“What happened?” Hu Pan jogged over from the front desk bar.
“Fell down,” Sanbing said while chuckling. “Slid down in a big split like taking a slide.”
“You’re still laughing!” Hu Pan glared at him, then looked at Chen Jian. “Are you hurt…”
Before she could finish her sentence, she couldn’t hold back a laugh herself. “Hurt… are you hurt…”
“No.” Chen Jian carried the suitcase over to a nearby table and opened it up. “Inside are some small gifts Boss Shan bought for everyone…”
Inside the suitcase were individually packaged paper bags, which looked very nice.
“Whoa—” Hu Pan ran over in excitement. “Who has such a great boss!”
“Winning over people’s hearts—winning over people’s hearts, I say.” Sanbing also ambled over holding his bowl.
“If Chen Erhu hears you mimicking him, he’ll beat you up,” Hu Pan said, picking up a paper bag and unwrapping it.
“He just went to sleep,” Sanbing said with a smile. “He was toughing it out these past few days, but he probably can’t hold out anymore.”
Chen Dahu’s verdict had already come down—one year and four months. Like the other shoe finally dropping, one could feel a sense of settled relief from Chen Erhu after receiving the news. Yet, he still refused to go home.
He firmly occupied the innermost bed in the men’s dorm.
He would rather die than go home to face his dad.
In that split second, Chen Jian suddenly thought of Shan Yu, who likewise refused to go home to face his parents.
Though their situations were different.
Although Shan Yu’s mother gave off a strong sense of pressure, she was generally agreeable.
Chen Erhu’s dad wasn’t so agreeable. He was an honest man, but he had a bit of a short fuse. After divorcing Chen Erhu’s mother, he raised two sons by himself with a pretty hardline upbringing. Still, everyone knew he doted on these two sons—otherwise, he couldn’t have raised such a useless failure as Chen Dahu…
Fortunately, the Dayin dorm didn’t charge room and board now, so Chen Erhu lived in the dorm quite peacefully.
He’d probably stay there straight through until the New Year.
Hu Pan opened the paper bag. Aside from local snacks and specialties, there was also a small lucky pouch.
“I love this so much.” Hu Pan beat her chest happily. “My heart has officially been bought off.”
“Why does that sound so creepy?” Sanbing picked up a paper bag, opened it, and pulled out a pack of beef jerky first.
Chen Jian set Xiao Dou’er’s portion to the side, preparing to bring it over tomorrow when he went to retrieve Sanbing’s motorcycle.
“Aren’t you taking your portion?” Hu Pan asked.
“I’ll just take a lucky pouch; you guys can divide the food,” Chen Jian said.
“Since you put it that way…” Sanbing immediately opened Chen Jian’s portion, grabbed a pack of beef jerky from it, and stuffed it into his own bag.
“Couldn’t you just swap the bags directly?” Chen Jian said.
Sanbing froze for a moment. “Oh yeah.”
Chen Jian said nothing.
“No wonder you’re the manager,” Sanbing said.
“If that’s all it takes, the bar for being a manager is a bit too low,” Chen Jian remarked.
“Keep poking fun; why don’t you?” Sanbing said, munching on the beef jerky.
Chen Jian went to the kitchen, grabbed a tray, and placed on it the two big bowls of sweet glutinous rice balls that Hu Pan had already dished out for him and Shan Yu. He also retrieved a spare box of cold medicine from the shop’s first-aid kit.
“Manager,” Hu Pan followed him over. “Is everything okay?”
“Hmm?” Chen Jian looked at her. “Everything’s fine. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I was just asking,” Hu Pan said in a low voice. “He went looking for you, and it took so long for the two of you to come back. I was worried something had happened.”
…Was it really that long?
When they met in the village, hadn’t Shan Yu said he’d gotten off the bus twenty minutes prior?
“When did he head out?” Chen Jian asked.
“Right after Sanbing brought him back, he went out,” Hu Pan thought for a moment. “It was just past seven o’clock.”
Chen Jian froze. It had been past nine o’clock by the time he came out of the mountains.
He pulled out his phone and checked again. The message from Plain & Simple telling him to go to the station had indeed been sent around six o’clock…
“What’s wrong?” Hu Pan asked.
“Nothing,” Chen Jian said. “He was waiting for me at Xiao Dou’er’s place.”
“That’s good then,” Hu Pan said. “Next time you take a day off, give him a heads-up. If he didn’t know where Xiao Dou’er’s house was and couldn’t find you when something came up, I tried calling you, but your phone was out of the service area.”
