Evelyn was already twenty-four, but her body was thin and small, with no mature temperament at all, walking beside Ethan like a freshman schoolgirl. She came over still wearing a formal summer OL uniform, seeing that it wasn't expensive, mainly because her temperament didn't match with this outfit at all, couldn't find any hint of self-confidence, cheerfulness, or steady maturity, or even just the opposite.

　　She was so simple and introverted that it was a bit unlike her, and through chatting Ethan also learnt that she had been living alone, which really made one wonder how she had survived all these years on her own.

　　By almost two in the afternoon, Ethan had taught her to use all the equipment and systems used at the front desk, and because it was so simple, she was a fast learner. More time was spent by Ethan and her discussing the work side of the organisation.

　　Evelyn was very unassertive, basically nodding her head and saying yes to whatever Ethan said, as if she would feel happy if she was offered a job that paid her with food, accommodation and a lot of personal time. Especially since the food was still good and the accommodation was good, at least better than her own small room in a rented house that she shared with others.

　　Business had been good for the past two days, with customers coming in one after another, so it was a good time for Evelyn to practice and get some hands-on experience.

　　Ethan was there to teach her the ropes and point out her faults, which were basically impeccable, except for the fact that she was too shy and timid when it came to interacting with the customers.

　　At about four o'clock, Evelyn went back to pack up her things, and Ethan was again left alone at the front desk of the hotel.

　　In the evening, Elaine rode over on an expressionless bike, and as soon as she walked in the door, she sat on the couch playing on her phone without lifting her head, in a gesture of absolute refusal to talk to Ethan.

　　Ethan helplessly ended the bill tally and said to Elaine, "I'm going out for a while, you stay here and keep watch!"

　　"No!" Elaine didn't look up.

　　"Just keep watch for ten minutes or so!"

　　"No!"

　　"What's with the temper tantrum ......" Ethan was angry and amused, "Stop it, count me out okay."

　　"Just no!" Elaine got angry every time she heard him speak to her in that "parent to child" tone, "Didn't you find a cashier? Why should I work for you if you don't pay me?"

　　"She doesn't start until tomorrow." Ethan froze.

　　"Oh! All but kicked me out, only to try and get me back because someone else didn't show up for work, is that such a good thing?" Elaine huffed.

　　"Eh? Wasn't it you who said you were leaving? And you still have a look of finally being relieved ...... I thought you finally didn't have to work for me here and felt an immense sense of relief all over!" Ethan felt puzzled, "How can you say I kicked you out? Your anger is a bit unfounded, isn't it ......"

　　"The wages are all settled!"

　　"Then ...... you return to me?"

　　"......" Elaine directly ignored him and continued to look down and play with her mobile phone.

　　Ethan was helpless: "I am going out to buy groceries, if you don't help me keep watch, will you eat takeout again tonight?"

　　Elaine stood up with a brush, inserted her phone into the front pocket of her skinny jeans in a fluid motion, and then stepped into the counter with a stride, standing, "I'm going to have sweet and sour pork and boiling fish."

　　"What a pain in the arse to pack the fish!" Ethan frowned, "Just stir-fry two random dishes!"

　　"I want boiling fish."

　　"You girl! Why are you so troublesome!"

　　"Boiling fish!" Elaine glared at him, "You said I'd help you with the front desk, you can't treat me poorly when it comes to food!"

　　"Good! Boiling fish!"

　　"And sweet and sour pork."

　　"Good! Sweet and sour pork!"

　　"The boiling fish should be super spicy!"

　　"Okay! Super spicy!"

　　"Hmph!"

　　"......"

　　Ethan walked out with a heavy face, there was a food market not too far away next door, about a five minute walk.

　　About an hour later, the boiling fish and sweet and sour pork were on the coffee table, the boiling fish was padded underneath with Elaine's high school maths textbook, which was actually just right.

　　Elaine was extremely satisfied, her face looked much better, and she served a bowl full of rice to start eating.

