Chen Jian’s father stood in front of the small motel, looking somewhat lost.
Shan Yu didn’t know what Chen Jian had just discussed with his dad, but judging by his father’s current state, it couldn’t have been anything catastrophic—probably just asking why he had moved here and why he hadn’t told him.
How could a conversation like that trigger Chen Jian into suddenly deciding he had to come clean right here, right now?
And with such a determined, resolute look on his face.
Those two repetitions of “I’m going to tell him” felt less like giving Shan Yu a heads-up and more like pumping himself up, forcing his own hand.
This was the first time since having the fixator removed from his leg that Shan Yu encountered a situation demanding sheer speed. Fortunately, the resident running champion wasn’t sprinting; he was simply power-walking forward.
“Chen Jian!” Covering ground in a few long strides, Shan Yu caught up and firmly grabbed Chen Jian’s arm.
Yanked to a sudden halt, Chen Jian whipped his head around.
Over by the motel, Chen Jian’s father looked over in surprise, appearing as though he wanted to walk in their direction.
“What are you doing?” Chen Jian pulled at his arm, trying to break free from Shan Yu’s grip.
“Don’t rush. Listen to me first.” Shan Yu held onto his arm without letting go, while flashing a reassuring smile and raising a hand toward Chen Jian’s father, signaling that everything was fine and asking him to wait where he was.
His father hesitated and stayed put.
“Tell me in a minute. Let me finish talking to my dad first. If I don’t say it now…” Chen Jian frowned. Since they were out in public on the street, he couldn’t struggle too violently.
“If you don’t say it now, you won’t be able to say it later,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian looked at him.
“Then don’t say it,” Shan Yu said. “The fallout of an impulsive move might not be something you can handle.”
“Whether it’s courage or an impulse, the consequences are pretty much the same,” Chen Jian said. “I…”
“I’m going to let go now,” Shan Yu looked him in the eye. “Promise me you won’t go over there, and hear me out. If you dare make a break for it the second I release you, I’ll chop you unconscious in half a second, and I guarantee you won’t dodge it.”
Chen Jian fell silent for two seconds before murmuring, “Fine.”
Shan Yu released his grip, turned, and walked back toward the car. “Come here.”
Chen Jian glanced at his father. His dad looked anxious—after all, he only knew Shan Yu was his son’s boss, with no idea what was happening. Seeing the boss physically grab his son, he was probably worried Chen Jian might lose his job…
I’m fine. Chen Jian mouthed the words to his dad, then followed Shan Yu back to the car.
The car blocked his father’s line of sight. The moment he was out of his father’s gaze, the surge of courage to lay everything bare dissipated by more than half.
He felt instantly deflated and stifled, yet beneath that tangled web of emotion lay a sense of relief from being forced to retreat.
The moment he noticed that relief, he felt even more dejected.
He stared at Shan Yu in silence.
“Some things you can do on impulse,” Shan Yu said. “Other things require careful consideration, groundwork, and sometimes even the protection of avoidance.”
“I don’t understand.” Chen Jian’s voice was muffled.
“What are you going to say to him? That you’re dating your boss?” Shan Yu asked. “And then what? What about the New Year? Fine, say you don’t celebrate it, and I don’t celebrate it—are you going to ruin your dad’s New Year too? What’s his situation right now? He lost his job, right? The rental place is gone, and he’s staying in a dive like this. Are you going to strip away his New Year right at this exact moment?”
“He always thinks my life is too hard, that things are bad for me, that he’s dragging me down. He’s terrified I’ll lose my job, terrified I’ll cross my boss,” Chen Jian said, his voice trembling uncontrollably as the emotions welled up, forcing him to keep it hushed. “I just wanted him to know I’m doing really well. That my boss won’t give me a hard time. That he can focus on working peacefully and tell me when things happen, without living such a bitter life… He hasn’t even been paid, yet this month he still deposited four thousand yuan into the debt-repayment account…”
“Then let him see it,” Shan Yu looked at him. “Let him see what your workplace looks like, what kind of person your boss is, who your colleagues are, how you work, and how you live.”
Chen Jian sniffled, staying silent.
“Can’t explain everything to you right now,” Shan Yu opened the car door and pulled the packaged holiday goods from the back seat. “I’m going over to talk to him.”
