Chen An thought he would suffer from insomnia, but not long after drinking the ginger tea, he fell asleep.

Perhaps it was because Cheng Lele’s fragrance lingered in the room, or perhaps it was because the physical contact over the past several days had been too frequent—Chen An had a magnificent dream.

In the dream, blood boiled, they embraced with necks entwined, limbs entangled, breathing heavy, the scenery enchanting, carrying a filter that was sometimes bloodthirsty and sometimes tender, containing impulse and desire.

The images were so real that when he woke up, he first looked toward the side of the bed.

After this, he never fell asleep again.

During these wakeful hours, he thought of his constantly crumbling boundaries, thought of Quan Zirong’s warning, and also thought of that obese woman’s earth-shattering cries. In the end, he would only be able to murmur like that woman: I like you so much, why don’t you like me?

The next morning, the two went to the buffet restaurant for breakfast. Chen An’s complexion was very poor, and he ate absentmindedly, constantly spacing out.

Cheng Lele suspected he had caught a cold and fever from the rain. She reached out to touch Chen An’s forehead, but Chen An dodged.

He kept his head down, not looking at Cheng Lele’s face, and said: “I’m fine, I just didn’t sleep well.” After saying this, he took a sip of black coffee. All that entered his mouth was bitterness, complementing the bitter obsession of his unfulfilled longing.

“I have something to do, I’m leaving first.” After one sip, Chen An stood up.

Cheng Lele stood up, wanting to hold Chen An back, but he was one step faster, taking large strides and walking out of the restaurant as if fleeing for his life.

Still angry? Surely not.

Cheng Lele ate a few bites alone, feeling forlorn, and lost her appetite as well.

At this moment, someone suddenly called her name. Cheng Lele looked up and saw a very familiar woman in a manager’s uniform striding quickly toward her: “Cheng Lele, it really is you!”

Cheng Lele stood up in a daze. Only after recognizing the face did she excitedly say: “Zhang Ying!”

Zhang Ying was her middle school classmate, Chen Xiaomu’s desk mate, and also a friend within her one-meter radius.

“You took off your glasses, I almost didn’t recognize you.” Cheng Lele hugged Zhang Ying and said, “Your double eyelids are so beautiful. I always said you should take off those glasses.”

Zhang Ying touched her eyelids: “I had laser correction done.” Then she pointed toward the entrance: “That handsome guy who just left was Chen An, right? I thought I was seeing things.”

Then Zhang Ying gave Cheng Lele a meaningful look: “Chen Xiaomu told me, you know—you two actually aren’t siblings. When I heard that news back then, my eyeballs nearly fell out. You hid it so well!”

“We didn’t deliberately hide it from everyone. Back then we really did get along like real siblings, so there was no need to distinguish between real siblings and fake siblings.”

Zhang Ying picked out the key words, her voice drawn out: “Oh, back then—so you’re saying, not anymore now. Well, that makes sense, you’ve even come to check in and spend money at my hotel—” She spread her hands, “When will you let me eat your wedding candy?”

Cheng Lele waved her hand: “No, no.” But it seemed there was also no need to explain so vigorously anymore.

Zhang Ying said: “Oh, how wonderful. I also want a childhood friend to fall from the sky. Hey, having a companion who’s liked you since childhood must be very sweet, right?”

Cheng Lele thought about it. Along this journey, for her dear older brother, there had been more pain than sweetness, and she felt somewhat downcast.

Zhang Ying saw Cheng Lele become dejected and asked in shock and hesitation: “Your relationship hasn’t run into problems, has it?”

Cheng Lele shook her head: “No.”

Zhang Ying said: “You still need to keep a close eye on him. In my line of work, I’ve seen a lot—” Probably feeling that saying this was somewhat inauspicious, she stopped, “But Chen An definitely wouldn’t. If he comes to our hotel to get a room, I’ll report it to you immediately.”

Cheng Lele laughed: “I really thank you.”

After Zhang Ying finished her night shift and changed into regular clothes, she chatted with Cheng Lele for a while. As they chatted, they ended up talking about business.

It turned out Zhang Ying was the duty manager at Shenya Hotel. She had muted the notification reminders for the classmate group chat, and when busy, she had no time to scroll through the records, so she didn’t know that Cheng Lele was the manager of the nearby Starlight Cinema.

Cheng Lele had previously contacted the hotel’s marketing department, but they showed little interest in cooperating with the cinema because they had collaborated before. The person in charge had created numerous problems, adding many customer complaints for them, and they had almost been added to the blacklist.

After hearing this, Zhang Ying linked arms with Cheng Lele and said: “Sister, since you’re running a husband-and-wife business, this matter is reliable.” Then she cupped her hands and leaned close to Cheng Lele’s ear: “Manager Huang from the marketing department is pursuing me. For the sake of your love, I’ll reluctantly respond to him a bit.”

Cheng Lele laughed: “Your sacrifice is so great. When you get married, I’ll have my dear older brother give you a big red envelope.”

Zhang Ying deliberately said: “Tsk, when I get married, shouldn’t you be the one giving me the red envelope? Ha, not even married yet and already—” She paused, widened her eyes and asked, “You haven’t already gotten married and even have two kids, have you?”

Cheng Lele stomped her foot and said coquettishly: “No way!”

Manager Huang from the marketing department was quite efficient in getting things done.

Shenya Hotel had deep cooperation with both the local bus station and the convention center. Even though the commercial street was in decline, the hotel’s business was still doing okay. Next month happened to be Shenya’s ninth anniversary celebration. The promotional activities were abundant, and Manager Huang proactively suggested linking up with the cinema. He also promised Cheng Lele he would get them a free promotional spot at the convention center—the marketing director of the convention center was Manager Huang’s second aunt’s husband, and he said it was “just a matter of one sentence.”

Cheng Lele thought to herself that staying at this hotel was so worth it! Last night she had secretly complained that her dear older brother was spending money on a hotel. Sure enough, with money, you have to spend it to earn it.