New guest!
Gu Wanyin arrived at the lobby with Cola and Hamburger, and sure enough, she saw a man standing there, surveying the interior of the hotel.
He looked physically strong, but his face was pale, his expression haggard, with an undissolvable sorrow between his brows.
Moreover, on his T-shirt, there was a large bloodstain!
Fortunately, although Cola and Hamburger were young, they had been through the apocalypse for over a year, so seeing blood didn't cause much of a reaction.
Before Gu Wanyin could speak, they both said in unison: "Welcome to Peace Hotel, guest!"
They had rehearsed this earlier.
They wanted to help Gu Wanyin run the hotel well!
Hearing their voices, the man looked in their direction.
He seemed a bit surprised, but didn't ask too many questions, just inquired in a hoarse voice: "Hotel? This place... is still open?"
"That's right," Gu Wanyin walked behind the front desk, "Guest, our Peace Hotel can withstand the zombies of the apocalypse and all natural disasters. Please feel at ease to check-in."
The man raised his eyebrows.
It wasn't clear if he believed her or not, but he asked: "How do you charge?"
Gu Wanyin pointed to a machine and said: "You pay for the room with points. You can place any item on it to exchange for points."
"Any item?" the man muttered, "Can... memories work?"
Gu Wanyin thought she had misheard: "What?"
Memories count as items? This man's thought process seemed a bit peculiar and dramatic... well, considering this was the world of a novel she had read, it seemed somewhat normal upon reflection.
"I have a memory, a very painful one. I don't want to remember it anymore." The man closed his eyes, and a tear slid down from the corner of his eye.
"It's possible," the system's voice suddenly rang in Gu Wanyin's mind. "Let him put his hand on the machine, and then think about that memory. Remind him that once the memory is given, it can't be retrieved."
Gu Wanyin asked in her mind: "Really?"
"His particular memory, yes."
The system knew which memory he wanted to exchange?
But since it had said so, Gu Wanyin didn't say much more, only asked: "Guest, are you sure you want to exchange a memory for points? Once the memory is given, it can't be retrieved."
"Yes," the man nodded almost without hesitation.
"Then please come over, put your hand on the machine, and think about that memory in your mind."
Although she felt that memories were quite precious, she didn't know what this person had been through, so it was better not to say too much.
The man walked over, put his hand on the machine, and closed his eyes.
Soon, a hint of pain appeared in his expression, his mouth twitched, and tears flowed more freely.
But quickly, he opened his eyes.
Gu Wanyin felt that there seemed to be some confusion in his eyes.
"My heart... it feels empty?"
He lifted his hand, and at the same time, a room card appeared on the machine.
"Guest, this is your room card. Please keep it safe."
He had only exchanged one of his memories for points, so he remembered everything else except that memory.
So he remembered that he had just arrived at a strange hotel and exchanged a memory for points.
But the effect was very strong.
Because he really couldn't remember what that memory was at all.
The feelings of heartache, sadness, and devastation were gradually fading away, leaving only a void in his heart.
The man took the room card and saw written on it:
Name: Fu Siheng
Room number: Room 202
Room rate: 10 points per day
Current points: 5000
"Ten points a day, I now have five thousand points, which means I can stay for five hundred days?" Fu Siheng asked.
"Yes, but our hotel also sells food, which needs to be purchased with points, so we don't recommend spending all your points at once," Gu Wanyin said. "Unless you have many items that can be exchanged for points."
"Hmm, then I'll stay for a month first."
"A month is calculated as thirty days, so you're confirming a thirty-day stay, correct?"
"Confirmed."
As soon as Fu Siheng finished speaking, the points on his room card changed from five thousand to four thousand seven hundred.
"Your room is on the second floor, turn right and go up the stairs. The elevator is temporarily out of service. Please keep your room card safe. If lost, it can be replaced, but your points will be reset to zero."
"Alright. You mentioned earlier that the hotel sells food. What do you have?"
"Instant noodles, bread, rice, twice-cooked pork, spicy chicken, and also boiled eggs, fried eggs, steamed eggs, milk, and so on. Which would you like?" Gu Wanyin asked with a smile.
This man had been quite composed since entering the hotel, except when talking about that memory.
But now, a look of intense shock appeared on his face: "You're not joking?"
Having instant noodles or bread was one thing, but rice, eggs, and meat? And even cooked dishes?
"Guest, I run a hotel, not a comedy show," Gu Wanyin smiled. "We have all of these. Which would you like?"
Fu Siheng calmed himself a bit and said, "One bread, one bottle of milk, and one boiled egg. How many points?"
"These are one point each, so three points in total."
"Good, I'll take one of each."
"Uncle, what flavor of bread do you want?" Hamburger asked.
"Any is fine."
Cola and Hamburger immediately ran off to get the items.
Gu Wanyin had thought Fu Siheng would ask her some questions about the hotel, but he didn't ask anything, just stood there quietly, his eyes unfocused.
She thought, the memory he used to exchange for points, although it caused him great pain, must have been very important.
Sigh...
Soon, Cola and Hamburger came running back with a bread, a bottle of milk, and a boiled egg.
The bread and milk were in the cupboard, easy to get.
As for the food dispensing machine in the cafeteria, Cola had seen Gu Wanyin operate it before and learned quickly.
"Uncle, here you go!"
"Thank you."
Fu Siheng accepted them, and another three points were deducted from his card.
"By the way, there's a kitchen in your room. The tap water in the kitchen is directly drinkable. Water and electricity are not charged separately, they're included in the room rate," Gu Wanyin said.
Fu Siheng raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Is there no limit on water and electricity usage?"
"That's correct. However, nothing from the hotel is allowed to be taken out and resold."
He looked around the hotel lobby once more, then nodded, turned, and walked to the staircase to go upstairs.
He reached the second floor and quickly found his room, swiping the card to enter.
Room 202 was like Room 201, initially equipped with only very basic furniture and facilities.
The man glanced around without much reaction, closed the door, sat on the bed, opened the bread packaging, and started eating.
He probably would have liked to eat fried rice with eggs or those two dishes.
But for some reason, he had no appetite at all.
So he only asked for bread and milk to quell the desperate hunger in his stomach.
After eating, he lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling with unfocused eyes.
This hotel was incredibly strange, with no zombies able to enter, and it had electricity, clean water, and even abundant supplies.
But since he entered, he had only seen a girl who looked less than twenty years old and two children.
Was the hotel theirs? But in this apocalyptic world, how could just them protect so many resources?
He had seen too many people fighting bloody battles and even killing without blinking an eye for supplies.
In any case, this hotel and that girl were both very mysterious.
But if it truly could withstand zombies, staying here wouldn't be bad.
Oh right, tomorrow he needed to find his older brother and sister-in-law. They weren't living well in the Survivor Base, it would be better for them to come here.
And... eh, who else? Why couldn't he remember at all?
Fu Siheng looked utterly confused...
