“I’ll tell you the details when we get back,” Shan Yu said, turning back to smile at him.
“Tell me now,” Chen Jian said, reaching out to grab his arm. “If you’re not going to tell me now, why did you even start?”
“It’s just a sudden thought that popped into my head,” Shan Yu said.
“That’s too sudden,” Chen Jian said.
“I’m just a person who comes up with things on the fly,” Shan Yu said.
“Then tell me when we’re singing later,” Chen Jian said.
“I’ll be singing, my mouth won’t be free,” Shan Yu said.
“You have the guts to sing all night without stopping,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu laughed and pushed open the private room door.
Sun Nana looked quite calm, no different from usual. Her every move still carried a touch of exaggerated elegance.
“Boss Shan, Manager Chen,” she raised the cup in her hand to the two who had just walked into the private room. “Thanks for just now.”
“We’re all on the same side,” Shan Yu sat down.
“Alcohol?” Chen Jian glanced at her cup.
“Plain water,” Hu Pan said.
“Mineral water with lemon juice,” Sun Nana corrected her.
“Plain water. It was still hot when they brought it up,” Hu Pan said.
“You’re annoying,” Sun Nana fanned her hand at her.
“You’re annoying,” Hu Pan mimicked her fanning motion.
Then the two of them burst into laughter.
He didn’t know how this group had comforted her just now. It felt like besides Hu Pan, Chen Erhu and his group were not reliable, but now it seemed to have worked. Sun Nana’s mood seemed alright, although her eyes were a little red, which meant she had probably cried.
Or maybe she was just good at acting. After all, Chen Jian had previously thought that Sun Nana was more likely to be the one who hit people.
The waiter served the food quickly. Shan Yu had basically ordered all meat. Usually, when they ate at the shop, if there was any leftover on the table, it was definitely the vegetable dishes.
“Is your hand convenient?” Chen Jian asked Shan Yu in a low voice.
Shan Yu’s hand had already had the bandage removed, and the wound was not a big problem. But because the wound was quite deep, his hand still seemed a little inflexible at this moment.
He was quite strong when he was choking someone, but when he picked up his chopsticks to grab meat, he had no strength again.
“It’s so-so,” Shan Yu said.
“Do you need me to help…” Before Chen Jian could finish, Shan Yu had already put down his chopsticks.
“Okay,” he leaned back in his chair. “Two slices of fatty beef first.”
Chen Jian looked at him.
“Thank you, Manager,” Shan Yu said.
“Are you only going to pretend for these three seconds?” Chen Jian asked in a low, exasperated voice.
“I still pretended for three seconds,” Shan Yu said.
“It’s ready!” Hu Pan shouted. “Manager!”
What’s ready?
We didn’t do anything!
We just whispered a few words…
Oh, the meat is ready.
Chen Jian picked up two slices of meat and put them in Shan Yu’s bowl, then picked up two slices for himself.
Although this group of people were about the same age as Liu Wu and the others, probably because they were all working now, they could at least wait until the meat was cooked before eating.
“This is mutton,” Shan Yu said.
“Mutton…” Chen Jian glanced at the grill. It was already empty. Hu Pan and San Bing were putting more meat on it. He turned to look at Shan Yu. “It’s mutton. Are you eating it or not?”
To be honest, just by looking, he couldn’t tell the difference between fatty beef and fatty mutton at all. He only recognized pork belly.
Although Shan Yu had raised a question, he still lowered his head and ate the mutton.
“I thought you didn’t eat mutton?” Chen Jian said.
“I just wanted to eat beef first,” Shan Yu said.
“Which ones are the fatty beef?” Chen Jian looked at the meat on the grill and asked Hu Pan and the others.
“This half is,” Hu Pan said, drawing a half-circle on the grill with her tongs.
“Okay,” Chen Jian nodded.
The meat was cooked in no time. Hu Pan looked at Chen Jian. “It’s cooked! Give it to him.”
Chen Jian’s heart jumped. Why give it to him!
Who to give it to?
“To whom?” he asked out of habit.
“Boss Shan, of course,” Sun Nana glanced at him. “Didn’t he just ask for fatty beef?”
“You heard that?” Chen Jian braced himself, stood up, and picked up two slices of fatty beef, putting them in Shan Yu’s bowl.
