0100 Before Leaving

At eight in the evening, the hotel was hosting a bonfire banquet. When the private butler Moody handed the gilded invitation to Hou Rui, Jin Shanshan, exhausted from the day's activities, disinterestedly said, "Can we skip it? I just want to quietly eat something in the room and enjoy the view tonight."

"Alright, then dear, you rest for a while first," Hou Rui replied considerately.

"Mm, I'll take a nap first. When dinner arrives, you come get me," Jin Shanshan said, then walked directly into the guest bedroom. Meanwhile, Hou Rui grinned mischievously as he pulled Moody into a conspiratorial embrace.

During Jin Shanshan's short nap, Hou Rui went to the hotel gift shop to pick out a golden, sequined cocktail dress for her. He also rented a tuxedo for himself and arranged for Jin Shanshan to have her hair and makeup done through Moody.

At quarter to seven, Hou Rui bit his lip and woke Jin Shanshan. As soon as her eyes opened, she saw several hotel staff in the room—some holding the dress, others carrying jewelry, and a few lugging large makeup cases. Still groggy and confused, Jin Shanshan barely had time to resist before the attendants whisked her away, leaving Hou Rui alone to change slowly into his tuxedo.

Forty-five minutes later, dressed in the elegant evening gown with her hair swept high, Jin Shanshan appeared arm in arm with the equally spirited Hou Rui at the hotel's banquet.

The presence of this distinguished Eastern couple immediately drew the attention of many guests. While the wealthy attendees whispered and speculated about their identities, Hou Rui and Jin Shanshan calmly made their way to the most prominent seats in the front row.

After savoring an authentic Egyptian roasted camel feast, the couple enjoyed a post-dinner show filled with exotic Egyptian song and dance. The highlight was the genuine Egyptian belly dance performance. The dancers, clad in sheer veils and adorned with bells and ornaments on their waists, hips, hands, and feet, swayed their shoulders and hips with vibrant allure to the haunting melodies of the oud and ney. Hou Rui was nearly mesmerized, causing Jin Shanshan to repeatedly kick his foot under the table in annoyance.

Toward the finale, when a dancer arched her back like a cobra, her voluptuous curves and deadly seduction on full display, Hou Rui was so entranced that he nearly leaned forward onto the table to get a better view.

Unable to tolerate it any longer, Jin Shanshan snapped, raising her slender, stiletto-like heel and stamping it firmly on Hou Rui's foot.

"Ah!" a portly middle-aged man at the neighboring table suddenly shrieked and jumped up.

When the bonfire banquet concluded, Hou Rui and Jin Shanshan, not in the habit of going to bars, returned directly to the presidential suite. About an hour and a half later, after their intimate time together—still draped beneath a single sheet—they sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, sipping champagne in a tender atmosphere.

Hou Rui gently kissed Jin Shanshan's forehead, then her lips. Just as he was about to continue, Jin Shanshan, giggling uncontrollably, pushed him aside. "Hey, don't tease me. I'm not fully recovered yet!"

"Hehe, then I'll wait for you for half an hour," Hou Rui said with a smarmy smile.

"Hey, Hou Rui, how about we immigrate here someday?"

"Immigrate? Where did that idea come from all of a sudden?"

Jin Shanshan didn't answer immediately. She reached out toward the luminous moon and flipped her wrist, turning her palm upward as if she were holding the moon. In the distance, the towering pyramids appeared as if pressed beneath her hand—a playful optical illusion.

"Because the scenery here is truly beautiful! The desert is a sea of death, yet on its edge, we're enjoying such breathtaking views. It's utterly enchanting," Jin Shanshan continued, rolling her wrist again to mimic holding a caravan of camels traveling at night.

"Heh, such beauty doesn't come cheap—five thousand dollars a night. With your two hundred thousand, we could immigrate here for about forty days and then return home empty-handed," Hou Rui teased, his hand tracing the smooth, delicate skin of Jin Shanshan's arm.

"Pfft, killjoy! Are all your romantic cells dead? How could I ever be blind enough to fall for a guy like you?" Jin Shanshan slapped his hand away, her dream deflated.

"Too late to regret now!" Hou Rui said, pulling back the sheet that covered them and slipping beneath it to pin Jin Shanshan against the silk carpet by the window.

