Chapter 57 — Honeymoon (1)

Lin Che had essentially zero recollection of his journey to Dalian. He was still focussing on recovery, his torso wrapped in Hu Baolin’s ointment-soaked gauze, which smelt aggressively of something very floral. It wasn’t a bad smell at all, so he declined to use the masking talisman Shen Yue had offered him in case he wanted to smell ‘manlier’ for the honeymoon, whatever that meant.

The two had been assigned a private driver to take them all the way to Dalian, which meant that the journey was very simple for Lin Che: get out of bed, get in the car, fall asleep in the car, and wake up in a new destination.

Shen Yue sat beside him with her phone in both hands, scrolling through what appeared to be an itinerary she had formatted with the precision of a military campaign. This was the same itinerary she had provided him which he promptly ended up ignoring in favour of sleep. After all, a honeymoon was about relaxation!

The car crossed into Dalian proper just before noon, and Lin Che took in the view around them. It was a mid-sized port city lush with Russian-influenced architecture imprinted in the streets alongside old Japanese remnants from its colonial history.

They slowed down to a halt in front of the hotel at the western edge of the city, with a beachfront view of the Gulf of Liaodong. In the afternoon light, the water was a flat sheet that dazzled off beams of sun. Shen Yue wasted no time in not admiring the view and instead immediately entered the hotel, dragging a stunned Lin Che by the forearm.

Inside, the floor was a polished marble and the ceiling felt impossibly high. Young professionals were seated in the lobby with their own cups of coffee and laptops held in front of them, either looking at graphs or tapping away at their keyboards. The man at the concierge desk had uncannily whitened teeth which he bore in a grin as he greeted the approaching couple.

Shen Yue handled the check-in, and they were provided with a key to their room on the fourteenth floor. The door opened onto a room with one king-sized bed and a view of the water, as well as an en-suite purpose-built for two people to simultaneously have a shower or bath.

“Oh,” said Lin Che.

Shen Yue set both bags on the luggage rack. “If you have a preference for which side, now would be the time.”

“Left is fine,” he gulped.

Lin Che looked around the room whilst Shen Yue double checked the itinerary. He looked at the bed, the tables, even on the windowsill, but his new phone was nowhere to be found. He asked Shen Yue to open the tracking link that he’d shared with her, as he wasn’t sure just how long his phone would last for.

“It says delivered,” she said, pinching the screen to zoom in. “But the room number in the picture they sent isn’t ours. Looks like it’s one floor above — you can go collect it whilst I sort things out with the restaurant.”

“Alright. See you in five.”

He took the keycard and went back into the corridor, where a row of doors faced him. There was a house phone beside the lift, where he dialled the front desk to connect him with Room 1508. A couple of rings later, he was on the line with the inhabitant of 1508.

“Hello?” he greeted whomever was on the other side.

“Hello?” came the voice of a young lady.

“Hi! I’m calling from Room 1404 and wondering if someone delivered you a package that was meant for us?”

“Oh yes that happened. It’s on my table right now. I can leave it on the front desk tonight if you’d like, or you can come pick it up right now if you’re still free.”

“I’ll come up now. Thanks for keeping it safe for me!”

He ended the call and walked up one floor before double checking which door he was standing in front of. He knocked twice and took one step back.

There was a long pause before the door opened, revealing a very familiar face.

“Lin Che! I was not expecting to see such a familiar face here whilst on holiday,” feigned Elder Wong.

“Elder Wong!” he smiled back. “Glad to see you! Thank you so much for putting me in contact with Old Wen. She ended up providing me with a technique to learn all thanks to you,” he said, bowing deeply.

“No need to bow so deeply. She was simply returning something which was once yours,” she nodded. “Speaking of which—” Elder Wong disappeared behind the door for half a second, before returning with a box in her hands. “Here’s your package.”

Lin Che received the package before giving Elder Wong another bow. “Thank you, Elder!”

“Stop, stop — you’re going to cause a scene in public,” scolded Elder Wong, before pausing. “I shall be here for another week, so do come visit me before you leave. I’ve got just the wedding gift for you,” she smiled.

“Thank you, Elder Wong.” This time Lin Che did not commit to a bow.

Elder Wong nodded once more before closing the door, leaving Lin Che alone in a corridor with a box containing his new mobile phone.

He walked back to his room to find Shen Yue now changed into a formal dress, but he refrained from commenting on her appearance. Instead, he was more fascinated by his new phone, which he promptly unboxed, before using the provided cable to transfer all of his old data and his e-sim into the new device.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

At some point during the process, Lin Che wished he could do the same thing and transfer his current mind into a fully-healed body.

***

The hotel bar was a narrow room with dark wood panelling and a row of high stools at the counter. It was low-light with a warm amber light which relaxed the eyes at this time in the evening. Most of the other patrons were couples talking to one another or businesspeople who could finally get some time alone at the end of a long day.

Shen Yue studied the menu before looking up at Lin Che.

“What do you normally drink?” she asked.

“Whatever’s in front of me,” he said.

She looked him in the eye briefly. “That’s not very useful.”

“Baijiu if there’s a reason for it, or beer if I’m with people I’m comfortable with. But I’ll drink anything.”

Shen Yue turned a page. “We’re having cocktails. Do you have a preference for spirit base?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Do you?”

“I asked first.”