It was the same small motel from the other day. When Chen Jian came here again, in just a few short days, his mood upon seeing the motel and the small lottery stand was completely different.
His dad had already packed his luggage and was sitting on the dilapidated sofa at the motel entrance, waiting in the cold wind.
“Why isn’t he waiting inside…” Chen Jian muttered to himself.
He was now facing the difficult task of parallel parking, with cars parked on both ends.
“Reverse in at an angle,” Shan Yu said. “You don’t have to park it so perfectly.”
“Huh?” Chen Jian glanced at him, not quite understanding.
“You two, get out and put the luggage in the trunk,” Shan Yu said, turning to Sanbing and Lao Wu in the back seat. “Save some time.”
“You got it!” Sanbing replied, immediately opening the car door.
“Bing,” Shan Yu added, “this is the first time our inn has had a parent visit. Behave yourselves, make Chen Jian look good.”
“Understood!” Sanbing clapped his hands. After getting out of the car, he ran towards his dad, shouting, “Uncle Chen! Manager Chen and we are here to pick you up!”
He had called him Chen Jian on the phone just now, but now that they were meeting, it had become Manager Chen.
“Manager—” Lao Wu shouted, it was unclear whether it was for emphasis or just gibberish. After shouting, he probably felt it was strange himself, so he shouted again, “We’re here to pick you up—”
With acting skills like that, it was a good thing they hadn’t talked to the aunt for too long earlier. If Lao Wu had made an appearance by accident, the whole show would have fallen apart in his hands.
Chen Jian didn’t pay attention to that. There was another car behind them, so he quickly angled the car and wedged it into the parking space.
As the car stopped, Sanbing and Lao Wu had already run over with his dad’s luggage.
“You don’t need to get out,” Shan Yu said as he opened his door and got out.
Chen Jian turned his head to look at his dad.
His dad’s condition was also different from when they had met the other day. Perhaps it was because he had received his wages, or perhaps it was because he wanted to save some face for his son in front of his colleagues. He had changed into clean clothes and had a fresh haircut, looking refreshed.
But you could still see short white stubble beneath the black hair.
He was only in his forties, but his hair was already so gray.
“Uncle Chen, you can sit in the passenger seat,” Shan Yu said.
“No, no,” his dad waved his hand. “I’ll just sit in the back. Boss, you sit in the front.”
“It’s fine, Uncle,” Sanbing said. “The front is more spacious…”
“If it’s spacious, then the boss should be the one to sit there,” his dad said.
“Bosses all sit in the back row,” Lao Wu had a sudden stroke of genius.
“Boss Shan,” Chen Jian leaned towards the passenger window. “Boss Shan…”
“Hmm?” Shan Yu immediately stepped back to the window.
“Why don’t you sit in the front,” Chen Jian said in a low voice. “I’m driving. Can you help me see the road from the back?”
“Oh right, I forgot you’re a newbie who can’t see the road,” Shan Yu nodded.
In the end, his dad and the two “bosses,” Sanbing and Lao Wu, sat together in the back row. Shan Yu sat in the passenger seat, helping his newbie, blind assistant see the road.
“This car belongs to the boss, right?” His dad was a little nervous at first, but with Sanbing and Lao Wu, who, despite being rascals, were kids he had watched grow up, he relaxed quite a bit.
“It’s the guesthouse’s car. Anyone can drive it,” Shan Yu said.
“It’s mainly driven by the boss and the manager,” Sanbing said. “The guesthouse has another car, Uncle.”
“Oh, you have a fleet,” his dad nodded.
“It’s not exactly a fleet…” Chen Jian laughed.
“It counts as a fleet, it counts,” Sanbing said. “More than one car is a fleet. Two people can be called a team, right, Boss Shan?”
“Right,” even Shan Yu couldn’t help but glance at Sanbing.
“Have you bought all the groceries?” After a moment of silence, his dad began to worry about his part-time job over the New Year.
“They should be all set,” Chen Jian said. “Take a look when we get there. If anything’s missing, we’ll go buy it.”
“Okay,” his dad nodded. “My cooking skills are just average, you all will have to make do.”
“These guys are happy as long as there’s food,” Shan Yu said. “As long as it’s lively, anything tastes good.”
