am."


    "Can I not be nervous!?" Ethan subconsciously raised his voice, only to lower it again when he realised he''d attracted the attention of the person next to him, "I''m your brother! Your sole guardian!"


    "Come on, I just watched you pick up a girl!" Elaine''s eyes were like electricity, and so were her punches!


    There was a thud! The sandbag wobbled!


    "That''s my college mate." Ethan was really helpless.


    "Heh! I''ve talked to her a few times too, and she hasn''t even graduated from college yet!" Elaine twisted her head and gave her a cold look, "It''s time for you to say she''s your senior sister again, isn''t it?"


    "I''m fucking ......" Ethan was speechless, "Well, even if I hooked up with a girl, it''s none of your business!"


    "Then ...... then it''s none of your business if I fill out an application!" Elaine said as if she was playing a trick by hitting a hard hooker again.


    "But why are you? Have you got a brain fart? A few colleges are so different, you have to give me a reason!" Ethan spoke up, "Didn''t you always want to go to Harvard before?"


    "It''s too far away from home, and I don''t feel comfortable with it!" Elaine was afraid that he would continue to pursue the issue, so after a slight silence, she quickly changed the topic again, "And you''re talking about me! What about you? Didn''t you always want to be an honourable criminal police officer? Now it''s still not like a salted fish ......"


    "...... You still remember it." Ethan was inexplicably a bit embarrassed, "It was when I was a kid, how can I count it."


    "That''s what I thought when I was a kid too."


    "You''re still young now too!" Ethan rolled his eyes, inexplicably the anger has been eliminated for the most part, it is really angry, "Then you are like this ...... let me how to explain to Mom and Dad ah!"


    "Them?" Elaine''s eyes slightly softened down, but tugged at the corner of her mouth, "Our mother has always respected my opinion, our father well ...... on his casual, indifferent character, do you think he will care about me? You still don''t worry about it."


    "...... "Ethan was completely speechless.


    That''s when Elaine stopped, sighed in relief, and lifted her hand to rip the Velcro off her boxing gloves with her teeth, removing one glove before taking off the other normally.


    "Why don''t you go wait for me outside while I take a shower and change back into my clothes." Elaine shrugged off her gloves and headed for the shower room.


    "Ugh." Ethan sighed deeply.


    In a trance he was reminded again of the light of the family sitting down to dinner on the eve of the entrance exams, which happened to be a conversation about Elaine''s future that night.


    Elaine vaguely expressed that she wanted to go to Harvard to study and become a scientist in the future.


    Ethan had always been confident in his sister''s grades. But now it''s changed on a whim.


    "Ugh." Ethan walked out of the gym helplessly, and could only lament that his sister was too big to stay.


    "That pretty girl is your sister?" Renee at the front desk suddenly looked at him and asked.


    "Yeah, you know her?"


    "Chatted a few times, I guess, not really familiar, but I do remember her name is Elaine," Renee said, revealing a look of dawning realisation, "Ethan, Elaine, really two siblings."


    "Eh ......"


    The parents are highly educated, but they are torn about naming their children, and finally went with the public, that name is much followed, so there are two names Ethan and Elaine, ready for the boy to be called Ethan, and the girl will be called Elaine.


    After having Ethan, the two professors simply had another one because there was still one name left.


    Ethan shook his head back and smiled at Renee, "I''m going to give you a hard time today."


    "It''s okay, I have nothing to do for the summer holidays anyway doing a part-time job here and discussing with my boss to settle the internship signing form afterwards. Even if the boss catches me red-handed and lets someone in, I''ll be fine." Renee wouldn''t say that the boss here is her boyfriend''s dad, "Your sister is pretty, good genes are different! Among the girls working out here, your sister has the prettiest body I''ve ever seen."


    "You''re in great shape now."


    It didn''t take long to chat, Elaine finished her shower and changed her clothes, carrying her change of clothes out from inside.


    She wore a pair of stretchy, form-fitting nine-quarter black harem trousers and a linen grey sports bodysuit that contrasted with her snow-white skin. The necks of her light grey socks showed above her trainers, and her hair was half-dried, her face fresh and uncharacteristically plain. And her entire aura was confident, her expression cold, attracting quite a few gazes as she walked out.


    "Carry it for me." Elaine handed the paper bag in her hand to Ethan, and then after slightly narrowing her eyes at Renee, she walked straight outside, "Go home."


    "We''ll be off then, WhatsApp chat." Ethan turned to Renee with a smile.


    "Okay."


    Ethan followed Elaine, absently glancing inside the bag: um, a gym tank top and gym shorts, and a blue plastic bag of toiletries, ew this light fabric with one corner showing is ......


    He glanced sheepishly at Elaine.


