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

I knew the woman on the other end of the phone wasn't someone to mess with. After we exchanged insults, she actually challenged me to a fight. Although I'm not afraid of fighting, how could we possibly fight when one of us is in Dali and the other in Shanghai?

I really wanted to meet her, not to actually beat her up, but just to find out what kind of person took over Lu Jia's number. I felt that her personality and character were not as good as Lu Jia's, and if her appearance was also inferior, then this girl really didn't have any redeeming qualities.

I decided to teach her a lesson by standing her up, so I replied, "You want to fight? Then I'll be waiting for you on the Bund."

"Anyone who doesn't go is a coward."

"Stop talking nonsense, give me your height, bust, waist, hip measurements, and what color clothes you're wearing. My belt is itching to hit you on the head."

"You're such a bastard... Don't you run an inn in Dali? Has your soul returned?"

I paused for a moment, then remembered that I had blurted out a whole bunch of recent events and my feelings to her. Still stubbornly replying, "I'm back in Shanghai for the next couple of days. Go ahead and walk along the Bund if you dare, I promise I'll beat you up."

"Hehe, I'm on the Bund right now, where are you?"

I suspected she had the same ill intentions as me, so I replied, "Nobody would believe you'd happen to be on the Bund. You're trying to trick me into going there and making me wait like an idiot."

A moment later, the other party sent an MMS message containing a photo. The photo was indeed taken on the Bund, and it showed an LCD screen on a building displaying the current time.

When the other party took it seriously, I immediately lost my confidence, so I simply chose not to reply to their message.

She sent another message: "Grandson."

"I am your grandfather."

This time she ignored me. I breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, I seemed to see this scene: a woman with long hair, dressed in very thin clothes, standing by the river, angrily throwing down the beer can in her hand, and then cursing love... She was in extreme pain, but the passersby were already used to it in this huge city. They looked at her indifferently, and then continued walking on the impersonal streets, busy with their lives...

In truth, in a city as vast as Shanghai, love is insignificant. Even with a heart shattered, life will still oppress you in countless ways… So, the people there live in loneliness, growing increasingly indifferent. Then, how could anyone offer her even a sliver of comfort in the cold, desolate night?

……

The next day, I slept until almost noon before getting up. Just when I thought no one was left at the inn, I was surprised to find that everyone was still there, even Bailu. What surprised me even more was that Yang Sisi was sitting among them. The moment my gaze fell on her, she met my eyes with a triumphant look…

Iron Man waved to me and said, "Michael, come over here and I need to talk to you about something."

I walked towards them, muttering to myself...

Before I could even settle in, Tie Nan said to me, "Let me introduce you to our newest member, Yang Sisi... From now on, she will be our inn's receptionist."

I avoided everyone's gaze, then glanced out the window at the brightest spot in the sunlight, feeling slightly dizzy. I took the cigarette Coach Ma offered, then looked at the smug Yang Sisi and said to everyone, "Could you ask for my opinion on this?"

Tie Nan replied, "The prettiest receptionist in all of Dali is sitting right in front of you. What more could you want?"

"No... listen to me..."

I was only halfway through my sentence when Yang Sisi interrupted me, saying, "I only applied because I saw the job postings that Coach Ma and Tie Nan shared on their WeChat Moments. I went through all the proper channels and didn't try to pull any strings. So what reason do you have to object?"

Tie Nan continued, "We also conducted a formal interview and assessment for her, and she performed well. We all agree that she is capable of handling the job at our inn's front desk."

"How do you conduct the assessment?"

Coach Ma replied, "After comparing her with the receptionists at nearby inns, none of them are as pretty as her..."

"Guys...seriously...can't you stop joking?"

"I'm not kidding. The most important thing for a receptionist is her appearance. Besides, she has a very enthusiastic personality and is the type who knows how to please customers."

I felt utterly hopeless, but still clung to a last shred of hope and asked, "Can't you really just listen to me?"

Tie Nan, Coach Ma, and Bai Lu all shook their heads.

Yang Sisi seemed to have found her greatest support at this moment. She glanced at me disdainfully, and while she saw my sense of humiliation, she said to the three of them, "Thank you for recognizing my talent. In my future work, I will do my best to be an excellent receptionist at the inn and will never give anyone a chance to make trouble."

Bai Lu replied, "Then good luck!"

