I didn't rush to reply to her message. Instead, I fiddled with my phone for a while and then suddenly realized something. If I agreed to help her find a place in Dali where she could spend the Chinese New Year, wouldn't that mean that after keeping each other a secret for so long, we've finally reached the day we're going to meet?
With this thought in mind, the curiosity that had faded in my heart returned as if riding on clouds. Besides, it wouldn't be difficult for me to find her a house in Dali, so I readily replied, "How long are you going to stay here? I'll help you see which house is more cost-effective."
"It can be anywhere from a week to two weeks; how long I stay depends on my mood."
"With such a short time, renting a private house isn't practical, so you'll have to stay in a guesthouse... However, I must warn you that during the Spring Festival, guesthouse prices here are at least three times higher than in the off-season. If you have a lot of time, I don't recommend traveling to Dali during the Spring Festival."
"When you're out having fun, the most important thing is to be happy. I didn't think about spending money."
"Okay, so this is what they call being rich and willful?"
“I don’t have any money, but that doesn’t mean I care about money… I think that if you don’t spend money and just hoard it, it loses its meaning.”
"If everyone had your spending habits, we business people would be in luck... Tell me, what price range of inn are you looking for? I'll keep an eye out for you."
"I won't mention the price, as long as it's quiet and has good hygiene, it's fine."
I lit a cigarette, and a thought suddenly popped into my head, growing bigger and bigger. In an instant, I connected her request with the place called Jiulongju, and then an even crazier idea came to me...
Why must you open a shop if you go to Jiulongju? That kind of thinking is rigid. If I rent 20 houses on this commercial street at rock-bottom prices for only one month, and then rent them out to tourists who come to Dali for the Spring Festival, wouldn't that be a way to seize a business opportunity and make quick money?
I think it's feasible because the environment of this commercial street is very good, and the purpose of the tourists is very clear. They just want a comfortable place to stay, so they don't care what this commercial street has been through before. The quieter and less populated it is, the more it can meet their needs.
I heard that during last year's Spring Festival, the influx of tourists far exceeded the capacity of all hotels and guesthouses in Dali, leading to an unbelievable scene: tourists even rented sofas in the common areas of guesthouses to sleep in order to have a place to rest, and even then, it cost 300 yuan a night; and those tourists who drove there treated their cars as their accommodations, resulting in a lot of illegally parked vehicles on National Highway 214 leading to the ancient city, causing traffic paralysis and reflecting just how booming the tourism market in Dali was during the Spring Festival.
If I can rent enough shops in Jiulongju before the Lunar New Year and renovate them to make them habitable, I'm sure I'll make a fortune.
This idea gradually took shape in my mind, and I became more and more excited. If it weren't for the fact that no one was there at night, I would have loved to go over there right now to see those houses and calculate how much renovation cost would be required.
...
When I realized I hadn't replied to that woman's message yet, I suppressed my excitement and picked up my phone to reply: "Don't worry, I'll definitely find you a comfortable place to live, and I'll also treat you to a nice meal."
"Are you such a polite person?"
"I'm not just being polite, I'm thanking you... thank you for giving me a way to make money. I think you're my lucky charm!"
"I still have this ability?!"
"This isn't about ability; I think it's more like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse."
"You're the dead rat!"
"Then you're just a blind cat... haha."
I was happy inside, so not only did I include "haha" in my text message to her, but I also actually laughed in real life. However, I had no idea what kind of expression or action she was taking on the other end of the phone. That's what makes this kind of chat so interesting—because we're strangers to each other, there's so much room for imagination.
...
After ending my conversation with this woman, I sat for a while and then remembered that I had just wanted to text Ye Zhi. The desire to text her came from a phone call Lao Mi made to me earlier. He gave me a very lame reason and asked me to bring Ye Zhi back to my hometown for a visit after the New Year.
Of course I wouldn't say these things to Ye Zhi, unless we were really boyfriend and girlfriend.
I finished a bottle of beer in the inn's small bar before finally sending Ye Zhi a message: "Are you asleep?"
Ye Zhi replied to my message five minutes later: "I'm getting ready to sleep now, I have to get up early to catch my flight tomorrow... Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Nothing special, I'm just a little bored being alone at the inn, so I wanted to find someone to chat with... If you're getting up early tomorrow, you should go to sleep."
"I'll chat with you for a while... If I don't reply to your message later, it means I've fallen asleep."
I didn't rush to reply to the message. Instead, I sat down by Erhai Lake with my phone and a cigarette. I wanted to calm myself down. I knew that such days were numbered, because the guesthouse was on the verge of being demolished. If I left here, I would lose the opportunity to reflect by Erhai Lake anytime, anywhere.
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