“Go away.” Shan Yu flopped onto the table and said into his phone.
“Hmm?” On the other end, Liu Wu was startled. “Is my brother there?”
“No, he’s just passing by and yelling at the security guard,” Chen Jian quickly picked up his phone, turned off the speaker, and walked out of the office. “Tell me in detail what’s going on…”
Shan Yu got up, wanting to chase after him, but the manager, who prioritized money above all, clearly didn’t want to be disturbed. He strode away, disappearing up the stairs in a few seconds. Even if Shan Yu was in his wheelchair, he couldn’t catch up.
Shan Yu sighed and sat back down in his chair.
Forget it, let them handle it.
Liu Wu desperately wanted to help his brother.
The manager desperately wanted the boss to have business.
He couldn’t stop them.
About ten minutes later, Chen Jian returned to the office. Shan Yu was still sitting behind the desk, and Chen Jian knocked on the open door.
“We’re looking at each other face-to-face, are you a delivery robot that you still knock?” Shan Yu said.
“Is there a reason you’re unwilling to accept the surprise Liu Wu gave you?” Chen Jian walked into the office.
“You remembered to ask now?” Shan Yu said.
“I was just overwhelmed by the big order,” Chen Jian said.
“You’ve already agreed, haven’t you?” Shan Yu asked.
“Not definitively,” Chen Jian said. “I said it’s messy with renovations, and we just had a big fight with a few guesthouses inside… it depends on the situation.”
“You really dare to say that,” Shan Yu looked at him with admiration.
“The key is that Liu Wu believed it,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu was silent for a while. Just as he was about to speak, Chen Jian added, “Asking you for the reason, did I overstep?”
“So vindictive,” Shan Yu clicked his tongue.
Chen Jian didn’t speak.
“His mom doesn’t want him hanging out with me,” Shan Yu said. “My parents also don’t want me to lead this honest kid astray, so I don’t want him coming here.”
“…Is that so?” Chen Jian didn’t know what to say. “Then I’ll tell him again, just say…”
“They had another big fight, and his brother got arrested,” Shan Yu said.
“Then he’ll come over to apply for a visit in the next second, won’t he?” Chen Jian said.
“Being a manager is different now,” Shan Yu laughed. “Whether he can visit depends on how badly he’s beaten. If it leads to criminal detention, you can’t see the person, only a lawyer.”
Chen Jian paused, and after a long while, he said, “I don’t know how to respond to that.”
“Is he bringing his classmates over?” Shan Yu asked.
“Yes,” Chen Jian said.
“Then he’s probably already told his classmates. He just started school, so we have to give him some face. Did he say if they’re classmates from his class or other classmates?”
“Their club activity,” Chen Jian said, “like a mountaineering club. He was very excited, spoke unclearly, just said they’re still counting the number of people.”
“So that’s a whole group of college students,” Shan Yu frowned.
A high school student shouldn’t always look down on college students.
This is an education level that our entire guesthouse collectively looks up to.
“Mm,” Chen Jian nodded.
“You let Hu Pan work out the details with him, I’ll just pretend I don’t know,” Shan Yu said. “Tell him not to tell anyone about my relationship with him.”
“Why?” Chen Jian asked.
“Can’t see our true reception capacity,” Shan Yu said. “After all, we’ve only ever hosted four guests in total.”
“Hu Pan will definitely ask where the business came from,” Chen Jian said.
“Let the college students make something up,” Shan Yu said.
As long as the manager was willing to work hard, the guesthouse renovation was quick. For two or three days, Chen Jian had been overseeing the renovation work: exterior wall repainting, roof waterproofing, courtyard wall repair, and replacing some of the plants in the courtyard.
Shan Yu could see from the window of his office on the fourth floor how the guesthouse, which had a faint air of melancholy for the past few days, gradually became lively.
Today, the signboard also arrived. The two huge characters had to be hung by workers who descended from the roof with safety ropes.
The last batch of flowers for the courtyard also arrived today.
Chen Jian was a very smart manager.
The courtyard was quite large. Previously, there were several small flowerbeds in different areas, both in-ground and potted. If they were all replaced as before, it would be very troublesome to maintain, and the cost would be considerable.