“You weren’t whispering,” San Bing said.
Weren’t we?
I thought it was very quiet.
Wasn’t it quiet?
After San Bing finished speaking, he also stood up, picked up a chicken wing, and put it in Chen Erhu’s bowl. He then looked at Sun Nana. “Nana, can you reach? What do you want to eat?”
“Don’t mind me,” Sun Nana smiled. “Just eat yours.”
Look at his manners.
Chen Jian picked up two more slices of meat for himself and sat down.
Perhaps the “snatching” incident just now had warmed up the atmosphere. The group was all quite excited now, chatting while eating, quite lively. And they didn’t avoid Sun Nana at all, making some unreasonable guesses and reasonable insults about the ex-husband, and even expressing their confusion about Sun Nana’s family.
“You two weren’t set up by your mom, were you?” Lao Wu said. “The fact that you could marry that guy back then, even a fool could see he had a bad face.”
“She’s not a fool,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian and Sun Nana both laughed.
“What?” Lao Wu looked at Shan Yu.
“He’s saying you’re a fool,” San Bing said.
“I didn’t,” Shan Yu said with a smile.
“Hey, he’s saying that everyone present who saw it is a fool,” Hu Pan said. “Boss Shan is the kind of person… others resort to violence when they can’t win an argument, but he can both win the argument and the fight.”
“Speaking of fighting… have you practiced before?” Chen Erhu asked.
“Practice makes perfect,” Shan Yu said.
“Damn,” Chen Erhu turned his head away. “I almost didn’t understand.”
“But Dahu also always fights…” Lao Si tried to analyze the reasonableness of Shan Yu’s answer.
“But he has no brain!” Chen Erhu raised his voice. “Just like you!”
Chen Jian couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
After a round of laughter, the topic quickly turned to Chen Dahu’s prison life.
Did he have to make umbrellas every day?
Or lighters.
Could he become the prison boss?
Chen Jian listened and laughed. Just as he was taking a sip of water from his cup, he suddenly felt something warm press against his leg.
Although he didn’t quite believe it, he immediately judged that Shan Yu had put his hand on his leg.
He turned his head sharply to look at Shan Yu.
Shan Yu looked straight ahead calmly, a smile playing on his lips.
Boss, do you know what kind of occasion this is?
These people are only two short of the entire staff of the Great Hermit!
Shan Yu didn’t receive his gaze, just gently squeezed his leg again.
And slid it up.
Just as Chen Jian was about to reach out and press his hand down, the door was suddenly pushed open.
The two of them were sitting next to the serving area. The others couldn’t see, but the waiter who came in could see clearly with just a glance.
Chen Jian was so shocked that he stood up the moment the waiter entered.
He could handle having his face touched, but if someone saw his leg being touched and it was moving up…
Although Chen Erhu was in the middle of a lively chat, he reacted quickly. Without even looking at the door, he slammed his chopsticks down and stood up as well.
“What!” San Bing followed with a roar, jumping up with Lao Si and Lao Wu.
“I’m sorry,” the waiter standing at the door said, holding a plate of meat and looking at the people in the room in horror. “I did knock…”
“It’s fine, it’s not because of you,” Shan Yu reached back and took the plate from her hand, placing it on the table. “We were playing a game.”
“Oh,” the waiter was stunned for another second before thanking Shan Yu and leaving the private room.
“Damn,” Chen Erhu glared at Chen Jian. “What were you doing? I thought that Zhang had come to snatch someone!”
“Oh my god, you scared me,” Hu Pan said, patting her chest and putting down the chopsticks she was holding like a knife. “I thought so too. I was ready to fight.”
At this moment, Chen Jian really wanted to drag Shan Yu up from his chair. It was him! It was him! It was all because of him!
“I… I just… I thought so too,” Chen Jian said, sitting back down.
“He won’t come back again, and he won’t dare to,” Sun Nana said, poking a small piece of pickled radish with a fork. “If he still wants to persuade me, he’ll have my mom or my grandma come.”
“If you don’t want to see your mom and grandma crying and persuading you,” Shan Yu said, “we can leave a little earlier later.”
“Right, we’re going to sing anyway,” Hu Pan nodded.
