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

In fact, I had no reason to refuse Sun Jiwei. If it weren't for his tireless efforts, the inn would have been forcibly taken over by Cao Jinbo for 50 yuan long ago. Now he's offering 200 million yuan, which means we've made an extra 150 million yuan on top of our bad luck. Objectively speaking, this price is quite reasonable, considering that when we took over, we only spent about 100 million yuan including later investments.

This time, I wasn't as resolute as before. Exhausted, I replied, "Brother Sun, give me some time to think about it."

Sun Jiwei patted my shoulder and nodded in response.

……

On the way back to the guesthouse, I didn't let Sun Jiwei take me. I called one of those three-wheeled vehicles with a canopy. During the bumpy ride, I thought about many things: If I accepted the conditions that Sun Jiwei offered on behalf of his friend and transferred the guesthouse, I could probably get 60 yuan of it. I would take out the 19 yuan that Wang Lei had given me and continue to donate it to the Hope Primary School that she had funded before her death. I could still keep 40 yuan for myself.

This amount of money isn't a lot, but it's not a small amount either.

Most importantly, I have another option. I can take this money back to Shanghai, borrow some more from relatives and friends, make a down payment on a small apartment, and then continue to find a job that I'm good at.

Although it's still not very comfortable, it's definitely much better than before, after all, we have an extra 40.

I'm somewhat tempted.

Alternatively, I could take this money back to my small mountain town. It would be enough to buy a house in the city outright, and then find a girl from that small town to live a life where we only worry about the mundane details of daily life.

This looks good too.

However, when I think of Wang Lei, my heart is filled with guilt, because everything I am doing now is what she most wanted to do when she was alive. If I give up the inn for this 40 yuan, I am really not worthy of the sincere heart she once had for me.

From the moment I left Shanghai, I always felt that half of my life was for her.

……

In a daze, I arrived at the inn. Everyone was sitting in the small bar, but they weren't talking to each other; the atmosphere seemed heavy. I pushed open the door and went in, then sat down opposite Yang Sisi. She seemed to have just been crying; there were still tear stains on her face.

I lit the cigarette Coach Ma handed me, and just as I was finishing it, Bai Lu finally clapped her hands and said to us, "Look at you guys, Michael is already back, why are you still looking so dejected? Tonight I'm treating everyone to a good meal, don't hold back, drink until you drop; when you wake up tomorrow, just pretend nothing happened."

Tie Nan clapped and said "Good" twice.

But I just stared at him blankly, and the atmosphere became awkward again.

Tie Nan threw a teacup lid in front of me and complained, "You jerk, can you stop acting like you're half-dead? Let me tell you honestly, none of the people sitting here have a grudge against you... You're only doing this for the inn, we know what's right and wrong."

I forced a smile and then asked Bai Lu, "Sun Jiwei has told me everything that happened these past few days. How were the grandson's medical expenses ultimately paid?"

To ease my guilt, Bailu smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, it's not a big loss. Our inn's revenue these past few days is enough to cover it... Sigh, no wonder people are eyeing our inn. In this environment, our inn is making so much money! You wouldn't believe it, the rooms for the next week are already booked in advance... This is the result of our concerted efforts!"

After Bai Lu finished speaking, she wanted to say something more, but I interrupted her, saying, "Everyone, listen to me for a moment... These past two days, being detained at the police station, I've reconsidered many things, including myself... To be honest, I'm quite disappointed in myself. Before, I always encouraged Sisi to experience the realities of society, but when it came to dealing with things myself, this is how I handled it. Perhaps some people are destined to live ordinary lives because we lack a certain ruthlessness when we're navigating society..."

Yang Sisi interrupted me again, saying, "You're pretty ruthless! You smashed that bastard's head open with one blow, like smashing a watermelon!"

I looked at her speechlessly, unsure how to explain.

Coach Ma, who had been silent all along, replied for me: "When Michael said 'ruthless,' he meant cunning... It means being ruthless when you need to be, and cunning when you need to be. It would be even better if you could be calculating. We lack all of those qualities."

"You could say that."

After a brief pause, I continued, "I just came out of the police station, and I talked with Sun Jiwei for quite a while... What he said to me, although a bit harsh, was still good advice for navigating the underworld... I'm quite doubting myself, and I feel even more sorry for everyone. I've dragged everyone down with me because of this... I'm sorry!"

Bai Lu replied, "Look at you, why are you saying such formal things?!... Although we haven't known each other for very long, we've been through thick and thin together. If you consider us friends and family, please don't say such distant things again!"

My heart was filled with mixed emotions. After a long while, I nodded and said, "Well... let's not talk about that for now. There's something else I want to tell everyone... When we were having drinks just now, Sun Jiwei told me that he has a friend who also wants to invest in a high-end seaside inn in Dali. The other party is very satisfied with our inn and offered 200 million yuan to take it over."

A silence fell over everyone. Finally, Coach Ma asked me, "What are your thoughts?"

"I'm pretty confused... Don't rush to make a decision, everyone. Let's think about it for a night. Let's meet at the bar again at nine o'clock tomorrow morning and talk about this properly."

No one objected, and this attitude was completely different from when Sun Jiwei proposed to invest last time. I think everyone, like me, felt exhausted after the repeated ups and downs. In the end, this inn wasn't our faith, and even if it were, it would be abandoned one day when faced with harsh reality time and time again.

We are all just ordinary people, at most a little more persistent than ordinary people, but even that little bit is not enough for us to maintain an unwavering heart when facing numerous obstacles.

……

This was destined to be a sleepless night. I came to Erhai Lake alone again with cigarettes and alcohol. Looking at the moonlight reflected on the lake, I felt a pang of reluctance. I love Dali, I love its natural scenery, and I love the feeling of sitting by Erhai Lake, where I can calm down and think about many things.

I lit a cigarette and then took out the notebook that Wang Lei had left behind before her death from my pocket. It contained records of things as small as buying a bag of feminine hygiene products, and I could see the hardships she faced as a nightclub worker in these tiny details.

In fact, she exaggerated the good things about Dali. She just wanted to get rid of the environment she hated so much, and Dali just happened to come into her sight again, so she subconsciously painted a dreamlike picture of the city.

I wanted to talk to myself in this notebook and tell her what had happened recently, but I felt it was cruel. I always felt that she lived in my mental world. She had suffered enough in her life, so how could I expose the cruel side of Dali to her?

This was, after all, just a dream of hers! I think she didn't want to wake up.

So I put the notebook down beside me, lay down on the hard rock, and continued to think about things that might happen in the future.

……

A moment later, I received a text message. I knew it was from the woman who had taken Lu Jia's number just by the voice, because very few people use text messaging these days, and my phone's text message notification sound is different from WeChat's.

I picked up my phone and looked at it. She had sent me this message: "Do you believe me or not, I'm in Lijiang right now?"

"Believe me, with transportation so advanced these days, it doesn't take much time to get anywhere."

Are you in Dali?

"I've never left."

"Hehe...then we are now more than 100 kilometers apart."

"Yes, if we drive onto the highway now, we can meet in two hours."

"I don't want to see you. Otherwise, why would I go to Lijiang instead of Dali?"

"I was just saying, and I'm not in the mood to meet you... because we still owe each other a fight, and in my current state, I can't guarantee I won't actually beat you up if we meet."

She started speaking rudely again: "You troublemaker, when are you ever in a good mood?... The reason I don't want to see you is because I'm afraid of getting your bad luck..."

I didn't reply to the message immediately. Instead, I lit a cigarette. A moment later, she sent another message: "So, what bad luck happened this time... I happen to be alone at a bar right now, so I can listen to your rambling for a while."