How about we swap rooms

Su Yang parked the car in the hotel's parking lot.

Then, accompanied by four stunning women, he strolled leisurely into the hotel lobby. A waiter in a vest and shirt quickly approached them with a slight bow.

"Welcome to Kaibin Hotel. Good afternoon to all five of you."

Su Yang, leading the group, nodded at the waiter with a smile. "Hello, I'd like to check in."

"Of course, sir. Please follow me."

Hearing this, Tang Ziyun stepped forward and stopped Su Yang. "Su Yang, let me handle the check-in for everyone."

"No need, I'll do it."

"Come on, last time we went out, we agreed that when there's a chance, I'd contribute too!"

Su Yang chuckled and shook his head. "There'll be plenty of opportunities later. No rush for now."

"No, let me do it!" Tang Ziyun insisted, pulling Su Yang behind her before quickly following the waiter to the front desk to complete the check-in.

Watching this exchange, Su Yang and Pan Ning exchanged glances, with Pan Ning giving a slight nod.

"Alright, fine."

Soon, Tang Ziyun returned with ten room keys, smiling as she walked toward the group waiting in the lounge area, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Here, everyone pick a key."

She spread her hands, revealing ten cards.

Seeing so many keys, Su Qingci blinked in surprise. "One room for each of us?"

"Of course! I thought everyone might not be comfortable sharing, so I booked ten rooms."

"Isn't that a bit wasteful?" Su Qingci scratched her nose hesitantly.

"It's not wasteful at all. Everyone needs a place to stay. Go ahead and take one."

Meng Qianyu leaned in and picked a key for Room 5003 on the 50th floor. "I want a higher floor so I can enjoy the night view later. Hehe."

Tang Ziyun grinned. "They're all about the same. I checked—most of our rooms are on the 49th and 50th floors."

Su Yang shrugged. "You all pick first. I'll take whatever's left."

Soon, the four women had each chosen a key, and Tang Ziyun turned to Su Yang.

He casually picked one from her hand and glanced at it. "5008. Nice."

"I'm in 5007!" Su Qingci held up her key and smiled at Su Yang.

Noticing this, Meng Qianyu rolled her big, sparkling eyes and sidled up to Su Qingci. "Qingci, wanna swap with me?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Uh... I didn’t notice there was a room with the number 7 earlier. Seven’s my lucky number, so... could we switch?" Meng Qianyu tugged at Su Qingci’s sleeve, pouting.

Hearing this, Su Qingci wasn’t keen on swapping but found it hard to refuse. Just as she was about to agree, Tang Ziyun raised her own key.

"Qianyu, how about I swap with you? My room number also has a seven."

"Oh? What’s yours?"

"5017."

"Uh..." Meng Qianyu froze, momentarily speechless.

Pan Ning, fully aware of Meng Qianyu’s little scheme, shot her a look. "Enough with the swapping. Stick with what you’ve picked."

"Fine... I’ll just keep mine then."

Su Qingci tilted her head. "So you don’t want to switch anymore, Qianyu?"

"Nope, never mind!"

"Great!"

Su Yang, sitting off to the side, shook his head in amusement before turning to Pan Ning. "What’s your room?"

Pan Ning took a seat beside him. "5009."

"Oh, that works—you're right next to me too~"

Meng Qianyu, smiling brightly, plopped down beside Pan Ning, tugging at her sleeve. "Sis, wanna switch seats with me~?"

"No!"

Meng Qianyu: "......"

Su Yang chuckled, pulling out his phone and opening the group chat to @ the others: "Where are you guys at?"

Zhang Ziming: "We’re almost at the Lincheng toll gate."

Ji Bo: "We’re close too~"

Su Yang: "Alright, we’ll wait for you at the hotel. Here’s the address."

After sending the message, he shared the hotel’s location in the group.

Zhang Ziming: "Got it~"

Ji Bo: "Copy that!"

Chu Qiunan: "Damn, Su Yang, you’re really fast."

Su Yang: "Fast when I need to be, slow when I should be~"

Chu Qiunan: "[wicked grin]"

Su Yang: "Hurry up, you lot!"

......

After sending the last message, Su Yang turned off his phone.

The five of them headed upstairs to their rooms to drop off their light luggage.

About ten minutes later, they returned to the hotel lobby’s lounge area to continue waiting.

A server approached with five cups of tea, setting them on the table. "Here you go, folks~"

"Thanks! Hey, man, quick question—aside from sour beef hotpot, what other good eats does Lincheng have?" Su Yang grinned up at the server, who was still holding the tray.

The server pondered for a moment. "Oh, there’s plenty. Just hotpot alone, we’ve got dozens of varieties—aside from sour beef, there’s fermented black bean hotpot, bean-and-pork hotpot, spicy chicken hotpot, and so on."

Pausing to think, he added, "Then there’s all the street food: silk dolls, potato cakes, plain rice noodles, intestine-and-blood noodles, beef rice noodles, lamb rice noodles, ‘love tofu’... and more~"

"Oh? Sounds interesting. What’s ‘love tofu’?"

"It’s grilled tofu blocks sliced open and stuffed with cilantro and fishwort mixed with chili paste. Though, fair warning, a lot of out-of-towners can’t stand fishwort, so they miss out on this one~"

Su Yang laughed. "I love fishwort. Any places nearby that sell it?"

"Yep! Head right out the hotel gate, down the bridge, and you’ll hit a street full of food stalls. You can check it out later."

"Sweet, thanks, man~"

"No problem~" The server smiled and walked off.

Meng Qianyu tilted her head at Su Yang. "Su Yang, I wanna try the love tofu~"

"You sure you can handle fishwort?"

"Probably? Never had it before, but I’m down to try~"

"Alright, we’ll go explore once the others get here."

"Deal!"

They chatted in the lobby for another half hour before the group chat buzzed.

Su Yang checked his phone.

Zhang Ziming: "We’re at the hotel entrance~"

Su Yang glanced out the window. "They’re here. I’ll go check."

He stood and headed outside, where Meng Wenzhou’s white Range Rover was pulling into a parking spot.

Su Yang walked over, watching Meng Wenzhou reverse. "You guys are slow."

Meng Wenzhou adjusted the steering wheel, eyes on the rearview mirror. "You’re just ridiculously fast. I’m driving at a normal pace—if anything, I sped up."

"What about the others?"

"Probably just left the toll gate. They’re even slower."

"Go drop your bags in your rooms first, then we’ll head out to explore."

"Roger that!"

Soon after, Meng Wenzhou and the other two finished unpacking upstairs and came down. Ji Bo had just texted that they were on their way to the city center.

Su Yang gathered everyone and said, "Let’s head out and explore the area first. We’ll go for dinner once they arrive."

"Did you already pick a place?" Meng Wenzhou asked.

Su Yang nodded. "Yeah, it’s nearby—a spot called Big Beard Sour Soup Beef. We can just walk over later."

"Alright, let’s check out the streets around here first."

...