Du Yawen easily agreed to Tao Rui's proposal because she wasn't worried or agreeing at the moment. She felt more calm and indifferent. Business didn't matter. Making money or losing money didn't matter. Whether she quit her job or not didn't matter. Living with the elderly didn't matter.

Tao Rui, on the other hand, acted very reliable and thoughtful, as if he had everything planned out so she didn't have to worry about anything. So she just listened to Tao Rui.

In the next few days, Tao Rui took Du Yawen and Xinxin to play everywhere, up the mountains and down the water, and played around the resort to get a deeper understanding of the environment here.

When it was time for dinner, he built a fire and cooked some of his picnic dishes for Du Yawen to taste, adjusting the ingredients based on recipes he found online to find the right flavors. He also made a barbecue and a hot pot, both of which were great for sharing and creating a lively atmosphere.

Tao Rui was in charge of cooking, which served as a food tester and also freed Du Yawen up. Every time this happened, Du Yawen would paint with Meng Xue under the grape trellis.

The two of them placed their easels side by side. Du Yawen found the number blocks on the canvas and painted with paint, while Meng Xue was quietly sketching. Xinxin was rocking in the rocking chair next to them, looking here and there, and occasionally climbing around the grape trellis for fun.

The boss, Brother Tao, felt that staying in a place like this was boring and lonely, but seeing them in the yard like this also made him feel warm. He took a photo of them with his phone, showed it to Tao Rui, and said with a smile, "Xiao Tao, you guys are quite good at having fun. It seems that you really like this place."

Tao Rui looked at the photos and said in surprise, "Brother Tao, your photography skills are quite good!" He thought of the various photographs hanging on the walls of the holiday home and asked, "Did you take all those photos in the house?"

Brother Tao nodded and sighed, "Yeah, I don't have any other hobbies except photography. I opened the resort here because I thought the scenery was beautiful. I thought a lot of people who appreciate beauty would come here for vacation. But who knew that after a year, it hasn't been fully occupied twice. Everyone likes to go to those famous tourist attractions. The suburbs are boring. You said you were interested in this place a few days ago. Is that true?"

Tao Rui added wood to the fire and said with a smile, "Of course it's true. You can see that our family is very comfortable living here. I want to spend time with my family and can't do a busy job. If I open a resort here, it will be half vacation and half work. I can accompany my daughter to grow up."

Brother Tao glanced at Xinxin and gave her a thumbs-up. "What a man! You're such a family man these days. How many people send their children to boarding school? But I can't lie to you. There haven't been any new guests these days. Apart from the golden holidays, there aren't many people here, so we can't make any money. If we bring in too much food from the city, it's likely to go bad. If we don't bring in enough, we won't have the ingredients you want. It'll be hard to eat fresh food. I need to explain all this to you."

"Brother Tao is very kind. If I take over this place, I will definitely renovate it and try to build it into an Internet-famous resort. I have had some ideas these days and I am indeed interested in taking over. Let's talk while we eat and discuss related matters." Tao Rui made roasted lamb legs tonight and invited the boss and Meng Xue to taste them together. It would be lively with more people, and he also needed more people's opinions. He planned to make these roasted fish, roasted lamb and the like as specialties.

Tao originally came here because his family elders forbade him from traveling around taking photos and insisted he settle down. Now that he's lost money and his family has relented, he would have left long ago if there hadn't been so little interest. So he was enthusiastic about Tao Rui and wanted to sign a contract on the spot to transfer the resort to him.

As the two started chatting, Brother Tao discovered that Tao Rui was an expert and had a clear understanding of the current status of the resort and the depreciation of equipment. He was stunned by what he said, and finally saw that the transfer amount proposed by Tao Rui was a little more than he expected.

He felt a little embarrassed and felt that he had been taken advantage of, but Tao Rui insisted that the current vacation home was worth that much money.

Tao Rui has many plans for the future. Brother Tao has applied for a lot of usage rights here before, but Brother Tao did not use them. However, they will be of great use to his future plans, so he is naturally willing to be generous to Brother Tao.

Both parties were very satisfied with the transfer. Brother Tao even took out his treasured beer and drank it with Tao Rui, saying that he must make friends with Tao Rui.

Meng Xue was watching from the side, feeling extremely surprised. She whispered to Du Yawen, "You bought it right away? That's a lot of money. Don't you want to think about it again? Sister Yawen, although I like this place, I've been here a few times and there are really no customers here. It's not profitable."

Du Yawen smiled and said, "We've all worked very hard before and accumulated some money. We should be able to bear the losses for a year or two. Don't worry, I'm mentally prepared. You may not understand, but staying here is good for our family of three. Sometimes money is not important, home is the most important thing."

Meng Xue nodded, half understanding. She was still a college student, and managing a household was still a figment of her imagination. She saw that Tao Rui and Du Yawen seemed to like the place very much and didn't seem worried at all. Of course, she didn't say anything more, but sincerely wished them well and hoped they wouldn't lose money after the renovation. She really liked their family.

