It was also winter.
The temperature in Portugal was noticeably higher than in Peiping. The moment Su Ning stepped off the plane, she was greeted by a warm and humid breeze, which significantly improved her mood.
Even though she had flown over on a chartered flight this time.
It was still less than ideal.
It was exhausting.
The Lisbon Palace Hotel.
When Su Ning and her massive entourage made their grand entrance, the passing attendants and guests could hardly resist taking a few extra glances. In this era, the East was still synonymous with poverty and inferiority.
Had it not been for their decent attire, someone would have already stepped forward to drive them away.
Even so.
No one came to receive them for quite a while. The idle attendants stood languidly, maintaining their polite facades while whispering and chuckling among themselves, even betting on when these Orientals would leave in disgrace.
Someone guessed one minute.
Because the moment they saw the price list, they would realize this was not a place they belonged.
"I don't think so."
Another attendant shook his head. "Even the poorest places have rich people. Have you read today's newspaper? Didn't that famous heartthrob fall for a wealthy Oriental woman? To be honest, while the love story is quite romantic and touching, what I care about is that this Oriental woman must be incredibly rich!"
Everyone smiled in understanding.
"Sure enough, a pretty face always works wonders. Oh, I really want to tell those heartbroken young ladies: who told you not to have that much gold?"
"Love requires gold."
"No wonder those lovers always say love is as brilliant as gold."
They spoke jokingly.
Soon, they turned back to their bet, and the attendant who had disagreed continued:
"Even if they have money, they still won't stay long. Probably a quarter of an hour—counting the time they spend arguing with the front desk about why they can't check in."
This statement was rather perplexing.
If they had the money to stay.
Why wouldn't they be allowed to stay? Was there a hotel that refused to do business?
But the other attendants had expressions of matter-of-fact certainty. Their hotel, the best in the area, only entertained noble and prestigious guests. Would they let a monkey check in just because it had money?
Good heavens.
That would lower the hotel's class!
The attendant who spoke looked rather smug. Just as he reached out to collect his winnings, his shoulder was bumped hard. He looked up angrily, only to find it was the rarely seen manager.
The manager was rushing hurriedly toward the group of Orientals.
From a few meters away.
They could clearly see the manager lowering his head and bowing toward the center of the group, seemingly explaining something. Finally, they saw it clearly—the center of this group of Orientals was actually a young woman?
An Oriental, young, a woman, wealthy, and remarkably holding high status... this...
Before he could fully wrap his head around it, his companion dragged him outside.
Stop daydreaming.
We have to carry the luggage for these Orientals.
Upon seeing the massive pile of luggage, exclamations like "Good Lord" and "Why is there so much?" never ceased. Under the supervision of several fierce-looking Orientals, they hauled the luggage trip after trip, like slaves.
That's right, these Orientals not only checked in.
But they also booked almost all the remaining rooms.
The luggage was plentiful and heavy, but it was obvious that most of it belonged to that woman. He even saw an Oriental unpack one of the bundles he had carried up, and inside was actually a table.
No wonder it was so heavy!
Then, he saw not only tables but also all sorts of unexpected items.
By the time they made their final trip.
The luxury suite had almost completely changed its appearance.
Even though he had seen many great aristocrats, wealthy merchants, and had even served royal family members, he had to admit—this Oriental woman's level of extravagance was absolutely second to none.
"Do you know who she is?"
"It's actually British pounds!"
"Hey, who cares who she is? I only know she's a generous and wealthy person. I pray to God she stays for a long time."
His companion came to his senses and kissed the crisp twenty-pound note as he spoke.
This was equivalent to three weeks of his salary.
Moreover, the Portuguese currency was quite unstable; they much preferred the hard currency of the British Empire.
"She will stay for a long time."
He raised an eyebrow and said, "Perhaps she'll even get married here. That's right, brother, you should have guessed it by now. This is the wealthy Oriental woman who captivated the famous heartthrob."
