Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“Wake up, everyone! We’ve arrived at the hotel!”
Tina clapped her hands as she roused the sleeping tourists. They opened their eyes one after another, some rubbing them and others yawning. None of them knew they had inhaled sedative gas. They simply assumed exhaustion was why they had slept so soundly.
Chen Nuo looked out the window. It was still night, and everything around them lay pitch-black beneath a light drizzle. He could not make out a thing. Only the view to the right of the coach was ablaze with light. That was the hotel where they would be staying.
He checked the time on his phone. It was shortly after six. Just as Tina had said, the drive from the airport had taken a little over an hour.
Chen Nuo got off the coach with the rest of the group. It had stopped at the hotel’s entrance, where two uniformed doormen greeted the new arrivals with polite smiles. Chen Nuo looked up and saw a bright, eye-catching sign above the building that read “NacaHotel.” Presumably, the name meant Naca Hotel.
After collecting their luggage, everyone followed Tina inside. Many of them were stunned by the hotel’s opulence, Chen Nuo included.
The lobby was as vast as a stadium, with a ceiling more than ten meters high. Gold gleamed everywhere. Expensive marble covered the floor, polished to a mirror shine, and a massive crystal chandelier hung overhead, making the place feel like a European palace. The cafe area directly ahead sat before enormous floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ocean. Chen Nuo could only imagine the beautiful sea view they would reveal after sunrise.
“I can’t believe our tour put us in such a fancy hotel. We certainly got our money’s worth,” a man beside Chen Nuo whispered to his wife. She nodded repeatedly, delight written all over her face.
Tina asked everyone to sit and rest. She collected their identity cards and went to the front desk to check them in. Before long, she returned with a stack of key cards and handed them out.
“Families of three get family suites. Married and unmarried couples get rooms with king-size beds. Friends get two- or three-person suites, and anyone traveling alone gets a single room. Every room has an incredible ocean view and an enormous balcony!”
“Wow, perfect! The three of us wanted to stay together!” the round-faced student said happily. Everyone else looked equally pleased.
“Once you’ve put away your luggage and rested for a while, you can have breakfast at the restaurant,” Tina said. “The weather is bad today. I was supposed to take you out on the water, but we can’t go by boat in the rain. Don’t worry, though. To make it up to you, I’ve arranged this ultra-luxurious hotel. We’ll spend the day relaxing and having fun here. All food, drinks, and entertainment are free, so enjoy as much as you like!”
“Everything is free?” a young woman asked in disbelief.
“That’s right. This hotel has a twenty-four-hour buffet restaurant, a cafe, an arcade, a swimming pool, a gym, private karaoke rooms, a cinema, massage rooms, and lots of other recreational facilities. They’re all free for hotel guests!”
The group was astonished. Could there really be such a good deal? Hotels generally did not offer so many things for free unless the room rates were astronomical.
“This must be a five-star hotel, right? How much does one night cost?” asked a man wearing glasses.
“You don’t need to worry about that. It’s all included in the price of your tour,” Tina said sweetly.
“This is incredible! So we get to spend the whole day eating, drinking, and having fun at a five-star hotel for free?” The young couple could hardly contain their excitement.
“Exactly. Our travel agency wants to give you the best possible vacation experience,” Tina said.
The guests were clearly delighted with the arrangements. Only one towering, heavily built man spoke up in a gruff voice.
“Hey, guide, why can’t I get a signal in this hotel? I’m using a Country T SIM card.”
“Yeah, my phone doesn’t have a signal either.”
“Oh… neither does mine.”
The tourists began discovering the same problem. Chen Nuo did too. At the airport, he had switched to a Country T SIM card and tested it. Both phone and data service had worked, but now he had no signal at all.
“My phone doesn’t have a signal either,” Tina said. “I asked the hotel staff about it. They said there was a thunderstorm in the area last night, and it probably damaged the local cell tower. Repairs are already underway, so service should be restored soon. There’s no need to worry.”
The tourists nodded and prepared to go to their rooms. “One more thing,” Tina said. “Since we’re all part of the same tour, I hope everyone will show some team spirit. Please don’t leave the hotel on your own, or it could make things very difficult for the rest of us.”
They nodded to show that they understood, then took the elevators to their rooms on different floors.
Chen Nuo’s room was 0911, on the ninth floor. He opened the door with his key card and found a spacious, luxurious room. Although it was meant for one person, it was larger than the double rooms in many hotels, roughly forty square meters. That did not include the large balcony. Just as Tina had promised, it faced the ocean. Dawn was beginning to lighten the sky. Chen Nuo stepped onto the balcony and saw a dark, boundless sea stretching before him.
For some reason, unease stirred inside him.
Although this was his first trip abroad, instinct told him that such a lavish hotel and room, together with completely free food and entertainment, were wildly out of proportion to what he had paid.
It was August, the height of tourist season. Chen Nuo’s tour had cost 3,990 yuan. For a seven-day overseas trip with round-trip flights, that was cheap. The travel agency had admitted from the start that this was a budget tour and had only promised to make the food and accommodations as satisfactory as it could.
But the standard of this hotel far exceeded anything he had expected.
Was this normal? Wouldn’t the travel agency lose money?
Then again, he could hardly confront the guide because the arrangements were too good.
Perhaps it was a newly opened hotel running a promotion.
The thought put him a little more at ease.
He rested in his room for a while. At seven, he took the elevator to the restaurant on the second floor.
Like the lobby, the buffet restaurant was magnificently decorated, elegant and extravagant. Guests only had to give their room number to eat for free. And just as Tina had said, they were not restricted to ordinary meal times. The high-end buffet stayed open twenty-four hours a day, and guests could eat there as often as they liked.
Dozens of dishes were on offer, representing countries and regions from around the world. There were Southeast Asian specialties, Chinese food, French cuisine, Japanese dishes, Italian food, and more. Cold dishes, hot dishes, fruit, desserts, grilled food, hot pot, wines, other drinks, freshly squeezed juice… there was everything anyone could want.
The choices left Chen Nuo’s head spinning. Plate in hand, he had no idea what to take.
More than a dozen people gradually arrived in the restaurant, and Chen Nuo was clearly not the only one overwhelmed by the options. Everyone marveled at the variety offered by such an upscale buffet.
The two young women traveling together passed him. The slightly chubby one cried out in delight, “Tang Ying, look! They have French foie gras and black caviar!”
Chen Nuo glanced over. Tang Ying was an attractive young woman with fair skin and a well-proportioned figure. Her medium-length hair just brushed her shoulders. At that moment, she stood with her mouth open, utterly incredulous.
“Unlimited foie gras and caviar, all for free! Tang Ying, this tour is unbeatable! We’ve already made back the whole price of the trip in a single day, haven’t we?” her friend exclaimed.
“But… don’t you think something is wrong?” Tang Ying was not nearly as excited. Instead, worry clouded her face.