This was the price to pay.
Under the guiding principle of the Great Hermit—”help whoever we can, since we can’t find anyone else, let’s just hire them and fire them if they can’t do the job”—these employees, who likely couldn’t find work elsewhere, were able to stay.
The Great Hermit gained a group of hard-working employees who treated the B&B as their home.
But the price was that they had to deal with the various debuffs that came with their employees.
And clean them up.
Sanbing was the first to rush out of the private room, but after rushing out, he slowed his pace, letting his boss, Chen Erhu, take the lead.
Then Lao Si and Lao Wu followed.
The camaraderie of the Pigpen Gang was solid. Whenever there was a suspected fight, their formation would line up in tacit agreement.
Chen Jian glanced at Shan Yu and followed behind them with Hu Pan.
As they walked down the corridor towards the private room inside, a waitress who didn’t know what was happening trotted over.
“Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?” The young girl looked very scared, her voice a little timid.
“It’s fine, we might have just run into some acquaintances,” Chen Jian tried to soften his voice. “We’re just going to take a look.”
“Do you need me to go over and ask for you first?” The young girl still followed, her question polite and skillful.
Chen Jian couldn’t help but look at the name tag on her chest: Liu Tingting.
Look at the service level of this high-end restaurant…
And then look at the entire service staff of our Great Hermit, rushing to the scene to rescue Nana.
“No need,” Hu Pan blocked her, her voice not gentle at all, filled with a slight excitement and nervousness. “Don’t follow us, it’s fine.”
Liu Tingting hesitated and stopped. Although she didn’t follow anymore, she was clearly even more scared.
After all, Hu Pan had already rolled up her sleeves.
The few people in front didn’t look like good people, and now even the girl had a full-sleeve tattoo. It was definitely not “fine.”
Chen Erhu walked to the door of the innermost private room. Without knocking or hesitating, he directly turned the handle and pushed the door open.
Then Sanbing and the others walked into the private room from Chen Erhu’s side.
The moment the private room door opened, you could still hear voices from inside, which then all fell silent.
Including Chen Erhu and his group.
“Don’t start a fight yet, get her out first…” Hu Pan reminded in a low voice.
Chen Jian quickly took two steps forward.
When he saw the situation in the private room from behind Chen Erhu, he was also stunned.
In his imagination, inside should be the ex-husband and some of his friends, and Sun Nana, who might be being held or even beaten again.
But now, in the private room, sitting in the main seat facing the door was an old lady with all-white hair. Looking around, the room was full of more than a dozen people, men and women, old and young.
Everyone looked very surprised.
And Sun Nana was sitting by the door. An aunt who was holding her hand and wiping her tears was also looking at them in astonishment.
As soon as Sun Nana saw them, she immediately stood up. A man next to her immediately stood up too, blocking her.
It looked like he was her soon-to-be ex-husband.
In theory, they should have rushed in and pulled Sun Nana out. If the soon-to-be ex-husband dared to block them, it would most likely lead to a fight.
But right now, everyone in the room looked very peaceful. The ex-husband was also very peaceful. Besides surprise and a strange sense of awkwardness, there was not a trace of hostility on his face.
And Sun Nana was not shouting for help, not struggling, and certainly not being held.
This was very difficult to handle.
Chen Jian subconsciously turned to look for Shan Yu.
Shan Yu followed unhurriedly, glanced into the room, and the scene inside made him raise his eyebrows. He said, “A family banquet?”
“Nana, are they your friends?” the ex-husband turned his head and asked.
“They are my colleagues,” Sun Nana said, patting her ex-husband’s shoulder.
The ex-husband moved to the side.
Shan Yu looked at Sun Nana. “Are you coming out?”
“Yeah,” Sun Nana replied and was about to walk out.
The aunt holding Sun Nana’s hand also stood up. “Chat with Mom for a little longer.”
Sun Nana glanced at her, seeming to hesitate again.
The ex-husband’s family?
That was Chen Jian’s first reaction.
But it also felt a little off.
“What’s going on here?” The white-haired old lady over there seemed a little frightened and kept asking the people around her. The people on both sides were also patting her back and comforting her in a low voice.
Shan Yu must have also sensed that something was wrong. He tilted his chin at the ex-husband. “You, come out and talk for a bit.”
