Extra 2
“Hello, front desk,” Chen Jian answered the phone, glancing at the clock on the wall next to him.
Three o’clock in the morning.
“Hello,” a girl’s voice came from the other end. “Isn’t there a girl at your front desk?”
“She’s off duty,” Chen Jian said. “Do you need a female to provide you with service?”
“That’s not necessary, it’s too late,” the girl said. “Do you have sanitary napkins?”
“Yes, we do,” Chen Jian said, pulling open a drawer and looking inside. “We have night…”
“So annoying, what are you doing in the middle of the night!” a man’s voice came from the other end.
“Night-use ones, I’ll go to the front desk to get them,” the girl said.
“It’s okay, I’ll bring them up to you,” Chen Jian said, standing up.
He had never delivered these things to guests before, but Hu Pan often did. Following her procedure, Chen Jian took a small bag and put in one for day use, one for night use, and a piece of pre-cut ibuprofen.
The girl was a guest on the second floor, a couple. Chen Jian had an impression of them, or more accurately, an impression of the man. When he went upstairs, he was only willing to carry his own luggage. He didn’t care about the girl’s luggage and a bag of their snacks. The girl started scolding him on the spot, but he still went into the elevator.
In the end, it was Sanbing who went over to help the girl, but the girl didn’t let him and carried it herself.
Now, his girlfriend was on her period in the middle of the night and had no sanitary napkins. It was one thing not to help, but when his girlfriend called the front desk herself, he even complained that it was disturbing his sleep.
Chen Jian took the bag of sanitary napkins and knocked on their room door. “Hello, front desk.”
The door opened. The girl stood in the doorway and smiled at him apologetically. “Thank you, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Chen Jian said. “If you need anything else, just call the front desk.”
“Still calling?” a man’s voice came from inside, and then a shirtless man appeared behind the girl. “What, haven’t you talked enough?”
Chen Jian glanced at him and didn’t speak.
“Go away,” the girl pushed him, then smiled at Chen Jian and said, “He’s always getting jealous. I’m sorry.”
Chen Jian didn’t make a sound, just nodded and took a step back, preparing to leave.
“It’s the middle of the night and you’re still talking endlessly,” the man still didn’t stop talking.
Chen Jian felt that his temper had really improved a lot since he started working at the guesthouse. At first, he was angered by Shan Yu, and later by all sorts of strange guests. Now, he was as calm as still water.
But obviously, the couple in the room was far from still water.
“Are you crazy!” the girl cursed.
Then there was a clattering sound, followed by the man’s “ouch” and “ah ah ah ah…”.
A storm was brewing.
Chen Jian glanced back.
The door wasn’t even closed. The girl was standing on the bed, and the man was clutching his stomach. It looked like he had either been kicked or stepped on by the girl. He was all curled up.
Before Chen Jian could turn and walk away, the man kicked at the girl’s leg. The girl fell onto the bed, and he punched her on the shoulder twice.
“Hey?” Chen Jian had no choice but to start walking towards the room door. “Sir…”
“Are you crazy!” the girl pushed herself up from the bed and slapped the man’s face three times.
Chen Jian was a bit confused.
The scene then descended into chaos. The man who was originally lying on the bed jumped down and started hitting the girl. The girl, not even bothering with the sanitary napkin, swung her arm and slapped him back, one after another…
In comparison, the slapping, because of the sound, seemed to have more momentum, giving Chen Jian the feeling that the man was no match for the girl.
If this intense brawl were on the street, as long as there was no clear difference in strength, he definitely wouldn’t have interfered.
But now it was on his turf, and recently, the ice flowers on the mountain had bloomed. From now until May or June, it was the time for flower viewing, and tourists were starting to increase. So these two were brawling on his almost-full turf.
That was definitely not okay.
“Excuse me,” Chen Jian entered the room, grabbed the man’s arm as he was about to punch, and dragged him against the wall. He took a slap on the back from the girl who couldn’t stop in time, then turned and pointed at the girl’s nose. “Excuse me…”
“Stay out of this!” the girl pushed him.
“You’re in our room now?” the man said, rolling up his virtual sleeves on his bare arm and walking towards Chen Jian again.
