Peninsula: I run a bed and breakfast on Jeju Island

Thursday, June 2019, 3.

Suitable for: marriage, coming-of-age ceremony, sacrifice, travel, v50.

At 12:30 pm, the sun was shining brightly on Jeju Island.

Li Ran is a man awakened by the light.

Last night, the curtains weren't drawn properly, and a ray of blinding sunlight slanted in, landing squarely on his face.

He frowned, turned over, and tried to go back to sleep, but his stomach rumbled loudly.

……Fine.

Li Ran rubbed her sore eyes, slipped on her slippers, got up, and went around to the small vegetable garden next to the house.

The vegetable garden was left by the previous owner, and the ridges and furrows were neatly arranged.

After taking over, he built a simple small arched shed along the original frame and transplanted a few tomato seedlings inside.

He likes to eat tomatoes, whether they are cherry tomatoes or large tomatoes, he will eat them all.

He likes to gulp down cherry tomatoes in one go, while with large tomatoes he prefers to use his canine teeth to pierce the flesh first, and then slowly suck out all the juice.

During his teenage years, he always felt like he was cosplaying a vampire.

Even now, when he thinks about this embarrassing past, he still can't help but dig his toes into the ground.

However, this way of eating has long become a habit he can't break, and he still does it now.

The tomato seedlings have now taken root, and tender green leaves are spreading out along the thin bamboo frame, with a few clusters of bright green flower buds emerging from the top.

Li Ran squatted down, gently touched the flower bud with her fingertips, and silently calculated the results in her mind based on the information she found online.

It will take more than a month for the weather to warm up completely and for the tomatoes to gradually color.

Not urgent.

There's plenty of time.

He straightened up, clapped his hands, and walked towards the kitchen.

His stomach was growling with hunger, so he simply cooked a pot of millet porridge and baked a meat pie.

He carried the porridge and pancakes to the small table by the window and sat down, sipping the hot porridge while taking out a Korean vocabulary book saved on his phone.

Li Ran's Korean isn't very good; she can barely manage everyday conversations.

That's perfectly normal—in both his past and present lives, he has lived and worked in China and has never had a long-term exposure to the Korean language.

Even with his current rudimentary level of skill, which he's only managed to achieve through hard work over the past six months, it's all thanks to his persistent efforts.

Past and Present.

That's right, Li Ran is a time traveler.

In his past life, he was just a hard-working ox, constantly forced to work at his desk, which eventually led to stomach problems.

On an ordinary afternoon, he sat at his workstation and took a sip of coffee.

When I looked up again, the world had changed completely.

It took him a while to truly accept the fact that he had "traveled through time".

Fortunately, his new life wasn't bad, and his new body was very young and healthy. He had neither persistent stomach pain nor the exhaustion that kept him up all night.

It's like someone gently pressed the refresh button.

Before he could even figure out how to live his life, a transnational estate commission came knocking on his door.

The trustee said the inheritance came from a distant great-aunt he had never met. She was said to be his maternal grandmother's cousin, who had lived alone on Jeju Island her entire life. She ran a seaside guesthouse that had been open for over ten years, and had no children.

On her deathbed, she left her guesthouse, some of her savings, and the entire courtyard and everything inside to him, her only blood relative.

The whole thing is as absurd as the plot of "Hello Mr. Billionaire".

But when Li Ran saw the photos in the information, she made a decision almost without hesitation.

The small courtyard with white walls and gray tiles is nestled against a low slope and faces the sea. Climbing roses that have been cultivated for many years climb the corner of the courtyard. The three guest rooms are spacious and bright, the solid wood cabinets in the kitchen are polished to a shine, and there is also a neatly tended vegetable garden.

Although he doesn't have Wang Duoyu's 30 billion, it's enough for him.

This is a place where you can escape the cutthroat competition, the noise, and the feeling of being powerless.

He made the decision almost on the spot, and with his meager savings of tens of thousands of yuan and two suitcases, he landed directly on Jeju Island.

Reality was even less troublesome than he had imagined.

The guesthouse wasn't dilapidated; it had just been vacant for a long time and had accumulated a thin layer of dust. The greenery in the yard was growing wildly and weeds were sprouting, but its foundation was surprisingly good.

My great-aunt was an extremely meticulous person.

The furniture and appliances were all well-maintained and in perfect condition. The spare bedding in the guest rooms was neatly categorized and stored in the lockers, dried clean, and still retained a faint scent of camphor and sunshine.

Li Ran didn't make a big fuss; she only spent a week cleaning the place inside and out.

I pruned the overgrown green plants, added a few easy-to-care-for succulents to the windowsill, and re-polished and varnished the wooden sign at the gate that had faded from the sea breeze.

On the wooden sign were three words handwritten by my great-aunt: "Haven".

Along with the guesthouse, the platform's operating account and a handwritten management notebook were also handed over.

The first page of the journal gets straight to the point:

We only accept long-term rentals of seven days or more. Short-term stays are not accepted.

My great-aunt wrote very clearly in her journal: she never runs this guesthouse for the sake of generating revenue through check-ins. She wants to provide a place for people who come looking for a place to catch their breath, a place where they can stay comfortably for a few days—no need to rush, no need to deal with people, no need to pack up and leave after two days. Just like being at home.

When Li Ran saw this, she smiled, and for some reason felt like she was "someone in charge".

