AD CH117

Chapter 117: Lao Wu’s Love (Extra 1)

“What do you think?” Chen Jian asked with a smile.

He was driving, while beside him, Shan Yu’s phone was on a continuous loop playing the character entrance video for Dayin Jianghu, which Hu Pan had just gotten Liu Wu to finish post-production on yesterday.

“Liu Wu made this? He didn’t pay someone else to do it?” Shan Yu remarked. “It actually turned out surprisingly decent.”

“Give him some credit,” Chen Jian said. “Heard he pulled all-nighters for several days.”

“Does he charge?” Shan Yu asked.

“Nope,” Chen Jian said. “Hu Pan asked him, and he’s doing it for his brother—how could he possibly charge?”

“Then let’s praise him a bit,” Shan Yu yawned. “Might as well have him write the script too.”

“Are you paying him?” Chen Jian asked.

“Why would I hire him if I had to pay?” Shan Yu said.

“Truly ruthless,” Chen Jian said.

“Saving money for your Dayin, aren’t I?” Shan Yu said.

As the car turned into the courtyard, Chen Jian spotted two people standing by the gazebo ahead, seemingly locked in an argument.

A man and a woman; if he wasn’t mistaken, the man was Lao Wu.

“Rehearsing?” Shan Yu asked casually.

“…Probably not, there isn’t even a script yet,” Chen Jian peered closely. “I haven’t seen that girl before.”

“Lao Wu’s girlfriend?” Shan Yu said.

“He got dumped already though,” Chen Jian parked the car. “I’ll go take a look.”

Getting out of the car, Sanbing walked out of the building. “Back from the market fair?”

“Yeah,” Chen Jian pointed toward the gazebo. “Who’s Lao Wu over there with?”

“That very same girlfriend,” Sanbing shook his head. “Looks like she came to say goodbye. Been saying goodbye for nearly half an hour now, still not done.”

“Didn’t they break up a while ago? They didn’t?” Chen Jian was rather surprised. Lao Wu, who had only been given pocket money for cigarettes over two months, had actually managed to hold on?

“This time she came to give him the ‘good guy’ card,” Hu Pan followed out behind him. “Guess you could call it parting on good terms…”

“Lao Wu’s romance is truly…” Sanbing still shook his head, “…grueling.”

“Tingting—!” Lao Wu’s desperate, throat-tearing cry suddenly echoed from outside. “Tingting—!”

“Good grief,” Shan Yu stepped out of the car. “Someone hurry over and poison him mute.”

When Chen Jian walked out through the courtyard gate, he caught sight of the girl, presumably named Tingting, yanking her hand out of Lao Wu’s grip and sprinting toward this direction.

Tingting was clearly determined to leave, not just putting on a show. Her strength was considerable; Lao Wu stumbled back two steps from the shove before pausing and chasing after her: “Tingting, don’t go!”

Tingting didn’t stop, running fast, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand as she sprinted.

“What happened here?” Chen Jian instinctively raised a hand to block the way.

Though unlikely, he still needed to make sure Lao Wu hadn’t mistreated or bullied her.

“You must be Manager Chen. Tell him for me,” Tingting halted briefly, glancing at him. “Don’t be sad. Once I make something of myself, I’ll come back for him.”

What the hell? For a second, Chen Jian genuinely wondered if the two of them were actually filming a short drama.

And swapped their lines, no less.

“Stop him!” Tingting’s face was covered in tears—100% genuine—as she ran and shouted, “Tell him to stop chasing me! I can’t give him anything right now—!”

As Lao Wu bolted past Chen Jian, Chen Jian grabbed him firmly by the arm. Right behind him, Sanbing rushed out and wrapped both arms around Lao Wu, dragging him straight back toward the courtyard.

“Let me go—!” Lao Wu thrashed, reaching an arm forward. “Tingting…”

“Lao Si!” Chen Erhu stepped out.

Lao Si emerged from behind him, shoved Sanbing aside, locked an arm under Lao Wu’s armpit, and within seconds hauled Lao Wu to the backyard, where he shut his mouth under Chen Erhu’s stern command.