“It is now three o’clock in the morning,” Chen Jian said, pointing one hand at the girl and the other at him. “You two are seriously disturbing the other guests’ rest. If you mind me coming in to remind you, I will call the police to come in later.”
“Using the police as a shield, are you?” the man glared at him. “What does it have to do with the police if a couple is arguing?”
“Then you two can argue at home, or go up the mountain to argue,” Chen Jian’s voice became stern. “Arguing here and disturbing others is not allowed.”
, sat on the bed, and lowered her head to open the bag Chen Jian had given her. “Wow, you guys are so considerate. Thank you.”
glanced at the man and walked towards the door. “Please be mindful of the time and rest early.”
The man didn’t speak.
“Okay,” the girl nodded.
Chen Jian felt a strange feeling.
He walked towards the elevator, then the stairs, very lightly.
Chen Jian walked over and saw Shan Yu standing at the corner of the stairs, holding a baseball bat.
“What are you doing?” he asked, taking a few steps up the stairs and taking the baseball bat from Shan Yu’s hand.
“What are you doing?” Shan Yu asked. “I thought a fight broke out.”
“Two guests were acting crazy. It was a ‘beating is affection, scolding is love’ situation. I interrupted for a bit,” Chen Jian said, carrying the baseball bat upstairs. “It was only a few minutes, and it wasn’t that loud. Could you hear it from the fourth floor?”
“I couldn’t sleep. I was just about to come down and keep you company on your shift,” Shan Yu said. “I heard it as soon as I came down.”
“And then you went back to the fourth floor to get this thing?” Chen Jian was shocked. “Are you afraid a fight wouldn’t break out?”
“You don’t know shit,” Shan Yu said. “This thing is to prevent a fight from breaking out. It serves as a deterrent.”
After putting the deterrent baseball bat back in Shan Yu’s office, Chen Jian was about to go back to the first floor for his shift when he found that Shan Yu really didn’t plan to go back to his room to rest. He was standing in the hallway, waiting for him.
“Haven’t you been sleeping quite well recently?” Chen Jian asked. “Why are you having insomnia again?”
“This thing is unpredictable. There’s no pattern to when I have insomnia,” Shan Yu said, stretching. “Let’s go. I’ll stay with you all night.”
Chen Jian reached out and touched his face. “What can we do about this problem of yours? Is there any way to treat it?”
“There’s no cure,” Shan Yu said. “This is considered quite stable now.”
Chen Jian sighed and didn’t speak.
“What,” Shan Yu said, “do you regret it?”
“What the hell?” Chen Jian looked at him.
“You think I’m a burden, don’t you,” Shan Yu said.
“Ah, yes,” Chen Jian nodded. “What should I do?”
“Dump me,” Shan Yu said.
“That’s impossible,” Chen Jian said. “We have a destiny. We have to be together.”
“What destiny?” Shan Yu asked with a smile.
“Every broken pot has a broken lid,” Chen Jian said.
“…Get lost,” Shan Yu said.
“Every kind of person has their own kind of love,” Chen Jian said.
“Shut up,” Shan Yu kicked him from behind.
The nights in the small town were much livelier now than before. In the past, when Chen Jian climbed the wall to sleep at Zhenxi, he had to do it before twelve o’clock. If he was late, he would feel like a ghost would grab his leg.
Now, at three in the morning, there were still cars driving past their guesthouse, either looking for a place to park to hike up the mountain to see the sunrise, or going to the other guesthouses inside.
Chen Jian gave the lounge chair to Shan Yu and sat in the swivel chair himself, listening to the sounds outside.
“Did He Liang look for you yesterday?” Chen Jian asked.
“Mhm,” Shan Yu said with his eyes closed. “He wants to get a few houses in the old village to run a farmhouse restaurant.”
“Why didn’t he just go directly to the villagers?” Chen Jian asked again. “Da Li’s meaning was that it’s not good to bypass us, but we didn’t contract the whole old village.”
“Bypassing us is not good for them to make money in the future,” Shan Yu smiled. “They’ll try to screw you over when they can, but when they need to hug a thigh, they’ll come up and hug it without letting go.”
