AD CH39

Yes, they possessed quite the chemistry.

It was just that the origin of this chemistry felt a bit difficult to put into words.

Fortunately, using “Chen Yu Luo Yan” to guess “Bi Yue Xiu Hua” secured a point for the Dayin Bean Team, successfully completing Chen Jian and Shan Yu’s mission.

Chen Jian returned to his seat on the sofa in the corner, his ears still filled with chaotic noise.

After chugging two gulps of Coke, he noticed Shan Yu hadn’t sat back down with him.

When he looked up, Shan Yu was looking in his direction, but his body had already reached the doorway.

Chen Jian was stunned.

Shan Yu tilted his head toward him, mouthing two words: “Leaving?”

Chen Jian hurriedly stood up, grabbed the bag of potato chips someone had shoved into his hands earlier, and quietly made his way toward the doorway. After taking a few steps, he realized no one was paying attention to them, so he switched to a quick walk.

Following Shan Yu out of the conference room, the moment the door closed behind them, the bursts of laughter and chatter instantly dimmed down. It felt as though everything inside was suddenly yanked far away.

He let out a long breath, raising his arms to stretch. Standing there for those few dozen seconds earlier had left his entire body feeling a bit stiff.

“Was it fun?” Shan Yu turned his head and asked him.

“Mm,” Chen Jian responded. “It’s more interesting watching others play.”

“Are you not used to being watched by a crowd?” Shan Yu asked.

“A bit unaccustomed, yeah,” Chen Jian said.

“A handsome young guy with curly hair—you can’t have been watched any less growing up, right?” Shan Yu said, snapping his crutch open with a crisp clack. “Still not used to it?”

Chen Jian looked at him without speaking.

“You said it yourself—I can call you Curly,” Shan Yu said.

“Can’t you walk even without crutches?” Chen Jian glanced at his crutch, giving up on arguing with him. Although he didn’t know Shan Yu super well, his mouth was notoriously sharp—if he didn’t let him call him Curly, the guy might blurt out “Geese-er” on a whim.

“I won’t be using this crutch for many more days anyway,” Shan Yu said. “Commemorating it.”

Not only stubborn-mouthed, but a tough front too.

Chen Jian looked toward the front hall. Chen Erhu was no longer sitting at the front desk, instead sitting in front of the bar counter together with Zhao Fangfang’s daughter.

“What are you eating?” Shan Yu asked.

“Sweet soup with mini glutinous rice balls,” Zhao Fangfang leaned out from behind the bar and waved at the two of them. “Finished playing and feeling hungry? Come have some?”

“Are there eggs?” Shan Yu asked.

“Yes,” Zhao Fangfang nodded. “I’ll add one for you. Does Manager Chen want one too?”

“Sure.” Chen Jian nodded. Although he had spent most of his time dazing off over there just now, he still felt a bit hungry. Letting his mind run wild felt like he had been doing manual labor.

“Zhao-jie, no need to clean up the conference room after the activity finishes in a bit,” Shan Yu sat at the bar counter. “Nobody’s using it anyway. Have Sanbing and the others clean it up tomorrow.”

“Student Liu said they’d clean it up themselves,” Zhao Fangfang said. “He specifically told me not to worry about it.”

“Then let them clean it up,” Shan Yu said.

“This group of college students is pretty nice. The rooms are all kept quite clean,” Zhao Fangfang lowered her voice as she spoke. “Today a couple checked out, and that room was such a mess—used tissues weren’t even thrown into the trash can…”

“Zhao-jie, Zhao-jie, Zhao-jie,” Shan Yu cupped his hands toward her in appeal. “I have a delicate appetite.”

“Don’t you usually eat everything with great gusto?” Zhao Fangfang said.

“He eats food with great gusto,” Chen Erhu said. “It’s not like he eats trash cans with great gusto.”

“Ah…” Shan Yu slumped face-down onto the bar counter.

