AD CH37

Shan Yu didn’t bring Chen Erhu to his office. That place was too formal, and given Chen Erhu’s current situation, it held a far too distinct boundary between superior and subordinate.

The cafe was quite suitable. After they sat down, the sunlight cast the swaying shadows of the garden’s trees onto the window, while light and shadows flickered across the vase ornaments set on the shelf before the window…

Tsk.

Actually, this place wasn’t very suitable either.

However, after Hu Pan brought the coffee over to the two of them, Chen Erhu didn’t look as tense as before.

Hu Pan gave Shan Yu a latte, and went through the trouble of making a mocha for Chen Erhu, even dusting the cocoa powder into a smiley face.

Chen Erhu stared at the smiley face in his cup for quite a long time.

“It’s a smiley face,” Shan Yu said.

“I can see it,” Chen Erhu looked up and glanced at him. “A smiley face.”

“I thought you couldn’t see clearly,” Shan Yu gave a faint smile. “Are your eyes better?”

Chen Erhu turned his head away and let out a sigh: “Mm.”

“Why not rest for a few more days?” Shan Yu said. “Your nose counts as a light injury; you need to recover properly.”

“Staying at home makes me feel awful.” Chen Erhu leaned back against the chair and knitted his brows. Because his head was wrapped too tightly, knitting his brows proved somewhat laborious.

“Because of your dad?” Shan Yu asked.

“Mm,” Chen Erhu spoke in a muffled voice, taking a sip of coffee. “On one hand, I feel like my brother was bound to have a day like this sooner or later, but on the other hand, I feel like I shouldn’t have helped catch him.”

“Did you want to catch him at first?” Shan Yu asked again.

Chen Erhu fell silent.

“No matter what, he’s still your blood brother,” Shan Yu looked out the window. “You hate him when you’re getting beaten up, but when push comes to shove, you still can’t bring yourself to be ruthless, only to go back to hating him the next time you get beaten up. Do you know what that’s called?”

The coffee cup in Chen Erhu’s hand was set back onto the table with a bit of force, letting out a clack.

Shan Yu turned his head back: “If an employee breaks a cup, they have to pay for it too, you know.”

Chen Erhu paused, and after a moment, glanced at the cup again.

“If you don’t want to stay at home, just rest in the dormitory for this period,” Shan Yu picked up his coffee and took a sip.

“Boss Shan,” Chen Erhu kept turning his cup in circles. It was obvious he was trying to organize his words, but his organization skills were a bit poor; only after quite a while did he put together the word: “Why?”

Shan Yu looked at him without speaking.

“It was a trap you set, right?” Chen Erhu said. “Why?”

“Because he isn’t my brother, nor is he my younger brother,” Shan Yu didn’t beat around the bush or avoid the topic. “I am a victim who was sought out for trouble and threatened by him.”

Shan Yu paused for two seconds and added a line: “One of them.”

Chen Erhu lowered his head in silence.

“As far as I’m concerned, there is no other ‘why’ regarding him—I want to get rid of this trouble,” Shan Yu said. “Just like all the shopkeepers and bosses here, I want to do business in peace.”

Chen Erhu continued to remain silent.

Shan Yu didn’t continue speaking either, waiting for him to think.

Only after hearing a very faint sigh from Chen Erhu did he open his mouth to finish his thought: “Apart from you, no second person will ask me ‘why’—including your dad. That is why.”

“Actually, I know,” Chen Erhu said in a low voice.

Shan Yu picked up his coffee to sip slowly. Served along with the coffee were small biscuits on a small saucer; he picked up one, tore open the packaging, placed it into his mouth, and chewed slowly.

“Us insiders shouldn’t keep eating these biscuits,” Chen Erhu suddenly said. “These biscuits can only be bought by driving to the old town, and other biscuits won’t do—Hu Pan insists that only this kind tastes good with coffee.”

Shan Yu glanced at him and placed the second small biscuit held in his hand back onto the small saucer.

“Boss Shan,” Chen Erhu looked at that saucer of small biscuits, taking a breath as if making up his mind. “Can I still continue working?”

“You have to recover from your injuries first,” Shan Yu said.

“I mean, after I get better.” Chen Erhu turned his face to look at him.

“The contract we signed was for a whole year,” Shan Yu said. “Boss Chen.”

Chen Erhu’s eyes were squeezed into a blur by the bandages, but he still tried hard to open them wide, looking at Shan Yu and uttering a sentence: “Thanks, Boss Shan.”

