AD CH29

What on earth was he talking about!

Whether it was because he was tired today or something else, Chen Jian felt a faint ringing in his ears.

For a few seconds, he couldn’t even hear clearly what Shan Yu was saying.

His ears were entirely filled with a buzzing noise.

It wasn’t until Shan Yu sat back down by the edge of the bed, snapped his fingers at him, and called out once more: “Manager Chen!”

Only then did he snap back to his senses, pull a chair over from the side, and sit down by the bed, his hands frantically yet extremely proficiently bowing his head to begin disinfecting.

New cotton swab, dipped in iodophor, wipe, and throw away.

What did Shan Yu say just now?

Take a new cotton swab, dip in iodophor, wipe, and throw away.

Something about sleep…

Chen Jian’s hand trembled slightly, and the cotton swab he had just picked up dropped to the floor.

“How come Liu Wu and his group still want to use the conference room?” Shan Yu uttered a sentence.

Chen Jian shot a glance over in his direction, realizing Shan Yu had taken back his notebook and was looking at it.

“They have some indoor entertainment activities, so that conference room is rented to them by the hour,” Chen Jian said, lowering his head to pick up a new cotton swab again.

Regarding the matter in the private room, Chen Jian actually hadn’t thought about it too deeply. There was an indescribable sense of awkwardness that made him unwilling to reminisce much; many things he would just toss into a corner of his mind like this and wait for them to slowly fade on their own.

Not until Shan Yu mentioned something about sleep…

Only now did he abruptly react.

Or rather, only now did he abruptly face reality.

“What do you mean indoor entertainment activities,” Shan Yu clicked his tongue, “a mixer?”

The boss likes men!

And even wants to sleep.

“He sent an activity itinerary to Hu Pan, with some parts needing our help to prepare,” Chen Jian felt a bit distracted. “Do you want to sl…”

Sleep with each other?

Chen Jian stopped himself in time, fiercely biting back the words that almost slipped out, and cleared his throat.

“Do you want to take a look?” he asked.

“Who reads that crap?” Shan Yu said with utter disdain. “Not looking. After you read it, just keep the process under control. Don’t have any overly noisy segments—if they disturb other guests, I’ll kick them out that very night.”

“Fifteen rooms for five days, though,” Chen Jian reminded him.

“How many times can he come? I can’t afford to offend other guests,” Shan Yu said. “Offending a few Liu Wus is no problem at all.”

“I’ll keep a close eye on them,” Chen Jian said.

“Have Boss Chen assign a couple of people to stand at the conference room door and guard it,” Shan Yu said.

We’re a guesthouse!

“The college students are still very… cooperative,” Chen Jian said. Over the past few days, he had communicated with Liu Wu quite a bit, feeling that this group of kids was pretty well-behaved.

“Do you think my leg is almost healed?” Shan Yu asked suddenly.

This topic shifted so fast that Chen Jian’s already stagnated brain almost couldn’t keep up.

“It’s… pretty good,” he stared at Shan Yu’s leg for a bit. “But I don’t know how the bones inside are doing. The external wounds look fine.”

“Press it,” Shan Yu said.

Am I crazy? I don’t dare to—this is covered in cuts, holes, and a bracket.

Chen Jian looked at him: “Ah?”

“Press it; let me see if it still hurts,” Shan Yu said.

“…Can’t you reach it yourself?” Chen Jian asked.

Is his flexibility really that bad?

“I don’t dare,” Shan Yu said. “Can’t bring myself to do it.”

And I can bring myself to do it?!

“Go find Chen Dahu.” Chen Jian didn’t dare press his injured leg, continuing to disinfect carefully. “He can definitely bring himself to do it—he could help you dismantle the whole frame.”

Shan Yu burst out laughing: “Hey.”

“Endure it a bit. Liu Wu even reminded me yesterday to tell you not to rush, and go for a re-examination at the end of next month,” Chen Jian said. “Maybe by then if it’s healed, it can be removed early.”

“I’m almost annoyed to death,” Shan Yu let out a sigh.

Don’t sigh.

Short of oxygen, you know.

When it came to disinfecting, Chen Jian was already considered a skilled nursing personnel, finishing up in no time at all.

He grabbed his notebook, tucking Sanbing’s training plan back inside: “Zhao-jie made late-night snacks; do you want some?”

“Why did she make late-night snacks?” Shan Yu asked.

“A large wave of guests will arrive starting tomorrow, so everyone was pretty busy today,” Chen Jian said. “I had her make a little.”

“Still the manager who’s reliable,” Shan Yu said. “I won’t eat. I’ll go to sleep in a bit; I haven’t slept well these past two days.”

Sleep.

Sleep with.

“Mm.” Chen Jian nodded, turned and walked out of the room. After shutting the door, he held his breath and walked briskly for a few steps, only letting out a long, deep sigh once he reached the stairwell.

