Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Champagne Inn (Second Update, More to Come!)
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Old Tian beside him also took a careful look for a moment, then gently tore down the notice about selling cell repair liquid, folded it, and put it into his pocket.
“All the cell repair liquid at home has been used up by you; I need to buy some to keep on hand,” Old Tian explained.
Chen Xiao nodded silently.
In truth, he felt his mind was somewhat overwhelmed.
The homeland… so this is what it looked like.
“So, where are we going now?”
“To the liaison office,” Old Tian chuckled. “It’s the official external liaison office of the Service Agency on the island. We’ll register you there, and I’ll tell them I brought you along.”
The liaison office Old Tian mentioned was actually in a large, solitary building at the end of this small town… The building resembled a church in shape, but there was no cross atop the roof.
Inside the liaison office were only a few people, lazily seated behind desks — but with very friendly attitudes.
It seemed everyone there knew Old Tian; each greeted him warmly and exchanged pleasantries for a while. Then, following Old Tian’s introduction, they all looked at Chen Xiao behind him with curious eyes.
“That’s him?”
One person from the liaison office smiled at Chen Xiao. He looked very neat, wearing a light-colored shirt with short hair. He pulled out a document.
“Sign here. I’ll report to the higher-ups immediately. If all goes well, someone will come to pick you up for headquarters tonight or by tomorrow morning at the latest.”
After a pause, he looked at Old Tian. “Where are you staying?”
“Not sure yet, planning to go to Champagne Inn.”
“Ha! Champagne Inn? Old Tian, you like staying at Champagne Inn too? I didn’t expect such an old guy like you to have an interest in Champagne.”
Old Tian hurriedly shook his head. “Don’t joke around. I’m no youngster. I just really miss their braised pork rice.”
“Ha! Then you better go early. If you go too late, there might be no rooms left.”
The liaison office staff made a playful face at Old Tian.
Chen Xiao didn’t quite understand at first, but once they arrived, he quickly realized why the liaison office people had such strange expressions.
Champagne Inn.
The name was odd. In fact, it was indeed an inn — one that seemed straight out of a Chinese martial arts novel.
The first floor lobby was a dining hall. Two waiters busied themselves there, and the rooms were upstairs.
What puzzled Chen Xiao was that upon entering the inn, the lobby was completely full! This piqued his curiosity because, as they had walked through the town, it was clear that the place was quiet and not crowded.
But he soon understood why the inn had such a high occupancy rate: most of the guests were young men, seemingly in their twenties or thirties. Easterners, Westerners, even Black people.
The strange thing was that all the inn’s furnishings were very Eastern in style: Eight Immortals round tables, wooden benches, wooden chopstick holders on the tables, small white porcelain wine pots…
Seeing a group of blond-haired, blue-eyed, and dark-skinned foreigners sitting in a setting that should have been the backdrop for many martial arts tales — it gave a surreal, almost time-warping sensation.
What was clear was that all these young men’s attention was focused on the girl behind the counter.
She had striking red hair — which was exactly what caught Chen Xiao’s curiosity.
The girl looked barely twenty years old. From her skin tone, eye color, and facial contours, she was clearly East Asian.
One had to say, she was extremely beautiful. She wore a floral dress, her long hair braided into a thick plait — an outfit that could be described as rather rustic. Yet somehow, on her, it blended almost perfectly with the surrounding environment.
Especially as she lowered her head, seemingly engrossed in reading something. Her eyes were as calm as still waters, her facial features gentle, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
Seeing this girl, Chen Xiao immediately recalled a line of poetry: “The gentleness in that downward glance is most enchanting.”
When Old Tian entered, only a few people stood to greet him — not because most didn’t know him, but because everyone’s attention was fixed on the girl behind the counter.
Indeed, she was beautiful and attracted admiring glances from the opposite sex.
Old Tian approached the counter and gently tapped twice with two fingers.
The girl raised her head, glanced at Old Tian, and a smile lit her large eyes. “Eh? Uncle Tian, you’re back on the island? How long are you staying this time?”
“Don’t know, probably two or three days.”
Her Chinese was somewhat stiff, causing Chen Xiao to pause briefly. He immediately recognized the accent — it resembled that of people from Hong Kong and Taiwan he had encountered at the Kidd School.
But then he noticed what she was holding so intently just moments ago… and froze.
Such a classically beautiful girl, dressed in a vintage style, quietly sitting in such a classical inn, yet what she was looking at was…
A fashion magazine?!
On the magazine’s front page, a model wore this year’s latest Versace spring collection, striking a pose…
It completely ruined the atmosphere! Shattered the whole ambiance…
Yet the girl only smiled a little, then took a set of keys from under the counter. “Upstairs, your old room.”
Then, as if unwilling to speak further, she lowered her head and resumed flipping through her fashion magazine with a passionate, admiring gaze.
Old Tian seemed used to this by now and tapped the counter again.
“What else?”