Shan Yu picked up his coffee cup, raised it toward him in a toast, drank the remaining coffee in the cup, and then stood up: “Get some rest.”

“What are Chen Jian and the others going into the mountain for?” Chen Erhu stood up as well.

“Looking for the guest in 102,” Shan Yu said. “The guest’s state of mind isn’t right, so we’re afraid something might happen. Didn’t state it clearly to you just now out of fear that you’d insist on tagging along—you still have injuries.”

“Oh,” Chen Erhu let out a sigh, thought about it, and asked another question, “After finding him, drag him down?”

“Don’t know,” Shan Yu gave a faint smile. “Depends on how the Manager handles it.”

There were actually quite a few side paths in the woods. What they should be thankful for was that entering the mountain from the road on their side, because the forest was too dense, the side paths that people could walk on amounted to only a few in total, and none were too long.

Sanbing and Lao Wu were much more familiar with this area than Chen Jian; they knew roughly where each side path could lead.

“We used to come here all the time,” Lao Wu said. “Walked every single path.”

“You guys actually had this hobby?” Chen Jian was quite surprised. He rarely went into the mountains—no time, and… no time.

“Not really a hobby either,” Sanbing said.

“Then what was it?” Chen Jian asked.

“Just… didn’t know what else to do,” Sanbing said. “After strolling all over the streets, we’d come wander in the mountains.”

“And yet your physical stamina is still so poor,” Chen Jian said.

“Hey?” Sanbing looked at him, but for a long time couldn’t find any words to refute it.

“Probably because we were always hungry,” Lao Wu said. “Didn’t want to go home, but outside we had no money to eat.”

“Where was your money?” Chen Jian asked.

“Spent it on cigarettes,” Lao Wu said.

“You bought cigarettes by the single stick,” Chen Jian said. “How much money could that be? Taking that to buy food, you’d have to buy it by the grain, right?”

Lao Wu glared at him for a good long while before cursing: “You’re fucking vicious. Used to know you didn’t talk much, didn’t know you were this vicious.”

“I knew,” Sanbing burst out laughing.

“Right, you two were classmates?” Lao Wu asked.

“No, adjacent schools,” Sanbing said. “Chen Jian was in High School No. 1; my high school entrance exam score couldn’t get me in.”

“Then why didn’t you go to college?” Lao Wu looked at Chen Jian.

“Isn’t what you’re asking complete bullshit? Hurry up and walk,” Sanbing gave him a push. “At this pace, in a bit we’ll only have enough time to catch the sunset glow—look for what person.”

“I really had no money,” Chen Jian said. “Had to earn money.”

Room 102’s physical stamina was pretty good—he had gone out about half an hour earlier than them. The pace of their group wasn’t slow, and even after turning into side paths several times, they were still much faster than ordinary sightseers, yet they stubbornly failed to catch up the entire time.

“I reckon it’ll be in this side path,” Sanbing pointed at a small path ahead leading into the forest. “Passing through here can loop around to mid-mountain—the scenery is pretty nice.”

“Right, we played cards over there before,” Lao Wu said. “I feel like that guy is definitely there.”

Lao Wu’s judgment lacked any logic from start to finish, but it was surprisingly accurate.

Their group walked along the small path for roughly ten minutes, emerged from the forest to the other end of the path, and arrived at the edge of a small gravel platform. Room 102 was sitting on a large rock, looking down at his phone, with his backpack placed at his feet.

“Holy shit.” Lao Wu stopped in his tracks.

“Is that him?” Sanbing suppressed his voice.

“Mm,” Chen Jian responded.

Hearing footsteps, Room 102 turned his head in somewhat of a surprise. When he saw that it was the few of them, the surprised expression on his face turned into shock.

Chen Jian felt he ought to say something, but they had presupposed that Room 102 was going to commit suicide. Now Room 102 was sitting right by the edge of the cliff—what if he said something improper and Room 102 turned around and jumped straight down?

Although jumping straight down from that position would only land him on the layer of forest below, making it not that easy to die…

“Bro,” Lao Wu probably also felt he ought to say something to ease this awkwardness, “Wanna play cards? Three waiting for one.”

Fantastic!

What kind of miraculous greeting was this?

Upon hearing this line, Chen Jian subconsciously took a step toward Room 102’s side, preparing to dash over and grab the man.

Lao Wu probably also felt his words were overly ridiculous. To prove that he wasn’t just talking nonsense off the top of his head, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a deck of playing cards.

“Holy shit.” Even Sanbing was shocked.

Chen Jian hadn’t expected Lao Wu could pull out this kind of stuff from his person either.