“I didn’t expect the timing to be so inconvenient either.” Chen Jian picked up the tray.
The sweet glutinous rice balls smelled quite fragrance. When he walked into the office, Shan Yu, who was lying on the sofa resting with his eyes closed, immediately opened his eyes and sat up.
However, seeing the huge bowl on the tray, he paused. “Is that a salad bowl?”
“Mm,” Chen Jian placed the tray on the coffee table. “Otherwise it wouldn’t all fit. Hu Pan poured all the remaining ginger sugar water in here.”
“I probably can’t finish all thirty of these,” Shan Yu said.
“If I hadn’t eaten dinner, these two bowls wouldn’t even be enough for me,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu looked at the small glutinous rice balls without speaking.
“Eat first,” Chen Jian picked up the small bowl. “Leave whatever you can’t finish for me.”
After saying that, he felt it sounded a bit improper, so he quickly added unclearly, “Or for the dog.”
The corner of Shan Yu’s mouth hooked up, and he picked up the spoon with his left hand. “Sure, you can split it with the dog in a bit.”
Chen Jian remained silent, wolfing down the small rice balls.
In under two minutes, his ten small rice balls were gone. Though small, these glutinous rice balls had fillings—two kinds: sesame-peanut and hawthorn. They were quite delicious and not overly cloying.
He slowly took a sip of the ginger sugar water and glanced over at Shan Yu.
Fortunately, Shan Yu had asked Hu Pan to cook small rice balls. If he had asked for noodles or something, Chen Jian estimated he’d have to feed Shan Yu himself.
Shan Yu ate very slowly, perhaps because he wasn’t adept at holding a spoon with his left hand.
Chen Jian wanted to say something, but Shan Yu hadn’t stopped eating.
By the time Chen Jian had even finished drinking the sugar water in his bowl, Shan Yu was still eating slowly and carefully.
Just as Chen Jian was contemplating whether he should just chew up the ginger shreds in his bowl too, Shan Yu finally set down his spoon and asked, “What did you want to say?”
He did want to say something.
But with Shan Yu asking so suddenly, he felt like someone who had spent ages fixing his hair in front of a car window, only for the window to roll down at the last second…
“Are you full?” Chen Jian asked.
He had a feeling Shan Yu knew what he wanted to ask.
He had to catch him off guard.
Though he didn’t know why he needed to catch him off guard.
“I could eat a few more,” Shan Yu looked at the small rice balls in his bowl. “But I only want to eat the hawthorn-filled ones. I can’t tell them apart—they look identical to the sesame ones.”
“This one,” Chen Jian looked closer, pointing at the rice balls, “this one, and this one… are all hawthorn.”
“How can you tell?” Shan Yu asked.
“The colors are different. The sesame ones aren’t as white as the hawthorn ones,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu stared at the small rice balls for a moment longer, then turned his head to look at him. “Pick out the sesame ones and eat them, leave the hawthorn ones for me.”
“…Mm.” Chen Jian took the spoon from his hand and scooped the sesame-peanut ones into his own bowl one by one.
“What were you going to say just now?” Shan Yu asked.
Chen Jian paused as he scooped the last small rice ball. Only after dropping it into his bowl did he say, “How long did you wait at Xiao Dou’er’s house?”
Shan Yu smiled. “Just asking about that?”
“Mm,” Chen Jian nodded. “Hu Pan said you arrived at seven.”
“I didn’t pay attention to the time either. When I couldn’t get through on your phone, I just headed over,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian paused again; he noticed that Shan Yu’s voice sounded a bit raspy.
“Were you in the courtyard the whole time?” he asked. “Did you go inside?”
“Grandma was sleeping; why would I go in?” Shan Yu said.
“Go into my room. My door isn’t even locked,” Chen Jian said. “You were standing in that heavy wind the entire time?”
“Xiao Dou’er didn’t tell me,” Shan Yu said.
“She’s only five years old. Are you expecting her to entertain you?” Chen Jian let out a sigh, pulling out the cold medicine. “Take this quickly. I feel like you’ve already caught a cold.”
“Didn’t catch a cold,” Shan Yu said. “My voice is raspy because I haven’t slept well these past few days.”
“Not sleeping well makes it easier to catch a cold anyway; they don’t contradict each other,” Chen Jian said.
“Jinxing me, aren’t you?” Shan Yu took the medicine and unboxed it with one hand.
Chen Jian took the medicine box, popped out a pill into Shan Yu’s hand, then went to pour a glass of water and handed it to him.
Shan Yu took the medicine, then finished the rest of the small rice balls, cradling the salad bowl and drinking all the sugar water as well.
