The teacher in charge of training the Dayinemployees, Ms. Li, was indeed introduced by Lu Jun. Although the training period was very short, only staying at the shop for two days, and the training content mainly focused on the small area of service, she would observe everyone’s work status outside of class time.
“Actually, if we follow the hotel’s standards, all of your employees, including you,” she looked at Chen Jian, “might not be qualified even after the training.”
“Doesn’t that include the boss?” Chen Jian was very shocked.
Is Shan Yu not in the unsuitable category? Shouldn’t he be the leader of this list?
Of course, from Ms. Li’s perspective, a polite boss who was never seen except when forced to attend class would naturally not be in this category.
“As a guesthouse owner, he is very qualified,” Ms. Li said with a smile. “Many of his ideas and awareness are not limited by ‘this is just a guesthouse’…”
That was true. Compared to the other guesthouses inside, Shan Yu was more than just a guesthouse owner.
Chen Jian felt inexplicably proud.
After seeing off Ms. Li, Chen Jian returned to Da Yin. Everyone was gathered in the coffee shop. He walked over and asked casually, “Did you gain anything from the training these two days?”
“Fuck,” Sanbing looked at him. “No one told me I had to write a post-training report.”
“…No one asked you to write one,” Chen Jian said. “I was just asking. You’ve been in class for two days. Didn’t you learn anything?”
“Hello, sir,” Sanbing stood up. “Of course, I learned a lot, especially my service awareness has been greatly improved. As for the specific learning situation, if you need it, I will organize it later and give you feedback.”
“Oh my,” Chen Erhu raised his hands above his head and applauded Sanbing.
“Then I’ll go find you, you can tell me what to say, and then I’ll go and give feedback to the guests later,” Sanbing said. “How about that!”
Chen Jian started laughing. “Pretty good.”
“I also went to high school for two years,” Sanbing said.
“President He’s experience group will be here in a couple of days,” Chen Jian said. “It’s a good opportunity to show off our new look.”
“Have they confirmed the number of people yet?” Hu Pan asked, rubbing her hands together.
“Not yet, but it’s basically eight to ten people,” Chen Jian said. “We can just prepare for ten rooms in advance. If there are any changes, we’ll adjust. If it’s not confirmed by tomorrow, we’ll take the initiative to call and ask.”
“Mhm,” Hu Pan nodded.
“Chen Jian…” Lao Wu looked at him.
“Hm?” Chen Jian responded.
“Will you always be like this?” Lao Wu asked.
“Like what?” Chen Jian asked.
“Just…” Lao Wu looked at him, sizing him up and down, hesitating to speak.
“Just putting on a pretentious leader act,” Lao Si summarized bluntly.
“You old bastard,” Chen Jian said.
The group of them all laughed.
“Of course not,” Chen Jian said. “But when it’s time to be pretentious, I will definitely act like a leader. Be mentally prepared.”
“That’s fine then,” Lao Wu nodded. “That’s pretty much like you usually are. When something happens, your face tenses up, and your manager persona comes out.”
“When does it count as ‘something happening’?” Hu Pan asked.
“When you’re withholding my salary,” Lao Wu said.
“Serves you right,” Hu Pan laughed.
Chen Jian’s phone buzzed.
[Fa Dan Ke Chen] Does the manager have time?
[Chen Yu Luo Yan] Yes.
Just as Chen Jian was walking towards the stairs, Shan Yu’s message came through.
[Fa Dan Ke Chen] I’m coming down.
Oh ho?
This was the first time that Shan Yu, whose range of activities wasn’t much different whether his legs were good or bad, had taken the initiative to come downstairs to find him for something.
And he came down not long after.
And magically, he wasn’t wearing the sneakers he usually wore as slippers in the shop, but had changed into a pair of high-top running shoes. He was also holding a thick jacket in his hand and had a hat on.
“Going out?” Chen Jian asked.
“The manager is sharp,” Shan Yu said.
“…Even a blind person could see that,” Chen Jian said. “Hiking?”
