“Boss Shan, you don’t need to get involved in this,” Sanbing reached out to block Shan Yu’s path before turning back to the shop owner. “What’s the meaning of you coming into our inn like this?”
“I’m looking for someone! Where else would I look if not here?” the owner retorted.
Which wasn’t technically wrong.
“Let’s talk outside,” Hu Pan said, walking up to the owner and heading toward the door.
The owner cast a glance at Shan Yu, stood up, and followed her out.
Sanbing wanted to follow them, but Shan Yu was staring intently at him. He had no choice but to walk over. “Boss Shan.”
“What’s going on?” Shan Yu asked.
“This is…” Sanbing hesitated, crouching down beside him and lowering his voice. “It’s about… Store Manager Chen. When he was a kid, right around the time his house was taken as collateral… he had nowhere to stay, so he secretly slept in the coffin Xiao Dou’er’s grandpa had prepared for himself.”
Shan Yu stared at him, speechless for several seconds.
“A lot of people in the village know about it, but they only talk about it behind his back. People rarely bring it up to his face. I heard it from my grandpa too; he said Chen Jian was pitiful and all,” Sanbing frowned. “Lili probably heard it from the boss lady. She used it to insult Chen Jian just now, and that’s why Chen Jian smashed their glass cabinet.”
“He had nowhere to stay? His dad didn’t care?” Shan Yu asked.
“I think his dad didn’t know at the time. I never asked for the details,” Sanbing said. “Chen Jian never talks about it himself, and it’s not like I can just ask him.”
Shan Yu didn’t say anything.
“I’m going to go talk to the boss lady… I’m worried Panpan can’t win an argument against her.” Sanbing pointed outside.
“Panpan could choke you with a single sentence and leave you speechless for three days,” Shan Yu stood up. “Where do you get the confidence to think you need to help her?”
Hu Pan stood by the courtyard gate with her arms crossed. The boss lady leaned against the wall nearby. Both wore stony expressions, seemingly at a stalemate.
“Boss Shan, I’m not an unreasonable person,” the owner said, looking displeased as Shan Yu walked out. “I’m not here to cause trouble for your guesthouse. You don’t need to step up for them.”
“Then why are you stepping up for Lili!” Sanbing shot back.
“She ran her mouth, I’m not stepping up for her. I’m here because you guys smashed the glass in my shop!” The owner glared at Sanbing.
“They weren’t the ones who smashed the glass,” Shan Yu said, walking over and taking a seat on a decorative rock.
“Fine. Where’s Chen Jian then?” the owner demanded of Sanbing. “His temper is way too explosive…”
“I don’t know. He’s the store manager—why would he report his whereabouts to a security guard like me?” Sanbing retorted.
“Chen Jian won’t be paying for your glass either,” Shan Yu said.
“Why not!” the owner fired back. “I’m not even mentioning the fact that they came to my shop to beat someone up! These young folks cause trouble all day long, but if they break something, they still have to pay for it!”
“Whoever caused the trouble pays for it,” Shan Yu said simply.
“Like she has any money to pay!” the owner scoffed.
“So you just want to find someone with money who can afford to pay,” Shan Yu observed.
“One thing has nothing to do with the other. I already fired her for the trouble she caused,” the owner said. “But this glass…”
“You definitely deducted the cost of the glass from her wages, didn’t you?” Shan Yu said. “So you were planning to come here and demand a second payout.”
“That’s not what I meant at all,” the owner grew anxious. “So you’re determined to stand up for Chen Jian right now, is that it? How considerate of your employees.”
“Chen Jian isn’t here,” Shan Yu looked down and flicked a speck of dust off his pants. “As for you, if you want it, go back and wait. He has his own way of handling things, and I don’t know what that is. But if you keep standing around here, I’ll tell you how I would handle it.”
“What are you going to do!” the owner challenged.
“I’ll have a coffin delivered to your shop,” Shan Yu said.
“What did you say?” Shocked, the owner slapped a hand backward against the wall, jolting upright. “What is that supposed to mean!”
“It’s just a coffin!” Hu Pan interjected. “Why are you getting so worked up?”
“Waiting for Chen Jian, or waiting for the coffin?” Shan Yu stood up.
“I can’t argue with you,” the owner subconsciously took a step back, then looked at Hu Pan. “I’ve already fired Lili! Don’t come looking for her at my place again!”
Hu Pan kept her arms crossed and said nothing.
Only after the owner left did Hu Pan drop her arms, wipe at her eyes, and look at Shan Yu. “Boss Shan, I was too impulsive today…”
“I don’t blame you,” Shan Yu said.