However, he didn't come here to make a lot of money (of course, he wouldn't refuse free money either), and he didn't want to be constantly welcoming and seeing off guests and cleaning frequently. Long-term tenants stay longer, which saves both parties a lot of trouble.

He didn't change a single word of this rule.

Keep it exactly as is and continue using it.

As for his cheat code...

To be honest, this thing was very discreet. If he hadn't gradually noticed it over time, he wouldn't have realized it existed at all.

It's probably because—any creature that gets close to him will involuntarily calm down. It's like there's an invisible magnetic field around him.

The impatient will slow down, the tense will breathe a sigh of relief, and even the wildest cat will come over and rub against his legs before leaving.

It doesn't have any real superpowers.

It doesn't sound like it's anything special.

Besides that, he also has a small black mixed-breed dog named Xiao Hei. He found it in a back alley just a few days after arriving in Jeju Island.

At that time, it huddled dirty against the wall, not hiding from people, but staring at them with its two black eyes.

Li Ran stared at it for a long time, sighed, bent down and patted its head, and brought it back.

Now, almost half a year later, it's round and plump, glossy and healthy, and does nothing but eat and sleep all day. It's living a more comfortable life than I ever have.

After finishing her meal, Li Ran washed the dishes and casually opened the app on her phone to browse the booking page for the guesthouse.

I was just trying to update the schedule for next month, but my gaze lingered on the calendar.

The only booking record, which had been lying there since he took over the account, hung quietly below today's date.

The notes only listed one name—최진리.

Choi Jin-ri?

He went through it in his mind using his limited knowledge of Korean.

I remembered.

This booking was confirmed more than three months ago. The other party paid the full amount for a whole month's stay. They didn't ask many questions, only repeatedly confirming two things: whether they really only accept long-term rentals, and whether the homestay was quiet enough and whether it would be disturbed.

After he completed the inheritance procedures, the middleman handed over the account and order together. He was busy adapting to the environment and taking care of the yard, and his Korean was still broken. He only glanced at the check-in time, sent a simple confirmation message to the other party, and didn't think about it anymore.

Next comes the visa.

He initially entered Jeju Island on a tourist visa, and after six months of going through various procedures, he finally obtained a D-8 visa and a foreigner registration card, allowing his guesthouse to officially open for business.

So busy was I that I almost forgot about this guest.

Today is February 3.

He looked up at the window. The sun was beginning to set in the west, and the afternoon light was soft and diffused, turning the green plants in the yard into a light golden hue.

The person is arriving today.

This is the first guest he has had since taking over the guesthouse.

She is also the only one at present.

Li Ran put down her phone, got up, and went to the guest room.

Actually, the room had already been tidied up.

The bedding had been aired out the day before; it was fluffy and smelled of sunshine.

The spare towels were neatly folded and stacked in the cabinet. The succulents on the windowsill were also watered appropriately.

Although he had already made sure everything was tidied up, he still checked it carefully one last time, tucked the sheets in the corner of the bed back in neatly, and cut a small bunch of daisies that were in full bloom from the yard and put them in a small vase on the windowsill.

After tidying everything up, he moved a rattan chair outside and sat down in the yard. He poured himself a cup of cooled barley tea and looked out at the distant sea.

Little Black followed him out of the house, wagging its tail. It circled around his feet twice, then rested its chin on his shoe and quietly lay down.

The salty sea breeze swept in from the distant sea, carrying away all the noise in my ears.

My mind slowly went blank, leaving only the rhythmic and peaceful sound of the waves crashing against the beach.

Li Ran leaned back in her chair, gazing at the boundless deep blue sea before her, feeling somewhat sentimental.

It was worth it to buy a plane ticket without hesitation and come to Jeju Island with two suitcases.

at last.

He can finally get some rest.

……

It was past 11 p.m.

The lights in the yard were still on, casting a warm yellow glow that spread out in a gentle halo on the ground.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

Xiao Hei suddenly sprang up from the ground, its ears perked up, and barked twice warily towards the gate.

Immediately afterwards, the doorbell rang.

Li Ran put down the book in her hand, raised her hand and patted its head, "Alright."

Xiao Hei immediately shut up and obediently followed behind him towards the gate.

He opened the door.

A woman, bundled up tightly, stood outside the door.

The black fisherman's hat was pulled low, and a matching black mask covered most of his face.

Only her eyes were visible. The corners of her eyes were slightly upturned, and the whites of her eyes were clear, yet they held an unconcealable, heavy weariness.

There was a suitcase at her feet, and she had a bulging backpack on her back.

It seems she brought everything she could.

After a two-second silence, the other person spoke first.

His voice was low and hoarse, with a dryness from the cold wind.

"Excuse me... this is the 'Haven' guesthouse that only accepts long-term rentals, right?"

Li Ran glanced at the suitcase at her feet, then looked back at her tired eyes and nodded.

"That's right. You're Choi Jin-ri?"

She paused slightly, seemingly surprised by his slightly unfamiliar Korean accent, and her eyelashes trembled slightly.

"It's me... inside."

The sea breeze swept over her from behind, ruffling a wisp of black hair peeking out from under her hat.

Li Ran stepped aside, making way for her to enter.

"Come in."

"The room has already been cleaned up."

Little Black wagged its tail beside his legs, glanced at the person at the door, didn't bark, but instead moved aside to make room for her.