novelraw Chapter 265
Chapter 265
Chapter 265: Xia Li’s First Hotel Room Companion Isn’t a Dragon!
The three people and one cat sat in the fast food restaurant for a long time.
It wasn’t until 10 p.m., when the staff started cleaning up and preparing to close, that the group tacitly understood it was time to leave.
The temperature difference between morning and evening in early summer was significant, and the cool breeze that blew on their faces as they stepped outside made the three of them shiver.
Those with girlfriends held their soft little hands.
Those without girlfriends held a large male cat with an expressionless face.
“Where are you guys staying these days?”
Qin Chuan, holding Wuqi in his arms, turned around and asked Xia Li.
Squeezing the dragon claw in his hand, Xia Li looked at the night scene and replied casually,
“Probably at a hotel.” After saying that, he secretly glanced at Lucia to gauge her reaction.
Lucia was playing with her phone with her head down, but her phone screen was paused.
It was obvious that she was eavesdropping on Xia Li’s conversation and had casually paused the video when she heard the key information.
“But…” Xia Li said with a hint of melancholy.
“You need an ID card to stay in a hotel, but I only have one.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, you can still check in with one ID card,” Qin Chuan thought for a moment and added.
“But it’s a bit troublesome. If a guy uses a single ID card to check into a double room, there’s a risk of being checked.”
“Yeah, especially if it’s a non-marital heterosexual relationship, it’s not allowed to check into a hotel with only one person’s ID card registered,” Xia Li added.
This would involve explaining complicated social issues, which Lucia might not understand. Moreover, she was already feeling guilty about not having an ID. Xia Li’s words made her even more nervous.
It was like excitedly packing your little backpack for a field trip the next day, only to be told that it was canceled because of rain.
Lucia’s little hand, held by Xia Li, was sweating.
She stared at the screen in a daze, feeling a sense of disappointment as her expectations were dashed.
“But it’s okay, you can just use my ID card to register together. I’ll accompany you upstairs, and then Dragon Sister can sneak up later.”
Qin Chuan was an honest person, and when he encountered a problem, he would start thinking of solutions.
Only Xia Li, with his mischievous heart, was secretly amused by Lucia’s changing expressions.
This dragon was still so bad at disguising her feelings. She wore her heart on her sleeve.
When Xia Li said there was no way to stay in a hotel, her head drooped, her lips pressed tightly together, her expression like that of a wronged child.
When Qin Chuan said there was still a way to solve it, the melancholy on her face instantly vanished, and the corners of her mouth secretly curled up in a sly smile.
“Xia Li… I can use invisibility magic to bypass the front desk and go upstairs.”
Lucia tilted her head and whispered in Xia Li’s ear, like a tempting demon.
“Alright then.”
Xia Li pretended to say helplessly.
Clearly, Xia Li himself was also impatient, but he still had to maintain a facade of composure.
He was being both a hypocrite and a saint.
Having decided on their accommodation for the night, Xia Li opened the navigation app and led the way.
Along the way, Xia Li told Wuqi and Qin Chuan about his upcoming itinerary.
The country he and Lucia had decided to go to, and his plan to buy a citizenship there…
Xia Li had never encountered such matters in his life, and Qin Chuan and Wuqi, two earthlings who were practically out of touch with society, had never even heard of them.
Fortunately, there were quite a few related guides online, detailing every step from landing to settling down.
Xia Li told them about these steps one by one and assessed the risks with them.
“Meow meow meow…”
『You’ve decided so quickly?』
『I’ve never even heard of that country, is it reliable, meow?』
『You guys won’t be tricked by those online posts and have your kidneys harvested, right? Dragon kidneys are worth a lot more than human kidneys…』
『Wait, no one can beat Dragon Sister anyway. You can rest assured.』
Wuqi muttered, nestled in Qin Chuan’s arms.
Since no one could understand his cat language, and the only one who could, Xia Li, was ignoring him, he was just talking to himself.
Qin Chuan remained silent for a while, then, with a mixture of guessing and understanding, he grasped Wuqi’s worries. He nodded and said,
“There are definitely risks. Even taking a car has a certain risk of accidents…”
“The main issue is the time it takes. Even if everything goes smoothly, it will take more than half a year to get citizenship, right?”
“Not only getting foreign citizenship, but also using that identity to apply for a visa to come here… then getting a marriage certificate, and then settling down domestically as a family member. Finally, getting a permanent residence permit.”