　　In her eyes, Ethan was basically not capable of anything, including Ethan's achievements during his college years, but also could not meet her eyes, because the money Ethan earned had little to do with her, and could not reach her card. The only thing that was different was cooking - she was one of the direct beneficiaries and by far the biggest. So she appreciates that aspect of Ethan.

　　She also appreciated Ethan's ex-girlfriend for coaching Ethan's cooking so well.

　　Only now there was one more person to share Ethan's cooking with her, and that person was a young female front desk cashier.

　　......

　　The most common thing around every university is not cybercafes, hotels, or even clothing shops, but cheap and simple rental houses all around the university.

　　Many students do not care how good the surrounding environment of the rental housing location is good, and not on the house decoration, hardware configuration has too harsh requirements, as long as the school is close, air conditioning and hot water is enough. Many people don't even need a kitchen, as long as they can get rid of the cramped dormitory and difficult to get along with roommates, so that they and their girlfriends have a place to live together, they don't even need a kitchen, just rent a bedroom is enough.

　　The exam party is a little bit more demanding, but also just the pursuit of a little quieter.

　　It's not uncommon to find four or five bedroom apartments around the school, each of which can be rented to a student or a couple for a cheaper eight or nine hundred dollars, or a thousand dollars for a more expensive one, which is much more profitable than renting it out as a whole.

　　The tenants are often six or seven people crowded in such a house, regardless of gender, shared living room kitchen and bathroom. The master bedroom had its own bathroom, but the rest of the house had to queue for a shower.

　　Evelyn rents the smallest room on the fifth floor of an old, unassuming residential building with no lift.

　　There were five bedrooms rented out, and the one she rented was the only one without air-conditioning and a window, making it unbearably hot and stuffy every summer. Even the landlord, who had become familiar with her over time, felt sorry for her and brought her an electric fan.

　　In a family, such a room is either used as a storage room or a study room, and of course the price is cheap, only six hundred a month, one deposit and one payment, which is suitable for her financial situation.

　　It was six o'clock and Evelyn was suffering from the stifling heat of the room at dusk, fortunately she was weak and not too sweaty.

　　Outside in the living room came the sounds of a couple who were leaving for the day saying goodbye to the others, who were moving back to the dormitory in the next few days to cope with the department's final inspection, and the aroma of takeaways ordered by a number of her shared roommates, while she sat silently on the hardboard bed in her small room, enduring the hunger pangs that coursed through her stomach.

　　In front of her was the already packed luggage, except for the bedding and a folding table, all the clothes for winter and summer added up to a small trolley case and a backpack.

　　Evelyn couldn't help but think of the lunch today and subconsciously gulped.

　　She was too embarrassed to go and add to her meal this lunchtime, so she only ate a small bowl, and with her irregular diet for a long time, she couldn't eat much before she was full. However, whenever she thought of the plate of stewed pork ribs with potatoes on Elaine's side and her own helplessness when she wanted to eat it but was too shy to reach out her chopsticks, she felt a vague pain in her heart - even if she could only eat the potatoes, it would be fine!

　　And remembering that from tomorrow onwards she would have a stable meal, and that she would not only be able to continue to do what she wanted to do, but also have a stable job, she was full of hope for the future!

　　Unfortunately, tonight ......

　　Evelyn rubbed her stomach, fished out a second-hand Apple 4 from her bag that had been knocked around many times, and opened the takeaway app.

　　Most of the time in the past, this takeaway software's function was to provide her with a platform to quench her thirst for plums, even if she was willing to eat a good meal she wouldn't be willing to pay for that delivery fee, she would rather walk half an hour to the shop to eat by herself. The only time she would consider it was when a new shop opened or when a takeaway company was competing with a really big discount.

　　But today was destined to be a different day!

　　It was almost the end of the month, and she was also leaving here tomorrow, which was a bit of a bummer when she thought about it - she'd been living in this little room for almost two years now, and it wasn't easy to find such a cheap room with its own space.

　　So she was prepared to put her blood down, have a good meal, and pay tribute to the blood and sweat she'd spilled in this place.