The ex-husband nodded, then gently patted Sun Nana on the back. “You talk to Mom for a little longer. I’ll chat with your colleagues.”
“Don’t act,” Chen Erhu said.
The ex-husband didn’t speak, glanced at him, and walked out of the private room past him.
Chen Erhu and the others were still blocking the private room door, like a group of raging door gods.
“Can you ask your colleagues not to be like this?” the ex-husband looked at Shan Yu. “My grandma is old, she’ll be scared.”
“Erhu,” Chen Jian called out to Chen Erhu.
Chen Erhu was a little reluctant, but still stepped out. Sanbing closed the door, leaving a crack.
“There must be some misunderstanding here,” the ex-husband said, looking at the circle of people surrounding him, his gaze finally returning to Shan Yu’s face. “You’re the boss, right?”
“Yeah,” Shan Yu replied.
“Thank you all for taking care of Nana during this time,” the ex-husband said. “I was very worried about her after she got out of the hospital, but I couldn’t find her. Her family was almost going crazy…”
“Hospital?” Shan Yu interrupted him.
“Mental hospital,” the ex-husband said.
This answer stunned everyone. Even Shan Yu couldn’t control his expression and raised his eyebrows.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Hu Pan pointed at him. “Sun Nana is perfectly normal. She doesn’t have a mental illness.”
“Her condition isn’t too serious, and she just finished treatment, so…” the ex-husband sighed, took out his phone, flipped through his photo album, and showed a photo to Shan Yu. “I have her medical records here…”
Chen Jian quickly leaned over to take a look.
It was a discharge summary for Sun Nana.
Acute schizophrenia.
But before he could look closely at the discharge situation below, the ex-husband put his phone away. He only saw “clear consciousness, relevant answers, stable mood…”
From this discharge summary, the ex-husband was telling the truth. Sun Nana had been treated for a mental illness.
But she should have been discharged by now, and her condition was stable.
“So?” Shan Yu asked.
“She needs someone to take care of her. Right now, she…” the ex-husband said.
Shan Yu interrupted him again. “Suicide and self-harm risk assessment 0, violence risk assessment 0, activities of daily living ability 100, no dependence. She doesn’t need anyone to take care of her.”
A hint of surprise flashed in the ex-husband’s eyes.
Chen Jian was also surprised, but it was more of another emotion that surged up instantly.
“How did she get the injuries on her face?” he followed up after Shan Yu.
The ex-husband frowned. “She had violent symptoms before. She would hit people when she had an episode.”
“So you hit her,” Shan Yu summarized succinctly.
“I was… accidentally injured. She hit me, I was defending myself,” the ex-husband said.
“Where are your injuries?” Sanbing came closer and stared at him. “You injured her like that while defending yourself. She must have hit you pretty hard, right? Where are your injuries?”
Lao Si and Lao Wu cooperated in tacit agreement and came closer, looking him up and down.
“What are you trying to do?” the ex-husband got angry and pushed away Lao Si, who was the closest. “I’m being nice to you because you’ve taken care of Nana for a while. If you continue to harass me and my family like this, I can call the police.”
“Whose grandma is inside?” Shan Yu asked.
“Nana’s,” the ex-husband said.
“Whose mom?” Chen Jian asked again.
“Nana’s,” the ex-husband said. “Everyone inside is her family.”
That was surprising again.
“Didn’t you just say they were your family?” Hu Pan glared at him.
“Her family is my family,” the ex-husband said. “Thank you for taking care of Nana during this time. She’s going home. I’ll come over in the next two days to get her things.”
Chen Jian really couldn’t sort out the relationships here. Sun Nana had been sick, but from the discharge certificate, she was fine now. Domestic violence… the ex-husband definitely hit her, but Sun Nana’s family could still eat with the ex-husband…
“Erhu,” Shan Yu began, “bring Nana out.”
“Okay,” Chen Erhu immediately reached out to push the private room door.
“What are you doing!” the ex-husband blocked Chen Erhu and pointed at Shan Yu. “She’s a patient. She needs to be with her guardian. Are you openly trying to snatch her?”
