Volume 1, Chapter 29: Judging People by Their Appearance

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Early in the morning, Guo Dong arrived at the fields carrying a basket.

Only two kinds of vegetables had ripened.

He picked some from the ground, loaded them into the basket, and carried them down the mountain.

On the road leading to the village, Meng Xiaohan was waiting in the vehicle.

She had been wanting to ask Guo Dong what exactly he was planning, but he had kept answering her in riddles.

When she learned that they were going to the county town that day, she volunteered to go with him, no matter what.

Things had changed. The last time they had gone to the county town, Meng Xiaohan had driven while Guo Dong sat in the back.

This time was different. For some reason, Guo Dong had actually taken the front seat.

The narrow seat left the two of them feeling somewhat cramped.

Most importantly, Meng Xiaohan did not object.

The road was rough, so jolting and bumping were unavoidable along the way.

Neither of them said a word. The atmosphere was faintly suggestive.

It was not until they reached the county town that Meng Xiaohan finally spoke her first sentence.

“We can’t take the main road to Harmony Hotel. We’ll have to use the smaller roads.”

“Why?”

“Traffic restrictions. Electric tricycles aren’t allowed on the main roads!”

Guo Dong did not understand. He rarely came to the county town, so naturally he could not compare with the well-informed Meng Xiaohan.

Harmony Hotel was considered one of the finest hotels in Hongwu County.

Whoever came here to eat was bound to be wealthy.

The rows of cars parked outside the hotel formed a stark contrast with their electric tricycle.

“Hey, did you actually notify anyone here before coming?”

If they had arrived empty-handed, Meng Xiaohan would not have minded much. After all, she was dressed quite appropriately.

But Guo Dong, standing beside her, was wearing sandals. His clothes looked clean enough, but…

Most conspicuous of all was the basket of vegetables. It stood out far too much.

“It’s fine. Let’s go to the kitchen first.”

Guo Dong had not thought that far ahead.

As far as he was concerned, he was giving them vegetables for free. There was nothing wrong with that, was there?

Since he had done nothing wrong, what was there to fear?

What he had not expected was that they could not even enter the hotel, let alone reach the kitchen.

“Good day. Do you have a reservation?”

The receptionist’s attitude was still quite polite. She did not look down on them simply because they had arrived on an electric tricycle.

“Hello. We’re here to deliver vegetables!”

Guo Dong was still carrying a basket of vegetables on his back. No matter how one looked at him, he certainly did not seem like a customer who had come for a meal.

“Deliver vegetables?”

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The beautiful receptionist immediately checked the records.

“We haven’t heard that anyone is delivering vegetables to our kitchen lately.”

Guo Dong hurriedly explained, “Well, we’re giving them away for free. We thought we’d have a meal here while we were at it.”

The receptionist’s expression shifted several times before she said apologetically, “Sir, all vegetable deliveries have to be recorded. In your case… Why don’t you wait a moment while I make a call to confirm?”

Without waiting for either of them to respond, she took out her phone and dialed.

Before long, a man stepped out of the elevator.

“What’s going on? What vegetables are you talking about?”

His tone was unpleasant as he looked Guo Dong and Meng Xiaohan up and down.

Meng Xiaohan, however, caught his attention for a moment.

“This is Harmony Hotel, a star-rated establishment. We don’t let just anything come in here.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Guo Dong, especially at the basket strapped to his back. It was particularly conspicuous.

“You won’t even accept free vegetables?” Guo Dong had never encountered anything like this before.

He had simply assumed that since the vegetables cost them nothing, they could not possibly mistake him for a swindler. He had never imagined things would become so complicated.

The man looked at him and said with a mocking smile, “Gentlemen, this is a hotel, not some little roadside restaurant. Every ingredient that comes in or goes out has to pass a strict inspection. If you have nothing else to discuss, please leave at once. Don’t make things difficult for me.”

Guo Dong glanced at Meng Xiaohan, who stood beside him looking slightly embarrassed, and took a deep breath.

“Fine. We’ll eat here, then.”

The man immediately smiled.

“All right. Lan, arrange a table for them and make sure you explain all the prices in advance.”

With that, he turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, Guo Dong stopped him.

“Prices? I know Liu Lan from here. She told me that from now on, I could eat here for free!”

Ha!

The man suddenly turned around and stared at Guo Dong as though he were an idiot.

“Sir, if you continue causing trouble, I’ll have to call security and throw you out!”

Guo Dong’s expression darkened, and he reached for his phone.

Before he could do anything, the two security guards stationed at the entrance had already come over and begun pushing him outside.

“Brother, we’re all just trying to make a living. Don’t make things difficult for us!”

Guo Dong was furious. Pushing him was one thing, but pushing Meng Xiaohan was another matter entirely.

When he saw one of the guards reach for Meng Xiaohan, he broke free before the man could touch her and shoved him.

The guard went flying and landed hard on the ground.

“Get them out!”

What followed gave Guo Dong a firsthand lesson in sheer arrogance and unreasonable behavior.

One of the guards tore the basket of vegetables from his back and forcibly threw it outside.

“Kid, don’t take kindness for weakness. Before you come here to cause trouble, you’d better find out what kind of place this is!”

Furious, Guo Dong was about to strike back, but Meng Xiaohan stopped him.

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“Let’s go. If this continues, we’ll only suffer. They have more people than we do.”

Even Meng Xiaohan had not expected Guo Dong’s so-called vegetable delivery to be carried out in this fashion.

Had she known, she would have stopped him no matter what.

Forget a hotel—even a small restaurant probably would not accept vegetables delivered in such a manner.

Of course, she could not accept the hotel’s behavior either.

If they did not want the vegetables, they could simply have refused them. Why resort to violence?

That basket must have weighed at least fifty or sixty pounds. At two yuan per pound, it was worth more than a hundred yuan.

To have it thrown onto the ground like that was going too far.

Guo Dong was furious as well. He grabbed Meng Xiaohan and stormed away.

With Guo Dong pulling her along, Meng Xiaohan felt a little sweetness in her heart and let out a soft laugh.

The two of them reached the electric tricycle, climbed aboard, and drove off.

This time, Guo Dong took the wheel while Meng Xiaohan sat beside him.

“Bah!”

“What a bunch of idiots!”

Just then, a group of people emerged from the hotel.

Had Guo Dong stayed a moment longer, he would have seen that one of the women was Xie Minmin, his longtime business partner.

The moment Xie Minmin stepped out of the elevator, she caught sight of Guo Dong and Meng Xiaohan leaving.

Before she could greet them, the tricycle had already started up and sped away.

“What happened?”

Looking at the vegetables scattered across the ground in front of the hotel, her expression changed slightly.

“Miss Xie, you’ve finished eating so soon? It’s nothing serious. Some country bumpkin said he was here to deliver vegetables, so I’ll have someone clean this up immediately!”

The man who had appeared earlier hurried over to her.

He could not afford to offend Xie Minmin. Although she had no connection to Harmony Hotel, everyone knew that she was close to the hotel owner’s daughter.

If she casually said a few words in the young lady’s ear, would he still have a job?

“These vegetables were brought by those two people just now?”

Looking at the vegetables on the ground, their surfaces as white and flawless as jade, Xie Minmin felt a flicker of surprise.

At a glance, they looked more like works of art than ordinary vegetables.

The man paused, then quickly nodded.

“They probably heard this was a high-class hotel and came here to curry favor. Don’t worry about them.”

Xie Minmin gave a soft laugh, walked over herself, and began picking up the vegetables.

“Since you don’t want them, I’ll take them all.”