“Good idea,” Sun Nana smiled, putting the radish in her mouth and chewing slowly.
When everyone had moved on to other topics, Chen Jian turned his head and glared at Shan Yu fiercely.
“Two slices of pork belly,” Shan Yu said.
“Get it yourself!” Chen Jian hissed, still fierce.
Shan Yu didn’t move or speak, but Chen Jian felt his fingers tap lightly on his leg twice.
Chen Jian quickly grabbed his hand, reached out with his chopsticks, and picked up two slices of pork belly from the grill, placing them in his bowl.
“Thank you, Manager,” Shan Yu said with a smile.
“You’re welcome,” Chen Jian said. “This is something I shouldn’t be doing.”
Shan Yu held a piece of meat and laughed for a long time before he could put it in his mouth.
To avoid facing Sun Nana’s family, they didn’t eat for too long. After finishing all the dishes Shan Yu had ordered, they all stood up to change venues.
“We can really eat,” Hu Pan said, looking at the plates on the table.
“There are so many of us,” Shan Yu said.
“How much did this meal cost?” Chen Erhu asked him.
“Are you paying?” Shan Yu asked. “If you are, you don’t have to take your salary and bonus before the New Year.”
“I was just asking!” Chen Erhu shouted.
“A little over three thousand, not quite four thousand,” Sun Nana said. “We ordered all the premium this and premium that…”
“Damn, I’ve never had such an expensive meal,” San Bing said.
“Me neither,” Lao Wu said. “Besides Boss Shan and Nana, none of us have, right?”
“It’s fine, just find more excuses,” Shan Yu said. “We’ll come out to eat again in the future.”
“Is the manager’s passing of subject three a cause for celebration?” Lao Si asked.
“…This meal isn’t to celebrate my passing of subject two either!” Chen Jian was exasperated.
“Then what is this meal for?” Lao Wu asked.
It’s your farewell meal!
“…It’s to celebrate my passing of subject two,” Chen Jian said.
“So it is!” Lao Wu said.
“Go, go, go, go, go…” Hu Pan couldn’t stop laughing and pushed the group of people out.
The karaoke place was very close to the barbecue restaurant. The group didn’t need to drive and just walked over.
Chen Jian felt a little too full and walked at the back of the group, rubbing his stomach.
“Full?” Shan Yu asked.
“Yeah,” Chen Jian nodded, then turned to look at him. “Were you crazy just now!”
“I had nothing better to do,” Shan Yu said. “A full stomach breeds lustful thoughts.”
“I…” Chen Jian really couldn’t continue.
Shan Yu smiled and put his arm around his shoulder, gently squeezing the back of his neck.
There weren’t many pedestrians on this road at night. The tree shadows flickered under the streetlights, and cars drove by one after another. It felt completely different from being in the small town.
Chen Jian walked for a while, then looked back at the direction of the barbecue restaurant. “Do you think… Nana’s mom will go to the private room to look for her?”
“We won’t know if she will or not,” Shan Yu said. “It’s enough to know that she’s not willing to go back.”
“Yeah,” Chen Jian nodded, then glanced at him again.
“What?” Shan Yu asked.
“Didn’t you guess?” Chen Jian smiled.
“My superpowers are on cooldown,” Shan Yu said.
“You suddenly want to go home…” Chen Jian glanced at the group of people walking in front, moved closer to Shan Yu, quickly put his arm around his waist, then quickly let go, and asked in a low voice, “Is it because you just saw Nana and her family, so…”
Shan Yu smiled. “Yeah.”
“I thought so,” Chen Jian said.
“Not entirely. You’ve also been trying to persuade me to go home and take a look,” Shan Yu let out a soft breath. “I was originally thinking of going back for a trip during the New Year.”
“Yeah,” Chen Jian replied. “And then you just saw a whole family…”
“It’s terrifying,” Shan Yu said.
“Hmm?” Chen Jian was stunned.
“The thought of my whole family gathering during the New Year,” Shan Yu smiled. “It gives me a headache.”
Chen Jian didn’t expect this guess to be the opposite.
“I’d better go back before the New Year,” Shan Yu said. “I don’t have to be with so many people.”
Only then did Chen Jian realize that Shan Yu was originally unable to face his family because he felt he was inferior to his cousins. If he chose to go back during the big family reunion of the New Year…
The pressure would indeed be a bit too great.
