Gate of Memories (Three)

  Night is falling!!

  Waves gently flow towards the magnificent lights of the Grand Asia Hotel!

  A majestic chorus of music floated through the luxurious hotel lobby and echoed out over the sea.

  The banquet has finally begun!

  Countless luxury cars slowly stopped in front of the red carpet of the Grand Asia Hotel, and the deputy manager of the lobby led the welcoming staff and the etiquette department to escort the VIPs who got off the luxury cars to the second floor luxurious banquet hall.

  At this time, the magnificent banquet hall had gathered countless business celebrities, Tian Huang superstars, and even foreign envoys. A scene of music and dance was unfolding, with unbridled luxury...

  Colleagues in the catering department, shuttling between guests, bringing cup after cup of fragrant coffee, enticing red wine, and rich cocktails to each guest's hands, then taking the empty cups from the guests' hands and placing them on a tray. After collecting three, they quickly walked out of the banquet hall, along the left corridor, flashing past a certain staircase fire passage, heading towards the first floor banquet hall kitchen, while the fire passage transmitted a burst of sobbing sounds...

  "Okay, okay, don't cry!" Tang Ke Xin anxiously held Xiao Rou's tear-stained face and comfortingly said: "It's alright, it's alright, I'll help you! Don't worry!"

  "But... " Xiao Rou was so scared that she trembled all over, crying and looking at Tang Ke Xin said: "But you don't understand it very well either!! How can you help me?!"

  Tang Ke Xin gazed deeply at Xiao Rou, her eyes flashing quickly, and then gave her an encouraging smile, reminding her: "You know, a sommelier is first and foremost a certain kind of identity?"

  Xiao Rou pouted and shook her head, tears falling.

  Tang Ke Xin smiled at Xiao Rou and said, "Sommelier, first of all, you have to taste that little bit of fine wine yourself, then from your own inspiration, find the most suitable wine for a dish you love... So no matter what happens later, be sure to remember, follow the first feeling left by your tongue! Believe in yourself!! As long as you sincerely taste each dish, every one of us can be a gourmet!!"

  Xiao Rou listened to these words, seeming to understand and yet not understand. But looking at Tang Ke Xin's determined eyes, tears rolled down, and she could only nod slightly!

  "Go!!" Tang Ke Xin gently held Xiao Rou's small face, looking at the hidden earpiece in her ear, and then reminded her again: "Be careful with the earpiece, don't let it fall out, listen to what I say, absolutely do not panic at this time, got it?"

  "Hmm!!" Xiao Rou nodded again, then sucked her bright red nose and tidied up the white uniform she had just changed out of. She reluctantly walked out of the hidden passage, still a bit uneasy as she turned around to look at Tang Ke Xin hiding in a corner of the stairs. With an encouraging smile to herself, she silently walked away.

  Tang Ke Xin gazed at Xiao Rou as she slowly walked towards the grand hall, her eyes welling up with tears. She quietly sat down on a corner of the stairs, hugging her knees and lifting her head to look at a small window on the stairway. The silver moonlight illuminated her imperfect face, and she smiled faintly.

  Xiao Rou's foot stepped on the deep red carpet, holding her breath, pinching her fingers to give herself courage. Just as she was about to turn around and walk into the lively banquet hall, she heard someone say from afar: "The Premier has arrived!!"

  She listened, and immediately retreated to the side with a well-trained manner. The banquet hall, which was still bustling just now, suddenly fell silent at the entrance. She raised her head slightly curiously and saw that in the luxurious palace-style building, the Prime Minister of the country walked over with an air of dignity, accompanied by officials and special police officers, wearing a black suit specially used by the government. His wife and his most beloved granddaughter were by his side. Jiang Tiankuang was dressed in a silver suit, black shirt, and white tie tonight, with a European-style dress and a noble king's aura all over his body, accompanying the Prime Minister without losing any momentum...

  Qin Weiye, the premier's most favored successor, stood with his wife, who was wearing a white lace long dress and looked stunningly beautiful, to the right below the premier. She smiled and leaned against her husband, occasionally gazing at Jiang Tiankuai's majestic back with gentle and loving eyes. When she thought of this man, who had just given her a sweet kiss, she couldn't help but smile radiantly.

  Jiang Tiankuai was discussing tonight's charity gala with the old premier, when he felt a gentle gaze upon him. He didn't make a sound and continued walking into the banquet hall with the old premier. Suddenly, all the guests in the banquet hall put down their wine glasses and applauded.

  Chiang Tien-kuei smiled and, as the host, personally invited the Premier to take his seat in the specially reserved VIP seat amidst thunderous applause.