“He’s dreaming,” Chen Jian said, looking at Shan Yu. “So should we help him?”
“If we can, of course we will,” Shan Yu said. “To be frank, he can get it done himself if he runs around. This is just him taking the initiative to owe me a favor and build some connections.”
“Then you’re still letting him?” Chen Jian was still a little unhappy with He Liang.
“Let him my ass. What I want is for him to owe me this favor,” Shan Yu said. “After he owes it, we’ll talk. Whether I recognize the connection is another matter. He knows it himself.”
“Mhm,” Chen Jian responded.
“Give me that person’s phone number tomorrow,” Shan Yu said. “I’ll have Sun Nana go and contact him first.”
“Who?” Chen Jian was taken aback.
“The one who took your family’s house,” Shan Yu said.
“Uncle Da Chen?” Chen Jian paused. “Are we going to talk to him… now?”
“Mhm, right when there’s news of development but no major movement yet,” Shan Yu said. “We can push the price down. It’ll be harder to negotiate once the scope is confirmed.”
“Sun Nana is not from our village either,” Chen Jian didn’t quite understand. “It’s impossible to sell it to her.”
“Are you stupid? Of course, it will be transferred to your dad’s name,” Shan Yu opened his eyes and glanced at him. “She’s your employee, sent by you to negotiate.”
“Fuck,” Chen Jian was stunned. “Am I that important?”
“That’s right,” Shan Yu said. “Remember to put on some airs in the future.”
“Oh,” Chen Jian thought for a moment and then smiled. “It’s true… these are all things I never even thought of before.”
“Still want to dump me?” Shan Yu kicked his chair.
“I never wanted to dump you in the first place,” Chen Jian said. “You’re the broken pot, I’m the broken lid.”
“I’m the lid,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian looked at him. “Aren’t you? You’re even arguing about this?”
“Mhm,” Shan Yu nodded.
“Fine, fine, you’re the lid, you’re the lid,” Chen Jian said.
“Then let me cover you,” Shan Yu stood up, propped his hands on the back of his chair, bent over, and kissed him on the forehead.
Just as he was about to hug him, the elevator dinged, and someone walked out.
Chen Jian slapped Shan-lid’s chest, sending him back onto the lounge chair.
Then he saw the fighting couple walking over, hugging each other’s necks and shoulders. When they saw Chen Jian, the girl waved at him. “Thanks just now, manager.”
“You’re welcome,” Chen Jian couldn’t quite understand their relationship and could only smile politely. “So late… so early to be going out?”
“We’re going up the mountain to see the sunrise,” the girl said.
“…Oh,” Chen Jian responded.
What kind of physical fitness was this? He knew that Sun Nana had to take leave and rest in the dorm for the first two days of her period. This girl could even climb a mountain in the middle of the night.
“What if I can’t walk anymore?” the girl looked up at the man.
“I’ll carry you,” the man said.
You can’t even carry a fart.
You can’t even beat her and you’re going to carry her.
She can slap you to the top of the mountain with one slap…
“Was it them who were fighting just now?” Shan Yu asked.
“Mhm,” Chen Jian turned his head to look at him. “Just because I delivered a sanitary napkin to them, the man got jealous, and then they started fighting…”
Shan Yu started laughing. “Damn.”
“Can jealousy even be eaten like this?” Chen Jian asked. “Eaten so fiercely.”
“So,” Shan Yu started fumbling for his phone. “This jealousy of mine…”
“You’d better behave yourself,” Chen Jian pressed his hand. “If you want to count comments, you’d better wait until the first episode of DayinJianghu comes out.”
“Have they filmed it yet?” Shan Yu asked.
“The script is out,” Chen Jian said. “Liu Wu is very efficient.”
“Have you seen it?” Shan Yu started laughing.
“No,” Chen Jian said. “I heard it’s quite crazy.”
With Shan Yu accompanying him, Chen Jian felt that his shift was much easier. Even when Shan Yu fell asleep on the lounge chair just before dawn, Chen Jian was still very happy.
When the sky was just starting to brighten, Zhao Fangfang came into the kitchen from the side door with a basket of vegetables.
