Chapter 134: The Fifth Batch of Guests
Because of Cai Wei’s lousy job, the two of them had argued more times than they could count.
Qin Yue’s family lived in the city, and her own job was quite decent. She had always wanted Cai Wei to move to the city and find a position there. After all, township work was bitter and the prospects were just average; Cai Wei’s take-home pay for half a year couldn’t even match the monthly allowance Qin Yue’s parents gave her.
Over the past year and more, Cai Wei had frequently worked overtime, so Qin Yue would sometimes come to Jinmen Town to find him. However, her experiences during those few visits had not been pleasant. Jinmen Town was a tiny, rundown place with very few chain restaurants. When she entered the local specialty eateries, they were packed with locals speaking in heavy dialects, and the floors, tables, and chairs were coated in grease. Qin Yue couldn’t even bring herself to eat.
This time, Cai Wei had actually suggested staying in the mountains. Qin Yue had a massive row with him over it: “Look at those few villages you are strictly assigned to. Ask yourself honestly, which one looks like it could pull off a decent guesthouse?”
“Don’t tell me that slapping a coat of paint on some rundown village house, giving it a quick renovation, and throwing a sheet over a bed counts as a guesthouse… You know I can’t stay in that kind of environment!”
Cai Wei felt highly helpless. He knew Qin Yue had sacrificed a lot to be with him, and there were times he felt his intense grind for this job wasn’t worth it. However… when he learned that Lu’an Village, a notoriously difficult poverty-alleviation case, finally had a university student return to start a business and open a farmhouse guesthouse, his first instinct was to support it.
Thus, Cai Wei could only brace himself to negotiate with Qin Yue: “Yueyue, how about this week I skip heading to the city for a change and go support the guesthouse instead… Or I can go to the guesthouse on Saturday, and head to the city to see you on Sunday?”
Qin Yue felt furious. “Is that rundown guesthouse more important, or am I! If you travel three hours on Sunday to get to the city and another three hours to get back in the afternoon, how many hours are even left? The time vanishes after a single meal!”
Cai Wei could only offer a continuous stream of apologies. Qin Yue complained aggrievedly for a long time, but in the end, she still chose to come to Jinmen Town this weekend to find him.
“I am telling you, this is the very last time I am coming to Jinmen Town. It is already the end of July now, and there are only five months left until the end of the year. If there is no word about your job transfer before the year ends, you are resigning and finding a job in the city!”
Cai Wei sighed. In truth, even if Qin Yue hadn’t brought it up, he was already considering this path. After all, he wasn’t young anymore. He and Qin Yue had started dating back in school. After graduation, they had endured three years of long-distance. Then Cai Wei had managed to pass the exam to work in Jinmen Town, only to find it so remote and backward that it was practically no different from being long-distance, save for the fact that they could meet on weekends.
Cai Wei couldn’t bring himself to let his girlfriend continue suffering grievances just to support his career. Perhaps he really would have to resign at the end of the year.
But no matter what, this weekend at least promised to be a happy one.
After picking up Cai Wei and Qin Yue, Hu Lin drove all the way into the mountains. Because of Cai Wei’s job, Qin Yue had visited Jinmen Town before and knew the local conditions, so she didn’t find the massive mountains novel, nor was she afraid. However, looking at the boundless mountains, she wasn’t particularly happy either.
A tiny, rundown village—what kind of good guesthouse could it possibly produce? As long as the room was free of bugs and strange odors, and the food was clean enough to swallow, that would be enough.
Meanwhile, Hu Lin drove the car nervously. Although he normally used this car to discuss business, his work involved shuttling between logging camps and lumber mills, so it inevitably carried traces of sawdust and a wooden odor. Yesterday, the village had issued a strict command to him: the car must be washed thoroughly clean, and the guesthouse guests must be completely satisfied.
Hu Lin grumbled in his heart. When he, a born-and-raised native of Lu’an Village, took over his father’s business, he hadn’t seen the villagers offer this much support. Yet Jian Xingxia, an outsider who had only lived here for two years, received endless support, support, support from everyone for whatever she chose to do, all for the sake of her late grandmother.
It was truly unfair!
But grumbling aside, Hu Lin had personally washed the car twice yesterday, deeply terrified that the guests would be dissatisfied. Yet after picking up the two guests today, the girl had kept a long face, while the guy coaxed her in low tones. Judging by the atmosphere, things weren’t looking great.
Hu Lin wailed in his heart—they were already like this when he picked them up! It wasn’t because his hosting was subpar!
