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

My attitude reassured the guest somewhat, and she replied, "We really shouldn't have just gone for convenience. If we had taken a proper bus, we definitely wouldn't have encountered such bad luck. We came to Dali to stay in a seaside inn, and now that it's turned out like this, it's ruined our enjoyment of the trip."

"Don't be afraid, just play as you normally would, leave the rest to me."

"Then I'll give him the phone."

"Um."

I heard some static on the other end of the phone, then a different person asked me, "Who are you to interfere in this?"

"Never mind who I am, I just want to ask, what kind of car do you have that's so expensive? You dare ask a customer to add 500 yuan to your trip from Lijiang to Dali!"

"You little brat, looking for trouble?"

Not knowing the other party's true intentions, I smiled and replied, "It's not that I'm looking for trouble, but now trouble has come to us... Look, we're all business people, and it's not easy for guests to come to Dali. Let's resolve this peacefully. I'll give you an extra hundred yuan on behalf of the guests. You just need to safely deliver the guests to our inn, and we'll call it even."

"Are you trying to fob me off like a beggar?... Either five hundred, or you stay at the inn I brought here... Don't waste your breath on this, there's no room for negotiation."

The usually taciturn Coach Ma suddenly erupted in anger, his face contorted with rage as he cursed, "Fuck your mother... Which inn are you from? Dare to tell me where you are? I'll go and cripple you right now!"

The person on the other end of the phone showed no fear, letting out a cold laugh before replying, "...Midnight Inn, what are we afraid of, a mere innkeeper like you?...Fuck you, come on over if you dare, I'm waiting for you."

"You fucking wait..."

The call ended, and I looked at Coach Ma, even more convinced that he was the kind of person easily framed, but that was precisely what I admired about him—his courage, his sense of justice, and his straightforwardness. People like that are rare these days, whether in Dali or any other city, so I had to be a true friend; I absolutely couldn't let him take the risk alone.

Coach Ma rushed back to his room, and when he came out, he was holding a baton; he was clearly going to fight. Tie Nan, on the other hand, somehow found two more batons. He handed one to me and asked, "We're in deep trouble this time. Want to go?"

I took it and replied, "Call a car."

……

When we headed into the ancient city with our weapons, it was already clear this wouldn't be a small matter. I just hadn't expected that when I sincerely wanted to run a good inn, such a cold shower would be poured over my head. I was furious, even though I knew that force was definitely not the best way to solve this problem.

Xiao Song drove his BMW 525, which had become the guesthouse's private car, to the Zero Point Guesthouse in the ancient city. I told him not to get out of the car, then I tucked my baton into my waistband and got out of the car with Coach Ma and Tie Nan.

I saw the trapped passengers and the unlicensed taxi driver. He didn't look like a gangster, but the two standing behind him were different. They not only had no hair, but also had tattoos all over their arms.

The unlicensed taxi driver and the two thugs walked towards us, then threw their cigarette butts at my feet and asked defiantly, "Which of you was cursing at me on the phone just now? Pretty cocky, huh? Don't you know how to watch your step when you're out here? Are you all blind?!"

Coach Ma took a step forward, and I saw that his hand was already on his waist, as if he was about to take out his baton and hit me at any time. I quickly held him down and signaled him not to act rashly.

I ignored the unlicensed taxi driver and looked at the two terrified girls. I said to Instructor Ma, "Do me a favor and get these two guests to Xiao Sun's car so he can take them to the inn. That's why we came here; the girls are really scared."

Coach Ma nodded, then walked over to the two customers. The unlicensed taxi driver pointed at him and said, "You try letting them take one step. If you really take them away today, this isn't over."

Coach Ma came here specifically to fight; he didn't care if the conflict escalated further. The next moment, he pulled the two completely bewildered guests towards the car parked on the side of the road. The reason I made him do this was because I was afraid he'd resort to violence. He'd already been to jail before, and if he broke the law again, he'd be severely punished. I'd already decided that if things really came to blows, Tie Nan and I would handle it.

My hand was also on my waist, ready to pull out the baton.

The next moment, Bai Lu's car arrived after us, accompanied by Yang Sisi and Taozi... She had Yang Sisi and Taozi hold off Instructor Ma to prevent him from getting involved in the matter; she then strode up to us and said to the unlicensed taxi driver with a dark face, "I don't care who you are, but you'd better not cause trouble for us... Open your eyes and see, my name is Bai Lu. You can go to Xiaguan and ask around to see if I'm someone you can afford to mess with."

The unlicensed taxi driver clearly didn't recognize Bai Lu, but his arrogance softened. He replied, "We're just trying to make a living. What do you mean by doing this?"

"Even those who try to make a living have rules... I don't want to waste my breath on you. I've already called the police, let them handle this... Let me tell you, your behavior, which damages Dali's tourism image, has just crossed the line. If you really have the guts, go tell the police about your dissatisfaction, and I'd like to see if there's any law left!"

Upon hearing Bai Lu mention that she had called the police, the unlicensed taxi driver pointed at her menacingly and said, "You dare call the police? You just wait... I know your inn is located near Longkan, you can forget about doing business here... You just wait."

As the unlicensed taxi driver spoke, he led the two men towards his car and then drove away...

My heart finally settled down, and I realized the true nature of this unlicensed taxi driver; he really didn't have the guts to fight. He'd rip off timid tourists, but if they were tough, he'd back down. There are so many people like that in society these days.

……

After everything calmed down, Bai Lu shrugged off us, walked up to Instructor Ma, and slapped him. Instructor Ma looked at her expressionlessly, but she herself burst into tears. She choked out to Instructor Ma, "We run an inn, a legitimate business. Can't you think about the consequences before you do things? If you go back in, your life will be over... Do you really want me to die of guilt?"

Instructor Ma remained silent, while Bai Lu turned to Tie Nan and yelled, "You two are bastards too... You didn't try to stop it, but instead you fanned the flames, as if you were afraid this fight wouldn't break out? Let me tell you, if Xiao Ma goes in, we can't keep this inn... We can all just wait to die."

This was the first time I'd heard Bai Lu speak so harshly, and I felt a pang of regret... But given what had happened, I couldn't just abandon my guests. If I were afraid of the consequences and left them in the hands of these scoundrels, it would be against my conscience, since they chose this inn because of their trust.

Not wanting Bai Lu to get too angry, I changed the subject and asked her, "Didn't you call the police? Where is he?"

"I didn't call the police, I was just trying to scare them..." As she spoke, Bai Lu shifted her gaze to the Zero Point Inn not far away and whispered to me, "It's best not to make enemies with the owner of this inn; he's not someone to mess with."

"What's wrong?"

"The waters here are deep, you're new here and don't understand... Don't worry about this, leave it to me."

"You told me, and then I understood!"

After hesitating for a moment, Bai Lu said to me, "The boss is involved in organized crime... Besides the inn, he has many shady businesses. If those people weren't just using his bad reputation to bully others, but were actually living off him, then we're in real trouble... So, I'm not calling the police to give everyone a way out... If things really come to a head, we'll be the ones who suffer... Do you understand?"