  The Premier smiled and nodded, accompanied by his wife and granddaughter, walked towards the center of the banquet hall, took a seat at the head of the long main table, with his wife sitting to his right, followed by his granddaughter, then his fiancé, Qin Weiye, Mo Yan, and certain officials...

  Chiang Tien-hsiang loosened his suit button, sat down beside the Premier on the left, and then continued to chat with a certain official and the official's wife.

  The guests in the banquet hall saw that the Premier had already taken his seat and continued to quietly take their seats at the long tables arranged by region.

  The music in the banquet hall changed from lively to a gentle and romantic violin melody, filling the entire hall.

  Dozens of employees in the dining department, holding silver trays, formed a neat and orderly team, standing at the entrance of the banquet hall. Upon hearing the manager's command, they immediately stood up straight, marched into the banquet hall in unison, and walked towards their respective dinner tables according to the predetermined formation. They carefully placed hot towels on the guests' white porcelain plates. Meanwhile, General Manager Ho Ming attended to the Premier from behind, taking over the silver plate from the waiter and presenting it to the Premier.

  The secretary-general handed over the hot towel and handed it to the prime minister, who silently smiled and took the towel, gently wiping his hands.

  Su Ling smiled as she wiped her hands with the hot towel and looked at Jiang Tiankuai across the table, "Mr. Jiang, I heard that your fiancée is the only daughter of the chairman of Jianya International Financial Group, Miss Ren Zixian, who is also an internationally renowned designer, has won numerous international awards, and is known as the 'Oriental Rose' in Paris. I have always admired her reputation, and even heard that her designs are often favored by British royal princesses and queens... why isn't she here today?"

  Ru Mo sat across from Jiang Tiankuai, looking at him.

  Jiang Tiankuai's face showed a hint of a smile as he looked at Su Ling and said, "She has always been focused on her career, currently in Paris, busy with the autumn fashion show."

  Su Ling listened and smiled with great interest: "As far as I know, preparing for a fashion show, especially the Paris Fashion Show, takes a lot of time. How do you plan to alleviate this longing, President Jiang?"

  The night was dyed red with the banquet. Jiang Tiankui smiled slightly, then raised his head and looked at Su Ling: "Sometimes, love is always better than meeting in thought..."

  The various celebrities from all walks of life at the dinner table smiled slightly.

  The banquet went on in a harmonious and joyful atmosphere, Cao Yuqing held the intercom, standing in the banquet hall, instructing employees to bring up towels again, then prepare the tulip crystal cup...

  Xiao Rou today was really an eye-opener, she had already forgotten her task for the day, constantly curiously gazing at the politicians and celebrities in the banquet hall, as well as her colleagues working in an orderly manner. Suddenly, she heard someone whispering: "Laurence has arrived!"

  She suddenly raised her head in surprise, seeing Lawrence wearing a black hotel uniform and a deep blue tie, leading the waiters into the banquet hall. He looked at Xiaorou with a serious face before saying: "Follow me!"

  Xiao Rou was suddenly frightened pale again, and she didn't dare not follow Laurence to a huge archway in the banquet hall. The staff immediately pressed the password, and the double doors opened with a loud bang, revealing to everyone's eyes: all the world-class wines, red wine, champagne... of various vintages, and famous wineries' red wine, were all lined up before their eyes...

  "Wow..." Xiaoyu's eyes widened as she walked into the wine tasting area, looking at the many red wines and champagnes. She exclaimed excitedly: "So many red wines and champagnes... and some of them are really old, there's even a 1980 one, oh my god..."

  Ke Xin crouched in the stairwell, hugging her knees and almost falling asleep. When she heard Xiao Rou say this, she immediately lifted her head, holding the intercom with a bit of tension: "Now you pay attention, Laurence will definitely look at the menu first! Through the menu, select a suitable red wine and deliver it to the customer!"

  Xiao Rou listened, then lifted her head and looked at Lawrence, who had indeed taken the menu from the assistant and browsed it before handing it to the sommelier for a look. Xiao Rou took the menu and read softly: "I'll tell you what's on the menu tonight..."

  "No need!! Mr. Lawrence should pick a younger wine, let you taste it first, and if everyone agrees, then send it out to the guests as a whole. If the guests have no objections, the first round of red wine is considered safe... This is usually the safest round..." Tang Ke Xin said, and then nervously held the walkie-talkie, whispering: "Are you going to take over a glass of red wine?"

