Chen Jian’s mind was still a chaotic mess at this hour. He felt quite remorseful that he had been sleeping the whole way back, failing to come up with a normal excuse for the swollen red palm mark on Shan Yu’s face in advance.
Like getting beaten up by security for crashing a wheelchair into a claw machine in an arcade.
“He…” Fixated by Sanbing’s eyes, which were filled with gossip and a craving for knowledge, Chen Jian felt rather uncomfortable, feeling that Sanbing might guess in the very next second that this slap was delivered by him.
Just as he was preparing to pick such an outrageous excuse as crashing a wheelchair into a claw machine, Hu Pan poked her head in from the storeroom doorway, saving him in the nick of time.
“Hey, you guys went to catch claw machine plushies?”
And even crashed the claw machine.
“Yeah.” Chen Jian quickly responded, stepped briskly out of the storeroom, and took a deep breath to clear his head.
“You only caught one small pouch? Is it for Xiao Dou’er?” Hu Pan asked.
“Mm, and… two packs of snacks.” Chen Jian opened the bag he had carried down from the car. “Cotton candy and this bag of popcorn.”
This tragic record made both Hu Pan and Sanbing burst out laughing at the same time.
“My goodness, I could catch those with my feet,” Hu Pan shouted while laughing. “What kind of skill is that from you two!”
“Isn’t Boss Shan lacking a leg, though?” Lao Wu said.
“Sanbing, didn’t I tell you that the IQs of your crew are all ‘spend 100 to get 20 off’?” Hu Pan laughed even harder, almost choking.
Sanbing let out a sigh.
Chen Jian breathed a sigh of relief, pulled out Hu Pan’s gift box, and handed it to her: “The stuff you wanted.”
“Was the money I transferred to you exact? Do I need to top it up?” Hu Pan accepted the gift box and shouted in utter delight, “Wow, so pretty!”
“The money was exact,” Chen Jian said. “The gift box was… wrapped on Boss Shan’s orders.”
“Boss Shan understands me too well,” Hu Pan snapped photos with her phone while unwrapping the gift box. “So happy!”
Chen Jian handed Zhao Fangfang’s bag of snacks to her as well: “Zhao-jie, see if these are right.”
“Right, right, thank you,” Zhao Fangfang kept nodding without even looking, pulling out the receipt to check prices. “Let me see how much it costs; I’ll give it to you in a bit.”
“Not much money, no rush,” Chen Jian said.
“Damn,” Sanbing and Lao Wu sat to one side. “If I’d known, we would’ve had you bring back some stuff too. How come this feels like returning from a trip to hand out gifts, and only the two of us got nothing?”
Chen Jian rummaged through the bag, pulled out the beef hotpot packed from lunch, and placed it on the table in front of the two of them: “Here, afternoon tea for you two.”
After putting away all the items brought back, Chen Jian prepared to go upstairs to his dorm to get some quiet time.
But Hu Pan called out to him: “Manager Chen.”
“Mm?” Chen Jian responded.
“Come here.” Hu Pan ran to the front desk and leaned over the computer. “I took a few calls today from guests inquiring about things. Take a look and see if what I said was fine; I wrote it all down.”
“Alright.” Chen Jian walked over.
“This one asked if pets are allowed. Since we’re pet-friendly, they asked if there’s a size limit.” Hu Pan turned the computer screen around, showing a neatly organized document. “I was thinking no more than fifty jin, but some shops don’t accept large dogs, so we need to confirm. And this one asked about room types… this one asked if we can help buy rafting tickets…”
Chen Jian listened to her while looking over the contents of the document: “Everything is generally fine. For a few details, I’ll double check with… Boss Shan.”
“Mm,” Hu Pan nodded and let out a sigh of relief. “The moment you came back, my mind was instantly at ease. None of Sanbing’s crew is reliable; this shop really can’t function without you.”
It’s actually the boss that it can’t function without—he’s the one putting up the money.
“…Is that so?” Chen Jian shot her a glance.
“Yeah,” Hu Pan glanced at him too, appearing somewhat puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Chen Jian gave a faint smile.
Hu Pan was a very sensitive girl. As Chen Jian turned to leave, she reached out and tugged at his sleeve, asking in a low voice: “Hey, did Boss Shan scold you?”
“No, I…” Chen Jian was startled and quickly waved his hands.
“I just feel that something was off about him as soon as he came back, feeling like he’s angry.” Hu Pan kept her voice very low.
An early return from a business trip, a tight-lipped boss, and a manager whose state was almost certainly abnormal…
It wasn’t surprising that Hu Pan sensed something was amiss.
