Although the red envelopes for the guests only contained ten yuan, the effect was excellent. Every guest who came downstairs expressed their thanks, and the message board was filled with “Happy New Year.”
Two diligent farm-to-table restaurants in the village opened for business today, which immediately reduced the cooking pressure at the shop. After eating dumplings for lunch and preparing the ingredients for dinner, Chen Jian went back to the village with his dad to pay New Year’s respects to Xiao Dou’er’s grandparents.
They helped the grandparents make a video call to Xiao Dou’er. Xiao Dou’er was wearing a new set of clothes and looked unhappy. He didn’t say much before clamoring to come back, so they had to hang up the video call.
Back at Dayin, his dad continued to prepare the ingredients for tomorrow according to the menu they had decided on together.
Chen Jian walked around the shop for two laps and then went up to the fourth floor.
The office door was ajar as usual. He knocked twice and pushed the door open.
Lately, whenever he came in, he would usually see Shan Yu standing in front of Erge’s tank. Not today, though. For the first time in a while, he was leaning back in the sofa, holding his phone.
“Finished with your work?” Shan Yu asked.
“For now,” Chen Jian said, walking over to take a look. He saw that Erge was sleeping, so he went and sat down on the sofa. “I’m a bit tired, came up to slack off for a bit.”
“No one would care if you slacked off openly downstairs,” Shan Yu said, placing his legs on top of his.
“They can, but I can’t,” Chen Jian said.
Shan Yu smiled. “Are you afraid you won’t have the standing to manage them in the future?”
“Mhm, I’m afraid they won’t respect my authority,” Chen Jian said. “Back when Da Li was working, he was always resting in the pavilion, and the employees revolted.”
“Even if he wasn’t resting there, their employees weren’t easy to manage,” Shan Yu said. “You have to bait the spot first if you want to fish.”
Chen Jian glanced at him. “Do you dare to say that on the first floor?”
“A black-hearted capitalist always has two faces,” Shan Yu clicked his tongue.
“You actually don’t,” Chen Jian said.
“Don’t I?” Shan Yu’s leg, resting on his, swayed and rubbed against him a couple of times. “This face of mine, I really wouldn’t dare let others see.”
Chen Jian lowered his eyes to look at his leg, then grabbed his ankle and put his leg back on the sofa. “Don’t mess around.”
“Oh,” Shan Yu put down his phone and pillowed his head on his arm, looking at him.
“I’m… not really in the mood right now,” Chen Jian said.
“Oh,” Shan Yu responded. “I’ll buy a piece of land on the mountain and build a temple for you.”
Chen Jian turned to look at him. “What?”
Shan Yu didn’t speak.
“Damn,” Chen Jian realized and smiled. “It’s just that I haven’t seen any big scenes. Your parents and the others are coming tomorrow, and Liu Wu’s family too. Such a big entourage, I’m nervous.”
“What kind of big scene is this? You’re someone who’s been to meetings in the city, the representative of Hongye Town’s merchants,” Shan Yu said.
“That meeting wasn’t hosted by your parents,” Chen Jian said. “And I was just as nervous to the point of death at that meeting… auspiciously.”
Shan Yu started laughing. His phone buzzed. He picked it up while still laughing, glanced at it, and then sent a voice message. “Okay, no problem. Give me a call when you get to the town’s sign tomorrow, and I’ll come pick you up.”
“Is that your mom?” Chen Jian stared at him, asking the moment he put the phone down.
“I only use honorifics with my mom when we’re arguing,” Shan Yu said. “It’s Lu Jun.”
Chen Jian let out a sigh of relief, but then held it in halfway. “Director Lu? Is he coming too?”
“He’s not coming,” Shan Yu said. “His dog is.”
“His dog…” Chen Jian thought for two seconds. “Who is it?”
Shan Yu looked at him. “Hey! Chen Jian!”
“Oh, damn, his dog?” Chen Jian suddenly remembered that Lu Jun had several dogs.