Chen Jian looked at him, somewhat astonished. “Are you full now?”
“I’ve eaten so much I feel like throwing up already,” Shan Yu said.
“Then why did you drink it so clean?” Chen Jian asked.
“Isn’t adding so much ginger to this stuff meant to prevent a cold?” Shan Yu said. “If I didn’t drink it all, you’d keep jinxing me in a bit.”
“I didn’t…” Chen Jian was somewhat speechless. “Fine then.”
He finished off the small rice balls in his own bowl too, leaving none for Mushroom. Xiao Dou’er’s grandma had said that small dogs shouldn’t eat glutinous rice foods, as it would stick to their intestines.
“Did you distribute the gifts to them?” Shan Yu stood up, rubbing his stomach as he stretched his arms.
“Mm,” Chen Jian nodded, pulling out the small lucky pouch and shaking it. “I kept this.”
“I have a separate gift for you,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian inexplicably felt the tips of his ears growing a bit warm again.
Shan Yu grabbed a long box tied with a small ribbon from the office desk and handed it over.
“What is it?” Chen Jian felt he shouldn’t ask, but couldn’t help asking anyway. “Is it expensive?”
“Not expensive,” Shan Yu said. “If it’s expensive, you won’t accept it, right?”
“It’s not that…” Chen Jian was a bit unsure of how to put it.
“Then it’s expensive,” Shan Yu said.
Are you playing with me, Boss?
Chen Jian didn’t speak. He looked at the box; it was all in English, but he recognized the word hand…
Hand cream? He let out a breath of relief.
However, upon pulling out the hand cream inside, just looking at the stylish packaging design made it clear it wasn’t cheap. He looked up at Shan Yu.
“Over two hundred.” Shan Yu leaned against the desk. “If you think it’s too expensive, rub it on your face.”
“I don’t use things this expensive on my face either,” Chen Jian said.
“Fuck.” Shan Yu was left speechless by his response.
After a moment, Shan Yu asked again, “How much is the hand cream you usually use?”
Chen Jian looked at him. “Ten yuan for three tubes.”
Shan Yu looked back at him, freezing for quite a while before nodding. “Impressive.”
Chen Jian couldn’t help laughing.
“Is it really three point three yuan a tube?” Shan Yu started laughing too.
“It’s not calculated like that,” Chen Jian said with a smile. “One tube is four fifty, three tubes for ten.”
“Give it a try and see if there’s any difference,” Shan Yu said.
“You used mine that day.” Chen Jian unscrewed the cap and squeezed a little onto his hand. “Was there any difference from what you usually use?”
“I don’t usually use hand cream,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian shot him a look.
“Fish & Geese Plummet,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian smiled faintly, lowering his head to slowly rub his hands together.
“How is it?” Shan Yu walked over and lay down on the sofa, resting his head on his arms.
“Smells pretty good,” Chen Jian said.
“What’s the use of smelling good? Is it nice to use?” Shan Yu said.
“The honest truth?” Chen Jian asked.
Shan Yu let out a tsk.
“It’s quite nice to use, not that sticky,” Chen Jian said.
“You’ve picked up bad habits, Manager.” Shan Yu looked at him.
Chen Jian smiled, capped the cream, placed it back into the box, and turned around. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian packed away the hand cream and prepared to take the bowls downstairs.
Shan Yu, resting his head on his arms, looked at him. “Hey, Manager.”
“Hmm?” Chen Jian responded.
“Report on work,” Shan Yu said.
“Oh,” Chen Jian set down the bowls and thought for a moment. “Let’s start with the big matters…”
“So there were big matters?” Shan Yu interrupted him.
“…Relatively larger matters,” Chen Jian said.
“So there were matters, and they can even be ranked by size,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian fell silent.
Shan Yu didn’t make a sound either, just looking at him.
“It wasn’t big enough to disturb your personal trip,” Chen Jian looked back at him. “I didn’t know what you were dealing with over there, or if it was convenient for you to check messages…”
“Give it a try next time,” Shan Yu closed his eyes.
“…Mm,” Chen Jian responded.
“Go ahead,” Shan Yu said.
“Zhou Yuecheng in Room 102 talked with me. He posted a thread on a forum documenting his travels after being diagnosed with advanced cancer…” Chen Jian said.
“Mm,” Shan Yu acknowledged.
“A lot of people are following the thread,” Chen Jian said. “He wrote about Dayin, but he hasn’t mentioned the location or our names. Many people want to know. He said if we’re willing, he… will clarify before he dies; if we’re not willing…”
“Even if we’re not willing, it will still be made public,” Shan Yu said.