Looking at them, Room 102 was shocked for several seconds before uttering a sentence: “Play what? I’m not very good at playing cards.”

“Run Fast, I guess,” Sanbing said. “This one’s the simplest.”

“…Okay.” Room 102 hesitated a moment and agreed.

“At…” Chen Jian looked around, pointing at a rock buried in the dirt at his feet, “…here, then.”

“We were here every time,” Lao Wu said, squatting down beside the rock.

Room 102 stood up, picked up his backpack, and walked over.

Chen Jian let out a fierce breath of relief.

“Playing cards?!” Hu Pan propped herself against the front desk table, clutching her phone as she looked at Shan Yu in shock. “They’re actually playing with…”

She looked around and lowered her voice: “…playing cards with 102!”

“Playing cards?” Even Shan Yu wondered if he had heard wrong.

“Look.” Hu Pan handed her phone in front of him.

Shan Yu swept a glance at the screen.

[Who Are You]: How is it going?

[Chen Yu Luo Yan]: Found him, playing cards in progress.

Chen what kind of thing?

Chen what fish falling goose?

This was Chen Jian?

“Tell them not to gamble,” Shan Yu said. “Having someone report them and get caught for gathering to gamble in the wild would make for a splendid life.”

“Mm,” Hu Pan responded, took her phone, and directly sent a voice message over: “The boss told you guys not to gamble! If someone reports you for starting a gambling session, you’re done for!”

Shan Yu looked at her.

“He’s wearing headphones,” Hu Pan said with a smile. “That guy can’t hear.”

“Mm.” Shan Yu nodded, turned around, and walked toward the elevator. “Report to me again if anything comes up.”

“Report to the boss in a timely manner if anything comes up,” Hu Pan sent another voice message over.

Apart from the few lines looking for 102 today, there was a whole stack above in Hu Pan and Chen Jian’s chat history—presumably all chatted during ordinary times.

Though he didn’t see clearly.

Working in the same shop, yet able to chat up so much.

Quite a talker, this Chen Yu Luo Yan.

Returning to the office, just as he closed the door and prepared to lie down on the sofa, his phone rang.

He pulled it out for a glance and found that Chen Jian was calling.

He picked up the call: “What, finished playing cards?”

No one spoke over there; only the sound of someone clearing their throat could be heard—it was Chen Jian’s voice.

“I’m wiretapping, huh?” Shan Yu chuckled as he listened, lying down on the sofa. “It’s getting dark soon. Playing a couple of rounds is about enough; don’t climb down the mountain in the dark.”

Taking advantage of clearing his throat, Chen Jian gave another “mm.”

“Caught a cold?” Sanbing asked over there.

“No,” Chen Jian said.

“Then is your throat uncomfortable? Did the wind hit your back?” Lao Wu asked.

“Have you never cleared your throat in your life?” Chen Jian asked.

“Well I smoke, so clearing my throat is normal,” Lao Wu said.

“Quit it,” Chen Jian said.

Lying on the sofa, Shan Yu felt like laughing as he listened.

“Four with two, out,” Room 102 uttered a sentence.

“Damn, cleared your hand already? Your luck is pretty good, huh?” Sanbing said.

“Mm, luck has been very good these past few days,” Room 102 said. “Let’s play a few more rounds before going down the mountain.”

“Running off as soon as you win?” Lao Wu was very invested, seemingly having forgotten their objective.

“Then you spend the night here,” Chen Jian said.

The sound of shuffling cards came through the receiver. This sound was very comfortable to listen to; Shan Yu pulled out his earphones, put them on, and closed his eyes.

“Today…” Room 102 said, “…thank you guys.”

“Three waiting for one—we thank you,” Chen Jian said.

“Three waiting for one can still go up the mountain to gather people?” Room 102 asked.

“Go find Liu Wu and the others, then,” Sanbing said. “Just those college students.”

Shan Yu opened his eyes.

Stiff transition, Chen Jiali.

Liu Wu doesn’t know how to play cards either.

“Done,” Chen Jian said, as the cards in his hand finally emitted a series of fine, somewhat dull pitter-patter sounds.

Shan Yu closed his eyes again.

Chen Jian’s voice was quite pleasant to listen to. However, when playing cards, apart from playing his hand, he rarely spoke; basically it was Sanbing and Lao Wu chatting. In the pauses between those two chatterboxes, Chen Jian’s breathing could occasionally be heard.

