Chapter 6: The Stowaway

Hu Qiaoling checked Yao's phone at the airport for four full minutes.

She found a food-delivery app, a game about cats, and a folder of mango photos.

"Suspicious," she said, handing it back.

"I'm a simple man," said Yao, and walked on with his knees shaking.

The new burner was in the lining of his tote bag, bought in a Hengdian convenience store for forty yuan.

That was later.

In the hotel lobby, forty fans were waiting behind a rope with signs.

"BOAT, WE LOVE YOU!"

"EAT SOMETHING!"

Lanzhou walked through them in the glacier face, with a hand lifted two inches in greeting.

Yao followed three steps behind, carrying his coat, two bags and a thermos of goji tea.

He was thinking about nothing at all when a voice in the crowd said, "Who's the guy with the thermos?"

A phone came up, then eleven phones.

"He took the coat!"

"Why does he walk like that?"

"Is that the new assistant? He's cute?"

Yao walked faster, which only made it worse.

By the time the elevator closed, a clip of him juggling a coat and a thermos had been posted from three directions.

By dinner it had a hashtag.

#WhoIsTheAssistant had three million views.

The suite had a sitting room, a bathroom and two single beds with a folding screen painted with cranes between them.

Lanzhou stood in the middle of the carpet and looked at the screen.

Keep reading free with an account. Start I Ran His Biggest Hate Account, Then Became His Live-In Assistant from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.