"No problem. Our principle for working together is to each do what we do best... I'm a chatty person, so I'll be in charge of chatting with the guests."
I stared at Tie Nan in disbelief: "Is this even considered a job?"
Tie Nan laughed as he replied, "You really have no experience running an inn. Inns are different from hotels. Inns especially need interaction between the owner and guests, so higher-end inns will have a common area where you can drink tea and chat. Because only by chatting well with guests can you improve the positive reviews on those booking websites. Besides, if guests treat you as a friend, they will also introduce other friends to stay here. You may not see the importance of chatting during peak season, but during the off-season, everyone is really competing on popularity and reputation."
"I've learned something new... This should be considered customer maintenance work."
While wiping the violin, Coach Ma chimed in, "That's the difference between being cultured and uncultured. Look how sophisticated Michael's words are!"
Tie Nan clasped his hands in a fist and said to me, "Please accept my utmost respect. If you hadn't told me, I would have genuinely thought this job was just about chatting."
The three of us chuckled, and then Coach Ma offered us cigarettes. After lighting them, we continued our conversation. We planned and did the math, and then we got inexplicably excited. We were already discussing the feasibility of opening branches in other cities, as if we had already made millions from this inn. This is the downside of a hastily assembled team; we lacked proper planning and management, and just thought that enthusiasm was all it took to run an inn successfully.
At this moment, Coach Ma poured cold water on the situation again, saying, "You two should get the inn open for business first, then it's not too late to 'push' us!"
Tie Nan and I suddenly woke up, took a deep drag on our cigarettes, and then fell silent... We almost forgot that we had taken over a seaside inn that had been closed for a long time, and when it could reopen depended on the results of the Erhai Lake protection efforts.
...
After a moment of silence, Bai Lu finally returned. She put down her handbag and said to Tie Nan and me, who were feeling pessimistic, "I have some amazing news. Do you want to hear it?"
We looked up at the white dew in the same posture...
Bai Lu pointed at Tie Nan and said, "Go quickly and pour me a glass of water. I'll sit down and we'll talk slowly."
"Stop keeping us in suspense, drink my freshly brewed premium Pu'er tea."
Bai Lu didn't mind. She took it from Tie Nan, took a sip, and said to us, "I just came back from a meeting at the Tourism Bureau. There's finally some news from there. They said that after discussing with the expert group, they plan to gradually select several batches of seaside inns with complete licenses to resume operations... The fastest batch can be completed before November, but there aren't many spots available, only about 30."
I wasn't quite there yet, but Tie Nan, who had already endured the harsh winter for so long, was absolutely thrilled. After giving me a big punch, he exclaimed excitedly, "Your buddy's a real lucky charm!"
"You have good judgment; you chose a fully licensed inn to take over."
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