Chen Erhu’s fire safety training was thoroughly prepared. The notebook in his hand was densely packed with writing, proving he had taken his learning very seriously.
What no one expected, however, was that this was only the first lesson.
“Today, we covered the basics of fires—including definitions, classifications, hazards, and prevention measures.” After getting through one entire lesson, Chen Erhu’s speech had become remarkably smoother. “We also went over the inn’s fire safety equipment and signs, safety signs… I inspected the place today and noted down all the areas that aren’t up to standard…”
Chen Erhu looked up at the crowd. After sweeping his gaze around, his eyes landed on Shan Yu.
Shan Yu slowly shifted to the side and pointed at Chen Jian next to him.
“Then, Store Manager Chen,” Chen Erhu looked at Chen Jian. “I’ll give you the feedback, and you have someone fix it.”
“Alright.” Chen Jian nodded.
Such tasks would inevitably be assigned by the store manager to the pigpen security team—they were all mindless brute labor anyway.
Chen Erhu had essentially gone in a full circle, putting on airs only to assign work to himself.
“Next, either tomorrow or the day after, we’ll have another lesson,” Chen Erhu said. “We’ll talk about what staff should do when a fire breaks out, duties, and emergency response. This will require everyone’s cooperation and includes evacuation and firefighting.”
Chen Jian tilted his head slightly, looking at Shan Yu.
“Full cooperation,” Shan Yu nodded, leaning closer to Chen Jian. “Take some photos during the fire drill later. Keep them on file.”
“Oh.” Chen Jian responded.
By the time class was over and the patrol and cleaning duties were finished, it was quite late. Except for Lao Si, who was on duty, everyone else had gone to rest.
Tomorrow was the final day of preparations for the bonfire festival. There was a lot to do, so Chen Jian wanted to stay in Shan Yu’s office for a bit before returning to the dorm. Before tackling complex, major tasks like this, spending time with Shan Yu made him feel grounded.
But Chen Erhu was pumped. Chen Jian was already standing at Shan Yu’s office door when Chen Erhu followed him over: “Are you looking for Shan Yu?”
“I…” Chen Jian didn’t know what to say.
Through the crack in the slightly open door, he could see Shan Yu sitting behind the desk. Shan Yu, who had been sitting perfectly still, heard Chen Erhu’s voice and slowly slid sideways in his broken, permanently-reclined chair until he was out of sight.
“Perfect timing, let’s go chat with him together,” Chen Erhu said.
Hearing this, Chen Jian quickly grabbed the door handle and said, “He’s asleep. I knocked for ages and he didn’t answer.”
Shan Yu had probably quietly slid all the way over to the window by now. Neither he nor his upright chair could be seen through the gap anymore.
“Oh…” Chen Erhu sounded a bit disappointed. “Then want to chat?”
He was a store manager, after all.
Why did a boss need a store manager?
Precisely so the store manager could hold the line when the boss wanted to hide.
“Mm.” Chen Jian agreed, casually pulling the ajar door completely shut.
He hadn’t even reached the dorm room door when his phone chimed with an incoming message.
He looked back toward the office; it was probably Shan Yu.
Pulling out his phone, he saw he was right.
But Fa Shan Ke Chen hadn’t said anything—he merely sent a sticker.
[How can I live without you.jpg]
Chen Jian couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“What’s up?” Chen Erhu immediately turned to look at him.
Before Chen Jian could wipe the smile off his face, he had to say, “Just in a good mood.”
“Right?” Chen Erhu laughed too. “I’m in a great mood too.”
Two different reasons, Boss Chen.
“Mm,” Chen Jian nodded.
Back in the men’s dorm, Sanbing and Lao Wu were already asleep. Chen Jian leaned against the head of his bed. Chen Erhu had initially leaned against his own bed, but after exchanging barely two sentences, he got up, dragged a chair over, and sat right by Chen Jian’s bed.
Completely severing any hope Chen Jian had of texting Shan Yu.
He sent Shan Yu a quick message.
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]:Erhu is sitting right by my bed like he’s visiting a patient…
It took a while before Fa Shan Ke Chen replied with another image.
It wasn’t a sticker this time, but a diagram of the human carotid artery. An arrow was drawn pointing to a specific spot, with words clearly handwritten by Shan Yu.
Chop here.
This time, Chen Jian truly couldn’t hold it in. Holding his phone, he laughed for ages. If Chen Erhu, sitting next to him, hadn’t started to look annoyed, he wouldn’t have been able to stop.
“It’s nothing,” Chen Jian set his phone aside and patted Chen Erhu’s shoulder. “Let’s talk about our stuff.”