Shan Yu felt that Chen Half-Immortal’s medicine truly had some effect. For someone like him who had extremely high requirements for sleep conditions, listening to Chen Jian play cards right now actually made him sleepy.

“Boss Shan,” Chen Jian’s voice sounded once more. “Hey, Boss Shan? Shan Yu!”

Shan Yu opened his eyes and discovered Chen Jian’s voice was coming from the earphones. He responded with a sound: “Mm?”

“Did you fall asleep?” Chen Jian asked. “This wiretapping of yours is a bit perfunctory.”

“I’ll sign up for a class tomorrow.” Shan Yu took a glance at the time on his phone; he had slept for roughly half an hour. “You guys finished playing cards?”

“Finished, heading down the mountain right now,” Chen Jian said. “Sanbing and the others walked ahead, so I’m just letting you know.”

“102 is fine?” Shan Yu asked.

“Fine,” Chen Jian lowered his voice. “He knows why we went.”

“Nonsense—if he couldn’t tell that much, he’d have to be a fool,” Shan Yu said. “When you guys get back, go out to eat on your own; didn’t buy food for you guys.”

“Mm,” Chen Jian gave a faint smile.

“Call Chen Erhu along too,” Shan Yu said. “He’s lying in the dormitory, hasn’t eaten either.”

“Did you eat?” Chen Jian asked.

“Wiretapping, fell asleep and couldn’t walk away,” Shan Yu said. “So I didn’t eat.”

“Then are you going out to eat with us, or should I bring food back for you?” Chen Jian asked again.

“Bring food back for me,” Shan Yu said.

“Alright,” Chen Jian said. “We reckon we’ll arrive in about twenty minutes.”

“Thanks for your hard work,” Shan Yu said, “Chen Yu Luo Yan.”

Before Chen Jian had time to speak, the call over there hung up.

“Manager Chen!” Sanbing shouted up ahead.

“Coming!” Chen Jian picked up his pace to rush forward.

How did Shan Yu know about “Chen Yu Luo Yan”?

Naturally, Hu Pan let him see it!

Tsk.

Chen Jian had used this name for a long time. He had only used two nicknames in total: back in school he used “Flawed and Unworthy Chen Jian,” and after graduating he didn’t want to keep his real name in the nickname anymore, so he changed it.

He had used it for quite a long time and had never felt there was anything wrong with it.

Yet being called this by Shan Yu out of the blue, he actually felt a little embarrassed.

When they returned to Dayin, the Joyful Beans had already come back. A group of people were waiting in the dining room to eat; tonight they were cooking dinner themselves, and later in the evening they were going to hold that networking event of theirs in the meeting room.

Seeing them return together with Room 102, Liu Wu’s gaze immediately followed over, the expression on his face clearly writing: I am currently communicating with you very covertly with my eyes, no one will be able to tell there’s anything wrong with me.

Chen Jian had no choice but to walk over toward the dining room.

“How was it?” Liu Wu immediately rose to meet him.

“Smoothly,” Chen Jian patted his shoulder. “You guys go ahead and play; I have to go up to report to the boss.”

“Mm,” Liu Wu nodded. “You guys all come to the networking event tonight, okay? We’ll go set up the meeting room in a bit, no need for your people to worry about it.”

“I’ll… pass, I think.” Chen Jian felt somewhat resistant.

“Shan Yu already agreed to come,” Liu Wu said.

“How could he possibly agree?” Chen Jian said.

“You still don’t understand him,” Liu Wu let out a tsk. “He loves joining in the fun, and besides, I said you agreed, so he has to give the Manager face.”

Chen Jian glanced at him.

“Remember to come, okay?” Liu Wu said.

“…Mm.” Chen Jian let out a sigh, turned around, and walked briskly up the stairs.

The office door was open, but Shan Yu was nowhere to be seen. Chen Jian knocked on the door.

“In.” Shan Yu’s voice came from the washroom, accompanied by the sound of retching.

“Drinking medicine?” Chen Jian asked.

“Taking poison,” Shan Yu walked out holding an empty bowl, tears from retching still hanging at the corners of his eyes.

Chen Jian looked at him.

“102 went back to his room?” Shan Yu raised a hand, his fingertip wiping at the corner of his eye.

“Mm,” Chen Jian responded.

“You guys go eat first,” Shan Yu leaned against the desk, looking at him.

Chen Jian didn’t move. The faint smile gradually rising at the corner of Shan Yu’s mouth allowed him to roughly guess what this person was going to say next.

Don’t say it!

“Chen Yu Luo Yan,” Shan Yu said.

“Fuck,” Chen Jian said.

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