“Exactly!” Sanbing clapped his hands.
“How’s your grandpa? Is he in good health?” his dad asked him.
“Same old, wobbly and all, but no worse,” Sanbing said. “He says he won’t be dying anytime soon.”
His dad laughed. “The old man still talks like that.”
On the way, his dad asked about many things—matters in the town, in the village. Although he had come back over the years, it was infrequent. After all, he no longer had a place to stay in the village and couldn’t just squeeze in with Chen Jian at Xiao Dou’er’s house.
Being able to spend the New Year at Dayin this time was a small relief for his homesickness.
Sanbing and Lao Wu truly lived up to their reputation as rascals who roamed the town and ran rampant in the village. They knew a lot about what was going on—who got married, who got divorced, who got into a fight, who moved away—they knew it all.
Chen Jian couldn’t compare on this point. After all, he spent most of his time working part-time jobs.
Perhaps because he was trying to show off in front of his dad, Chen Jian’s drive back to the town was surprisingly smooth. Shan Yu only had to remind him two or three times.
The only difficulty was driving into the courtyard of Dayin. It took him several attempts to park the car properly.
As they got out of the car, Hu Pan ran out from inside. “Hello, Uncle Chen!”
“Hello, hello,” his dad quickly nodded.
“This is our front desk, Hu Pan,” Chen Jian said. “You can just call her Panpan.”
Sanbing and Lao Wu took his dad’s luggage to the dorm first. Chen Jian had originally wanted his dad to stay in a guest room, but his dad didn’t agree. To avoid making him feel too awkward, Chen Jian didn’t insist. There was an empty bed in the dorm anyway.
As he walked inside with Chen Jian, his dad remarked with some emotion, “This guesthouse of yours is really big.”
“Yeah, it’s alright,” Chen Jian said. “It’s not the biggest. Liangye inside is bigger than us.”
“Uncle Chen,” Sun Nana came over with a cup of tea. “Have some tea and rest for a bit.”
“Thank you, young lady,” his dad took the cup, a bit flustered.
“Just call me Nana,” Sun Nana said, then looked at Chen Jian. “Manager Chen, some supplies were just checked into storage. Take a look at the list when you have a moment.”
“Okay,” Chen Jian nodded.
“President He came by this afternoon. I’m not sure if it was for anything,” Sun Nana said. “Do you want to call him back?”
“I’ll call Big Li first and ask later,” Chen Jian said.
After meeting everyone at the inn, his dad, ever mindful of his part-time job, first went to the kitchen. He looked at the ingredients prepared for the next few days, checked the stove again, and then began to tour the inn with Chen Jian.
“You must be busy, right?” his dad asked. “Why don’t you go do your work? Don’t mind me, I can just look around myself.”
“It won’t take long,” Chen Jian casually picked up a walkie-talkie and clipped it to his belt. “I’ll show you around first so you can get familiar with the place.”
“Are there a lot of guests at the inn right now?” his dad asked. “I saw the courtyard was full of cars.”
“Yeah, and it’s not even the busiest time,” Chen Jian said. “Before, when it was crowded, we had to park our own cars outside.”
His dad nodded and slowly walked around the first floor with him, his eyes constantly looking around.
“This place is better than all the places you used to work part-time,” his dad said with some emotion. “You’re out of the wind and rain. You used to get so tanned after working for a few months.”
“Yeah,” Chen Jian smiled.
These words were more accurate when applied to his dad. His dad was very tanned now, and after cleaning up, the chapped cracks on his hands and face were even more visible.
The walkie-talkie crackled, and Hu Pan’s voice came through. “Manager Chen, a guest who booked a room for today is arriving soon, but they just told us they’re bringing a big dog.”
“How big?” Chen Jian asked.
“A Labrador,” Hu Pan said.
“Big dogs should be arranged in the room at the far end of the hallway, near the staircase, to minimize impact on other guests who are afraid of dogs. If they agree, let’s switch their room,” Chen Jian said. “If they don’t have a dog bed, we can provide one…”
After talking to Hu Pan, Chen Jian couldn’t help but glance towards the front hall. He wondered if these people were acting under Shan Yu’s instructions. Normally, Hu Pan would know how to handle such matters and wouldn’t ask him.
