"Excuse me, madam, could you also show your ID? We have a rule that every customer who enters needs to register with real names for verification. Sorry for the inconvenience."
It was indeed quite inconvenient, as He Yao hadn't brought her ID.
It was just a normal workday, and no one expected such heavy rain.
No one expected that this kind of ghostly incident would happen in the dormitory due to the rain.
No one expected Zhan Jingrui would butt in.
No one expected she would end up staying in a hotel.
So how could she have thought to bring her ID with her?
"I'm sorry, but I can't open the room for you."
The staff member pushed the ID back to her.
Zhan Jingrui explained to her, "I'm not staying. Tonight, only she is staying. Use my ID to open it, and I'll leave once it's done."
"That's not possible, sir. We have regulations that require registration with the owner's ID. Otherwise, if we get randomly checked and found out, we could have our license revoked."
Zhan Jingrui was not an unreasonable person; he understood the consequences.
So, he very speechlessly put away his ID and turned to leave.
He Yao followed behind, watching his appearance as a half-drowned rat trying to suppress his anger, a stark contrast to the social elite he was just an hour ago.
Suddenly, with a touch of malicious glee, she felt a sense of satisfaction.
As she was secretly enjoying herself, Zhan Jingrui, who had reached the hotel entrance, turned back.
He caught her secretly smiling expression dead in the act.
"What are you smiling so happily about? It's convenient for you that we can't stay at the hotel, isn't it?"
He Yao put away her smile. "What do you mean, it's convenient for me not to stay at the hotel? I didn't know staying at a hotel was so troublesome."
Hmph, haven't you stayed with others before? How naive!
Zhan Jingrui stared at her with a stern face for a few seconds. "So, where's your ID?"
"What for? To go back and get it? That works too. Since I have no clothes to wear tomorrow, could you trouble yourself to drive me back again?"
As soon as she said that, Zhan Jingrui no longer wanted to go back.
The thought of the dormitory filled with dirty things made him feel disgusted.
Moreover, he didn't want to wear these clothes anymore.
If he stayed in them any longer, who knew if he would get sick.
"Enough nonsense, get in the car!"
He Yao thought he was going to drive her back, but after getting into the car, he drove in the opposite direction.
He Yao asked him where they were going, but he just drove and said nothing.
They just kept driving and driving and driving, until they reached a high-end neighborhood that He Yao didn't recognize.
He drove the car into a high-class residential area and stopped in front of a small white house.
"Get out."
He Yao realized this was Zhan Jingrui's house.
It's great to be rich. You can buy houses anytime, anywhere you want.
Such a high-end neighborhood, such a wide area, such a beautiful environment, a house here must cost at least tens of millions.
She, who couldn't even afford a fifty-thousand-yuan apartment, dared to dream of being friends with someone worth hundreds of billions. No wonder Zhan Jingrui was speechless.
Zhan Jingrui walked to the door, unlocked it with facial recognition, and stood on the carpet at the entrance, asking He Yao to stand with him.
The heavy door closed behind them. The two stood side by side on the carpet. Zhan Jingrui asked her to turn around.
"Your clothes are too dirty to keep. They'll dirty the floor inside, so take them off here. Turn around, I won't look at you."
He Yao was not afraid of him taking advantage of her at this moment.
After all, with Chu Xi as his girlfriend, compared to her, any normal person wouldn't be interested in her.
She was just curious, "You don't want the clothes? What will I wear tomorrow if you throw them away?"
"I won't let you go out naked."
After saying that, Zhan Jingrui quickly stripped off his pile of dirty rags and threw them on the carpet.
"I'm going upstairs. You can use the bathroom on the first floor."
He walked forward barefoot.
Back then, they had been more open with each other, and she knew him quite well.
But after so many years without seeing each other, He Yao was curious about how he had developed.
But she dared not look.
And even if she looked, what of it?
It had nothing to do with her anymore.
If he had gotten worse, it would only ruin the good impression she had of him.
If he had gotten better, it would only make her jealous of Chu Xi. It was still better not to look at anything.
She only looked up after Zhan Jingrui's footsteps had completely disappeared.
She stripped off her pile of rags, threw them with his, and looked around the room.
The room was empty and quiet, and there should be no one else.
Zhan Jingrui had said before that he didn't like living with a housekeeper, so she confidently searched for bathrooms one by one.
She soon found one, took a hot bath, washed her hair, and came out wearing a bathrobe.
Zhan Jingrui, looking refreshed and back to his elite demeanor, was waiting for her in the living room.
It was as if the rain had never fallen, Zhan Jingrui had never been to her dormitory, and all traces had been washed away clean.
"You can stay here tonight. Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, a cleaning lady will come. She will open the door for you and bring you a new set of clothes. Don't worry."
"I'm leaving. Nothing should happen. If there's anything urgent."
He pointed to the entrance area by the door with his hand.
"You know how to use this. Call the property management, and they will come to help."
So, Zhan Jingrui was going to let her stay alone in his villa for the night?
That was fine too.
He Yao didn't want to be pretentious. She had nowhere else to go anyway, and as long as it didn't cost money, she could stay anywhere.
She nodded, "Okay, I understand."
So, she waited for half the day, and he introduced so much to her, only to get these few words in the end?
Okay, I understand.
So simple, so indifferent.
Zhan Jingrui thought she would at least ask about Chu Xi, inquire about their current situation.
After all, it was she who had spoken highly of Chu Xi back then, which led Zhan Jingrui to learn about her and pursue her.
No, he had to leave here quickly, the farther the better.
He Yao was too good at making people angry and manipulating their emotions.
In just a few hours, Zhan Jingrui had been angry countless times. If this continued, he would die at her hands sooner or later.
"Then I'm leaving."
He grabbed another set of car keys and strode out.
Just as he was about to reach the door, He Yao suddenly called out to him, "Mr. Zhan."
He couldn't help but stop again and look back.
He Yao, with her half-wet hair, wrapped in a loose bathrobe, her face pale, looked at him.
"Is there anything to eat? Can I look in your refrigerator? I won't be able to go out after you leave. I'm so hungry."
There was nothing to eat at home.
Zhan Jingrui never cooked, and besides sleeping, he usually didn't stay at home.
There was nothing in the refrigerator except bottled water.
He left in such a hurry that he forgot about dinner.
He could be angry, but he couldn't let her starve. Who would be responsible if she fainted from hunger?
"I'll order takeout for you. What do you want to eat?"
"Can I have a chicken drumstick rice?"
This was the first time ordering takeout since moving in for a few days, and she didn't even know her sector or building number.
She had trouble filling in the address, and Zhan Jingrui, impatient, gave up.
"Let's go out to eat. I'll bring you back after we eat. It's too troublesome."