By the time Taichu Group’s shuttle vans rolled into downtown Yanjing, a howling northern gale had driven the street temperature down to minus ten degrees Celsius.
Thick snowflakes swirled beneath the golden streetlamps of Wangfujing Avenue, coating the marble driveway of the five-star Imperial Jade Peninsula Hotel in a slick sheet of ice.
Inside the lead shuttle, Grandma Chen wrapped a thick wool scarf twice around six-year-old Little Guo’er’s neck before stepping down onto the heated curb. Grandma Chen wore her favorite pair of sturdy, hand-stitched black cloth shoes—the same style she had worn for thirty years while ladling wontons at her night stall in Jiangcheng.
Lin Mo stepped out right behind them, carrying Little Guo’er’s small red canvas suitcase in one hand while Su Wan, Dr. Gu Qinghe, Chu Lingxiao, Tie Niu, and Qin Haoran followed.
Before they even reached the revolving brass doors, four burly hotel security guards stepped out and crossed their batons to block the entrance.
Behind the guards stood a thin, sharp-chinned man in a burgundy velvet tuxedo with a gold lapel pin reading Lobby Manager Cui.
Lin Mo’s [Pure-Heart Eye Lv.3] swept over the man automatically.
[Target: Cui Biao — Lobby & VIP Relations Manager, Imperial Jade Peninsula Hotel.]
