I then turned my gaze to Coach Ma, waiting for his opinion.

Coach Ma took a drag of his cigarette and replied, "I don't agree either; it's like an outsider has come in."

“You have to consider the bigger picture…” Bai Lu said, then said to Tie Nan, “If Tao Zi wants to invest her money, we can still give her shares.”

Tie Nan still had an unwilling expression, but he didn't say anything.

Bai Lu was somewhat helpless. After a long while, she said to me, "Michael, if we only look at the immediate situation, our interests will definitely be affected. But if we look at it in the long run, it will definitely benefit us... Among us, you are the largest shareholder. I have already analyzed the pros and cons for you. You make the decision for us."

I was conflicted, so I lit a cigarette and, after a moment's thought, replied, "This matter, no matter how you look at it, has a hint of abusing power for personal gain. I don't want the inn to take such a risk, and I don't want this to cause disunity among us... I think we should just let it go. Our inn will not accept any external investment for the time being."

Bai Lu shook her head with a hint of regret, then said to me, "Since you've said so, I won't try to persuade you anymore... But how are you going to talk to Sun Jiwei about this?"

"Just tell the truth."

Bai Lu stopped me, then said, "Don't tell the truth... I deal with these people often and know their temperaments. I'll talk to him about this... You guys are all people who easily offend others."

This time, no one objected to Bai Lu anymore, because her role in the inn was to handle external affairs, and it would definitely be much better for her to handle it than for me to.

...

That night, unable to sleep, I sat by Erhai Lake again, smoking, drinking, and spacing out... and this seemed to have become my most important way of relieving stress here.

I remembered the woman who had taken Lu Jia's number. She had told me before that she was pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's child. This was indeed a big deal, and I was quite worried about her, so I sent her another message to inquire about the situation.

I didn't mean to reopen her wounds, but I felt that it was indeed very difficult and helpless for a woman to encounter something like this. Although I couldn't help her much, I could still offer her a few words of comfort if necessary.