A white lie!

With the help of the Cleansing Talismans, the Fortunate Inn's standards of cleanliness had improved by several notches.

Guests rated the inn more and more highly, and its reputation kept improving.

Its occupancy rate had also risen, averaging around seventy percent a day.

Of its thirty-two rooms, roughly twenty were occupied each day, bringing in around 6,000 yuan daily.

Adding in the Good Fortune Canteen's sales, the Fortunate Inn's daily revenue now came to about 8,000 yuan.

"Wonderful, wonderful! Son, you've done an amazing job! You're so much better at this than your old man!"

"Our inn's doing that well now? This really is... this really is a turnaround! Heaven bless us, heaven bless us!"

When Lin Guodong and Han Li heard Lin Zhe describe how the inn was doing, they could hardly believe it at first.

After Lin Zhe showed them the statements for the inn's account, tears welled up in their eyes.

Year after year-three whole years-and business at the inn was finally picking up. They had finally pulled through!

If this year had gone like the previous few, they would have had no choice but to declare the investment in the Fortunate Inn a failure and shut its doors.

On top of that, they would have been left with over a million yuan in debt, probably never able to get back on their feet for the rest of their lives.

"Visitor numbers at the scenic area have started recovering lately, and all the businesses there are benefiting."

"From what I've seen, tourism might return to its peak this year. It might even reach a new high."

"Our inn might get a share of that too. There's a very good chance we could set a new revenue record!"

Lin Zhe had a great deal of confidence in the tourism industry that year.

He could see and feel how much work the Mount Sanqing Scenic Area had put into attracting visitors and promoting itself that year.

After all, people across the country had been cooped up at home for over three years. Now that restrictions had been fully lifted, it was only natural for them to go out and explore.

"Hahaha, that would be wonderful! Your mom and I are hoping business at our inn keeps getting better too!"

"That's right. Every day, even my dreams are about our inn. I pray to heaven every day to help us get through this difficult time."

"Maybe heaven heard your prayers, Mom. That's why business at our inn keeps getting better."

Lin Zhe teased her with a smile, but his thoughts turned to the mysterious coin he had found in the inn's courtyard.

Could a god have heard Mom's prayers and let me find that coin?

As the saying went, good news lifted the spirits.

After learning how the inn was doing, Lin Guodong and Han Li were in such wonderful moods that even their conditions seemed to have improved a little.

As the family chatted happily, the door to the hospital room opened from outside, and a female doctor in a white coat walked in with two interns.

The doctor appeared to be in her forties. She wore rimless glasses and light makeup.

Although her looks were rather ordinary, her mature, intellectual air added considerably to her appeal.

"You're all here. How are you feeling today? Have you gotten out of bed and moved around?"

The doctor spoke gently, with a sincere smile that put everyone at ease.

The name on her badge was Lin Zhuoya. She was Lin Guodong and Han Li's attending physician and had always been conscientious and responsible.

"We're feeling pretty good. We've been getting out of bed and moving around as you instructed..."

Lin Guodong and Han Li gave her a detailed account of how they had felt that day and how much exercise they had done.

"Mm, you're both recovering well in every respect. Keep up the exercise so you can recover faster."

After carefully checking the couple's recovery, Lin Zhuoya added:

"Oh, and when you have time, please make another payment toward your medical bills.

I checked on the computer earlier, and your outstanding balance is already over 3,000 yuan. We won't be able to issue tomorrow's medication."

The couple grew worried as soon as the doctor brought up paying the bills.

Since their admission, they had already spent five or six hundred thousand yuan.

How could this hospital be like a black hole, swallowing money without ever filling up?

"All right, Dr. Lin. I'll go pay in a bit."

With the 200,000 yuan reward from the [Recruiting Soldiers and Buying Horses] quest, Lin Zhe could now speak with confidence.

"All right, then we'll leave you to it. Enjoy your chat."

Lin Zhuoya nodded and took the interns out to the room next door.

"By the way, Dad, isn't this month's bank loan payment due soon? Let me transfer you some money to cover it."

As Lin Zhe spoke, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened WeChat to make the transfer.

"If you don't have much, keep it for emergencies. I'll find another way."

Lin Guodong had always preferred putting himself in a difficult position over letting his son suffer even the slightest hardship.

Clink!

Lin Guodong had barely finished speaking when the phone on the cabinet beside his hospital bed chimed with the sound of falling coins.

Lin Zhe smiled. "There's not much I need to spend money on at the inn, and money comes in every day. Just use it, Dad."

His words warmed the couple's hearts. It felt as though their son had suddenly grown up.

Lin Guodong picked up his phone and unlocked the screen. When he saw the amount transferred, he froze.

"Why... why is it so much?"

"How much is it? What?! Son, this..."

Han Li leaned over to look at the transfer amount on the phone and froze too.

200,000 yuan!

A full 200,000 yuan!

"Son, where... where did you get so much money?"

"Yes, son, what's going on with this money?"

Seeing the enormous transfer of 200,000 yuan brought the couple no joy at all. Instead, their faces filled with confusion and worry.

"After Zhang Min and the others at the scenic area's management committee heard about our situation, they arranged a two-year, interest-free loan for our family."

"I wanted to surprise you both, so I went ahead and applied for it without discussing it with you first."

When Lin Zhe had first received the 200,000 yuan reward, he had already thought up an explanation for his parents and discussed it with Zhang Min.

Even if his parents went to Zhang Min to verify it, his story would hold up. It was a white lie.

"A two-year, interest-free loan of 200,000 yuan? What about the processing fee? How much is that?"

Lin Guodong had not let the surprise go to his head. Instead, he asked the question anxiously.

Some unscrupulous financial institutions lured people into borrowing with promises of interest-free loans, only to charge enormous processing fees.

Those fees worked out to more than the interest would have been, preying specifically on people with little real-world experience.

Lin Zhe smiled. "There's no processing fee. The day after I signed the contract, they transferred the whole 200,000 yuan straight into my account. There wasn't any fee."

"I see... then I was worrying too much. It looks like the management committee really is looking out for our family this time."

Only after hearing that there was no processing fee did Lin Guodong relax.

With tears in her eyes, Han Li sighed. "There are still more good people than bad in this world!"

Lin Zhe smiled. "Keep the money and use it, Dad. Pay the loan when it's due, and spend what you need.

I'll be able to earn it all back in less than a year."

"You certainly sound confident."

Lin Guodong looked lovingly at his son, his weathered face breaking into a broad smile.

How did I ever have such a handsome, devoted, and sensible son?