After dinner, while Tao Rui cleaned up the mess, Du Yawen hurried to finish the last bit of her painting. It was a vase of flowers, a simple painting requiring only a few colors, so she finished it in her spare time.

Meng Xue took a closer look and said with a smile, "It's really interesting. The numbers and lines are covered up, and it looks like an oil painting I drew myself."

Du Yawen looked at the finished painting and felt a faint sense of accomplishment. "Does it look like a real oil painting? It seems quite beautiful."

"If an art student like me saw it, I'd definitely notice the lines and other things weren't drawn by someone who understands art. But ordinary people wouldn't notice and would just think your painting is amazing." Meng Xue took out her phone and said happily, "Sister Yawen, let's take a photo with the painting. I'm going back to the city tomorrow, and we both finished our paintings today. It's awesome!"

"Okay, let's ask Brother Tao to take the photos for us!" Du Yawen went to find Brother Tao. The photos taken by professional photographers are different from theirs. It was so hard to meet him, so she had to capture the best pictures.

Brother Tao had a good impression of them and was happy to take photos for them. He not only took photos of Du Yawen and Meng Xue, but also photos of Meng Xue holding Xinxin, Tao Rui and Du Yawen as a couple, Tao Rui's family of three, Tao Rui and Xinxin, and all of them together.

It was the afterglow of the sunset, and they took pictures from the yard to the lakeside, and even got on a boat to capture the most beautiful scenery nearby.

When Tao Rui saw the photo, he immediately put his arm around Brother Tao's shoulder and raised his eyebrows. "I really need to learn how to take photos from you. Brother Tao, are you willing to teach me?"

Brother Tao laughed heartily and said, "No problem. You can't even bear to look at the photos you took. Come on, let's have a drink and I'll explain it to you."

The photos Brother Tao took were truly beautiful, and the two ladies were incredibly pleased. Meng Xue returned to her room and posted a nine-square grid of photos on her Moments, also promoting the resort. This would be Tao Rui and Du Yawen's business from now on, and she figured having another classmate come would mean more business.

The photos were very artistic, like they were taken in a photo studio. As soon as she posted them, many people left messages asking her about them. However, they were not interested in the resort, but asked who took the photos for her, which made Meng Xue laugh and cry.

She was busy replying to her classmates when she suddenly received a call from her sister Meng Hui. She was a little confused. Her sister rarely contacted her several times a year, so why did she contact her during such a special occasion?

She picked up the phone quickly, and just as she said "sister", she was stunned by the barrage of questions from the other party.

"How did you end up with Tao Rui? Do you know Tao Rui or Du Yawen? Did you plan to go on vacation together? Are you close? Why haven't I heard you mention this before? When did you meet? How did you meet?"

Meng Xue frowned. "Sis, you've asked so many questions. Which one should I answer first?" She paused and asked, "Sis, do you know Brother Rui and Sister Yawen?"

Meng Hui said in a deep voice, "Don't worry about it. I was the one asking you first. You're a little girl, where did you go when you didn't go home during the holidays? Of course I have to ask you."

Meng Xue said unhappily, "Didn't you go home either?"

"I'm doing serious work at work."

"My sketching and painting are also serious business."

"I won't argue with you about this. First, tell me how you and Tao Rui met."

Meng Xue was baffled. They hadn't been in touch since the Lunar New Year, and for six months, every time he called, he'd ask her a ton of questions. But she had nothing to hide, so she told him the truth: she'd run into Tao Rui and his family at the resort, and because they looked so sweet, she'd drawn a picture for them. That's how they met.

She said, "I'll be back in the city tomorrow morning, so don't worry. Besides, Sister Yawen and her husband are very nice. We've been together for so many days, and I'm sure they're a loving couple with an angelic baby. If I hadn't had something else to do back home, I'd like to stay a few more days with them."

Meng Xue thought that saying this would reassure her family, but she didn't know how harsh these words were to Meng Hui's ears. The emotions that had finally calmed down over the past few days immediately churned up again, as if her heart was filled with sourness and as if she was being pricked by needles, causing a sharp and intense pain.

Meng Xue, a new acquaintance, actually thought they were in love. Did Tao Rui really like Du Yawen that much? She couldn't help but say, "Don't trust people too easily. I know them, and I don't get along well with Du Yawen. I just think they're not getting along. I don't know why they're pretending to be in love outside. Be careful. By the way, don't mention me to them, to avoid misunderstandings."

Meng Xue muttered, "They're clearly very affectionate. Sister Yawen suffers from depression, but Brother Rui accompanies her every day, goes hiking and swimming, cooks delicious meals for her, and cares deeply about her. If this isn't love, then what else can it be called?"

"You said...Du Yawen has depression?"