Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Cheng Miao turned around. A beautiful, well-proportioned golden retriever followed her out. It was the counselor.
Cheng Miao scratched her head and met the golden retriever’s gentle gaze. “What’s wrong, Doctor? Isn’t it five hundred Travel Coins an hour?”
The golden retriever sat down and shook her head. “Counseling does cost five hundred an hour, but I didn’t counsel you. You just petted me the entire time, and your sanity returned to normal on its own. I can’t charge you for that.”
Cheng Miao awkwardly met Qiudong’s impassive gaze from where he sat atop the receptionist’s desk. Feeling as if she had been caught cheating, she guiltily drew back her hand.
“Well, petting small animals puts people in a good mood,” Cheng Miao explained with an embarrassed laugh.
The golden retriever was about to say something else when Qiudong cast Cheng Miao a cold glance. “Sister Xu, don’t worry about her. You spent the time with her, so it’s perfectly fair for her to pay.”
Sister Xu considered this, then nodded. She walked back to Cheng Miao and placed her big head beneath Cheng Miao’s hand.
As Cheng Miao ruffled the golden retriever’s soft, fluffy fur, she wept inside. Boohoo, dogs really were the gentlest creatures in the world.
After seeing Sister Xu off, Cheng Miao personally watched Qi Jiajia enter the counseling room before finally relaxing.
She wandered around the reception area and pulled all the cat treats and cat toys she had previously stockpiled out of her ring, giving the lot to Qiudong.
“We’re going to a different inn next time. Sigh, it might be hard for us to see each other after that… Keep all this. I’ll bring you more the next time we meet.”
Qiudong quietly watched as Cheng Miao took one trinket after another from her ring. Then he suddenly asked, “Do you still need another teammate?”
Cheng Miao’s mind failed to catch up. “No, our team’s full.”
It was only when Qiudong’s oppressive aura erupted that she belatedly realized what he meant. “Y-you… Don’t tell me you’re saying you want to join us! Is that even possible? You’re a receptionist! It can’t be allowed, can it?”
Cheng Miao’s theatrics gave Qiudong a headache. He raised one paw and pressed it to his head, his voice as cold as ever. “Whether it’s possible is my concern. I’m asking whether you need another person.”
“We do, we do! If you’re joining, then we definitely have room… Ah, but of course, I still need to discuss it with my teammates.” Caught up in her excitement, Cheng Miao had nearly agreed on the spot. Fortunately, she stopped herself in time and gave Qiudong a somewhat sheepish look.
She might be the team leader, but she was no dictator. Something like this obviously had to be discussed with everyone.
Qiudong seemed quite pleased by her response. He nodded and jumped down from the desk. “Go back and discuss it. Give me your answer tomorrow.”
Cheng Miao returned to the room in a daze, feeling as if she were dreaming. She stared blankly as Lin Zhu awkwardly guided the little character on the screen through one challenge after another.
It wasn’t until everyone had returned from counseling that she gathered them together and told them what had happened.
“What? A receptionist wants to join our team!?” Lin Zhu’s eyes went wide with disbelief.
Cheng Miao nodded and looked at the other two.
Qi Jiajia shrugged. “I don’t care either way.”
She didn’t mind who else was on the team. As long as Cheng Miao was there, that was enough.
Seeing how calm everyone else was, Lin Zhu smiled a little awkwardly. After giving it serious thought, he said, “I don’t mind either. From the time we’ve spent together, I think Qiudong and Brother Parrot are both pretty decent. Qiudong doesn’t eat players who fail, either.”
Cheng Miao looked at Qin Musong, the only one who had yet to offer his opinion. Her instincts told her he would disagree.
Qin Musong was older and far more experienced than the rest of them. He was also the steadiest member of the team.
Cheng Miao could tell that Qin Musong still didn’t entirely trust the receptionists. He might not be as afraid of Brother Parrot anymore, but he still couldn’t interact with him as naturally as Qi Jiajia and Lin Zhu did.
Now they were considering teaming up with a receptionist, someone the vast majority of players viewed as being on the opposing side. Given Qin Musong’s personality, there was no way he would agree to such a thing.
To her surprise, Qin Musong flashed the uniquely charming smile of a mature man. “I agree.”
Cheng Miao was taken aback. “Brother Qin, you’re not agreeing because of me, are you…”
Qin Musong waved a hand, signaling for her not to overthink it.
He picked up the black tea Lin Zhu had brewed and took a sip. Only after organizing his thoughts did he begin to speak.
“I know you all think I’m very wary of the receptionists. Actually, that was only because of a preconceived notion I used to have. Enough time has passed now, and I get along pretty well with Brother Parrot and Qiudong.”
“Besides, though you might not know this, some veteran players are well aware that after a team is formed, its members aren’t allowed to deliberately attack their teammates. I once saw two teammates turn on each other inside an instance. In the end, they both died horribly.”
Qin Musong set down his teacup and smiled warmly at Cheng Miao. “Since joining your team, I’ve realized that a lot of my old views were narrow-minded. I took too much for granted, whether it was the purpose of Survival Inn or whether the receptionists were our enemies or our allies.”
Qin Musong relaxed and leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head. His voice was leisurely as he said, “That’s why it’s good to spend more time around young people. You can learn new things.”
Cheng Miao laughed. “Brother Qin, you’re not that much older than me, are you?”
Qin Musong shook his head with the easy charm of a mature gentleman. “Ten years is still quite a lot.”
And so the matter was happily settled. Cheng Miao was in no hurry to tell Qiudong their decision, choosing to give everyone some time to adjust to the idea.
That evening, Tong Qian and Bai Jiang prepared a welcome-back feast. They also invited Li Cheng and the others, who worked at the hot pot restaurant.
When they met again, it was obvious that Li Cheng’s group had only recently returned from an instance as well. Every one of them looked listless.
Cheng Miao was a little worried. The Guesthouse didn’t have a counseling room yet, and since they weren’t guests at the Hotel, they couldn’t use its facilities.
If they couldn’t recover mentally as soon as possible, their next instance would be very dangerous.
Li Cheng seemed to notice her concern. He smiled. “We’ve almost saved enough money. Once we have enough, we’ll move to the Hotel. We’ll find a way.”
Tong Qian hurriedly picked up the conversation. “Now that we all know one another, Brother Cheng, you can leave things like lunch to Bai Jiang and me. None of us has it easy. We should help one another where we can.”
Li Cheng raised his glass and drained it in one gulp, hiding the gloom in his eyes.
No one from Cheng Miao’s group mentioned Qiudong joining their team. Whether it was a good or bad thing remained to be seen, but it would definitely cause a sensation among the players.
Clearing instances was already hard enough. If people started watching their every move, they would hardly be able to take a single step.
“What about you two? When are you entering your next instance?” Cheng Miao remembered that once players reached the Guesthouse tier, they were no longer forced to enter instances on a fixed schedule. They only had to enter once a month.
Li Cheng’s group had only just returned, which meant Tong Qian and Bai Jiang were next.
At the question, Tong Qian’s smile faded slightly. Bai Jiang squeezed her hand. “We’re planning to enter in five days.”
Cheng Miao nodded. “We’ll still be here then. We’ll throw you a welcome-back meal when you return.”
Everyone ate, drank, and made merry. The meal lasted from four in the afternoon until eight at night. After everyone had gone home, Cheng Miao gazed at the bustling street scene outside the window and sighed with emotion.
This road was hard for every one of them. She only hoped no one would be lost along the way.