Chen Jian didn’t go straight downstairs. Instead, he went down one floor, turned into the third-floor hallway, and swiped his card to open the door to Room 306.
It was close to lunchtime, and everyone was downstairs waiting to eat. He just wanted to find a quiet place to stay for a while, somewhere no one would come.
Back when Zhenxi shut down, all the rooms here had been quiet.
He usually stayed in 307 across the hall and rarely came into this room—not because of ghosts or anything, but because no one had ever cleaned it. Even though the blood had long dried, it still smelled unpleasant when you entered.
He did have a soft spot for 307, though. Now that room was taken by Shan Yu. That guy obviously had a bedroom in his office, but maybe because Hu Pan was the only girl living on the fourth floor, he chose not to sleep in his office.
This room had been cleaned once by Zhao Fangfang, and since then no one had come in. The bedding was all new.
Shan Yu had made it clear: don’t use this room unless absolutely necessary, and if it must be used, the guest had to be told about the room’s past.
Although it was obvious Shan Yu wasn’t exactly a good person before… honestly, even now he hardly seemed like a saint. But sometimes, Chen Jian would feel a weird disconnect, as if the person in front of him didn’t match up with the image he had in his head.
Chen Jian opened the window, leaned against it, and tilted his head back to finish the half-can of Coke in his hand. He didn’t even know when he had taken it out—he hadn’t even wanted to drink it.
He stood there for who knows how long, his mind a jumble of thoughts, when the walkie-talkie in his hand blinked and Hu Pan’s voice came through:
“Calling the manager.”
“What is it?” Chen Jian asked while closing the window, ready to head downstairs.
“Lunch is ready, come down and eat,” said Hu Pan.
“Alright,” Chen Jian replied.
“Boss, boss—does the boss have a walkie-talkie?” Hu Pan asked. “If you’re passing by, tell him to come eat too.”
“Okay.” Chen Jian sighed. Even if it wasn’t on the way, he still had to.
He glanced at 307 first—the door was slightly open, but no one was inside. So he went up to the fourth floor and knocked on the office door.
After resting a bit in 306, he felt much better, even had more energy when he knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again—still no reply.
So he took out his phone and called Shan Yu.
Inside the office, a ringtone went off, followed by Shan Yu’s voice: “Hey, come in! I can’t find my phone!”
Chen Jian pushed the door open and went inside.
Shan Yu’s leg was propped up on a stack of cushions; he was lying on the sofa.
His phone was wedged between the cushions and the sofa back, ringing away.
Chen Jian hung up the call, pulled the phone out, and handed it to him. “Hu Pan says lunch is ready.”
“You bring it up,” Shan Yu sat up. “I’ll eat here, not going down.”
Chen Jian looked at him. “Your leg hurts?”
“No,” Shan Yu said. “It’s just, this morning’s incident—they’ll want to gossip. Better give the staff some time for that.”
“…Oh. Sister Zhao gave me today’s menu,” Chen Jian said. “Take a look?”
“Whatever, I can eat anything,” Shan Yu said.
Before heading back downstairs, Chen Jian washed the empty Coke glass and put it back in its place.
Once the office door was closed again, Shan Yu lay back on the sofa, setting his phone on the coffee table.
Glancing over at the desk, he noticed the half-can of Coke was gone—Chen Jian had taken it.
Didn’t drink it, but still took it away.
Sometimes, Shan Yu would forget Chen Jian was only two years older than Liu Wu. His steady way of handling things made it easy to overlook. Then moments like this reminded him—and he couldn’t help but sigh. Even if Chen Jian went back two years, he could never have been carefree and simple-minded like Liu Wu, that cheerful fool.
He sighed again. In just a few days, that energetic college student would be here, and already Shan Yu was dreading it.
He wondered if Liu Wu had coordinated with Hu Pan yet. Checking the calendar on his phone, he figured the kid would probably come during the National Day holiday. Right now, he was probably discussing plans with classmates.
A cheerful college kid.
Shan Yu thought back to his own eighteen. The memories were blurry—wandering aimlessly without goals, every day blending into the next. Nothing really memorable. Maybe only injuries made certain days stick.