  Xiao Rou looked at the waiter in surprise, who was holding a glass of dry red wine and presenting it to her. She thought Tang Ke Xin was really a god. She took the wine numbly and heard Tang Ke Xin's words again: "Now listen to me, tilt the cup 45 degrees, aim at the special light for observing the wine body in the room, and observe the color and appearance of the wine..."

  She immediately picked up the glass, then aimed at the light, tilted 45 degrees, and without waiting for Tang Ke Xin's opinion, she lightly made a 365-degree swing like the restaurant guests, then lowered her head, used her nose to sniff into the cup, and smiled with satisfaction: "I've already looked and smelled, is it time to drink red wine?"

  "Uh-huh!" Tang Ke Xin smiled and nodded.

  Xiao Rou triumphantly picked up a full cup of red wine, made an effort to swallow it down, and only then heard Tang Ke Xin say: "Whatever you do, don't swallow. Keep the wine in your mouth, puff out your cheeks, let the wine swirl around in your mouth, come into full contact with your taste buds, and finally, spit out the wine that's still in your mouth."

  Xiao Rou held the empty cup, staring blankly at the other waiters. Sure enough, they spat out the red wine from their mouths into the silver plates held by the waiters. Then she saw a male waiter holding a plate come to her front, looking at her. She forced a smile on her face, turned her head and saw Lawrence smiling at her. She immediately puffed up her cheeks, then lowered her head and buried her face in the plate, spitting out air!

  The waiter furrowed his brow and lowered his head, looking at the empty tray, and gave Xiao Rou a somewhat strange look.

  Xiao Rou didn't dare to make a sound, and quickly put down the wine glass. She saw Lawrence looking at everyone, listening to their opinions. The waiters all nodded in agreement, and she also listened to Tang Ke Xin's words and nodded her head. Who knew that Lawrence would swiftly come to her side and ask: "Why do you think the 2005 dry red wine is suitable for tonight's first round of red wine?"

  Xiao Rou was thoroughly frightened, but she heard Tang Ke Xin's words quickly transmitted to her ear. She recited Ke Xin's words one by one, a little afraid: "Because 2005 is an extremely good year for Bordeaux! The sunshine is sufficient, the weather is dry, and the temperature is very high, without the three fu days, the night is very cool, so the grapes are perfectly ripe, the sugar content is heavy, the fruit flavor is rich, and the tannins in the red wine are solid, stable and palatable. The first round of dry red wine must choose a stable-bodied red wine to take guests to higher and higher levels of fine wine!"

  Lawrence listened to the little girl, talking about red wine in an orderly manner, but raised another question... "I didn't mention it earlier, this is Bordeaux red wine, how did you know it was from that region?"

  "Because only the Bordeaux 2005 and 2006 red wines can compare to the 1996 Bordeaux red wine, sommeliers always choose the most suitable year with high cost performance. In fact, red wine is not about the year or price, but about appreciating it, which is just a matter of 'cleverness'."

  Lawrence smiled and nodded slightly, looking at Xiao Rou: "Mmm..."

  Xiao Rou also forced a faint smile.

  "Have you heard of WSET?" Lawrence suddenly asked Xiaoyu with a deep gaze.

  "Ah?" Xiaoyu was surprised and didn't know how to respond.

  Tang Ke Xin was excitedly kneeling on the ground, with a choked laugh on her face, and exclaimed: "I've heard of it!! The British Wine Academy!! The world's best wine academy!! It's the most authoritative certification academy in the wine industry!!"

  "I've heard... it's... the British Wine School..." Xiaoyu softly called out.

  Lawrence smiled and asked: "Want to go?"

  Xiao Rou was stunned for a moment, unsure of how to respond.

  Tang Ke Xin suddenly felt disheartened, her eyes reddening as she sat on the ground. This was the college of her dreams, and she had worked so hard to get here...

  "Uh..." Xiaoyu didn't know how to respond, she just stared with wide eyes, thinking back and forth.

  "Do you need to think for so long? This is a place every sommelier dreams of going." Lawrence said with a smile.

  Tang Ke Xin's tears rolled down, and she choked with sobs: "Xiao Rou... do you want to go? That is a place where anyone who loves red wine dreams of going. There are endless fine wines, the best mentors, and it's called the soul of wine. After coming out, your life and future will be rewritten. Do you want to go?"

  Xiao Rou's eyes widened as she thought about the question, then looked at Lawrence and asked weakly, "Can I go?"

  Lawrence smiled and said, "You can't go now, but you may have the chance in the future. Perform well tonight, if you pass my observation period, I'll arrange for the Asia Grand Hotel to sponsor your trip to the UK Sommelier Academy to study wine, and after returning home, sign a lifetime contract!"

