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

I calmly looked at Yang Sisi, who had been speaking rudely to me, and said to her, "Go to your room and put on a coat. We'll talk on the second-floor platform."

"Strange and mysterious."

Yang Sisi complained as she went back to her room to find her coat. When she came out again, her hair was tied up in a braid with a hair tie, seemingly prepared for a long harassment from me. She then said to me in a threatening tone, "You'd better talk to me about something serious later, otherwise tomorrow I'll definitely make you regret it… How can an old man like you knock on a young girl's door so late… If this gets to Coach Ma and the others' ears, they'll never treat you like a human being again."

"You're such a great actor!"

……

Upon reaching the second-floor platform, Yang Sisi sat down opposite me. Yawning, she said, "Just say what you have to say. I haven't had a proper beauty sleep since I came to Dali!"

Before I spoke, I glanced at her again. She still had the scars from when she fell while dodging the city management officers last time. She didn't look well either, and I guessed she had been worrying about making a living these past few days...

Her stubbornness touched me deeply. I even wished I had never met her before. She was just a stranger we found at the guesthouse in Dali. We treated her like a younger sister, and then we all became like family, using our strengths to make the guesthouse a success.

But she just happens to be Yang Sisi, a rich young lady from Shanghai who is engaged to the son of my former boss. I have no choice but to avoid suspicion to put Lao Huang at ease, otherwise I can't expect to live comfortably in Dali.

I finally spoke to her, saying, "Let's make the best-case scenario plan. Let's assume the guesthouse can reopen before November, and then our promotional efforts need to keep up... I've redefined this guesthouse; I want to make it a trendy, Instagram-worthy guesthouse in Dali... And we already have the conditions for that, because the landscaping in our public areas is perfect for taking photos, and we also have an outdoor infinity pool, which is a favorite among those with a sophisticated taste. So now I need you to contact some photography studios in Dali and have them bring their clients to our guesthouse for photoshoots... Initially, we won't charge them and can provide free hourly rooms for them to rest."

"and then?"

"Then you take these photos and promote them on various travel guide websites... You need to know that a significant proportion of people travel just to take photos and show their best side to their social circles... If we can meet their needs in this regard, then we can become a popular hotel."

Yang Sisi gave me a disdainful look and replied, "You keep calling me an internet celebrity, don't you think it's a vulgar term?"

"A 'celebrity inn' and a 'celebrity inn' are not the same thing at all. An inn that becomes a 'celebrity inn' must have exceptional qualities; its fame is built on word-of-mouth, not on vulgar online hype."

"Oh, I see."

"So starting tomorrow, you'll need to contact various photography studios in Dali."

"Okay, I'll go do it."

"You also need to write a travel guide specifically about our guesthouse."

"I wrote."

"By the way, we don't have any promotional materials yet, so you'll have to assist Coach Ma as a model in shooting a set of promotional photos."

"My pleasure!"

"Also, Bai Lu might send you to his friend's five-star hotel for training soon, which probably won't be easy."

"I know about this; she's talked to me about it."

I tentatively asked, "Don't you feel any pressure?"

"The capable should do more!" Yang Sisi replied with a smile at first, then her face turned cold as she said, "Don't think I don't know what you're up to, but I, Yang Sisi, won't be so easily looked down upon by you... Michael, let me tell you this, even if you treat this inn as a tool to make money, I won't... I'll only treat it as my home in Dali, and I'll run it well, because I love everyone in this inn except you... Sometimes, I really want to ask you, when you compare yourself to Coach Ma, Tie Nan, and Bai Lu, don't you feel ashamed at all? They all treat me like a younger sister, pampering and spoiling me, but you treat me like an enemy... But we should be the closest people, because we were the two who came to Dali together from Shanghai!"

"You're right, I am a villain."

"You're not the villain, you're cold-blooded!"

Looking at Yang Sisi, I felt inexplicably sad, so much so that I couldn't speak for a long time. Yang Sisi also lost interest in continuing the conversation. She gave me a cold look and left... So, that night, there was no one to talk to in the inn. I had a lot of time to reflect on myself, but the more I reflected, the more I felt like a nobody, which is why I was always passively living in the troubles that life created for me.

Perhaps it's time for me to find a suitable opportunity to be honest with my parents. I need to tell them that I'm actually doing quite well in Dali. That way, I won't have to live in the shadow cast by Lao Huang, and I can break free from the constraints of lies.

After having this impulse, my desire to run the guesthouse became even stronger. I always felt that this was the best explanation I could give my parents.

……

The next morning, I invited Bailu to the inn. I handed her the 100,000 yuan that Taozi had given me the night before and said to her, "Hurry up and get the sewage treatment equipment sorted out. If the inn can reopen before the New Year, we won't be under so much pressure right now."

"Where did you get such a large sum of money?"

"It was given to us by Peach; she thinks highly of our inn."

Bai Lu was a little surprised, and after a moment replied, "Then I'll have to give you an additional share."

I smiled and said, "You've been running around for the inn's sake, and you haven't been thinking about adding more shares, have you? It's true that we should cooperate and do business, but sometimes we also need to consider personal relationships... Here's what I'm thinking: once the inn is open, we'll pay Taozi back this money with some interest, and please don't mention adding more shares."

Bai Lu considered it for a moment and replied, "Alright, consider this money a loan from the inn to Taozi. Once the inn has the money in its accounts, we'll repay her immediately, along with interest."

I nodded, and after a brief silence, asked again, "Can you give me a definite answer? As things stand right now, what are our chances of winning?"

"The outlook is still not optimistic. Seaside hotels and guesthouses that know about this news are already pulling strings… Actually, compared to them, our weakness isn't connections, but rather the facilities and scale of our guesthouses. We only have about ten rooms available for business, and they're not even prime oceanfront locations. According to the government's logic, they'll definitely prioritize restoring those already influential, trendy hotels and guesthouses… and hotels will be prioritized over guesthouses because their capacity to accommodate tourists is far greater."

I lit a cigarette, feeling somewhat helpless. Just then, Bailu patted my shoulder and said, "Don't be too disappointed. If we really can't be in the first batch to reopen, we can still try for the second batch. I heard that the leader in charge of this matter also expressed his opinion in the past two days. If the first batch of seaside hotels and guesthouses can improve Dali's tourism reputation, the second batch will be opened on a large scale early next year. If you do the math, it's less than half a year."

"It's good news, but without official documents, it's all just talk and doesn't count... If these first batch of reopened seaside hotels fail to improve Dali's tourism reputation, will there be no second batch? Or will it be indefinitely postponed?... So, since we've already put so much effort into this, we must strive for the best... I assure you, I will definitely use every possible method, and you must also put in extra effort!"

"I understand what you mean." After a slight pause, Bai Lu smiled again, "Michael, I've noticed you really have a ruthless streak when it comes to getting things done... I don't know why, but I seem to have a lot of confidence in you!"

I replied with a wry smile, "This ruthlessness was forced upon me; I truly had no other choice!"