Hu Pan went to find Lili specifically to pick a fight. Even with Chen Jian tagging along, a fight was inevitable—Shan Yu knew that the moment they set out. For a teenage girl fighting to survive on her own, acting fierce enough to make others wary was often the simplest and most effective defense, even if it wasn’t the safest.
“Let’s not wait for Chen Jian,” Sanbing paced back and forth nearby. “Let’s just send the coffin over.”
Shan Yu didn’t say anything, merely casting him a glance.
“Do you think Chen Jian would let Boss Shan do that?” Hu Pan scoffed. “Do you eat your rice mixed with your brain or something?”
“…Fuck off,” Sanbing muttered.
“Let Store Manager Chen decide how he wants to handle it,” Hu Pan said.
“What about that Lili?” Sanbing asked.
“Don’t mind how viciously she cursed at me,” Hu Pan sneered. “She has it worse than I do. She grew up eating scraps from a hundred households, and now she’s lost her job. She’ll be pissed about this until next year.”
“What if your family really comes looking for you?” Sanbing asked again.
“Who the hell cares?” Hu Pan said.
“Alright then,” Sanbing pulled his motorcycle keys from his pocket. “I’ll head over to the barbecue grounds. Chen Jian went by himself; I should go see if he needs any help.”
“I’ll go.” Shan Yu held his hand out to Sanbing. “Lend me the bike.”
“Again…” Sanbing looked at him, placing the keys in his palm. “Can you ride with that hand? Can you twist the throttle?”
“I can,” Shan Yu said.
“Let me go with you,” Sanbing pressed.
“Go do your job,” Shan Yu turned and swung a leg over Sanbing’s motorcycle.
“I told him I’d go find him once things here wrapped up,” Sanbing said. “Even though he said no need, I already said it. If I don’t go, it feels disloyal.”
“The bike getting there is enough,” Shan Yu patted the handlebars. “I’ll vouch for you. Say you had no choice. If you go, the boss will dock your pay for skipping work.”
“I’m heading out then, Uncle,” Chen Jian hopped onto his scooter. “If anything else comes up, I’ll let you know right away.”
“Sure, sure. No need to come all the way down here, just give me a call.”
Chen Jian nodded, started the engine, and rode out of the barbecue grounds.
The negotiations had gone relatively smoothly. Just as Shan Yu predicted, the moment they finished talking with the first few families, word spread to these guys immediately, and they instantly felt they were getting the short end of the stick. If Chen Jian hadn’t taken the initiative to come over, and they had come knocking instead, it probably wouldn’t have been such an easy conversation.
Just as he reached the corner to turn onto the narrow road, he looked up and spotted a motorcycle parked by the roadside ahead.
It was Sanbing’s bike.
Sanbing’s bike was incredibly easy to recognize; both wheel hubs were painted a custom red, visible from miles away.
But looking at the rider’s posture and leg length, it definitely wasn’t Sanbing.
It was Shan Yu.
Stunned, Chen Jian pulled up in front of him and stopped. “How did you ride with that hand?”
“I just can’t straighten it. Twisting is fine,” Shan Yu said.
“What are you doing here?” Chen Jian asked.
“Supervising,” Shan Yu said.
“We finished talking, went pretty smoothly,” Chen Jian paused. “You didn’t come for this, did you?”
Shan Yu didn’t say anything, just looked at him.
“Is it about the accessory shop?” Chen Jian asked.
Shan Yu sighed softly.
“About… the coffin?” Chen Jian pressed.
“The boss lady came to the inn looking for you guys,” Shan Yu said. “Just sent her away.”
Chen Jian frowned.
“Want to go on a date?” Shan Yu asked.
Chen Jian stared at him. “What?”
“I’m asking you out,” Shan Yu said.
“Where to?” Chen Jian asked.
In the freezing cold, having skipped breakfast, the two of them sat leaning against a pile of uncollected branches someone had left by the woods along the riverbank, soaking in the sun for their date.
“This setting is a bit tragic,” Shan Yu remarked.
“Are you cold?” Chen Jian asked.
“Sitting in the sun, no,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian squeezed his hand. It was alright; still warm for now.
“Did the boss lady come over wanting us to pay for the glass?” Chen Jian asked.
“Mm,” Shan Yu nodded. “How do you want to handle it?”
“Pay my ass,” Chen Jian said, then added with a twinge of worry, “She didn’t cause trouble for you, did she?”
“You mean to ask if I caused trouble for her, right?” Shan Yu clicked his tongue.
Chen Jian smiled without a word.
“I wanted to cause trouble for her,” Shan Yu admitted. “I wasn’t planning to get involved originally, but she spoke way too casually. It rubbed me the wrong way.”
“For a lot of people… this kind of thing really is just idle gossip over a meal. Just a casual remark,” Chen Jian said softly. “Actually… I prefer it that way.”