“Boss Shan is really a very good person; it’s not easy to come across a boss like this in work,” Hu Pan said. “If he really said anything about you, don’t take it to heart. Bosses always have a bit of a temper… Besides, if he’s really in the wrong, tell me, and I’ll go pick a fight with him for you. I have experience fighting with bosses.”
Chen Jian looked at her. Although her guess was off by a hundred thousand miles plus twenty thousand leagues under the sea, hearing these words still warmed his heart quite a bit. Only after a long while did he utter a sentence: “Thanks.”
Returning to his room, Shan Yu took a shower first, tossing all the clothes he had taken off into the trash bin. He felt as if he had been possessed today, feeling so stifled that he could only take his anger out on his clothes.
After changing into a fresh set of clothes, he sat on the bed, pulled up his pant leg, and examined it carefully. Perhaps because he had driven for a long time today, he felt his left lower leg was a bit uncomfortable.
However, it looked normal to the naked eye; it was likely just congested with blood.
He grabbed the medical kit and pulled out all the supplies needed for disinfection. Under normal circumstances, his assistant-cum-manager would help him disinfect at night, but forget it for today.
Probably forget it for tomorrow as well.
…Better to rely on himself; it wasn’t that complex a task anyway. Before taking off the frame, it probably wouldn’t be convenient to ask Chen Jian to help again.
Though it was hard to say—he could imagine how conflicted Chen Jian would be over that fourteen thousand yuan he had already accepted and certainly used to pay off debts.
Shan Yu let out a sigh.
What a mess he had made of this.
The phone rang. Holding a cotton swab in one hand, Shan Yu felt around on the bed for a long time with the other, digging his phone out from the seam of the pillow. He took a look; it was Yue Lang.
“Hello?” He picked up the phone.
“Did you sign for the package?” Yue Lang asked.
“Mm, brought it back,” Shan Yu said.
“I stuffed both the invoice and the tracker inside. Did you see them?” Yue Lang said.
“Mm, saw them.” Holding the cotton swab, Shan Yu reached forward to disinfect his leg and the frame.
This posture severely tested flexibility. After wiping twice, he tossed the swab aside and leaned back against the pillow, calculating that he would deal with it in the office later; with his leg propped on the desk, it might be easier to operate.
“You saw a fart,” Yue Lang said. “You might not even have unpacked it.”
“Unpack it later,” Shan Yu said. “No rush.”
“Are you alright?” Yue Lang asked suddenly.
“Who are you cursing?” Shan Yu raised his leg into the air, holding it up to ease the swelling sensation.
“It doesn’t matter who I’m cursing, but the fact that you didn’t curse me back is a bit off,” Yue Lang said. “Ran into trouble?”
“If you had this level of sharp intuition toward your wife, you wouldn’t be scolded by her every few days,” Shan Yu said.
“She hasn’t scolded me in a long time,” Yue Lang said.
“Switched to beating,” Shan Yu said.
Yue Lang burst out laughing: “Tell me whenever you feel like talking. I just called to ask if the package was received. Remember to unpack it and check it.”
“Mm,” Shan Yu responded.
After Zhao Fangfang finished cooking dinner, Chen Jian went downstairs to eat but didn’t see Shan Yu. Just as he was wondering whether to ask, the walkie-talkie clicked on: “Manager Chen, after you guys finish eating in a bit, bring some food up to the office for me.”
“Got it.” Chen Jian picked up the walkie-talkie.
“He’s not coming down to eat?” Zhao Fangfang asked. “Is he feeling unwell? Headache again?”
“Don’t know, maybe tired,” Chen Jian said.
“Driving for several hours is indeed pretty tiring.” Chen Erhu was on duty tonight, and to save a dinner meal, he had come over early. “Chen Jian, it won’t do if you don’t know how to drive. The boss doesn’t like taking us low-level grunts when he goes out; he wants to take the manager, but you don’t even know how to drive…”
“I’ll learn in a while,” Chen Jian sat down and said.
After saying it, he suddenly felt a bit unsure. Did he still need to learn? Spending money to learn driving was…
“I’ll introduce an instructor to you. I didn’t pass with other instructors before, and only after switching to him did I realize there’s a world of difference between instructors,” Chen Erhu said.
“Mm.” Chen Jian nodded. “Thanks, Boss Chen.”
“Come off it,” Chen Erhu said. “Don’t learn from Shan Yu to be so fake, with all that ‘Boss Chen’ stuff…”
“Hey, Chen Erhu, I find you’re really something,” Hu Pan rolled her eyes at him. “Someone respects you and you still find fault? Can’t stand seeing the boss treat people well, can you?”