　　"Just ...... keep it under twenty dollars!" Evelyn said to herself, then familiarly tapped a few filters on the takeaway software and started looking.

　　About half an hour later, the phone switched off prematurely on low battery.

　　"......" Evelyn sighed as she had long since become accustomed to the old machine's temperament, while really letting her choose she probably wouldn't be able to, "There's still two loaves of bread in the fridge... . forget it, let's just go downstairs and have some noodles."

　　She sat in her room for a while, thinking that she really should have offered to start work tonight, but she was too embarrassed to ask, what if her boss saw what she was up to?

　　It was only when she heard nothing else moving in the living room outside that she opened the door and tiptoed out the door and headed downstairs.

　　The next day.

　　Evelyn was usually meant to sleep in until twelve so that she could save on a lunch, yes, a breakfast at noon would suffice, two loaves of bread would definitely feed her. Instead, she got up at six today, put on her rucksack, pulled her suitcase in one hand, carried a folding table-board and bundles of pillows and duvets and the like in the other, opened the door and left silently, and then dragged the trolley-suitcase and bedding laboriously down the stairs, one step at a time -

　　Compared to yesterday's couple saying goodbye to their shared flatmate, her departure was literally unnoticed.

　　She didn't dare to drop the trolley case, it was very expensive to buy it again if it broke, so she just had to grip it tightly through gritted teeth until her hands were sore and limp, and descending to the bottom of the stairs already made her feel like her arms were about to break.

　　That's when the mobile phone rang!

　　Evelyn let go of the trolley case in a hurry, not caring about her aching arm muscles, she felt out her mobile phone to see---

　　The note was for her boss, which she had just set up last night.

　　"Hey ...... hey Ethan take it easy, I'll be right over." Evelyn picked up and said in a rush.

　　"You don't start work until seven, it's just under six twenty, why are you panicking!" Ethan's gentle voice with a smile came from the other end of the phone, "I was trying to ask how much luggage you have, do you need me to come pick you up."

　　"No ...... not much." Evelyn's arm is still sore, hearing this can not help but slightly warm eyes, "I ...... I'll be there in ten minutes or so."

　　"Well, remember to be careful crossing the road."

　　"Well ......"

　　Early morning on the 27th of June.

　　It's only six-thirty and Ethan's eyes are still a little sore from his night shift last night which lasted until two in the morning. He had only slept for about four hours and his head was groggy, but remembering that skinny, simple girl from yesterday, he pressed his alarm clock to get up.

　　He seemed to have had another dream last night, and it was still filled with mountains and rivers, as if the old mage had never seen anything but scenery in his life.

　　Growing a pair of false eyes.

　　It was light before six in the summer, but this morning a mist had risen in the city, making the streets a little hazy and making the morning extra cool.

　　Ethan stood in front of the hotel, looking out over one end of the street, and reached up to cover his mouth and yawned, only to feel his eyes grow more and more sore.

　　He reached out and rubbed them, and just as he lowered his hand, a thin figure appeared in the misty street.

　　Startled by the coolness of the morning, Ethan actually had a jolt.

　　He would remember this morning for a long time to come - that thin girl dragging a large bag of luggage, walking stubbornly step by step along the edge of the street towards him. In the fog her silhouette faded from blur to clarity, to life, like a long remembered silhouette finally recalled.

　　Ethan hurriedly walked over and took the bundle of pillows and quilts in her hand under her dumbfounded gaze, then pulled her trolley case and said with a frown, "Didn't you say you didn't have much luggage? Told you I'd pick you up!"

　　Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief and lifted the small folding tabletop in front of her with both hands as she followed him, saying in a red-faced, nervous mumble, "Thank you, Ethan."

　　Ethan smiled, pulling her luggage into the guesthouse, mentioning it all the way to the stairwell storage room on the first and first floors, "Some of the luggage that you don't use often should be put here for now, when you need to use it, I'll entrust you to make a trip, and for the common necessities, you can pack them out first, and take them to room 311 on the third floor. When the youth hostel over there is renovated, you will pick a room to stay in."

