On the night of the Dayin’s opening ceremony, the staff tidied everything inside and out, and the firecracker debris on the road outside was cleaned up by early morning the next day.
Hu Pan stood on the road, hands on her hips: “Shouldn’t we leave some traces? It’s too clean.”
“No need. If we leave them, people will see we’re newly opened and might doubt our professionalism,” Sanbing said, also with hands on his hips.
“That makes sense,” Hu Pan looked at Chen Jian, who was squatting by the roadside opposite. “Manager, why don’t you go back and sleep some more?”
“No,” Chen Jian said, sneezing into his hand.
“Catching a cold on the first day of official business,” Sanbing said, “you really pick your days.”
“He’s been tired for so many days and just relaxed, so he got sick,” Hu Pan said.
“The key is it’s not even cold, how did he catch a cold?” Sanbing asked. “How long were you patrolling outside yesterday?”
Just one round.
Lying on the chair for half an hour.
“…Quite a while,” Chen Jian took out a mask and put it on. “I’ll eat alone later, so I don’t infect you all.”
“Just don’t infect the boss,” Hu Pan said.
Infecting the boss is fine, he doesn’t do any work anyway.
“Are you a spray bottle? You just walk by and infect people?” Shan Yu asked on the phone.
“Whether I’m a spray bottle or not, I still breathe,” Chen Jian said. “They all told me to stay away from you.”
“As long as you don’t kneel next to me checking if I’m dead, you won’t breathe on my face,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian sighed.
“If there’s nothing much to do today, get more sleep,” Shan Yu said. “They say sleeping more helps you recover faster. Get well soon, we can’t do without a manager.”
Fourteen thousand wasn’t given for nothing.
“Mhm,” Chen Jian replied. Indeed, there wasn’t much going on today. The three couples who came for the ‘opening success’ promotion wouldn’t arrive until around noon tomorrow. Chen Jian went back to his dorm and lay down. This sudden cold was indeed quite awkward. He wasn’t sure if Shan Yu had seen him when he opened the window last night. Maybe not at first; a normal person wouldn’t stare into the courtyard the moment they opened a window. But after he ran, it was hard to say. Given Shan Yu’s reaction…
Why did I run?
It was a spot where you couldn’t see or hear anything by peeking. For the manager to be lying there late at night was a bit eccentric, but running away was even more eccentric. Chen Jian sighed. He’d just sleep in the dorm. A cold was quite a torment. He rarely felt drowsy during the day, but he fell asleep within minutes of lying down. Of course, it could also be due to a stuffy nose and lack of oxygen.
But he didn’t sleep soundly. His phone rang twice next to his head, and he woke up. He saw the caller ID was “Dad” and simultaneously glanced at the time. He had actually slept for two hours.
“Dad?” he answered the phone.
“It’s me,” his dad’s voice was still habitually a bit hoarse. “Have you eaten?”
“Yes,” Chen Jian said.
“Oh, where are you working these days?” his dad asked.
“The guesthouse I used to work at, it changed owners,” Chen Jian said. “So I came back to work.”
“That’s good,” his dad said, then fell silent.
Chen Jian originally didn’t want to continue talking about work, but then he remembered Tang Rui’s words, and he really didn’t know what else to say, so he added: “I’m the manager here now.”
“Manager?” his dad asked. “Are you in charge?”
“Yes, in charge,” Chen Jian said.
“That’s good then,” his dad chuckled. “Very good, very good.”
“How have you been lately?” Chen Jian asked.
“Been delivering food for two months now,” his dad said. “Getting familiar with the roads is alright.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Chen Jian said.
“It’s fine, not very tiring,” his dad paused. “I’ll deposit some money into your card later. See if you can gather enough to pay back some to Old Yu.”
“Did you leave yourself living expenses?” Chen Jian asked.
“Yes,” his dad said.
“Mhm,” Chen Jian replied.
Both fell silent. After a while, his dad finally asked, “Do you have a cold?”
“Yes, it’s not serious, almost better,” Chen Jian said.
His dad was silent for a while again: “Alright, I’m hanging up then.”
Chen Jian held his phone, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. After a while, his phone chimed with a text message notification, showing that 6,300 yuan had been deposited into his bank card.