“What?” Snapping back to his senses, Chen Jian reached out to take the packages. “I’ll go.”
“Stay here. Come over in two minutes,” Shan Yu said. “I don’t really trust you right now. You’re acting like you ate poisonous mushrooms.”
Chen Jian had no idea what Shan Yu was planning, but after making such an abrupt scene, he did owe his dad an explanation.
In moments like this, Shan Yu was someone he could trust completely.
“Sorry about that, Uncle,” Shan Yu walked over to Chen Jian’s father carrying the gift bags and greeted him. “I’m Chen Jian’s boss, Shan Yu.”
“Ah, hello, Boss,” Chen Jian’s father rubbed his hands together nervously. “Chen Jian, he…”
“We had a minor disagreement over work and exchanged a few words,” Shan Yu glanced at the small storefronts nearby—a milk tea shop, a barbecue joint… then pointed toward a lottery shop. “Uncle, let’s sit down and chat for a minute.”
“Ah, sure, sure,” his father nodded quickly, though still bewildered. “Chen Jian, he…”
“Chen Jian has always done a great job as our store manager,” Shan Yu entered the lottery shop and sat on a stool by the door. “Have a seat, Uncle.”
Chen Jian’s father sat down.
“But he just told me he wants to resign,” Shan Yu said. “I definitely can’t agree to that…”
“He’s doing so well, why would he resign?” His father panicked instantly.
“He’s still worried about you,” Shan Yu said. “He wants to come to the city to be closer so it’s easier to look after you.”
“What is there to look after?” his father said right away. “I don’t need him taking care of me. Boss, I…”
“Uncle, look,” Shan Yu said, “I don’t want to lose this store manager either. Finding experienced hands isn’t easy these days, and hiring in a small town is tough enough as it is…”
“Why is he acting like this?” His father rubbed his hands anxiously. “Why would he do that? It’s such a good job.”
“That’s why I need your help with this, Uncle,” Shan Yu said.
“Tell me what to do, Boss,” his father looked at him.
“If anything happens, don’t keep it from Chen Jian,” Shan Yu said. “The more you hide things so he won’t worry, the more unsettled he gets… Not telling him when you were injured, and staying silent about this latest trouble—he can’t focus on his work like that.”
“Sigh.” His father let out a long breath.
“His income is decent now. Aside from his salary, our guesthouse hands out holiday bonuses and perks,” Shan Yu said. “If he really quits, it’s a huge loss for him, and an equally massive blow to my business…”
“I understand, I understand,” his father nodded repeatedly. “I… I’ll tell him when things come up. This time, I just figured since I was going to help out at the inn for the New Year anyway, we could talk about it then…”
After leaning against the car for a while, Chen Jian walked into the lottery shop.
The shop was quite crowded. Some were glued to the TV, others were huddled together deliberating numbers, and some were just shooting the breeze.
His dad and Shan Yu were sitting on stools near the door talking. It didn’t look like casual chatter, though; their auras were so vastly different that it looked more like a labor market hiring interview.
Seeing Chen Jian come in, his father waved. “Chen Jian, don’t you dare think about resigning…”
Resigning?
Who’s resigning?
Is the boss resigning?
Caught completely off guard by his dad’s opening line, Chen Jian shot Shan Yu a look.
“Uncle,” Shan Yu placed the gift bags next to his father’s hand, “these holiday items were handed out by the inn. Chen Jian figured that since you’ll both be spending the New Year at the inn, you wouldn’t finish all of it…”
“Great, great, thank you,” his father patted the bags with an embarrassed smile. “Thank you, Boss, handing out so much stuff.”
He turned to Chen Jian. “Should we give this to Old Zhong? He’s always looked out for me.”
“Mm,” Chen Jian nodded. “Whatever you think is best.”
“I’ll leave you two to chat,” Shan Yu stood up. “I’ll head back to the car.”
“Take care, Boss,” his father said. “Thank you.”
Once Shan Yu walked out, his dad looked considerably more relaxed. He picked up the gift bag and peeked inside. “There’s so much. Giving it all to Old Zhong feels like a bit of a waste…”
Chen Jian chuckled. “We have more at the inn. Don’t be so stingy.”
“Give it all to him,” his father laughed too. “Not stingy.”
“What did our boss say to you?” Chen Jian asked.
