After having this impulse, my desire to run the guesthouse became even stronger. I always felt that this was the best explanation I could give my parents.
...
The next morning, I invited Bai Lu to the inn. I handed her the 100,000 yuan that Taozi had given me the night before and said to her, "Hurry up and get the sewage treatment equipment sorted out. If the inn can reopen before the New Year, we won't be under so much pressure right now."
"Where did you get such a large sum of money?"
"It was given to us by Peach; she thinks highly of our inn."
Bai Lu was a little surprised, and after a moment replied, "Then I'll have to give you an additional share."
I smiled and said, "You've been running around for the inn's sake, and you haven't been thinking about adding more shares, have you? It's true that we should cooperate and do business, but sometimes we also need to consider personal relationships... Here's what I'm thinking: once the inn is open, we'll pay Taozi back this money with some interest, and please don't mention adding more shares."
Bai Lu considered it for a moment and replied, "Alright, then consider this money a loan from the inn to Taozi. Once the inn has the money in its accounts, we'll immediately repay her the loan along with interest."
I nodded, and after a brief silence, asked again, "Could you give me a definite answer? As things stand right now, what are our chances of winning?"
"The outlook is still not optimistic. Seaside hotels and guesthouses that know about this news are already pulling strings… Actually, compared to them, our weakness isn't connections, but rather the facilities and scale of our guesthouses. We only have about ten rooms open to the public, and they're not even prime oceanfront locations. According to the 'government's' logic, they'll definitely prioritize restoring those already influential, trendy hotels and guesthouses… and hotels will be prioritized over guesthouses because their capacity to accommodate tourists is far greater."
I lit a cigarette, feeling somewhat helpless. Just then, Bai Lu patted my shoulder and said, "Don't be too disappointed. If we really can't be in the first batch to reopen, we can still try for the second batch. I heard that the leader in charge of this matter also expressed his opinion in the past two days. If the first batch of sea-view hotels and guesthouses can improve Dali's tourism reputation, the second batch will be opened on a large scale at the beginning of next year. If you do the math, it's less than half a year."
"It's good news, but without official documents, it's just talk and doesn't count... If these first batch of reopened seaside hotels fail to improve Dali's tourism reputation, will there be no second batch? Or will it be indefinitely postponed?... So, since we've already put so much effort into this, we must strive for the best... I assure you, I will definitely use every possible method, and you must also put in extra effort!"
“I understand what you mean.” After a slight pause, Bai Lu smiled again, “Michael, I’ve noticed you really have a ruthless streak when it comes to getting things done… I don’t know why, but I seem to have a lot of confidence in you!”
I replied with a wry smile, "This ruthlessness was forced upon me; I truly had no other choice!"
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