“Did you eat something weird?” Chen Erhu looked at him. “I’ve never seen you this amused.”
“No, just thinking about…” Chen Jian quickly fabricated an excuse, “Once the bonfire festival starts, we get to join in on the fun… so I’m pretty happy.”
“Speaking of the bonfire festival,” Chen Erhu perked up. “We gotta head over early tomorrow. There’s a lot to do. Let me tell you…”
Chen Jian could understand Chen Erhu’s excitement. Since leaving school, the most high-profile event Chen Erhu had ever participated in was probably harassing town business owners and getting beaten up by Chen Dahu. The only meetings he had ever chaired were the four-man smoking summits held in the old pigpen.
This time, being sent out for fire safety training and returning to instruct the entire staff—including the boss—had instantly elevated that “second home” feeling into a genuine sense of ownership.
Chen Jian barely needed to speak. A simple “mm” was enough to keep Chen Erhu talking for two straight minutes.
From the bonfire festival to the inn’s fire safety, to the town’s development, back to the inn’s service, and on to the future of local guesthouses…
Chen Jian was already half-asleep, but Chen Erhu was clearly still fired up, his mouth running non-stop.
Chen Jian was incredibly impressed with Sanbing and Lao Wu, lying in their beds. They were probably used to it, actually treating their boss’s grand visions as a lullaby—not only had they fallen asleep, but they were also snoring.
Chen Jian didn’t even know when he fell asleep. He only knew that the person who woke him up was still Chen Erhu.
He closed his eyes to Chen Erhu, and opened his eyes to Chen Erhu.
So despairing.
“Time to get up,” Chen Erhu looked at him, full of energy. “Store Manager.”
Stifling his morning temper, Chen Jian sat up in silence. Seeing the quilt covering him, he paused and glanced at Chen Erhu.
“I covered you up last night. You fell asleep halfway through my fucking sentence,” Chen Erhu grumbled, a bit dissatisfied. “I gave you face by not yanking you back up.”
“I kowtow to you in gratitude.” Chen Jian threw off the quilt and got out of bed. Picking up his phone, he checked the time: seven o’clock.
Not bad. Roughly his usual wake-up time anyway.
There was also a message from Shan Yu, sent past 2 AM.
[Fa Shan Ke Chen]:Took pills to sleep. Don’t wake me tomorrow.
Chen Jian frowned.
Whenever he had chatted with Shan Yu before, Shan Yu would eventually fall asleep. He had hardly noticed Shan Yu’s difficulty sleeping. If he had just stayed up chatting with Shan Yu last night, would Shan Yu have avoided needing medication?
Looking at the message, Chen Jian, who had already walked out of the room, almost wanted to go back and chop Chen Erhu unconscious just like the diagram had shown.
The office door was closed. Taking advantage of the fact that Chen Erhu had already headed downstairs, Chen Jian walked over and gently turned the doorknob.
The door was closed, but not locked.
He pushed the door open, stuck his head in, and looked around. Shan Yu wasn’t on the sofa.
Keeping his head wedged in the gap for at least half a minute, Chen Jian finally tiptoed into the office and walked to the bedroom door.
The bedroom door was shut. He pressed his ear against it, though he didn’t know what he was listening for. Since Shan Yu took medication to sleep, he was definitely dead to the world right now. He didn’t dare open the bedroom door, terrified the noise would wake Shan Yu up after he had finally managed to fall asleep.
After standing by the door for a minute or two, Chen Jian tiptoed back out of the office.
Tourists were already starting to use the elevator, so he took the stairs as usual.
Reaching the ground floor, he saw Sun Nana standing by the restaurant entrance, elegantly telling every guest who walked in: “Please head to the front desk after 3 PM today to pick up your free barbecue voucher for tomorrow’s bonfire festival. One per person, children included.”
Seeing Chen Jian, she raised a hand and gave a little wave with her fingers: “Morning, Store Manager.”
“Morning,” Chen Jian glanced at the restaurant. Breakfast had already been laid out. “Have you eaten?”
“Already did,” Sun Nana nodded. “Don’t have much of an appetite in the mornings, just had a bowl of soy milk.”
“Eat more at lunch. It’s going to get busy soon,” Chen Jian said.
“Mm-hmm,” Sun Nana replied.
After breakfast, Chen Jian and Chen Erhu headed to the barbecue grounds together.
Representatives from all the participating guesthouses had shown up. Given the style of those specific guesthouses, they’d probably try to squeeze some minor advantage out of the venue setup for themselves. Bringing Chen Erhu—who, despite turning over a new leaf, was still a former thug with a minor reputation across the surrounding villages—made it easier to keep things in check.
