Chapter 2009: Chapter 1969: High-End Sanatorium

He couldn’t see any of the four girls being unhappy; instead, they all seemed a bit worried that their paintings might go missing. If he’d known it would be like this, he might as well have waited until they were back in Jinling to give them the paintings.

Of course, now whenever Cao Ling looked at Ye Qiu, there was a smile in her eyes, carrying a flavor that was hard to put into words.

Cao Ling was tempting him, and Ye Qiu could see that clearly.

If this went on, it really would delay his Cultivation; on this point, Ye Qiu was very clear.

But with such beauty right in front of him, could he really resist every time?

Besides, Ye Qiu wasn’t about to fuss over losing a few days of Cultivation time.

They left the villa and drove to the beach. At this hour, there were obviously a lot more tourists than before.

Lots of young female tourists in colorful clothes, and plenty of guys in summer outfits and casual wear.

Naturally, the moment Ye Qiu appeared with Cao Ling and the other three beauties, they drew quite a bit of attention from the tourists around them.

Especially Cao Ling—when a peerlessly beautiful woman like her showed up, all those dolled‑up young women nearby suddenly seemed a shade dimmer.

This was exactly how it was with beauties—when a real stunner stood among other pretty women, the more beautiful one would, without a doubt, stand out even more.

Cao Ling couldn’t care less about the other people.

Right now, her eyes were only on Ye Qiu.

She took off her high heels, then walked barefoot along the beach, stepping on the soft sea sand.

The sand really did feel good—after being baked by the sun all day, it had a completely different warmth to it.

Lin Xiang, Xiaomai, Liu Lingxiu, and Cao Ling walked ahead, with Ye Qiu following behind them.

He didn’t know how long they wandered. When they started feeling tired, they turned back, found their high heels, put them on, and when they sat down on the outdoor chairs, Cao Ling leaned close to Ye Qiu and said, "I almost don’t want to go back to Jinling now."

Jinling was near the Yangtze River, not the sea.

But most people preferred the sea. It was like, as long as they faced this boundless ocean, any depressing or unpleasant feelings would slowly ease away.

Cao Ling was the same right now. She really liked the feeling this sea gave her; it was completely different from standing by the Yangtze.

"You’ll get sick of it if you see it too much."

That was true of anything. Overdo it, and naturally you’d get tired of it.

Of course, maybe because Beidaihe had ties to the top‑level leadership, the public order and all aspects here were much better than other tourist spots; no one dared to act recklessly.

So while they sat there, no one came over to bother or harass them.

They stayed until after seven in the evening, then got ready to go eat.

After several days of eating seafood in a row, they were definitely getting a bit tired of it and wanted a change of flavor.

"Do you want to have a buffet, or order stir‑fried dishes?"

"I want to eat buffet."

Xiaomai said.

For someone like Xiaomai, who’d grown up an orphan, she really liked buffets—mainly because she could take whatever she wanted to eat, and there was no need to waste anything. Plus, she rarely got the chance; before this she’d only gone a few times with Ye Qiu, Ye Xue, and Liu Lingxiu.

"Let me check where the best buffet in Beidaihe is."

The buffets at the five‑star hotels around here were probably pretty good.

Ye Qiu started searching online and found that everything looked quite ordinary, clearly aimed at regular tourists. The prices weren’t high and were nowhere near the level of East Sea City, or especially Hong Kong.

Those places that were only a few dozen yuan per person—Ye Qiu really didn’t want to go. He could tell at a glance what kind of buffet that would be.

Something that low‑end, Ye Qiu really couldn’t bring himself to go.

Even the ones over a hundred per person, which were in five‑star hotels, he checked and felt they were just so‑so.

If they were in the Capital City, it would be different—there, you could find extremely luxurious, extravagant buffets.

But here in Beidaihe, there really weren’t many options.

Ye Qiu could only have Cao Ling call Cao Long to ask.

Soon, Cao Long said over the phone, "Doctor Ye, the buffets outside in Beidaihe are all pretty average. If you want real buffets or French food, you’d have to go back to the Capital City. Of course, the senior sanatoriums here have plenty of good food too. If you want to go, we can take you in."

Senior sanatoriums?

Ye Qiu knew right away what kind of people those places were meant for.

It was just that he, Liu Lingxiu, and the others were all ordinary people—could they even get in?

"Can we get in?"

"Of course. You’re family members, so of course you can go in. I’ll talk to Young Master Zhou and the others first and see which sanatorium is better."

After hanging up with Cao Long, they headed back to the villa first—they at least needed to wash their feet.

They’d just been walking barefoot in the sand, so of course their feet were covered in it.

The four girls went to check on their paintings the moment they got back. Only when they saw everything was still there did they relax.

After they finished washing their feet, Cao Long had already made the arrangements.

There were all kinds of senior sanatoriums here—ones for the petroleum system, for miners, for other state‑owned enterprises, and for various provincial governments.

And most importantly, a lot of retired leaders, along with some officials who were rarely seen in public, could all be found here.

After all, compared to the Capital City, the weather and everything else here really was first‑rate, and the most important thing was that it was very close to the Capital City. If anything happened there, they could drive or take a car back immediately.

"Doctor Ye, we’ve found a petroleum sanatorium where I’ve heard the buffet is very good."

In fact, as soon as they heard Ye Qiu and these beauties wanted a buffet, they immediately began picking through the sanatoriums.

Each of these senior sanatoriums had its own features, and it was said that the buffet at the Petroleum Senior Cadre Sanatorium was particularly good. It was a perfect chance for them to go and try it as well.

"Then come over and lead the way."

Young Master Zhou and the others had already used their connections to contact the place.

For these rich second‑generation kids, getting in was easy. As long as someone in the Capital City made a call and reported their identities, there would be no problem at all.

After Cao Long and Young Master Zhou drove over, Ye Qiu got in his car with the four girls and followed them.

After driving a bit over ten kilometers, they stopped. It was still close to the sea, and in the distance it looked like a cluster of European‑style villas—this was the petroleum sanatorium.

As soon as they pulled up to the gate, the security guards confirmed their identities and let the cars drive inside.

They parked in the lot, and when Ye Qiu and the four women got out of the car, and Cao Long and Young Master Zhou got out of theirs, a tall young woman in a dress walked over to greet them.

She’d heard that a group of rich second‑generation kids from the Capital City had come and wanted to eat buffet here.

So naturally, they’d sent someone to guide Ye Qiu and the others.

"Gentlemen, welcome. My surname is Cheng; I’m here to look after you," Miss Cheng said with a warm smile.

Just from looking at her figure, you could tell she was from the Northeast.

Qinhuangdao bordered the Northeast—or you could say, this area itself was basically the Northeast; after all, once you crossed Shanhaiguan, you were in the Northeast.

And in the Northeast, petroleum enterprises were about the most common thing around.