I'll wait for you amidst the romance of nature.

After some haggling, Yang Sisi finally used scissors to cut off the thick layer of tape covering me. As soon as I was free, I didn't care if they were disgusted or not; I immediately grabbed a blanket from their bed and wrapped myself in it. Then, while sneezing, I said to Yang Sisi, "What time do you think we should arrange to meet your family and Mr. Huang tomorrow?"

"I'm available anytime, the key is whether you can come up with a reason for me."

"It's your own family matter, why do you expect me to come up with excuses for you?"

Yang Sisi replied firmly, "If you're going to stand by and do nothing, then I won't go. Unless you make me feel like we're in the same boat, even if they set some kind of trap for me, you'll fall in and die first, and then I'll step on your corpse."

"What the hell did I do in my past life to deserve this mess like you... Don't you feel any guilt at all when you're messing things up for me like this?"

No, not at all.

A sense of powerlessness washed over me, and it took me a long time to reply: "Fine, I'll help you come up with an excuse so you can continue to live a carefree life in Dali."

"When it comes to being a womanizer, who dares to compare with you?! You're only ignoring this because you ran into someone you know. Otherwise, the police officers at the station would be giving you a lecture on how to be a decent person by now."

"Can we stop talking?"

"No, I'll be telling you this for a hundred years."

I didn't have the energy to argue with her, so I changed the subject and asked, "Did you put me on your contact blacklist?"

"If I don't blacklist you, am I supposed to add you to my special watchlist?"

"You need to remove me from your blacklist first, otherwise I won't be able to contact you tomorrow."

Yang Sisi glared at me unhappily, then took out her phone and said to me while operating it, "I was planning to cut all ties with you, but being shameless really does have its advantages! Someone as kind as me can't resist someone's persistent pleading... Sigh, if my future boyfriend knew I was so unprincipled, I wonder if it would affect my image in his eyes."

"Your inner monologue is so dramatic!"

Yang Sisi snorted at me and didn't respond. After standing there for a while, I walked over to Ye Zhi and said to her with an embarrassed expression, "I'm really sorry about what happened today, I also..."

Ye Zhi interrupted me and replied, "No need to apologize to me. Next time you come, just choose a more normal route."

I was even more embarrassed. After a long pause, I sighed, "If we had exchanged contact information beforehand, this embarrassing situation wouldn't have happened... It's my fault. Can we exchange contact information now?... Uh, I mean phone numbers, or WeChat IDs are fine too."

Yang Sisi quickly said, "Don't give it to him, otherwise he'll have even more excuses to come here. We don't welcome shameless people here."

"Can you please stop being a troublemaker?"

"Alright, I won't disturb you anymore... You should go back now, so as not to disturb the two empresses dowagers' repose."

I:"……"

……

At one o'clock in the morning, I finally ended this tumultuous night and returned to my inn. Ma Daozhi and Tie Nan, who had fallen behind me, were already asleep. Their snoring was so well-matched that it was like a terrible gift to me, someone with mild insomnia, which caused me to have trouble sleeping for a long time.

I woke up naturally this morning, checked the time, and it was already ten o'clock. After sitting on the bed for a while, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to go to Zhao Jing's place to check on the guesthouse this morning. I called out to Tie Nan, but the guy still showed no sign of waking up. This is probably the decadent life of Dali's degenerate youth; they are nocturnal animals, and the daytime is their true resting time. At least in the few days I've been here, I've never seen Coach Ma or Tie Nan get up early.

After waking Tie Nan up, I called Lao Huang again to tell him that I had found Yang Sisi and that they should prepare to have dinner together that evening. Lao Huang was overjoyed, but I felt like a piece of meat filling sandwiched in a pancake. I felt extremely uncomfortable because I couldn't fully satisfy either Lao Huang's or Yang Sisi's requests.

……

Around noon, Tie Nan and I went to Bai Lu's bar again, and then she drove us to Zhao Jing's "Fragrant Clouds" inn located near Longkan Wharf.

When we arrived, Zhao Jing was already waiting for us at the inn. She first showed us around the common areas of the inn, and then took us to see each of the rooms one by one.

After looking around, we sat down at the small tea bar on the first floor and resumed our discussion. Zhao Jing asked me, "What did you think of it?"

"It's pretty good. I can tell you put a lot of effort into making this inn, because it's reflected in some of the details... However, I'm not very knowledgeable about this, so I'll have to ask my friend for his opinion." As I spoke, I turned my gaze to Tie Nan.