Chen Jian rested his arm under his head, sighing softly. He pondered how to scrape together 10,000 yuan. He owed Uncle Yu less than 20,000 yuan, and paying it back quickly would mean one less person pressing for debt.
There were two knocks on the dorm door.
“Come in,” Chen Jian said.
When the door opened, only an arm reached in, throwing something that looked like a cardboard box towards his head.
“What the…” Chen Jian instinctively slapped it, sending the object to the floor.
“Pick it up yourself,” Shan Yu’s voice came from outside the door. “I was going to throw it on you.”
Chen Jian saw that it was a box of cold medicine.
Couldn’t you make a sound before throwing it, you cripple!
“Mhm,” Chen Jian said, a little helpless. He got out of bed and picked up the medicine.
Can Hu Pan not exercise some initiative and give the boss some work? He’s this idle!
“Hu Pan asked me to give it to you,” Shan Yu said. “The manager has pretty good public support.”
…Pan Pan, thank you.
“Sister Zhao is cooking you sick-person food,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian said, “I’ll go down to eat.”
“Okay,” Shan Yu closed the door.
Chen Jian tore open the medicine box, peeled out the tablets, and held them in his hand before realizing there was no water in the room. He stood up, intending to get a cup from the water dispenser outside, when the door suddenly opened again. A bottle of water flew in through the crack in the door and hit his bed.
“Ah!” Chen Jian was startled, and his nose cleared up.
Shan Yu said from outside the door: “Sorry, I forgot.”
After taking the cold medicine, and with the placebo effect plus the two scares from the boss, Chen Jian felt himself starting to recover. He put on a jacket, grabbed his walkie-talkie, and slowly walked downstairs.
His phone chimed again. It was a message from his dad.
[Old Chen from A Mountain] Work hard. Why does the boss want you to be manager? You only have a high school education. Be careful.
Chen Jian sighed, quickly looked down, and replied to his dad.
[Chen Fish Falls Goose] Got it.
Zhao Fangfang made him carrot and corn porridge, and also boiled a bowl of fish soup, along with two large tomatoes. Chen Jian ate with relish, thinking of the meals his mother used to make when she was sick.
“How are you feeling?” Hu Pan asked.
“Pretty good,” Chen Jian said. “My colds usually clear up in two or three days.”
“Those university students have confirmed their time and number of people,” Hu Pan said. “We’ll have to pick them up in the old town then. I said we only have one seven-seater car, so some of them will take a minibus, and some will ride with us.”
“Let Chen Erhu pick them up,” Chen Jian said. “Confirm their meal arrangements and preferences beforehand, and what we need to prepare. Otherwise, it’ll be chaotic.”
“Mhm,” Hu Pan nodded, then smiled. “Hey, before, I would have found all this stuff annoying, but now I just find it interesting.”
“Being busy is good. If you’re always idle, you’ll be jobless,” Sanbing said.
It wasn’t that busy, though. After these opening-success couples, there were basically no guests during weekdays. Chen Jian wasn’t busy with work every day. He often stood on the upstairs balcony, watching guests come and go, observing the situation of the other guesthouses inside. They were similar, mainly catering to weekend guests. This weekend, they even had one more room than the guesthouses inside. In a few days, when Liu Wu and his group arrived, it would be enough to make the others envious.
“Manager Chen,” Shan Yu’s voice came through the walkie-talkie, “Where are you?”
“Fourth-floor balcony,” Chen Jian said.
“Put the surveillance work aside for a bit. Come on a business trip with me,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian was stunned: “Business trip?”
“To the city,” Shan Yu said.
We usually call that ‘going to town.’
Chen Jian went to the office. Shan Yu was already in his wheelchair, his crutches tucked into the side pocket.
“Buying things?” Chen Jian asked.
“Picking up a package,” Shan Yu said. “We probably won’t be back until tonight. Ask them if they need anything bought, make a list, and bring it back for them.”
“Picking up a package and buying things won’t take a whole day, will it?” Chen Jian quickly estimated the time.
“I’m also getting some fresh air,” Shan Yu said.
“Mhm,” Chen Jian glanced at him. “Then I’ll go down and ask them first.”
