I sat down beside the woman in red and said to her, “If the celebrity effect is overused, it will affect her future commercial endorsements. So probably the decision is made considering this aspect.”
The woman in red smiled dismissively and replied, “Posting a microblog is such a small effort that it can’t be considered overuse, right? At the very least, taking a photo with you to display in the inn would be a good promotion!”
Although I felt puzzled inside, I didn’t want to continue this topic with her. I lit a cigarette and smoked silently. When it was almost finished, I finally said to her, “I’ve thought very carefully these two days. Actually, the idea you mentioned—renting other inns to maximize the effectiveness of advertising resources—is feasible.”
“Then why don’t you just do it? The tourist season is coming soon.”
“I’m really poor and don’t have enough money to rent other inns.”
She looked at me for a while before saying, “A mature business operator always makes controllable predictions about their capital. Your current predicament stems from thinking too simplistically about running a business, or perhaps you were born with adventurous blood, enjoying the thrill of seeking salvation in desperate situations!”
“It’s not as complicated as you think. I’m simply broke and eager to achieve something, so I’ve often chosen to act recklessly.”
My honesty left the woman in red speechless.
I nudged her and said, “You’re so wealthy and generous. How about lending me a bit of money?”
“Why should I lend you money?”
I grinned shamelessly, “I’ll pay you back, of course! At most, I can write you an IOU and repay you with bank interest later!”
“No, I won’t lend.”
Her firm refusal made me feel hopeless about borrowing money. I quickly tried to save face by saying, “I was just testing you to see if you’re a generous person. It’s not like I really need your money. I can borrow from anyone else. Why should I borrow from someone I don’t even know the name of? Right?”
She nodded.
“Sigh… The test result is: you’re definitely not generous. You lack the awareness of helping others when you’re in a fortunate position.”
She seemed to have lost the desire to speak and didn’t respond. She got up, stepped over the threshold, and walked toward a small stone bridge nearby. Soon she disappeared from my sight, leaving me alone in the cold night facing the chilly river and dim lights.
…
The next morning, I was sitting under a willow tree opposite the inn, eating breakfast while worrying about the inn’s problems. Still, I had no good solutions and had even decided to adopt the worst strategy—daily visitor limits—to deal with the upcoming surge in visitors.
At some point, Leyao also sat beside me with a food container. She nudged me and asked, “What are you thinking about? You look so absent-minded.”
I looked up at the morning view of Xitang and sighed, “The air is quite nice today, and the breeze feels very pleasant…”
“As long as it doesn’t rain, Xitang’s mornings are usually like this, right?”
I made a “shush” gesture at Leyao, “Don’t speak. Just savor the charm of Xitang’s morning!”
“How weird you are!”
As soon as Leyao finished speaking, a passing tourist recognized her. Then a group of tourists gathered around. Leyao remained calm and used her superb acting skills, insisting they had mistaken her for someone else who just looked like her. Despite that, she was still asked for photos by enthusiastic tourists and had no time to pay attention to me. Thus, I finally gained a brief moment of peace while she was busy dealing with them.
After the commotion settled down and the crowd gradually dispersed, Leyao complained to me, “So many people surrounded me just now, and you didn’t even help me out!”
“Who told you not to wear sunglasses when you came out?”
“Hmph… If I had worn sunglasses, I wouldn’t have seen your expression of letting me fend for myself!”
I had no mood to banter with Leyao and shifted my gaze eastward along the river. Unexpectedly, I noticed A Feng walking toward us. When our eyes met, he greeted me from afar. Judging from his manner, he was coming specifically to find me.
I said to Leyao, “My friend is coming. Do you want to avoid him?”
“No, I want to keep watching your indifferent face.”
“It’s early in the morning, and you’re acting like a nagging wife. Is that really interesting?”
Leyao kicked me hard, and at that moment, A Feng finally reached us. He looked at Leyao beside me with an expression of disbelief and asked, “You… you’re that female celebrity who’s become super popular recently, right?”
Leyao didn’t deny it. She smiled slightly at A Feng and said, “You’re Zhaoyang’s friend, right? I am too.”
A Feng nodded. He wasn’t as flustered as Tongzi when he first met Leyao. After all, he was a musician, and over the years, his bar had hosted many celebrities visiting Xitang.
Leyao sighed, “Sigh, we both have poor judgment in friends. Zhaoyang is really inconsiderate!”
I tapped her food container with my hand, urging her impatiently, “Eat your breakfast quickly. Don’t interfere with our serious conversation.”
Seeing my harsh attitude toward Leyao, A Feng looked at me with an expression that said, “You’re the boss.” After all, in others’ eyes, Leyao was a top celebrity. But Leyao and I didn’t care because we had always treated each other this way for years.
I asked A Feng, “Why did you come looking for me so early?”
“You know the Yuanlai Inn in Xitang, right?”
I nodded, “Yeah, I know it.”
“The owner is from Shanxi. Recently, he started a coal mine back home and no longer has the energy to manage the inn. He plans to transfer it. Knowing that you’re troubled by the capacity issue of your own inn, I came to ask if you’re interested in taking over his place.”
“I remember his inn is quite large, with about 50 or more rooms!”
“There are 56 rooms in total—6 suites, 15 economy rooms, and 35 standard rooms of various types, which can meet the needs of different levels of consumers.”
I was very tempted. If I could take over this inn, the capacity issue would be resolved. However, the transfer fee would definitely be beyond my current means, which made me very conflicted.
A Feng continued, “This inn was renovated last year. The accommodation environment is quite good, and the facilities are complete. The key point is that it’s being transferred at a low price. I think since you have such high aspirations for the tourism industry, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity to upgrade. Plus, you already have resources now, so you shouldn’t worry about the customer flow after taking over.”
I didn’t respond immediately. Leyao beside me nudged me and said, “Let’s go check it out first. We can decide whether to take it over afterward!”
A Feng chimed in, “That’s exactly what I think.”
Finally, I nodded, “Then contact the owner and arrange a meeting.”
A Feng immediately took out his phone, found the number, and made a call. After a brief conversation, he hung up and told me, “I’ve arranged to meet the owner of Yuanlai Inn this afternoon. We need to act quickly because I heard there are quite a few people interested in this inn. After all, it’s large in scale and the price is cheap!”
Leyao jumped in before me and replied, “This afternoon is fine. I’ll go with you two. Zhaoyang will definitely take over this inn.”
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