Chapter 6.2 - Winter Break

  I arrived in Shang Simla, China at 8 a.m., took a taxi to the hotel i was going to be staying at (they called it a basecamp) and checked in at the front desk before going up to my room. My room was beautiful but as soon as I saw the big king size bed I decided to take a nap because i was so tired from the long plane trip.

  I ended up not waking up until 1 that afternoon. I decided to walk down to the market and grab some lunch before I wasted any more of the day. I chose to have Dim Sum and tea, which was amazingly good.

  After lunch I headed to the bookstore, bought a bunch of books, and headed back to basecamp. When I put most of my new books away I curled up on the bed and read for awhile.

  Even though relaxing would have been great to do all day since my trip took so long I got bored of reading after awhile. I changed into my workout clothes and headed to the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy and worked out for awhile before heading back to basecamp.

  I ended up sleeping like a baby all night, which was uncommon for me.

  The next morning I got up early, changed, did my hair, and then had some eggs and watermelon for breakfast.

After checking the adventure board I went to Li Yuan's house.

"Thank you for responding to my notice. I need you to go explore the basement of the Hall of The Lost Army and bring me back a very rare relic for the museum."


"Not a problem, I will be back with your relic as soon as I can."

  I stopped by the market first to buy a bunch of supplies I needed and then went to the hall. I eventually found a strange switch on the floor and when I stepped on it, it revealed a staircase that led to the hidden basement.

  After clearing rubble, pushing/pulling statues, opening random treasure chests, digging in holes for switches and going in dive wells (and taking pictures of everything) I found an odd glowing treasure chest.

"This has to be it!" I thought to myself

  When I opened it I found the relic that Li had given me a picture of. By the time I got back outside I was tired and dirty but I headed to Li's house and turned over the relic. In return he gave me 35 Visa points, $500, and 10 Ancient Coins.

  Once again I headed back to basecamp and went straight to bed. I had no idea these adventures would be so tiring.

  The next morning I decided to head back to Phoenix Martial Arts Academy and workout some more. When I walked into the workout room I saw a very handsome, muscular man. It was hard to not stare at him and when he sat up I noticed he was....

"Oh my gosh!!" I thought to myself before saying "Mr Gerini!"

  Startled he looked over at me, eyes widened, and then jumped up.

"Miss Abruzzi, what are you doing here?'

"Um, I am on vacation. I have had this trip planned for a couple months now," I said as I stared at Mr Gerini. "What are you doing here?"

"I come here during Winter Break almost every year," He said "I am about to leave to go do an adventure but...would you like to meet me for lunch around 2?"

"Sure," I said getting flutters in my stomach "That would be great."

  When I got back to basecamp I relaxed for a little bit then showered, did my hair in a nice up-do, put my make-up on and then picked out the nicest outfit I had brought with me. I couldn't figure out why I was getting nervous, I mean Mr Gerini was my boss. But today he looked so different and he defiantly didn't give off that snotty up tight vibe he had when I first met him.

  I walked across the street to the market and waited for Mr Gerini at the restaurant. Just a few minutes later I saw him walking towards me.

"Sorry for being late, my adventure took a little longer than I thought it would."

"It's alright, I only got here a few minutes ago myself," I said with a smile.

  As we walked towards the restaurant door Mr Gerini held the door open for me, such a gentleman. We ordered our food and then took it to a table outside. I ordered an Olive Platter and Egg Rolls and Mr Gerini ordered a Shrimp Cocktail and Stir Fry. The food was delicious, the setting was amazing, and I couldn't have asked for better company.

"So Mr Gerini, how has your vacation been so far?"

"Please Miss Abruzzi, call me Luca."

"Okay Luca, please call me Haley," I said with a little laugh.

"Vacation has been going really good, I love coming here. How has it been for you Haley?"

"It has been fantastic. The adventures have been a lot of fun and this food is wonderful, not to mention the beautiful scenery."

  We talked for a long time before we said goodbye and headed back to basecamp and I slept up until I had to leave for the airport.