“It won’t,” Chen Jian said. “He’s a nice person. He hasn’t even mentioned the fact that someone committed suicide here.”
“Not by him publicly, but by someone else,” Shan Yu said.
“Who?” Chen Jian froze.
“Whoever told him that someone died here,” Shan Yu said, “might be the one to make it public on his behalf—that this place is a haunted house.”
“Holy shit.” Chen Jian hadn’t thought of this point at all.
When Zhou Yuecheng went up to the fourth floor looking for that room, none of them had engaged in much conversation with him, let alone mentioned that incident. So Zhou Yuecheng must have heard about it from someone else.
“If it was just someone in town who said it, it wouldn’t matter,” Shan Yu said. “But it could also be someone whose family saw the thread. After all, it’s a travel log thread.”
“Mm.” Chen Jian knit his brows.
“So if he wants to make it public, let him,” Shan Yu said. “At least he speaks well of us.”
“Mm,” Chen Jian nodded.
“What else?” Shan Yu kept his eyes closed.
“A woman checked into the second floor—came to catch her cheating husband.” Chen Jian said.
“Mm.”
“The cheating took place over at Suiyun. She caught them, and we went over with her—I was worried she’d get taken advantage of alone,” Chen Jian said.
“Mm.”
“She checked out yesterday…” Chen Jian said.
“Mm.”
“The town issued a notice requiring every guesthouse to send someone to attend a fire safety training class,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu didn’t make a sound.
“I want Chen Erhu to go,” Chen Jian said. “He’s still in a bad mood these days, so giving him a task that sounds a bit upscale might help.”
Shan Yu still didn’t make a sound.
“I got a call from my driving instructor,” Chen Jian glanced at Shan Yu. “The health check and everything are done. The day after tomorrow, I’m going to take the Subject 1 written test…”
Shan Yu kept his eyes closed, neither speaking nor moving.
“One, two, three, four, five,” Chen Jian said. “Up the mountain to hunt the tiger.”
Shan Yu still lay there quietly.
Fell asleep?
Chen Jian stopped talking. After waiting a while, Shan Yu still hadn’t moved. Judging by his breathing, he had fallen asleep—perhaps because he was tired and had taken cold medicine.
“I’m heading down now?” Chen Jian said softly.
After pausing for a few seconds, he stood up very carefully. Just as he went to pick up the bowls, he paused again. Shan Yu was lying on the sofa wearing only a shirt; even with the heating on in the room, it would probably get cold in the middle of the night.
He hesitated for a moment, then tiptoed toward the inner bedroom.
Ever since Shan Yu arrived, he had never stepped foot inside this room. Entering now while holding his breath felt strongly like being a burglar.
He picked up a thin quilt from the bed as quickly as possible, turning around intending to take big strides back, but pulled back his momentum after just one step—that fall down the stairs earlier had stretched his thigh tendon, and it still throbbed with pain.
“Shan Yu?” He stood beside the sofa holding the thin quilt.
Shan Yu remained in his previous position, completely motionless.
He really had fallen asleep.
He took a breath, held it, and slowly draped the thin quilt over Shan Yu.
Even a home intruder coming face-to-face with someone inside a house probably wouldn’t be this careful.
He didn’t even know why.
It was purely the feeling that if Shan Yu suddenly woke up, it would be extremely awkward.
Fortunately, he didn’t wake up.
Shan Yu was actually sleeping quite soundly.
Turning around, he picked up the bowls from the coffee table, walked to the door, and glanced back at the sofa once more before switching off the light.
The embrace from the small path suddenly flashed into his mind without warning.
The feeling of blood rushing to his head made him quickly turn off the light.
Yet, on his shoulders and arms, the tactile sensation of that embrace lingered distinctly.
Holding the bowls, he leaned against the adjacent wall and let out a soft sigh.
“Did you get yelled at?”
A voice sounding nearby startled him so much he almost swung the bowls in his hands outward.
When he turned his head, he realized it was Chen Erhu.
“No.” Holding the bowls, he immediately walked toward the stairs.
“I heard from Sanbing that Boss Shan was injured, and I was thinking of going to ask about it,” Chen Erhu said.
“Maybe tomorrow,” Chen Jian said while walking down the stairs briskly. “He fell asleep.”
“Oh,” Chen Erhu followed behind him down the stairs. “Did he really not yell at you?”
“Why would he yell at me?” Chen Jian said.
“I saw your face was red with anger.” Chen Erhu said.
Say one more word and see if I don’t beat your face red, too.