“He told you to stop, and you kept talking!” Zhao Fangfang slapped Chen Erhu.

This feeling of returning to his own world was quite nice.

Chen Jian sat at the bar while Zhao Fangfang cooked the glutinous rice balls. The guesthouse staff ate and chatted together, and along the way, a few late-returning guests came over to the front desk to join in, eating while asking the staff if their itinerary for tomorrow was reasonable.

Chen Jian was pretty sleepy, but he still had to analyze their routes piece by piece.

Tiring and tedious, yet grounding.

Before eleven o’clock, the mixer wrapped up. The Joyful Beans poured out from the conference room, their lowered laughter and chatter gradually spreading across the entire first floor.

“Throw all the trash into that big trash bin by the door,” Liu Wu directed the Beans. “A few more people come with me to wipe down the tables and chairs and sweep the floor.”

“Doing it tomorrow morning works too,” Chen Jian said.

“We’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning,” Liu Wu let out a sigh. “Time passed way too fast. Feels like we haven’t even started playing… Zhao-auntie, give me a few rags…”

“What ‘auntie’? Call her Zhao-jie,” Hu Pan grabbed two rags and tossed them over to him.

“Her daughter calls me big brother,” Liu Wu said.

“Even if she calls you her nephew, you still have to call her ‘sister,'” Hu Pan said.

Zhao Fangfang laughed helplessly from the side: “It’s all fine, it’s all fine. You’re all kids.”

“You’re only in your thirties, pretty much the same age as my older cousin,” Hu Pan said.

Liu Wu held the rag, laughing along as he wiped the bar counter.

“Aren’t you going to wipe the tables in the conference room?” Shan Yu cast a glance at him.

“Oh, right,” Liu Wu said.

“Are you going tomorrow morning?” Shan Yu asked.

“Right now!” Liu Wu gave the rag a flourish, turned around, and walked off.

Several Joyful Beans followed him toward the conference room. After finishing his rice balls, Chen Jian wanted to follow them over.

Just as he was pulling back his chair to stand up, Shan Yu raised a leg, stepping onto the chair and asking in a low voice: “What are you doing?”

“To help out,” Chen Jian also said in a low voice.

“They said they’d clean it up themselves, so let them clean it up,” Shan Yu said.

“They didn’t even grab a water bucket,” Chen Jian said. “One look and you can tell they don’t know how.”

“Then let them run back and forth to wash the rags,” Shan Yu said. “What are you worrying about? You’re the same age.”

Chen Jian paused, saying no more.

“Sit down and eat,” Shan Yu retracted his leg.

“…I finished.” Chen Jian glanced at his bowl.

“Zhao-jie, give him a few more rice balls. He’s not full,” Shan Yu said.

“Coming right up,” Zhao Fangfang quickly scooped a few more mini rice balls from the pot into his bowl. “Do you want another boiled egg?”

“No need, no need.” Chen Jian was actually already full, hurriedly waving his hands.

After the late-night snack, the Joyful Beans finished cleaning up the conference room. Because they had to head back to school first thing in the morning, they all behaved themselves and returned to their rooms.

The staff members due for rest went to rest, while those on duty took their places. Tonight, Chen Erhu insisted on pulling night duty at the front desk, and Chen Jian didn’t forcefully insist on him resting either.

Duty was duty—it wasn’t like anyone would come to check in at midnight anyway. Even if someone really did come and got scared out of their wits by Chen Erhu’s haunted-house appearance, Boss Shan could simply fabricate another rumor to smother it.

Chen Jian followed Shan Yu into the office. Today’s disinfection work hadn’t been carried out yet.

Shan Yu leaned back on the sofa while Chen Jian placed the medical kit on the coffee table. His eyes swept under the coffee table—it was all common stuff like Ibuprofen and Cephalosporin, nothing like the box of medicine from Room 102.

“After a couple of days, there won’t be many guests left,” Shan Yu leaned his head back. “Calculate the overtime pay for the shop, and we can adjust the staff shifts too.”