They didn’t need many things. Zhao Fangfang asked for some snacks; the variety at the old town’s supermarket was limited, and her daughter couldn’t find what she wanted. Hu Pan’s items were all for a young girl: lipstick, foundation, eyeshadow, shampoo. But she wrote it down in great detail, tapping away on Chen Jian’s phone, listing the floor, store, and color number in the memo.
“This way, you should be able to understand,” Hu Pan said.
Sanbing and the others didn’t need anything. They were loafers, after all; going to the city for a day of wandering on a mini-bus when idle was something they often did.
“Ready?” Shan Yu came out of the elevator.
“Ready,” Chen Jian put away his phone.
He put the wheelchair in the trunk, then got into… the passenger seat. At this moment, Chen Jian felt a bit of Shan Yu’s helplessness as a crippled boss. Going out with an assistant who was also the manager, and he still had to drive himself.
“Go get a driver’s license,” Shan Yu started the car. “Go after the university student group leaves in a few days.”
“Mhm,” Chen Jian replied. “Is it difficult?”
“Why don’t you ask Chen Erhu?” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian smiled but said nothing.
“I won’t use navigation,” Shan Yu said. “You know the way, right?”
“Yes,” Chen Jian nodded.
“Did you go to high school in the city?” Shan Yu asked.
“Yes,” Chen Jian looked out the window. “I had to drive this road twice a week.”
“Is Sanbing your classmate?” Shan Yu rolled down the car window, and a cool breeze blew in.
“From the school next door,” Chen Jian said. “We didn’t usually run into each other, but sometimes we’d meet on the bus home.”
It took about three hours to drive from the small town to the city. After reaching the old town, they would get on the bypass expressway and circle around, but Chen Jian usually took the county road unless he happened to catch a ride with Tang Rui to the city and back. Shan Yu put on some music and didn’t speak again. Chen Jian watched the constantly passing scenery outside the window and fell asleep before long.
He was suddenly jolted awake when Shan Yu honked the horn a few times. He looked at the empty road ahead with confusion: “What’s wrong?”
“It’s not fair. I’m driving, and you’re sleeping,” Shan Yu said.
“You don’t take any losses, do you?” Chen Jian chuckled and sat up straight.
“Is your dad working in the city now?” Shan Yu asked.
“Yes,” Chen Jian nodded. “Delivering food.”
“After we pick up the package and buy their things,” Shan Yu glanced at him. “I’m going to the arcade for a bit. You can go see your dad.”
Chen Jian was stunned: “What?”
His question made Shan Yu pause as well: “See your dad? Haven’t seen him in a long time, right?”
Chen Jian was silent for a while, a little awkward: “No… no need to see him.”
“Father and son not getting along?” Shan Yu asked, tapping his fingers lightly on the steering wheel.
“Not really,” Chen Jian said. “It’s just that we haven’t… visited each other, and he probably doesn’t expect me to visit him either.”
“Still, father and son not getting along,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian chuckled: “Really not, we just have nothing to say, it’s awkward.”
“Did you two not live together much?” Shan Yu asked.
“Sort of,” Chen Jian thought about it. “After my mom passed away, he’s always been out working, and I only see him twice a year at most.”
Shan Yu took a long time to finally say: “Maybe he feels like he’s a burden to you and is embarrassed to see you.”
Chen Jian turned to look at him, but said nothing.
After the car got on the highway, the windows were closed, and with the car’s steady movement, the increasingly monotonous scenery outside became the best hypnotist. One second Chen Jian was reminding himself that the boss was driving, and a crippled boss at that, so he shouldn’t fall asleep again. The next second, he started dreaming. He slept very soundly, even more soundly than in bed.
He only opened his eyes abruptly when Shan Yu slapped his face.
“Did you hit me?” Chen Jian looked at the approaching road sign. “We passed the exit.”
“Go back to sleep,” Shan Yu said. “It’s a bypass, at most we’ll just go around again.”
“…Just take the next exit,” Chen Jian stared at the road, pointing ahead. “We probably went about ten kilometers out of the way.”
“Do you have trouble sleeping at night?” Shan Yu said. “Maybe let ‘Immortal Chen’ prescribe you some medicine too.”
“It’s ‘Massage Chen’,” Chen Jian said.
“Immortal Chen sounds less likely to get a surprise inspection than Massage Chen,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian paused, then chuckled: “Everyone in the village calls him that, I’m used to it. Did his medicine work for you before?”