“What are we having for breakfast today?” Chen Jian asked, getting up and following her. “I’ll help you.”
“I’m steaming buns for you. The millet congee is already cooking,” Zhao Fangfang said. “I’ll steam some egg custard later. You can help me make the soy milk.”
“Okay,” Chen Jian said, picking up the soy milk maker and preparing to go to the backyard.
“Where are you going?” Zhao Fangfang looked at him.
“I’m going outside to make it. This thing is too noisy,” Chen Jian said.
“How much…” Zhao Fangfang started to say, then glanced towards the front desk. “Why is Boss Shan sleeping there? I thought it was Sanbing.”
Chen Jian smiled, too embarrassed to speak, and went out with the soy milk maker.
But at this time, Shan Yu couldn’t sleep for long. Even if no one disturbed him, he would wake up in about two or three hours.
And there were people to disturb him.
Sun Nana, who had been in the city for the past two days, suddenly pushed the door open and came in, holding a booklet in her hand.
“Why are you so early?” Chen Jian was just carrying the steamed egg custard to the dining room when he saw her and was stunned. “There aren’t even any shuttle buses this early, right? How did you get back?”
“Director Lu, that workaholic, gave me a ride. He went to Old Ding’s office,” Sun Nana said, still holding the booklet in her hand.
“Oh,” Chen Jian glanced at the booklet, not knowing what it was. “What’s this?”
“Divorce certificate!” Sun Nana slammed the small booklet onto the front desk table with a loud thud. “I’ve finally settled this matter.”
“Oh my,” Shan Yu sat up from the lounge chair with a start.
“Didn’t you say you’d have Chen Erhu accompany you on Wednesday?” Chen Jian was very shocked and leaned over to take a look. It really was a red booklet that said ‘Divorce Certificate’.
“I couldn’t wait. He suddenly said he had time yesterday, so we just went!” Sun Nana said, patting the table. “I’m divorced!”
“Let me see! Let me see!” Zhao Fangfang ran out of the kitchen, wiping her hands. “Let me see.”
Sun Nana pushed the divorce certificate in front of her. “Look!”
“Oh, it’s real,” Zhao Fangfang touched the three words ‘Divorce Certificate’ with her hand. “It’s real. This is what a divorce certificate looks like…”
“Is everything settled?” Shan Yu yawned.
“It’s settled,” Sun Nana snapped her fingers. “I’ll treat you all to dinner tonight. Thank you, everyone.”
“Let’s just buy some groceries and cook here,” Shan Yu said.
“Okay,” Sun Nana said. “Sister Zhao, will you go grocery shopping with me this afternoon?”
“Okay,” Zhao Fangfang smiled and nodded. “Okay!”
“I’m going upstairs to show Panpan and the others,” Sun Nana said, taking the divorce certificate and running towards the elevator, not caring about her elegance at all.
“That’s great,” Zhao Fangfang said with some emotion. “She’s free from now on.”
“Mhm,” Shan Yu nodded.
Zhao Fangfang stared at the elevator for a while before turning and going back to the kitchen. “I’ll go and get the buns.”
Chen Jian took the egg custard he had been holding to the dining room and set it down, then quickly walked back to the front desk and glanced at the kitchen. “Is Sister Zhao having some ideas?”
“Maybe,” Shan Yu said. “But it’s not certain what will happen. After all, her situation is different from Sun Nana’s.”
“Mhm,” Chen Jian leaned against the front desk and let out a light sigh. “Anyway, no matter what, as long as it’s better than before.”
“Doesn’t the new shop rule say not to lean on the table?” Shan Yu looked at him.
“Yes,” Chen Jian quickly stood up straight and looked at him in surprise. “You even know about that?”
“I can recite the whole thing,” Shan Yu said.
“Fuck,” Chen Jian was very shocked.
“Deduct money, twenty yuan per time,” Shan Yu said.
“Fuck,” Chen Jian said.
“How about we offset it with a cup of my coffee?” Shan Yu asked.
“…You don’t have to be so pitiful,” Chen Jian said, waving his hand and walking towards the coffee shop. “Come on, I’ll treat you.”
Shan Yu smiled and followed him.