“Mm,” Chen Jian nodded, picking up a cotton swab. “I heard from Sanbing that some guests caused a scene inside this afternoon.”

“Normal. It’d be abnormal for us to go a whole holiday without running into troublesome guests,” Shan Yu said. “Why were their guests causing a scene?”

Because we used high technology to catch thieves and eliminate harm for the people.

“Said the guest room conditions were bad—hot water wasn’t hot enough, bathroom wasn’t cleaned properly, and the service staff had a bad attitude. Anyway, they got into an argument and even smashed stuff,” Chen Jian said.

“Sounds annoying,” Shan Yu said.

“If we ever run into something like that, don’t step in,” Chen Jian glanced at him.

“I’m not gonna go over and beat up the guest or anything,” Shan Yu rested his head on his arms with a faint smile.

“I’m afraid the guest wouldn’t be that angry initially, but as soon as you walk over, they’ll demolish the shop,” Chen Jian said.

“Sigh,” Shan Yu closed his eyes. “You understand me way too little.”

The ‘Don’t Cross the Line’ Boss.

Chen Jian let out a faint smile: “Anyway, I plan to inspect all the rooms again after this wave of guests checks out, so as not to give anyone a chance to pick a bone.”

“Have Chen Erhu arrange for his people to do it. Don’t make him feel like he’s being treated differently,” Shan Yu said.

“I need to keep an eye on things too…” Chen Jian said.

“Just make things clear. You’re the manager—if you do every single thing personally,” Shan Yu said, “you’ll die of exhaustion. How are you gonna remain ‘Chen Yu Luo Yan’ then?”

“…Are these two things even related?” Chen Jian felt somewhat helpless.

“What were you thinking back then,” Shan Yu opened his eyes and looked at him, “picking a handle like that?”

“Just for fun. I have tons of crazy names on my contact list.” Chen Jian swapped for a new cotton swab, hesitated for a moment, but asked anyway: “Are you not using WeChat right now, or have you never used it?”

“Haven’t used it since coming out,” Shan Yu said.

“Then what handle did you use?” Chen Jian swapped for another cotton swab.

“Bi Yue Xiu Hua.”

“Alright then, Little Flower (Hua means flower).” Chen Jian didn’t waste words with him, continuing the disinfection.

Shan Yu smiled and didn’t speak further, softly letting out a breath before closing his eyes.

After finishing disinfecting the external frame, Chen Jian looked over the wounds again. The external injuries looked basically healed; perhaps the frame really could be removed soon.

A boss who could walk and run.

To this shop, that posed a massive safety hazard.

“Alright,” Chen Jian packed up the medical kit. “Your frame might…”

Midway through his sentence, he realized Shan Yu wasn’t making a sound. His face was turned toward the back cushion of the sofa, not blocking his eyes with his arm like before, but simply resting his fingertips lightly against his forehead.

“Did you fall asleep?” Chen Jian asked, softening his voice.

This time he really was asleep—that smooth breathing, that completely relaxed posture…

Although Shan Yu was quite capable of acting, this was the first time Chen Jian had seen him in this state. After all, it was the first time seeing a genuinely asleep Shan Yu, which was vastly different from feigning sleep.

He didn’t check further, simply picking up the medical kit carefully, placing it back in the cabinet with light footsteps. As he walked toward the doorway, he stole another glance toward the sofa.

He couldn’t see Shan Yu’s face straight-on, and his side profile was partially covered by his fingers. Yet the arrogant edge usually hidden in his careless demeanor was completely gone, replaced by pure tranquility—a different kind of quiet from when he stared out the window in a daze.

It felt like catching a glimpse of Shan Yu’s other side.

Chen Jian switched off the office light and walked out.

Except for Room 102, most of the guests in the shop gradually left over the three or four days following the holiday. Dayin slowly reverted to its previous quiet and leisurely state, though it still differed from the utter desolation back during Qian Yu’s time. On weekends, people coming to view the autumn leaves would still drop by. This state would persist for a while until it snowed, after which guests would increase again.