“Mhm,” Shan Yu looked at him. “Even a blind person could see that.”
“Where are we going?” Chen Jian started laughing.
“Guess?” Shan Yu said.
“Are you thinking of walking from the old village to Shannan?” Chen Jian asked.
“How did you guess? This is truly worthy of being called ‘sharp’,” Shan Yu said, tilting his head as he put on his jacket. “Let’s go.”
Chen Jian turned back to tell Hu Pan that he was going out for a bit, then grabbed his jacket and followed Shan Yu out the door.
“You mentioned it the other day at Shitoubao,” he said as he walked. “If we develop the old folk houses, we can connect them with the old village over here. Are you thinking of testing how long it takes to walk from here now?”
“Mhm,” Shan Yu smiled. “Shitoubao is a bit small. Developing it as a single attraction isn’t enough. If we connect this whole area and create a ‘hometown’ theme, with supporting facilities, it would be much better.”
“Then do we have to talk to the villagers?” Chen Jian asked.
“Mhm, a cooperation model of either renting from them or participating in the operation. We’ll see how to negotiate when the time comes,” Shan Yu glanced at him. “And get your old house back while we’re at it.”
Chen Jian was stunned and looked at Shan Yu without speaking.
“What’s wrong?” Shan Yu asked.
“It’s not connected to the other old houses in the village that can be used,” Chen Jian said. “We can’t use it…”
“We’re just getting it back. I didn’t say we have to use it,” Shan Yu said.
“Then isn’t this… seeking personal gain?” Chen Jian asked.
“We’re black-hearted capitalists. Aren’t we developing projects for personal gain?” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian smiled and turned his head to look at the trees on the side of the road.
Shan Yu put his arm around his shoulder, and his hand came around, his fingertips lightly tapping the corner of his eye.
“I’m not crying,” Chen Jian turned his head to look at him.
Shan Yu’s lips curved up, but he didn’t speak.
It was a pretty short walk from the guesthouse to the old village, and the road was relatively easy to walk on. The scenery was average, mostly just the mountain forests in the distance.
But the small path from the old village to Shitoubao, which ran along the mountain, was much more beautiful. It even passed over two very old small stone bridges.
“We can do outdoor activities here,” Shan Yu said, looking at both sides as he walked. This section had more gentle slopes. “Things like rock climbing and off-roading are all possible.”
“The things you used to play often,” Chen Jian said.
“You scrolled through my Moments all the way to when I was playing off-road?” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian smiled. “I scrolled to the very beginning a long time ago. You don’t have that many posts on your Moments.”
“I used to post a lot, but I deleted a lot of them,” Shan Yu said.
“Why?” Chen Jian looked at him.
“I would delete them when I was in a bad mood,” Shan Yu said. “I just felt it was meaningless. Why would I post something so meaningless…”
Chen Jian reached out and wrapped his arm around him, pulling him closer. “What about now?”
“I’m asking you,” Shan Yu said. “Don’t you look at it every day?”
“I don’t look at it every day,” Chen Jian said. “Not like you, who counts the number of comments every day.”
“You reminded me,” Shan Yu said, taking out his phone and quickly opening the ‘handsome manager’ post from his favorites. “There are over a hundred more comments…”
“…I’m begging you,” Chen Jian was quite speechless. “Delete the favorite and stop looking at it.”
“No. When you’re auspiciously gone in the future, I’ll make a screen and have it loop on your tombstone,” Shan Yu said. “Solar-powered.”
“Let’s say I’m auspiciously gone at ninety,” Chen Jian said. “You, a ninety-six-year-old man, doing something like this, don’t you feel ashamed?”
“I’m ninety-six. Besides being smug, what is there for me to be ashamed of?” Shan Yu said. “I didn’t have anything to be ashamed of when I was twenty-six…”
That was true.
Shitoubao hadn’t changed much since the last time they had come to see it. Even the old lady who was sunbathing at the entrance seemed to have not moved.