I took a deep drag of my cigarette, but didn't want to say anything. Just then, Tie Nan said to me again, "You're in charge of room scheduling at the inn. Go and arrange a staff room for Sisi."

……

Leaving everyone else behind, I took Yang Sisi to the third floor, opened a room that had previously been used to store miscellaneous items, and said to her, "This afternoon, tidy up this room, and then you can stay here."

Yang Sisi glanced around and replied, "Are you kidding me? This room doesn't even have a bathroom. How can anyone live here?"

"There's a shared restroom on the third floor; that should be enough for you."

"No...that won't work either. I'm a germaphobe and can't stand sharing the bathroom with other people."

"There's no one else here. You're the only one living on the entire third floor now."

"I'm a scaredy-cat... I'm afraid to go to the bathroom alone at night!"

I sneered and replied, "So you mean we're closing down the inn just to give you a room?... Do you even know how much a room costs per night at our inn? You only make a pittance a month, and you have the nerve to ask for that?"

"Look at your capitalist face... The inn hasn't reopened yet, can I stay for a few days first?... Once the inn opens, I'll move to the storage room."

"No... if you stay another day, the room will wear and tear more, isn't that a cost?"

Yang Sisi was so angry she wanted to grind her teeth, but she didn't know that while she couldn't do anything about me, I couldn't do anything about her either. I didn't want her to work at this inn because the closer she got to me, the more worried Old Huang would be.

If Lao Huang finds out about this, and he gets upset, he'll tell my parents everything about why I came to Dali, and I won't be able to stay here peacefully. What am I supposed to do if they make a fuss and force me to go back to Shanghai?

I think Lao Huang is really capable of doing this, because Yang Sisi is his son's life and future, and his son is his life and his hope... If I were to harm his life, could he still live a good life with me?

……

Yang Sisi dragged her luggage and angrily went into the storage room. I just lit a cigarette and watched…

Actually, this storage room is also furnished, and there is a wire bed inside. Although it is much simpler than the guest room, it can basically meet the accommodation needs.

Yang Sisi is a complete idiot when it comes to daily life. She can't put on a blanket or make the bed properly, so she begged me to help her. Of course, I wasn't going to indulge her. Instead, I gave her a good scolding until she had tears in her eyes...

I wasn't abusing her; I just wanted to show her that this is what life is like for ordinary people... Just like when I'm at work, I get scolded by my boss and I have to learn to do all the mundane things in life.

It took Yang Sisi half an hour to finally put the quilt under the duvet cover and barely manage to make the bed. Then she sat on the bed without saying a word, as if she was sulking, or perhaps reminiscing about her life when she had a nanny to take care of her...

I felt a little guilty, so I suppressed my urge to scold her and said to her softly, "Isn't this a good thing?... Sometimes, you have to push yourself hard, otherwise you won't grow."

"You keep pushing yourself, but what growth have you achieved? ...Aren't you still just a poor loser?"

"Wrong, I'm your boss now."

"I've never seen such a terrible boss!"

"How am I bad?" I said, pulling back the curtains for her, and then added, "See? This is a room with a view of Erhai Lake. It's practically a sea view room. Have you ever seen a guesthouse where the front desk offers a first-line sea view room?"

Yang Sisi glanced at it and replied, "With such a small window, you still dare to call it a beachfront property?"

"A beachfront property... you can only see a line? Where did I go wrong?"

Yang Sisi chuckled, then slapped me on the back and said, "You're the best at sweet-talking people!"

I smiled back at her, then softened my tone and said, "Clean up the clutter in the house yourself, I'll go buy some groceries to make lunch... Oh, by the way, what do you want to eat? I'll cook it for you..."

Yang Sisi was about to launch into a whole Manchu Han Imperial Feast, but I quickly stopped her and said, "Don't push your luck. You're only allowed to choose one dish."

Yang Sisi looked at me with a disappointed expression, then tried to reason with me, "I'll clean the room after I finish eating. Can we go grocery shopping together first?"

"Great, that's perfect, we're just short one person to carry the shopping basket!"

……

Under the scorching sun, Yang Sisi and I carried our shopping baskets and walked towards the vegetable market at Longkan Wharf... I know that such things will continue to happen in the future, but at this moment, it still gave me a very strange feeling.

This seems to be the first time in my life that a woman has accompanied me to do something as mundane as grocery shopping. Even when I had Lu Jia as my girlfriend before, she was always busy with work, and we never had the chance to share the subtle happiness in life like this.