Shan Yu hadn’t slept—well these past two days.

Tonight, he himself probably wouldn’t be able to sleep—at all.

“Fuck,” Chen Jian swore in a low voice, shaking his head, wanting to shake out some repetitive phrases from his mind that felt like an OCD flare-up.

Everyone hadn’t rested yet. Zhao Fangfang had just checked the rooms where guests were checking in tomorrow once more, and Chen Erhu and his crew had just finished a round of patrol, sitting together with Hu Pan in the restaurant eating sweet soup with glutinous rice balls while watching TV.

“People will arrive at eight tomorrow morning,” Chen Jian said. “Those who should rest should go to rest early.”

“Excited,” Hu Pan said. “Can’t fall asleep.”

“I’m on duty tonight. First thing tomorrow morning, I’ll drive over directly to pick up the guests we need to fetch before going to sleep. By the way, Chen Jian, tell me,” Chen Erhu said as he pointed toward the café. “Go take a look, is there any problem with the note I wrote?”

“I’ll swap it out in a bit,” Hu Pan said.

“What note?” Chen Jian walked over to the café and instantly spotted a paper note stuck on the strange bottle the boss had newly bought.

Only upon walking up to it did he see the characters clearly, presumably handwritten by Chen Erhu:

– DO NOT TOUCH! DO NOT MOVE!

“…Why write this?” Chen Jian was somewhat speechless.

“To remind guests not to touch it casually,” Chen Erhu said. “I picked it up and looked at it just now. This thing should be handmade, very thin. Bumping it accidentally would shatter it, and then arguing over whether to pay compensation or not will be a hassle.”

Chen Erhu’s line of thought was reasonable. If this thing was prepared for Chen Dahu, it had to be ensured that it remained intact before Chen Dahu encountered it.

But this note…

It was written entirely like pigpen security force style.

“Isn’t there a card printer in the storeroom?” Hu Pan said. “I’ll just print a small card in a bit, saying ‘Fragile item, for display only’ or something.”

“I spent half a day writing that!” Chen Erhu was very displeased. “Wrote it with a calligraphy brush! Just throwing it away like that?”

“How about framing it and sticking it in the fourth-floor office,” Chen Jian said. “You can exchange calligraphy insights with Boss Shan.”

“Off to patrol the courtyard then,” Chen Erhu stood up, draping his jacket over his shoulders. “This status, ah, just can’t compare to the manager…”

“Those who should rest go rest,” Chen Jian walked toward the upstairs dorms. “Tomorrow is going to be pretty busy.”

“Got it—” Hu Pan and the others leaned back in their chairs, drawing out their voices to answer.

Sanbing was going to sleep in the dorm today. Chen Jian finished packing up and laid down on the bed before he returned to the dorm, closing his eyes.

To be honest, he was pretty tired—the kind of tiredness from being busy for several days, plus a strange kind of fatigue.

It was the tiredness of relaxing entirely after the invisible weight pressing on his heart was abruptly lifted when Shan Yu said “you have the capability and are fit for the role.”

A comfortable fatigue.

He quickly entered a state of half-asleep and half-awake. Perhaps he was asleep; after all, he had already started dreaming.

Inside the private room.

Shan Yu looked at him.

The distance was very close; he could see his own reflection mirrored in Shan Yu’s eyes.

…Holy fuck!

He snapped his eyes open abruptly.

“What’s wrong?” A startled voice came from beside him.

“Mm?” Chen Jian turned his head to look, finding Sanbing holding clothes prepared for a change standing by the bed, frightened into a backward-leaning posture.

“You rising from the dead?!” Sanbing said.

Only then did Chen Jian realize he had actually sat straight up.

“…Had a dream.” Chen Jian laid back on the pillow. “What time is it?”

“Past one,” Sanbing said.

“This late?” Chen Jian was somewhat surprised. It wasn’t even twelve when he came up, and having dreamed a dream lasting just three seconds, two hours had actually passed?

“Mm,” Sanbing nodded. “Everyone’s asleep.”

“Why are you so late?” Chen Jian turned his head to look at him.

“I just went home for a bit,” Sanbing said. “My mom had a headache, so I bought painkillers and sent them over to her.”

“Then why come back over? Stay home to accompany her,” Chen Jian said. “You’re not on duty tonight either.”

“It’s fine; there are over a dozen rooms tomorrow,” Sanbing said. “Erhu-ge is going to pick people up first thing in the morning, and I’m afraid there won’t be enough hands in the shop, so better stay in the dorm.”

“Sanbing,” Chen Jian propped his head on his arm, “you haven’t worked much before either, right?”

“Mm,” Sanbing leaned against the table beside him. “I’m not as capable as you; I’ve just been slacking around all along.”

