"The hotel industry in Zaomen has too many disadvantages."
"Here, there's neither the beautiful scenery of Nanjiang nor the allure of Huoxiang's cuisine. Most out-of-town guests come for business trips or corporate exchanges. It wasn't until the Magic Century Theme Park was built that this city truly came to life."
Tong Tongsheng gently pulled Liu Qinglü closer and patiently explained.
"What does that have to do with you becoming the association's president?" Liu Qinglü asked.
"I'm from Zaomen, and my ingrained mindset is too rigid."
"No matter how much I want to position the Mesco Grand Hotel as a resort-style hotel for leisure and exchange, I'm still too constrained by business-oriented thinking in practice."
"I know what needs to be done, but I just can't seem to break free."
Tong Tongsheng spoke slowly, "It's not just me—this is a common issue across Zaomen's hotel industry right now."
"Zaomen urgently needs fresh leadership to pull the hotel industry out of this awkward state, and Chen Jianhai is the perfect candidate."
Liu Qinglü murmured, "Do you really trust him that much?"
"It's less about trusting him and more about trusting the results he's achieved."
Tong Tongsheng picked up a glass of red wine and mused, "He's only been in Zaomen for a few days—not even half a year if you count carefully."
"But the impact he's made dwarfs anything our association's hotels have achieved in all these years."
As he said this, a rare look of admiration flashed in Tong Tongsheng's eyes.
"Zaomen's hotels keep trending online and making headlines, and even our occupancy rates have risen as a result."
"Not only did Magic Century Theme Park actively collaborate with him, but even Song Zhan personally attended his opening ceremony to cut the ribbon. That kind of prestige is unmatched in all of Zaomen."
Liu Qinglü listened silently, then suddenly shook her head. "Everything depends on local conditions. Handing Zaomen's hotel industry to an outsider—what if he fails?"
Tong Tongsheng laughed at this.
Though he was already in his forties, years of fitness and a privileged lifestyle made him look like he was barely thirty. His dark, piercing eyes resembled a leopard retracting its claws, ready to pounce on its prey at any moment.
He took a sip of red wine and said nonchalantly, "If he fails, we'll just pull him down."
"After all, the position of president of the Shell Hotel Association has been vacant for so long—it wouldn't matter if it stayed empty a little longer."
"But why do I get the feeling you're hostile toward him?"
As he spoke the last sentence, his tone carried a faint hint of scrutiny and accusation.
Liu Qinglü calmly wrapped her arms around Tong Tongsheng's neck, her voice uncharacteristically coquettish:
"Competition breeds contempt. Besides, he rejected me as his assistant before—isn't it natural for me to dislike him?"
Tong Tongsheng gave her a helpless look, pinching her cheek affectionately as he scolded, "You… such a petty little thing~"
Liu Qinglü smiled faintly, subtly extricating herself from his embrace.
"Enough joking. There's still work to handle at the hotel. You rest—I need to get back to work."
Tong Tongsheng grabbed her hand. "What's the rush? The boss is giving you the day off."
Liu Qinglü lightly pinched his arm with her slender fingers. "You're the one who got today off because of me. Should I take the day off while you go to work instead?"
That left Tong Tongsheng speechless.
Though he was the boss, Liu Qinglü was simply too capable. She handled most of his workload, and with just a word from him, she could execute tasks flawlessly. She was an incredibly powerful assistant.
"Sometimes I really want to hide you away," Tong Tongsheng said, half-jokingly.
"Then you should hire a nanny, not a hotel manager's assistant."
Liu Qinglü fired back without hesitation, turning to walk toward the door. With a twist of the handle, she stepped out.
*Bang—*
The moment the door closed, a cold glint flashed across Liu Qinglü's glasses. Her expression turned contemplative and hesitant before she strode toward the office area.
---
**Shell Hotel Association**
Lin Suyang knocked on Su Jie's office door, holding a document folder.
"Brother Su, these are all the materials for our hotel's membership application. Could you check if anything's missing? We'll fill in any gaps."
Since the Lion Castle Hotel didn't have a temporary assistant to handle this, Chen Jianhai had assigned Lin Suyang to oversee the process of joining the Shell Hotel Association.
Su Jie carefully reviewed the materials before clipping them together with a black binder and placing them in a drawer. He smiled and said, "As long as the essentials are there, it's fine."
"I can fill in any minor details on my end."
Lin Suyang was delighted. "Thank you so much, Brother Su!"
The Lion Castle Hotel wasn't located in the city center, and the commute was a hassle. Having to make multiple trips for corrections would've been exhausting.
After submitting the documents, the two chatted briefly before Lin Suyang bid farewell and headed straight to the Rainbow Mall on Zaomen's Cloud Road.
After several days of work, the section of the mall's first floor reserved for the "Summer Momo" café, enclosed by Ocean Star Decorating Company's barriers, was starting to take shape. The sound of construction echoed intermittently from inside.
At this rate, the renovations would likely be completed before the end of the month.
Once the shop was fully operational, Summer Momo's management would be handed over to others, and Lin Suyang's task would finally be complete.
"Now I can finally focus on the hotel's promotional work," Lin Suyang sighed in relief.
Though he was Chen Jianhai's subordinate and followed his orders, his primary role was as the hotel's head of publicity. His core responsibility was promoting the hotel.
A few days ago, a row of luxury cars parked outside the Lion Castle Hotel had generated buzz, but public opinion was mixed. Many people were put off by such overt displays of wealth.
The hotel urgently needed another talking point to shift attention back to its quality, ensuring people associated it with excellence rather than just a lineup of luxury cars.
*Ring ring~*
Just then, his phone rang. A voice came through:
"Hey, senior, I've just arrived at the high-speed rail station. I'll be at the Lion Castle Hotel in about an hour."