“Mhm, he’s going out of town for two days and has one dog left with nowhere to go. The kennel he uses is closed for the New Year,” Shan Yu said. “So he wants to leave it with us for two days.”
“Oh…” Chen Jian started laughing. After laughing for a good while, he asked, “What kind of dog is it?”
“A Husky,” Shan Yu said. “He said it doesn’t destroy the house and doesn’t bark much.”
“Is it afraid of the cold? We can’t leave it in the courtyard, can we?” Chen Jian asked.
“It can sleep in the conference room at night,” Shan Yu said. “If it gets along with Mushroom, it can sleep in the doghouse with Mushroom. Mushroom’s house is warm anyway. We can just leash it during the day.”
“Okay.” Chen Jian nodded, leaned his head back on the sofa, and started thinking about tomorrow’s matters again.
After thinking for a while, he remembered another key point. “Does Liu Wu know?”
Shan Yu didn’t speak.
When Chen Jian turned to look, he found that he had his eyes closed, as if he were already asleep.
“Hey, boss,” Chen Jian said softly. “Does Liu Wu know?”
“I don’t know,” Shan Yu answered vaguely.
“You’re not asleep?” Chen Jian was taken aback.
But Shan Yu made no further sound. From his breathing, it seemed he was really asleep… he might have been half-asleep just now.
It was a good thing Shan Yu had been quite tired these past two days and hadn’t had much chance to hide in the office. He was probably so sleepy now that he wasn’t fully conscious. Otherwise, if someone kept asking him questions as he was about to fall asleep, he would probably curse them out.
Chen Jian got up and went into the bedroom to get a small blanket to cover Shan Yu.
When he walked past the bedside table, he immediately noticed…
He hadn’t put it away!
Was this something to be so openly displayed?
To just leave it here so brazenly…
Of course, it was also possible that Shan Yu was too lazy to clean up.
But besides his phone, he kept everything else quite tidy. He would even put his computer back in the middle of the desk after using it, although it was always placed crookedly… Why was he so lazy about tidying up these things?
Chen Jian took a small blanket out of the closet. As he was about to leave, he stopped again.
He reached out and picked up the bottle on the bedside table to look at it.
Then he put it back down.
His turbulent mood didn’t even last until he reached the door.
Ah, tomorrow!
Shan Yu’s entire family was coming over!
He covered Shan Yu with the blanket and walked out of the office.
Ah, tomorrow!
The small town was much livelier this year than in previous years. Although the number of tourists for the New Year wasn’t huge compared to before, it was still better than in previous years. Many businesses were even open on the first day of the New Year.
Today was still a holiday, but the shop’s employees were all present. After dinner, Hu Pan and Sun Nana took a bag of fireworks out to take pictures. The “Pigsty Party” all returned to the shop, saying they wanted to play cards.
Normally, playing cards in the coffee shop was out of the question. They would be chased out by Chen Jian even for playing in the dorm. These past two days, the boss had personally given his approval to break the rules, so this group naturally wanted to have their fill.
“Should we call Boss Shan? The winner has to leave the table,” Lao Si asked.
Chen Jian wanted to say don’t call him, the boss had taken a pill and gone to catch up on sleep after dinner to be full of energy for tomorrow. But Chen Erhu and Sanbing were faster with their words: “Don’t call!”
“I lost enough last night,” Lao Wu said.
“He played cards yesterday?” Chen Jian asked.
“He took your place after you passed out,” Sanbing looked at him. “You don’t know at all?”
“Probably not,” Lao Wu said. “Boss Shan threw him on the sofa and he didn’t even wake up. If we had known he was so good at cards, we would have woken you up even if we had to beat you.”
“He’s catching up on sleep now,” Chen Jian smiled. “Don’t worry.”
“Look at you all,” Chen Erhu said. “He didn’t even take your money when he won.”
“It’s mainly a mental game,” Sanbing said. “He’s a sore winner. It doesn’t hurt the wallet, but it hurts the pride.”
“You’ve never been in a relationship. If you had, you’d know what pride is…” Lao Wu suddenly became melancholic.