“It’s tirider now than when slacking around, right?” Chen Jian gave a faint smile.

“It’s different. Slacking around wasn’t that easy either,” Sanbing thought about it. “Mainly feeling flustered in the heart. You might not understand—you’ve always worked pretty hard. My kind of flustered heart is… the kind of panic where you don’t know what you’re going to do with your life.”

“I actually…” Chen Jian paused, “never thought about life before either.”

“Right now it’s really pretty good. Not much money, but not much work either, and it doesn’t exhaust the mind,” Sanbing said.

“Mm.” Chen Jian nodded. “Go take a shower.”

That night, Sanbing slept quite soundly. Chen Jian felt he should have slept too, though he could hear Sanbing’s snoring all along; yet it seemed after listening for only a dozen minutes, the sky had brightened.

Then Sanbing’s phone alarm rang.

“What time is your alarm set for?” Chen Jian was somewhat speechless, grabbing the pillow to cover his head.

“Six-thirty.” Sanbing jumped off the bed. “I’m getting up first, Manager.”

“I’m getting up too.” Chen Jian sat up, lowering his head to daze for a bit, going over the tasks to be done today in his mind—this was a method that allowed him to clear his head quickly.

At seven o’clock, when he went downstairs to the front hall, everyone was already up. Zhao Fangfang had to prepare breakfast for the guests today, so she got up exceptionally early. Chen Jian originally said that if she was too busy, staff breakfast could just be eaten outside, but Zhao Fangfang still made it all together, steaming a large tiered steamer of buns that smelled very fragrant.

“Good morning, Manager Chen.” Hu Pan stood behind the front desk computer, holding a bun in her hand.

“Morning.” Chen Jian walked over, took a bun, leaned over to look at the computer, and felt a sense of relief upon seeing the rooms marked as booked on it.

“Chen Erhu has already gone to pick up guests,” Hu Pan said. “The guests for the two earliest rooms are arriving momentarily as well. They drove overnight and just called saying they couldn’t find the way. Lao Wu rode his motorcycle to lead them.”

“Mm.” Chen Jian nodded.

It seemed calling all of Chen Erhu’s crew over was right; encountering this kind of unexpected situation would leave them short-handed.

“Boss Shan’s breakfast,” Zhao Fangfang brought a food tray over. “Take it up to him. He said he won’t come down to eat today if there’s nothing going on.”

“Why?” Chen Jian paused.

“Afraid of getting in the way, most likely,” Hu Pan said. “He can’t really help with much anyway, so placing him anywhere just leaves him out of place.”

What a way to be a boss.

Chen Jian accepted the tray and asked another question: “He’s up?”

“Up,” Zhao Fangfang said. “Came down once past six already and only went back up after seeing breakfast wasn’t ready yet.”

Starved to this extent?

The elevator stopped at the third floor. Shan Yu probably wasn’t in the office, but hanging upside down on the third floor.

Suddenly so self-disciplined this early in the morning.

Chen Jian guessed correctly—the light in the third-floor gym was on. Walking to the gym entrance, he called out first: “Boss Shan.”

“Here,” Shan Yu answered, accompanied by the sound of a dumbbell dropping to the floor.

Having slept fitfully all night, walking a round downstairs just now made it feel like everything was back to normal. But now, hearing Shan Yu’s voice, those words he had said yesterday returned to his mind.

“You…” The instant he stepped inside holding the tray, Chen Jian’s hands and feet moved out of sync somewhat uncontrollably. “Zhao-jie said you want to eat breakfast upstairs.”

“Mm.” Shan Yu walked over, leaning on his crutches. It seemed he really was exercising, wearing only an undershirt on his upper body.

Chen Jian handed the tray to him. Only today did he see clearly that the thin black line on the side of Shan Yu’s neck extended from his shoulder all the way down his arm, ending in a delicate little bow knot.

Shan Yu accepted the tray from his hands: “You guys busy yourselves with your own work today; no need to mind me.”

“Mm,” Chen Jian retracted his gaze. “You actually don’t need to get up this early.”

“Can’t sleep,” Shan Yu said. “Got up to experience a day in the life of a boss who is disliked by his employees.”

“It’s only a bit busy this morning,” Chen Jian said. “After this stretch until noon, there won’t be many people. Most guests arrive in the afternoon.”

“I’ll go out for a stroll in a bit.” Shan Yu pinched a bun and ate it.

“Where are you strolling to?” Chen Jian immediately followed up subconsciously.

Because he didn’t talk while eating, Shan Yu didn’t speak, simply casting a glance at him with a faint smile.

Where he goes is none of your damn business! You’re just a manager, directing where the boss goes?!

“When it’s so busy, with the boss not around, if something comes up…” Chen Jian said.

Shan Yu ate his bun without rush or impatience.

