(2/2)
The moment he hugged Chen Jian, the tips of their ears brushed lightly.
In that tiny, almost imperceptible touch, all the silent sounds around him vanished.
The sound of the river flowing, the sound of the wind blowing, the low chirping of night insects, including the sound of Chen Jian’s breathing—it all disappeared the moment he hugged him.
But then one sound quickly returned from the silence, gently sweeping past his ear.
It was Chen Jian’s breath.
For twenty seconds, besides this breath, Shan Yu heard nothing else.
He didn’t move, didn’t let go of Chen Jian, and didn’t speak.
It felt like a long time had passed, but it also felt like only a few seconds.
When Shan Yu tilted his head slightly, he once again brushed against the tip of Chen Jian’s ear. In this night wind that was cold enough to make him shiver, Chen Jian’s ear tips were burning hot.
Shan Yu’s hands around Chen Jian loosened slightly. In this face-to-face hugging posture, Chen Jian couldn’t slap his face, but he could elbow him, or deliver a heavy knee strike, or even just headbutt him…
Just as he was preparing to let go and step back, Chen Jian moved.
Chen Jian’s arms lifted, reached behind him, and hugged him back.
It wasn’t like the half-hearted, distant way he had reached out to block his eyes in the hospital; this hug was solid.
First, a light embrace, followed by a slight pause, then it tightened.
Shan Yu’s arms, which were about to pull away, froze in mid-air. He didn’t dare to move, afraid that any ungraceful posture of his joints would startle Chen Jian into pulling away.
“How did you hurt your hand?” Chen Jian’s voice was very low, but right by his ear.
“It’s nothing,” Shan Yu said. “I’ll tell you when we get back.”
“Mmm,” Chen Jian replied.
After a few seconds of silence, Chen Jian let go of his arms.
Shan Yu followed suit and let go of his hands.
The moment he relaxed, he felt his back ache.
“You…” Chen Jian looked at him. “When did you get back?”
“Twenty minutes ago,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian paused for a moment, then turned and walked towards the motorcycle. “Have you eaten?”
“No,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian stopped in his tracks and looked back at him. “Why didn’t you… eat first?”
“Did you sell your phone to pay off debts?” Shan Yu asked.
Chen Jian stopped, took his phone out of his pocket, lit up the screen, waited a few seconds, and the screen went dark again.
“No signal. Let me restart it,” Chen Jian said, looking down at his phone. “This phone is old. Sometimes even when there’s a signal, it can’t connect. It needs a restart.”
Shan Yu didn’t speak, just waited in silence with Chen Jian for his phone to restart.
After a while, the phone screen lit up again, followed by a series of dings and beeps from various notifications.
“Quite the busy man,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian didn’t speak. He tapped his phone a couple of times, probably opening the message from “Fa Dan Ke Chen.” After a glance, he walked back towards him.
“I was… in the mountains then,” Chen Jian said. “No signal.”
“Your godmother lives in the mountains?” Shan Yu asked.
“Huh?” Chen Jian looked at him. “Who told you that?”
“My sister,” Shan Yu said. “Xiao Dou’er told me.”
Chen Jian smiled, then thought for a moment and nodded. “I guess so.”
“What do you mean, ‘I guess so’?” Shan Yu asked. Chen Jian’s answer basically confirmed that his godmother was not a godmother in the traditional sense, or that the godmother was just an excuse. “Is your godmother a mountain spirit?”
Chen Jian sighed and didn’t speak.
“Let’s go,” Shan Yu walked towards the gate of Xiao Dou’er’s yard. San Bing’s motorcycle was parked at the entrance. “Let’s go see your godmother.”
“…Tomorrow,” Chen Jian said. “It’s already dark.”
“You’re afraid of the dark?” Shan Yu asked.
“No,” Chen Jian saw San Bing’s motorcycle. “You rode San Bing’s bike?”
“Mmm,” Shan Yu nodded.
Chen Jian didn’t speak, a bit unsure how to describe his feelings.
In the midst of the unexpected chaos was the most genuine sense of security he had felt in days.