The barbecue grounds already had the rough shape of a bonfire festival. Banners, colorful flags, tables, chairs, fire barrels, and equipment zones had been marked out. There was even a stage…
“What’s that stage for?” Chen Jian asked.
“He Liang hired a band to come sing a few songs,” Chen Erhu said. “He said just playing music wasn’t lively enough, so they decided this at the last minute. The band hadn’t been sure if they had time before. I figured it wasn’t a problem, so I let it be.”
“Mm,” Chen Jian nodded.
Having a band was nice, though he wondered how many songs they could actually play in this freezing weather.
Actually, these inns genuinely wanted to make the event a success since it benefited everyone; their only flaw was constantly looking to score petty advantages along the way.
At noon, Sanbing returned with the expedited batch of printed barbecue vouchers in four colors: red, yellow, blue, and green. Chen Jian kept the red ones and told Sanbing to deliver the other colors to Big Li and the rest.
Even before the vouchers were fully separated, guests who saw them were already coming to the front desk to ask for them.
“Nana!” Hu Pan quickly began handing out the tickets.
“Coming.” Sun Nana sauntered over gracefully, grabbed a small notebook from the front desk, and leaned against the back wall. “Hand them out, I’ll log them.”
Chen Jian walked behind the front desk to help Hu Pan tear the vouchers along the perforated lines.
“Please state your room number when you take your voucher…” Hu Pan said as she handed them out.
“It’s fine,” Sun Nana said lazily. “I recognize these folks… Auntie, you’re in 209, right? Four people in your family plus a kid, you can take them all together.”
“That’s right,” the auntie standing by smiled and nodded.
“That young lady is in 106,” Sun Nana glanced over again, “with her boyfriend.”
“Not bad, Nana,” Hu Pan turned back to look at her.
Sun Nana lightly flipped her hair with her pen. “Piece of cake.”
Just as Chen Jian finished tearing the vouchers, a hand suddenly reached over.
“Mm?” Chen Jian looked up and saw Zhou Lecheng standing there.
“Give me one,” Zhou Lecheng smiled.
“It’s cold out, wear more clothes when you go over,” Chen Jian smiled and handed him a ticket.
“Mm,” Zhou Lecheng took the ticket. “I’ll hang out at the bonfire festival for two days, and then I’m heading out.”
Chen Jian walked to the side with him, asking quietly, “Going home?”
“Yeah,” Zhou Lecheng nodded. “This place was a perfect final stop.”
“How has your body been… these past few days?” Chen Jian asked.
“About the same,” Zhou Lecheng said. “I’m not going to get better, but it hasn’t gotten much worse either.”
Chen Jian didn’t know what else to say. After hesitating, he asked, “Let’s add each other on WeChat? So we can keep in touch.”
“Sure,” Zhou Lecheng pulled out his phone. “As long as you don’t mind having an avatar in your contact list that will eventually go dark forever…”
“I don’t mind,” Chen Jian took out his phone. “It’s lit up right now, isn’t it?”
Zhou Lecheng smiled.
After adding him, Zhou Lecheng returned to his room, and Chen Jian took another lap around the inn.
He had a quick phone call with Big Li. Once he confirmed that everyone’s preparations were more or less complete, he grabbed the takeout lunch that had just arrived from the restaurant and headed upstairs, texting Shan Yu at the same time.
[Fa Shan Ke Chen]:Awake, was just about to call you.
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]:I’m coming up.
The office door was open. Chen Jian knocked twice and walked in.
“Finished with work?” Shan Yu was crouching behind his chair.
“Yeah, nothing much going on right now. The guests are all out playing, and the barbecue grounds are basically set,” Chen Jian placed the food on the desk. “Did you sleep well?”
“Taking pills guarantees good sleep, but my head is a bit groggy waking up.” Shan Yu stood up and tried to push the back of the chair upright. The moment he let go, the backrest sank backward with a series of cracks.
To Chen Jian, the sound had taken on a symbolic meaning, every click seemingly bouncing right on his nerves.
“Can’t fix it,” Shan Yu walked over to the sofa and sat down, opening his takeout box. “I was hoping I could fix it to save you some money.”
“What?” Chen Jian turned to look at him.
“This chair isn’t cheap. I looked it up. Over eight thousand,” Shan Yu said. “Your salary isn’t enough to cover the deduction.”
“What the hell?” Chen Jian didn’t even process the second half of Shan Yu’s sentence. He stood up and walked over to the chair. “This piece of garbage? Eight thousand for this spineless thing that snaps in half with one push? What makes it worth eight thousand? What idiot pays over eight thousand for something like this…”
Shan Yu leaned back against the sofa, laughing uncontrollably.
