This is too awkward.

In the gap between Shi Ye inspecting the room, Sheng Xia thought of many excuses for himself, but in the end, what came out was: “Um… haha, my mom really likes the Aviator, so she likes to put up posters in the room…”

After saying this, he just wanted to jump into the Erhai Lake and wash his brain… Not only did he babble lies and deceive others today, but he also dragged his own mother into it.

Originally, Shi Ye was looking up at the skylight on the attic roof. When he heard Sheng Xia’s explanation, he raised an eyebrow, and instead of making fun of him as he originally intended, he gave the kid some face and just said, “Oh, your mom sounds interesting.”

Seeing Shi Ye showing a keen interest in the room, Sheng Xia was anxious and flustered, but it wasn’t good to take him elsewhere after what he had done, so he gritted his teeth and said, “The musical instruments inside… are just decorations, actually, this is a themed room, have you heard of it, Teacher Shi Ye?”

Finally coming up with what seemed like a reasonable excuse, Sheng Xia’s confidence grew, and he looked like he was introducing the room while discreetly tidying up with his hands, “Actually, very few people book this room, after all, there aren’t many who really understand music, so it’s been empty… Occasionally, I just put some odds and ends in it, but it’s really a themed room, and the musical instruments inside… you’re welcome to use them, but please be mindful of the volume at night… this room actually…”

“Alright, themed room, I got it,” Shi Ye, seeing his anxious explanation, found it amusing and directly interrupted, “It’s very creative.”

Actually, the room was quite nice, spacious, with windows on both sides, and even a skylight on the top, so the lighting should be good. The overall layout was simple and clean, with a small balcony planted with some flowers and plants. There was a bathroom, and the bed in front looked cozy and comfortable, although the musical instruments and items were placed somewhat haphazardly, it did give a homely feeling.

There were traces of someone else’s life, but Shi Ye didn’t feel uncomfortable. Perhaps it was because he was really tired that day, or maybe because he quite liked this uniquely decorated attic.

While talking, he put down all his luggage and went to wash his hands in the bathroom. Only then did Sheng Xia remember that he needed to get new toiletries and bed linens for the guest. He hurriedly ran downstairs to get them.

Upon entering the room, he found Shi Ye already sitting at the piano, opening the cover and touching the black and white keys while looking at a score Sheng Xia had placed on the piano.

Seeing Sheng Xia come in, Shi Ye didn’t put down what he was holding. He gestured on the keys according to the score with his fingers, silently practicing the unnamed song.

Sheng Xia didn’t disturb him and quietly made the bed on the side, while also discreetly putting away some strange-looking things into his bag, planning to take them away later. He also put the new towels and bath towels in the bathroom.

Shi Ye was looking at a piece of music he wrote a few days ago after waking up from a nap. Sheng Xia was actually a bit uneasy, not knowing what Shi Ye would think after seeing it. At the moment, his mood was like when he was called to the teacher’s office when he was a child, and the teacher held his test paper, with an unknown score written on it.

But strangely, after Shi Ye finished reading, he didn’t make any comments. He put the score back in place, covered the piano, and asked Sheng Xia, “Do your inn’s guests not need to provide ID cards?”

Reminded, Sheng Xia remembered this matter, “?! …They do.”

“Then go downstairs and register,” Shi Ye stood up, “After I’m done, I’ll rest. I’m very tired today.”

Sheng Xia’s heart sank… This is a big problem.

How to register? Even if he registered, there was no room available for Shi Ye to check in. What would he say if asked by the receptionist…

“Um… I’ll go register and bring it up for you, Teacher Shi Ye. It’s not troublesome for you to go downstairs,” Sheng Xia tried to speak in his usual tone, “Teacher Shi Ye… after all, you’re somewhat of a public figure. I’ll personally handle your identity information later, so that it won’t go through the receptionist’s hands and avoid any trouble.”

Looking at Sheng Xia, who was obviously nervous, Shi Ye thought that everything the boy did today was quite strange.

He originally wanted to refuse, after all, it wasn’t quite appropriate to hand over his ID card to someone he had only met a few times, but when the words were on his lips, his phone suddenly rang. He took it out and looked at the caller ID, frowned, knowing that he couldn’t ignore this call. But Sheng Xia was still waiting for his response. Unable to do anything, he could only take out his ID card and give it to Sheng Xia, then took his phone and went to the balcony to answer the call.

It’s not that Shi Ye was fearless, but mainly because he didn’t have much to fear.

Clutching Shi Ye’s ID card nervously, Sheng Xia went downstairs, constantly sighing in his heart that he was quite lucky, and things went quite smoothly…

But he couldn’t be happy for too long, as there were more important things to do now.

First, he sent a WeChat message to Xie Hong, saying: “Hong Jie, Teacher Shi Ye has paid for the room for the next week by himself. He said you don’t need to worry, and don’t ask too much.”