The moment the headlight illuminated Shan Yu’s face, he felt that security in his own astonishment—that feeling of everything finally landing, solid and steady.
“I’ll take you,” Chen Jian said. “There are no lights after leaving the village. The road is hard to ride on.”
Shan Yu turned and walked back.
Chen Jian got on the motorcycle, turned it around, and Shan Yu sat on the back seat, resting his right elbow on his shoulder, his bandaged hand right in front of him.
“Hold on tight,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu’s left hand rested on his waist.
Chen Jian wanted to say he could hug him if he wanted. If it were San Bing and the others behind him, they would definitely be hugging his waist by now. This road was very bumpy. Just holding on with one hand, he definitely wouldn’t be stable.
But he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Shan Yu was always hanging around in the gym. Maybe his core strength was powerful.
He twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle took off.
The road in the village was newly paved and very smooth, but after leaving the village, the road immediately turned into a dirt path, full of potholes under the headlight.
When they passed the first bump, he slowed down, but the motorcycle still jolted.
“Fuck!” Shan Yu swayed, and the hand on his waist instantly gripped him tightly.
“Hey!” Chen Jian felt a pang of pain and quickly reached back to grab Shan Yu’s wrist and pull it forward.
Shan Yu’s arms were now around his waist.
“The rest of the road is like this,” Chen Jian said.
“Mmm,” Shan Yu replied from behind.
Chen Jian didn’t speak again, just stared at the road ahead.
When he rode out by himself, he didn’t care much if the road was smooth or not. Bumpy or not, he wouldn’t flip over. But with Shan Yu’s right hand in that state, it definitely couldn’t take any force. With only one hand, if things went wrong, he really could be thrown off the motorcycle.
Shan Yu didn’t speak again the whole way, and Chen Jian also remained silent.
There were no lights around them anymore. The moonlight began to slowly pave a hazy silver path.
Chen Jian stopped the motorcycle at the end of a fork in the road.
“It’s not that far,” Shan Yu got off.
“Mmm, I used to walk here,” Chen Jian said. “Too far to walk now.”
This was the place his mother used to bring him when he was little. When his mother was still in good health, she would bring him here to pick all kinds of mushrooms.
He couldn’t remember the specifics anymore. All that was left in his mind was this memory, like a chapter summary, and his mother’s smiling face.
But he would always come here when he was in a bad mood.
Chen Jian took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He led Shan Yu about ten meters into the woods and then stopped.
Shan Yu looked at the woods in front of him, a little confused.
Chen Jian walked to a tree in front of them, patted the trunk, and turned back to look at him. “This tree.”
“The godmother?” Shan Yu asked.
“Mmm,” Chen Jian nodded. “My mom brought me here to recognize it.”
Shan Yu froze on the spot.
So it really was a godmother, but it really wasn’t a person.
“This godmother…” Shan Yu hesitated for a moment. “What purpose does she serve?”
Chen Jian didn’t speak, just leaned against the tree trunk and sat down.
After a while, he said, “Psychological comfort.”
Shan Yu didn’t speak.
For Chen Jian, who no longer even had a home, this tree was probably the only tangible existence of his mother he could touch.
He slowly walked over and squatted down in front of Chen Jian. His left leg couldn’t bear weight, so he had to support himself with his right knee on the ground.
Chen Jian looked at his leg.
“Did something happen?” Shan Yu asked. “These past two days.”
Chen Jian’s gaze quickly swept over his face, then looked away. “Not really. I just… wanted to rest for a day. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were taking leave?” Shan Yu asked.
“…You were busy, weren’t you?” Chen Jian said. “There wasn’t much going on here, so I just approved it for myself.”
“I’m not busy,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian glanced at him. “I thought you were busy. You said two or three days…”
“What about two or three days? Didn’t I come back in two or three days?” Shan Yu asked.
“…Today is the fourth day,” Chen Jian said.
Whoa.
His sense of time is quite strong.
Shan Yu actually wanted to press on, but in the end, he chose to keep his mouth shut. This was only because Chen Jian was caught off guard.
