Being able to wake up this early after actually sleeping well the night before was a rare occurrence. Shan Yu grabbed his phone to check the time; it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet.
Whether he had gotten enough sleep or not, once he was awake, it was very hard to fall back asleep. If he were at Dayin right now, he would get up, go to the window, and look down at the courtyard—watching the staff tending the garden, sweeping the paths outside, and the early-rising tourists heading out to play.
But right now he was at home. When he opened his eyes, it took him a few seconds to parse the overwhelming familiarity out of the unfamiliar room.
Chen Jian, who woke up past seven every day, hadn’t contacted him yet, just as he expected. Shan Yu smiled.
That’s just how the guy was. Even when he agreed to wake him up, he would still wait until around the time Shan Yu usually got up, terrified that calling too early would cost him sleep.
After washing up and changing, Shan Yu walked out of the bedroom toward the dining room, catching the scent of breakfast.
His mom and dad were already sitting at the table, looking as though they had finished eating.
“Morning, President Shan,” his mom looked up and greeted him. “Sleep well?”
“Not bad,” Shan Yu smiled. “Actually fell asleep.”
“You’re up?” His dad turned around, scrutinizing his face as if to verify whether he was telling the truth. “Eat some breakfast. Are you going to the hospital with your mom today?”
“Mm,” Shan Yu nodded, glancing toward the kitchen. “Did you guys make breakfast yourselves?”
“How is that possible? We don’t have those skills,” his dad said. “The housekeeper came early to make it. Specifically asked her to make your favorites, though I don’t know if your tastes have changed over the years.”
“Still like them. Tastes don’t change that easily.” Shan Yu served himself a bowl of congee—minced meat congee topped with some crushed crispy fritters, paired with a few small siu mai.
A highly unhealthy breakfast of carbs, sugar, and oil, with protein levels hovering around zero, was complete.
“What time is the check-up scheduled for?” Shan Yu asked his mom.
“Between eight-thirty and nine,” his mom said.
Shan Yu sat down, picked up a siu mai, and took a bite. Glancing at his phone and realizing it was already eight-ten, he immediately stood back up.
“No rush,” his mom said. “Keep eating.”
Shan Yu didn’t move. Standing, he swallowed the bite of siu mai before saying, “If we go after I finish eating, we’ll have to reschedule your hospital appointment.”
“It’s nothing major,” his mom said. “We can just wait at the clinic. Keep eating.”
Shan Yu hesitated, then sat back down, lowering his head to take a sip of congee.
“You’re not leaving yet?” His mom glanced at his dad. “Didn’t you say you have a seminar this morning?”
“I’ll leave after he finishes eating,” his dad looked at Shan Yu. “In case he wants something else, I can go buy it.”
“Why don’t you stand next to him then,” his mom said. “Hand him a towel to wipe his hands or something, and he can leave you a ten-yuan tip later.”
His dad laughed.
Shan Yu smiled and took a sip of water. “If you have things to do, go ahead. This is plenty for me.”
“Alright, I’ll just go make an appearance,” his dad stood up. “Take your time eating.”
Even though his mom told him not to rush, Shan Yu still finished his breakfast quickly. He swallowed the last siu mai right as he stepped into the elevator.
He was originally wondering if he still remembered the roads since he’d be driving, but when they reached the garage, he found Assistant Xiao Ye already standing by the garage door.
“Xiao Ye is driving?” Shan Yu asked.
His mom used to drive herself everywhere; she really had quite the entourage now.
“Mm,” his mom nodded, then leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “I’ve gotten a bit farsighted these past two years. Plus, I already had astigmatism, so I can’t see very well, especially driving at night.”
“Then it’s safer to have someone drive.” Shan Yu nodded.
A sudden wave of sadness hit him. In his mind, every memory of his mom’s condition was frozen from five or six years ago. Back then, his mom was a career woman who seemed like she would never age—decisive, fearless, a force of nature.
Now, she was getting sick, getting scared, getting farsighted.
As the car pulled out of the garage, Shan Yu sat in the back seat with his mom. He pulled his phone from his inner pocket to check; Chen Jian still hadn’t called or messaged.
Rebellion!
Just as he was about to send a message scolding him, his phone rang.
It was Chen Jian.
Shan Yu waited two seconds before answering: “Hello?”
“Are you up?” Chen Jian asked.