Lin Suyang brightened. "Wait at the station—I'll pick you up!"
---
Half an hour later, Lin Suyang drove off with a young man wearing a monster-print T-shirt and a baseball cap, heading toward the Lion Castle Hotel.
The young man, Lan Qiuming, was also a graduate of Nanjiang Tourism Vocational University.
Unlike Zhao An and the others, he hadn't chosen to work at a hotel after graduation. Instead, this night owl was a hardcore gamer.
During his four years at university, he'd slept through the day and spent nights at internet cafés. Class attendance and exams were only managed thanks to his dormmates' help.
While he knew nothing about his major, he was a force to be reckoned with in gaming—starting as a booster, then competing professionally, and eventually signing with a streaming platform. His nightly livestream earnings nearly matched half of Lin Suyang's monthly salary.
Fresh out of college, he'd settled into the carefree life of an esports recluse.
A few days ago, Lan Qiuming had seen news about the Magic Century Theme Park and the Lion Castle Hotel online and decided he wanted to visit.
When he asked about room rates in a group chat, hoping for a friends-and-family discount, Lin Suyang had offered him a free stay.
Thrilled, Lan Qiuming had immediately booked a ticket from Nanjiang to Zaomen.
"How's the streaming going? Still playing *Mountain and Sea Nirvana*?" Lin Suyang asked as he drove.
"Pfft—that game's dead. It used to be packed, but now the servers are ghost towns."
"Now we're all playing a game called *God Sealing Summoner*."
Lan Qiuming gazed out the window as he answered.
Lin Suyang asked curiously, "*God Sealing Summoner*? What's that about?"
Lan Qiuming gave a brief explanation: "The gameplay's pretty fun. You play as a summoner who can call forth heroes and exclusive weapons from *The Investiture of the Gods*. You pick different heroes to explore maps and fight monsters based on the game's environment."
"Basically, it's a gacha game."
Lin Suyang, a gamer himself back in college, immediately understood: "Pay-to-win, huh?"
Lan Qiuming nodded. "Yep. If you don't pay, you grind… But it's pretty fair. If you log in daily and complete tasks to earn diamonds, you can still summon heroes with them."
"With decent luck, you can get a 5-star hero or exclusive weapon in about a month or two."
"But if you're willing to spend, you'll dominate!"
Lin Suyang chuckled. "Sounds perfect! I'll download it later, and we can play together."
Lan Qiuming was taken aback. "Senior, I remember you never spent a dime in college—you grinded everything. Since when did you switch strategies?"
Lin Suyang smiled wryly. "Who has time to grind after starting work?"
"Back in college, I was broke and always cursed the devs for making games where you had to grind just to stay competitive."
"Now that I'm working, I realize—bless the devs!"
Huh?!
Lan Qiuming stared at him as if he were a heretic.
*Is this even human logic?*
Lin Suyang continued, "Take someone like me—no time to play during the day, and if I work overtime, maybe half an hour before bed."
"If spending a little money boosts my stats, letting me enjoy the game without wasting time leveling up, that's perfect."
Lan Qiuming gave a thumbs-up. "Senior, you're absolutely right!"
"Senior, if you're short on time, you can hire me as your booster. I'll run raids and command teams—I can do it all!"
Lin Suyang barely suppressed the urge to swear, his expression shifting repeatedly.
Lan Qiuming burst out laughing.
"Speaking of spending, the game just added a new hero to the gacha pool today. Senior, you could go all out and max out the hero's constellations and exclusive weapon."
Lin Suyang's eyes gleamed, but he kept his tone casual: "Sounds good! Are you pulling tonight too?"
"Of course! Every time a new hero drops, it's peak livestream traffic—gifts fly like crazy."
"Fans want to see you either land the hero or fail spectacularly."
"The worse your luck, the more they love tipping you. If you go a hundred pulls without a single hit, my stream would go viral."
Lin Suyang grinned. "Don't jinx it."
"Trust me—if you get a hundred hits in a row, you'll be even more famous."
Lan Qiuming scoffed. "No way that'd happen! If it did, the devs would go bankrupt."
Lin Suyang said, "Our hotel has a wishing pool that's pretty lucky. Let's try pulling there tonight—maybe you'll get that hundred-hit streak."
Lan Qiuming's eyes lit up. "Perfect! I've been wanting to find a lucky spot for my pulls. Tonight, we summon by the wishing pool!"
---
Lan Qiuming usually started streaming at 7:30 p.m.
After dinner and a short rest at the hotel, Lin Suyang and a few employees carried Lan Qiuming's streaming equipment to the wishing pool around 7 p.m.
In late autumn, Zaomen's sun set early.
The distant sky was still faintly lit, and golden streetlights illuminated the grass, casting the lion fountain and wishing pool in a blue twilight haze.
Once the equipment was set up and tested, Lan Qiuming sat on the pool's edge and spoke into his phone:
"Testing, testing—can everyone see and hear me? If so, type '1' in chat."
After confirming the stream was live, he began:
"Hey guys, the long-awaited *God Sealing Summoner* update is here! As promised, tonight we're pulling for the new hero, Nezha!"
"That's right—a man's promise must be kept!"
He adjusted the camera angle to capture the golden lion statue behind him.
"For maximum entertainment—and luck—I've chosen the Lion Castle Hotel's wishing pool as tonight's summoning ground!"
"First, we'll make a wish. Then, we'll pull."
"May everyone in chat avoid pity breaks, land their weapons in one pull, and leave all the hard luck to me!!!"
"New viewers, hit that follow button! Let's get this show on the road!!"
With that, he pulled a coin from his pocket. "Tonight, I wish for a 5-star in ten pulls!!!"
The coin arced through the air and landed perfectly in the pool.
Lan Qiuming declared, "Let's begin—live and uncut!!"