So, this time, Manager Chen only kept the in-ground parts. Except for some decorative potted plants by the courtyard door and on the windowsills, all the rest were removed and replaced with various chairs and small tables. He also found a bunch of small, broken items from some online store, various bizarre ground-insert lights, several distressed pottery jars, and even went to the old village to find some old stone slabs and old tree roots…
Now, the courtyard no longer had the elegant, high-end retro courtyard feel that Qian Yu had wanted. Instead, it had a bit more… native charm, lush and primitive, vibrant in its simplicity.
Throughout this process, Chen Jian didn’t consult him too many times. Most of the time, he made his own decisions within a similar scope. He was a very hassle-free manager, and his ability exceeded Shan Yu’s expectations.
It was a pity he didn’t go to university, and it would be a pity for him to stay here forever.
Chen Jian’s voice came over the intercom: “Boss, the signboard is in place. Come down and take a look. If it’s okay, we’ll fix it.”
To be honest, there were a lot of people in the courtyard, and sometimes villagers with nothing to do would come over to visit the renovated haunted house. Shan Yu really didn’t want to go down.
But in the end, he still went downstairs in his wheelchair.
The two characters “Da Yin” (Great Seclusion) were basically in the original position of “Zhen Xi” (Pillow Stream), only larger. On the gray-toned wall, the simple two characters were eye-catching and steady, looking very comfortable.
It’s just these characters… Shan Yu clicked his tongue. He should have had someone scan and adjust them first. The calligraphy level was indeed a bit lacking. However, compared to the guesthouses inside that even put their own names on the signboard, “Da Yin” looked very high-class at a glance.
“What are you clicking your tongue at?” Chen Jian was waiting for his opinion, but after Shan Yu clicked his tongue, there was no sound. He had to bend down and ask.
“I’m clicking my tongue at these characters,” Shan Yu said.
“First, look at the position, is it click-worthy?” Chen Jian asked.
Shan Yu laughed: “It’s very good, no need to click.”
“Masters, fix it!” Chen Jian shouted. “This position is fine!”
After the boss’s work was done, he drove his wheelchair back into the house.
Chen Jian looked back out into the courtyard. Several villagers were standing or squatting by the roadside, pointing inside.
That’s right, that’s our mysterious paralyzed boss.
“Is everything finished today?” Hu Pan asked from the side.
“Yes,” Chen Jian exhaled, “It’s finally done…”
“What day will you open?” Hu Pan asked. “Should we look up an auspicious date online?”
“No need to look,” Shan Yu leaned back in the sofa, raised his hand, and began to count on his knuckles. “I’ll just calculate it.”
Chen Jian, holding his phone, looked at him in shock: “You can do that?”
“No,” Shan Yu answered very straightforwardly.
“Then what are you calculating?” Chen Jian was even more shocked.
“Calculating what your boss is calculating,” Shan Yu said.
“I…” Chen Jian looked at him.
“The courtyard and the road outside can be cleaned up today, right?” Shan Yu was still counting on his knuckles.
“Mm,” Chen Jian responded.
“There’s still time to buy firecrackers and those celebratory fireworks, right?” Shan Yu asked again.
“Boss Chen has already gone to buy them, he’ll be back before dinner,” Chen Jian said.
“Then we’ll open tomorrow,” Shan Yu snapped his fingers.
“No need to pick an auspicious day, right?” Chen Jian confirmed again. He felt that many business people cared about these things and would specifically go to the old town to find someone to calculate for them.
“The day I pick is very auspicious,” Shan Yu said.
“And the auspicious time? Are you also picking the time for setting off firecrackers and such?” Chen Jian asked.
“We’ll set them off when everyone’s up and ready,” Shan Yu said.
“Okay,” Chen Jian looked at Shan Yu. This calm and indifferent demeanor somehow made people feel both unreliable and very reassuring.
“Tomorrow night, remember to invite Xiaodou’s grandparents and your brother Rui and his wife over for dinner,” Shan Yu said.
“Mm,” Chen Jian was a bit surprised. “Thank you, boss.”
“What a thing to say,” Shan Yu glanced at him. “I don’t even know how to respond.”
Chen Jian smiled.
On the eve of the opening, the employees stayed up late. Sister Zhao was still planning the menu for everyone to eat together tomorrow night. The security team was cleaning the courtyard and checking the stability of large objects. Hu Pan was hunched over the front desk computer, fiddling with various platforms that Zhenxi used to be on…
Everyone was busy and excited.