Quite a few guests left messages in the notebook at the front desk, and many sticky notes were posted on a message board in the garden.

The spot where that message board stood used to be a flower stand. Potted plants were hard to maintain, so Chen Jian had removed it, placing some stones and jars there instead. After the Joyful Beans arrived, they had moved an unused display board from the restaurant over, sticking some sticky notes on it. It was originally meant as a photo prop, but later it genuinely became a message board for guests.

When he had nothing to do, Chen Jian would go read the messages, going through the contents in the notebook and on the board. Most were expressions of mood and emotional vents, though some people would leave suggestions.

Chen Jian took note of all these contents.

What could be improved and what needed attention were categorized so he could slowly work through them.

These days of leisure mixed with a bunch of miscellaneous tasks felt very grounding. The only ungrounding factor was Room 102, who showed no intention of leaving even as the end of the month approached.

Most of the time, he stayed in his room, occasionally going out to stroll nearby, and basically returning to eat.

However, as for how much longer he intended to stay, it wasn’t convenient to ask directly.

“Panpan, tell 102 a bit later.” Chen Jian looked at his stay record, instructing in a low voice, “It’s been a full month now. If he’s still staying, we can calculate his room fee based on monthly rental rates, and see what he says.”

“Got it,” Hu Pan nodded. “He said he was going out for a run this morning. I’ll ask him when he gets back.”

“Mm.” Chen Jian grabbed a milk candy from the front desk, planning to take a lap along the small path outside.

“Manager,” Hu Pan walked toward the café area, preparing to test her newly bought beans. “You don’t have anything going on in a bit, right?”

“Nothing at the moment.” Chen Jian stopped. “What’s up?”

“I’ll perm your hair!” Hu Pan said. “The solution I ordered arrived. I need to perm mine too.”

“Perm my hair?” Chen Jian was taken aback. Hu Pan’s previous dreadlocks had already been taken down; she had been wearing a ponytail these past few days, which looked quite nice.

“I want to perm an afro,” Hu Pan said. “Might as well do yours together.”

“Me, an afro?” Chen Jian was thoroughly shocked.

In an instant, the Bichon Frise raised by Chen Massage mysteriously flashed through his mind—because it wasn’t groomed much, the fur on the dog’s entire head stood completely on end, resembling a giant dandelion.

“Oh come on, you’ll still keep these curls! I can even help trim it for you,” Hu Pan said. “I told you before that your hair perm was poorly done—wasting a face like yours.”

“Perm mine too,” Sanbing poked his head in from the side door of the café, scratching his hair. “Can you?”

“Get in line,” Hu Pan said. “If nothing comes up today, I can perm all three of our heads.”

“I…” Chen Jian had always given himself a haphazard perm just to keep the natural curls from looking too messy. He really wasn’t used to someone else messing with his hair.

“You two go first; the Manager gets in line,” Shan Yu walked over from the elevator. “The Manager is going on a business trip with me today.”

“Business trip?” Chen Jian turned to look at him. “You didn’t tell me.”

“Going to the hospital,” Shan Yu said.

That’s called going into the city.

“Re-examination, right?” Only now did Chen Jian notice Shan Yu wasn’t leaning on a crutch, holding only a bag in his hand—likely his previous examination reports.

“Removing the frame,” Shan Yu said, walking toward the courtyard.

“Whether the frame comes off depends on what the doctor says, right?” Hu Pan said with a smile.

“If they don’t let me remove the frame, I’ll dismantle the hospital,” Shan Yu said.

“He really is annoyed to death by this frame,” Sanbing remarked with deep feeling.

“He’s been wanting to remove it since National Day…” Chen Jian said.

“Chen Jian!” Shan Yu called out from outside.

“Coming!” Chen Jian responded, running out to catch up.