“Then you can leave the table first,” Lao Si said. “Chen Jian, you’re up.”
“I’m not playing. I’ll watch you guys,” Chen Jian smiled. He really wasn’t in the mood.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lao Wu glared at Lao Si.
“Let’s play cards!” Lao Si shouted. “Are you playing or not! You have no pride, so you’re not playing cards either?”
“Fuck.” Lao Wu stood up.
“Hey! What are you doing?” His dad, passing by the coffee shop, saw their posture and immediately shouted in a low voice.
Before Lao Si and Lao Wu could turn their heads, he had already entered the dining room.
A standard walk-by.
In the dining room, a few guests who hadn’t gone out were gathered together, watching a rerun of the Spring Festival Gala. The projection screen in the dining room was large, and there were snacks. His dad went over and sat down with them.
“Although you guys are on holiday,” Chen Jian said, leaning back in his chair to remind them, “Dayin is still open for business.”
He wasn’t worried that these two would actually fight. Lao Si was the muscle of the Pigsty Party. Lao Wu would have internal conflicts with Chen Erhu, but he wouldn’t really fight with Lao Si.
“Are we playing or not?” Chen Erhu slapped the shuffled cards on the table, looking at Lao Si and Lao Wu. “Don’t embarrass me here.”
“Play,” Lao Wu sat back down.
“Play,” Lao Si said, thought for a moment, and then glanced at Lao Wu. “When did you get into a relationship?”
“You’re only asking now? What kind of brother are you?” Lao Wu said. “I’ve already broken up!”
Lao Si frowned and thought for a long time while drawing his cards. “In such a short time, were you even in a relationship?”
“The prerequisite for a breakup is being in a relationship,” Sanbing said. “Even three days counts as a relationship. Breaking up on the fourth day is still a breakup.”
“It only lasted three days,” Lao Si said.
Chen Jian, on the side, almost choked on his laughter.
“This is our internal private matter,” Lao Wu looked at Chen Jian. “You heard it, so you heard it. Why are you laughing?”
“Sorry,” Chen Jian laughed even harder.
“What internal matter,” Sanbing said. “You’ve been acting out your breakup in the pavilion for a month. Who doesn’t know?”
“Play cards,” Chen Jian said, laughing and patting the table.
“Play properly. We definitely can’t play all night today. We have to wrap it up early,” Chen Erhu said. “Boss Shan’s family is coming tomorrow. We can’t have such a big shop with only the manager up, can we?”
Fire Safety Supervisor Chen Erhu’s considerate words almost wiped the smile right off Chen Jian’s face.
But when Chen Erhu got serious, he was very serious. The next day, when Chen Jian got up and went downstairs, Chen Erhu was already at the shop, having come from home, standing at the front desk with a small notebook.
“What are you doing?” Chen Jian asked.
“Routine fire safety inspection,” Chen Erhu said.
“Oh,” Chen Jian nodded. “Then go ahead.”
“Boss Shan’s family isn’t here yet,” Chen Erhu said.
Chen Jian looked at him and was silent for a long time before speaking, “Do you have to act this out specifically?”
“It’s better to act it out,” Chen Erhu said. “We need to let the family see that Boss Shan’s shop is managed very well.”
Sun Nana put down her coffee cup and applauded him.
“Did they say they’d arrive at noon?” Hu Pan asked.
“Mhm,” Chen Jian nodded.
Shan Yu, who had taken a pill, didn’t even eat breakfast and slept until after eleven before coming downstairs.
“Want a few bites to tide you over?” Chen Jian asked. “I don’t know when they’ll arrive. What if you get hungry…”
“They’re almost at the intersection,” Shan Yu said, putting his arm around his neck and gently guiding him towards the door. “Let me borrow your motorcycle.”
“They’re here?” Chen Jian asked in shock.
“Mhm,” Shan Yu shook his phone. “They called me.”
Chen Jian fumbled for his motorcycle key while following him out, asking in a low voice, “You’re going by yourself? On the motorcycle? Aren’t you going to drive the big Mercedes you brought back?”