At two in the morning, lying on the enormous presidential bed with his arms wrapped around Jin Shanshan, Hou Rui suddenly opened his eyes. After confirming she was sound asleep with steady breathing, he quietly slid out of bed.

Thirty seconds later, Hou Rui stood on the suite's balcony with his phone in hand. Keeping a close watch on the sleeping Jin Shanshan, he dialed the contact number of their organization.

The next morning, Jin Shanshan was full of vigor, ready to face a long day battling the sluggish Cairo City Hall. Hou Rui, however, was a completely different sight. Dark circles under his eyes, disheveled hair, and a groggy gaze made him resemble an eighty-year-old man. He even supported his back as he dragged his feet, much to Jin Shanshan's frustration.

"You little monkey, did you go thieving last night? Why do you look so out of it?"

"Wife, doing what you make me do is way more tiring than stealing. Ouch, my back, my back."

"You little pervert! I warned you, and I warned you again."

"Alright, alright, I’m sorry. Can you make me a cup of coffee and then we’ll get going?"

"Now that’s more like it."

Ten minutes later, the respectful Moody delivered two breakfasts. Despite her teasing words, Jin Shanshan was attentive to her husband’s needs, ordering not just a black coffee that could hurt the stomach but a hearty and nutritious breakfast for Hou Rui. She obediently sat beside him at the table.

"Thanks, darling. I’ll eat right away. Let’s work hard today and try to get the money by one o’clock—then blow it all!" Hou Rui joked exaggeratedly at the sight of fruit, bacon, eggs, and white bread, touched inwardly. Yet when no one was looking, he slyly pocketed a handful of sugar cubes.

Not long after, when the hotel car dropped them off at city hall, they were greeted by a locked iron gate. Today was a pharaoh’s birthday—a public holiday in Egypt. All civil servants had the day off, leaving the ambitious Jin Shanshan clutching a pile of documents, utterly bewildered by the situation.

Finally, Hou Rui mustered courage and approached, taking the file bag from Jin Shanshan’s hands and disarming her. Then he quietly suggested, “Dear, since no one’s working today, why don’t we take the chance to relax? We can continue the paperwork tomorrow.”

"Alright, then let’s visit the Sphinx," Jin Shanshan agreed, reasonable as ever. Since arriving in Cairo, she hadn’t been to a single tourist attraction. This was the perfect opportunity.

"Let's go! Destination: the Sphinx," Hou Rui declared, grabbing Jin Shanshan’s arm as they returned to the car.

Back at the hotel, they changed clothes and grabbed a camera. When they stepped out again, they had transformed into a happy pair of tourists, heading straight for the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids of Giza.

They spent the entire day enjoying themselves to the fullest. Hou Rui took hundreds of photos of Jin Shanshan, and they toured every pyramid and tomb in the area. Only as the sun began to set did they reluctantly begin their journey back.

Exhausted yet still full of youthful energy like a little tiger, Jin Shanshan collapsed into the car seat, leaning against Hou Rui as they urged the driver to hurry back so they could eat and sleep. But the driver regretfully explained, “Sorry, the car doesn’t have enough fuel to make it back. We need to stop at a gas station nearby.”

“Anything’s fine, just don’t make me walk,” Jin Shanshan pouted coquettishly.

“All right, please stay seated,” the driver said as he started the engine and headed toward a gas station twelve kilometers away.

Shortly after arriving, while the driver began refueling, Hou Rui told Jin Shanshan he needed to use the restroom and got out with the driver.

“Is there any entertainment scheduled at the hotel tonight?” Hou Rui asked as he returned from the restroom, chatting casually beside the gas pump.

“The hotel invited a famous tenor and arranged a fire dance performance,” the driver replied without hesitation, clearly used to entertaining gossip-hungry tourists.

“What’s this fire dance about?” Hou Rui inquired further.

“It’s basically a dance with flaming torches, with all performers dressed in ancient Egyptian costumes. The spectacle is quite thrilling.”

“Haha, hearing that makes me really look forward to it,” Hou Rui laughed. As the gas tank filled, the driver turned to return the nozzle, but Hou Rui seized the moment, stealthily dumping a large handful of sugar cubes into the fuel tank under the guise of using his body as cover. The driver locked the tank and got back into the car, which then started to drive straight back toward the hotel.

About ten minutes later, the hotel’s towering spires came into view, but at that very moment, the car suddenly sputtered and died.