Fourth Master once told Ling Tian that this world was full of malice.
Especially towards many people, even if you had no interaction with them, just by not bothering to pay attention to them, they would develop resentment towards you.
Wang Bingxia's classmates, although they had nothing to do with him, if he ignored them, their malice would transfer to Wang Bingxia.
For example, gossiping behind their backs, or even making things difficult for Wang Bingxia in some matters.
To resolve this malice, it didn't require much effort, just a few words. In his Fourth Master's words, it was to speak appropriately to different people, "talk human to humans, and ghost to ghosts."
Ling Tian was putting his master's teachings into practice, trying to get along with every stranger. For him, this was also a form of cultivation.
After lunch, they stayed in the library for the afternoon. Around 5 o'clock, they arrived at the west gate of the school.
At this time, about twenty classmates and their family members had gathered here.
This gathering was entirely voluntary, with expenses shared equally. However, some classmates had other arrangements, so not everyone attended.
Their destination today was the Jin Man Lou restaurant near the school.
Jin Man Lou was a famous chain restaurant in Jiangzhou, with over 30 branches in various cities across Jiangzhou.
It was worth noting that although they were a chain, each branch had different specialties, dishes, and even price ranges.
The design of the menus, the setting of prices, and even the decoration styles of these restaurants were all independently determined based on the market conditions of their respective locations.
The Jin Man Lou located near the school primarily catered to teachers and students, so the portions were generous, offering good value for money. It was almost always packed every day.
Shao Zixuan, the class monitor of Class 2, had booked the rooms two months in advance to secure their spot for today. They had booked two large tables.
The group walked about 300 meters, chatting and laughing, and arrived at the Jin Man Lou restaurant.
It was Christmas Eve, and the restaurant was packed with guests. As they entered the lobby, a waiter warmly greeted them.
"Hello, guests. Do you have a reservation?"
Shao Zixuan nodded and said, "Yes, we booked a long time ago. My surname is Shao, and we have two tables in room 308!"
"Okay, please wait a moment!"
The waiter smiled, brought out the reservation book, and opened it. A look of suspicion appeared on his face.
"I'm sorry, are you sure you have the right reservation? Room 308 at Jin Man Lou was booked by a Mr. Li, and his guests have already started dining!"
"That's impossible!"
Shao Zixuan immediately became agitated. As the class monitor, organizing activities was his responsibility, and booking the restaurant was also his undertaking.
But now, the reserved room was gone. Wasn't this a direct insult to him!
If it were any other time, even if the room wasn't available, it wouldn't matter much; they could just go to another place.
But tonight was Christmas Eve, and all the restaurants were fully booked. Where could they find a private room that could accommodate nearly 30 people like them!
"This is outrageous! Call your manager over. I need to have a good talk with him. I confirmed it just the day before yesterday!"
The waiter looked impatient but still went to call the restaurant's lobby manager.
The lobby manager, surnamed Zhu, was a man in his thirties with a professional, fake smile.
"Hello, sir. How can I help you?"
"I booked a room for tonight two months ago, room 308. I even called to confirm it the day before yesterday!
Now I've brought my guests, and your staff is telling me the room is already occupied!
You need to give me an explanation!"
"Okay, sir, please calm down. We need to check the records again."
Manager Zhu pretended to walk to the front desk and started checking the computer. After a while, he walked out with a smile.
"Sir, we have checked the records. You did call the day before yesterday! And it was confirmed that the room was indeed available."
"Then why is the room gone now! Are you playing games with me?" Shao Zixuan grew increasingly angry.
"It's like this, sir. According to our restaurant's regulations, for reserved rooms, we call the guests three hours before their dining time for a final confirmation on the day of service.
However, when we called you at 2 PM for the final confirmation, you did not answer the phone!
Because of this, we couldn't confirm the reservation with you, and therefore, according to our restaurant's policy, this room could not be held for you!"
"What? When did you call me?" Shao Zixuan's eyes widened, and he was completely taken aback.
"Our record shows it was at 2:10 PM. You can check your phone's call history."
Shao Zixuan picked up his phone and checked. Indeed, around 2 PM, there was a missed call. However, the call duration displayed for this missed call was two seconds.
This meant that the call was automatically disconnected after only two seconds, before his phone even had a chance to ring!
Shao Zixuan was playing cards with his classmates that afternoon. He hadn't answered the call at that time. Afterward, although there was a call record, such calls that lasted only a second or two and then hung up were numerous every day, most of them being advertisements and spam calls!
Shao Zixuan angrily waved his phone, "You did call, but the call only lasted two seconds, it didn't even connect, and you hung up before the phone could even ring!
How was I supposed to confirm with you! In other words, even if I missed it for a moment, wouldn't you call again?"
"I apologize, sir. Our staff did make the call at that time, but your phone did not connect for various reasons.
You should pursue the matter with the telecommunications operator; it has nothing to do with our restaurant!"
Manager Zhu maintained his smile, and his tone was very calm, but his words sounded like a provocation to Shao Zixuan.
In fact, Manager Zhu didn't take Shao Zixuan seriously at all.
The guests who had occupied Shao Zixuan's room were Manager Zhu's brother-in-law and his classmates.
Manager Zhu's brother-in-law was also studying at Jiangzhou University. Today, on Christmas Eve, their department had also planned a dinner.
However, their department had not booked in advance. So, Manager Zhu's brother-in-law volunteered, saying he would handle the room arrangements.
He found Manager Zhu and asked him to find a way to solve the room issue.
Manager Zhu was very reluctant. If it were any other day, helping him find a room would be fine, but today was Christmas Eve, and there were no empty rooms.
However, with his wife at home, who would glare at him, Manager Zhu didn't dare to say anything more.