Tie Nan lit a cigarette and asked Zhao Jing, "You've been running this inn for about three years, haven't you?"

"Yeah, it's been three and a half years."

"The renovation cycle for a guesthouse is generally around five years. That means if my friend takes over, it will need to be renovated in a little over a year, which is a considerable investment... It's clear that your guesthouse did quite well before, as the furnishings in several of the discounted rooms and sea-view rooms are quite worn out."

Zhao Jing nodded first, then asked, "What do you mean by all this?"

Tie Nan glanced at me and then replied, "I'm a straightforward person; I just want to try and negotiate a lower transfer price for my friend."

"A transfer fee of 900,000 is really low. I told you before that I spent 1.5 million just on renovations."

Tie Nan smiled and replied, "There has to be some depreciation cost... Besides, you've already recouped the inn's costs over the past few years, but it'll be different if he takes it over. After all, nobody knows when the government will lift the ban on seaside inns. You're in the inn business too, you definitely know the risks better than I do, right?"

Zhao Jing frowned, clearly unwilling to compromise, but I felt that Tie Nan's actions were pointless, because even if Zhao Jing could negotiate the transfer price, I didn't have enough funds to take it over.

Zhao Jing finally spoke, saying to Tie Nan, "Then name your price."

"Let's discuss it first."

At this moment, Bai Lu, who hadn't said much, said to Zhao Jing, "Let them discuss it. Let's go get some breakfast... By the way, is that Chongqing noodle shop next to your inn still open? I love their vegetarian noodles so much; it's time to eat vegetarian today."

"It's open."

……

After Bai Lu and Zhao Jing left, I said to Tie Nan with great confusion, "This is no joke. If they really agree to lower the price again, where am I supposed to get so much money?"

Tie Nan gave me a confident look and replied, "Actually, there are quite a few guesthouses being sold at low prices right now, but most of them lack proper documentation. The biggest value of this guesthouse lies in its complete documentation. In the future, the Dali government will definitely further restrict the number of guesthouses, so obtaining the necessary permits will become increasingly difficult... If you grit your teeth and take over this guesthouse now, you won't be able to sell it for the same price later. So you can make a fortune from the transfer fee... I think if you trust me, we can partner up and take over this guesthouse."

That's when I understood Tie Nan's thoughts. I had probably been prejudiced, always thinking that he was burdened by a losing inn and didn't have extra money for investment. But the actual situation was quite different from what I thought.

Tie Nan added, "I'll try to negotiate the price down to 80 later. If she agrees, we'll finalize it. After taking over, the shareholding will be determined based on the proportion of investment... If you find partnerships too troublesome, then forget about it."

"I'm not against partnerships... but to be honest, the most I can put out for investment is 30. You'll have to figure out how to make the rest."

"There's also Bailu. I've transferred Fengrenyuan here, and I can probably get around 20 in transfer fees. So as long as you're determined to do it, there's still a chance."

I replied, "Yesterday, I didn't see any indication that she was interested in investing. It's probably unreliable to contact her, isn't it?"

"We need to talk to Coach Ma about this..." After a slight pause, Tie Nan lowered his voice and said, "She consults Coach Ma on many things. Back then, the Women's Flower Bar was taken over from a foreigner on Coach Ma's advice."

"Is that so?"

"A woman dresses up for the one she loves..."

I roughly understood what Tie Nan meant, and then asked, "Then why aren't they together?"

"There's a knot in my heart."

"Is it because of Bailu's age?"

"It's not that worldly; besides, Bai Lu takes good care of herself, and her appearance is impeccable. Standing next to Coach Ma, she doesn't look bad at all. It's just... their relationship can't be explained in a few words. If you have the chance later, you can let Coach Ma talk to you about it."

I put aside my curiosity and then mentally analyzed the possibility of taking over the inn. After a moment, I said to Tie Nan, "I have another problem. What if we're not allowed to operate for a year or two after taking over the inn? We still need to make a living, right?"

"That's why I wanted to bring Bailu in to invest. Her uncle is a leader in the local tourism bureau. This cleanup of Erhai Lake was a joint enforcement effort by their tourism bureau and environmental protection bureau. As long as we handle the sewage properly and don't affect the ecology of Erhai Lake, they can always be a little more lenient."

I nodded, gaining a new understanding of Tie Nan. Behind his seemingly absurd behavior, he actually possessed a shrewd mind capable of weighing pros and cons. So, could he represent most men living in Dali?

I think I'll have the answer sooner or later.