<h4>Chapter 957: Chapter 957: Check-in</h4><h4></h4>


    "I’m not going in!" Zhuo Lin said, overwhelmed with shame.


    He tried to turn around and leave, but Yu Feixue grabbed him firmly.


    "What’s this? Is this how your hotel treats its guests? Call your manager out—I’d like to ask, what kind of policy allows a doorman to block guests from entering? Who gave you this authority!" Yu Feixue was fearless and defiant.


    The doorman, startled by Yu Feixue’s assertiveness, quickly realized who she was—he had seen her with the gentleman earlier. But the issue wasn’t about stopping her at all.


    He hurriedly exined, "Miss, please don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t stopping you from entering; I was stopping this individual. He isn’t a guest of our hotel—out of concern for the safety andfort of other guests, we cannot let him in."


    Only heaven knows how he could dare stop a guest from entering!


    Did he not want to keep his job?!


    "Oh, well let me tell you something: he *is* a guest! We’re here to help him check in. What now? Are you saying he still can’t enter?"


    He Weng, who had turned around by then, raised a card in his hand.


    It was the hotel’s VIP card.


    He Weng had been in business for years and frequently traveled to Harbor City. Because of this, he had also picked up a bit of the localnguage, so having their VIP card wasn’t surprising at all.


    The doorman began to feel conflicted.


    He had been instructed by the top-floor guest to keep Zhuo Lin out. However, Zhuo Lin was now evidently a guest too—he no longer had the authority to block his entry.


    Even if the manager came over, they wouldn’t back him up. It wasn’t as though the hotel was run by Mr. Zhuo! Their actual employer wasn’t the type to look down on people based on their status.


    The doorman knew that if he didn’t handle this carefully, losing his job was inevitable.


    He promptly forced a friendly smile. "Of course, that’s absolutely fine! Mr. He, we always wee our guests. How could we ever refuse anyone entry? This was just a misunderstanding. Mr. Zhuo mentioned wanting to meet someone, and for our guests’ safety, we naturally couldn’t just let anyone in casually. Again, this was all just a misunderstanding." His profession practically demanded the art of smiling politely and saying whatever was necessary to appease; this was his job.


    "Mr. Zhuo, pleasee in."


    Internally, the doorman was cursing the situation. The top-floor Mr. Zhuo had explicitly requested him to keep someone out, even giving him a generous tip to ensure it. But now it appeared impossible to follow through with that n.


    Fuming, Zhuo Lin felt deeply frustrated. Every time he came here, the doormen and security staff kept him outside.


    At the core of it, wasn’t it just because he had no money? If he had money and could afford to stay here, he could meet whomever he wanted.


    No one would care to interfere.


    Yu Feixue shot a disdainful nce at the doorman and strode inside with Zhuo Lin, her head held high.


    He Weng handled Zhuo Lin’s check-in process.


    To him, it was akin to doing a good deed.


    The three of them headed upstairs.


    The elevator attendant sneaked a nce at Zhuo Lin from the corner of his eye.


    No alternatives—while the other two looked decently dressed, Zhuo Lin resembled a vagrant off the streets.


    But professional ethics didn’t allow them to make guests feel ufortable.


    So the attendant could only take discreet nces, either with his peripheral vision or using the reflective elevator panels.


    Truth be told, Zhuo Lin had indeed spent recent days living like a homeless person.


    Not only had he been expelled from school, he couldn’t afford rent on his apartment, and thendlord had kicked him out. With no money for a hotel, he had no ce to stay.


    The nature of his expulsion had been deeply disgraceful, leaving him too ashamed to turn to close friends for help.


    Fortunately, the weather hadn’t turned cold yet.


    He had been resting on park benches, or asionally on benches under nearby bridges.


    These past few days, he’d been living worse off than most vagrants.


    Inside the room, He Weng nced at Zhuo Lin’s clothes, which were clearly unsuitable.


    He pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of loose shorts from his luggage to give Zhuo Lin—at minimum, it was better than letting him continue wearing his current outfit that reeked like rancid vegetables.


    "Take a shower first, clean yourself up. Then we’ll go have lunch, and we can talk during the meal."


    At this point, He Weng no longer harbored any expectations.


    Zhuo Lin looked far too disheveled—expecting him to be a design prodigy seemed absurd.


    The mental blow was as harsh as a killing strike.


    The three of them went to dine in the hotel’s top-floor revolving restaurant.


    Notably, the venue offered a panoramic view of Harbor City.


    Zhuo Lin ate ravenously, while He Weng calmly sliced his steak. At least now Zhuo Lin appeared somewhat like a normal person—although his borrowed clothes looked oversized on his thin frame, resembling a child in oversized garments. Zhuo Lin was incredibly slim, almost reed-like.


    Watching Zhuo Lin, Yu Feixue felt heartache. Once, Zhuo Lin had been the prince of her dreams; it was hard to reconcile that someone so talented and promising could fall to such a sorrowful state.


    "Take it slow. If you’re still hungry, we can order more."


    Zhuo Lin swallowed a mouthful of food, his face rife with embarrassment.


    He hadn’t eaten properly for nearly a week. Without money, how could one buy food?


    Out of sheer desperation, he had been visiting supermarkets to eat free samples. But these weren’t enough to satisfy hunger, and while the staff initially greeted him warmly, after seeing hime repeatedly, their attitude started to sour.


    Being someone with a strong sense of pride, he began avoiding ces where he was treated coldly, opting only for areas where staff didn’t re at him.


    One could only imagine how starving he must’ve been by then.


    "I’m sorry—I lost myposure," Zhuo Lin admitted, realizing how inappropriate his behavior seemed.


    "Feixue, why did youe looking for me? Aren’t you in Modu? How did you end up here in Harbor City?" Thankfully, he still had some rity left.


    Yu Feixue stole a nce at He Weng.


    "This is He Weng, a good friend of mine and also a rtive of my younger sister. We came here specifically to find you. He Weng runs a private custom design business and is searching for an ideal designer. I rmended you, which is why he wanted to discuss possibilities with you."


    Only now did Zhuo Lin realize why they hade. He lowered his head and quietly finished the food on his te.


    After wiping his mouth clean with a napkin, as though he had made up his mind, he raised his head to face He Weng and Yu Feixue.


    "I sincerely apologize for letting you see me in such a state. To be honest, you’ve made a wasted trip. I’m no longer a design student at any university. Justst month, I was expelled—that offense was supposedly for giarizing someone else’s design. I apologize for making you travel all this way."


    His indifferent tone conveyed both resignation and buried anger.


    Yu Feixue was stunned.


    She had considered the possibility of Zhuo Lin being expelled but never imagined it would be due to giarism.