Chapter 351: Reasoning

**Chapter 351: Being Reasonable**

"Xiao Qiang, sit properly."

Xiao Qiang froze when his father’s tone grew more serious.

But after a moment, he started swaying from side to side again.

Shen’s mom said apologetically, “He’s just being a handful. Don’t mind him—let’s eat first.”

The cold dishes were brought out first, which clearly didn’t interest a child, so Xiao Qiang wandered away.

Ye Xiaoxiao observed quietly. She thought that for a boy his age, having trouble focusing and constantly fidgeting might be signs of hyperactivity.

If not addressed early, it could affect his schoolwork and daily life.

But since Ye Xiaoxiao wasn’t very close with the Shen family, she felt awkward about suggesting something so sensitive, so she kept her thoughts to herself.

The restaurant was huge, but most people dined in the main hall—there were no private rooms.

There weren’t many customers around, so no one stopped Xiao Qiang from running about.

When the servers began bringing out the hot dishes, Xiao Qiang probably spotted something he liked and darted over.

A server was carrying a fish dish when Xiao Qiang plowed right into her leg.

Luckily, the server stepped aside just in time—avoiding spilling the food on the boy’s head.

Xiao Qiang burst into loud cries.

"Mom! Waaah!"

Zhang Yuexia stood up and pulled Xiao Qiang into her arms. "What’s the big idea? Watch where you’re going! Didn’t you see the child nearby?"

A five- or six-year-old barely came up to an adult’s thigh, and had suddenly darted over—the server hadn’t seen him.

Even Miao Cuifang, who was sitting down, was startled.

"First, check if the child is hurt."

Xiao Qiang was fine, but the server was now splattered with soup and sauce.

"Ma’am, your child ran into me," the server tried to explain.

Zhang Yuexia snapped, "He’s just a kid! You're a server—if you can’t even carry dishes carefully, how do you expect to handle something serious? Do you think you could ever make things right if something happened to our son?"

Shen’s mom stood up, checked on Xiao Qiang first, then turned to the flustered server.

"That’s enough. It wasn’t intentional, and Xiao Qiang was the one running around. We should’ve been watching him more closely—it’s our fault."

Though the child’s ear-splitting wails made him seem like the victim, the server had done nothing wrong.

Shen’s mom spoke gently to the server, "Miss, go get cleaned up. Don’t sweat the dish—even if it got ruined, we’ve got it covered. Just have them whip up another one."

"Mom, why are you taking their side?"

Zhang Yuexia huffed.

In the end, it was Shen Qiuyu's elder brother, Shen Zhibang, who came over and made Zhang Yuexia sit down with the child, before she reluctantly left.

The waitress thanked Shen’s mother and hurriedly ran off.

She looked rather aggrieved.

The people in the restaurant quickly tidied up the area, and the manager even sent over an additional dish.

Shen’s father and mother, to entertain their in-laws and Xiao Xiao, naturally did not want any unexpected incidents, so upon seeing that Shen Qiang was fine, they invited everyone to start eating.

Shen Zhibang didn’t give it much thought, but Zhang Yuexia sat down in a huff and ate unhappily.

Seeing the atmosphere was not good, Ye Xiaoxiao suggested going to the hotel with Duan Hong after finishing the meal.

“We need to go home to get our luggage, right? Mom, you can come with us.”

Miao Cuifang was worried that Ye Xiaoxiao and the others might not find the place.

The room had been booked by Zhang Yuexia, and since everyone had finished eating,

Zhang Yuexia got up, “I’ll go with you. I can take Xiaoxiao to the hotel and help carry the luggage.”

Miao Cuifang: “That’s very kind of you, Yuexia.”

Zhang Yuexia: “Don’t mention it, it saves you all the trouble of running back and forth.”

Zhang Yuexia asked her husband to watch the children and went home with her parents first, “Xiao Qiang likes to play around, don’t go to Qiuyu’s place; it might disturb her rest.”

Hearing her daughter-in-law being so considerate, Shen’s mother was naturally pleased.

"We'll take the bus back first. You take Xiao Xiao and the others to the hotel and head home early too."

Zhang Yuexia: "Got it, Ma."

Ye Xiaoxiao went home first to get her and Duan Hong's luggage, then they headed to the hotel together.

Shen Qiuyu told Xiao Xiao, "Come early tomorrow, okay?"

Ye Xiaoxiao nodded, "Sure."

Zhang Yuexia even helped carry the luggage on the way. Ye Xiaoxiao thought that while she was unreasonable at times, she was decent to family.

The hotel was right across from Shen Qiuyu’s neighborhood. There was no telling what the rooms were like, but the sign on the first floor looked rather small.

Once they got there, Zhang Yuexia showed the reservation proof at the front desk and received two keys.

"Honestly," she said pointedly, "I think since you're both women, you could've shared a room. But Qiuyu insisted I book two, so I did."

Ye Xiaoxiao had originally planned to find her own place, but since Shen Qiuyu said she’d arranged everything, she didn’t make a fuss about it. "It’s more convenient to stay separately."

Zhang Yuexia held the keys. "Whatever you prefer. We know how to treat guests right."

The rooms were on the second floor. Ye Xiaoxiao got a weird feeling as she went upstairs but didn’t say anything.

Zhang Yuexia walked them to the door and set the luggage aside.

"I’ll leave you here. The two rooms are next to each other—just use your keys to go in."

"Alright, thanks, Yuexia-jie."

Ye Xiaoxiao accepted the keys.

Once Zhang Yuexia was gone, she opened the door and looked inside.

The room was cramped, with only a single bed. It was unclear whether it had even been cleaned—the bed faced the door, and brown stains dotted the white bedsheet.

Ye Xiaoxiao thought she must've opened the wrong door.

Duan Hong saw it too. Though she could rough it in any harsh conditions during missions, their polished, high-maintenance boss didn’t seem like someone who could handle this kind of discomfort.

Duan Hong asked uncertainly, "We're actually staying here?"

Ye Xiaoxiao slowly closed the door.

"I didn't spot a bathroom in the room."

It was already the late 1980s—proper business hotels offered full-size beds, private bathrooms, and even room service for breakfast and evening snacks.

Shen City was a proper city; there had to be decent hotels around.

So Ye Xiaoxiao hadn’t given it a second thought before arriving.

Even when she saw it was just a small inn, she didn’t bat an eye.

Now, though, it was clear the place was pretty lousy.

Duan Hong, drawing on past experience, said, "Places like this usually have shared bathrooms at the end of the hallway."

Ye Xiaoxiao let out a sigh.

Duan Hong suggested, "Should I ask if they have better rooms?"

Ye Xiaoxiao cut straight to the point, "Forget it. Let's find somewhere else. Even if they do have better rooms, I'd still be grossed out by the hygiene here."

Duan Hong went along with Ye Xiaoxiao and the two headed back downstairs to check out.

"If you check out now, we can't refund your payment," the receptionist said with disinterest.

Ye Xiaoxiao asked, "How much is a night here?"

"Five kuai a night. You paid three days upfront."

Ye Xiaoxiao was speechless.

Thirty yuan total for both of them over three nights.

Thirty yuan was good money back then, but compared to hotels in the capital, this was already very cheap.

Well, no refund then. She was exhausted and had no fight left in her—arguing would just waste time.

Without another word, she turned on her heel and left with Duan Hong.