Chapter 243: We’re Really Short on Money

It was already dusk when I left A Feng’s bar. As I walked, I was thinking about how to improve the “Perfect Travel Plan” package. Actually, it’s not hard to make the plan; the real challenge is how to deliver this humanized plan to tourists in need. Additionally, choosing the right platform to promote the plan is also important. It should neither incur advertising costs nor compromise the effectiveness of the promotion, which is indeed the most difficult part of marketing.

When I returned to the inn, the workers responsible for renovation had already left. Two rooms were renovated today, and I checked the results immediately. The outcome was quite satisfactory.

The sky grew darker, but the sunset still lingered. As usual, I and Tongzi sat under the willow tree opposite the inn, holding our boxed meals.

Tongzi seemed to have a lot on his mind. While eating, he asked me, “Brother Yang, will Leyao come to Xitang again?”

“It’s hard to say. Why?”

“She was so excited during those days in Xitang that she forgot to ask for her autograph.”

That was a very dull topic for me, so I didn’t respond to Tongzi and continued to focus on eating.

Tongzi sighed again, “Sigh… There are only two men in this inn. Isn’t it too yang and not enough yin?”

“Isn’t the cleaning aunt a woman?”

“That doesn’t count… Brother Yang, you’re already at this age. Why don’t you think about finding a girlfriend?”

“Yeah, why haven’t I found a girlfriend yet?”

“Quickly find a landlady for our inn. Then we won’t have to eat boxed meals every day. Look at the Jiangnan Xiaozhu Inn next door. The owner has a beautiful girlfriend who manages the inn so neatly!”

I was immersed in the picture painted by Tongzi and couldn’t recover for a while. I admitted that what I was expecting was indeed a woman who could run the inn with me. I didn’t desire extravagant luxury, just someone whose heart was full of lush greenery.

Tongzi nudged me again, “Brother Yang, what are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking about wanting a woman like the landlady from Jiangnan Xiaozhu.”

“Hehe… Then why don’t you find Leyao? After all, she’s been pretty good to you.”

“She was good, but could she run an inn with us?”

Tongzi shook his head, “No, she’s a celebrity… How about that beautiful girl who drives a Cadillac (Jian Wei)?”

“No.”

“What about that stunning beauty who drives an Audi Q7?”

“No, she wouldn’t come either.”

Tongzi lamented, “Sigh! They all want to come to you, but no one is willing to stay with you. You’re really lonely!”

“Yeah.”

Tongzi concluded, “So, what a man needs isn’t a woman who is too beautiful or too rich, but one who is willing to stay with him.”

…

On this slow business night, I stood in front of the “Jiangnan Xiaozhu Inn” for quite a while. Their inn was managed by a young woman who could sing Kunqu Opera, and the owner played the erhu. A group of guests were drinking tea and chatting on the small balcony upstairs while watching their performances.

I didn’t really like Kunqu Opera, but I listened for a long time, probably out of envy.

Actually, I can play the guitar too, but I just lack a woman who is willing to stay with me and sing. Otherwise, the business at our inn would be pretty good too.

Back at my own inn, I washed up and lay in bed, unable to fall asleep, thinking about one messy thing after another.

Suddenly, I felt nostalgic about the days I used to spend in Xuzhou. At that time, I never had to eat boxed meals. If Ban Di was in a good mood, he would even take out some of his treasured aged wine to have a few drinks with me.

There was also a woman named Li Xiaoyun who occasionally went to the mall to buy me a few pieces of clothing, always suitable in style even though they were on sale.

This was a past time I had once experienced. Originally, I could have continued living like this, but life made me choose another path, and gradually deviated, eventually leading to my current life.

The current life wasn’t necessarily bad either, but just like what Tongzi said, I felt somewhat lonely and a bit lost about the future. If I couldn’t manage this inn well, my life would fall into a cycle again, and I definitely didn’t want such a cycle because I’m getting older and can’t afford to go through cycles anymore.

Therefore, I still have to endure the discomforts and do my best to manage the inn well. At the very least, it would provide a guarantee for my future life.

…

A week passed, and the renovation of the inn was finally completed. Because of this renovation, I had also overspent the ten thousand yuan Leyao left me. Now, the daily expenses of the inn completely relied on the two ten thousand yuan Tongzi earned from selling his gaming accounts.

Actually, there wasn’t even two ten thousand yuan left, because Tongzi had spent more than 4000 yuan on his driving school tuition. He really needed a driver’s license, as the task of driving to pick up the guests couldn’t always fall on me.

It was noon again when the landlord of the inn came to me, carrying a briefcase. I hurriedly offered him a cigarette.

After taking a puff, he said to me, “You should pay this year’s rent now.”

“But isn’t it still two months before it’s due?”

“Our house collects the rent two months in advance. If you don’t pay, according to the contract we drafted earlier, I now have the right to rent the house to someone else, and you’ll have to move out in two months.”

I immediately understood that the reason for collecting the rent two months in advance was to prevent us from not operating anymore, as finding a new tenant would take time. For a landlord, this vacant period was pure loss of real money.

“You know we just finished the renovation, and we’re a bit short on cash. Could you give us a few more days?”

“This puts me in a difficult position. If the rules are broken, it won’t be good!”

I went to my room to fetch a pack of cigarettes that Leyao had given me last time and handed them to the landlord with a smile, saying, “Please take this pack of cigarettes first. Let me think about the rent issue. I promise I’ll pay every penny on time. Is that okay?”

The landlord took the cigarettes from my hands and looked at them, saying, “The quality of this cigarette is quite high! If you can afford this kind of cigarette, why worry about the rent?”

“It was a gift from a friend. I can’t afford it myself!”

The landlord put the cigarettes into his briefcase and reminded me again, “Since your place has just been renovated, I won’t make things hard for you. I’ll give you another week. Please hurry up and take care of this matter. That way, we’ll all be at ease, right?”

I nodded hastily in assurance, and the landlord then left, carrying his briefcase.

Tongzi lamented, “Brother Yang, the annual rent is 70,000 yuan… We’re really short on money!”

I took a cigarette from the pack and lit it, blaming myself for being too careless not to read the contract carefully. I thought there were still two months left, so I hadn’t set aside the rent money for the next phase.

I took a deep puff of the cigarette, feeling somewhat troubled, and after a while, I said to Tongzi, “I’ll figure out the money issue.”

“Borrow from Leyao?”

I didn’t answer immediately because I didn’t want to borrow money from Leyao for the second time. After all, her money didn’t fall from the sky either. She would also need her own house if she lived in Beijing regularly. I heard from a piece of entertainment news that a well-known artist had worked hard for many years, and all the money she earned was barely enough to buy a house in the second ring road of Beijing.

But besides Leyao, who else could I borrow 70,000 yuan from?