I asked Tie Nan for the location on WeChat, and then forwarded it to Tao Zi. After that, I didn't ask about it anymore. For me, even if it's the best of friends or the most heart-wrenching love story, if it happens around me, I can only treat it as watching someone else's love movie at midnight.
It's not that I'm not enthusiastic, it's just that I understand love is like ocean waves, something that even the people involved may not be able to hold onto, let alone an outsider who can only worry about it blindly.
...
The next morning, Sun Jiwei sent someone to deliver a "sewage discharge qualified" certificate stamped with the official seal of the Environmental Protection Bureau. He also asked the delivery person to tell me: This certificate is very useful. If someone comes to conduct an assessment, be sure to show it to them. Even if we can't get a spot in the first batch to resume business, we are guaranteed a spot in the second batch, because the basis for the second batch to resume business is very likely this certificate.
I carefully put the certificate away, but I was still somewhat unwilling to give up. I knew that the guesthouse's hope of reopening in November was basically gone, because Sun Jiwei's inside information yesterday had made it very clear that only 4 out of the 30 spots were left. In terms of the guesthouse's facilities, we were simply not competitive.
I can only tell myself to be more open-minded, because I've already tried my best.
...
At eight o'clock, Coach Ma and I went to the building materials market. We bought woodworking tools and materials for the bar counter, and then we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Coach Ma said that we could decorate this small bar in the inn ourselves, and we could decorate it in an industrial style, which would save money and also show off our "cool" factor.
Coach Ma also mentioned that there is a very "amazing" guesthouse in Dali. In order to save costs, the owner built it entirely by picking up some discarded items and branches from the roadside and mountains. It seems very uninspired, but some guests who like "tattered culture" make a special trip to stay there. After several years of operation, it has become one of the most popular guesthouses in Dali.
Therefore, doing business in Dali doesn't necessarily require a lot of money to invest, but it does require dedication and unique creativity.
While we were working, Instructor Ma kept talking to me about some amazing people in Dali, so even though we did a lot of hard work, I didn't feel particularly tired. Before I knew it, it was noon.
I went to the restaurant next door and ordered two fast food meals, then went to the convenience store and bought two bottles of "Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon" beer. I sat with Coach Ma under the shade of a tree by Erhai Lake and ate there.
I raised my beer can to toast him and exclaimed, "This is the most fulfilling half-day I've had since I came to Dali... It feels so good to be busy!"
Coach Ma smiled, then clinked glasses with me and said, "I didn't expect you could do some carpentry work. You did a good job building that platform."
"For kids from poor families, the more they learn, the more opportunities they have to survive in this society... And you, where did you learn your skills in interior design?"
"Like you, I come from a poor family... Before coming to Dali, I worked with my uncle in a renovation team. I could do simple design and renovation work."
"I'm not exaggerating, but you're a really talented guy. I just don't know how you managed to live such a useless life in Dali before!"
Coach Ma put down his beer can, looked at me, and after a long while replied, "Do you believe me? I used to run a pretty awesome decoration company in Dali. Several star-rated hotels here were decorated by our company."
"Holy crap... I can't believe it!"
"Really, I'm not bragging... but I had bad luck with people, and my business partner tricked me into going to jail. I served two years and was only released last summer."
After Coach Ma finished speaking, he picked up a beer can and took a big gulp of beer. I was stunned. I didn't expect that behind his dejected appearance was such a past. It took me a long time before I asked, "Which bastard tricked you? Did you get back at him?"
"He's alive and well, and I don't want to get involved with him, so let's not talk about it anymore."
My curiosity was piqued by Coach Ma, but when I tried to ask him more, he lit a cigarette, lay down on the ground, his eyes vacant and lost. I could sense that this guy was living a more miserable life than Tie Nan. My curiosity was actually immoral, so I forced myself to suppress it.
I think I like Dali more now. It's a city where despair and hope are both very evident. Here, I can live a life that feels truly epic, and I'm willing to build a career with these wounded brothers—it's a form of redemption, as well as a magnificent struggle.
I lit a cigarette, lay down on the ground, took a drag, and then, under the bright sunlight, thought about the future. I said to Coach Ma, who hadn't spoken for a while, "Actually, I really want the inn to open as soon as possible. Once it's open for business, I want to bring my parents to Dali for a while… Right now, I'm really feeling uncertain."
"Did you come here without your family's knowledge?"
"Yes, I used to work in Shanghai. Although I was just a junior employee, I had a stable income and it wasn't a problem to support myself."
"Then why did you come to Dali?"
I took a deep drag on my cigarette and replied, "The problem lies in this 'neither here nor there' mentality of settling for less... Before, I had a girlfriend I dated for three years. She was a true Shanghainese, but she felt there was no hope for her with me, so she went abroad to study on her own."
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