“The scenery along this way is quite nice. It’s more comfortable than driving over from that side,” Shan Yu said. “This section can be made into a footpath…”
Chen Jian’s phone buzzed. He took it out and looked at it.
It was his junior high school classmate, the kind he had added as a friend for several years but had only chatted with a few times.
“Is it that guesthouse of yours with the separation anxiety having another problem?” Shan Yu asked.
“My junior high school classmate,” Chen Jian said as he replied to the message. “He probably came back to the old village for the holidays. He just saw us and asked if we were on an inspection.”
“Your classmate has a keen sense of smell. Is his family in business?” Shan Yu said.
“His family has been running a restaurant in the city,” Chen Jian said. “I used to work at his family’s restaurant.”
Shan Yu looked at him without speaking, then suddenly reached out and touched his face.
Chen Jian was startled and quickly glanced at the sunbathing old lady. The old lady was looking at them with a kind expression, but he didn’t know if she was asleep or just daydreaming. Her expression hadn’t changed at all.
“What’s wrong?” Chen Jian glanced at Shan Yu.
“Working at a classmate’s family restaurant,” Shan Yu said. “What did that feel like?”
“It was fine if he wasn’t at the shop. I would feel a bit awkward if he was,” Chen Jian said. “I didn’t work there for long. His dad was too stingy, stingy and black-hearted. Even a donkey wouldn’t last three months at his place.”
Shan Yu started laughing and asked, “He asked if you were on an inspection. How did you reply?”
“I didn’t answer directly,” Chen Jian said. “I just said I was accompanying the boss to take a look.”
Shan Yu clicked his tongue. “Quite good at keeping people in suspense.”
“My reply was so snarky,” Chen Jian said, looking at the message he had sent and lamenting. “I wasn’t like this before.”
Shan Yu leaned against the stone pillar next to them and laughed for a long time. “What were you like before?”
“I don’t know. I never had the opportunity for someone to ask me like this before,” Chen Jian thought for a moment. “But…”
“Hm?” Shan Yu tilted his head.
“It feels so good, Boss Shan,” Chen Jian said.
“Silly kid,” Shan Yu laughed.
“He wants to ask me out for a meal,” Chen Jian said, looking at the message on his phone.
“They all want to get some information,” Shan Yu said. “Sister Xu and Boss Yang, who were at the meeting in the city before, have both looked for me. Not to mention He Liang and the others.”
“You’re the only one who can directly contact Lu Jun, right?” Chen Jian asked.
“Mhm,” Shan Yu’s lips curved up. “That’s why I wanted to set up a company.”
It’s a bit embarrassing to even feel jealous now.
The two of them stood twenty meters away from the old lady and chatted for a long time, until the old lady even woke up and waved at them.
“What are you doing?” the old lady asked.
“We’re tourists,” Shan Yu said, walking over and squatting down.
“What’s there to see here?” the old lady was bewildered.
“These old things,” Shan Yu said, “are all very interesting.”
“You’re from the city, right?” the old lady asked.
“Mhm,” Shan Yu nodded.
“I knew it,” the old lady said. “The young people from around here don’t care about this. It’s so poor. Only us old things are left to guard these old things.”
“They’ll come back,” Shan Yu said.
“Come back my ass,” the old lady said.
“Even asses will come back,” Shan Yu said.
The old lady looked at him with a straight face for a long time, then finally started laughing. “You kid.”
From setting off to returning to Da Yin, it took a total of more than two hours. The time on the road didn’t take up much. It was possible to spend half a day to a full day wandering around the two villages. If they stayed in the old village, they could even play some of the outdoor activities Shan Yu had mentioned the next day.
He didn’t know why, but these were all actually Shan Yu’s company’s next steps. But when Chen Jian was thinking about them together, he would have a feeling of both panic and excitement.
A feeling of an unknown road ahead, but an uncontrollable urge to run forward.
