Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

The lobby of the Nanshan County Guesthouse was small and dimly lit, with peeling lime plaster on the walls. The lobby had a faint musty smell. Behind the wooden counter sat two waiters dressed in dark blue imitation military uniforms with two braids. One was idly cracking sunflower seeds, while the other was reading a book.

For staff members like them at the county government guesthouse, they might not see a single unfamiliar face checking in for ten days or half a month. Bored at work, they can only find some "hobbies" to pass the time until they get off work.

The two continued to "hold fast" to their posts as usual when suddenly a commotion arose outside the guesthouse lobby. Li Mei, a waitress who was eating sunflower seeds, sat up straight with a frown and looked towards the entrance.

Seeing that many people were squeezing in, Li Mei quickly nudged Wu Chunhua, who was still reading a book, with her elbow. Wu Chunhua hurriedly closed the book, put it in the drawer, stood up, and looked towards the door.

Holding his son Chen Hui's little hand in one hand and protecting his wife Zhang Yi with the other, Chen Dong tried to squeeze through the growing, whispering crowd to the counter.

The crowd's gazes were like needles piercing them. The men stared at the gleaming Maybach parked outside, their eyes filled with a mixture of inquiry and confusion. The women, on the other hand, were more interested in Zhang Yi. Her slightly wavy brown hair, her well-defined mixed-race face, and the well-tailored light pink sleeveless dress and matching high heels she wore all stood out starkly against the gray, blue, and green clothing around her.

Chen Hui looked around curiously, his eyes full of curiosity about the unfamiliar things. Zhang Yi was afraid that too many people would push her son over, so she pulled him in front of her to protect him.

The crowd was just too "enthusiastic," so Chen Dong had no choice but to shield his wife and children in front of him. After finally reaching the counter, he smiled and said to the two female staff members, "Hello, comrades, do you have any rooms available? I need a room to stay in."

Chen Dong tried his best to make his Mandarin sound as standard as possible, but the two waitresses opposite him clearly did not pay any attention to what he was saying.

Li Mei and Wu Chunhua, who were behind the wooden counter, had their eyes fixed on Chen Dong and his wife as they watched the people enter. The couple's clothing was simply too out of step with the fashion of the time.

Zhang Yi wore a well-fitting light pink sleeveless dress, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin below her neck. A custom-made Tiffany necklace peeked out from her brown wavy hair, hanging across her cleavage and making her snow-white neck even more defined.

Wearing a Patek Philippe PP women's watch, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with her left hand, revealing a pair of custom Tiffany diamond earrings.

The two waitresses opposite Zhang Yi were stunned for a moment when they saw her outfit. Then, a look of surprise and envy flashed across their faces. They were surprised by Zhang Yi's stunningly beautiful face, which clearly showed her mixed heritage, and envious of her dazzling jewelry and incomparable beauty.

Seeing that the two people opposite him did not respond, Chen Dong had to ask again. Li Mei was the first to react. She coughed lightly, the surprise on her face quickly fading, and said to Chen Dong in a businesslike tone, "Comrade, please show me your letter of introduction!"

"letter of introduction?"

Chen Dong was clearly taken aback, and looked at the two waiters as he tried to explain, "What letter of introduction? We don't have any letter of introduction, comrades. We're here from America to find our relatives."

After saying that, Chen Dong quickly asked his wife Zhang Yi to take out the passports of the three of them and place them on the counter. The waitress Wu Chunhua took the passports and looked at them over and over again.

The hard, dark blue cover, the gold-stamped national emblem, and the exquisite printing and all-English information inside all made her frown.

She had clearly never seen such a document before.

"No letter of introduction, no check-in, that's the rule," she said firmly, pushing the three passports back. There was no room for compromise, and the surrounding crowd grew even louder.

"Comrade, look, we have passports, this is our identification. We just need to stay one night, and we'll leave tomorrow after we find our relatives," Zhang Yi stepped forward and pleaded in accented but fairly fluent Chinese.

"No, without a letter of introduction, no one is allowed. This is the organization's rule," the waitress said, her attitude becoming even more forceful. It seemed that Zhang Yi's unusual attire only heightened her vigilance.

"Can we pay more? One hundred more per night," Zhang Yi said, taking out her wallet and pulling out a bill from a stack of green US dollars. She placed the bill on top of the three passports, her light brown eyes fixed on Wu Chunhua.

Seeing Zhang Yi casually pull out a hundred-dollar bill, the onlookers behind her immediately started discussing. Foreign currency was rare these days, and everyone craned their necks to see what America's dollar looked like.

"Comrade, we don't accept foreign currency here." Perhaps it was Zhang Yi's attempt to pressure them with money that made Li Mei even more suspicious. She put on a stern face, shook her head, and resolutely refused to check Chen Dong and his group in.

The situation reached a stalemate, and Chen Dong felt powerless, realizing that the convenience that money brings in modern society was utterly ineffective here.

US dollars don't work here!

Just then, a calm voice came from the stairs, "What's going on? What are you all doing gathered here?"

Chen Dong looked at the person who was speaking and saw a man coming down the stairs. He was wearing a gray Zhongshan suit and had a pen clipped to his breast pocket. He stared sharply at Chen Dong and Zhang Yi, the strangely dressed couple in front of the counter.

"Director Song," waitress Wu Chunhua said, pointing to Chen Dong's family as if she had seen a savior, "the three of them, without any letters of introduction, carrying some foreign notebooks from who-knows-where, insisted on staying at our guesthouse!"

Song Yuanchao walked down the stairs, his gaze sweeping over Chen Dong's family of three. His eyes lingered for a moment on the Maybach outside the door, a fleeting look of surprise flashing in them, but he quickly regained his composure.

He walked up to Chen Dong and spoke in a calm but scrutinizing tone, "Comrade, please show me your identification!"

Chen Dong picked up the three passports on the counter and handed them to Song Yuanchao. Song Yuanchao carefully examined them, his brows furrowing slightly. The passports were unlike any other documents he knew, but they were well-made and did not appear to be fake.

Song Yuanchao closed the passport in front of him; he couldn't understand the foreign language inside. He looked up, his eyes blazing as he stared at Chen Dong and asked, "Where are you from? What are you doing here?"

"We come from America," Chen Dong took a deep breath, knowing he had to give a reasonable explanation. "My grandfather was from Lianzhai in Nanshan County. He left his hometown to make a living at sea in his early years. Now that he has passed away, his last wish is for us to send his ashes back to his hometown for burial and to let him reconnect with his family."

"We were driving by here when we encountered... bad weather and got lost. We wanted to stay overnight and then head to Lianzhai to look for our relatives tomorrow."