“Guardian? Are you trying to say she has limited capacity for civil conduct?” Shan Yu crossed his arms and leaned against the wall behind him, looking at the ex-husband. “Acute schizophrenia, in such a short time, it’s not even enough to get an assessment. Where did the guardian come from?”
Chen Erhu didn’t understand any of this. He just knew that Shan Yu had refuted the ex-husband’s words, so he pushed the ex-husband’s hand away and pushed the door open.
Anyway, it was just looking for trouble. If it weren’t for Shan Yu being there, and the restraint of a small-town youth in the city, he would have already flipped the table when he first went in.
“Nana!” Shan Yu shouted from outside the door. “Are you leaving? Let’s go eat.”
“Let’s go!” Sun Nana immediately replied, standing up and walking out.
The people around her wanted to hold her back, but she dodged them. Hu Pan rushed over, put her arm around her, and walked out.
“You can’t leave!” the ex-husband’s voice became deep, his face also turning grim. He grabbed Sun Nana’s hand. “Are you really going to leave with them?”
“Don’t be fierce with her, don’t be fierce with her,” the aunt who had been wiping her tears followed them, patting the ex-husband’s hand with a pained expression, signaling him to let go.
“I’m worried, Mom,” the ex-husband immediately changed his expression, frowning, his eyes grave.
“Let her go to eat first, with her colleagues,” the aunt said.
Hu Pan pulled the ex-husband’s hand away and pulled Sun Nana out of the private room.
“Nana said you are all very good people,” the aunt looked at Chen Jian. “She said you’ve been very good to her.”
“She is an excellent employee of our B&B,” Chen Jian said. “Her work ability is very strong.”
“That’s good,” the aunt said, nodding and smiling with tears in her eyes. “That’s good. She’s just… stubborn. Please help me persuade her too, not to be angry with Xiao Zhang. Xiao Zhang is almost going crazy for her.”
Xiao Zhang probably referred to the ex-husband.
In the eyes of Sun Nana’s family, the ex-husband was actually still a good son-in-law.
“Don’t worry, Auntie,” Chen Jian said.
What not to worry about, Chen Jian didn’t say. Don’t worry, Auntie, we won’t persuade Sun Nana. We’ll let her decide for herself.
Hu Pan put her arm around Sun Nana and walked quickly towards their private room.
Behind them were the four great guardians.
Just as Chen Jian and Shan Yu were about to turn and leave, the ex-husband suddenly rushed up. He probably thought Shan Yu was the mastermind among this group, and he also looked the most scholarly.
So he chose the one who was least likely to fight and threw a punch at the back of Shan Yu’s head.
This punch was quite fast. Chen Jian only had time to grab his shoulder and pull him to the side, not completely stopping him from rushing towards Shan Yu.
Shan Yu turned his head back, and the ex-husband’s deflected fist grazed past his face.
The next second, Shan Yu raised his hand and grabbed the ex-husband by the neck, then swung him to the side and pressed him against the wall of the corridor.
“What are you doing!” Chen Erhu and the others turned back when they heard the commotion.
The waitress who had been observing the situation at the other end of the corridor also ran over.
However, Shan Yu did not make any further moves, just silently held the ex-husband by the neck. The ex-husband couldn’t speak and could only grab Shan Yu’s wrists with both hands.
After a few seconds, the ex-husband’s face was completely flushed.
Chen Jian could see that Shan Yu’s thumb was right on the spot on the artery diagram marked “chop here.” Although he hadn’t used any force yet, he could do so at any time.
He moved closer to Shan Yu and whispered in his ear, “Boss, the team-building activity is important.”
Shan Yu turned his head slightly, and only Chen Jian could see the corner of his mouth twitch into a smile.
Then the hand holding the ex-husband’s neck loosened its grip, but he did not let go.
The ex-husband’s face went from a liver-red to a pink, and he finally squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: “You just wait for the police to come looking for you.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Shan Yu said. “Sun Nana’s injuries have been assessed. Committing domestic violence against a mentally ill person is an aggravating factor. We still don’t know what caused her illness. We can have the police investigate that at the same time.”
The ex-husband stared at him. “What’s your relationship with Sun Nana?”
“Her boss,” Shan Yu said.
“Do you think I believe you?” the ex-husband sneered, his face still pink.
