CHAPTER 113: CHAPTER 112: BIG HAND HOLDS LITTLE HAND

Sienna Thornton didn’t go in immediately. She stood outside the door, arms crossed, her eyes filled with a probing look as she swept Simon Forrester up and down a few times, raising an eyebrow slightly and sneering: "Isn’t the shower not working? Where did you manage to bathe this time?"

"There’s another bathroom downstairs."

"Since there’s another bathroom downstairs, the upstairs shower not working shouldn’t affect your life, right? Alright, I’ll contact the bathroom supplier tomorrow morning to come take a look."

Her speech was brisk, her logic precise, addressing and solving the problem in a few words without a single loophole. With that said, if Simon Forrester still insisted on pestering her to go inside, he would be shameless!

As she turned to walk a few steps away, she heard a mocking laugh from the man behind her: "Aren’t you curious why the newly installed bathroom equipment would malfunction? What if there are other issues? What if those room types with only one bathroom also encounter this problem, would you handle it with this attitude?"

Sienna Thornton: "..."

She truly had no understanding of plumbing issues; Simon Forrester’s statement about "those room types with only one bathroom also encountering this problem" genuinely scared her.

Simon Forrester seemed determined to distress her further and jabbed, "To my knowledge, a few ’bed and breakfast reviewers’ checked in today. Do you want these people to publicly criticize your bed and breakfast for its faulty equipment?"

This sentence was like a sharp arrow, piercing Sienna Thornton’s tumultuous heart and making it bleed. She gritted her teeth, turned back, and walked into Simon Forrester’s room in a few strides.

"Lead the way, and I’ll go check it out with you," she said.

Simon Forrester chuckled, "I’m going upstairs to change clothes."

She stood downstairs waiting for him, taking the opportunity to look around.

The light luxury room type had three floors, with a kitchen and bathroom, living and dining room downstairs, and a viewing platform leading to a natural lake. The viewing platform was very large, built entirely of natural wood and even equipped with a hot spring area.

It was the best-view room in the entire estate, with the largest area and most user-friendly design. Spending a day here would cost a few dozen Grandfather Maos.

Sienna Thornton hadn’t expected that the most popular "The Rockwell" would be occupied by Simon Forrester. Surely, he hadn’t just booked it today; it must’ve been reserved half a month ago.

This guy must’ve been prepared all along to come here, so why did he feign silence when she sent him the invitation letter?

Sienna Thornton thought deeply, habitually pacing, and unwittingly walked to the viewing platform. Her gaze was drawn to a book that was one-third read, lying flat on a wicker lounge chair.

"The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School." She instinctively read out the title.

It was a legal-themed novel by American author Scott Turow, known in Chinese as "One L: The Turbulence of First Year in Harvard Law School."

Sienna Thornton had finished reading this book during her first month in the United States.

Although the memories of that initial period in the United States seemed distant and she was no longer that impoverished and struggling student, whenever she saw this book, her mind uncontrollably returned to those years of hardship and fatigue in the United States.

The path of study was not meant to be solitary, often bustling and crowded, but when all fellow travelers got off at their stations, leaving her alone, tirelessly running, that was when she felt no loneliness could ever defeat her for the rest of her life.

Until seven months ago, when she moved out from Simon Forrester’s house and returned to a familiar yet desolate home, she finally understood the true meaning of loneliness.

"You have this book too." Simon Forrester had been standing behind her for some time.

Sienna Thornton quickly placed the book back in its original position.

She stood up and smiled: "Yes, back then, every one of us in the institute had a copy, almost like having a passport."

Simon Forrester also curved his lips into a smile, stepped forward to pick up the book, took a photo used as a bookmark from the title page, and placed it on the page he’d last read.

The lighting was not strong on the viewing platform, and the moment the book closed, Sienna Thornton vaguely noticed that the bookmark was an enlarged ID photo of a girl, but because Simon Forrester closed the book quickly, she didn’t get a clear look at who was in the photo.

She assumed it must be a girl he liked, maybe it was Nina Sinclair?

Sienna Thornton felt her heart sink.

"Want to go upstairs and take a look?" Simon Forrester nodded towards the stairway.

"Lead the way."

The duo went upstairs, one after the other, arriving at the bathroom.

Sienna Thornton stood at the door, surveying the bathroom, finding nothing unusual before entering.

She stuffed her flashlight and phone into the back pocket of her jeans, stepped into the shower, and shook the showerhead mounted on the wall next to her ear a few times without hearing any strange sounds, and visually saw no apparent problems.

She searched around for the shower switch but could not find it, blurting out: "Where’s the shower switch?"

Simon Forrester stood outside the shower with folded arms, pointed his chin at a silver touch panel with blue numbers and English letters flashing on a wall, and said, "The smart shower doesn’t have a switch. It’s all operated from the thermostat panel."

Sienna Thornton, who hadn’t seen a smart shower before, examined the English letters flickering on the thermostat panel and cautiously pressed her palm against it.

"Huh? Why isn’t there any water?" Thinking maybe her palm was damp, she rubbed it against her T-shirt and pressed again, still no water.

"What’s going on?" She turned to Simon Forrester, her eyes seeking help.

Simon Forrester strode over, operated the thermostat panel a few times, and said seriously, "Your earlier operation was correct, but it’s not producing water; this is a severe problem."

Sienna Thornton’s mind blanked out, her voice losing coherence: "Sev... Severe? How severe? Isn’t it still under warranty? Have the supplier replace it!"

Simon Forrester didn’t speak, his jawline tensed, his hands kept tapping and pressing on the thermostat panel, with clear beeping sounds echoing, making Sienna Thornton feel even more anxious.

After a long wait, with her heart in her mouth, she asked again: "What exactly is going on?"

Simon Forrester stopped his actions at this moment, turned and used his index and middle fingers to gently tap on the thermostat a couple of times, gave her a slightly worried glance, and said, "Replacement is sure, but if it’s a hardware problem, we’ll need to dig this part out and check the internal components."

"So that means..." Sienna Thornton’s face turned apprehensive, "The bathroom will be unusable during the repair and replacement days. In other words, it can’t accommodate guests?"

Simon Forrester nodded.

Sienna Thornton looked deflated, utterly dejected.

On the first day of business, encountering so many unlucky incidents. For this bed and breakfast, she and Maeve nearly poured all their money into it, even owing the bank a significant amount. If anything further disrupts operations, it’ll be unbearable.

Seeing her downcast demeanor, Simon Forrester softly reminded, "Except for the main building’s economy rooms, all other standalone room types have the same smart shower. Have the front desk call each one and see if other guests are facing this issue."

Sienna Thornton went aside to make a call, while Simon Forrester continued studying the thermostat panel.

After a while, the front desk responded, saying the guest in "Kaelan Pavilion" faced the same issue.

Sienna Thornton raised her voice, "’Kaelan Pavilion’? Is it a chubby guy wearing black-rimmed glasses? That person seems to be a ’bed and breakfast reviewer’!"

Simon Forrester looked over.

Sienna Thornton looked at him pitifully: "What should I do?"

"I’ll go with you to check it out."

The two stepped out, with Sienna Thornton leading, and Simon Forrester quickly catching up, holding her small hand with his large one.