“I didn’t say he was bad, I was saying…” Chen Erhu tapped on the table.
“Hey,” Chen Jian quickly tapped the table as well, interrupting the two of them. “Eat. After this weekend comes the Golden Week. Besides those rooms booked by college students, quite a few others have been booked as well. Boss Chen, tighten up the training for your people over these two days, so things don’t get chaotic when it gets busy.”
“Rest assured, handed it over to Sanbing,” Chen Erhu said.
“I wrote down some training content,” Sanbing said. “I’ll organize it later and give it to you to take a look.”
“Mm.” Chen Jian nodded. Sanbing’s words caught him somewhat by surprise; having hung around Chen Erhu for so long, Chen Jian always tended to forget that he was also someone who had… attended second year of high school.
After dinner, Chen Jian carried the food tray and delivered Shan Yu’s meal to the office.
Shan Yu sat behind the desk facing the computer: “Put it here.”
Chen Jian placed the tray on the desk. Just as he turned to leave, Shan Yu called out to him: “Unpack that crate in a bit. Find a conspicuous spot in the restaurant or somewhere else to place the item inside. Just give me the invoice. There should also be a tracker; stick it in a concealed spot. Do this job yourself.”
“…Mm.” Chen Jian nodded.
“If anyone asks, say the boss spent a fortune buying this thing to show off,” Shan Yu said. “If no one asks, let Sanbing and the crew spread the word.”
Chen Jian didn’t utter a sound, waiting a moment before asking a question: “Is this… setting a trap for someone?”
“Don’t know yet,” Shan Yu gave a faint smile. “I’ll tell you once there’s a result.”
Inside the blind box was an oddly shaped bottle that looked very abstract yet quite aesthetic. Hu Pan and Sanbing argued for a long time over whether this bottle represented a small animal or a twisted human body, failing to reach a conclusion.
As the sole avant-garde person in the guesthouse, Hu Pan took on the task of finding a spot for this bottle, ultimately picking the café. The café windows faced the courtyard railing, and the shelf in front of the windows originally held various display cups and pots that blended nicely with the view of the garden outside; placing this bottle there was very suitable.
“Is this bottle really that expensive?” Chen Erhu said. “I saw over ten thousand written on the invoice?”
“Mm.” Chen Jian nodded.
“Boss Shan has money,” Sanbing said. “Panpan said his wheelchair cost tens of thousands too.”
“Bullshit.” Chen Erhu was habitually unconvinced.
“Really, it’s electric, and it’s made of carbon fiber, super light. You’ve carried it too, wasn’t it light?” Hu Pan tossed her hair. “Don’t act like someone who’s never seen the world.”
“I swear,” Chen Erhu glared at her, “if you weren’t my coworker, I’d…”
“If I weren’t your coworker, I wouldn’t even be here.” Hu Pan tossed her hair again, turned around humming a tune, and walked off.
Chen Jian burst into laughter: “Boss Chen, don’t always bicker with her, she’s fierce.”
Chen Erhu clicked his tongue: “Sanbing, let’s go, show me that training content of yours. Before handing it in, let me check it for you first.”
“Okay.” Sanbing nodded and went to the restaurant along with him.
Everyone was busy with their own tasks right now. Chen Jian found some thick foam double-sided tape to stick onto the small round tracker from the crate, then picked up the bottle to examine it; it could only be stuck inside.
The mouth of the bottle was just wide enough for his fingers to hold the tracker and reach inside. He stuck the tracker onto the sunken curve of the bottle’s neck.
Shan Yu hadn’t said what this item was bought for, but it certainly wasn’t decoration. He estimated it was related to Chen Dahu. After all, unlike Chen Erhu, that man wasn’t someone who would let things rest after taking a loss once.
What’s more, he wouldn’t categorize getting knocked out by Shan Yu as taking a loss; he would only view it as Shan Yu making him lose face, something he would seek revenge for sooner or later.
There weren’t many guests in the shop today. With adjusted work schedules this week, very few people came over to spend the weekend, so everyone basically had nothing to do at night.
Chen Jian did a round in the shop, heading upstairs around his usual time; Shan Yu’s leg still needed disinfection.
Although it was still somewhat awkward, this was a job he had accepted money for.
However, Shan Yu wasn’t in the third-floor room today. Chen Jian hesitated for a moment, then turned and went to the fourth floor.
The lights were on in the office. He knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Shan Yu responded.
When he pushed open the door, he smelled that familiar iodophor scent usually present during dressing changes.
