Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

Bai Li followed them through the entrance of the Hongyun Hotel and then went inside.

The smell of cheap air freshener hits you.

The lighting was not very bright, and there was a simple counter at the front desk, covered in a layer of dust.

This place is less of a hotel,

It's more like a large, unlicensed tenement where the owner has converted his own yard into several small rooms.

Chen Tingting and the other two didn't seem to mind; perhaps they were used to this kind of life.

Now, on the contrary, they feel very confident because they have money in their pockets.

In the morning, Bai Li gave each of them fifty yuan. They ate a few meat buns and drank a bowl of soy milk, and the total cost was less than ten yuan.

The three of them now have a total of 140 yuan when they put their money together.

It costs 140 yuan, but it's only 25 yuan a day to stay here, which is enough for them to stay for almost a week!

Chen Tingting, with her head held high, walked to the front desk, ready to slam her hand on the table and call out to the proprietress.

"Boss! We've got a customer!"

A loud cry came from inside, followed by footsteps from the room behind the counter.

A middle-aged woman wearing pajamas, with greasy hair piled on top of her head, yawned as she walked out.

Her pajamas clung tightly to her body, outlining the rolls of fat around her waist.

The proprietress sleepily lifted her eyelids, and when she saw that it was Chen Tingting and her two companions,

The joy on his face at the arrival of the guest instantly turned into undisguised disgust.

"Oh, who do we have here? It's you three losers."

"What's wrong? Couldn't make it out there, so you've come back?"

She looked the three of them up and down, their revealing clothing smugly, and said:

"If you can't even afford a decent set of clothes, get out of here!"

Bai Li stood to the side, his brows slightly furrowed.

It seems there's some story between these girls and the landlady.

Being humiliated like this in front of her newly recognized elder brother made Chen Tingting's anger flare up instantly.

"Damn it, watch your mouth! I have money to stay in a hotel, and you're refusing business that's practically handed to you?"

The proprietress then noticed Bai Li standing at the back.

Her eyes swept over Bai Li's expensive trench coat and handsome face, and her disdain deepened.

"Oh, so it was an old man who got hit." She pursed her lips, drawing out her words:

"Young man, I think you're handsome and have good qualities, but your taste isn't very good."

After saying that, she turned her gaze back to Chen Tingting and sneered:

"You still have the nerve to say you're rich? You just need my money!"

"When you ran away a few months ago, you still haven't settled the bill for four nights' accommodation, have you forgotten?!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Tingting's arrogance immediately diminished.

She then remembered that they had left in a hurry and had indeed left unpaid room fees.

One hundred yuan was a huge sum of money for them at that time.

But she couldn't lose face, so she stubbornly retorted, puffing out her cheeks:

"I'll just give you what I owe you now, that'll be fine!"

As she spoke, she prepared to pick up her phone to pay.

But as soon as she put her hand into her pocket, she froze.

Four days would cost 100 yuan...

If they pay it back now, the three of them will only have about forty yuan left.

Let alone staying for a week, even two days wouldn't be enough.

The thought of this made her heart ache.

Who is the proprietress? She's been running a hotel in this place for over ten years; she's seen all kinds of people.

She saw through the girls' predicament at a glance, and the mockery on her face became even more obvious.

"What? Can't you get it out?"

She crossed her arms, leaned against the counter, and said slowly:

"Sorry, we don't offer hourly rates. If you can't afford it, get out!"

Every word the landlady said was an attack on the three girls' self-esteem.

Chen Tingting's face turned bright red. She wanted to yell back, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Because what the landlady said was true.

They really didn't have any money.

Li Jiaxin's face was also extremely pale. She kept her head down, and no one could see her expression.

But her clenched fists betrayed her inner anger.

Lin Xiaoshuang was also completely distraught, her small hands tightly gripping Bai Li's clothes, her body trembling slightly.

The confidence I had just built up because of having over a hundred yuan was shattered by humiliation at this moment.

I can't stay here any longer.

Chen Tingting gritted her teeth and finally made a decision.

They'd rather spend the whole night in an internet cafe than stay here for another second.

In internet cafes, sitting in an empty seat is free.

If you're lucky, you might run into some quirky young women or men you know, get a few cigarettes from them, or even a free bowl of instant noodles.

She tugged at Bai Li's sleeve, her voice barely audible, a far cry from her previous arrogance.

"Big brother... let's go to the internet cafe."

Go to an internet cafe.

Upon hearing these three words, Bai Li felt a mix of emotions.

He himself used to skip classes to spend the night at internet cafes when he was in school, but that was just for fun.

I never imagined that someone would use an internet cafe as a place to spend the night because they had nowhere else to go.

Sleeping on a sofa filled with the smell of smoke and instant noodles, surrounded by the noise of keyboards and mice, is an unpleasant experience just to think about.

Only then did he gain a deeper understanding of the remarkable survival skills of this group of energetic young women.

"Big brother, let's go." Chen Tingting's voice was already weak; all she wanted now was to leave this place that had made her lose face.

Bai Li didn't move. He roughly calculated that he still had 850 yuan left in his credit limit for the day.

The current crisis facing the "spirited young women" presents an opportunity to show off, slap faces, and gain favor, so let's use it here.

Bai Li took a step forward, calmly looked at the proprietress behind the counter, and asked:

"25 a day, right?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it stopped Chen Tingting, who was about to turn around, and the proprietress, who was about to continue mocking him.

The proprietress paused for a moment, then disdainfully extended two short, stubby fingers and tapped them on the greasy counter:

"Yes, it's twenty-five a day. Pay first, then get the keys. Not a penny less!"

Bai Li nodded, then asked, "How much is it per month?"

"What?"

This question caught everyone present off guard.