He even suspected whether President He had actually come at all.
After showing his dad around the guesthouse, Chen Jian took him to the dormitory. Sanbing was off this afternoon and was in the dorm playing on his phone.
“This is my bed. Dad, you can rest here for a bit,” Chen Jian said.
“Ah,” his dad had just sat down when he stood up again. “Should I go to the kitchen and prepare…”
“Today is just the regular staff meal, plus meals for three guest rooms. You don’t need to prepare that far in advance,” Chen Jian said. “Rest for a bit first.”
“Uncle Chen, you rest first,” Sanbing said. “I’ll be your assistant later, I’m free.”
“Okay, okay,” his dad sat back down and waved at Chen Jian. “Go do your work, don’t let it be delayed.”
“Alright,” Chen Jian replied, then glanced at Sanbing again.
Sanbing patted his own chest.
Chen Jian walked out of the dorm and glanced towards the office. The office door was ajar.
He walked over and knocked.
“Come in,” Shan Yu said from inside.
Chen Jian pushed the door open. Shan Yu was standing in front of Er Ge’s tank, feeding it mealworms. On the desk lay the half-finished charcoal gray scarf belonging to the manager.
“Finished the tour?” Shan Yu asked.
“Yeah,” Chen Jian walked over, hugged him from behind, rested his chin on his shoulder, and let out a soft sigh.
“How does it feel?” Shan Yu asked again.
“My dad is very happy,” Chen Jian said. “Did you arrange for them to put on a show for my dad?”
Shan Yu smiled. “Do I need to arrange that? With sharp people like Hu Pan and Sun Nana around. But no special treatment. From now on, anyone’s family who comes to visit gets the same treatment.”
“Yeah,” Chen Jian closed his eyes, smiled, and nodded. He thought for a moment, then opened his eyes. “Boss, I’d like to take a leave tomorrow morning.”
“Sure, what for?” Shan Yu put down the mealworm box, turned around, and hugged him back.
“To see my mom,” Chen Jian said. “My dad hasn’t been back in several years, and he hasn’t seen her either.”
“Okay,” Shan Yu patted his back.
Chen Jian didn’t say anything more. He lowered his head and buried his face in his shoulder. After a moment, he turned his head, pressing his lips firmly against the side of Shan Yu’s neck, feeling his pulse.
“Dr. Chen,” Shan Yu’s hand slipped under his clothes. “How is this pulse?”
“Very strong,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu didn’t speak. His hand circled around from his back, grabbed his hair, and pulled it back.
Chen Jian had to lift his head, stopping his pulse-taking, and looked at Shan Yu. “Should I get a haircut? Is my hair so easy to grab now?”
Shan Yu laughed.
But he didn’t let go of his hair, instead pulling it back a little more.
Chen Jian tilted his head up. Before he could figure out what was happening, Shan Yu bit him on the throat.
“Hey,” Chen Jian felt only a slight sting, and his breathing immediately became ragged.
Shan Yu gave him a push. Chen Jian stumbled back a couple of steps, bumping into the desk, and then Shan Yu pressed down on him.
Chen Jian’s whole body arched backward, falling onto the desk.
“Holy crap,” he said. “My back…”
“Is it broken?” Shan Yu whispered in his ear.
His left hand slid from his waist to his back, holding him tight, while his right hand pressed on his forehead, looking at him.
“No,” Chen Jian said. At this moment, every inch of his skin had become extremely sensitive. Even on his forehead, he could clearly feel the scar on Shan Yu’s right palm that hadn’t faded and might never fade.
And Shan Yu’s fingertips, gently tracing lines on his lower back.
He tightened his arms around Shan Yu.
Shan Yu lowered his head and kissed him.
After an unknown amount of time, Shan Yu let him go, propping himself up on the desk.
“Hmm?” Chen Jian reached out and gently touched his lips.
“Do you need me to help you up?” Shan Yu asked.
“Huh?” Chen Jian was taken aback.
“Didn’t you say your back was broken?” Shan Yu asked.
“Damn,” Chen Jian laughed. “My back is broken and you still insisted on finishing the kiss before asking?”
