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

Cao Jinbo entered the inn, and Bai Lu rose to greet him. The rest of us also stood up. Observing his expression, I noticed that Cao Jinbo had a smile on his face the whole time, and he didn't seem to be there to cause trouble. Sure enough, the two men who came with him handed him two bottles of wine. After he placed them on the table, he said to Bai Lu, "I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday. I came here today specifically to express my apologies to you."

"Mr. Cao, you're too kind. It's such a small matter, yet you've gone to all this trouble... Please have a seat, I'll have someone make you a cup of tea."

Cao Jinbo sat down opposite Bailu, then, while fiddling with the beads in his hand, he glanced around the inn and sighed, "Your inn is really lucky to be in this place. Unlike mine, which is still closed, losing tens of thousands every day!"

"Mr. Cao, you flatter us too much. We're just a small business, doing this for fun. How can we compare to your inn?"

Cao Jinbo smiled and asked, "Business must be pretty good, right?"

"It's alright... but once your big-investment seaside inns reopen, things might get tough for us."

Cao Jinbo complained, "Our side won't be back to normal anytime soon... The inefficiency of those people is infuriating... But we can only rely on them for this; we're just ordinary people, our words don't carry much weight."

"Let's not discuss policy matters... This time, I have a lot of faith in the government. After all, protecting Erhai Lake is a matter that benefits both the present and future generations. We Dali people live by the mountains and the water, so Erhai Lake absolutely cannot be allowed to deteriorate!"

"That makes sense. We've invested tens of millions, and we're patiently waiting for news. Although I have some complaints, deep down I definitely support the government's efforts to protect Erhai Lake."

Bai Lu smiled, then changed the subject, asking, "President Cao, what exactly happened with that unlicensed taxi driver yesterday? Could he really be one of yours?"

"If he really is one of my people, I absolutely won't protect him... You called me last night, so I had my people investigate. After checking around, everyone said they didn't know this person... I also find this quite suspicious, so before coming to your inn, I called the police... I think it's more reliable to let the police investigate this matter. I pay millions in taxes every year. We citizens support them, isn't it precisely because we want them to do things for us at times like this!"

Bai Lu frowned, but then replied with a smile, "This little thing isn't worth calling the police. Anyway, no one has suffered any loss."

"You're wrong about that. We're in this for the long haul. If we don't root out these bad apples, it won't be good for either of us."

After a brief pause, Cao Jinbo continued, "To be honest, I really have something else I need your help with this time... Could you perhaps help me put in a good word with the Tourism Bureau and the Environmental Protection Bureau? My seaside inn in Shuanglang missed the first batch, but I can't afford to miss the second... You have no idea how stressed I am by this policy. The inn is just sitting there idle, and aside from everything else, I'll lose over a million yuan in rent this year alone!"

"Mr. Cao, you're joking... With your connections, you still couldn't get this done. How could I possibly pull some strings for you?"

"Give it a try; it's an extra path, an extra glimmer of hope."

Bai Lu smiled again and replied, "Since you, Mr. Cao, have made a special trip here, I can't refuse you... If you want to meet with any manager, I can arrange it for you... But as for other things, I really can't help you much... You know, our inn didn't reopen by pulling strings."

"That's all I need to say... I'm really busy here, but I won't interfere with your business. Let's keep in touch."

"Keep in touch, and take care."

……

After Cao Jinbo left, we discussed it amongst ourselves and realized we had been too nervous. Although Cao Jinbo was rumored to be very domineering, he was probably still wary of Bai Lu, a woman with political connections. He was probably just trying to curry favor with her. As for the unlicensed taxi driver, he definitely had connections with him or his subordinates, but since he didn't want to admit it, we didn't need to take it too seriously. After all, business is about harmony, and we should give him face.

……

The next day, Yang Sisi's aunt arrived in Dali with her company team, following the previously planned itinerary. Perhaps because of Yang Sisi, they didn't care about spending money at all. On the first day, they had the person in charge of finance settle all the expenses for the past few days with us in one go. In addition, they ordered an extra 100,000 yuan worth of alcohol, which was of course included in our income.

For the first time in my life, I felt that making money was so easy, and I finally understood why some people don't feel bad about spending money so much, because they spend more and earn more.

However, to my surprise, Yang Sisi's cousin didn't choose to stay at our inn. I later found out he was staying at a hotel in Ma Jiuyi. His purpose, of course, was to have more contact with Ye Zhi.

……

It was evening when Coach Ma and I hailed a van and went to Xiaguan to get 50,000 yuan worth of liquor from that supplier. When we got back to the inn to unload, Yang Sisi suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said to me, "My cousin said he's treating us to dinner tonight. Are you coming?"

"Can't you see how much work there is? You're not allowed to go either. Stay at the inn and entertain the guests."

"Look at you, a meal won't take long, and these are all guests who will be staying for a week. There's no one else to take care of right now, so what am I supposed to do at the inn?"

Peach, who helped us unload the goods, chimed in, "Michael, stop exploiting Sisi... If it weren't for her, this little bar of mine and Coach Ma's wouldn't be doing any business at all... She's made such a big contribution, what's wrong with letting her take a break?" After saying that, she said to Yang Sisi, "Go have fun, I'll keep an eye on the inn for you."

"Sister Peach, you're the most loyal!"

Peach smiled and said to me, "You've had a tough time lately, so it won't hurt to relax a bit."

"I don't like being a third wheel, I'd rather stay at the inn."

No sooner had I finished speaking than I received another WeChat message from Ye Zhi, who asked, "Are you free tonight? I'd like to invite you and Sisi to dinner."

"Let Sisi go, I'll pass... The inn is quite busy."

"It's not very nice of you to refuse so decisively on our first date, is it?"

Yang Sisi leaned over to look at my phone and said, "Wow, Ye Zhi personally invited you out to dinner... You'd better hurry up and say yes, or you'll put on too high a pedestal and she'll really ignore you."

"Being busy is being busy, it doesn't matter who schedules it."

Yang Sisi smiled at me with ill intent, and then said, "Maybe they'll announce their relationship to others while they're eating. After all, they're both people who value rituals, and of course they'd like others to witness such an important moment in their lives."

"Come on, you're not a celebrity, why are you so afraid that people won't know you have a scandal?"

"You've said so much, isn't it because you're scared?"

"What am I afraid of?"

"You're afraid of being heartbroken... You don't want to just watch Ye Zhi be with someone else, because you still have fantasies about her."

"Am I really that prone to falling in love with every single woman I meet?"

"If you're not feeling guilty, you can come with me... just think of it as a gathering of people from the same hometown, since you're practically a Shanghainese yourself."

When Yang Sisi kept provoking me, I started to doubt myself. Actually, there were many things to do at the inn, but there were also many capable people, so I didn't need to participate in everything. So why wasn't I willing to keep my appointment with Ye Zhi and Yang Sisi's cousin?

Could it really be as Yang Sisi said? I still have a fantasy about Ye Zhi, which is why I'm unwilling to just watch her become someone else's woman.

No, I'm not that superficial. If Ye Zhi and her cousin really do have feelings for each other, then as a friend, I would definitely be willing to send my blessings.

Then, I took off the gloves I used for carrying things and said to Yang Sisi, "Let's go, I'll go with you."