“I don’t dream as much now,” Shan Yu said. “It’s somewhat useful. We should go again sometime.”
“Okay,” Chen Jian nodded.
Although they drove an extra ten kilometers, even if they had taken the previous exit, any traffic jams in the city would have evened out the time. Chen Jian was quite familiar with the package pickup location and drove there via a winding shortcut.
“If the package was sent by post, it could have been delivered to the small town,” Chen Jian said.
“My coming out for some fresh air and leaving the empty guesthouse probably annoys you, even though there aren’t any guests today,” Shan Yu parked the car.
Then you can pick up all future packages when you go out for fresh air.
Chen Jian said nothing.
Shan Yu handed him his ID card: “You go get it. I’ll stretch my leg.”
Chen Jian hesitated for a moment before taking his ID card. He felt a bit hesitant, as if looking directly at it would be rude, but not looking at all would be too fake.
“Take a look, what if I’m holding Qian Yu’s?” Shan Yu said. “Besides, I have ugly photocopies of all your IDs.”
Chen Jian sighed. As he walked into the package station, he casually glanced at Shan Yu’s ID. The name was real. The age was real. The photo matched. The address wasn’t in this city; it was in the next city. Looking at the date, this ID was newly issued after Shan Yu got out.
The package to be picked up was a rather large wooden box, very securely sealed. He didn’t know what was inside. Chen Jian carried the box out and put it in the trunk.
“That high school you just passed,” Shan Yu leaned against the car door, “did you study there?”
“Yes,” Chen Jian replied. “How did you guess?”
“You kept staring at it,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian smiled: “I haven’t been back since I graduated, but it doesn’t look like it’s changed much.”
“What can change about a school?” Shan Yu said. “It’s the people who change.”
Chen Jian sighed softly, closing the trunk door: “Where to now?”
“Lunch at the mall, then buy their stuff,” Shan Yu said. “After shopping, we’ll go play arcade games.”
“Arcades are full of kids,” Chen Jian said.
“Even better, it’s easy to snatch machines from kids,” Shan Yu said, then turned and got into the car.
A Different Kind of Business Trip
All the way, Chen Jian’s mind was in turmoil. Over the years, his frequent separation from his dad had become a habit. Many times, he defaulted to being alone, whether facing debt collectors or dealing with his own affairs, he never thought of contacting his dad. Shan Yu sometimes spoke very directly, and he always managed to directly poke at points you thought you’d never considered, but which you were actually just avoiding. This person was like alcohol poured on a wound.
Chen Jian sighed, looking out the window, and pointed the way for Shan Yu: “Turn left at the traffic light, then make a U-turn up ahead, and we’ll be there.”
“Mhm,” Shan Yu replied.
Chen Jian glanced at the time. He wondered if his dad was eating or delivering food now. Would they run into each other while eating at the mall?
The mall wasn’t crowded since it wasn’t the weekend. Chen Jian had thought Shan Yu brought his crutches specifically to walk, but it turned out he wanted to use the wheelchair.
“I thought you brought crutches to walk around,” Chen Jian said, walking beside the wheelchair.
“This is for prying kids off machines at the arcade,” Shan Yu said.
“Damn it,” Chen Jian couldn’t help but laugh.
“No rules today,” Shan Yu said. “It’s just an excuse for me to come out and have some fun, and bring you along to relax too. Be happy. At least today, you don’t have to think about anything. In a few days, when Liu Wu and his group arrive, you’ll have enough to worry about.”
“Mhm,” Chen Jian nodded. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, it’s nothing,” Shan Yu said. “It’s what I should do.”
Chen Jian walked a few steps following the wheelchair, then looked behind it: “Didn’t you say before…”
“You can stand on it,” Shan Yu stopped. “Want to get on?”
Chen Jian hesitated for a moment, then stepped onto the footrest at the back. As the wheelchair started moving again, a small mall train came up behind them, running parallel. The children on the train all stared at them.
“Hi,” Shan Yu also looked at the children.
“Don’t act crazy,” Chen Jian immediately became alert.
“Tsk,” Shan Yu pushed the controller in his hand forward, and the wheelchair suddenly accelerated, quickly leaving the small train behind.