Qin Chuan helped Xia Li go through the process again.
It sounded troublesome, and it was indeed quite troublesome in reality.
However, it was the best solution.
There was no more legitimate and aboveboard outcome.
For a peaceful and worry-free life in the future, this effort was nothing.
If Qin Chuan were in their shoes, he would do the same.
It was just a pity that the person worthy of such effort would probably never appear in his life.
“Half a year is half a year, it doesn’t matter,”
Xia Li said, “I’m not going to just wait abroad for half a year. I’ll use teleportation magic to come back after I’m done with the procedures. I’ll go back when it’s time to collect the ID card.”
“That’s true,” Qin Chuan nodded, “With magic for teleportation, you can exploit a lot of loopholes.”
The two chatted as they walked, arriving in front of a tall building. Xia Li slowed down.
He took out his ID card and let go of the damp dragon claw in his hand.
“Wait for me here,” Xia Li turned and said to the evil dragon.
The evil dragon nodded obediently, “Okay.”
Lucia pretended to stare blankly at her shoes. Only when she saw Xia Li enter from the corner of her eye did a blush creep onto her cheeks.
Checking into a hotel room, how embarrassing.
A lone man and a dragon, late at night…
The automatic glass doors opened, and Xia Li and Qin Chuan entered the hotel lobby together.
The streetlights at night were colorful, and the pulsating neon lights reflected on Lucia’s expectant little face.
She watched with eager eyes as her boyfriend went to check into a hotel room with someone else, her heart filled with anticipation.
“Meow!”
“‘It’s okay, Dragon Sister, it’s not like it’s Boss Xia’s first time checking into a hotel!’”
Just then, Wuqi, who was equally bored from not being able to enter the hotel, broke the silence.
He quickly swiped his paw across his smartwatch, typing out a long string of text, then pressed the voice playback button.
Unlike Lucia, who had to learn both handwriting and pinyin from scratch, Wuqi had the Chinese language proficiency of a high school student. As long as his cat paws could hit the keyboard accurately, his typing speed was incredibly fast.
Seeing Lucia turn to look at him, Wuqi continued typing.
“‘I mean… Old Xia must have checked into hotels on other occasions, like when he goes on trips, or during those few days of college entrance exam lunch breaks.’”
“‘You know, modern earthlings are often forced by circumstances, so I wanted to comfort you, don’t get too hung up on this first time…’”
The more Wuqi spoke, the less confident he felt.
When Dragon Sister looked at him, why did she have a look in her eyes that seemed to want to kill him?
He was clearly trying to comfort her…
Wuqi was terrified by that look and quickly typed another line of text.
“‘Dragon Sister, if you’re angry, please vent it on Boss Xia… Don’t take it out on me!’”
◈◈◈
On the other side.
◈◈◈
When the two tall men walked into the reception area, the receptionist on duty immediately noticed them.
In China, southern men were generally not that tall. A net height of 185 cm, coupled with such a slender and well-proportioned physique, was rare.
The simultaneous appearance of two 185 cm men was even rarer.
And two 185 cm men coming to a hotel to check into a room with a double bed was the rarest of the rare.
The receptionist’s eyes were wide open, and she repeatedly checked their ID cards.
Maintaining her professionalism, she didn’t say a word. However, when she handed them the room card, she couldn’t help but stammer.
“H-here you go…”
“The room is on the twenty-seventh floor…”
“Thank you.”
Xia Li politely took the room card, without bothering to explain the misunderstanding.
Qin Chuan followed him to the elevator, glancing back to see the indignant girl outside the glass door.
The girl was fuming, her lips seeming to say, “Why is she blushing?! Why is that woman blushing?!!!”
“Your wife seems to have misunderstood.”
“Yeah.”
Xia Li couldn’t help but chuckle.
This dragon could get jealous over anything and everything. He was used to it.
But… it felt good to be respectfully addressed as “your wife” by a friend.
They took the elevator to the twenty-seventh floor.
To keep up appearances, Xia Li and Qin Chuan stood for a while at the entrance of the room.
Xia Li inserted the room card to turn on the power and put down his shoulder bag.
Then he took out ten gold coins and put them in Qin Chuan’s hand.
Qin Chuan looked at him in confusion.
“Help me get rid of some stolen goods,” Xia Li said.
