How can I justify myself as a Magnate if I don't indulge myself?

"Also, the Oriental Pearl Tower isn’t much fun on a rainy day. Trust your uncle, go straight to the hotel to rest, and come out to play when the rain stops."

Mr. Gu was a bit overwhelmed by the driver’s enthusiasm...

He could only laugh and explain, "The hotel I booked is inside the Oriental Pearl Tower."

"What? There’s a hotel inside the Oriental Pearl Tower?

Young man, you might have been scammed! I’ve lived in Shanghai for more than forty years and I’ve never heard of a hotel inside the Oriental Pearl Tower."

Hearing the driver’s words, Gu Heng couldn’t help but lower his head to check the hotel information on his phone...

[Air Hotel 230, located 230 meters high in the Oriental Pearl Tower...]

"It should be right, it’s in the Oriental Pearl Tower, just take me there directly," he said.

"Alright, it’s weird indeed, how can there be a hotel inside the Oriental Pearl Tower?"

Muttering to himself, the driver gradually started the car...

During the journey, Gu Heng finally got a taste of what it means to be a chatterbox...

The driver hadn’t stopped talking since Gu Heng got in the car, always looking for topics to chat about...

Even though he was a chatterbox, he was still a nice person...

Along the way, he told Gu Heng about many tourist traps in Shanghai and then taught him how to avoid them...

After keeping silent for a while, Gu Heng couldn’t help but ask, "Driver, are you from Shanghai?"

Upon this question, the driver’s face filled with pride: "Of course I am! Born and bred in Shanghai! My family has been here for five generations!"

"But you seem different from the Shanghainese I had in mind?"

"How so?"

Gu Heng thought for a while but didn’t know how to respond...

He certainly couldn’t say that in his impression, Shanghainese looked down on outsiders, considering them beneath them, right?

But even if Gu Heng didn’t say it, the driver guessed what he was thinking and laughed heartily, "Are you trying to say that we Shanghainese are seen by outsiders as those who look down on them, all high and mighty?"

Gu Heng nodded in response.

"Actually, you’re not wrong, there really are some arrogant people."

"However, most Shanghainese are quite normal, just like me."

"If I were earning a few million a month and looking down on others, that would make sense. I just drive a broken taxi, making barely enough to support a family for a month, where would I get the nerve to look down on outsiders?

And everyone knows, how many of Shanghai’s truly wealthy are locals? They’re mostly from outside.

In today’s society, to look down on others, you first need to be rich. People like us, the hardworking Shanghainese, if outsiders don’t look down on us, that’s good enough. We have no right to look down on them," he said, before laughing at himself...

Crude though his words were, the sentiment was solid...

In an era that ridicules the poor rather than the promiscuous...

What’s the use of a Shanghai hukou?

As long as the numbers in your bank account are long enough, wherever you go, you’re considered one of the elite...

Not sure if the driver was recalling his own sad past or what, but the rest of the journey became much quieter...

"Young man, we are almost at the Oriental Pearl Tower. Why don’t you make a call to confirm the hotel? If you’ve been scammed, I’ll just take you to another hotel so you don’t have to call for another taxi."

Gu Heng, hearing his well-meaning advice, also called the phone number for the hotel reservation...

"Good afternoon, this is customer service for Hotel 230. How may I assist you?"

Listening to the pleasant voice of the customer service on the other end, Gu Heng said, "Hello, I’m a customer who reserved a room at Hotel 230 yesterday, my name is Gu. I’m currently in Shanghai and would like to know the exact location of your hotel."

"Is this Mr. Gu? Please wait a moment, I’ll check the registration information..."

A few seconds later, the sweet voice came on again, "Hello Mr. Gu, we have found your reservation. May I know your current location? We can send a car to pick you up."

Gu Heng had really forgotten about the car pick-up service mentioned in the reservation details...

Now, hearing the customer service ask, he hesitated for a moment...

"No need to pick me up, I’m already nearly at the Oriental Pearl. Just tell me where to park."

The person on the other end quickly got back to him, "You can park at the temporary parking lot right below the Oriental Pearl Tower. Please tell me your license plate number so we can confirm and send someone to greet you."

After giving the customer service the license plate number the driver had told him, the taxi pulled up below the Oriental Pearl Tower...

"There’s really a hotel inside the Oriental Pearl Tower?"

After seeing Gu Heng finish the call, the driver inquired again...

"Yes, it’s called Air Hotel 230, located inside the small sphere of the Oriental Pearl Tower at 230 meters..."

"How much does it cost per night?"

"It’s not cheap, forty-eight thousand a night." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Hearing the price, the driver was clearly shocked...

"I’ve lived in Shanghai for over forty years, and this is the first time I heard of a hotel in the Oriental Pearl Tower, and it costs forty-eight thousand a night...

My goodness...

The rich these days really know how to enjoy themselves..."

He said this while giving Gu Heng an odd look...

Without a doubt, he must have been referring to Gu Heng as one of those rich people...