“Already out the door,” Shan Yu said.
“This early?” Chen Jian paused. “Going to the hospital with your mom?”
“Yeah, she has a check-up this morning.” Shan Yu glanced at his mom.
“Are you in the car?” Chen Jian’s voice suddenly softened.
Shan Yu smiled. “Mm.”
“Are you driving?” Chen Jian asked.
“No,” Shan Yu said.
“You’re making your mom drive?” Chen Jian was shocked, but kept his voice very low, terrified of being overheard by President Liu.
“Her assistant is driving,” Shan Yu said.
“Oh,” Chen Jian paused. “Then you still can’t compare to President Liu. Your assistant only just booked his Subject 3 test.”
Shan Yu couldn’t hold back a laugh. “It’s fine. Should have his license before the New Year.”
“Keep your voice down,” Chen Jian whispered. “Call me back when you’re done at the hospital. I have things to tell you.”
“Just tell me now,” Shan Yu said. “It’s a half-hour drive to the hospital.”
“Morning rush hour. It’ll take over forty minutes,” Xiao Ye said quietly from the front.
“Oh, over forty minutes,” Shan Yu corrected.
“Two things, I’ll say the short one first,” Chen Jian said. “Just now, a fight broke out at Liangye. One of their servers got into it with Da Li and almost stabbed him with a screwdriver.”
“You guys stopped him, right?” Shan Yu asked.
“Mm,” Chen Jian acknowledged. “How did you know?”
“Their staff is all girls. If you guys hadn’t gone over to stop it, who could Da Li fight off with his build?” Shan Yu said. “He would’ve been stabbed into a showerhead by now.”
His mom smiled beside him.
“That server refuses to stay at Liangye and wants to rest at our place,” Chen Jian kept his voice low. “I was afraid of making too much of a scene, so I let him come over. How should we handle this now?”
“Why were they fighting?” Shan Yu asked.
“Hasn’t had a day off in two months. Apparently got caught resting in the storage room. Wanted to ask for leave, Da Li refused, and he exploded,” Chen Jian said. “From what I can tell… what if he says he wants to stay and work for us?”
“What do you think?” Shan Yu volleyed back.
“Even though our policy is ‘help out wherever we can’…” Chen Jian said, “we don’t have any openings right now. Lao Si and Lao Wu were supposed to go be apprentices before the New Year, but neither of them left…”
“Even if we had an opening, we couldn’t keep him,” Shan Yu said. “This guy has no self-control, and we don’t know his background like we do Chen Erhu’s crew. Keeping him might cause trouble later.”
“Mm,” Chen Jian responded. “Got it.”
“Be tactful. If he wants to leave, have Chen Erhu drive him to town,” Shan Yu said. “Don’t let him hold a grudge against us… Do you need me to teach you what to say?”
“Tactful? You teaching me?” Chen Jian scoffed. “If I use what you teach me, I’m afraid he’ll come stab me with the screwdriver.”
Shan Yu laughed out loud.
“Also, there’s another thing, and this one is a massive headache,” Chen Jian’s voice suddenly filled with distress. Shan Yu could practically hear him frowning. “I have no idea what to do.”
“Just say it. What could possibly be that unmanageable?” Shan Yu said.
“Old Ding just called and told us to go to a meeting in the city. Some meeting organized by the Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau about key tourist attractions. Dayin has to attend,” Chen Jian said.
“When?” Shan Yu asked.
“Next Monday,” Chen Jian said. “In two days.”
“Mm, isn’t that a good thing?” Shan Yu said.
“The event itself is a good thing, but who is going?!” Chen Jian yelled in a hushed whisper. “It’s a meeting in the city! It’s going to be restaurant representatives, guesthouse representatives, tourism project directors…”
“Who else from the town is going besides us?” Shan Yu asked.
“So many people. From childhood to now, the biggest event I’ve ever attended was a school opening ceremony or closing ceremony,” Chen Jian didn’t even listen to him. “Old Ding also said there’d be speeches! We might have to speak! Boss! What if I have to give a speech?! I nearly cracked just holding our own staff meeting before…”
Chen Jian was so deeply immersed in his panic that he forgot to control his volume. His voice blared louder and louder from the earpiece. President Liu, sitting right next to Shan Yu, heard every word clearly and eventually turned her head away to laugh.