As he walked into the courtyard gate, Chen Jian saw Hu Pan in front of him, holding her phone and filming him.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Just trying out a shot,” Hu Pan said. “Nana said that if you don’t have any expression when you walk in the door, you’ll look very cool. It’s true…”
“You sent me a message on the way asking how long it would be until I got back just for this?” Chen Jian was stunned.
“Yes,” Sanbing said. “It’s indeed very cool. Lao Wu tried eight times and still couldn’t get the same effect as you.”
“A person who looks like a security guard no matter what he acts as shouldn’t be making fun of me!” Lao Wu said.
“Why are you filming this?” Chen Jian asked.
“For material. We can just shoot a few scenes when we have time, and Nana and I can try to edit it when we have nothing to do,” Hu Pan said, then shouted at Shan Yu, who was quickly walking into the house. “Don’t run, Boss Shan.”
“Hey?” Shan Yu had no choice but to stop. “Is there something for me to do in this?”
“Yes,” Hu Pan said, grabbing her phone with both hands and swinging it forward, making a batting motion. “I want you to do this.”
“…What effect does this have when it’s edited in?” Shan Yu asked.
“It has the effect of a super cool transition,” Hu Pan said. “A swing, and then a few words come out…”
“DayinJianghu!” Sanbing and Lao Wu shouted together from the side.
“There’s no voice-over effect when the words come out, right?” Shan Yu glanced at them.
“No,” Lao Wu answered honestly.
The first time he had met Shan Yu, Chen Jian would never have thought that Shan Yu actually had a pretty good temper, and would one day even play along with the shop’s employees like this.
Chen Jian sat on the bench next to them and watched. Shan Yu, wearing a black mask and a long, black hooded sports jacket, was holding a baseball bat and cooperating.
“Damn,” Chen Erhu squatted next to them and lamented. “This thing isn’t just about the face. His face is completely covered, but you can still tell he’s not Sanbing just by standing there.”
“Why don’t you just insult Sanbing directly?” Chen Jian said. “The way you say it, for a moment, I can’t even tell if you’re insulting Shan Yu or Sanbing.”
Chen Erhu gave him a sidelong glance.
“Okay,” Hu Pan said, getting into a horse stance and holding up her phone. “Go!”
The baseball bat in Shan Yu’s hand swung towards the lens of Hu Pan’s phone. The bat spun in the air. Just as it felt like it was about to smash both the phone and Hu Pan away, the bat spun back into Shan Yu’s hand.
“Wow!” Hu Pan shouted, running over and sitting down next to Chen Jian. “One take! This effect!”
The group of them all gathered around, looking at the screen together.
Although the footage was still quite rough, and Hu Pan’s hand was even a bit unsteady…
But in the shot, Shan Yu, with his face covered, swung the bat. The moment the spinning bat came right at the camera, the group of them all shouted in unison, “Fuck—”
Chen Jian looked up at Shan Yu, only to find that both he and his baseball bat had already gone into the house.
“Is it usable?” Chen Jian asked Hu Pan.
“Very usable,” Hu Pan nodded. “I’ll edit it later, add some music, and see how it feels.”
“Can we each have a shot like this…” Sanbing asked. “It doesn’t have to be this cool, but just…”
“As a character introduction,” Hu Pan said. “We can do that.”
Chen Jian went into the house. Shan Yu was standing in front of the elevator, on the phone. When he saw him come in, he waved at him.
“Hm?” Chen Jian walked over.
“Tomorrow?” Shan Yu asked. “I only have tomorrow and the day after. Any later and the experience group will be here. I definitely have to be here then…”
Chen Jian leaned close to the earpiece and heard President Liu’s voice, “That’s fine too.”
“Mhm, then that’s it,” Shan Yu hung up the phone.
“President Liu?” Chen Jian asked. “You two don’t even say ‘bye’ when you’re done talking?”
“Workaholics don’t have time to ‘hey, okay, alright, alright, mhm, mhm’ on the phone,” Shan Yu said. “Tomorrow, we’re going on a real business trip.”
