Peninsula's first chance encounter during my stay in Dali

Sunday, July 23, 2024.

At 12:30 pm, the sun was shining brightly in Dali, and Zhou Haoming was awakened by a beam of sunlight. Lying in the top-floor king room of his own guesthouse, he frowned because he hadn't closed the curtains properly the night before, and a beam of sunlight was shining directly into his face. Just as he was about to turn over and continue his unfinished dream, his stomach began to protest.

Zhou Haoming rubbed his eyes, put on his slippers, got up and went downstairs. He went to the kitchen on the first floor, opened the refrigerator, and, feeling extremely hungry, tore open a packet of Shin Ramyun and started cooking. He leaned against the stove, opened his phone, and started browsing Bilibili, watching Esper's content.

Thinking back to his past life, he was just a working beast of burden, working for a Korean company, being "humiliated" by his work every day until the day he died suddenly, Zhou Haoming still feels a dull pain in his chest.

Fortunately, his new life after transmigrating wasn't bad. His new body was only 24 years old and very healthy, without the various minor ailments of his previous body. The original owner's parents also left him a considerable amount of savings and this villa as an inheritance.

Even now, Zhou Haoming still likes to occasionally open his mobile banking app, check his balance with the first eight zeros, and can't help but smile. He can't help it. After being a miserable ox in his past life, having so much money in this one—who wouldn't be able to contain themselves?! Although he doesn't have any special abilities like in novels, this amount of money is enough!

Besides this, Zhou Haoming also has a golden shaded kitten named Qianyi (One Thousand). As for why he named it Qianyi, Zhou Haoming has two explanations: one is that he hopes Qianyi will bring him one thousand every day; the other is an old saying in his family that the simpler the name of an animal, the easier it is to raise. Qianyi is now almost six months old, round and chubby, and spends all day eating and sleeping, its days more comfortable than his own.

After finishing his ramen and washing the dishes, Zhou Haoming lay on the sofa and opened his phone to browse the booking page of the guesthouse. Because the guesthouse was marketed as high-end and classy (mainly because Zhou Haoming was lazy, he just put up the name without any introduction or pictures), the page was still empty. But Zhou Haoming was happy to be free. He had turned this villa into a guesthouse simply to fulfill a dream he had when he came to Dali in his previous life.

After finishing his instant noodles, Zhou Haoming wanted to explore the area. His guesthouse was located in Fumeiyi Village, next to Dali Old Town, and Erhai Lake was just a short walk away. Since his time travel, he had visited Erhai Lake every day. Thinking back to his previous life when he was still working at this time, Zhou Haoming was practically skipping along.

Lying in the hammock, listening to Bahamas music, Zhou Haoming was overjoyed beyond words. Summer without Bahamas music would be half as happy! Just as Zhou Haoming was swaying his head to the music, two women in white, fully equipped with sun protection, watched the hammock sway as he moved on the pebble beach beside it.

"Unnie, why would someone put up a hammock there?" Ningning looked at the swaying hammock with a blank expression.

"This might be what people online are talking about as a feeling of relaxation," Liu Zhimin said, looking on in surprise.

While in the Bahamas, Zhou Haoming suddenly felt two pairs of eyes fixed on him. Turning around, he saw two fully armed men in white standing motionless, staring at him. Could it be that they also wanted to try out his hammock? Zhou Haoming then lowered his head in thought.

"Unnie, let's go to the S-curve and take a look. I read online that it's a great place for taking photos." Ningning tensed up when she saw me get up from the hammock and look at them, afraid that I would recognize them and ruin their vacation. She had gone to great lengths to bring Jimin unnie from Seoul to Dali for this trip.

"Ani, I think this place is pretty good too. We can go to the S-curve later. We still have plenty of time." Liu Zhimin looked at me with curiosity. Zhou Haoming saw that the two women in white were still staring at him and confirmed his thoughts. As an E-person, this was the time to show his E-person attributes!

"Perhaps you'd like to try this hammock?" Zhou Haoming said to the two women in white. One of them, the shorter one, trembled upon hearing my words. "Unnie, let's go, we're doomed if we get recognized!" Ningning grabbed Liu Zhimin's arm.

Liu Zhimin patted Ningning's hand. "Ani, this is China. Not many people here know us. Why are you so nervous? If they do recognize us, we'll ask them not to tell anyone. You're usually so arrogant, why are you so timid now?" "My unnie, you know this is China! In our country, even a minor celebrity gets surrounded like a monkey! It's okay if we're not recognized, but if they are, we might not even be able to get back to the hotel today!!" Ningning remained in fighting spirit.

What are these two whispering about? Should we try the hammock or not? Zhou Haoming asked疑惑地问道, "Um, do you guys want to try it or not? It's really comfortable. If not, I'm going to stay in the Bahamas!" "Eh! Bahamas, unnie, he seems to be listening to our song! He seems to be listening to Bahamas," Ningning said, looking confused. "Dear? He's listening to our song? Then he must be our fan! Let's go over there!" Liu Zhimin was excited; meeting a fan in a foreign country was enough to make her, a K-pop idol, happy.

"Okay!" Ningning followed Liu Zhimin to Zhou Haoming. "Hello, who wants to try it first? I tied it very securely, don't worry!" Zhou Haoming confidently introduced the hammock he had tied. Suddenly, something felt off. Those eyes...where had I seen them before?

"Hello, my sister is Korean, so she can't understand what you're saying. Let me let her try it first. She was very interested in your hammock earlier. Thank you!" Ningning said, pulling Liu Zhimin towards the hammock.

"Neeho, thank you!" Liu Zhimin quickly said. Although he didn't understand what the two of them were saying, he knew that saying these two sentences would be right, just like Ningning could only say "Annyeonghaseyo, Kenchana" when she first came to Korea.

"Oh, Annyeonghaseyo, you're Korean? I also speak Korean. I used to work for a Korean company for a while, and I'm a fan of K-pop, so I can communicate in Korean. May I ask your name?" Zhou Haoming asked calmly. Sure enough, this guy can use his passive skill. He's invincible.

"Oh, dear, my name is Liu Zhimin, and her name is Ning Yizhuo. Do you know us? We are from the Korean group Espar. Just now, Ningning, I heard you say you were listening to 'The Bahamas.' Is it our group singing 'The Bahamas'?" Liu Zhimin asked excitedly.

"Holy crap!"