Day 1, Arrival
It had been a long flight. More than 20 hours earlier, I had boarded the plane to Beijing. I hoped to get to my hotel for some much needed rest before the banquet scheduled that evening. As I exited immigration and scanned the people holding signs along the railing in the meeting hall, I was pleasantly surprised to see both my name and the extraordinarily beautiful young woman holding the sign. Approaching her, I introduced myself, got a somewhat flustered but gracious bow of welcome, a smile, and a warm greeting in very good English. Introducing herself as Minqi, my guide directed me toward the car waiting for us.
As Minqi spoke with the driver, I collapsed into the back seat of the car -- and was just a bit surprised when she climbed in and sat next to me. I wanted to close my eyes and perhaps sleep a little on the long ride from the airport to the hotel. Minqi was clearly anxious to talk -- fidgeting in her seat, twisting her hair through her fingers, glancing at me.
Despite my exhaustion, I could not resist talking to such a beautiful young woman sitting in such close proximity. I asked her about her background, her studies at the university where it was obvious that she was a student, and some other leading questions. Guessing that she was in her early twenties, I was very curious about growing up in the new, more prosperous China. As the ride unfolded, however, she turned the conversation towards me.
I was in Beijing to give two lectures and enjoy a bit of sightseeing. I am a professor and was invited to Peking University to speak on how to end global poverty, my specialty and a topic I had been working on for close to 15 years. China was one of the great success stories. I was to talk about how that growth could be channeled to help solve problems of everyday human existence. Minqi apparently was a big fan of my research and had searched out and read many of my papers. She even admitted to finding my TED talk and other videos to watch in advance. She peppered me with questions, many well informed. She was not only beautiful, but clearly very, very smart. When she learned I was coming to Beijing, she explained, she sought out my host at her school and offered to be my guide during the visit. The trip was suddenly starting to become more interesting.
When we arrived at the hotel, Minqi helped me check in -- clearly arguing with the desk clerk about something -- and then insisted on escorting me to my room. She looked around and immediately said it was unacceptable. To me the room was fine, a standard hotel room that looked pretty much like every other hotel in which I have ever stayed. But Minqi said I could not stay there and took me back to the hotel desk. Quite an argument ensued, of which I understood nothing. After extended discussions with hotel personnel of apparently increasing rank, Minqi finally got out her phone, made a quick call and handed the phone to the manager. After what appeared to be profuse apologies uttered into the phone, I was immediately handed a new room key and Minqi escorted me upstairs once again. My standard hotel room was now replaced by a magnificent suite with a stunning view of the city. I told Minqi that I really did not need such an opulent room, but she insisted that I would be more comfortable. After all she had done to get this upgrade, I felt I could not refuse. In any event, exhaustion was slowly overwhelming me and I decided not to argue. I thanked Minqi, and then I told her I needed a shower and a couple of hours of sleep. She apologized for detaining me, and quickly left. I cleaned up and fell into a deep slumber.
Precisely two hours and 15 minutes later I heard a loud rapping at my door. Pulling myself awake, I found Minqi holding a platter of fruit, some tea sandwiches, and several bottles of water. Apologizing again, she nonetheless pointed out somewhat more forcefully than I would have anticipated that I had asked for two hours of sleep and, calculating the time of the average shower, she wanted to make sure I did not sleep too long during the day so that I could sleep later that night. She also explained that she assumed I would be hungry, so she had brought up a light meal to hold me until dinner. This was service with a smile -- a very nice smile.
I excused myself to use the bathroom. After brushing my teeth and running a comb through my, unfortunately, thinning hair, I returned to find Minqi unpacking my suitcase, hanging my suits in the closet. Frowning at one particularly wrinkled shirt, she picked up the phone and jabbered something in Chinese, of course. To the Western ear, Chinese sounds like a harsh language, like everyone is always angry with everyone else, though I do not believe that was true in this case. Turning to me, she explained that housekeeping would be up in a minute to get my shirts and iron them before this evening's dinner. As I nibbled on the food she had brought and drank a large bottle of water -- she was right about my thirst -- she finished putting away my things, dealt with the young woman who came to collect my shirts, and finally sat on the couch watching me eat. That she had so quickly taken over responsibility for my life was rather disconcerting.
Feeling rather uncomfortable in the hotel bathrobe that I had put on before opening the door, I rose from the table to get dressed. Minqi immediately stood with me. Approaching closely -- too closely -- she slipped her hand inside my robe and onto my chest, then looked up at me with doe eyes that begged me to reciprocate. She was just discrete enough with her approach that I could turn her down and neither of us would have to admit it had happened, but it was nonetheless an invitation. I looked into her eyes and leaned down to kiss her slightly parted, moist lips. This was forward of me, but precisely what she wanted as her lips met mine and her tongue reached out for a partner. Locked in an increasingly passionate and feverish embrace, Minqi slipped my robe off my shoulders and rubbed her hands over wherever she could reach on my body. As my erection rose to greet her, I soon felt a hand encircling and stroking me lightly, delicately, until I was hard as a rock and at full engorgement.