“What in the world happened?” Chen Jian finally found an opening to ask.

“She’s leaving, going to work away from home,” Lao Wu was also streaming tears. “She came to say goodbye to me…”

“Isn’t it completely normal for someone to go work outside?” Chen Jian said.

“She’s going down south, very far away. Once she leaves, who knows if we’ll ever see each other again,” Lao Wu wiped his tears.

“Didn’t she say… once she makes something of herself, she’ll come back for you?” Chen Jian said.

Lao Wu fell silent, his clenched fists trembling slightly. After a while, he blurted out: “Did you see that? She isn’t the kind of girl you thought she was! She does think I have no money, so she’s going off to earn money herself!”

“Oh.” Chen Jian blinked.

“You don’t understand love!” Lao Wu glared at him. “You don’t understand at all!”

“Huh?” Chen Jian looked at him.

“Well, he does understand,” Chen Erhu chimed in.

“He doesn’t understand my kind!” Lao Wu argued.

“Yeah… don’t quite understand,” Chen Jian admitted.

“I will wait for her,” Lao Wu pointed at the ground. “Right here, waiting for her.”

“Alright,” Chen Jian nodded.

“Pay me my wages!” Lao Wu demanded.

“Sure, okay,” Chen Jian continued nodding.

Hu Pan poked her head around the corner of the wall and waved at Chen Jian.

Chen Jian walked over.

“She’s still outside,” Hu Pan said. “Are you going to check on her? It looks weird if guests see it.”

“…You go. Girls communicate better,” Chen Jian hesitated. The sight of Tingting’s tear-streaked face earlier left him at a loss.

“Are you silly? It’s not appropriate for me to go,” Hu Pan said. “I’m a girl. If I broke up with my boyfriend and one of his female colleagues came running out to comfort me, how awkward would that be? Naturally, it’s smoother for a male boss to comfort her.”

“Fine then,” Chen Jian gritted his teeth.

Walking outside, he noticed Shan Yu hadn’t retreated upstairs, leaning against the doorway of the lobby and peering out.

Seeing Chen Jian approach, he smiled and remarked: “Manager’s quite busy, huh.”

“You seem pretty free yourself, why don’t you…” Chen Jian looked at him.

Before he could finish, Shan Yu had already turned to walk back inside, saying as he walked: “Should we hire someone? When Sun Nana is at the company, there’s not even anyone to make coffee here…”

“Coming!” Hu Pan dashed inside after him. “What would Boss Shan like to drink?”

“Spanish latte, please,” Shan Yu said.

Ever since Sun Nana arrived, the variety of coffee drinks had expanded noticeably.

“Eighteen yuan,” Hu Pan pointed at the payment QR code on the counter. “Scan here.”

“Price went up?” Shan Yu paused.

“No,” Hu Pan said. “Internal staff price.”

“Internal price is higher than the public retail price?” Shan Yu asked.

“Nope,” Hu Pan ground the coffee beans as she explained. “Manager Chen’s rule: employees get two free cups a day, management has to pay, and management gets a three-yuan surcharge per cup.”

“Who counts as management?” Shan Yu asked.

“You and him,” Hu Pan said.

“Does he drink it?” Shan Yu asked again.

“Used to,” Hu Pan worked briskly. “Hasn’t had a single cup since he set the rule.”

“…Fair enough, as expected of him.” Shan Yu was amused and nodded.

Pulling out his phone to scan, he paused and asked: “Does anyone else drink it? Like Zhao Fangfang and the others…”

“Zhao-jie and the others don’t drink it; they aren’t used to it.” Hu Pan smiled, setting the prepared coffee on the counter.

“Then allocate one of Zhao Fangfang’s cups to me.” Shan Yu slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“Huh?” Hu Pan was dumbfounded.

“Thanks.” Shan Yu took the coffee, turned on his heel, and strode briskly toward the elevator.

Tingting was squatting by the roadside diagonally across from the guesthouse, right at the mouth of the path leading to the old pigsty, perched on a brick. Probably because she was in foul spirits, she didn’t care much about appearances.