“Hey,” Shan Yu laughed, interrupting Chen Jian. “I’m asking you, who else is going?”
“Oh,” Chen Jian snapped back. “Besides Dayin, the Hillside Restaurant, the rafting company, and Old Ding.”
“Then Dayin is being taken quite seriously this time,” Shan Yu thought for a moment. “Don’t be nervous. Hongye Town is sending four representatives alone. Even if only key tourist spots are attending, there won’t be a small number of people. Even if they ask you to speak, it’ll just be two or three sentences. What’s there to be afraid of?”
“…Am I really going alone?” Chen Jian was stunned.
“You understand guesthouses and the town better than Old Ding or anyone else. Out of the businesses going, not a single one is a true, native-born local,” Shan Yu said unhurriedly. “You have the most solid foundation.”
Chen Jian didn’t speak, seemingly lost in thought.
“Take a look at the document I sent to Lu Yun on my laptop,” Shan Yu said. “If you really have to speak, just pick a few concluding sentences from there and say them.”
“Who is Lu Yun?” Chen Jian asked.
“Director Lu. The character is a ‘field’ (田) radical next to ‘even’ (勻),” Shan Yu said.
“That’s a character?” Chen Jian was probably tracing it in the air.
“Mm. It means flat and neat,” Shan Yu said.
“As expected of the Boss, knowing even this,” Chen Jian said.
“I looked it up,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian paused, then laughed a few seconds later: “Fuck.”
“You still have a few days. You’ll be fine preparing for it,” Shan Yu said. “If I went, I’d just go to the bathroom during the speech segment anyway.”
“You…” Chen Jian hesitated, then sighed. “You wouldn’t. But I also know you probably can’t go. Running off after barely being home for two days wouldn’t look good.”
“Chen Jian,” Shan Yu called his name.
“Don’t say my name,” Chen Jian whispered urgently. “If your mom hears, she’ll know it’s me.”
“…Can she not know?” Shan Yu asked.
“I don’t know, it’s just a bit embarrassing. I keep thinking about when I answered the phone last time. Too awkward,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu smiled without speaking.
A moment later, Chen Jian seemed to suddenly realize something, asking in a hushed, breathy whisper: “Does she know?”
“What?” Shan Yu’s lips curled up.
“Just…” Chen Jian trailed off halfway. “Why don’t you activate that superpower of yours?”
“Mm, yeah,” Shan Yu smiled. “She knows.”
“Holy… shit,” Chen Jian groaned like he had a stomachache. “Let’s just leave it at that. You keep your mom company for now.”
“Go review that document and prepare,” Shan Yu said. “Take notes on the key points from the meeting too. You have to report back to me when you return.”
“Got it, got it, Boss,” Chen Jian muttered rapidly.
“Get back to work,” Shan Yu said.
“Mm,” Chen Jian responded. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Mm,” Shan Yu acknowledged, but didn’t hang up.
Chen Jian didn’t hang up either. A few seconds later, he asked, “Are you waiting for me to hang up first?”
“No,” Shan Yu said.
“I miss you a lot,” Chen Jian whispered breathily. “Especially when I think about having to go to that meeting by myself on Monday, I miss you even more.”
“Mm,” Shan Yu smiled. “Hang up.”
“Are you not going to that meeting?” his mom asked after Chen Jian hung up.
“No, I just got back,” Shan Yu said. “He might be nervous, but when push comes to shove with serious matters, he can get them done well.”
“You should still try to go if you have time. From the sound of it, the poor kid is terrified out of his wits,” his mom said. “He’s still young, after all. About Liu Wu’s age.”
“He’s far more reliable than Liu Wu,” Shan Yu said.
“Oh,” his mom said. “Might not want Liu Wu to hear that.”
“As long as you don’t snitch,” Shan Yu said.
“Hard to say,” his mom replied.
Shan Yu turned and smiled at her.
“Even if I told him, it wouldn’t affect him,” his mom smiled. “Your aunt tried so hard to stop him from always following you around back then, and it didn’t work at all.”
“Back then I…” Shan Yu sighed softly.
“You weren’t bad back then. Sometimes I got a little annoyed when I wouldn’t let you keep dragging him around,” his mom said, “just to show your aunt that he couldn’t be chased away even if we tried.”
“Aren’t you a bit childish,” Shan Yu smiled.