“I’m just going to the intersection to pick them up. It’s too much trouble to drive a car and then find parking when we get back,” Shan Yu said.
“Should I…” Chen Jian looked at him. “Should I go?”
Shan Yu turned to look at him and smiled. “No need. You wait here. I’ll go.”
“Wouldn’t that be rude?” Chen Jian said. “I should still go.”
“They don’t even need to get out of the car for me to pick them up,” Shan Yu said, leaning against the corner of the wall. Chen Jian followed him. He reached up and pinched Chen Jian’s chin. “Listen to me.”
“…Mhm,” Chen Jian responded, handing him the key.
Shan Yu drove his motorcycle out of the courtyard.
“Sanbing,” Sun Nana walked to the door and shouted inside. “Go to the courtyard gate and greet them. Call out when the car arrives.”
“Okay,” Sanbing immediately ran out. Seeing Chen Jian still standing by the door, he paused. “Is the manager going to greet them too?”
“He’s not going,” Sun Nana said. “Just guide the car into the courtyard and park it.”
“Mhm,” Sanbing nodded and went out with Mushroom.
“I’ll go…” Chen Jian pointed to the kitchen. “And check on the food.”
Sun Nana smiled and looked at him. “Go ahead. I’ll call you when they arrive.”
It was only about five minutes, or maybe six, a very short time anyway. Chen Jian felt that Shan Yu probably hadn’t even reached the intersection yet when Hu Pan’s voice came from outside the kitchen.
“Manager Chen! They’re here!”
“Coming,” Chen Jian hurried out. “Dad, you carry on with your work.”
“Hey, you go,” his dad nodded.
In the courtyard, Shan Yu had already parked the motorcycle. Sanbing and Lao Si were directing two cars into the parking spaces.
He couldn’t see clearly who was in which car through the windows. Chen Jian walked into the courtyard and stood at the bottom of the steps by the main gate, waiting.
“The SUV with the 888 plate is my mom’s car,” Shan Yu came over and whispered in his ear.
“Mhm,” Chen Jian responded.
But it wouldn’t have mattered if Shan Yu hadn’t said anything. The next second, before the cars were even fully parked, Liu Wu from the other car had already opened the door and jumped out.
“Chen Jian!” Liu Wu walked over with his arms open.
“Hey!” Chen Jian quickly opened his arms as well.
“Didn’t expect this, did you!” Liu Wu gave him a hug and then patted his arm forcefully. “I specifically told my brother not to tell you, to give you a surprise! Didn’t expect it, right!”
“I really… didn’t,” Chen Jian smiled and also patted his arm. “You scared me when you got out of the car.”
The 888 SUV parked in the space in front of them. The driver’s side door opened, and a woman got out.
She had a neat, shoulder-length perm with subtle waves, very exquisite and beautiful. She was dressed casually, much like Shan Yu’s usual style, in loose-fitting sweatpants with a down jacket slung over her arm.
This was Shan Yu’s mother.
The powerful career woman, President Liu.
Through the car window, he could see a man in the passenger seat, head down, probably… putting on his shoes.
That must be Shan Yu’s father.
Professor Shan, without any prefix.
“Aunt! This is Chen Jian, Manager Chen,” Liu Wu immediately turned around to introduce him to President Liu. “I told you, we’re super close, and you still didn’t want me to come…”
“Happy New Year, President Liu,” Chen Jian quickly interrupted Liu Wu and greeted her.
“Call me Auntie,” President Liu said. “If you call me President Liu, I’m afraid I’ll start assigning you work.”
“Happy New Year, Auntie,” Chen Jian greeted her again.
President Liu laughed, glanced at Shan Yu, then her gaze returned to Chen Jian.
She wasn’t staring at him in any particular way, but Chen Jian could still feel the casual aura she exuded.
“Manager Chen in person sounds a little different from on the phone,” President Liu said with a smile.
…That phone call, please don’t bring it up again.
“He’s super cool,” Liu Wu said.
Will you just shut up, you genius!