He found a rock nearby and sat down, silently enjoying the mountain breeze with Chen Jian.
He didn’t know what Chen Jian was thinking.
He didn’t know what he himself was thinking.
Anyway, the wind had blown through them, leaving them a bit numb from the cold.
Chen Jian, who had been still, suddenly reached out towards him, pinched his clothes, and then paused. “What are you wearing?”
“Clothes,” Shan Yu said. “The scientific name is jacket.”
“A single layer?” Chen Jian asked.
“Mmm,” Shan Yu replied. “You only just noticed?”
So the hug was for nothing, you didn’t even notice.
“Let’s go,” Chen Jian stood up. “You’re definitely going to catch a cold.”
When they got back to the guesthouse, San Bing was patrolling the small path outside.
Seeing Shan Yu riding on the back of Chen Jian’s motorcycle, he was stunned. “Boss Shan, where’s my bike?”
“At Xiao Dou’er’s house,” Chen Jian said. “I’ll take you to get it tomorrow. He can’t ride with his hand.”
“He already rode it over there,” San Bing said.
“You shouldn’t have let him ride it over,” Chen Jian said.
“Could I have stopped him?” San Bing glanced at Shan Yu, who had already walked into the house. “You didn’t tell him you were taking leave, did you? He was so angry when he left, he didn’t even listen to what I had to say. How could I stop him?”
That angry?
Chen Jian didn’t speak and walked into the house.
“Boss Shan asked to cook some small glutinous rice balls,” Hu Pan said, leaning on the front desk counter and bouncing up and down. “Do you want some? If you do, I’ll cook them together.”
“Cook more, we’ll all have some,” Chen Jian said. “Add some brown sugar and ginger. If you guys aren’t used to it, just add it to his portion.”
“I’m used to it,” Hu Pan waved her hand. “Let’s add it to all of them. I’ll go cook. Sister Zhao just went home.”
“Mmm, she told me she was going home tonight,” Chen Jian said.
“I’ll help you,” San Bing said immediately.
“You can just stand by and cheer me on,” Hu Pan said.
Just as Chen Jian was about to head towards the elevator, his phone beeped.
He took it out and looked.
[Fa Dan Ke Chen] Come up and report on your work, Manager Chen.
Chen Jian replied as he entered the elevator.
[Chen Yuluoyan] Okay.
The office looked no different from the past two days, but because Shan Yu was sitting on the sofa, it suddenly felt less deserted.
“This is a gift for everyone, local specialties and snacks and stuff,” Shan Yu pointed to the suitcase on the coffee table. “You can take it down later and distribute it. There’s also a snack for Xiao Dou’er.”
“Mmm.” Chen Jian went over and moved the suitcase to the door. “You bought a suitcase too?”
“Was I supposed to carry it in a urea bag?” Shan Yu said. “How’s the dog?”
“Fine during the day, but barks a lot at night. Someone has to be with it,” Chen Jian said. “Whoever is on duty at the front desk at night takes it with them.”
“Mmm.” Shan Yu leaned back on the sofa and let out a soft sigh.
It was dark before so he couldn’t see clearly. Now, he could clearly see the fatigue on Shan Yu’s face. He was about to suggest reporting tomorrow when he saw the bandage on Shan Yu’s hand. Blood had seeped through from the palm.
“Your hand,” he frowned.
“Huh?” Shan Yu held his hand up to his eyes, looked at it, then put it down. “Oh.”
“Let’s re-bandage it.” Chen Jian went to get the first-aid kit from before. Luckily, this kit was well-stocked with medicine. He had even gone to the pharmacy to replenish it once.
“It’s fine,” Shan Yu said. “We can do it tomorrow.”
Chen Jian didn’t speak, just placed the first-aid kit on the coffee table.
Let’s do it now.
He mainly wanted to see what kind of injury it was.
The boss goes on one business trip, and his limping leg gets transferred.
Shan Yu didn’t refuse anymore and let him unwrap the bandage on his hand.
He could tell this bandage was done at a hospital or clinic. Chen Jian breathed a sigh of relief.