Chen Jian held a cotton swab, slowly disinfecting Shan Yu’s leg brace.
“It feels like it’s recovering quite quickly,” his movements were already very skilled. “The external wounds aren’t red anymore.”
“Mm, sometimes it used to hurt a bit, but it hasn’t hurt these past two days,” Shan Yu leaned against the headboard, scrolling through videos on his phone. “I estimate it’ll be off in less than two months.”
“Not necessarily. External wounds healing doesn’t mean the bone is healed,” Chen Jian said.
“Don’t jinx me,” Shan Yu said.
“That’s stating a fact,” Chen Jian swapped out a cotton swab. “You have to face facts. When I broke my arm, it took two months.”
“How did you fall?” Shan Yu asked.
“Climbing over a wall and missed my step,” Chen Jian said.
“Where were you climbing over a wall?” Shan Yu asked again.
“School, of course, skipping class,” Chen Jian smiled.
“You skipped class?” Shan Yu stared at him for a while. “I thought you were a good student.”
“No,” Chen Jian said, “Only someone like Liu Wu can be called a good student. I just messed around in school, wasn’t interested in studying. If my dad hadn’t kept forcing me, I wouldn’t have even gone to high school, I’d have gone straight to work.”
“Short-sighted, manager,” Shan Yu said.
“In this environment, you can’t be long-sighted,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu raised his hand. Chen Jian looked up at him. Shan Yu’s hand paused in the air for a moment, then brushed across his forehead, and his fingertip flicked a hanging curl of hair.
Chen Jian was stunned, frozen.
“Continue,” Shan Yu raised his chin.
Chen Jian lowered his head, changed a cotton swab, and continued disinfecting.
“Why don’t you like people calling you ‘Curly’?” Shan Yu asked.
“It’s not that I don’t like it,” Chen Jian sighed. “It’s just… no one else around me has curly hair, so everyone thinks it’s rare. I’ve been called ‘Curly’ since I was little, and I got tired of it.”
“Little Curly,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian glanced at him.
“Curly,” Shan Yu said again.
“What, Cripple,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu burst out laughing: “You old bastard.”
The next morning, all the employees got up early. After breakfast, they began to prepare for the opening ceremony.
Actually, the ceremony was very simple. Besides themselves, no one else was invited, nor could they be reached. The ceremony involved hanging colored lights, setting off firecrackers, and twisting a few celebratory cannons, and that was it.
“Don’t you think our boss is pretty cool?” Hu Pan whispered to Chen Jian.
“Hmm? Why?” Chen Jian said.
“It’s just… nothing really matters to him,” Hu Pan said. “He only does what he wants. His style is very cool.”
“Right,” Chen Jian thought for a moment. “Yes.”
“Should we just spread them on the path by the door?” Chen Erhu stood outside the courtyard gate, holding a huge coil of firecrackers, and asked.
“Yes,” Chen Jian nodded.
As Chen Erhu directed Sanbing and the others to unroll the firecrackers onto the path, his gaze suddenly shifted towards the pavilion: “Damn, what do they mean?”
“What’s wrong?” Chen Jian immediately walked out and glanced inside.
A group of people, holding several flower baskets, were walking towards them. Several bosses were among the crowd.
“We didn’t invite them, did we?” Sanbing was very alert. “What’s written on the flower baskets? Is it something provocative?”
“They’re all ‘Congratulations on your opening’ and stuff,” Hu Pan squinted at them. “The flower baskets are normal.”
“Uninvited guests?” Chen Erhu also became wary.
“…We did invite them,” Chen Jian turned and looked at Shan Yu, who was sitting in his wheelchair. “Boss Shan told He Liang before that he welcomed them to visit and guide.”
He didn’t expect these people to actually come, and with a large group of employees.
Without those flower baskets, it would look like they were coming to pick a fight.
Even with the flower baskets, it didn’t look much better.
“What should we do?” Chen Erhu asked.
“Receive them,” Chen Jian walked towards them. “Don’t light them yet, wait until they’re inside.”
“Okay,” Chen Erhu responded. A group of people stood at the entrance, watching them. He had called all his brothers to join the fun today. If a fight really broke out, they wouldn’t suffer.