Without even washing his hands—though Zhao Fangfang had wiped those dumbbells, she used a rag too…

However, Shan Yu ultimately didn’t eat the small piece pinched by his fingers, placing it back onto the tray: “There’s the manager around. What could possibly happen? At most, running into guests who demand a lot. If they’re truly troublesome, just drive them away.”

Word-of-mouth, Boss!

Hu Pan was right not to let you stay downstairs.

“Following the small path straight inward, there’s a small path that leads into the mountain, right?” Shan Yu picked up another bun and took a bite.

“You’re operating a wheelchair into the mountain?” Chen Jian looked at him.

Shan Yu didn’t answer.

Chen Jian could only stand beside him waiting for him to finish eating without talking.

“That’s a walking trail leading into the mountain,” Chen Jian said. “Operating a wheelchair will be a bit rough on the wheels.”

Fortunately, the buns Zhao Fangfang made were all small buns, finished in two bites. Only after finishing this bun did Shan Yu speak another sentence: “It’s not a mountain trail anyway. Looks pretty easy to walk to me.”

“Do you have legs to walk it?” Chen Jian said.

“That’s a bit much—I still have one and a half legs, more or less.” Shan Yu picked up a third small bun.

“Finish talking before eating—your ‘no talking while eating’ thing delays matters way too much.” Chen Jian couldn’t help saying.

Shan Yu burst out laughing holding the bun: “Speak, then.”

“If you can walk in, that path is fine,” Chen Jian said. “What if you drive the wheelchair in and it flips over?”

“I’ll walk in,” Shan Yu said.

Chen Jian didn’t speak. Previously, Shan Yu had always wanted to stroll around everywhere—mountains, rivers, woods—but with his leg being inconvenient plus having many matters to handle, he had only taken a trip to the village and once to the old town, remaining trapped inside the guesthouse ever since.

Going to the city was even…

Chen Jian took a breath.

“It’s fine; it won’t go far,” Shan Yu said. “If you’re afraid I’ll fall to my death and can’t be found, go pick the tracker out of the bottle and stick it on me first.”

“Then go ahead.” Chen Jian stopped dissuading him. “Don’t wander into the woods. It’s easy to get lost inside—every year people get lost in there.”

“Mm.” Shan Yu waved the bun in his hand. “I’m eating now.”

Chen Jian let out a sigh.

Short of oxygen.

Shan Yu walked out through the back courtyard’s small gate along the path leaning on his crutches.

Chen Jian returned to the front desk. Lao Wu was riding his motorcycle leading a small car into the courtyard; the lost guests had arrived, a family of five. Upon entering, they complained that the road was bad and the forks had no signposts.

“Your service is still lacking,” the old man had a face full of disdain. “Didn’t tell us in advance that there were forks.”

“You still need to follow the navigation,” Hu Pan said. “The navigation for this road is very accurate. Have you eaten breakfast? The restaurant is providing free breakfast right now.”

“Navigation is a dead object; can it be as flexible as a human? You still need to improve…” the old man said. “Let’s eat a bit then.”

Breakfast was provided for guests who checked in the previous day, but right now it served very well to soothe a few disgruntled guests.

Sanbing led the family over to the restaurant side. Hu Pan turned her head and stuck her tongue out at Chen Jian, who was leaning against the back wall.

“Pretty good.” Chen Jian gave a faint smile.

Just as this wave of checking-in guests was led upstairs by Sanbing, the guests picked up by Chen Erhu arrived as well—several young people who had been holding up their phones taking pictures continuously ever since stepping out of the car.

Chen Jian stepped aside from the front desk; Hu Pan’s movements were very deft, so he couldn’t help much.

After completing the procedures, this group of young people didn’t go directly to their rooms. Their luggage was piled at the front desk, while the people all went into the garden.

Chen Jian walked over to move the luggage item by item to the side.

“Want to help bring them up for them?” Hu Pan asked.

“No such service,” Chen Jian said.

“This sounds like something Boss Shan would say.” Hu Pan burst out laughing.

Just as Chen Jian was about to speak, Lao Wu ran in from outside: “Chen Jian, we’re done for.”

“Say that again for me?” Chen Jian turned his head.

“Two guys came,” Lao Wu kept his voice low. “Chen Dahu’s friends. Trouble.”

As he spoke, Chen Jian saw the two thugs who had come over to pick a fight alongside Chen Dahu that day.

Chen Jian clicked his tongue.

As long as it wasn’t Chen Dahu himself whose brain was out of control coming over, with just these two thugs, he didn’t care at all. What’s more, Shan Yu wasn’t in the shop either, who was the biggest unstable factor.

Chen Jian walked over, blocking the two thugs at the doorway.

“What?” One thug looked at him. “Is this how your guesthouse does business?”

“Welcome to Dayin.” Chen Jian stood without moving.

Support me on Ko-fi