“Was he hurt?” Zhao Fangfang asked while serving food onto plates. “That move earlier—I swear it made my leg cramp just watching. Shouldn’t he go to a hospital?”
“You don’t go to the hospital for cramps, do you?” Chen Jian wasn’t following. He was distracted; seeing Chen Erhu had made him think again about Chen Dahu.
“Boss Shan!” Zhao Fangfang gave him a look.
“He didn’t cramp,” Sanbing said.
“Who cramped then?” Chen Erhu asked.
“Manager Chen?” Sanbing looked at Chen Jian.
“All three of you should go to the hospital,” Hu Pan laughed.
After packing a separate plate of food for Shan Yu, Chen Jian carried it upstairs.
“Remember to ask Boss Shan about that list,” Hu Pan reminded him.
“It can wait till after the meal,” Zhao Fangfang said.
“No way, it’s urgent—fifteen rooms!” Hu Pan said. “Such a big order, we’ve got to nail it.”
“Mm,” Chen Jian smiled and agreed.
“What list?” Shan Yu asked as Chen Jian set a paper along with the tray of food on the coffee table.
“Liu Wu told Hu Pan they’re bringing about thirty people,” Chen Jian explained. “They’ll be hiking and trekking. They want advice on riverside and mountain routes.”
“And showing me this means…?” Shan Yu looked at the plate of food.
“They want to know if we’ll take it, and how to do it,” Chen Jian said. “She doesn’t know.”
Shan Yu raised his eyes at him.
“…I don’t know either,” Chen Jian admitted.
Shan Yu clicked his tongue. “And you think I know?”
“Then I’ll give it a try, I’ll go ask around…” Chen Jian was already thinking where to get info.
“Ask your ass. Call Liu Wu,” Shan Yu said, picking up his chopsticks.
“Huh?” Chen Jian blinked. “And say what?”
“Scold him,” Shan Yu said matter-of-factly.
A scam inn, huh?
Chen Jian fell silent.
“A bunch of college kids, going hiking, not even knowing the routes?” Shan Yu said. “Why don’t you ask if they also want us to set up a rescue team for them?”
“That’ll expose things,” Chen Jian said. “Didn’t you say we’re keeping it secret that he’s your brother?”
“Cousin,” Shan Yu corrected.
“Didn’t you say we’re keeping it secret that he’s your cousin?” Chen Jian said.
“Then you call,” Shan Yu said.
“Didn’t you say this was supposed to test our hosting ability?” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu gave him a look. “You waiting for me to walk you through it?”
“No,” Chen Jian sighed. “I really don’t know how to handle it.”
“If Hu Pan brings you something she can’t decide on, it’s fine. That’s her job,” Shan Yu said, setting his chopsticks down. “But now, it’s about testing the manager’s adaptability. So I’ll teach you: call Liu Wu and scold him.”
“If it weren’t Liu Wu, I can’t just randomly call guests and scold them,” Chen Jian said, almost laughing. “How would the inn survive?”
“The point is—it is Liu Wu. That’s exactly where you can be flexible,” Shan Yu said. “Just scold him.”
“Alright,” Chen Jian agreed. He sat down in a chair by the coffee table, looking at Shan Yu. “But what if it were strangers?”
“Refuse them. Who even offers that kind of service? We’ve only got three and a half staff members total.” Shan Yu said.
“But it’s fifteen rooms,” Chen Jian pointed out.
“Greedy, aren’t you?” Shan Yu said.
“Yeah,” Chen Jian nodded.
“If you really want to be thorough,” Shan Yu said, picking up his chopsticks again, “then take some time to explore. This town has zero promotion—if you learn about the available tourist routes, you can recommend the official ones. Just explain their features. You grew up here, you should know.”
“I never did any of that myself. I’ve never hiked the mountains or walked along the river,” Chen Jian said. “All those tourist activities developed later—I’ve never even seen them.”
“Then go try them,” Shan Yu said. “Back then you were too busy working. Now you can go play on company time.”
“Mm.” Chen Jian nodded.
“Chen Jian,” Shan Yu put his chopsticks down again, “you’re the store manager, your job is daily management and coordination. Don’t try to take everything on yourself, it’s exhausting, and you don’t even get extra pay.”