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　　"Hm." Evelyn nodded, then opened the trolley case on the spot and took out a plastic pocket of toiletries and an old laptop, charger, etc., and closed the trolley case again before holding the stuff up and looking at Ethan, "It's ready."

　　"Eh ......," Ethan froze, this girl was carrying such two large bags, but the stuff was pretty small.

　　"Alright, I'll take you." Ethan helped her pick up the folding tabletop and headed upstairs.

　　Two ticks swiped the room open and he opened the door, an aisle appeared in front of Evelyn's eyes while the floor was covered with a soft dark red carpet, looking forward to see what the living room looked like, "If no guests book this room, you'll be staying here for now."

　　"Huh?" Evelyn walked in, looked at the mini living room and the apparently different dress from ordinary single rooms, and then looked back at Ethan, uncertainly asked, "I ...... stay here?"

　　"Business is good these days, all the other rooms are expected to be fully booked, and this is the least likely to be booked out." Ethan laughed and said, he was also a little helpless, "Just enjoy it for now, when those youth hostels are renovated, you won't be able to live in such a big room."

　　"I ...... "Evelyn looked at the sofa in the living room and turned to face him, "I'll just sleep on the sofa, it's quite wide."

　　"No need to be so shabby, sheets and covers don't cost much to clean once." Ethan felt he was still generous, at least he wasn't one of those crooked bosses who only knew how to make money.

　　"Oh." Evelyn then nodded in agreement.

　　"Then why don't you clean up, I'll go down and make you guys breakfast first. work starts at 9:00 ah."

　"I don't have anything to pack." Evelyn said putting her toiletries in the bathroom, the large tub nearly blinding her.

　　By this time Ethan was gone and she stood in the room, craning her head in bewilderment to survey it. If it wasn't for the fact that she couldn't live in this room all the time herself, she would definitely feel a sense of unreality.

　　A brand new mini-kitchen, a small but well appointed living room that even had a small projector and a computer. Outside were floor to ceiling windows and a large balcony facing the east, the curtains half hidden, the early morning sunlight just filtering in, decorated like a house inside a TV ......

　　This is the most expensive room in the whole hotel.

　　Evelyn couldn't help but pull the curtains all the way back and pushed the floor-to-ceiling window open and walked out, taking a deep breath.

　　In the distance, you could see the school building of Yida and a small half of the sports field, while the rest of the area was blocked by a forest of tall buildings. In fact, the line of sight was not considered good, but it was already very precious to her.

　　When she thought of the small room with no windows, which was just a little bit bigger than this bathroom, she felt a pang of emotion.

　　"Oooh~~"

　　Evelyn gave herself a fist bump and turned to close the window, grabbing her computer and charging cable and heading downstairs.

　　She was probably aware of the hotel's recent situation, as Ethan had told her yesterday - it would be doing better business lately, but the suite wasn't easily booked out, and the rest of the rooms were in short supply. So she'd probably be staying here for the next few days, and after a few days of slowing down, she'd probably move to a mini-single or standard single room.

　　Evelyn walked over to the front desk on the ground floor, checked the equipment, placed her laptop on the desk, plugged in the computer cable, and began to launch herself into a frenzy with her chin propped up.

　　It wasn't long before Elaine pushed the door open from outside and came in, she looked a little worse for wear and caught a glimpse of Evelyn sitting at the counter.

　　Evelyn also rushed back to her senses, looked at Elaine and wanted to greet her, but she didn't know what to call her, and held her face red for a few seconds before finally stifling a sentence, "Good morning, boss."

　　Elaine froze, then nodded naturally, "So early for work, huh?"

　　"Yeah." Evelyn nodded, "It's not early."

　　"It's still ...... not even seven o'clock!" Elaine looked up at her watch, rather like a boss, "Where's Ethan?"

　　"Upstairs, making breakfast."

　　"Oh." Elaine nodded and took a seat on the couch, napping in silence with her head down.