“Looks like you really are doing great there,” his dad said. “I was always afraid you were just comforting me. Ever since you were little, you only ever reported the good news and hid the bad…”
“Aren’t you the exact same way?” Chen Jian said.
His dad sighed, wanting to say something, but held back for a moment before finally managing: “Once I track down my back pay in a couple of days, I’ll call you.”
“Mm,” Chen Jian acknowledged. “If you can’t get it back, let me know too. We’ll figure something else out together.”
“Alright,” his dad nodded. “Alright.”
Carrying the gift bags, his father walked into the motel. Chen Jian watched him round the stairs toward the second floor before heading back to the car.
Shan Yu was sitting in the driver’s seat on the phone, waving to him.
Chen Jian opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.
“All of this should be traceable in the system. As the management platform, you can’t just take the station’s word for everything,” Shan Yu said into the phone, reaching out with his free hand to squeeze Chen Jian’s shoulder. “Mm, I hope this gets resolved quickly. The New Year is right around the corner, and wage arrears are a very sensitive topic… Alright, mm, please follow up with me once there’s an outcome.”
Chen Jian paused as he realized what the conversation was about, turning to stare at Shan Yu.
The moment Shan Yu hung up, Chen Jian asked immediately, “Who were you on the phone with?”
“Headquarters for the delivery stations in this district,” Shan Yu said.
“Filing a complaint?” Chen Jian asked.
“What complaint?” Shan Yu said. “Just legal aid looking into wage arrears at individual dispatch stations.”
“…You can do that?” Chen Jian was amazed.
“Who knows,” Shan Yu said. “If they don’t fix it, I’ll just call back posing as a journalist requesting an interview.”
“You really are…” Chen Jian laughed.
Shan Yu buckled his seatbelt, pulled up the navigation, and drove onto the road.
“What did you tell my dad?” Chen Jian asked.
“Just that you suddenly wanted to quit because he always keeps secrets, and you wanted to move to the city to take care of him,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian glanced at him.
“Then I talked up how amazing our inn is,” Shan Yu said. “Great pay, low stress, fantastic colleagues.”
“…Low stress?” Chen Jian laughed.
“When bragging to outsiders, you always have to disregard a few facts,” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian fell quiet for a moment before letting out a soft sigh. “My dad always thought my job was decent, but never believed it was as great as I made it sound. He thought I was just comforting him—wondering how someone with my education and work experience could possibly land a gig like this…”
“And you were still planning to just walk up and blurt everything out to him?” Shan Yu said.
Chen Jian stayed silent.
It really had been impulsive.
His head was only now clearing up completely. When Shan Yu posed the question, a sudden wave of panic washed over him.
“You need to let him see why you were able to secure this job in the first place—through your own ability,” Shan Yu said, “and why you were able to land the boss.”
Chen Jian waited for a beat, but Shan Yu didn’t continue.
“Through what?” he asked.
“Your good looks,” Shan Yu said.
“Fuck off,” Chen Jian laughed. “You’re crazy.”
“And your curly hair,” Shan Yu added.
Chen Jian clicked his tongue.
“Some attractions can’t be put into words. The things you can clearly articulate are always the most superficial,” Shan Yu said. “Falling for someone can happen in an instant, but falling deep is a very complicated process.”
“Mm.” Chen Jian closed his eyes.
It was true.
He couldn’t clearly explain it either.
Why he had fallen so deep—he couldn’t put it into words.
Aside from good looks.
Oh, right, and money.
Compared to Shan Yu’s, his reasons were actually far more grounded.
Chen Jian smiled.
“Still want to tell him?” Shan Yu asked.
“The impulse has passed,” Chen Jian said with his eyes still closed.
“Take it step by step. Let him see that you can live a good life, that you can take responsibility for your own choices,” Shan Yu said. “And… at least let him see what kind of person I am.”
“You’re a very good person,” Chen Jian said.
“Mm,” Shan Yu hummed.
“How did you tell your parents?” Chen Jian asked.
“When my dad asked if Yao Yi was my girlfriend,” Shan Yu said, “I just told him.”
Chen Jian opened his eyes, turning to look at him. “Yao Yi?”
“Yeah. We were pretty close back in school. My dad ran into us on the street twice,” Shan Yu said.
“You just came right out and said it?” Chen Jian asked.
