Yang Sisi and I stood back in front of Lao Mi. Yang Sisi said to Lao Mi, "Uncle, let's go sit over there for a while. I'd love to chat with you."

Of course, I didn't want Yang Sisi to succeed, so I quickly said, "Dad, don't listen to her nonsense..."

Old Mi interrupted me, replying, "The girl hasn't even said a word yet, how do you know she's already talking nonsense?"

"We don't have time to chat anymore. A friend is treating us to dinner in Haidong later... Why don't you come with us?"

"Why should I join in the fun of you young people eating together!" Old Mi retorted to me, then turned to Yang Sisi and said, "Girl, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"Let's sit down and talk, standing is tiring!"

...

The three of us sat down on the rock where Coach Ma and I often ate. I looked at the surging sea not far away and felt a sense of disorientation. I also felt that the connection between people is indeed quite wonderful.

How did Yang Sisi manage to run into Lao Mi? And why are they sitting together chatting so calmly?

After chatting for a few minutes, Yang Sisi suddenly asked Old Mi, "Uncle, why do you always object to Mi Gao staying in Dali? ... I think he's doing quite well in Dali, and his new girlfriend seems to support him staying here too!"

“Starting a business always involves risks. He’s already this age. If he fails here, it will be very difficult for him to get back up.”

"Oh, so that's what you're worried about, Uncle... But what good will it do for him to go back to Shanghai?"

Old Mi replied, "His previous company had a product manager position vacant, and his boss has been waiting for him to come back and take over the job... You know, his mother and I are just ordinary workers. If he wastes his prime years and money here, how will we help him recover? As for him, we'd be happy if he went back to Shanghai and got a small manager position, earning a salary of 200,000 or 300,000 a year. If he can get bigger opportunities in the future, we'll have even less to say!"

"Two hundred thousand a year? Even if you don't eat or drink, it's only enough to buy 4 square meters of housing in Shanghai! ... 100 square meters, that would take 25 years!!"

Old Mi remained silent.

Yang Sisi added, "But you don't need to worry too much... His new girlfriend is very capable, so it doesn't matter whether he stays in Shanghai or Dali, he won't have a hard life."

I was about to speak when Yang Sisi glared at me, and I swallowed my words back.

Old Mi seemed a bit depressed. He lit a cigarette, took a puff, and then replied, "How can a man like him put the burden of settling down and starting a family on a woman's shoulders? ... Young people's relationships are so unstable these days. He had such a deep relationship with that girl before, and it still ended up being ruined. What about this girl, Xiao Ye!"

"Yes, Uncle, don't you understand everything? Then why force him to go back to Shanghai and not give him a chance to work hard in Dali? ... Let's make an assumption: even if he goes back to Shanghai and becomes a product manager, he still won't be able to afford a house, right? ... He'll really feel very depressed there alone... I'm from Shanghai, and I've seen many people like him working in Shanghai. Unless they're extremely lucky, most of them end up in a terrible situation. A product manager really isn't anything special in Shanghai!"

Old Mi remained silent, simply smoking quietly. At that moment, he looked even older...

Yang Sisi said again, "Uncle, this inn really makes money, I'm definitely not lying to you..." Then she turned to me and said, "Michael, my aunt's company is having its annual meeting in November, and I asked her to come to Dali for it. There are 56 people coming this time, and they'll be staying at our inn. I quoted her 10,000 yuan a day, and they'll be staying for a week, which is 70,000 yuan in total. I've already received a 10,000 yuan deposit, and I'll transfer it to you via WeChat now."

"Wait a minute, our inn only has about ten rooms, how can we accommodate 56 people?... Don't just take orders randomly, and our inn doesn't even charge 10,000 yuan a day!"

"Are you stupid? The company is all about performance. Our guesthouse has a sea view, so of course it's reserved for the best-performing employees. We'll accommodate as many as we can, and 10,000 yuan a day isn't expensive, is it? ...Right-line sea views are the most scarce resource in all of Dali right now. How could you possibly still sell it at the original price!"

"Did your aunt willingly let you scam her?"

Yang Sisi ignored me, but readily transferred the 10,000 yuan deposit to me via WeChat. I immediately felt the weight on my phone. I never thought that money could be so easy to earn! My phone felt a little hot to the touch.

"Uncle, Michael is really different now. He's doing business with rich people now, and one of his partners is the niece of a tourism bureau leader. He's got connections here... It would be really foolish of you to force him to go back to Shanghai!"

Old Mi looked at us with a mixture of disbelief and skepticism...

I held my phone up to him, indicating that Yang Sisi had indeed just transferred 10,000 yuan to me. Yang Sisi also sent a screenshot of her conversation with the aunt to my phone to prove that it was a genuine transaction and there was no fraud involved.

Old Mi's expression finally softened, and after a while he said to me, "If there really is such a good prospect, I wouldn't dare to advise you to go back to Shanghai... Take some time to call your mother and tell her about the situation here, so that she can put her mind at ease... Actually, she is the one who is most worried about you."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!