    Good lord, right into Elaine''s surprised gaze!


    "Are you getting perverted!" Elaine rolled her eyes, "I told you to carry it for me, and you play peeping tom on the street!"


    "Your wording is also ...... can I call this peeping?" Ethan argued, "You let me carry it, but not give me what''s inside, I just take a look and you still blame me! If there was something I couldn''t see, why did you carry it for me?"


    "Then what do you see?"


    "What can I see! Just a plastic pocket full of toiletries! It''s boring!" Ethan waved his hand, "I''ll buy you a better looking storage bag sometime."


    "You still want that girl''s WeChat?"


    "Hey you''re also ...... thinking a little too out of the box!" Ethan felt really tired of talking to her, "Didn''t I tell you! We''ve known each other for a long time, we''ve been on WhatsApp for years! We even jerked off and drank beer together on the roadside once before!"


    Elaine twisted her head to look at him and continued walking.


    She didn''t walk far, she stopped again and surveyed Ethan''s figure, and said with disgust and helplessness, "Look at you, it''s about time you exercised, your waistline is thicker than before, and I''m afraid you''ve got all the flab!"


    "I told you this thinking ...... really, too jumpy!" Ethan said helplessly.


    But Elaine''s sentence was said to his heart.


    Although he was not really flabby now, he was still far from the body that had both abs and pecs and looked thinner and heavier than now. The deterioration of his body was usually noticeable even when he did something.


    "Yeah, I''m the man who has to deal with many travellers and protect the world, how can I be this weak?" Ethan secretly made up his mind, "A good body is the capital to do anything, after indulging for so long, it''s time to start exercising."


    "Let''s start with this summer holiday!"

 Chapter 15 - The New Janitor

    The two siblings walked along without a word to each other.


    Ethan was faster on his feet and walked ahead, the afternoon sun was very scorching and he was sweating a bit within two steps.


    Elaine, on the other hand, followed slowly with her hands in her trouser pockets. If she hadn''t been so pretty, she would have looked a bit like a dilettante.


    She had sunscreen on and wasn''t afraid of getting a tan. Anyway, she knew that Ethan was pretending to be angry, so she didn''t dislike him.Ethan wanted to walk, so she walked with him.


    Not a moment later, the distance between the two fell further and further apart.


    "Walk slower!" Elaine still stuck her hands in the trouser pockets of her harem trousers and followed expressionlessly, her eyes darting diagonally to the side of the road, "I can''t keep up."


    "......" Ethan slowed down slightly.


    Only after she had followed slightly did Ethan turn his head and say in a serious tone, "You''re really lacking in consideration this time!"


    "How so?"


    "You should have at least discussed it with me."


    "Would you have agreed?"


    "...... won''t!"


    "Do I need your consent?"


    "......" Ethan felt like his sacred majesty as a parent was being provoked.


    "I''ve said countless times that I don''t need your permission, why can''t you hear me?" Elaine also gave him a somewhat helpless look, "I''m tired of you speaking to me in such a parental tone! And with my abilities, it''s pretty much the same everywhere. You might as well think about yourself if you have that kind of mind. Even if it was hard for you to get into university in the first place, but now that you''ve graduated, it feels like the four words university didn''t add anything to your life!"


    "But ...... I am the parent!"


    "The hell with parents!" Elaine''s eyes were icy, "Can''t you focus on the second half of that sentence?"


    "......" Ethan was somewhat speechless, so he continued on his way.


    Not long after, Elaine seemed to be trying to lighten the mood, sticking her pockets in and stopping in front of a barbecue cart on the side of the road, "Ethan, I want some lamb kebabs."


    Ethan didn''t want to talk to her, "Buy it yourself!"


    "Don''t have any money in my pocket."


    The barbecue owner grinned and asked Elaine, "How many skewers does the little girl want?"


    "Three skewers." Elaine said and pointed to Ethan, "He pays."


    "Okay!"


    The dark-skinned boss picked up three skewers of lamb and put them on the grill, using a bushel fan to fan out the thick smoke, and while fanning he also said to Ethan: "When I was young my wife had to be so good-looking, I''m sure I wouldn''t have messed with him."


    Ethan pulled the corner of his mouth, "......".


    Elaine, on the other hand, was very calm and continued to be expressionless.


    In the end Ethan could only pull out his phone and give the money, still eyeing Elaine as she ate.


    They didn''t go back to the hotel, but went back to the empty home.Elaine had to go back to change her clothes.Tonight, their high school classmates decided to have a thank you banquet together, which was also a farewell banquet for each other. At this time of parting, it can be imagined that Elaine is going to receive a lot of male classmates'' confessions again.