“If I go to a gold shop alone to exchange this much gold, I’ll be suspected. You can go to the Wanniu District in the next few days and sell them at any random shops. Just transfer the money to me on WeChat later.”
“Alright.” Qin Chuan nodded in agreement.
Xia Li was short of money right now.
Buying Dragon Sister a citizenship wasn’t an easy task, and money was naturally always welcome.
“Oh, right.”
Having dealt with his own affairs, Xia Li thought of another matter.
He looked up and met Qin Chuan’s eyes.
“Is there anyone you want to see?”
Qin Chuan was obviously surprised by this question. He was stunned at first, then the image of someone he hadn’t seen for a long time surfaced in his mind.
Seeing that he seemed interested, Xia Li continued,
“The artifact I brought back from the other world this time possesses extremely powerful summoning magic. As long as you pay the corresponding price and gather enough magic power, you can summon anyone.”
After saying that, Xia Li emphasized,
“Anyone. Even animals or souls… and it can even cross spatial dimensions.”
Xia Li had already experimented with this several times.
He had used this magic to summon himself, exploiting the loophole of interdimensional teleportation.
At this moment, the lights in the room flickered.
It was the Heart of Stone beneath Qin Chuan’s chest, perhaps reacting to the thought of a certain person’s face.
“I… don’t.” Qin Chuan’s answer was hesitant.
“It’s okay, you can get ready anytime.”
Xia Li didn’t force him. After all, this matter required a certain amount of mental preparation.
However, Xia Li knew more or less about the story of Qin Chuan and the saint from his world.
These stories were told to Xia Li by Qin Chuan himself.
The saint from that world had saved Qin Chuan countless times. This salvation wasn’t about physical strength, but about spiritual redemption.
After all, after dying thousands of times, even the strongest heart would crumble and despair.
At those times, the saint would always be the first to comfort him.
Qin Chuan used his artifact to constantly restart, repeatedly getting to know the same people.
Those people had no memories of Qin Chuan, but even so, the saint fell in love with Qin Chuan again and again.
Of course, Qin Chuan himself didn’t know that it was a clear “like” or “love.” He was too emotionally obtuse. It was just Xia Li’s bold guess based on his descriptions.
A person who would sacrifice herself for him without hesitation, even knowing that he would only fall into the next reincarnation after death, still desperately offering her own life first…
Xia Li felt that at that moment, the saint wasn’t trying to save that despairing world anymore, but the person in front of her.
She wanted to keep Qin Chuan, to keep her memories.
“My mom once told me that love only has meaning when it’s both given and received…” Xia Li said.
“People should boldly pursue their feelings, don’t wait until it’s too late and regret it.”
“And, what if she’s waiting for you too?”
Xia Li never thought that one day he, who used to be clueless about feelings, would be counseling others.
However, he was clumsy with words and could only say this much.
Qin Chuan fell into a moment of silence, a wry smile appearing on his lips.
“After I killed the Demon King, that world became a better place. She personally sent me back.”
Although he vaguely sensed her reluctance when they parted.
But at that time, Qin Chuan sincerely wanted to return to Earth. He wanted to go home and see his parents, his family… although in the end, all he saw were cold tombstones.
After thinking for a long time, Qin Chuan nodded solemnly.
“I’ll seriously consider it…”
“If you’ve made up your mind, come find me anytime.”
Xia Li opened the door and watched Qin Chuan leave.
Qin Chuan didn’t want to disturb their “nightlife” and went straight down the corridor to the elevator.
Xia Li stood at the door for a while.
“Ding-dong~”
About five minutes later, the elevator’s notification sound rang again, and the elevator doors slowly opened.
“Huh?”
A male bunny-eared delivery person, carrying takeout, stepped out of the elevator in surprise. He glanced at the floor number, scratched his helmet, and returned to the elevator.
“What’s going on, why did it stop on this floor… Is it haunted?”
As the male bunny-eared delivery person left, Xia Li, who was waiting at the door, suddenly felt a weight on his shoulders.
A familiar weight and warmth settled on his back.
Soft and yielding, it felt like it had gone from an A-cup to a B-cup, and with a little more effort, it could even reach a C-cup.
He just didn’t know when this dragon would be willing to lengthen her short legs, otherwise, she would really become a loli with giant breasts.
“You’ve gained weight.”
Xia Li weighed her up and down, looked around to make sure no one was there, then carried the invisible dragon into the room.