Accustomed to speeding, Hu Lin suppressed his usual driving style the entire way, driving steadily into Lu’an Village.
Upon arriving at Lu’an Village, taking advantage of the moment the villagers were speaking with Cai Wei, Hu Lin whispered to Hu Da, “Cousin, they seem to be Xiaxia’s acquaintances again. They asked about Xiaxia the moment they got in the car, and the woman seems rather displeased.”
Hu Da was speechless. He scolded in a low tone, “Don’t go dragging the guests into things involving Xiaxia! Out of all the guests who arrived today, not a single one was displeased. If they weren’t pleased, would they even come to play? This must be you acting up again! Let me tell you, if this task isn’t handled well and it affects Xiaxia’s guesthouse and the village’s economy, I won’t let you off easy!”
Hu Lin: “…”
He just knew it!
After Cai Wei finished greeting the villagers, Hu Lin resignedly continued driving them to the barrier gate. He originally hadn’t planned on getting out of the car, but thinking about the words of Hu Da, his father, and his grandmother, Hu Lin ultimately stepped out anyway. He proactively opened the door for the guests, forcing a face full of smiles. “I hope you two have a pleasant time at the manor! If you need to go down the mountain, you can have the guesthouse owner, Boss Xiaxia, give me a call, and I will drive you back to town free of charge.”
Only after executing the full suite of service did he dare drive away.
After the car departed, Qin Yue scrutinized the scenery beyond the barrier gate. Cai Wei carried the luggage, saying pleasingly, “Yueyue, look, the villagers of Lu’an Village are quite warm-hearted, aren’t they? Maybe the guesthouse will actually be fun!”
Qin Yue snorted. “Is no one coming to receive us? Do we have to carry our luggage and walk all the way inside?”
The sweat practically trickled down Cai Wei’s forehead. A distance of five hundred meters, where the solar photovoltaic panels on the old house’s roof were already visible, over a freshly paved new road—for their rural work task force, this was already considered a top-notch, extremely close distance. But for Qin Yue, it was indeed far too distant.
Just as Cai Wei was about to call Jian Xingxia, he suddenly spotted a small tricycle packed to the brim with fresh flowers approaching. The tricycle had a sunshade, and plenty of fresh flowers and wild grasses were tucked along both sides, appearing brimming with rustic charm.
The tricycle quickly drew near, and Jian Xingxia hopped off, scanning her face to open the barrier gate.
“Welcome, welcome! The villagers called me and said you had luggage. I’m so sorry, I had some matters to attend to just now and arrived a bit late. Come, come, come, hand the luggage to me, and ride in my tricycle!”
Qin Yue swept a glance over Jian Xingxia—so this was the university student entrepreneur Cai Wei had mentioned? Judging by her age, she looked like she had only just graduated, still a young girl. Could she run a guesthouse well?
Her own family’s financial situation was quite decent, and they had supported her business ventures before. Regrettably, she had failed several times in a row, until her parents ultimately decided to hand her a regular allowance instead—which burned through cash far slower than her entrepreneurship.
Qin Yue harbored a critical gaze, but she had to admit the small tricycle looked quite pretty.
Qin Yue reached out to touch the flowers lining the frame. “They are actually real flowers!”
Jian Xingxia worked with Cai Wei to load Qin Yue’s two suitcases onto the tricycle, saying with a smile, “Yes, we don’t have much else in our mountains, but we have a massive amount of flowers, plants, vegetables, and fruits. Although picking flowers isn’t encouraged, harvesting them just before they wither makes for the perfect decoration.”
Qin Yue recognized the varieties. “You’re actually willing to cut even camellias and peonies.”
“If we don’t cut them, they will wither in a couple of days anyway,” Jian Xingxia thought for a moment and added. “Our guesthouse features a specialty activity: when you leave, you can pick a bouquet of flowers from the non-scenic areas to take with you.”
Qin Yue was the first person to display an interest in the fresh flowers, and Jian Xingxia instantly gained a flash of new inspiration. Anyway, the mountain terrain was massive and her labor force was abundant. If it could satisfy the guests, whether it earned money or brought in temporary laborers, she could certainly add flower-planting as an activity to generate more revenue.
The long face Qin Yue had been keeping finally showed a hint of loosening. She proactively climbed into the cargo bed of the tricycle. “This activity is quite decent.”
Cai Wei let out a massive sigh of relief and hurriedly climbed onto the tricycle along with her.
Jian Xingxia drove the vehicle. A distance of five hundred meters took barely two or three minutes before they arrived.