“You disinfected it yourself?” Chen Jian asked.
“Mm,” Shan Yu shot him a glance. “Weren’t you pretty busy these past two days? So I just did it myself.”
“It’s… not like I lacked this little bit of time,” Chen Jian said.
“Then you can continue tomorrow,” Shan Yu said. “Also, salaries will be issued before the holiday. Tally up the attendance records.”
“Mm,” Chen Jian responded. “Unpacked that bottle just now, it’s intact. I stuck the tracker inside the bottle; normally it can’t be seen.”
“Where was the bottle placed?” Shan Yu asked.
“On the shelf in the café facing the courtyard,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu gave a faint smile: “Good.”
Coming out of the office, Chen Jian felt an indescribable discomfort.
Originally, although there was quite a bit of work and carrying out a heap of fine details was tiring, his heart had felt very relaxed. Facing the boss held no pressure for him, yet right now it felt as though everything had changed.
Very tiring.
Even with just those few simple lines of dialogue, he felt tired.
And as the holiday approached, even busier and more exhausting days were about to begin.
Starting the day before the holiday, guests began checking in. Although not many, and Hu Pan could handle it easily, Chen Jian still stayed at the front desk to help out the entire time, constantly worried that something might go wrong.
When it was time to disinfect Shan Yu’s leg at night, he went to Room 307 holding a notebook.
“What are all these?” Shan Yu leaned against the headboard, looking at the contents in the notebook.
“A few issues encountered,” Chen Jian opened the medical kit. “Wanted to double check with you if doing it like this is fine.”
Shan Yu didn’t speak, looking at the contents in the notebook in silence.
“Also, that piece of paper tucked inside is the training content from Boss Chen’s side,” Chen Jian said. “With more people, their side definitely won’t just have two people here, so…”
Shan Yu still didn’t speak, pulling that piece of paper out from the notebook.
There weren’t many words in total on the notebook and that piece of paper, but he read for a very long time—so long that Chen Jian began to doubt if he had fallen asleep, unable to hold back from asking: “Is there something…”
“Chen Jian,” Shan Yu knitted his brows, looking up at him. “Ever since this shop had only the two of us, have you ever asked me so many times whether this is fine or that is fine?”
Chen Jian paused for two seconds: “No.”
“During the grand opening preparations, with so many chaotic matters,” Shan Yu closed the notebook, “from big things like house repairs and garden renovations to small things like tissues in the rooms, did you ask me about anything?”
Chen Jian didn’t speak.
“If you have any issue with me, you can say it straight,” Shan Yu said. “Don’t bottle it up. Like I said, curse when you should curse, bicker when you should bicker.”
“I just,” Chen Jian hesitated for two seconds, “there are many guests during the holiday, and we haven’t hosted this many people simultaneously before. Plus, we have to rely on the word-of-mouth from this wave of guests. I don’t want anything to go wrong. I haven’t done this kind of… management work before…”
Shan Yu looked at him, tossing the notebook back near his hand: “Do you think you’ll make mistakes in these matters? Are you doubting yourself, or are you doubting me?”
Of course it’s myself.
How could it possibly bounce onto you?
Chen Jian didn’t speak.
“Chen Jian,” Shan Yu didn’t bother with the disinfection anymore, drawing his leg back to step off the bed and walking over to stand in front of him. “I did say I came to experience the life of a dumbass, but I didn’t say I am a dumbass coming to experience life.”
What on earth?
Chen Jian felt somewhat bewildered, unable to help knitting his eyebrows.
“I didn’t think I could build this shop up at first. I just came over to take a look, finding a quiet place to stay,” Shan Yu said. “I told you, right? I also said that now I’m giving these people a hand, and it’s best if these people can give me a hand too. Everyone is relying on each other, aren’t they?”
Chen Jian didn’t speak.
“Making you the manager was first because I saw you have the capability and are fit for the role, not because of what I want to do to you. It’s true I have a good impression of you, but that has no necessary connection to appointing you as manager,” Shan Yu spoke with a rare touch of urgency. “If I really just wanted to… have something with you, why would I go to all this trouble? Wouldn’t it be way simpler if I told you directly that I’ll help you pay off your debts if you sleep with me?”
What on earth?!
Chen Jian looked at him in shock.
“These are all things you can make decisions on yourself without making mistakes; there’s no need to come confirm with me,” Shan Yu looked at him, his speaking speed slowing down. “It’s fine if you don’t forgive what happened that day, but you cannot doubt my judgment as a boss.”
It’s good that they had this talk.