“Yeah. Our family’s situation was different; they’re relatively understanding about this sort of thing,” Shan Yu said. “Besides… my life was a mess back then anyway. Compared to getting injured, hospitalized, or detained, this probably didn’t even register as shocking.”
Chen Jian let out a soft sigh.
“Don’t treat this like a burden. It’s not a step that has to be taken right now,” Shan Yu said. “Saying it out loud might give you the relief of throwing caution to the wind, but for your dad, it would almost certainly be hurtful.”
“Mm.” Chen Jian watched Shan Yu.
After driving for a bit, Shan Yu suddenly clicked his tongue.
“What’s wrong?” Chen Jian asked.
“Do you know where they sell yarn?” Shan Yu asked.
Chen Jian paused, then laughed. “You want to buy it here?”
“I’m worried I won’t find good yarn back in town,” Shan Yu said. “Otherwise they’ll start whining about favoritism again.”
“Make a U-turn at the intersection up ahead,” Chen Jian thought for a moment. “Take a turn near that intersection further back. There’s an old department store; the fourth floor used to sell knitting wool.”
“Got it,” Shan Yu said.
“How long does it take to crochet eight scarves?” Chen Jian asked.
“Not that long. Make the simplest pattern, keep them on the shorter side, loose stitches…” Shan Yu calculated. “For a skilled worker like me, working dawn to dusk… probably a week. Plenty of time.”
The fourth floor of the old department store still had plenty of yarn stalls. Most of the customers browsing here were middle-aged aunties and older women, with only the occasional young girl. At a glance, the only males in sight were the shop owners—and the two of them.
“What color, Store Manager?” Shan Yu asked.
“Red? It’s the New Year,” Chen Jian said.
“Hard to match with clothes,” Shan Yu said.
“You actually care about whether it matches clothes?” Chen Jian said. “Isn’t it just for the festive cheer?”
“After crocheting all these scarves, my hands will be ruined and my eyes will go blind—just for festive cheer?” Shan Yu said. “I have to make sure they get enough use out of them to last the whole winter for it to be worth it.”
“Fair point.” Chen Jian felt the boss was completely right.
“What about this dusty rose?” Shan Yu pointed at a display of yarn by a shop entrance.
“Looks nice.” Chen Jian leaned in to check it out. The color was predominantly gray, laced with an understated blush tone.
Shan Yu picked up a skein and held it under Chen Jian’s chin.
“What are you doing?” Chen Jian asked.
“Seeing if this color works on guys,” Shan Yu looked at it, then put the yarn back down. “Forget it, let’s pick another one.”
“Doesn’t look good?” Chen Jian asked.
“Can’t tell,” Shan Yu said. “With your face, even holding a lump of shit-yellow wouldn’t look bad.”
The shop owner, an older woman, heard this and immediately picked up the skein, calling out to the man sitting in the back: “Hubby, get over here.”
The man walked over, and the woman shoved the yarn straight under his chin. “Look at it like this.”
“Huh?” The man froze.
Shan Yu couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“Doesn’t quite work,” the shop owner picked up a slate-blue skein. “What about this one?”
“This one looks pretty good,” Chen Jian said, grinning.
“Knitting a scarf?” the owner asked. “How old is the boy?”
“Around his age,” Shan Yu pointed at Chen Jian.
“Not as handsome as him, though, right?” the owner said, scanning the massive rows of yarn.
“Right,” Shan Yu nodded.
Chen Jian deeply admired Shan Yu’s shameless composure in literally any situation.
With the owner’s help, they eventually settled on a shade slightly more blue than the slate-blue skein.
Upon returning to Dayin, Shan Yu immediately threw himself into manufacturing the official Dayin uniform accessories.
Chen Jian hadn’t truly grasped what he meant by “dawn to dusk” before, assuming it was just a figure of speech.
He never expected it to be a literal description.
The next day, President He and his team returned to Dayin on their journey back, per Shan Yu’s invitation. Shan Yu was still sitting in the cafe, crocheting a scarf.
“Boss Shan, this is…” President He stared at him in utter astonishment.
“New Year’s gifts for the staff.” Shan Yu stood up with a smile. “Have a seat, President He.”
“New Year’s gifts?” President He chuckled, leaning in with keen interest to touch the scarf. “Boss Shan, I have to say: having traveled to so many places on this trip, yours is easily the most interesting.”