“I’ve never asked you,” Shan Yu stretched. “What about your relatives? I’ve never heard you mention them.”
“I guess I don’t have any,” Chen Jian said softly. “My mom’s hometown is far away, and I’ve never met her relatives. After she passed away, we had even less contact. On my dad’s side, I have an uncle and an aunt, but…”
“After you fell into debt, they all stopped contacting you, right?” Shan Yu said.
“Yeah, not after we fell into debt,” Chen Jian said. “They stopped contacting us after my mom got sick. They’re all in the city, and their lives are just average.”
Shan Yu glanced at him. “Still making excuses for them?”
“What else?” Chen Jian smiled. “It feels better to think this way. But my dad also said that our own family knows better than outsiders how hard it is for us to pay back the money, so they would definitely avoid us.”
“But you’re almost done paying it back,” Shan Yu clicked his tongue. “When the money is paid off, I’ll get a new car, and you can drive it around to visit each family.”
Chen Jian laughed. “Are you crazy?”
“A little bit of craziness is good for the mind and body,” Shan Yu said, patting him on the butt.
Chen Jian suddenly lunged forward two steps.
“Hey, Chen Jian…” Chen Erhu turned around and came face to face with him, startled. “What are you doing here!”
“…I’ve been behind you all along,” Chen Jian said.
“So close!” Chen Erhu said.
“Didn’t you call me?” Chen Jian said.
“…Right,” Chen Erhu said. Although he hadn’t been drinking, his brain might have been muddled by the barbecue. He nodded. “I was going to ask, is it that place up ahead?”
“Yes,” Chen Jian nodded.
This group had really been cooped up in the small town for these few months. They were already humming before they even started picking food in the shop.
After entering the private room, they didn’t even order any songs. San Bing and the others grabbed the microphones and started singing.
Chen Jian couldn’t tell if they were in tune or not. Anyway, he only knew a few songs himself. Not just knew how to sing, but had even heard of.
“That sounds terrible,” Sun Nana said, taking a microphone.
“Let’s have a big chorus to warm up the place,” Hu Pan said, putting the snacks on the coffee table. “When I go out singing with people, I always like to have a big chorus first. It can also warm up our voices.”
“Okay,” San Bing immediately stopped his random singing. “Let’s sing a song we all know.”
“How about ‘Fly Higher’?” Lao Si asked. “We always sang it at class meetings in school.”
“Okay,” Hu Pan nodded and looked at Chen Jian and Shan Yu. “Do you two know it?”
“We’re all high school graduates. Who are you looking down on?” Chen Jian said. He knew this song, and indeed, he had always sung it in school. It would be played ten times on the broadcast during a single sports meet.
“Are you all high school graduates?” Sun Nana leaned against the sofa, one hand on her forehead, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Do they look like they have a higher education than high school?” Hu Pan pointed at Chen Erhu and the others. “It’s more strange that Boss Shan and Chen Jian are also only high school graduates.”
“What are you saying!” Chen Erhu said. “Nana should have gone to college, right?”
“You’re making me embarrassed to say I did,” Sun Nana wiped her forehead with her fingers and flicked them lightly.
“It’s on, it’s on!” San Bing shouted. “We’re about to sing! Let’s take turns, one line each!”
“What’s the order!” A group of people scrambled to grab the microphones.
“Shan Yu, the first line!” San Bing pointed at Shan Yu. “Quick!”
He didn’t even call him “Boss” anymore.
Shan Yu, who was suddenly called upon, quickly picked up the microphone and sang the first line: “Life is like a great river, sometimes calm, sometimes crazy…”
Chen Jian couldn’t help but look at him.
Shan Yu’s line was a bit rushed because everyone was still in chaos, but his voice was very pleasant.
“Chen Jian, Chen Jian!” San Bing continued to direct. “Don’t just look at him! Keep up and sing!”
“Reality is like a set of shackles, binding me, unable to break free…” Chen Jian quickly sang.
Grandpa, this line is unlucky.
I need a lucky line.
He held the microphone and waited. When everyone took turns singing to the chorus, he joined the group and shouted at the top of his lungs, “I want to fly higher—fly higher—”