“If it’s broken, it’s broken. Of course, I’d kiss you first,” Shan Yu said as he straightened up and pulled him up by the arm.
Chen Jian used the momentum to kiss his face again, then took out his phone, opened the camera, and looked at his own neck.
“I didn’t use force,” Shan Yu said.
“I felt it hurt,” Chen Jian saw a slight redness on his throat, but it wasn’t very obvious. “What were you thinking…”
“What else could I be thinking,” Shan Yu said. “You’re too sexy, I had to take a bite.”
Chen Jian laughed.
“Go to work,” Shan Yu picked up the mealworm box again. “Perform well.”
Although his dad was a little reserved when he first arrived at the guesthouse, perhaps because he had the identity of a part-time worker, he quickly adapted with the mentality of someone who had done all sorts of odd jobs for years.
At dinner, he was busily working in the kitchen. Sanbing, true to his word, was by his side, helping out.
Chen Jian leaned against the bar, watching his dad over there, a warm and yet unfamiliar feeling washing over him.
He had seen his dad cooking in the kitchen when he was a child, but honestly, it was too long ago, so long ago that it felt unreal. And on the few occasions he had spent the New Year with his dad in the city, they hadn’t cooked. The rented room had no kitchen. They ate food his dad had pre-ordered and packed from a restaurant…
He was mesmerized by the scene before him.
The next morning, when he went with his dad to see his mother, this strange, warm feeling continued.
“I won’t drive. The road conditions are bad, and I’m a newbie, I’m afraid I’ll crash,” Chen Jian wheeled out his motorcycle.
“No need to drive,” his dad said. “A car can’t even get through that road. It’s probably even worse now.”
“When the town is developed, they might fix it,” Chen Jian got on the motorcycle, adjusted the hat on his head, and again, moved the small bow to the end of his eyebrow.
“Your employees,” his dad said as he got on the back. “Is that scarf a uniform? Blue for the guys and pink for the girls?”
“Yeah, you noticed?” Chen Jian smiled. “That scarf was crocheted by Shan Yu… Boss Shan.”
“What?” his dad was very shocked, grabbing his shoulder. “Boss Shan crocheted it?”
“Yes, and this hat too,” Chen Jian said. “A New Year’s gift.”
“A boss, and such a young man,” his dad remarked with emotion, touching the hat on his head. “Is he so skillful?”
“He knows a lot of things,” Chen Jian started the motorcycle and pointed to the characters on the guesthouse wall. “He also knows calligraphy. He wrote those two characters, Dayin.”
“Oh my…” his dad marveled. Even as the motorcycle left the courtyard and reached the intersection, he was still craning his neck to look back.
Chen Jian often took the road back to the village, but the road back “home,” he rarely took. When he missed his mom, he would more often go to his godmother’s place and sit for a while.
There, the feeling of finality and death was less pronounced. The memories were more of warm sun and his mother’s smiling face.
As the motorcycle entered the village, his dad fell silent.
“Old Chen is back!” someone shouted from the roadside.
“Hey, just back for a look,” his dad replied.
Chen Jian turned onto the small path leading to the old house. On both sides were the old houses of various families, most of them uninhabited. Everyone had moved into newly built houses, or had simply moved to the new village.
The road was quiet.
Chen Jian didn’t stop or slow down as they passed the old house.
The old house was in ruins. The wooden structure had collapsed, leaving only the walls.
His dad remained silent. Chen Jian only heard a very soft sigh from him.
The motorcycle passed the old house, continued along the path over a small hill, and finally stopped on a small path in the woods.
His dad got off, took a bouquet of plastic flowers from a bag he was carrying—they were pink.
He had probably bought these in the city and brought them back. They were a bit tacky, but his mother liked flowers.
Chen Jian and his dad walked a short distance along the dirt path and stopped in front of a very old tombstone.
His dad went over, wiped the dust and dirt from the tombstone with his hand, cleared the fallen leaves in front of it, and placed the flowers there.
“Lin,” his dad’s voice was very low. “Look at the flowers.”
After a moment of silence, his dad glanced back at Chen Jian, then turned back to the tombstone. “Our son is amazing now. He’s a manager. He even carries a walkie-talkie at work, like a secret agent.”