“I want to exchange some currency,” Old Tian said with an embarrassed smile. “I came too hurriedly, and… you know I’m retired, with not much saved on the island…”
The girl finally smiled brightly. Unfortunately, although beautiful, her eyes revealed a hint of slyness — like a shrewd little merchant. It spoiled the fresh beauty she otherwise radiated.
“How much do you want to exchange?” she squinted, like a little fox.
Old Tian pulled a VISA card from his pocket and pushed it across. “There’s one million US dollars on it.”
The girl glanced at it, considered, then rummaged under the counter, producing several colorful, bill-like items, placing them on the desk.
Chen Xiao quickly glanced: they did appear to be some sort of currency, but none he recognized.
Because the top bill bore Chinese, English, French, Russian, and seven or eight other languages! No country’s currency in the world would print so many languages on a single banknote!
The denominations also surprised Chen Xiao.
The top bill was…
Counting all the bills on the counter — fewer than ten — altogether, they totaled less than five thousand.
One million US dollars, and this was all they could exchange for? What currency was this? Could it be “Mars dollars”?
Old Tian glanced at them with a troubled expression. “This… seems a bit low, doesn’t it?”
The girl sighed softly but smiled. “Sorry, Uncle Tian, that’s just the current rate. This is the most I can offer. If you don’t believe me, try elsewhere — at best, you’ll get 90% of what I offer. I’m cutting you a deal because you’re an old acquaintance…”
Old Tian sighed helplessly and reached for the bills. After a moment, he asked, “But this isn’t enough for what I need. Can I exchange other things instead?”
The girl smiled apologetically. “Uncle Tian, you know I run the inn. I don’t need equipment or things like that.”
Old Tian scratched his head and was about to pull Chen Xiao away.
“Wait!”
The girl suddenly exclaimed and sprang up from behind the counter!
She was about 160 centimeters tall, but the sly merchant look vanished from her face. Her eyes sparkled with warmth, admiration, excitement… and many other emotions, fixed intently on Chen Xiao.
Hmm?
Chen Xiao was no stranger to admiring gazes like this. Back when he worked at the fast-food joint, some young girls often looked at him with similar eyes…
But this stunningly beautiful girl couldn’t be a mere young girl, right? Moreover, her gaze was so earnest, so passionate — like a maiden seeing her long-cherished first love!
Chen Xiao didn’t consider himself that charming!
Indeed…
She stared at Chen Xiao for a full five seconds, then took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling with emotion.
“You!” she pointed at him. “Your glasses… I can exchange for them!”
Me? Glasses? Exchange?
Chen Xiao was stunned.
Old Tian’s eyes lit up. He quickly snatched the sunglasses hanging on Chen Xiao’s collar and placed them on the counter.
The girl’s hands trembled slightly. Her slender, fair fingers carefully lifted the sunglasses, examining them for a long moment, softly muttering:
“Ray-Ban, summer limited edition from three years ago…”
Her fingers gently caressed the frame, then she quickly fetched a silk scarf from the desk and carefully polished them.
These sunglasses Chen Xiao had bought three years ago, when his parents were still alive and the family was well-off. He bought them as a birthday gift to himself. The world-famous brand Ray-Ban had released a classic limited edition, costing about six hundred dollars.
This time on the trip, he had just casually brought them along, thinking he might use them in a city like Sydney. They had been hanging on his collar all along.
Clearly, the girl’s excitement wasn’t about him — it was about the sunglasses!
“You can sell these to me. I can exchange them for island currency,” the girl said, recovering her composure and looking calmly at Old Tian and Chen Xiao.
Unfortunately, her relaxed merchant demeanor was completely shattered by now.
“This…” Old Tian smiled slyly. “According to homeland regulations, it’s forbidden to sell outside goods on the island — cars, clothes, electronics, and probably glasses too.”
“It’s not selling,” the girl quickly said. “These sunglasses belong to this gentleman personally; I’m just willing to pay him to transfer personal belongings. It’s not commercial selling.”
“How much are you offering?” Old Tian smiled.
The girl snorted, casually pulling out a bill with the denomination “500” from the counter.
Chen Xiao was stunned!
One million US dollars could only exchange for five thousand here, yet his single pair of sunglasses could fetch five hundred?
The problem was, these sunglasses were only worth a few hundred dollars…
“Deal!”
Old Tian, as if worried the girl would regret it, quickly pocketed the bill, laughing heartily, and hurriedly pulled the stunned Chen Xiao upstairs.
Chen Xiao glanced back briefly.
The girl joyfully fiddled with the sunglasses, turning them over and over, excitedly trying them on and checking herself in a mirror — like a child who had just received her favorite toy.
Chen Xiao felt a bit absurd.
These sunglasses weren’t rare outside. If he brought back ten pairs and traded them for this girl, wouldn’t that net him five thousand island currency? That would be one million US dollars!!!
“Don’t even think about that idea,” Old Tian joked mischievously beside him.