Seeing Chen Jian approach, she stood up and took two steps down the small path.

“Hello,” Chen Jian greeted her quickly, afraid she might bolt again.

“Is Chen Ziyang alright?” Tingting asked.

“Stopped crying,” Chen Jian patted his pockets, pulled out a pack of tissues, and handed it to her, unsure of what to say. “Do you two… want to talk again?”

“No. My crying wasn’t entirely because of him anyway; it was just the atmosphere getting to me,” Tingting shook her head, pulling out a tissue to wipe away her tears. “I just came to say goodbye. He’s genuinely a good guy; leaving without telling him face-to-face wouldn’t sit right with my conscience.”

“You’re his… girlfriend?” Chen Jian asked.

“Ex-girlfriend. We broke up,” Tingting said. “Once I leave this time, who knows when I’ll be back, or if I can even make something of myself.”

“He said you’re going to work,” Chen Jian felt a little concerned. “Did someone introduce you to a job? Or what? What kind of work?”

Tingting looked at him with a small smile: “He always told me his manager is a really good person. Turns out he wasn’t lying.”

Chen Jian didn’t say anything.

“Don’t worry. Even though I didn’t get much schooling, I’ve been out in the world for years and seen all kinds of people,” Tingting said. “I know how to protect myself.”

“How old are you?” Chen Jian asked.

“Twenty-one,” Tingting smiled. “Thank you.”

“Oh,” Chen Jian said nothing more.

“As long as he’s alright, I’m heading out,” Tingting dabbed the corners of her eyes with the tissue. “Tell him for me: I do still like him, but I’m terrified of being poor. No one can give me what I want, and neither can he.”

Chen Jian truly wasn’t good at consoling people, especially facing a girl who seemed so resolute with her mind firmly made up.

“I’m going to make money. I don’t want to huddle together with someone living a bitter, impoverished life,” Tingting said. “I’ve seen too much of it—neither person ends up living well. If I make money in the future, I’ll come back to see him.”

“…Yeah,” Chen Jian had no idea what else to say, so he could only nod. “Then… stay safe.”

“I will,” Tingting nodded, turning on her heel and briskly walking toward the town intersection.

By the time Chen Jian returned indoors, Lao Wu had retreated to the dorm. It took Chen Jian quite a while to piece together what had actually happened from Hu Pan and the others’ recap.

Tingting was indeed that girlfriend who kept asking Lao Wu for money. She had asked for money and hadn’t paid it back. Tingting had been very candid about it too: with no family to look after her, she just wanted money, but relying solely on asking her boyfriend for cash wasn’t sustainable—crucially, Lao Wu didn’t actually have any money either. So, she decided to head to the big city to work and make money.

“At first I thought she had a younger brother or something, like me,” Hu Pan said. “Didn’t expect her to be an only child.”

“Then why doesn’t her family care?” Chen Jian asked.

“Who knows,” Hu Pan said. “Too poor, parents divorced, or they just don’t care. Or maybe she was too rebellious for them to handle. There are too many possible reasons.”

“Hope things go smoothly for her,” Chen Jian sighed.

“Smooth or not, she has no other choice,” Hu Pan said. “Either get married—and if she marries the wrong guy, continue suffering—or rely on herself and take a gamble.”

“What if she fails?” Chen Erhu asked.

“If you’re thinking about that while gambling on your future, it wouldn’t be called taking a gamble,” Hu Pan said. “You only do it after deciding you can accept whatever the consequences are. There are only two words in her mind: make money! Make money!”

No one spoke further.

“Still…” After a moment, Sanbing furrowed his brow, “Could we say that… actually… Lao Wu truly did count as… having a relationship?”

“Counts, I guess,” Hu Pan rested her chin on her hand, thinking it over. “Counts. After all, Tingting spoke her true thoughts to him, and even came to see him before leaving.”

“Yeah,” Sanbing nodded, then turned to stare at Chen Jian.

“What are you looking at me for?” Chen Jian asked.

“Feels like only your couple has had smooth sailing,” Sanbing said. “Nana’s getting divorced, Lao Wu just got forcibly broken up with, and me…”

“You chase Panpan and can’t catch her,” Lao Si chimed in.