　　She didn't know what was going on, but she had been fine staying at the hotel for the previous few days, and she was able to sleep peacefully in no time when she lay down on the bed, but yesterday, after she came home, she was alone in her empty home and familiar bed, and her parents' voices and smiles flashed through her mind over and over again. Memories like a tidal wave came, the past scene from the eyes, let her tormented, tossing and turning can not sleep. She tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. She didn't know how many times her pillow had been wet.

　　Elaine kept touching her mobile phone throughout the night to divert her attention, but as soon as she lay down, she would start to think randomly, and it was not until her mind and spirit were tired to an extreme point that she gradually fell asleep.

　　The last time she looked at her phone, it was after four.

　　She woke up at six.

　　"Eh? You're just in time." Ethan came down the stairs with a bowl of egg noodles in one hand, one on the counter and the other on the coffee table in front of Elaine, "Wait if you want more chilli, I'll bring it down later."

　　"No need." Elaine said.

　　"Thanks, I don't ...... need it either." Evelyn was still a little embarrassed as the clear soup noodles with sesame oil and the fried egg sprinkled with spring onions continued to emanate a tantalising aroma.

　　"Then you guys should eat first, I'll go up and place another bowl." Ethan said and went upstairs again.

　　Soon, he brought a bowl of noodles over to the old mage as well before carrying his own bowl down to the ground floor to sit side by side with Elaine on the sofa and eat.

　　"Why do you look so bad, like you've been at an internet cafe all night!" Ethan asked, sucking in a big mouthful of noodles and adding, "It's not because you're scared to go home alone and can't sleep, is it?"

　　"Che!" Elaine disdained, "I'm that chicken?"

　　"Not really."

　　"Then don't be!"

　　"Now that we're here, let's eat and go upstairs and catch up on some sleep!" Ethan didn't pursue the matter; he knew why. He knew the reason. It was a good time to use Elaine to try out how useful the old mage's "Inn's Universal Spell Formation" really was.

　　"Fine!" Elaine muttered, quickly ate all the noodles in one bowl, grabbed the universal room card on the counter and went upstairs.

　　Watching her back, Ethan froze, still wanting to shout at her to wash the dishes after eating!

　　Fortunately, the receptionist girl was very understanding, after drinking the soup cleanly, she whispered to Ethan, "Anyway, there's no one now, I'll wash it, I'll finish it in a moment....... You should have gone to bed quite late last night, right, go and rest too."

　　"No need."

　　"That would make me ...... very embarrassed." Evelyn little girl slightly pursed her lips and said, this morning's egg noodles can be much more delicious than the cold bread that used to be taken out of the fridge!

　　"You wash it then." Ethan put the bowl down dryly, "I'm going upstairs to rest, and I'll be up before noon to cook."

　　"Well, please ...... please."

　　Evelyn stood at the counter with her bowl in her arms in a regimented manner and watched him go upstairs before carrying it towards the sink in the corner. She licked her mouth, feeling the flavour of the scented oil still lingering on her lips. I don't know how long it's been since I've had a breakfast that was this good.

　　Ethan slept soundly and didn't get up until eleven o'clock, when he went to the market to buy leftovers for a simple three-course meal.

　　Of course, for Evelyn, this was the kind of food she hadn't eaten in a long time.

　　Ethan put the food on the coffee table, brought the dishes, took off his apron and wiped his hands with it before heading upstairs, "Eat if you're hungry, I'll go upstairs and call her."

　　"I ...... am not hungry." Evelyn said as she looked at the three plates of food and swallowed hard.

　　About five minutes later, Ethan led a sleepy Elaine with messy hair downstairs. And Evelyn hurriedly put away the impatience in her eyes and sat down obediently on the small bench and handed them the dishes and served the meal.

　　The three of them started without a word.

　　Evelyn was still restrained and only ate the plate in front of her, but her eyes were already being spotted by Ethan and Elaine as she darted around the table uncontrollably.

　　"Ahem." Ethan coughed, moved the pot of taro chicken in front of Elaine to Evelyn's body, and said, "Eat whatever you want, don't be so formal, but we've already agreed on the food."

　　"Well." Evelyn blushed.