Xie Hong quickly replied: “…After so many years, he’s still the same. I can’t be bothered to talk to him. Hey, good boy, let me tell you, he has a bit of a temper, so don’t feel burdened when you’re with him, and don’t let the idol halo shatter. Don’t talk about him coming here to anyone else, tell your mom and them as well, and then if he’s willing in the next few days, you can take him out to hang out, if not, you…”

Sheng Xia thought that Shi Ye’s temper wasn’t that bad, and he was quite easy to talk to.

After dealing with Xie Hong’s instructions, he went to the shop next door that sells local specialties. He walked in with familiarity and found Zhao Wu at the mahjong table, shuffling the tiles.

As Zhao Wu was touching the tiles, she listened to Sheng Xia whispering to her. Sheng Xia said that Xie Hong had a friend from Beijing who couldn’t book a hotel because it was too late, so he wanted to let that person stay in his attic temporarily tonight, and he had already paid for the room.

Zhao Wu was usually very accommodating when it came to making money, but she still reminded him as usual: “Tell that person not to touch your piano or mess with your things… Oh, wait a minute, Is it a man or a woman?”

“A man,” Sheng Xia thought for a moment, lowering his voice, “He’s a quite famous guitarist, so when you come back later, you can’t look like you haven’t heard of him, it’s impolite. Just say you’ve heard his songs and like them…”

Zhao Wu was now completely uninterested in any famous guitarists. She was only concerned about why she couldn’t draw the two bamboo tiles. She furrowed her brows and threw out the five character tile, interrupting Sheng Xia, “No matter who he is, don’t always hang out with strange people. Go back first, and when I come back, I’ll make you some egg dumplings.”

Sheng Xia didn’t respond, but sat beside Zhao Wu watching her self-draw the two bamboo, win a full hand with a flower, and smiled and said that if she had good luck tonight, she would play a bit more. He didn’t want supper, he wanted to go back to his room to watch a movie.

Zhao Wu smiled and agreed, then took out a hundred from the winnings and handed it to him as a prize, telling him to go back early and wash up and sleep, don’t stay up late playing with your phone, and take care of your eyes.

Sheng Xia left contentedly with the hundred yuan, and only after returning to his own inn did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Alright, everything seemed to be going smoothly. The plan was successful halfway, at least he successfully kept his idol at home.

Before going upstairs, he carefully looked at Shi Ye’s ID card under the light.

It was probably a photo taken a few years ago. At that time, Shi Ye’s hair was a bit shorter, his gaze was sharp, and his brows were slightly furrowed. Sheng Xia pointed at Shi Ye’s eyes in the photo with his index finger, then carefully put it away without looking at it anymore.

But when he went upstairs, he knocked on the door for a long time without any response from inside. Sheng Xia pondered outside his attic for a long time. He didn’t want to intrude recklessly, thinking, maybe Shi Ye was washing up? So in the end, Sheng Xia, caught between advancing and retreating, stood at the door of his attic, waiting dumbly for nearly fifteen minutes.

When Sheng Xia heard the sound of the wooden floor being stepped on, he came back to his senses and knocked on the door again.

This time, Shi Ye quickly opened the door and asked him, “Done?”

Sheng Xia replied affirmatively, handing over the ID card without looking at his bare upper body.

“Oh, let me book three days of room first, I’ll pay you directly, don’t let Xie Hong handle it,” Shi Ye said, turning to rummage through his wallet, “Also, Xie Hong mentioned that you would take me out to see the area, right? If you have the time and are willing, let’s do it? I do need a private guide, as for the fee, you can decide how much is appropriate, and I’ll pay you directly.”

After a few lies, Sheng Xia had already begun to feel like Pinocchio. But the lies came out easily now, “Hong jie has already transferred the room fee and… the guide fee to me, Teacher Shi Ye, you don’t need to pay.”

After saying this, he emphasized again, “she has booked a week’s room for you.”

Shi Ye’s hand paused when he took out his wallet, his expression somewhat helpless, “Xie Hong is really…”

But he didn’t delve deeper into it, just took out his phone and sent a message to Xie Hong: Thanks, I won’t bother you in a few days.

Xie Hong thought Shi Ye was telling her not to meddle, she wasn’t one to fuss around unnecessarily, so she replied: Don’t thank me, do as you please.

Two people who didn’t like to waste words were fooled by Sheng Xia’s clumsy lies.

Sheng Xia even thought about how to explain to these three parties if things were revealed… to Xie Hong, he would say he wanted to invite his idol to stay for a few days as a gesture of goodwill. To Shi Ye, he would say not to worry about the money, and just consider it as him giving some publicity to their inn… as for his mother… she probably wouldn’t expose anything.

He didn’t understand why he didn’t want Shi Ye to spend money at his house. He couldn’t figure it out, but he just didn’t want to.

At this moment, Sheng Xia’s panic had gradually subsided, and he watched Shi Ye towel off his hair with a calm heart, wondering if he should tear down the posters on the wall? Would that seem too deliberate? Forget it, why add fuel to the fire unnecessarily… it’s a pity to tear them down anyway, it’s not that he likes them, it’s his mother who likes them, it’s his mother who likes them, it’s his mother who likes them…

“It’s okay, I’ll rest first,” Shi Ye finally said to Sheng Xia, “Little tour guide, see you tomorrow.”