335: Orders came in before we even opened.

The next morning, Yang Qi called Deputy Director Chen from the Administration for Industry and Commerce to discuss obtaining a business license for his homestay.

"Yang Qi, go to your town's Administration for Industry and Commerce office now. I'll call the director, and it should be sorted out immediately."

Obtaining a homestay business license was originally a very simple matter. At most, it was just a matter of the approval coming a few days earlier or later; as long as everything was legal and compliant, it would be approved.

Yang Qi called Deputy Director Chen mainly to maintain their relationship. Only by staying in touch could their connection be better preserved.

And how does one stay in touch? It's through these trivial matters that don't violate any principles—just a single phone call.

If you frequently treat them to meals or give gifts, those within the system who still have room for career advancement might actually be afraid to associate with you too much.

They fear that you might eventually drop a bombshell on them and blow their career to pieces.

Both men were savvy operators, so these things didn't need to be spelled out.

When Yang Qi arrived at the Administration for Industry and Commerce office, the director was indeed waiting for him at the entrance. He took his mother Zheng Jin's ID card, and in less than five minutes, the business license, health permit, and other documents were processed.

They didn't even ask for the health certificates of the staff, just telling him to submit them later.

Yang Qi added the director on social media, expressed his gratitude, and then took his leave.

When he arrived at his mother's place, Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan were already there. The group then proceeded to inspect the house intended for the homestay from top to bottom.

They checked to see if anything needed to be added, striving for perfection.

The family had long discussed the positioning of the homestay, deciding to go for a boutique route. The pricing would fall between budget and high-end.

Double rooms were priced at 288 yuan per day, and the single rooms were priced at 188 yuan per day, excluding meals.

The kitchen and living room on the first floor were for shared use by guests, allowing them to cook for themselves. The homestay provided various grains, oils, and seasonings.

"Honey, I think we should buy four or five single or tandem bicycles to place in the yard for guests to use for free."

Bai Xue's suggestion was immediately approved by Yang Qi:

"Hmm, that's a good idea. We must give the guests a feeling of warmth and convenience."

"Should we add a few lounge chairs on the third-floor balcony and in the yard?" Yao Shanshan asked.

"Hmm, that's a great suggestion!"

"Let's buy some sea-foraging kits and keep them in the yard at my mother's place. We can rent them out to guests for 10 or 8 yuan a day."

"After all, if guests buy them themselves, they can't take them home, which would be a total waste. They'll likely prefer to rent."

The group discussed and recorded their plans as they went. Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang.

They quickly noted down quite a few things that needed to be perfected as soon as possible.

Finally, Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan took his mother to the The City to purchase the missing items, while Yang Qi went to the largest advertising company in town to have a lightbox made and business cards printed for the homestay.

When they returned from the The City, they brought back a pickup truck full of supplies, such as lounge chairs, four-piece bedding sets, bath towels, hand towels, slippers, brooms, mops, and trash cans for each bathroom, and so on.

The next day, the advertising company staff came to install the lightbox. From then on, the homestay had a proper name: "Tide Cottage."

When they were naming it, Yang Qi racked his brain for a long time and came up with the name "Blue of the Sea." He was met with the family's disdain.

In the end, it was Bai Xue who chose "Tide Cottage," which received everyone's support. That was the name used when applying for the business license.

Bai Xue took a professional-grade camera and took various photos of the homestay: the entrance, rooms, bathrooms, balcony, living room, kitchen, yard, leisure bicycles, gazebo, and so on.

After Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan finished editing, they took advantage of the official promotion for the upcoming National Sea Fishing Competition and posted the video to their TikTok account.

Then, the group returned to his mother's place, preparing to check for any omissions or deficiencies in the homestay.

Previously, thanks to the underwater scenery and fishing videos they had uploaded, the account had already reached over 100,000 followers, and these fans had been leaving comments expressing their hope to visit in person.

However, Yang Qi and the others had never hosted a livestream, nor had they invited fans to visit.

Now that they learned the content creator had actually opened a homestay, and that the location was where the National Sea Fishing Competition—which was being promoted on all major platforms and websites these past few days—was being held, the fans were excited.

Consequently, fans began leaving messages in the backend, expressing their desire to book rooms.

Even though the price was slightly on the high side, the number of fans wanting to book rooms far exceeded the number of rooms available.

There were only 14 rooms in the homestay, but there were hundreds of fans messaging in the backend wanting to book, and this was all within two hours of them uploading the information.

This really put them in a difficult position.

The fan group, which hadn't been very full, suddenly filled up in an instant.

The chat in the fan group suddenly became lively, with messages scrolling by rapidly. Most of them were planning to watch the opening ceremony of the National Sea Fishing Competition that day.

Bai Xue repeatedly stated that the homestay only had 14 rooms, but every fan believed they would be one of those fourteen lucky ones.

This was completely unexpected for all of them. They had originally thought that when the homestay opened, there might not be any guests, and they had hoped to ride the wave of the competition's popularity.

Who would have thought that I was the big shot all along!

At this moment, a call from an unknown number suddenly came into his mother's phone.

"Hello, hello!"

"Hello, is this Tide Cottage?"

"Huh? Oh, oh, yes, it is!"

His mother, Zheng Jin, didn't react for a moment. It was only after being prompted by Yao Shanshan that she realized what was happening.

"I'd like to book two rooms for November 19th and 20th, for a total of two days. I want the ones that are 288 yuan a day."

"Huh? ..."

It was all too sudden; his mother, Zheng Jin, was still a bit dazed. They hadn't even officially opened yet!

Yang Qi took the phone from his mother and said:

"Hello, hello! Boss, are you looking to book rooms?"

"Yes, I want to book two rooms for the day after tomorrow and the day after that, for a total of two days. I want the 288-yuan ones."

The person on the other end of the line said.

"Sure, is this the phone number to reach you at?"

"Yes, that's right. Are you East Sea Fisherman!"

The person on the other end suddenly asked.

Yang Qi suddenly remembered that the online name for Bai Xue's account was "East Sea Fisherman."

"Uh... yes. Did you see it on TikTok?"

"Yes! Brother Fisherman, I'm your fan. My surname is Ma. I've watched every one of your videos, and I really want to visit your place."

"It just so happened that I saw you started a homestay, so I arranged with my friends to go over and play in a couple of days."

The person on the other end said, suddenly sounding a bit excited.

"You're too kind! I'm flattered, truly. You're welcome to come and visit. I'll be looking forward to your arrival."

Just as Yang Qi hung up the phone and was about to return it to his mother, it rang again.