“Can’t help it,” his mom threw her hands up. “Being too mature makes you age faster.”
Xiao Ye knew the roads very well, taking several shortcuts Shan Yu didn’t even recognize. They arrived at the hospital before nine, right in time for his mom’s check-up.
Shan Yu accompanying his mom was quite literally just accompanying. Unfamiliar with the hospital, Xiao Ye handled almost everything. His sole job was to be his mother’s mascot.
While his mom went in for the check-up, Shan Yu waited in the hallway with Xiao Ye.
“Were you abroad before this?” Xiao Ye asked him.
“Not… exactly.” If it were anyone else, he would have just said he was in prison. But this was his mom’s employee, so he didn’t dare be so brazen. “But it is true I haven’t been home in a few years.”
“President Liu is in a really good mood today,” Xiao Ye said. “I can tell. You should come back and visit her more often when you have time.”
“…Mm,” Shan Yu nodded. “How long have you been her assistant?”
“Two years,” Xiao Ye smiled. “But I joined the company right after college. I was an office secretary for two years before that.”
“Impressive,” Shan Yu said.
“When President Liu first started mentoring me, I always made mistakes,” Xiao Ye said. “She taught me bit by bit, too.”
That “too” was probably because Xiao Ye had overheard his phone call with Chen Jian in the car.
“You and your mother are very alike,” Xiao Ye said.
Shan Yu smiled. “She is my biological mother, after all.”
Xiao Ye was quite busy. Even sitting in the hallway, she held a folder and was constantly on the phone.
Shan Yu walked over to the window and made a call of his own.
Although he was sending Chen Jian to the meeting, there were some things he still needed to figure out first.
“Hello,” Yao Yi’s voice came through.
“Busy?” Shan Yu asked.
“Nope,” Yao Yi said. “Are you back?”
“Arrived yesterday afternoon,” Shan Yu said. “Bring your husband out for dinner tomorrow?”
“Mm,” Yao Yi chuckled. “What do you need me for?”
“So sharp,” Shan Yu said.
“Since when do you initiate dinner plans with me?” Yao Yi countered.
“Are you familiar with the people at the Culture and Tourism Bureau?” Shan Yu asked.
“So-so. I run into them at provincial meetings sometimes,” Yao Yi said. “Depends on who it is.”
“Lu Yun. Know him?” Shan Yu said.
“Not super close, but I know of him. A workaholic with a very bright future,” Yao Yi said. “Deputy Director of the Resource Development Department over there. What’s up?”
“He swung by Dayin a while back,” Shan Yu said.
“Then your town has a real shot,” Yao Yi said. “He spearheaded the promotion of a few ancient villages earlier this year, very successfully.”
“Then the meeting we’re attending next week should be his too…” Shan Yu said. “Got it.”
“Want me to put in a good word for you?” Yao Yi asked.
“Didn’t you say you weren’t close?” Shan Yu said.
“I have people who are close to him,” Yao Yi said.
“Save the favor for later,” Shan Yu said. “I’m just asking about the meeting. No need to pull big strings for this.”
“Taking this pretty seriously, aren’t we, Boss Shan,” Yao Yi teased. “Planning on staying in the small town long-term?”
“Idle hands,” Shan Yu said.
Opening Shan Yu’s laptop left Chen Jian stunned.
The desktop wallpaper was the group photo from their BBQ party in the garden. Although it wasn’t just the two of them in the shot—it included all the Dayin staff—it was still a bit… He didn’t even know when Shan Yu had changed it.
Though, if someone else were to look at it, they probably wouldn’t notice right away.
Because the entire desktop was absolutely littered with folders and files, completely covering their faces.
Chen Jian had no idea where to even start looking for that document from the other day.
He could only click through the folders one by one.
After checking a few, he stopped. Aside from the usual Dayin operations stuff—like payroll and schedules—there were many files regarding guesthouse management, as well as numerous documents related to tourism development: news articles, essays…
Chen Jian leaned back in the chair, sitting quietly in a daze for a while.
Then he took out his phone, snapped a picture, and sent it to Shan Yu.
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]:Which folder is it in?
Shan Yu replied quickly. It was the same photo he had just sent, but with an arrow drawn on it pointing to a folder, and the handwritten words: Poke it.
Chen Jian thought back to the ‘Chop here’ diagram and couldn’t help but sit there laughing to himself for a very long time.