The bag containing the examination reports that Shan Yu brought along was tossed onto the passenger seat. After Chen Jian got into the car, he looked at it—the hospital wasn’t in this city.

“Are we going back to the original hospital for the re-exam… frame removal?” Chen Jian asked.

“Just heading into the city to find a hospital to remove it,” Shan Yu started the car and drove out of the courtyard.

“No need to go to the original hospital? What if…” Chen Jian placed the bag onto the back seat and buckled his seatbelt.

“That works too.” Shan Yu tapped the navigation screen a few times.

The navigation broadcast sounded in the car: “Preparing to depart, total distance 527 kilometers…”

Chen Jian hurriedly reached out and canceled the navigation.

“Not going anymore?” Shan Yu curled his lips slightly.

“Didn’t know it was that far,” Chen Jian said. “Thought it was just the neighboring city.”

“Have you…” Shan Yu listened to his words, turning his head to glance at him, “never been out of town?”

“Mm,” Chen Jian nodded. “Furthest I’ve been is into the city. Came back right after graduation.”

“Next time I go on a business trip, I’ll take you somewhere further,” Shan Yu said.

“We run a single guesthouse,” Chen Jian said. “Is there really any business trip we need to make?”

Two business trips: one for shopping… sigh, better not overthink it, better not overthink it… and another to the hospital.

“Going to other places, visiting high-performing guesthouses for inspection,” Shan Yu said. “Learning from their experiences—how could there be no business trips to make?”

Then consider this business trip an inspection of the Boss’s leg at the hospital.

To Chen Jian’s surprise, someone was waiting for them at the hospital entrance—a middle-aged woman pushing a wheelchair. Shan Yu had actually hired an escort nurse.

“Just follow along,” the woman said, pushing Shan Yu straight inside. “I’m very familiar with this place.”

“Okay,” Chen Jian responded.

The woman was indeed very familiar. Registering, going to the clinic room, getting X-rays, picking up results—Chen Jian didn’t even need to help push the wheelchair. He just followed along, stepping up to pay whenever fees were due.

After all that tossing and turning, because Shan Yu’s leg had recovered fairly well, this hospital successfully avoided the risk of being dismantled by Shan Yu.

“Will it hurt?” Shan Yu sat on the operating table, looking at the doctor preparing to remove the frame for him.

“It hurts a little bit, mostly a sour, swollen sensation, generally within a tolerable range,” the doctor said. “If you’re extremely afraid of pain, I can inject a bit of painkiller for you…”

“No need, too troublesome,” Shan Yu said.

Chen Jian felt Shan Yu had likely misjudged his own pain tolerance. Last time Chen Massage pinched his neck, he hadn’t seemed to use much force, yet Chen Jian’s hand had been squeezed nearly to breaking point.

But he didn’t say anything, feeling Shan Yu didn’t want to wait a single second longer—he wanted the frame removed right away.

The doctor began removing the frame. At first, a wrench was used to unbolt the connecting rods. This step likely caused no sensation, as Shan Yu sat quietly. Next was twisting out the bone pins embedded in the bone…

When the doctor started twisting out the first pin, Shan Yu showed no reaction at first, merely staring at his own leg. But the instant the bone pin was gently pulled out from the flesh, Shan Yu grabbed Chen Jian’s right hand in a tight vice grip.

If they offer painkillers, just take the damn painkillers!

Chen Jian almost screamed out loud.

“Does it hurt?” the doctor asked.

“It’s alright,” Shan Yu gritted his teeth. “Actually… doesn’t hurt much. Mainly looks a bit… gross.”

“Then don’t look!” Chen Jian also gritted his teeth.

“Can’t help it. OCD,” Shan Yu said.

When pulling out the second pin, he still stared fixedly at his leg. Chen Jian could feel his hand shaking slightly—unclear whether from pain or fear.

To save his own right hand from further suffering, Chen Jian had no choice but to reach out his left hand, covering Shan Yu’s eyes.

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