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

I put my phone back in my pocket, then said to Ye Zhi with a hint of jokingness, "This WeChat account you gave me definitely isn't one you use often, otherwise why isn't there a single post on Moments?"

"I only have this one WeChat account."

"At least it posts something, so you can look at it when you're bored. It's actually quite good for passing the time. If you look at it when you're old, I think it will have a special meaning, like a document with pictures and text, recording your life..."

"Is that so?"

I nodded seriously, but she didn't say anything more. So, being the perceptive person I am, I started to think about her again, but I was at a loss. We were just strangers who met by chance, and I didn't know what she had been through in the past few decades. Whether her personality was influenced by these experiences was not something that could be easily concluded.

She is an enigma, or a spider lily blooming on the other side of the river. Aside from admiring her from across the water, there is no boat that can bring curious people closer to her.

After a moment of silence, she stood up before me, seemingly preparing to leave...

Just as she was about to walk into the crowded throng, I suddenly remembered something and quickly called out to her, "Hey, I'm moving to the Longkan Wharf area tomorrow. I won't be living in Ma Jiu Yi anymore."

"Why did you suddenly move away?"

"My friend and I took over a seaside guesthouse over there... Come visit sometime."

Her expression finally changed slightly, and she asked, "Where exactly is the inn located?"

I racked my brains but couldn't recall any landmarks near the inn, so I replied, "I'm not very familiar with that area either. I'll send you the location when I get there tomorrow. Anyway, it's not far from the pier."

"Yes, don't forget."

After giving her instructions, she left. I was surprised because, from what I had seen, she was a very cold person, but she showed a level of concern for where my inn was that was beyond her usual personality.

Perhaps she considers me a friend; at the very least, she doesn't dislike me.

I smiled, then lowered my head and lit another cigarette, but I could smell a hint of pleasure in it... I felt that Dali is a very open and inclusive place, so it's easier for people to connect than in big cities.

Imagine if Ye Zhi and I lived in Shanghai, even if we lived right across from each other, we might not bump into each other more than a few times a month. But here, meeting is much easier, because of Erhai Lake. I think that any out-of-towner living near Erhai Lake would probably spend their free time in the evening taking a walk along the lakeside road.

……

Back at the inn, both Instructor Ma and Tie Nan were there. They cooked noodles and invited me to eat with them. The three of us chatted while eating, and Tie Nan said to us, "I just called a friend of mine who drives a bread truck, and I told him to come pick us up later. Let's all move to Longkan tonight."

I replied, "I don't have much luggage, I'm ready anytime."

Coach Ma thought for a moment, then said, "The inn over there won't be able to open for a while, so there's no need to rush."

"That place has been idle for so long, the sanitation needs to be thoroughly cleaned... You don't know unless you run an inn, it's the rainy season now, there are some minor repairs that need to be found and fixed quickly, if it leaks or gets moldy, the losses will be substantial."

When Tie Nan said that, I nodded in agreement, because the decoration standard of our inn is really high, and the rooms are furnished with high-end furniture. If there is any damage, it will indeed be a considerable expense.

Coach Ma felt isolated. After a long while, he replied, "I've been living here for so long that I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep well if I move to a different place."

"You're just too nostalgic!"

……

After a quick bite, the van that Tie Nan had arranged arrived at "Fengrenyuan" right on time. I only had a backpack and a suitcase, which I threw into the van before going back to help Coach Ma and Tie Nan move their belongings. They didn't have much luggage, but the pots and pans were a bit of a hassle to move, so we spent half an hour getting those things done.

Just as we were finishing up, I vaguely saw Yang Sisi carrying a woven bag walking towards us. Just when I thought she was going to stop and say hello, she silently walked past me…

I sensed something was off, so I tentatively asked her, "Have you eaten yet?"

Yang Sisi finally stopped. She turned to look at me, her eyes filled with tears...

I looked her over and noticed a very noticeable hole in her pants near her calf, as well as a scratch on her arm. Then I looked at the woven bag she was carrying and understood what was going on.

I felt a pang of unease, but I still asked her in a mocking tone, "Did you get chased away by the city management officers again while selling clothes?"

Perhaps because she didn't receive the sympathy she expected, she called me a "petty person" and then dragged her woven bag towards the "Seaway Inn" where she and Ye Zhi were staying...

I should have just stood by and watched, but this girl really doesn't have any survival skills, and it would be really heartless of me to just leave her alone. So I sighed inwardly and said to Tie Nan and Instructor Ma, who were almost finished with their work, "You two go to Longkan first, I'll ride my motorcycle there myself later."

Tie Nan joked, "We're all busy rushing towards a new life, and you're still playing the 'choosing love over power' card?!"

"Stop talking nonsense. She's just a down-on-her-luck young lady at best. How could she possibly disrupt my ambition to expand our territory?"

……

I caught up with Yang Sisi, but as soon as I grabbed her, she threw the woven bag to the ground and sobbed, "Are you excited to see me make a fool of myself? ...I've never seen such a treacherous man in my life. Besides rubbing salt into people's wounds, what else can you do with any sense of purpose?!"

As I helped her pick up her clothes scattered on the ground, I laughed and replied, "You know me too well. I deliberately left my two buddies behind just to catch up and see you make a fool of yourself!"

Yang Sisi was furious. She raised her leg to kick me, but I was already familiar with her moves and dodged it with a quick movement.

Yang Sisi cried even harder, and finally squatted down on the ground, burying her face in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably...

I squatted down next to her and whispered in her ear, "I'm a man, and I can't stand women crying in front of me... because whenever a woman cries, I just want to... laugh... hahahahaha..."

Before I could finish laughing, Yang Sisi suddenly stood up and ran towards the shore of Erhai Lake. As she ran, she said, "Michael, I have no face to live anymore. I will haunt you even as a ghost."

I kept laughing as I looked at her. Nobody believed she would jump into Erhai Lake for such a trivial matter. Besides, the water near the shore wasn't very deep, and with her legs, which were longer than most men's, she couldn't possibly drown.

Yang Sisi stood on the shore, turned around, and said to me, still choking with sobs, "Michael, hurry up and buy some food to bribe me, or I'll really jump in."

"Jump! The small fish and shrimp in the sea are high in protein. Eat your fill before you come up."

"It's true what they say, good people don't live long, but wicked people live a thousand years... I'm off now, don't regret it!"

I'd had enough of the jokes, so I pretended to be really afraid of taking responsibility, ran to her side, grabbed her arm, and said, "Don't jump, don't jump, I'm scared... I'll buy you some food as a bribe, okay?"

"What are you afraid of?"

"If you really jump, you'll break the rule that good people don't live long while scoundrels live for a thousand years... So, as a scoundrel, you might as well live a few more years..."

Enraged, Yang Sisi lost her temper and shoved me hard before I could finish speaking, yelling, "Go to hell, you piece of shit..."

……

In the instant I fell into Erhai Lake, I thought: if Erhai Lake had been lonely for a hundred years, never experiencing any extra emotions, then at this moment, it would surely feel a little more panicked, because in Yang Sisi's eyes, a pile of dog poop was falling into its embrace...

But I really intended to take her out for a nice meal at a restaurant right away, but she couldn't wait, or perhaps she didn't understand or didn't believe me...

It seems there's still a misunderstanding between us!

Her impatient nature really couldn't keep up with my playful and appreciative pace...