“Just now Chen Erhu asked me if you can keep this place running,” Chen Jian said. “He’s afraid that if he leaves here, Chen Dahu will beat him to death.”
Shan Yu leaned back into the sofa, looking at him: “Qian Yu has owed me 800,000 yuan for years, not even counting the interest. Even if I beat him to death on the spot, he still couldn’t pay me back. So my original plan was to come here, take a look at this guesthouse, and see how much I could sell it for.”
“Hard to sell, right?” Chen Jian said.
“Who’d buy it.” Shan Yu clicked his tongue.
“So whether you do it or not, you’ve got no choice but to do it,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu laughed: “That’s easy for you to say. If I run this, I’ll have to invest my own money, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll lose everything. If I don’t run it, I can just tear this guesthouse down, and even if I don’t get back much, I can still sell off the materials.”
Don’t you dare!
Chen Jian frowned.
“You said it yourself—help where you can,” Shan Yu picked his chopsticks back up. “I pull these people up, and hopefully, they’ll pull me up too.”
Chen Jian looked at Shan Yu, with an indescribable feeling.
When Shan Yu spoke like this, serious and sincere for once, he actually felt a bit unaccustomed to it.
“Go downstairs and eat, I need to eat too,” Shan Yu looked at the chopsticks. “If we keep talking, I’ll wear these things down thinner by a whole ring.”
“Mm,” Chen Jian stood up. “I’ll head down first.”
Before he even reached the door, the walkie-talkie on his waist suddenly buzzed, Hu Pan’s voice bursting out in high-pitched joy: “Manager!”
“Oh god.” Shan Yu was startled, then slapped his chopsticks onto his plate helplessly. “I can’t eat anymore.”
“What is it?” Chen Jian asked.
“We’ve got our very first real opening order!” Hu Pan shouted. “Someone just called in! I re-registered our platform a couple of days ago, and already someone called!”
“Okay, I’ll be right down,” Chen Jian said.
“Tell the boss—he picked an auspicious day for this!” Hu Pan said.
“Got it,” Chen Jian smiled, glancing back at Shan Yu. “Boss, you hear that?”
“Heard it.” Shan Yu sighed and picked up his chopsticks again.
This first order came in by phone. Just like the previous guests, it seemed to be three couples. By the time Chen Jian went downstairs, Hu Pan had already arranged the rooms.
“What about that big order?” Hu Pan asked while eating.
“I’ll call them later,” Chen Jian said. “Just focus on your food.”
“I’m on a diet,” Hu Pan said. “Just a couple of bites for me.”
“You’re not fat,” Zhao Fangfang said.
“People don’t gain weight that easily,” Chen Erhu said. “Look at Boss Shan—he drinks eight hundred cans of Coke a day, he alone keeps the town’s Coke supply going. That’s a mountain of sugar, and is he fat?”
“He already asked me to buy him some sugar-free ones,” Zhao Fangfang said.
“Because he drank all the regular ones in town?” Lao Wu asked.
Chen Jian couldn’t hold back his laughter.
After lunch, no one really rested. They had a big dinner gathering that night, so preparations had to start early.
Chen Erhu called up his buddies, who brought their girlfriends. Zhao Fangfang was bringing her daughter, Hu Pan invited a school friend from town, plus Brother Rui and his people, Xiao Dou’er with her grandparents…
A lot of people. The scene would be chaotic and loud, but Chen Jian felt excited. He hadn’t experienced something like this in a long time. Before he stayed at Xiao Dou’er’s house, he often spent New Year’s alone—just watching other people’s noise and joy.
Around three, Boss Zhang called, saying the groceries were all packed up and ready.
As Chen Jian headed out, Chen Erhu followed: “I’ll come with you, I’ll drive.”
“I can just stick the groceries on the back of my motorbike…” Chen Jian said.
“I’ll come with you,” Chen Erhu lowered his voice. “I’m worried you might run into my brother. Safer in the car.”
Though Chen Jian figured Chen Dahu wouldn’t show up so soon, he agreed.
It was as if getting beaten up by his brother had jolted open all of Chen Erhu’s meridians—he suddenly had the vigilance of a security firm boss.
Downstairs was already rowdy. The guests hadn’t even arrived yet, but just their own people were shouting and laughing so loud it carried up to the fourth floor.