    Originally, when Elaine scored so high in the exam, Ethan said she would like to hold a separate banquet to thank her high school teachers, and also give her a red envelope to show her appreciation. But Elaine said that this year''s wind is tighter, and her parents'' bones are not yet cold, it is not appropriate to celebrate, Ethan gave up this intention, only to call the teachers to say thank you.


    ......


    At this time in the Anju Hotel.


    Phoebe sat cross-legged on the sofa, her head involuntarily tilted slightly forward, staring blankly at the rectangular frame that constantly had images of people changing and voices coming out.


    The news had finished a long time ago, and the network television had automatically switched to a film, now playing Transformers.


    "swift swift swift swift ......"


    Several missiles neatly cut through the sky!


    "BOOM!!!"


    Phoebe''s body shuddered, her eyes reflecting the monstrous flames of the television set.


    Houses were easily blown to pieces, bunkers were torn apart, and dust rolled up into the sky, the fleshly humans were as fragile as papier-mach¨¦ in such a battlefield!


    "Gulp!" She subconsciously gulped.


    This world was too terrifying!


    Then the merged Hercules climbed up the pyramid, and was blasted down again by a blast from the US fleet''s electromagnetic cannon! Optimus Prime swapped in his comrade''s parts to get a new lease on life and dominate this battlefield even more powerfully.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    It was hard to finish watching Transformers, Phoebe remembered all the cars along the way, and couldn''t help but feel a chill in her heart.


    At this time, the door suddenly rang the sound of dripping.


    Phoebe''s eyes suddenly condensed, subconsciously holding the goose feather knife in her hand and staring at the door.


    With a click, Ethan opened the door and came in.


    Phoebe hurriedly put down her goose feather knife and acted as if she had just done nothing.


    "What are you doing? I see you just had the knife in your hand like you were going to cut me." Ethan gave her a puzzled look and came in and glanced at the TV, which was starting to play Wolf Warrior 2, which set a box office myth last year.


    "A sense of crisis and vigilance are the most indispensable qualities for people in the jungle!" Phoebe said proudly.


    "Oh? Is the TV good?" Ethan sat down.


    "It''s good, but it''s just too scary." Phoebe said heartily.


    "Hmm? You watched a horror film?"


    "Horror film? It had monsters in it anyway."


    "Oh?"


    "Monsters called Decepticons, they were horrible, luckily the Autobots beat them in the end." Phoebe said patting her chest, "No wonder the mage said I couldn''t make waves in your world."


    "......" Ethan said as he got up and got a glass of water and took a sip before saying, "I''ve come to talk to you about ''hard work and living''. "


    "Yeah!" Phoebe was instantly interested, looking at him with bated breath and saying, "I want good wages!"


    Ethan rolled his eyes and said, "Obviously you''ll only be able to work for me, there''s no choice, and I''m only hiring for a total of two positions here - cashier at the front desk and janitorial."


    With that he looked Phoebe up and down, "No doubt about it, you can only work janitorial."


    "What''s housekeeping?"


    "As the name suggests, keeping it clean, in fact, it''s responsible for cleaning the hotel."


    "Ohhh! Sweeping the floor!" Phoebe ponders for a moment, looks up and says, "That''s a good one! This one''s easy! That''s the kind of work I like to do!"


    Ethan purses his lips, "It''s more than sweeping. To be precise, you have to make sure the whole hotel is clean and tidy. So in addition to sweeping you''ll have to wipe down certain areas that need to be wiped down and mop the floors. After the guests have checked out, you have to change into brand new sheets and duvet covers and pillowcases, make sure that there are enough toiletries in the bathroom, take the mouthwash cups, electric kettles and other utensils that need to be sterilised, and check that the room''s facilities have not been damaged, that the merchandise has not been used, and so on ......"


    "Sounds ......" Phoebe giggled a little, "like it''s getting a bit more complicated."


    "It''s actually quite simple to do."


    "How much does cleaning cost a month?"


    "2000 plus commission, no double breaks, inclusive of food and accommodation."


    "Inclusive food and accommodation ~" Phoebe forced to hold back the idea that she was going to agree off the top of her head, and asked again, "What about ...... what about the clerk?"


    "The front desk cashier 2200 plus commission, also packaged food and housing."


    "Is standing inside that counter that long quite high female doll right?"


    "Tall?" Ethan stared.


    "Taller than me."


    "That''s her then."


    "Then I''m going to be the what''s-her-name." The heroine said with certainty.


    "No way!"


    "Why!"


    "The front desk is full." Ethan said giving her a light scowling look, "And are you sure you know how to use a computer?"


    "What?"


    "......"


    "Then be a floor sweeper!" The heroine didn''t look the least bit lost, "It sounds like a bit of a hassle, but if you spell it out for me, it''s guaranteed to be a no-brainer!"