“Boss Shan should’ve poisoned you mute!” Sanbing glared at him. As Chen Jian walked toward the stairs, Sanbing called out to him again, “Chen Jian.”

“Yeah?” Chen Jian turned around.

“You two are the most normal couple,” Sanbing said.

“If you’re so envious, go find a guy yourself,” Chen Erhu remarked impatiently.

“Hardly necessary,” Sanbing said. “I’m merely engaging in some deep reflection.”

“Whenever you reflect,” Chen Erhu retorted, “the Jade Emperor laughs.”

Shan Yu chuckled, using tweezers to hold a mealworm to tease Er-ge. “Give Lao Wu half a day off.”

“Assigned him the night shift so he can rest this afternoon,” Chen Jian leaned against the cabinet beside him. “He said he can’t sleep tonight anyway.”

“Quite passionate and dramatic,” Chen Jian remarked. “Though I didn’t ask why Lao Wu never thought of having Tingting come work here. Regardless of whether we’re hiring, he could’ve asked me.”

“She still wants to venture outside; there are more opportunities out there,” Shan Yu said. “Go to the big city, broaden her horizons, see how girls out there live.”

“Maybe,” Chen Jian looked at Shan Yu and said, “Is someone like me who has no desire to leave considered quite rare? Chen Erhu and the others are working diligently right now, but deep down, they dream of venturing out one day. Panpan and Nana came from the outside. Only me…”

“Aren’t you held back by me?” Shan Yu said.

Chen Jian smiled.

“Once we clear all our debts this year, any plans?” Shan Yu glanced at him.

“Go inspect some other guesthouses,” Chen Jian said. “Didn’t you want to set up an old-cottage-themed guesthouse over by South Mountain? Go see how other ancient towns do it.”

“Suddenly so proactive?” Shan Yu set down the mealworm box and turned around.

“Is it sudden?” Chen Jian asked.

“When I mentioned it last time, it felt like you weren’t particularly interested,” Shan Yu said.

“I don’t know, maybe I was touched by something today,” Chen Jian looked at him. “I feel Tingting wanting to leave and breaking up with Lao Wu wasn’t mainly because she wants to strike it rich, but… Lao Wu has no ambition to earn big money… That’s not quite accurate either, just a sensation that suddenly branched out…”

“You mean: one wants to move forward, while the other stays in place,” Shan Yu said.

“Yeah,” Chen Jian nodded.

“You left that starting point long ago,” Shan Yu’s finger gently stroked his cheek. “You’ve never stayed in place. The reason I want to accomplish things is because you’re the one pushing me forward.”

“Really?” Chen Jian looked at him.

“Mm,” Shan Yu agreed. “Care to think about it again?”

Chen Jian fell silent for a moment, then asked, “Did you just pinch that worm with your bare fingers?”

“Nonsense,” Shan Yu said. “Er-ge is more frantic when eating than Da-ge; it snaps its beak and bites fingers along with worms. I always use tweezers.”

“Oh,” Chen Jian chuckled, taking his fingers and pressing a kiss to them against his lips.

“As for the guesthouse matter, if you want to do it, you can start brainstorming now,” Shan Yu said. “No need to wait until the books are cleared to take steps one, two, and three.”

“Then step one is finding out whether Boss Shan has any intention of investing,” Chen Jian said.

“Does Dayin not have money in its own accounts?” Shan Yu said.

“Nope,” Chen Jian said.

“You even charged me eighteen a cup with a three-yuan surcharge for coffee,” Shan Yu said. “You haven’t squeezed any cash out of that?”

“Hm?” Chen Jian laughed. “You went to drink coffee?”

“Did,” Shan Yu said. “Drank Zhao Fangfang’s quota.”

“Brain works fast, Boss Shan,” Chen Jian blinked, astonished.

“The rules had a loophole,” Shan Yu smirked.

“Seems I still have plenty to learn from Boss Shan,” Chen Jian said.

“The days ahead are long,” Shan Yu stretched lazily. “Take your time learning.”