"Oh, then it makes sense."
His companion joked, "Her charm is simply beyond words. I think I'd be willing to give my life for her too; maybe she'd build me a coffin out of gold."
"Unfortunately, the lucky young Master Antonio has already firmly caught this golden bird."
He sighed.
When someone was as wealthy as this Oriental woman, the blinding light of her fortune made the world ignore everything else about her, leaving only frantic pursuit and flattery.
Similar conversations were taking place in every corner of Lisbon.
Men envied Antonio's good luck.
Women were heartbroken that the public heartthrob was getting married, and to an Oriental, no less.
Except for a few people.
They all believed that Su Ning's trip to Portugal this time was to take her vows with Antonio before God, and incidentally, to attend old Fernand's funeral.
...
The journey was exhausting.
By the time Su Ning woke up, it was already eleven in the morning. Her back and waist ached. Eating her breakfast while listening to Lin Sen's situation report made her feel extremely irritated.
"...That's all of it."
Screech.
The teeth-aching sound of a fork scraping against a plate was extremely unpleasant to the ear.
But no one dared to question it.
Su Ning idly scraped her plate and casually flipped through the newspapers, immediately noticing something amiss—these stories were actually all on the front pages.
The contents seemed varied, but the core message was pretty much the same.
They described how sweet and legendary this romance was.
How deeply in love they were.
That Antonio was even willing to give his life for her. They conveniently attached a photo of him looking deathly pale, as if he were about to follow his father to hell in the next second.
Su Ning chuckled softly.
She had underestimated this guy.
Could it be that once he stepped away from love, his brain suddenly started working?
She dropped her fork. Lin Sen had the breakfast cleared away but did not leave, bowing slightly... The next second, a voice that carried a smile yet sent shivers down the spine rang out:
"An epic and touching romance, is it?"
"Such things do exist."
"But it's no good if they've got the wrong person. Lin Sen, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes."
Assistant Lin nodded with a smile.
In a cramped break room.
A dejected attendant appeared. The others looked at him in surprise. "What's wrong? Did you run into a difficult and stingy guest?"
An insider immediately refuted this.
"This guy got lucky and was chosen to wait exclusively on that wealthy Oriental woman." A casual tip was twenty pounds; how could she be stingy?
So, did she make an extremely unreasonable demand?
Someone comforted him.
Rich people are all like this. They all have their quirks; just bear with it.
"I'd rather meet a guest with quirks, as long as they tip. But this is just awful... I didn't get a single tip, and I even lost quite a bit."
The attendant spoke in frustration. To curry favor with that wealthy Eastern woman, he had gone out of his way to collect numerous newspapers detailing her romance with Antonio. He swore they were all carefully curated, with any pessimistic articles or conspiracy theories completely weeded out—
After all, the story of Mr. Fernand from the previous generation was still known to quite a few people.
He had paid for all these newspapers out of his own pocket.
And now, it was all a total loss!
"How could this happen? Did you say something offensive?"
"Exactly. I know Easterners have a lot of customs, like the bride and groom not being allowed to see each other before the wedding. Maybe you violated a similar taboo."
"How could I?" the attendant retorted. "I didn't even get to see her. However, a young Eastern man who seemed to hold a rather high status did say one thing..."
"What was it?"
"Are the local Portuguese newspapers actually this ridiculous too?"
As the group of attendants scratched their heads in confusion, one of them suddenly had a flash of insight. He remembered the strange characters he had seen while moving the luggage, as well as the free newspapers that had suddenly been handed out on the streets a while back... The insults printed in them had been incredibly biting yet hilarious.
Could it be that the wealthy Eastern woman had orchestrated those articles?
Rumor had it that she was merely offended by a foreign correspondent.
Yet she pursued them all the way to their home country just to humiliate them.
He suddenly had a premonition.
Perhaps the "universal heartthrob" had not yet won the favor of the golden bird.
