"So where should we go first? I say we go looking for good food."
"Before that, I think we should stop by the Treasury first. Compared to the branch offices, here, the Treasury serves a much larger role in the city. On top of its function as an auction house, it also serves as the central bank in Zhongyang. There is a map of the city there as well, and we can find out which inns have open rooms," Wanjing says.
"Why is the Treasury so involved here?" Lia asks.
"From what I was told, two of the co-founders of the Treasury are also a part of the Council of Zhongyang, tying the Treasury to the city."
"So where is the Treasury, "I say looking up to survey the tallest buildings in sight, but I soon see one that stands out far more than the others, "nevermind, I think I found it. It's most defiantly the one with the golden roof, right?"
"Yep, it really stands out compared to the others in the skyline. Not even you, Teacher, could get lost when trying to get to the Treasury."
As we are walking around, I really get a feel for how big the city is. The city is somewhat similar to those in Shenzhou with its grid-like setup, although I wouldn't call it a grid in this case. Circles within circles is a rather fun way to put it. Each circle representing a wall with the space between where all the facilities are. In the first layer is a residential district, followed up by an agriculture district, then a commercial district, the fourth layer being a district with a focus on production, the fifth layer being another residential district, finally the centre where all the government buildings and other important facilities are. Unlike what we saw in Shenzhou, there isn't a dedicated district for the military and instead is spread throughout the entire city.
Ignoring the checkpoints at each wall, from the entrance of the city it's just a straight walk to the Treasury in the centre. But because of the size of Zhongyang, it takes nearly two hours to arrive at our standard walking pace.
The outer appearance of the Treasury isn't very different compared to the one in Shipping, but it is a couple of times larger. But other than its size, the biggest difference between the two locations are the many doors at the front here. Five sets of large doors and each one is seeing several people pass through them with no signs of stopping. But the one in the centre is seeing significantly less traffic, Wanjing explains that it is meant for the Treasury's VIPs, to make sure they can get in without any problems.
As both Wanjing and I are considered VIPs, we ignore the large crowd at the other doors and show our VIP identification to the bouncers at the door before they let us in, all without saying a word. Compared to the outside, the inside is considerably different from the branch in Shipping. There are many signs to guide people and several attendants to assist on the floor. From the looks of it, the matters relating to the auction aren't carried out on the ground floor, as the signs and conversations I hear indicate that the ground floor is for the bank and information regarding the city.
We approach one of the free attendants that are standing around and Wanjings asks, "Can you help us find out which inns have open rooms?"
"Of course, follow me," the female attendant says, guiding us over to another room. Taking a seat, she asks, "does your group have preferences?"
"Good food," I say.
"High quality," Aurelia says.
"A nice view," Lia says.
"Just do your best to accommodate them," Wanjings says.
"Good food, high quality, and a nice view, I think I can work with that, one moment please," the attendant says as leaves the room.
After a few minutes, she comes back with a few pieces of paper, each one outlining an inn and its features.
"I recommend this one," she says pointing, "the Blue Sky Pavilion, it's one of the few places for visitors to stay that's located in the centre of the city. This does push the price up but it fits all your requests. The rooftop lounge has a great view of the city, this place caters to the wealthy and influential, and there are a few good restaurants within a five-minute walk as well as having its own restaurant on the rooftop."
We've silently come to choose the Blue Sky Pavilion as our first choice after hearing the advertisement for it, but we do look over the other papers before actually making a decision. But most of the others only fit one or two of our requests. The only other one that fits all three of our requests isn't located in the centre and is a little far from any place I would want to go. After a short discussion, we do end up choosing the Blue Sky Pavilion as the place to stay while in Zhongyang.
"Good choice, would you like for us to arrange reservations for you?" the attendant asks.
"You do that here?" I ask.
"Yes, for a small fee, we can take care of all the procedures. Additionally, for VIPs of our Treasury, we will waive the broker fee."
"Oh, two of us are VIPs so I think we'll take the offer," I say.
"Very well, may I see your VIP card?" she asks as I reveal it to her, "Oh, your a Star VIP, for that we also give a 10% discount towards their stay at the inn. Please wait while we arrange for your groups stay."
As we wait for her to come back, we just snack of the complimentary food and make some pointless small talk. After around fifteen minutes, the attendant comes back saying that everything has been taken care of and that the Blue Sky Pavilion is expecting us.
"Here are the directions to the Blue Sky Pavilion," she says handing me a small paper, "thank you for your patience and a pleasure doing business with you."
Handing the paper to Wanjing, we let her take the lead as the one most familiar with the city. The paper we received earlier mentioned that this inn was close to the Treasury but it didn't even take ten minutes before we arrived. As we enter and give the receptionist our names, we are taken straight to a large room that can easily accommodate all of us with plenty of space to spare. Damn, I wish every place we go has such high-quality and efficient service.
As we settle down in our room, we decide to eat and call it a day as we haven't gotten much rest since leaving Shipping.