Chapter 57: Crown Hotel

The taxi driver was dumbfounded by Michael’s words. He gazed towards the crowd that Michael was pointing to, and was momentarily speechless.

But still, he regained his senses, before he quickly nodded and said, “No worries. I have a few friends that should be nearby. Judging by the number of people, I guess we need 6 taxis. So, I will call 5 of them over.”

Michael nodded in appreciation, while the taxi driver took out his phone, before he began making calls.

The group waited for a while, before taxis began arriving one after the other a few minutes later.

Within just 10 minutes, the five taxis had already arrived.

With the arrival of the taxis, everyone got into the vehicles, before the vehicles drove away.

Inside the car, Michael was amazed by the architecture of the city, with the tall buildings along the way.

Just from looking at how clean and well maintained the roads were, he could feel the difference between this city and a small city like Drenn city.

Additionally, the atmosphere in this place was lighter as compared to the gloomy one in Drenn city, where people were always worried about the gangsters.

At this point, Michael thought, with such an environment, the children should definitely be able to develop better.

Additionally, the reason why he selected the apartments in the school district was because he hoped that the kids would be able to continue with their education.

After all, without education, some things just could not be done.

As for those that were like him, who had stopped in middle school, and were already older enough to either be joining college or to be in the final years of high school, it seemed that they could only look for other methods.

Currently, the only thing that Michael could think about was to have them study for a diploma or certificate courses.

While they could not study complicated courses like engineering, they could still study simple things. This way, at least, they could have a skill of their own.

But of course, the arrangement for that would have to be made later on. For now, Michael simply enjoyed the scenery along the way as they headed towards the hotel.

The journey took more than 40 minutes, before they finally arrived at their destination.

They had arrived outside a four-star hotel called Crown hotel. If this hotel was compared to Green Pearl hotel, the difference was tremendous.

Simply put, there was no way that Green Pearl hotel could compare with this hotel. This hotel was in a whole new level, not only due to the design of the building, but considering that the hotel had its own space.

The group alighted a distance away from the entrance of the hotel, before Michael made the payment for the taxi fare.

After everything was dealt with, the group headed straight for the hotel.

At the entrance, they were welcomed warmly, despite the attire that they were wearing seeming out of place in such a high end place.

Entering the lobby area, Michael noted that the hotel’s lobby was wider than that of Green Pearl hotel.

It had polished marble floors that reflected the soft glow of ceiling lights. Plush sofas and low glass tables were arranged neatly across the space, giving guests a place to rest or chat.

Near the entrance stood the reception desk, a long counter of dark wood and stone where uniformed staff greeted guests with polite smiles.

Behind it, a wall of gold lettering displayed the hotel’s name, while potted plants and quiet music added a warm, welcoming atmosphere.

While the kids did not mind the looks that they were receiving, as they were looking around curiously, the older ones definitely did. This could be seen from the flush on their faces, indicating that they were embarrassed.

Michael also noted this, and decided, they would have to purchase a few clothes later on.

As the group entered the lobby area of the hotel, they inevitably attracted the attention of the people inside.

“Is there an event here? Is there a charity event that is being hosted here that I did not know about?”

“I don’t think so. I have not heard about it.”

“Then, why are those poor kids here? Don’t tell me that they are here to eat?”

“Well, maybe they came to beg? Otherwise, just by looking at their attire, you can tell that they cannot afford the meals here.”

While some people lowered their voices when they were speaking, others did not bother to do so.

They were speaking so loudly, as though they were afraid that this group of people that had entered would not hear them.

Michael’s expression shifted when he heard the words that were being said.

If he were alone, he would not have minded their words. But looking at the people around him, he could see that they became even more embarrassed, that they lowered their heads, as though they were afraid of looking at anyone.

’I should have told the taxi driver to take us to a smaller hotel.’ Michael thought to himself.

But since they were already here, he was obviously not going to leave. So, he led the group towards the reception area, while ignoring the comments.

“How would you like to be served sir?” A lady behind the receptionist desk asked as soon as Michael and the group arrived in front of the desk.

“I would like to book a few rooms for us. I think 12 rooms should be enough.” Michael responded after thinking for a while.

The lady was slightly surprised, but she was able to maintain her composure as she nodded.

“What kind of rooms would you like sir?” The lady inquired.

“Just ordinary double rooms. It doesn’t need to be something too fancy.” Michael responded.

“Okay, give me a moment sir.” The lady responded before she got busy behind the desk.

While Michael was waiting, he suddenly felt someone tugging at his shirt. Looking over, he realized that it was John.

Noticing that he had gotten Michael’s attention, the old man suddenly whispered, “Hey kid, is this not going to be too expensive? After all, just by looking at this hotel, I can tell that everything here is very expensive.

And, from the way that those people are speaking, you can clearly tell, it doesn’t look like we belong here.

What about this, should we go and find somewhere else, somewhere cheaper?”

Michael immediately understood that the old man had been somehow impacted by the comments that were being made by the people in the lobby area.

On the other hand, it was clear that the old man was also worried about the prices and if Michael could actually afford to allow them to stay here.

The total number of people here was 23. With such a number, 12 rooms were enough, just as Michael had decided on.

But considering that this was a high end place, just for a night, the price of getting those rooms would be quite high.

“Don’t worry about that. We are just going to stay here for the night. We will be moving out tomorrow.

Today, we need to buy a few things, as we just came from Drenn city with literally nothing. So, there are a lot of things that need to be purchased.” Michael whispered back.

The old man seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he only let out a helpless sigh.

Currently, his account balance did not have much money, implying that he would not be able to help that much with the current situation.

After all, the amount of money that he received for his monthly pensions was not that high. Additionally, each and every time that the money came in, it would all be spent on the orphanage and the kids.

Due to this, he was not saving anything, which was something that made him feel frustrated at the moment.

About 2 minutes later, the lady was done. She said, “To book the 12 rooms for a night, that is going to cost $260 per room, which is $3,120.”

When the price was mentioned, gasps of surprise and shock were heard from the group behind Michael.

For this group of people, who were used to spending less than $50 in an entire month, how could they not be shocked by such a big expenditure of $3,120 for just a single night?

If not for where they currently were, they would have definitely begun claiming that this was daylight robbery.

The lady behind the desk also heard the gasps of surprise from the group. She was not that much surprised by their reaction, as just by looking at the attire of this group, she could tell that they were used to living frugally.

Michael did not bother to explain anything, as he went ahead and completed the payment.

“Okay, let me process the rooms for you. Could you please wait in the lobby area for a little while as I complete the process?” The lady spoke politely.

She was genuinely surprised by Michael’s attitude. From the looks of it, it seemed that he did not really mind the price, as though he was already expecting it.

And judging by the way that his expression did not change as he paid, it seemed that his account was quite loaded.

“I would like to get a big private room that can accommodate all of us. We will need to have a sumptuous meal first, before going out for a while.” Michael responded as he shook his head.

“Oh, okay. Let me help you with that.” The lady responded as she quickly processed the booking of a private room.

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