It was very late at night, and I was still waiting for Taozi to reply to my message. I knew that because of her work, she didn't have any time to herself until very late, and sometimes she was busy all night long.

While waiting, I registered an account on Douban and posted a job ad under the name of the inn. Perhaps because it was late, I refreshed the page many times but didn't receive any replies. So I took a moment to look at other people's posts…

Sure enough, some people were selling things, some were looking to rent, and others were looking for carpooling to other cities; in addition, I also saw the kind of argumentative posts that Bai Lu had mentioned, and the time was passed just like that. I finally received Taozi's reply.

She accepted my red envelope first, then replied, "You heartless bastard, do you still remember I exist?"

"Look at what you're saying! I haven't been away from Shanghai for very long!"

Peach said sadly, "It hasn't been long, but it feels like Leilei has been gone for a long time..."

"Yes, we all miss her so much."

This time, Peach replied to the message after a moment, but changed the subject, asking, "How about you? Are you getting used to life in Dali?"

"It's great. I just took over a seaside inn with a friend."

"Really? Do you have any photos? Send them to me quickly..."

I sent her a picture of a room with an infinity pool and a sea view. She replied with a bunch of sparkling emojis, and then went silent...

I then asked her, "How have you been lately?"

"Ugh, I don't know what to choose... I saw with my own eyes how that beast smashed the bottle over Leilei's head, so I've been having nightmares lately!"

Feeling sad, I lit another cigarette, took a deep drag, and asked, "Don't you want to do this anymore?"

"Well, but I'm also worried that I won't know what to do to make money in the future."

"Find a man and settle down. You've earned quite a bit these past few years."

"Nonsense! Do you think everyone in our line of work is as frugal as Leilei? ... We have to invest in ourselves, otherwise we won't get any customers, so we haven't been able to save much money. But it's enough to start a small business back in our hometown... But there aren't that many good men in this world! I don't have the right to be picky about men."

I felt sorry for her profession and for her as a person, so I didn't reply to her message immediately.

She sent another message: "Michael, I suddenly want to go to Dali too, would you welcome me?"

"Of course you're welcome. You can come anytime."

"Hmm, I'll see if I can get some time off soon."

"Okay, let me know in advance and I'll arrange a car to pick you up from the airport."

"Forget it, forget it, no need for that. Just send me the address of the inn, and I'll take a taxi there myself."

...

After ending my conversation with Peach, I was in a daze for a long time. When I came back to my senses, it was already one o'clock in the morning. I finally lay down on the bed, ready to smoke my last cigarette and then go to sleep.

While smoking, I opened Douban again and found that several people were leaving comments under the post, asking about the specific working hours and salary.

I sent them private messages one by one to answer their questions, and invited them to visit the inn when they had some free time, and then we could talk in detail.

After that, I put my phone on silent. Perhaps because the bed was so comfortable, I fell asleep shortly after closing my eyes.

...

I slept quite well that night, barely dreaming, and slept until the next morning. I was the first one up at the inn. I cooked a pot of porridge and then went to the steamed bun shop next door to buy enough steamed buns and dumplings for three people.

During lunch, we also arranged the day's work. Instructor Ma and I continued to move the remaining items from Ma Jiuyi's place, while Tie Nan went to find a craftsman to fix all the repairs needed in the inn.

Time is quite tight for us, because in a few weeks, the expert team will begin evaluating each licensed guesthouse by the sea. We certainly hope to get our guesthouse in its best condition before then, and hopefully be among the first to reopen.

...

Around noon, I ran into Ye Zhi, who had returned to Ma Jiuyi from elsewhere, and then I suddenly remembered that she had asked me to send her the specific address of the inn yesterday.

She seemed to remember this too; she parked her car next to the one we were using to move our things, and then rolled down the window…

Feeling a little embarrassed for breaking our appointment, I tentatively asked her, "Is something wrong?"

"You don't seem to be a very trustworthy person."

I felt even more embarrassed, so I paused for a moment before replying, "I was busy moving things this morning and forgot about it."

"Can you tell me now?"

"Of course..." I said, but I still couldn't recall any easy-to-recognize landmarks near the inn, so I looked to Instructor Ma for help.

Coach Ma threw away his cigarette butt and replied, "It's about a kilometer from Longkan Wharf."

Could you be more specific?

This time, both Coach Ma and I were taken aback, not understanding why she needed such precise coordinates. Even if she wanted to go and take a look, she could have simply sent me a message after arriving at Longkan Wharf, and I could have easily picked her up.

Coach Ma added, "We're quite close to Xiadui Village."

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