    "......" Ethan nodded heavily.


    Speaking clearly to her wasn''t expected to be a simple task!


    "Then you come with me." Ethan took a deep breath and headed out, saying as he walked, "There''s actually already a cleaning aunty in the hotel, her surname is Tang and she''s quite old, so you have to call her Auntie Tang when you meet her."


    "No problem." Phoebe nodded, "Then why are you recruiting one when you already have one?"


    "The hotel has nearly forty rooms, she''s a bit busy on her own, especially since business has been good lately. Besides, it''s also to create jobs for you!" Ethan said as he walked downstairs, "I''ll tell Auntie Tang later, from now on, you''ll be responsible for cleaning the third floor. Since there are relatively fewer rooms on the third floor, it''s also a bit easier, so you''ll also have to clean the front desk every night. Are you okay with this arrangement?"


    "No problem!" Phoebe patted her chest, "As long as you don''t default on your wages."


    "You''ve been owed?"


    "Yeah, couldn''t even sue the government." Phoebe shook her head, "I''ve been working hard for over two months, it''s infuriating to think about!"


    "Hm? Aren''t you a jungle person?"


    "Yes!" Phoebe nodded, "So then I could only hold him down and drown him in the river."


    "Don''t worry I''m a conscientious boss, I definitely won''t default on your wages." Ethan said with a grave face, "Take this room we are living in now as an example, wait, I will push the trolley over first, and then I will give you a detailed explanation of what to do ......"


    Phoebe was surprisingly talented at doing such menial chores to Ethan''s surprise, and while he had expected it to take quite a while to explain it all to her, the truth was that it took less than an hour. The vast majority of that time was spent getting her to note down the disposable toiletries and various items in the room, as not only did she have to recognise them, but she also had to keep track of the quantities and prices, which was quite a challenge for Phoebe, who had come from another world.


    As Phoebe was having fun with the two walkie-talkies, Ethan said, "Go down there first, and I''ll show you the front desk cashier, she''s going to be based in the hotel."


    "The little girl who''s quite tall?"


    "Yeah, six metres." Ethan faintly said, "You don''t want to bully people by force, it''s best to also be nice to her, this girl is quite nice. And she is at least a person from our world, there must be something that can help you in your future life."


    "The station master is right!"


    "By the way, before you get to know our world, it''s best to talk less, watch and learn more, and remember not to reveal your origin, or the consequences will be unimaginable."


    "No problem! I''m good at this!" Phoebe felt a bit puzzled, as if she had been led astray by him without realising it, and had already acquiesced to living in this world for a long time.


    Ethan nodded although he was a bit sceptical of her words, and walked to the ground floor to say to Evelyn, "Evelyn, I''d like to introduce you to a colleague."


    "Huh?" Evelyn looked up at Phoebe in confusion, Phoebe''s stern brow and the scar at the corner of her eye made her a little dazed. Didn''t Ethan say this was his friend earlier?


    But she quickly nodded her head and said, "Um."


    "Her name is Phoebe," Ethan finished and then pointed to Evelyn, "Her name is Evelyn."


    Little Miss Evelyn rushed to say, "Hello hello hello."


    Phoebe also clasped her hands together, "Nice to meet you."


    Ethan: "......"


    While Evelyn was still a bit confused, he hastily changed the subject, "Phoebe is the housekeeper I just hired to lighten Auntie Tang''s load! She''s in charge of the third floor, and for ease of remembering, the intercom channel is the third. Since you''ll be dealing with each other a lot, it''s best if you can communicate more as well."


    "Ooooh, good." Little Miss Evelyn said.


    "I''ll take care of it then." Phoebe continued with her hands clasped in front of her, actually insisting on giving the tower away!


    Ethan couldn''t pull her, so he didn''t pull her, and only came to Evelyn''s ear and whispered, "This is a friend of mine from my hometown, I knew her when I was a child, and her brain is a little abnormal, so you have to be a little more tolerant."


    Evelyn nodded with a red face, and secretly looked at Phoebe: "That Cheng boss, she looks quite fierce, will she hurt people ah ......"


    "No, you shouldn''t be deceived by her appearance! Her five features of the fierce aura is born, and that scar in the corner of her eye is a child climbing a tree to pick a bird''s nest was cut by a branch, in fact, this person can be stupid, you''re fine don''t bully her into it!" Ethan patted his chest and assured, "I also want to ask you to take care of her a bit more!"


    Phoebe''s martial arts skills were exceptional, how could this whispering be hidden from her ears?


    Only to see that she immediately revealed a giggle at Evelyn, scaring the little girl so much that she quickly lowered her head, not daring to look at her more.


    "Oh, okay, okay." Evelyn said weakly.