“Are you messing with me?” Chen Jian looked at him.
“No,” Shan Yu pulled out his phone, still laughing. “Really, I just looked it up.”
“Wait,” Chen Jian snapped back to reality. “Why are you deducting my salary?”
“You broke it,” Shan Yu said.
“Weren’t you on it too?!” Chen Jian said.
“I sit on it every single day and it never broke,” Shan Yu said. “You got on it once and broke it.”
“Why did I get on it in the first place?!” Chen Jian glared at him.
Shan Yu just smiled, saying nothing.
“Split it half-and-half,” Chen Jian said.
“I don’t even take a salary. Nothing to deduct,” Shan Yu said.
“Heartless capitalist…” Chen Jian couldn’t help but laugh.
“Mm,” Shan Yu nodded.
Chen Jian walked over to him, leaning over and pressing hard against the back of the sofa. “This sofa is pretty sturdy.”
“Duh, even if it wasn’t, there’s a wall right behind it,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian didn’t say anything, just leaned down and kissed him.
“Very lively today, Store Manager,” Shan Yu touched his face.
“Everything that needed to be done is mostly done,” Chen Jian collapsed onto the sofa next to him. “Now we just wait for tomorrow night.”
“It’s just a bonfire festival, nothing to worry about,” Shan Yu said. “Even if it completely flops, we won’t be the only ones embarrassed. Those three inns spearheaded it; not our fucking problem.”
“…Mm.” Chen Jian thought about it and realized it made sense. “But if it goes well, the credit is ours.”
“Exactly,” Shan Yu said. “Have Yao Yi take some photos tomorrow. They’re leaving the day after. We’ll find someone to write an article—Dayin: The New Era Guesthouse of Hongye Town or something like that, and fabricate an interview with the store manager.”
“Why not interview the boss?” Chen Jian said.
“The boss isn’t reliable,” Shan Yu said. “Having been fired multiple times, he can probably only spout a bunch of reflections on having his power usurped by the staff.”
Chen Jian laughed for ages.
For this bonfire festival, the other inns had done quite a bit of early promotion, and the town had pitched in as well. The five-day event had attracted a sizable crowd of tourists taking short weekend trips from nearby areas.
Just past 8 AM, several cars had already pulled up to Dayin’s entrance. Lao Si, directing traffic out front, was starting to get overwhelmed.
Chen Jian, who had been helping at the front desk, hurried outside. “I’ll go check it out.”
“Move your motorcycles and the inn’s car to the free public parking outside immediately,” Shan Yu, forced to wake up early today, had just finished eating a burger. “Reserve the spots here. If there isn’t enough space later, free them up.”
“Got it,” Chen Jian responded.
While directing cars in the courtyard, just as Lao Si led a group of arriving guests inside, three people appeared at the entrance.
Tourists walking in on foot were relatively rare. He didn’t greet them immediately, wanting to see if they were actually tourists. But when he got a clear look at the middle-aged woman’s face among them, his heart sank.
She looked almost exactly like Hu Pan.
When had Lili snitched to Hu Pan’s brother? It had only been a day, and this family had already tracked her down?
Chen Jian immediately turned and went back inside the inn, pointing at Lao Wu.
Lao Wu ran over. “What’s up, Store Manager?”
“Block those people at the door for a second,” Chen Jian said. “If they’re looking for Panpan, take them through the back door to the conference room. Do not say anything else. If they ask questions, you don’t know anything, you’re not sure.”
“Fuck, I’m on it,” Lao Wu’s expression turned cold instantly.
“Chen Ziyang,” Chen Jian grabbed his arm. “Stall for time. Do not beat them away.”
“Understood.” Lao Wu tossed his hair and headed for the entrance.
Shan Yu had already realized something was wrong and walked straight over. “What is it?”
“Looks like Hu Pan’s family is here,” Chen Jian glanced back. “Just outside the courtyard.”
“Who came?” Shan Yu asked.
“Her parents, and a teenage boy who’s probably her brother,” Chen Jian said. “How do we handle this? Hu Pan isn’t here right now; she went with Sanbing to deliver drinks to the barbecue grounds.”
“Call Sanbing and have him escort Hu Pan back,” Shan Yu said.
“What?” Chen Jian froze.
“She owes me fifty thousand and thinks she can just run,” Shan Yu said. “Perfect timing. Since her parents are here, let’s have them pay up.”
“You really are… incredible.” Chen Jian caught on instantly. He pulled out his phone and dialed Hu Pan’s number.
I love Shan Yu’s unconventional ways of handling things 😂