But when the gauze covering his palm was removed, he was still stunned.
A knife wound that ran across his entire palm.
“How did this happen?” He looked at Shan Yu. “Was it Fang Xu?”
“Mmm,” Shan Yu nodded. “He tried to stab me, so I grabbed the knife.”
Chen Jian’s brow furrowed as he stared down at the wound.
Something’s not right.
You’re not telling the truth, Boss.
“Hey,” Shan Yu’s fingers twitched. “Are you sightseeing or helping me change the dressing?”
“Who stabs someone with the blade facing up?” Chen Jian looked at him.
“Huh?” Shan Yu was taken aback.
“If he had stabbed you, and you went to grab the knife, it’s possible you would have grabbed it with your palm facing up,” Chen Jian said. “But he didn’t stab you, which means you reached out to grab it before he stabbed, right?”
“Ah,” Shan Yu looked at him.
“Even if you grabbed the knife blindly and got the blade, you would definitely grab it with your palm facing down,” Chen Jian looked at him too. “Was he holding the knife with the blade facing up?”
“Couldn’t I have just grabbed it with my palm facing up?” Shan Yu clicked his tongue.
“An experienced fighter like you, impossible,” Chen Jian answered quickly. “If he’s aiming for your stomach, you lift your hand up and let him stab your chest?”
Shan Yu was silent for a moment, thinking about the scene Chen Jian described, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Fuck.”
Chen Jian looked at him.
“You’ve been in a few fights yourself, haven’t you,” Shan Yu said with a smile, “Manager Chen.”
Chen Jian didn’t speak again. He lowered his head and took a cotton swab to disinfect his wound.
Shan Yu waited for him to ask again, but Chen Jian remained silent.
He probably wouldn’t ask again if he didn’t say anything himself.
The fact that this wound only had a few stitches must have been because Shan Yu didn’t want more. After disinfecting it, Chen Jian re-bandaged his hand with new gauze and bandages.
“Manager, manager,” Hu Pan’s voice came from the walkie-talkie. “Ask Boss Shan how many small glutinous rice balls he wants to eat?”
Chen Jian looked at Shan Yu.
“Ten,” Shan Yu said.
“You haven’t eaten, and you’re only having ten?” Chen Jian asked.
“I told them I ate,” Shan Yu said. “Otherwise, they’d have to busy themselves making a meal for me.”
Chen Jian picked up the walkie-talkie. “He’ll have ten.”
“What about you?” Hu Pan asked.
Chen Jian hesitated for a moment. “I’ll have thirty.”
“My god, you can really eat,” Hu Pan said with a laugh. “I’ll give you the whole bag.”
“You could also go buy me some Western food,” Shan Yu said.
“They’re all closed,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu clicked his tongue. “Fine, I’ll have thirty.”
“It’s fine if you eat them all,” Chen Jian stood up. “I’m not hungry anyway.”
After tidying up, Chen Jian picked up the suitcase to go downstairs.
Shan Yu leaned back on the sofa and turned his head to look at him. “Chen Jian.”
“Mmm?” Chen Jian stopped.
“You can message me about anything,” Shan Yu looked at him. “It doesn’t have to be a fire in the guesthouse or Chen Dahu getting out of prison and coming to make trouble for you to message me.”
“…Mmm,” Chen Jian replied and quickly walked out of the office.
In the few steps it took to get to the staircase, he felt his ears burning.
He didn’t even bother to press the elevator button, just carried the suitcase and ran down the stairs.
When he reached the last floor, Shan Yu’s voice came from the walkie-talkie: “Do you have any cold medicine?”
What the hell, why didn’t you say so just now?
Chen Jian felt he had zoned out for only a few hundredths of a second, but his foot missed a step.
He went straight into a big split, right leg forward, left leg back, and slid to the first floor.
“Fuck,” San Bing stood at the staircase entrance, holding a bowl of glutinous rice balls and looking at him, so shocked he forgot to help him up. “What are you doing!”
“A performance for the New Year’s Gala,” Chen Jian said, using the suitcase to push himself up.