　　"And no surprise we're going to be eating at the same table for a long time, you can't keep being so embarrassed." Elaine chimed in, "Look at me, I'm not even shy when I don't do anything and still lollygag on my food."

　　"Got it ......," hearing them say that, Evelyn was even more embarrassed.

　　Soon, she finished a bowl of rice, lingeringly looked at the dishes on the table, put down the chopsticks and said, "I'm full, you guys ...... eat slowly, I'll wash the dishes later."

　　Elaine helplessly pulled her back.

　　Ethan also laughed, and cooperated with Elaine to give Evelyn another bowl of rice, saying, "Eat more, you still have to work in the afternoon!"

　　Evelyn only felt her cheeks burning red, facing the newly added bowl of rice and the dishes that were still left on the table, she paused a little, and finally slowly grabbed her chopsticks, "Then ...... then I won't be polite."

　　"Well, don't even be polite in the future." Ethan said, "You can eat a few taels of rice if you eat even more!"

　　"Hmm."

　　Evelyn finished her meal and consciously went to wash the dishes again, then sat back down at the counter and quietly probed the empty stairway - Ethan had gone upstairs to do whatever he was doing and didn't know when he'd be coming down, and Elaine had left after she'd finished her meal.

　　Only then did she open her old laptop and enter the password.

　　The laptop was still the one she'd saved up for in college, and wasn't expensive in itself; it had been repaired a few times up until now, and while it still worked, the keyboard had worn out a bit.

　　It doesn't matter, she has already familiarised herself with the position of each key, and can't press the wrong key even with her eyes closed.

　　The sound of the keyboard with a plastic texture began to echo in the front desk, at large intervals. Whenever a customer came up or down the stairs and passed by the front desk, Evelyn would stop like a frightened deer and watch the customer surreptitiously. It wasn't until the guest had left that she would carefully continue to press up on the keyboard. From time to time, she would incline her head in thought for a moment, or lean on her chin for a while, recalling what she had just been shocked out of by the customers.

　　The afternoon passed quickly and Evelyn stretched and moved her sore neck and fingers. She couldn't have been more pleased with the job -

　　As Ethan had said, the work was really easy. Business had been excellent for the past few days; she'd taken on a total of twenty or so customers throughout the day, but each one would only take her a few minutes, and the rest of the time she was free to organise.

　　Although she was always being disturbed by customers and delivery boys coming in and out, it wasn't like they could see the laptop behind the front desk, and at most they would just give her pause.

　　It was nothing compared to the food.

　　Ethan didn't come down until close to five o'clock, and was going to hand over his shift to Evelyn, but Evelyn blushed and waved her hand, going so far as to say, "You ...... can go and rest for a bit longer, I'd like to be on duty for a bit longer."

　　Just now she still had a little something left to do, so she just finished it here, so as not to go up and have to go back to half a day again.

　　And Ethan was confused.

　　Was there such a thing as an employee!

　　Eventually he dully agreed to his employee's request, somewhat reluctantly. He felt sure he wouldn't have agreed to it if he didn't have cooking to do.

　　When Elaine came back from outside, she was also taken aback when she saw Evelyn, who was still on duty, and frowned, "Why are you still on duty?"

　　After saying that, she also glanced at Ethan and asked, "Is it because you see that people are simple and kind and easy to bully, so you're oppressing them?"

　　Evelyn quickly waved her hand and added, "It's me who wanted to be on duty for a little longer."

　　Elaine also froze when she heard this, however, she was ultimately much more calm than Ethan, and only nodded and said, "That's good, you can't be too soft when you're out and about, or you'll be bullied."

　　Evelyn nodded, knowing this very well.

　　...... but couldn't do anything about it.

　　"Why don't you stay here tonight?" Ethan looked to Elaine, "Don't go back. You're also the only one in the house, and if you get hungry in the middle of the night, there's not even someone to feed you down there."

　　Elaine didn't say anything, and sort of acquiesced.

　　Although she didn't want to admit it, but the truth is like this - in this hotel, she obviously sleeps much more peacefully, as if ...... there is a kind of reliance on her mind.