Shan Yu froze, turning to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“The more casually it’s spoken of, the less they care. The less they care, the faster it fades,” Chen Jian said. “Only when it fades completely will people eventually forget and stop bringing it up.”
“I figured you probably wouldn’t want to blow things out of proportion,” Shan Yu said, “but I never considered this angle.”
“It was a long time ago,” Chen Jian smiled. “I’m not that little kid anymore.”
“You really are…” Shan Yu squeezed his hand.
“I don’t care much about the event itself. I just can’t stand when someone suddenly uses it to poke at me,” Chen Jian squeezed back, gently kneading Shan Yu’s hand. “Whether it’s pity or a jab, sometimes it feels exactly the same…”
“Hmm?” Shan Yu sounded questioning.
“An abandoned child. That’s what they all think,” Chen Jian tilted his head back against the branches. “You thought the same thing, right? Where was my dad, why didn’t he take care of me.”
“…Yeah,” Shan Yu nodded.
“My dad was in the city back then. After the house was taken as collateral, we agreed I could stay in it for another month,” Chen Jian said. “He was supposed to scrape together some money to rent a place. But after only half a month, they told me they needed the space, so I had to leave.”
“You didn’t tell your dad, did you?” Shan Yu asked.
“Mm. He was already going crazy with worry,” Chen Jian said. “I was also scared someone in the village would tell him, so I secretly found a place to stay.”
“What were you thinking, sleeping in a coffin?” Shan Yu lifted an arm and wrapped it around his shoulder.
“Winter was setting in. At first, I just hid in an empty room, but there was no heating,” Chen Jian’s voice grew very quiet. “I felt the coffin would be warmer… I didn’t sleep there for many days before Xiao Dou’er’s grandma found me. After that, I lived at their house.”
“What about the family that took your house?” Shan Yu asked. “Do they still live there?”
“Moved away a long time ago,” Chen Jian said. “The house was abandoned, and it collapsed the year before last.”
Shan Yu said nothing, tightening his arm around him.
“It’s all in the past,” Chen Jian said. “Let it stay in the past.”
“Mm,” Shan Yu sighed softly.
“I’m hungry,” Chen Jian said, eyes closed.
“I’m hungry too,” Shan Yu said.
Resting his head on Shan Yu’s arm with his eyes closed, Chen Jian felt the sunlight wash over his face. Golden light sparkled behind his eyelids, bringing a comforting wave of dizziness. Even though he said he was hungry, he didn’t want to move.
“Want to go grab a bite, or head back to the inn to eat?” Shan Yu asked.
“Let’s head back. Zhao-jie definitely made breakfast,” Chen Jian said.
After that exchange, neither of them moved.
“How about you open your mouth first,” Shan Yu suggested.
“Hm?” Chen Jian tilted his head, squinting at him.
“Drink some wind to line your stomach,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian started laughing.
“Shall we go?” Shan Yu asked.
“Mm.” Chen Jian acknowledged, leaning over to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
Just as he was about to turn away, Shan Yu pressed a finger against his cheek and kissed him back.
The sunlight seemed to suddenly explode—bright and warm, as if even the wind had been barred outside the vast expanse of golden light.
When they returned to Dayin, Chen Erhu was sitting at the front desk checking in newly arrived guests. Hu Pan and Sanbing were in the dining area eating what could only be described as a cross between breakfast and lunch.
“Have you two eaten?” Hu Pan waved. “It’s wontons today.”
“Want some?” Chen Jian asked Shan Yu.
“Yeah,” Shan Yu nodded.
“Tell Zhao-jie she doesn’t need to cook lunch, just order something in,” Chen Jian pulled up a chair. He scooped a bowl of wontons from the pot for Shan Yu, then another for himself. “Did it get busy today?”
“Yeah,” Hu Pan slurped her soup. “Someone’s coming for a server interview at noon, Store Manager.”
“Mm,” Chen Jian responded. “Just one person? Anyone for cleaning?”
“Just one,” Hu Pan said. “That’s already pretty good. Someone posted a job opening in the group chat a few days ago for a guesthouse up the mountain, and they still haven’t gotten a single bite. At least we’re still down in the town.”
Chen Jian sighed. It was the end of the year, making it hard to hire, and this place was quite remote. It was much easier to hire in the old town.
“What time is it scheduled for?” he asked.
“One o’clock. Aren’t you going to driving practice this afternoon? The timing is perfect right after the interview,” Hu Pan said.
“You booked practice sessions this tightly?” Shan Yu, having rapidly polished off a bowl of wontons, looked up to ask.
“The instructor is worried that if I take too long to get my license, the job of driving the boss around will fall through,” Chen Jian said. “He wants me to finish the whole thing within two months.”
Shan Yu went back to the office as soon as he finished eating.
