Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 541 Is She a Principled Person?

The hotel named "Seabird's Rest" is located at the corner of No. 22 Reef Street. It is a two-story stone building that stands out compared to other low houses on the same street. Not far from the hotel, there are several low walls covered with moss and vines. Behind the wall, the silver pines sway their branches with silvery white leaves, making rustling sounds.

Midsummer is the time when the seaside becomes increasingly hot. Originally, the cool breeze blowing from the sea could slightly soothe the unbearable heat. However, since the factory was built, the forest of steel chimneys has been spewing out thick smoke that covers the sky of the city. The heat accumulated in the streets, houses and high-rise buildings has no way to dissipate. Even if the wind blows blindly, it only makes the heat wander aimlessly in the woods, like an oven with a closed lid, tormenting people's hearts with stuffiness and irritability.

Only the inconspicuous little hotel on the corner of the street was shrouded in the shade of the trees, enjoying the rare coolness. It was quiet and peaceful here, as intoxicating as a forest at night. Sometimes you could hear the echo of the wind coming from the deeper alleys, like some kind of wonderful call, which aroused thousands of echoes between the empty sewer openings and the sewers full of green water. It must be said that this is really a good place to escape the summer heat, a refuge from the hustle and bustle of the world - especially when other places are occupied by the stench of slaughterhouses and the shouts of dock sailors, it is even more precious.

I walked into the hotel with the sound of wind chimes swinging under the eaves. The light was a little dim, but it didn't prevent me from seeing the surroundings clearly. The first floor was a classic tavern layout, with a counter, wine racks, clean and tidy tables and chairs, and a slightly fishy smell of sea salt coming from the kitchen. It was probably a local specialty, pickled silver fish or dried kelp.

The hotel owner was a bald old man with a bad temper. He hid behind the counter alone, facing the dim light of the kerosene lamp, rolling some cheap tobacco with dried silver pine leaves and putting the rolled cigarettes in the matchbox next to him. When Linger went over to ask if he had any vacancies, he saw that the matchbox was already filled with two rows of 24 simple cigarettes, enough for the old man to smoke from morning to night. But he didn't seem to think about doing this. He still silently spread out the dried leaves, put the tobacco in, and then rolled it slowly, as if the meaning of doing this was not the result, but the process.

He didn't even bother to look up, and answered Ling'er's question in a hoarse voice: "There are no rooms left, go somewhere else."

Hearing this, Ling Ge looked around and saw that there didn't seem to be any guests, so he frowned slightly: "That's not what Miss Rolena said when she introduced us here."

Hearing Rolena's name, the old man finally reacted. He looked up at Lingge, with a suspicious expression on his stubborn face: "Are you the child's guests?"

"Yes." Lingge nodded, but did not elaborate. After all, Alice's request for a custom-made swimsuit was not something that was suitable for boasting to outsiders. Besides, there was no need for him to lie. It was not far away and he could verify it in a few minutes' walk. Why would he lie?
"That's really rare."

The old man snorted coldly, put down the half-rolled tobacco leaf in his hand, stood up, dragged his probably disabled left leg, limped to the counter, opened the drawer, took out a bunch of rusty keys, untied three of them, handed them to Ling Ge, and said coldly: "Since she introduced it, I guess she has already told you the price, right?"

"Yes." Linger took the key, put the three one-shilling coins handed to him by Saint Xia Liya on the counter, and asked, "Three people, one night, is this the price?"

The old man fixed his eyes on the three coins on the counter. In the dim light of the kerosene lamp, he saw that the pattern on the front of the coin was a red dragon with a crown on its head, two swords under its feet and fire under its wings, while on the back was a queen wearing a crown, holding a scepter and with a noble and elegant temperament. He was a little surprised: he had seen this kind of coin before, although it was a long time ago, so long ago that the sky of the city had not yet been shrouded in lingering dark clouds and the sea had not yet been polluted by piles of garbage.

"What are the people of Great Britain doing in Rotterdam?" He picked up a coin and examined it. The inside of his fingers had turned black like coke due to long-term contact with tobacco leaves. His tone was full of disdain: "Are they here to buy ore or to build a factory?"

"No." Linger shook his head and said, "We are here for tourism." The old man looked at him as if he were a monster, suspecting that the young man in front of him was actually making fun of him. But after staring at each other for about half a minute, he saw that Linger's expression was still so serious and did not seem to be joking, so he reluctantly believed his words and replied without comment: "It's better to do so - I don't care whether you are sincere or have other purposes, anyway, you can say this here, don't say this to the residents of Zoet Street and Dika Street, otherwise, I can't guarantee what kind of treatment you will get."

Zoet Street and Dika Street are the two streets closest to the beach where Lingge and his team landed. In other words, they are the two streets closest to the polluted sea area. Naturally, they cannot stand such remarks. After all, ten years ago, residents of these two streets could enjoy the boundless sea view from their balconies and walk a few steps to the beach full of tourists. For others, a seaside holiday is a precious experience, but for them, it is just an ordinary thing.

But what about now? Standing on the balcony, all they can see is the filthy sea and piles of garbage on the sea. If they want to go out for a walk, they will be attacked by the stench. If they look up, they can only see the thick smog... Ling Ge can understand how strongly they resist this change without having to put his own feelings into their minds.

He also believed that there were definitely many residents in the city of Lotdana who had the same idea as them. Perhaps the only ones who could benefit from this urban industrial reform were the factory owners, capitalists, shipping companies, and the religious union that had taken the lion's share of the profits. But could these interest groups unite to ignore the public opinion of the entire city? Moreover, the religious union had always participated in various social undertakings with the image of safeguarding the rights of the common people. Their high reputation among the common people was the source of their ability to obtain a steady stream of talent and faith support even when intervening in the internal affairs of various countries. In this case, had they not considered that this approach would bring their image, which they had always maintained, to the bottom?
If the knowledgeable people in the religious union have realized this, then I am afraid that the time for the second reform of the city of Rotdana will not be too far away.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Lingge at the moment. He could tell from the old man's tone that he seemed to be quite familiar with Lorena. Based on his previous doubts, he decided to take this opportunity to get some information. So he handed the key to Saint Shalia and asked her to take Alice upstairs to see the room.

After the shepherdess dragged the golden-haired maid up the stairs, who was complaining in a low voice, "There is a room but she just said there is none," he sat down on the chair in front of the counter. He did not directly reveal his intention to inquire about Lorena, but asked a question: "Mr. Manager, when you heard me say that I was Miss Lorena's customer just now, you said it was very rare. Can I ask why? Is it that few people patronize Miss Lorena's store?"

“That’s one reason.”

The old man had already sat back in his original seat, rolling tobacco leaves while slowly replying, "Another reason is that Lorena is very picky about her customers. She almost never accepts business from customers she doesn't like."

"So what kind of guests does she like?" Ling asked, showing appropriate curiosity.

Of course, he really wanted to know why the girl who sounded very principled was so fond of foreign tourists like him whom he met for the first time.

The old man raised his chin and looked at him, as if he was looking at a brainless idiot: "I think I have made it clear enough just now, young man, it's not that complicated."

"Just because she likes it."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)