“Who gives a damn? Is it very important whether you believe me or not?” Shan Yu said. “Go back to your private room. If you dare to follow me again, I’ll have you carried back. You’d better believe that.”
Without waiting for his reply, Shan Yu let go and turned to leave.
Chen Erhu and the others did not turn around immediately. They pointed at the ex-husband and walked backwards slowly. After a few steps, they turned around.
“Chen Jian, go and tell the waitress that it’s fine,” Shan Yu said. “Don’t have them really call the police. The team-building activity is important.”
“Okay,” Chen Jian replied and walked towards the few waitresses.
After explaining and apologizing to the waitress and their lobby manager at the front desk, Chen Jian returned to the private room and found Shan Yu standing at the entrance.
“Why are you standing here?” Chen Jian stopped.
“They’re comforting Sun Nana inside. I’m in the way of their performance,” Shan Yu said, taking the tablet handed to him by the waitress. “I came out to order the food.”
“Okay,” Chen Jian didn’t enter the private room either. He went with Shan Yu to an empty small table in the corner of the hall and sat down, watching him order.
His mind was still a bit of a mess. He never would have thought the background of this matter would be like this.
Also…
Chen Jian looked at Shan Yu. “That discharge summary, do you think it’s real?”
“There’s no need to fake that. You can find out with a single question,” Shan Yu said.
“I didn’t even see it clearly,” Chen Jian said.
“I just looked at the discharge situation. There was no need to look at the beginning,” Shan Yu looked up at him. “I have never been hospitalized for mental illness.”
“I…” Chen Jian was stunned for a moment, then sighed and smiled. “Then have you ever been hospitalized for having superpowers?”
Shan Yu smiled. “I’ve been hospitalized many times for injuries from fighting.”
Chen Jian smiled without speaking.
“I can remember those because I only saw those two lines. I couldn’t say another word,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian still didn’t speak. At this moment, he suddenly felt very calm in his heart.
From a certain angle, he quite liked this feeling of being seen through by Shan Yu.
…Crossing the line is so comfortable.
“Shan Yu,” Chen Jian lay on the table, turning his head to look at him.
“Is it dirty? Get up,” Shan Yu clicked his tongue.
“Why didn’t you say that when I was sleeping on the carpet?” Chen Jian lay there without moving.
Shan Yu glanced at him. “You’ve got a mouth on you now, huh?”
“Yeah,” Chen Jian smiled.
Shan Yu continued to look at the menu. After a few seconds, he looked up at him again.
“What?” Chen Jian asked.
“Nothing,” Shan Yu reached out and hooked his face.
Chen Jian was startled, but stood his ground.
When Shan Yu pulled his hand back, a waiter passed by with a plate and glanced at them.
Shan Yu cleared his throat and looked down at the menu again.
“Shan Yu,” Chen Jian called out to him.
“Hmm?” Shan Yu replied.
“So you also have your moments of technical throat-clearing,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu leaned back in his chair and looked at him. “Did you sneak a drink?”
“No,” Chen Jian said with a smile. “Maybe my hidden personality has been exposed.”
Shan Yu couldn’t help but laugh.
“Are you two here?” Hu Pan suddenly turned the corner from the corridor. “I thought the boss had run away.”
“If I were to run, I’d at least have to finish eating and pay the bill,” Shan Yu said. “How is Sun Nana?”
“She’s fine. She seems to be completely out of it,” Hu Pan said in a low voice, lying on the table. “But she did say that her family really likes that Zhang. I’ll chat with her more about the details tonight.”
“Okay, let’s not talk too much for now. Let’s just have fun tonight…” Shan Yu glanced at her. “Is it dirty?”
“It’s not dirty,” Hu Pan said, rubbing the tabletop with her hand. “Don’t you also lie on the table in our restaurant? Do you have selective mysophobia, Boss Shan?”
“Go on in,” Shan Yu waved at her. He had finished ordering. “Go and wait for your food.”
“Alright,” Hu Pan stood up and bounced back to the private room.
“Let’s go,” Shan Yu also stood up.
Chen Jian stood up and followed him towards the private room.
“I might go back for a trip before the New Year,” Shan Yu suddenly said out of nowhere.
“What?” Chen Jian was stunned.