  Xiao Rou looked at Lawrence in a daze and said: "That... I..."

  "Good luck!" Lawrence said no more and immediately walked forward again, ordering each waiter to serve the guests with 2005 dry red wine...

  Xiao Rou saw Lawrence leave, then she asked Tang Ke Xin in a low and tense voice: "Ke Xin! Can I go?"

  Tang Ke Xin nodded with a sob, saying: "Mmm... I'll help you..."

  She finished speaking, suddenly felt a pang in her heart, put down the walkie-talkie, curled up on the cold ground, hugged her knees and sobbed, tears rolling down one by one. She couldn't bear the sadness and loss anymore, buried her face in her knees and cried painfully: "Dad... I'm sorry to you... I'm sorry for not living up to your teachings, I'm sorry to you... If it wasn't because of my momentary weakness, I would have definitely met your expectations... Sorry... Sorry..."

  Asia Grand Hotel Surveillance Center!

  A certain police officer discovered that the ultraviolet sweep of the banquet hall was in a three-mile radius, and found that there was a human thermal reaction on a certain staircase. The time had already exceeded thirty minutes! He immediately picked up the intercom and notified his colleagues downstairs at the banquet hall, saying: "Abnormality detected!! Banquet hall main entrance, left side nine o'clock direction, there is a fire passage with thermal reaction exceeding thirty minutes!"

  The SWAT team on the first floor immediately turned around with a cold face and rushed to the second floor of the banquet hall with two colleagues, quickly running towards the stairwell. Just as they were about to burst through the iron door of the fire passage, they swiftly drew out their pistols, kicked open the door with both feet, and shouted at those inside: "Don't move!!"

  Tang Ke Xin was frightened, her eyes wide with tears, as she saw several men in front of her, their faces cold and cruel, guns pointed at her. Suddenly, she remembered that terrifying night three years ago, her heart chilled to the bone, and she no longer cared about anything, covering her head with both hands and screaming loudly: "Ahhhhh———"

  A shrill cry of terror, a long, drawn-out echo!

  The entire banquet hall suddenly fell silent, with all the guests looking at each other in shock. The special police and security guards standing guard outside the hall immediately became vigilant, their hands resting on their hidden guns as they tensely observed everything around the hall. The Prime Minister's bodyguards immediately stood guard beside the Prime Minister and his wife, as well as Miss Su, ready to fight at any moment! Jiang Tiankuai's face was tense with anxiety as he saw General Manager Huo Ming and the special police team quickly enter, one of them walking up to the Prime Minister's side to softly comfort him, while another came up behind Jiang Tiankuai and whispered something in his ear.

  Jiang Tiankuang's eyes flashed strongly, and he directly put the napkin on the table, stood up with a cold face, slightly bowed to the Premier, then smiled and looked around at all the guests, saying: "Sorry, everyone, just now it was just a small accident, things have passed, and there is no danger as you imagined, please rest assured and enjoy your meal. I'll be right back, and later I'll make amends with wine."

  As soon as he finished speaking, his face hardened and he turned around to walk out of the banquet hall with large strides under the curious gaze of the guests. At that moment, a long, mournful cry echoed from somewhere, still transmitting the heartbreaking wailing of a girl. His eyebrows furrowed tightly, accompanied by bodyguards and Cao Yuqing's managers, he took steps forward along the long corridor, step by step, getting closer and closer to the sound, hearing more clearly the desperate cries of a girl: "Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I don't know anything!! Spare my life! I beg you, I beg you!!"

  Jiang Tiankuai listened to the crying, his face growing increasingly solemn. He quickly followed the sound and walked around the corner, finally seeing several special police officers holding guns, aiming at a stairwell in the corridor. They were extremely cautious, ready to fire at any moment, as if they were about to resolve the situation with the girl who was crying out in despair. His eyes turned cold, and he flashed past the special police officers, walking into the stairwell. Suddenly, he saw a girl wearing the hotel's uniform, kneeling on the ground, clutching her short hair, wailing: "Save me!! Save me!! I don't know anything! Spare my life!! Spare my life!!"

  Jiang Tiankuang's eyes narrowed as he looked at the girl in front of him and finally spoke out in anger: "Who are you?"

  Tang Ke Xin suddenly lifted her head when she heard this voice, staring at the person with tearful eyes!!

  The Gate of Memory, Opened in an Instant!

  Jiang Tiankuang suddenly looked at Tang Kexin who was kneeling on the ground in pain and crying, his face finally revealing a look of doubt and surprise!!