Shan Yu had been standing up there for twenty minutes, not wanting to go down. It felt like there were a dozen Liu Wus down there—headache-inducing.
Luckily, since the boss never bothered with anything, no one else bothered with him either.
He switched on his walkie-talkie and could hear every few minutes someone calling:
“Chen Jian!”
“Manager—!”
Chen Jian was so busy he didn’t even come up to the fourth floor. He just called directly: “Boss Shan, all the guests have arrived. Dinner’s ready to start, come on down.”
“Am I supposed to go down myself?” Shan Yu asked.
“…Take your electric wheelchair down,” Chen Jian said.
“Give me a push,” Shan Yu said. “If I drive myself down, I’ll look too capable. A boss that nimble, only showing up after the guests arrived—that’d look rude.”
“…So you do know,” Chen Jian muttered under his breath. “I’ll come up.”
“What was that?” Shan Yu asked.
“I said I’ll come up.” Chen Jian said.
“The bit before that,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian didn’t answer—just hung up.
When Chen Jian ran up to the fourth floor, Shan Yu was already waiting by the elevator in his wheelchair.
“Let’s go.” Chen Jian pressed the button. “I was in a rush earlier, hung up the call by accident.”
Shan Yu just smiled and said nothing.
“Might be a little noisy—three kids, Sister Zhao’s daughter, Xiao Dou’er, and Sanbing’s niece,” Chen Jian said. “They’re all girls, but kids are lively.”
“No problem,” Shan Yu said. “Hu Pan alone is louder than all three.”
Chen Jian pushed him into the elevator: “You want to say a few words later?”
“Manager can handle that.” Shan Yu said.
“Please no,” Chen Jian said. “I can’t even stand leading a meeting.”
“I’ve been hiding all afternoon,” Shan Yu said. “Let Hu Pan do it.”
“Welcome, everyone, to our Dayin Guesthouse opening banquet—” Hu Pan stood on a chair, holding up a glass. “On behalf of our Boss Shan, Manager Chen, and all the staff, cheers!”
Everyone raised their glasses, voices blending in a loud chorus. Xiao Dou’er, sitting next to Chen Jian, lifted her teacup and joined in: “Congratulations, make lots of money!”
“Hope everyone eats and drinks well,” Hu Pan continued. “And when you go back, help spread the word. Our Dayin Guesthouse has all kinds of rooms—want to see mountains, waterfalls, forests—we’ve got it all…”
“Ah…” Shan Yu turned his head, stifling a laugh.
“This really is her calling,” Chen Jian said. “Just listening, I can’t handle it.”
“Boss-brother,” Xiao Dou’er leaned on Chen Jian’s leg, holding her teacup toward Shan Yu, “Grandpa said to wish you great fortune, wish you lots of wealth.”
“Thank you,” Shan Yu quickly picked up his Coke and clinked with her. “Not calling me Uncle anymore?”
“You’re only six,” Xiao Dou’er said.
“What the—” Shan Yu glanced at Chen Jian.
“I have no idea,” Chen Jian laughed.
Shan Yu didn’t press. He pulled a red envelope from his pocket: “Xiao Dou’er, this is for you.”
“Is it New Year?” Xiao Dou’er asked.
“Yes.” Shan Yu nodded.
What nonsense.
Chen Jian stopped him: “Why are you giving out red envelopes?”
“All kids should get one.” Shan Yu placed it in Xiao Dou’er’s hand, then pulled out two more. “One for Sister Zhao’s daughter, and one for Sanbing’s niece.”
“…Okay.” Chen Jian took them.
After the toasts, since everyone knew each other well, there was no pretense. They just started eating and chatting. Chen Erhu, maybe high on his brush with death, was extra excited—raising his glass, clapping shoulders, laughing and drinking with everyone.
The restaurant was buzzing with noise and laughter.
“Manager Chen.” Shan Yu lightly poked Chen Jian’s arm.
“Mm?” Chen Jian turned.
“Where’s your wine?” Shan Yu asked.
Chen Jian picked up his glass.
Shan Yu clinked it with his. “Thank you.”
Chen Jian froze, staring at him silently.
“Thank you.” Shan Yu repeated, then tilted his head back and finished his glass.
