The hotel had a taboo against any numbers associated with four; there was no fourth floor.
Xiao Xun took a shower and lay down on the bed. He watched television for a while, found it uninteresting, turned it off, and started playing on his phone.
Unexpectedly, the sounds from the next room began. It seemed deliberate, with the noise escalating. Weren't they afraid of complaints?
However, the commotion lasted less than three minutes before stopping. Those who might have wanted to complain probably hadn't even picked up their phones.
About five minutes later, he heard shouting and the sound of things being thrown from next door. Xiao Xun held his breath, listening intently. He realized it was a man cursing at a woman, and the woman was giving as good as she got.
He had considered calling the police. But as his hand reached for his phone, he paused. No, he should go over there.
Xiao Xun put on his clothes and knocked on the door next door. The door was opened by a middle-aged man in a bathrobe, with a bulging belly, a receding hairline, and a pair of glasses.
He asked defensively, "Who are you?"
Xiao Xun pointed to the adjacent room. "I'm your neighbor."
The middle-aged man moved to close the door, but Xiao Xun blocked it with his shoe.
The man became agitated. "What do you mean by this?"
At that moment, the woman inside seemed to have dressed and walked to the door. The slap mark on her face was clearly visible. Seeing Xiao Xun at the door, she pointed at the middle-aged man. "This shameless bastard, he's got a short fuse and blames me. Fine, you blame me. You promised six hundred but only gave three hundred? And you hit me when I asked for it."
The middle-aged man pointed at the woman. "The moment I got in bed, you started screaming. What are you screaming for?"
"I'll scream if I want to! If you don't pay me today, no one is going anywhere."
Xiao Xun said with a cold expression, "Shall I call the police for you two?"
The middle-aged man pointed at Xiao Xun. "Kid, let me tell you, mind your own business. It's no good for you. What can the police do to me if they come?"
Xiao Xun heard this and scoffed, "Oh! Then I really have to see."
Xiao Xun knew that calling the police would be useless. This was the best hotel in the city. Unless it was a major case, in a situation like today, the police would arrive, and before the complainant could even be seen, they would be sent away by the hotel manager.
So he was just putting on a show, seeing if the other party would fall for it.
Unexpectedly, the man opened the door wide, standing there righteously, waiting for Xiao Xun to make the call.
Xiao Xun knew that people staying here were usually not locals. If locals stayed here, they were usually people of consequence.
Seeing that Xiao Xun had been talking about calling the police for so long without doing so, the middle-aged man showed a smug expression. "Go on, call them! Why aren't you calling?"
Xiao Xun calmed himself. "Do you dare to say what you do?"
"Why should I tell you? Coming to defend a prostitute, you should show some backbone! Who do you think you are?"
Xiao Xun smiled. "So you don't know me. That makes things easier."
Saying that, he punched the man squarely on the bridge of his nose. The man instantly clutched his nose and half-crouched on the ground. "You dare hit me? I'm calling the police."
"Go ahead!"
At that moment, hotel security guards surrounded them. The captain of the security team held his walkie-talkie. "What's going on here?"
They had actually seen it on the monitors, but they didn't want to get involved. It was only when Xiao Xun made his move that they had no choice but to come over.
Looking down, they saw the middle-aged man squatting on the ground. The security captain hurried over. "Manager Wu, what happened to you?"
Xiao Xun heard this. "He's your hotel manager?"
A security guard, about Xiao Xun's age, whispered, "He's the top leader of Saint Roman Group in this city. This hotel is also one of Saint Roman's properties."
The middle-aged man, one hand covering his nose, pointed at Xiao Xun. "Kid, I'm telling you, you're in trouble."
Xiao Xun frowned. "Are you from Saint Roman Group?"
Seeing Xiao Xun's expression, the man thought he was intimidated by Saint Roman. He stood up with the help of the security captain. "Kid, let me tell you, don't even think about running."
Then he said to the security captain, "Take him down and give him a good talking-to. I'll take responsibility for anything that happens."
The security guards didn't dare to move. The security captain kept winking, signaling Xiao Xun to quickly go back into his room.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Xun walked up to Manager Wu with a cold face, scaring him into hiding behind the security captain. "What do you want? Don't do anything reckless!"
"Now, I'll give you two options. First, you pay the money you owe this lady, and you slapped her, right? Pay some compensation too. I won't extort you, a thousand will do."
He then looked at the woman. "Is that okay?"
The woman was too scared to speak.
Then Xiao Xun looked at Manager Wu. "There's a second option, would you like to hear it?"
Manager Wu, relying on the fact that the security guards were his men, thought the other party was just trying to scare him. "Who saw me hit her? You hit me. The surveillance cameras recorded everything. And you want me to choose between two options? I'll let you know my power right now."
Saying that, he called the police. After hanging up, he pointed at the guards. "You guys are useless, a bunch of cowards."
Xiao Xun smiled. "So, you don't choose either option? Then don't blame me."
He took out his phone and dialed a number. The call was answered quickly.
"President Xiao, you're still awake this late!"
"President Wang, you haven't gone abroad for vacation yet, have you?"
"No, no, my flight is tomorrow. Did something happen?"
"What's the name of our person in charge in Q City? Okay, now listen carefully. Call him immediately and tell him he's fired."
"Why this late at night? Besides, it's almost New Year's Eve. Can't we talk about it after the holiday?"
"Don't ask why. If he can get through this year, I'll make sure you all have a bad year."
After saying this, Xiao Xun hung up the phone.
Manager Wu, still gloating, said, "Acting, acting so well. Who are you telling will have a bad year? I think you'll be spending the New Year in the detention center. I'm telling you, I don't accept mediation."
Just then, Manager Wu's phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, whether from pain or fear, he didn't know.
He tremblingly pressed the answer button. "Hello! Boss, you're still awake so late!"
"I haven't offended anyone. What's wrong?"
He looked at Xiao Xun in shock. "I've been fired! For what? The president called directly..."
Manager Wu hung up and immediately knelt before Xiao Xun. "I didn't know you were the President's son. Please be magnanimous and forgive me! The New Year is coming, and I still have a mortgage and car payments. I can't lose this job!"
Xiao Xun was furious. He thought to himself, This Wang Sucheng dares to take advantage of me. I'll teach him a lesson after the holiday.
At that moment, the police arrived with two auxiliary officers. After turning on their body cameras, they asked, "Who reported the case?"
Seeing the police arrive, the woman quickly hid in her room.
All the security guards looked at Manager Wu, who was kneeling on the ground. The police patted Manager Wu on the shoulder, signaling him to stand up. "You reported the case?"
Manager Wu waved his hands. "No, no, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding."
"You're so old, why are you kneeling to him?"
Manager Wu stood up. "I wasn't kneeling, I just lost my footing and fell."
"And the injury on your nose?"
Manager Wu quickly said, "I accidentally bumped it on the door."