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

I went back to my room, took a pen from my drawer, and then carefully reviewed the results Yang Sisi had achieved today…

My promotional philosophy tends to be conservative, so I only selected two girls who looked very pretty. I believe that if you're packaging the inn as a product, the quality of its promotion must outweigh its frequency and density. Therefore, I plan to only do two promotional campaigns with high-quality content per month. What I value most is not popularity, but reputation. After all, our inn only has about ten rooms, and if the popularity exceeds our final capacity, it won't be a good thing for us.

I placed the final selection results in front of Yang Sisi and said, "These are the two. Go back and contact the owners of these two photography studios. Tell them they can bring clients to our inn for photoshoots anytime."

"What about the other studios? I've already visited more than ten of them."

"Let's cooperate again in a month. Our inn is here; it's not a one-off deal..."

"Oh," Yang Sisi responded, then took the folder from my hand. She stared at the photos of the two girls for a moment, then said to me with utter contempt, "I knew you'd choose the one with the bigger breasts. Can you please stop being so vulgar... Look at this girl, besides her big breasts, her eyes are practically squinted into slits. Is she even presentable?"

"Why don't you focus your attention on their legs? It's because you lack something that you care about it so much; to put it bluntly, it's jealousy."

"Pshaw, I'd be jealous of them. Back when I was competing for the tourism ambassador title, they were probably still searching for a place to get breast augmentation surgery!"

As I lit a cigarette, I feigned surprise and said, "Oh, I didn't know you participated in the tourism ambassador selection. What place did you get?"

Yang Sisi answered confidently, "I was aiming for first place, but my parents stopped me halfway through. They said that for a girl of my status, doing such sycophantic things to please the masses would be a disgrace to them. Don't you think they're annoying?"

"Luckily, we robbed you halfway there, otherwise you would have been subjected to unspoken rules."

"How can your thoughts be so dark?"

I smiled without saying a word...

Feeling bored, Yang Sisi changed the subject and asked me, "Will our inn be able to reopen in November? If not, all the effort we put into promoting it will have been for nothing!"

I quickly reassured the team and replied, "You can't stop trying just because the hope is slim. We are a well-trained team, so we must always strive for the best."

"Then tell me, why is the hope so slim? We have all the necessary documents, and Sister Bailu has already gone to work on the sewage treatment equipment."

"The number of places is limited and the competition is too strong... The government prefers those seaside hotels and guesthouses that have influence and can enhance Dali's tourism image."

"Then let's cater to their preferences and do something to improve Dali's tourism image."

I looked at Yang Sisi, who was frowning and deep in thought. Then my mind was struck by her idea, because it seemed very feasible. If our guesthouse could use a certain event to create a hot topic online that would be beneficial to the image of Dali tourism and eventually attract public attention, wouldn't that greatly cater to the government's thinking? Even if the competition was extremely fierce, we would still have the leverage to win big with a small investment...

I finally spoke up, saying, "Your suggestion sounds a bit like flattery."

"Will you film it for the sake of the guesthouse?"

"I want to flatter you... but I don't know what to do to do it well."

"Take your time to think about it. Anyway, there's still plenty of time until November."

I nodded, falling into deep thought again, yet feeling I was making things difficult for myself. Firstly, I wasn't good at flattery at all; secondly, flattering the government was risky, and if it wasn't done precisely, it could backfire.

……

The night grew deeper, and Yang Sisi and I just sat there, while the others staying at the inn showed no sign of leaving. I checked the time; it was already one in the morning, and I felt a little worried about Taozi.

I said to Yang Sisi, "We'll discuss the matter of flattery in more detail later. You should go to sleep; it's getting late."

"How can you be so clueless? I've done such a great service, and you don't even think about rewarding me properly? Don't you know that employee motivation needs to be stimulated with material rewards?"

"If I had a hundred million right now, I'd bury you in money..."

Yang Sisi leaned closer and replied, "Hurry up and kill me, even with coins will do."

I pushed her away: "Stop messing around, go to sleep... I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow and give you a good thrashing."

It seemed that Yang Sisi thought I was a very untrustworthy person, so she didn't believe me even for something as small as inviting me to dinner. She put her phone on recording mode and insisted that I tell her the time, place, and people I was invited to dinner, making it sound like I was writing an essay.

Although I was impatient, I was also able to find enjoyment in being with her. So, when I thought about how she would leave Dali to study abroad a year from now, I felt a little sad... She was right, we should be the closest people in this guesthouse, because it was us who traveled all the way from Shanghai to Dali.

……

After Yang Sisi succeeded, she left the second-floor platform, and I finally had a chance to call Taozi alone. However, Taozi hung up a few seconds after the call connected. Just as I was about to call Tienan again, the inn door was pushed open, but only Taozi returned.

This surprised me greatly. I clearly remembered that Tie Nan had called me not long ago, saying that he wanted to take her to a friend's bar.

Peach also came to the second-floor platform. She seemed to have drunk quite a bit, but wasn't drunk. I lowered my voice and asked her, "Why did you come back alone?"

"Tie Nan is staying at his friend's place and won't be back tonight."

I sensed something was off about Peach's expression and pressed further, "Why do you seem a little off?"

Peach sat down, lit a cigarette, and almost finished it before whispering, "We almost... slept together. I just wanted it as a one-night stand."

I wasn't surprised, because after working in this industry for so long, they've become quite desensitized to relationships. I replied, "You mean, Iron Man didn't lay a hand on you in the end?"

Peach took a deep drag on her cigarette, her eyes gleaming slightly in the lamplight. After a moment, she half-covered her face with her hand and said, "He stopped at the last step. He said he didn't want to treat me like a woman he could just have sex with... He wanted to have a proper relationship with me."

"So what was your answer to him?"

"I just want to leave behind some memories, and then forget about Dali..." She paused briefly, then her face contorted with pain as she continued, "Michael, I'm the kind of woman who becomes incredibly clear-headed after drinking. I knew that once we started, it would be a one-way street... He respects me so much because he doesn't know my past. But I'm the kind of woman who'll sleep with men for money, and he didn't see my promiscuity in nightclubs. So, I can't get emotionally involved... I really regret coming to Dali!"

I don't know what to say. I just saw the differences between people in Taozi's words. For us, coming to Dali is a long journey of life, but for Taozi, the beginning is also the end.