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

After getting into the car, Tie Nan didn't stop working. He hummed a little tune while fiddling with his phone, probably texting Tao Zi. Before long, his face broke into a wide smile, and he sent a voice message to Tao Zi asking if he could finish up his work early so they could come to Dali sooner.

His every move convinced me that he was truly in love; so was Taozi, otherwise she wouldn't have had the courage to give up a job that supported her family. I think that if love could be calculated, the love she gave would definitely not be less than Tie Nan's.

But the more this is the case, the more worried I become for her, because if she can't make this relationship work out, her future will only be darker and she will see even less hope.

……

After driving for half an hour, I arrived at the Hilton Hotel. Old Mi had already checked out and was waiting for me at the hotel entrance. As soon as Tie Nan saw Old Mi, he called out "Uncle" and offered to help him with his luggage.

Old Mi responded, but didn't seem to like him much, staring intently at his tattoos and dreadlocks. While this kind of attire was common in Dali, it would be considered utterly reprehensible in our small county town.

As Tie Nan put the luggage into the trunk, Lao Mi indeed asked me, "Is this your friend?"

"Yes, friends who run an inn together."

"This outfit is so fresh and new!"

I gave an awkward laugh, then led Lao Mi toward the car, and changed the subject, saying to him, "Xiao Ye went back to Shanghai to handle some matters, so he won't be coming over for the next couple of days."

"Is she from Shanghai?"

Didn't I tell you?

Old Mi gave me a very unfriendly look, clearly thinking I was a jerk for not telling him such an important situation. He then said to me, "It's good that she's from Shanghai, since you're also going back to Shanghai to develop your career... you can look out for each other."

"Can we not mention going back to Shanghai?"

"Can she stay in Dali with you for the rest of her life? Or does she approve of you staying in Dali?"

I was taken aback. It turned out that Old Mi didn't suspect that Ye Zhi and I were acting; he just felt there was a huge gap between us, which was why he didn't think we were a good match. And I felt the same way, so I kept reminding myself not to get too involved.

In this life, being friends is enough. Because I am a man with a lock in my destiny, while she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Don't misunderstand, the silver spoon she was born with was definitely not meant to unlock this iron lock of mine. This lock of mine is the shackle in my destiny, and also the irrefutable proof that I was born ordinary.

Yang Sisi is right, there are different classes in this world.

But what kind of man will a woman like Ye Zhi eventually marry?

I think you have to be at least better than her.

I finally replied to Lao Mi, "She won't stay in Dali forever, but she approves of me staying... Dad, can you calm down a bit? I'm not just lazing around in Dali. I run a guesthouse with my friends, and things are going very well right now. We'll be able to reopen soon... Do you know what reopening means? Only 31 guesthouses along the entire Erhai Lake can reopen, and we're one of them!"

Old Mi sighed and said, "Don't just stand here, take me to see your inn first."

……

A short while later, the three of us returned to the inn. During this time, Tie Nan received a call from GG Company, saying that their signboard was finished and they wanted us to send someone over to settle the bill and check the quality. If there were no problems, they would send workers to install it that afternoon.

Of course, Tie Nan was in charge of this matter, so when he returned to the inn, he didn't even have time to rest before riding his motorcycle straight to GG Company.

Coach Ma wasn't idle either. Wearing only a pair of shorts, he was drilling holes in the wall under the scorching sun, while Bai Lu, wearing the kind of white gloves used for heavy work, was helping him. They only stopped when they saw Lao Mi and me arrive.

Coach Ma handed a cigarette to both me and Lao Mi. He wasn't a talkative person, so he didn't say much. The quick-witted Bai Lu smiled and asked Lao Mi, "Uncle, were you tired from the journey?"

"I slept well last night and have recovered."

"Then you'll have to let Michael show you around Dali today. There are many nice sights here that are worth visiting."

Old Mi responded, then looked around the inn and asked, "How much did it cost to set up this inn in total?"

"It was less than a million yuan. We got it from a friend. She had invested more than 11 million yuan back then... Later, the Dali government closed all the guesthouses by Erhai Lake to protect it. Her family had lost a lot of money in their business, so she transferred it to us at a low price... However, the guesthouse should be able to reopen in November."

Bai Lu turned her gaze to me and continued, "The inn was able to reopen ahead of schedule thanks to Mi Gao. If it weren't for his courageous act, which caught the government's attention and led to his award, we wouldn't have been able to get such a valuable spot... Uncle, do you know? There are over 11 inns that were shut down along Erhai Lake, but only 30 were able to reopen in November. This spot was an extra reward from the government, meaning there were only 31 in total. You can do the math on that ratio..."

Old Mi's gaze softened somewhat as he looked at me, but there still seemed to be a hint of resentment. He then asked Bai Lu, "Can you make money running this inn?"