“Boss He,” Chen Jian greeted with a smile. He had met these bosses before, and only remembered their names after the conflict these past two days. “Boss Yang, Boss Liu… Thank you for coming.”
“You’re welcome,” He Liang said with a smile. “Don’t call me boss, just call me brother.”
“Bosses, please come in,” Chen Jian led them into the courtyard. “Our Boss Shan isn’t able to come out because of his leg…”
“Boss Shan didn’t tell us the exact date,” He Liang said. “We prepared early, and only rushed over when we saw you were preparing this morning…”
“Thank you, bosses, we were inconsiderate,” Chen Jian said.
“Bosses, please come this way,” Hu Pan took over Chen Jian’s job at the entrance. “Please have a seat in the courtyard first, our ceremony is about to begin.”
Chen Jian glanced at Shan Yu. Shan Yu had a faint smile on his face and simply greeted the bosses. Although he usually walked with a cane like a breeze and could even hop on one leg when in a hurry, he remained in his wheelchair this time.
Polite with a hint of arrogance.
The employees of both sides who met at the entrance were not as subtle as their bosses. They had argued and cursed before, but there was no explicit conflict. Except for the bald guy who had directly fought, the others greeted each other much more genuinely and enthusiastically.
“Come inside and sit for a bit,” Sanbing said. “We’ll set off the firecrackers as soon as we’re ready.”
“Do you need help?” someone asked.
“No, it’ll be ready soon,” Lao Si waved his hand.
Chen Jian arranged the flower baskets neatly by the door. There were six in total, two from each of the three guesthouses. The small path at the entrance wasn’t wide, so with these few flower baskets, it immediately looked full and lively.
“Light them!” Chen Erhu shouted from the entrance. “Boss Shan, come over and light the fire!”
“The manager can light them,” Shan Yu said.
“Hey! Boss Shan should light this himself,” Boss Yang said.
“The person in charge lights them,” Shan Yu answered very simply.
“Generous,” Boss Yang could only smile and give a thumbs up.
Chen Jian was really worried about Shan Yu’s mouth. To stop the conversation from continuing on this topic, he quickly went over, took the lighter from Sanbing’s hand, and lit the firecrackers.
As the firecrackers exploded with loud bangs, a group of people twisted open their celebratory cannons, and bright colors soared from the smoke, accompanied by everyone’s shouts.
“Happy Grand Opening—”
Since there were no other performances, after the firecrackers, Chen Jian led the bosses into the guesthouse.
“Let’s show the bosses around,” Shan Yu said.
“Then let’s take a look!” He Liang said with a smile.
“Panpan, you and the manager go together,” Shan Yu said, then smiled apologetically at the bosses, “My leg is inconvenient so…”
You’re just too lazy to bother with people.
“Boss Shan, you rest, we’ll just look around ourselves, no need to host us,” Boss Liu said. “We’ll be friends in the future, no need to be so polite.”
Chen Jian and Hu Pan led the bosses upstairs from the stairs to the second floor. Their employees had now scattered throughout the courtyard, looking quite relaxed and happy.
Fortunately, even though Hu Pan was dressed in a very unconventional way, she was talkative and enthusiastic, so Chen Jian only needed to follow along and occasionally help say a few words.
But he wasn’t relaxed. How were they going to entertain these people later? Were they going to feed them?
Eat at the guesthouse or go out to eat?
If they ate at the guesthouse, would Sister Zhao’s prepared dishes be enough?
If they weren’t eating, should he still pretend to ask them to stay for a meal…?
When they reached the third floor, Chen Jian took out his phone, wanting to send a text message to Shan Yu to confirm. He was pressing buttons on his phone when Chen Erhu’s call came in.
“Hello?” He answered the phone.
“Chen Jian, I… I don’t know how this happened,” Chen Erhu’s voice was a bit panicked. “I never told him, I don’t know why he…”
“Who?” Chen Jian could tell from his confused words that something had happened, and quickly found the key point to ask, “Who are you talking about?”
“My brother,” Chen Erhu said. “My brother is here.”
“Where’s Shan Yu?” Chen Jian asked in a low voice.
“He’s here,” Chen Erhu also said in a low voice. “I really don’t know…”
“I’m coming down,” Chen Jian said and hung up.