While Chen Jian was at the front desk reviewing the check-ins, he received a message.
[Fa Shan Ke Chen]:Want me to drop you off
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]:No need if you’re busy
[Fa Shan Ke Chen]:?
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]:Drop me off
After sending the message, Chen Jian noticed that Shan Yu had changed his profile picture again. It was now the solo shot of Chen Jian from the viewing platform.
Chen Jian had to hand it to him. The boss had far too much free time on his hands every day, changing his avatar just for fun.
“Did you two go deliver a coffin?” Sanbing leaned against the front desk and asked.
“What the hell?” Chen Jian froze.
“Boss Shan said he was going to send a coffin to the accessory shop,” Sanbing said.
“What the hell?” Chen Jian repeated, still stunned.
“See, this is how rumors start,” Hu Pan leaned in closer, lowering her voice. “He actually said he was giving the boss lady a choice: either Chen Jian handles it himself, or he handles it. If he handles it, he’ll send a coffin over.”
That really wasn’t much of a difference.
“Shan Yu is pretty loyal,” Chen Erhu chimed in with profound solemnity.
For a moment, Chen Jian couldn’t find the words.
He was shocked by Shan Yu’s unhinged behavior.
But at the same time, an intense, trembling sense of satisfaction washed over him.
It was hard to describe.
Just… a lot of trembling.
A hand laden with sparkling beads suddenly thrust into the middle of the group and rapped twice on the front desk.
The group, deeply engrossed in their hushed gossip, jumped in shock and looked up simultaneously.
A woman wearing dark sunglasses and bright red lipstick stood by the desk. Massive hoop earrings dangled from her earlobes, highly conspicuous against her fluffy, cropped jacket.
“Hello, do you have a reservation?” Conditioned by pure professional reflex, Chen Erhu immediately asked.
“I’m here for an interview. Arrived early,” the woman in sunglasses replied.
“An interview?” Chen Jian was taken aback.
No matter how you looked at her, this person seemed to be here on vacation.
“Are you Sun Nana?” Even the avant-garde Hu Pan couldn’t resist asking.
“Yes, I am Sun Nana,” Sun Nana said. “English name: Nana.”
“Is there a difference?” Sanbing asked.
“The difference is that Nana is English,” Sun Nana replied.
“…Oh,” Sanbing looked deeply confused.
“Who’s interviewing me?” Sun Nana took off her sunglasses.
“The Store Manager,” all three of them pointed at Chen Jian simultaneously.
“Where are we talking?” Sun Nana pinched the rim of her sunglasses, scanning the surroundings.
“The cafe area,” Chen Jian exchanged a look with the others and walked toward the cafe.
“Coffee?” Hu Pan followed right behind him. She had taken the morning off and wasn’t working today; one look made it obvious she just wanted to eavesdrop.
“Sure, a cappuccino, thanks,” Sun Nana said.
“We don’t have that,” Hu Pan said. “Only lattes.”
“That works too,” Sun Nana didn’t seem to mind. She walked into the cafe, took a seat, and nodded at Chen Jian. “Store Manager, have a seat.”
“…Right.” Chen Jian sat down. To save time, he skipped the pleasantries and cut straight to the chase. “What position are you interviewing for?”
“Server,” Sun Nana said.
“Do you have relevant work experience?” Chen Jian asked.
“A little,” Sun Nana said.
How little is a little?
Chen Jian looked at her. “In a hotel, or…”
“No experience,” Sun Nana immediately revised her answer. Before Chen Jian could respond, she added, “But I learn very fast.”
Although they only needed a short-term server, given Sun Nana’s general vibe, she really didn’t seem cut out for the job. Chen Jian hesitated, planning a polite rejection.
“How about this. You have other people scheduled for interviews after you, right?” Chen Jian said. “We’ll notify you of the results after all interviews are completed today.”
“Understood.” Sun Nana stood up briskly, walked over to the front desk, and waved at Chen Erhu. “Handsome, book a standard room for me.”
Chen Erhu and Sanbing, still standing behind the desk, snapped their heads toward Chen Jian.
Chen Jian looked right back at them, throwing his hands up in defeat.
“What do we do?” Hu Pan scurried over.
“I… have no idea,” Chen Jian said. “Is there anyone else scheduled for an interview?”
“Just this one!” Hu Pan said. “Our only hope! Should you go ask Boss Shan?”
“…Alright.” Chen Jian stood up and headed for the elevator.
“Nana,” Hu Pan called out behind him. “Your coffee’s ready.”
“Thanks, I’ll be right over,” Sun Nana looked back with a smile.
Chen Jian quickly ducked into the elevator, feeling as if Dayin had been cursed with some kind of dark magic when it came to hiring.