"If it were before, it would be hard to say... But now only a few guesthouses have reopened, yet the market is so big. Uncle, do you think we can make money?... Let me do the math for you. We currently have ten rooms. If we can sell them all, we can earn about 6000 yuan a day, which would amount to about 200 million yuan a year. After deducting rent, labor costs, and depreciation, we'd still make at least 150 million yuan in profit. Michael would get at least 40 yuan, which is much better than working in Shanghai... Moreover, if we can have such a successful guesthouse in Dali, we're confident we can replicate this model in other tourist cities. We can continue to expand in Dali... In the future, we'll be a true company, and we'll all be our own bosses, working for ourselves."

"If you really have such high ambitions and can earn that much money, what else do I have to worry about... But is this money really that easy to earn? Not to mention Dali, even in our small county, I've seen too many examples of businesses failing."

Just as Old Mi raised his questions again, a middle-aged man carrying a briefcase entered our inn and asked our group, "Who is Michael?"

"Yes, that's me. Is there something you need?"

"Hello... I am a member of the working group for the cleanup of Erhai Lake. I was asked by our group leader to come here to learn about the specific situation."

"Hello, hello... Please have a seat, I'll get you a cup of tea."

"No need to be so polite, I'm quite busy here too, so I'll get straight to the point... Have you installed sewage treatment equipment here?"

Bai Lu replied for me, "It's installed. It was just installed a few days ago. We chose the best sewage treatment equipment on the market. I can guarantee that any water discharged from our guesthouse will absolutely not burden the ecological environment of Erhai Lake."

The staff member nodded and then asked, "Do you have a discharge permit issued by the Environmental Protection Bureau?"

Bai Lu was stunned for a moment...

The staff member explained, "After discussion and research, our working group believes we can give you an extra spot, given your contribution to improving Dali's tourism image. We also hope that this reward will motivate everyone to do more things beneficial to Dali's tourism development... However, some things must be handled officially, at the very least, they cannot violate the core principles of our Erhai Lake cleanup campaign... Therefore, you must provide a wastewater discharge compliance certificate issued by the Environmental Protection Bureau before we can grant you this extra spot."

Bai Lu doesn't come to the inn often, so she's not quite aware of the situation. I quickly replied, "Yes, yes, we have this proof... Wait a moment, I'll go get it for you right away."

I jogged into my room and handed the certificate to the staff member. He examined it, confirmed it was correct, and said to me, "This certificate isn't easy to get... I originally came here to check if your sewage treatment equipment was in place. If it was, I asked my colleagues at the Environmental Protection Bureau to help me get a certificate, but I didn't expect you already had it... This is a certificate that you can't get even with ordinary connections!"

"So, even if wastewater treatment equipment is installed, it doesn't guarantee you'll get this certificate?"

The staff member smiled and replied, "That's for sure. There are over 3,000 guesthouses along Erhai Lake, and at least 1,000 of them have installed sewage treatment equipment. But as far as I know, only about 100 have obtained this certificate. Do you think it's difficult or not? ... Your guesthouse has really taken advantage of the right time, place, and people... So, people should do more good deeds."

I nodded, completely agreeing!

The staff member added, "Make a copy of this certificate and send it to the municipal government, to our working group's office... After that, just wait for us to announce the first batch of guesthouses that will resume operations."

I was overjoyed, and Bailu, filled with gratitude, said to the staff, "Okay, I'll take care of it... Thank you so much!"

"Keep it up... This is an opportunity you can't get even through connections."

The staff member offered us a few words of encouragement, then took out his camera, snapped a few more photos, and left our guesthouse. The moment he stepped out the door, Bailu couldn't contain her joy and hugged Coach Ma, bursting into tears of happiness…

If yesterday it was just hope, today that hope has truly become a reality!

Seeing Bai Lu's discomposure, I had another question in my mind: Although it was a great thing that the inn was able to reopen ahead of schedule, she had a job, a bar, and a good family background, so there was no need for her to be so happy as to cry.

The only explanation is that she saw Coach Ma's expectations and efforts for the inn. Now, his dream is finally about to come true, so she is happy that Coach Ma can start anew.

Something must have happened between them.

……

After calming down, Coach Ma asked me with a puzzled look, "Sun Jiwei had the same goal before, why did you refuse, but you didn't this time?"

I smiled and replied, "Sun Jiwei is using the media to hype me up in order to attract the attention of higher-ups and to boost his own political achievements... The two are completely different in nature and purpose..."

I stopped mid-sentence... I knew that this time I didn't refuse, mostly because of Yang Sisi; I couldn't let her down. Besides, her approach was much more positive. She simply made sure everyone knew about it through her own efforts, instead of using the media for deliberate publicity or exaggerating the goodness of humanity.