"Young master, we have arrived at our destination," the driver reminded him.
Ye Zi Zheng snapped back to attention, looking at the grand and imposing hotel entrance outside the car window, and then at the map's GPS location on his computer.
The address was correct.
Was this one of his sister's workplaces?
It was an international hotel under the XS Group. They had never known.
The thought of this hotel belonging to Qin Bei Ting, and his sister working here, deepened his resentment towards Qin Bei Ting.
"Wait for me here," he said, putting down his laptop and getting out of the car.
Jun Lin International Hotel lobby.
"Hello, welcome," the receptionist greeted politely.
Ye Zi Zheng saw someone checking in. After they finished, he stepped forward and asked, "Do you have a staff member named Yu He here?"
"Yu He?" The receptionist found the name somewhat familiar, but upon thinking, there was no employee by that name in the hotel. She shook her head and said, "No."
"No?" Ye Zi Zheng questioned.
Impossible. The taxi his sister drove had dropped people off here.
Could his sister be using a different name?
Thinking this, he opened his phone, found a few photos he'd saved and couldn't bear to delete, and opened one. This photo was saved from Yu He's WeChat avatar.
In the past five years, he had changed two phones, and each time he had to copy these photos over.
"What about this person? Do you recognize her? She has a pair of four-year-old, very cute twins," he showed the photo to the receptionist.
The receptionist immediately recognized her. Yu He was the guest she had checked in. Because she was so beautiful and had brought along a pair of adorable babies like porcelain dolls, she had made a deep impression. No wonder the name sounded so familiar.
However, the hotel had a policy of not disclosing guest information casually. "Who are you?"
Seeing that she didn't deny it, Ye Zi Zheng hurried to say, "I'm her younger brother. Does she work here?"
The receptionist: "Huh?"
Work?
She was staying in the best suite among the publicly available room types, and she had paid for half a month's rent in one go. She was clearly wealthy. Did she need to work here?
"Are you really her brother?"
Ye Zi Zheng gave her Yu He's ID number. The receptionist finally believed him. "She doesn't work here. She lives here."
"She doesn't work here. Then you're asking so much... What? What did you just say?!" Ye Zi Zheng thought he misheard.
"She lives here," the receptionist stated.
Ye Zi Zheng: !!
Didn't his sister say she worked three jobs a day and couldn't even afford to eat or live warmly?
How could she afford to stay in such an expensive hotel?!
He knew that Jun Lin International Hotel was a platinum five-star hotel in the country, and the prices were not cheap.
"Which room are they in?" Ye Zi Zheng asked immediately.
"Please wait a moment," the receptionist said, dialing the room phone. She needed to get the guest's permission before divulging the information.
But no one answered the room phone. She tried twice, but there was still no answer.
"She's not in the room right now. She's probably out. You can contact her privately, or you can sit over there and wait for her," the receptionist said.
"Please book me a room, opposite or next to hers," Ye Zi Zheng handed his ID to the receptionist.
"I'm sorry, the top-floor suites are all occupied. Would a suite on the floor below be alright?" the receptionist asked.
Ye Zi Zheng: "Sure. Just tell me her room number."
The receptionist processed the request. "Alright. She's in room 1606, and your room is 1506."
Ye Zi Zheng took the room card, took the elevator to the fifteenth floor, then climbed the stairs to the sixteenth floor. He found room 1606 and rang the doorbell. No one answered.
He worried that they might return after he left, so he stood at the door and waited.
He waited until nine o'clock in the evening.
He had only grabbed a few bites for lunch and was now ravenously hungry. He wanted to go eat, but thinking he had waited so long, what if his sister returned as soon as he left?
So, he continued to wait and ordered takeout.
...
Yu He took the two little ones to a nearby children's park for the afternoon, had dinner, and then slowly walked back to the hotel.
As they reached the sixteenth floor and exited the elevator, they saw a boy, just over ten years old, wolfing down a bento box at their room door.
Upon seeing the boy's face clearly, Yue Yue and Duo Duo both froze.
No way?
The back door wasn't blocked after lunch, and they still found their way here?
Were they going to fight?
Then they had to strike first!
"Aunt An Ran, protect Mommy. Brother, you stay behind," Duo Duo said, and with a "whoosh," she shot forward like a little cannonball.
Ye Zi Zheng was in the middle of eating his meal. He heard a sound and looked up. Before he could react, a foot kicked him. Then, in a flash—
He, a twelve-year-old boy, was actually taken down by a four-year-old brat!
The rice in his mouth, not yet swallowed, choked him, making him cough desperately: "Cough, cough, cough, cough..."
Duo Duo straddled him, striking a victory pose. "Brother, I won! Yay!"
Yue Yue winced, feeling a pang of pain. Even though Duo Duo was small, her taekwondo was black belt level.
So, it's best not to casually bully younger sisters.
"Duo Duo!" Yu He rushed forward and lifted her off Ye Zi Zheng.
Xiao An Ran quickly helped Ye Zi Zheng up and apologized repeatedly, "Sorry, sorry..."
Seeing Yu He, Ye Zi Zheng ignored the pain and said excitedly, "Sister! Sister, I finally found you!"
Yu He: "?"
Yu He: "Who are you?"
Seeing that she didn't recognize him, Ye Zi Zheng anxiously said, "I'm Zheng Zheng, Ye Zi Zheng, your younger brother. Don't you remember me?"
Yu He frowned. She didn't remember her past, but she had thought she might have family. However, she had been in country F for five years and didn't know where to find them.
"Let's go inside and talk," she opened the room door.
Ye Zi Zheng saw that she was indeed living here. His mind was filled with questions, but the biggest one was that his sister seemed to have amnesia!
Once inside the room, Xiao An Ran took out some bruise ointment from his suitcase and pointed to the bruise on Ye Zi Zheng's lip. "Let me put some medicine on it for you."
Yu He sat down on the long sofa, with the two little ones sitting on either side of her, looking at Ye Zi Zheng as if he were a criminal.
"Yu He isn't my name?" Yu He asked.
"It is your name," Ye Zi Zheng briefly explained the incident of the switched babies. "It's just that after you returned home, you didn't change your name."
As he spoke, he showed Yu He photos of their family gatherings and New Year celebrations.
Yu He looked at the people in the photos. She felt a strong sense of familiarity but couldn't recall more details.
Yue Yue and Duo Duo also leaned in to look. Duo Duo exclaimed:
"Ah, it really is Uncle! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just now. Let me blow on it for you, it won't hurt anymore if I blow on it~"
Saying this, she walked up to Ye Zi Zheng, puffed out her cheeks, and blew on him.
Ye Zi Zheng was charmed by her cuteness. "It's actually not that painful... Ouch!"
"Sorry, sorry, I accidentally used too much force," Xiao An Ran immediately let go.
Yu He: "..."
Yue Yue: "..."
"How could I be in trouble?" Yu He asked again.