AD CH118

Chapter 118: A Bit of Everyday Life (Extra 2)

“Hello, front desk.” Chen Jian picked up the phone, glancing at the wall clock beside him.

Three o’clock in the morning.

“Hello,” a girl’s voice came through from the other end. “Isn’t your front desk usually staffed by a girl?”

“Her shift ended,” Chen Jian replied. “Do you need a female staff member to assist you?”

“No need, it’s too late anyway,” the girl said. “Do you have sanitary pads?”

“Yes,” Chen Jian opened the drawer to check. “We have over—”

“So annoying! What the hell are you doing in the middle of the night!” a man’s voice snapped from the other end.

“Overnight ones, please. I’ll come down to the front desk to get them,” the girl said.

“It’s no trouble, I’ll bring them up to you,” Chen Jian said, standing up.

He hadn’t delivered these items to guests before, but Hu Pan did it often. Following her routine, Chen Jian packed a regular pad, an overnight pad, and a blister-cut tablet of ibuprofen into a small bag.

The girl was a guest on the second floor, staying with her boyfriend. Chen Jian had an impression of them—or more precisely, of the guy. When they were heading upstairs earlier, the guy had only carried his own luggage, completely ignoring the girl’s suitcase and a tote bag filled with their snacks. The girl had cursed him out on the spot, but he had just stepped into the elevator anyway.

In the end, Sanbing had gone over to help her carry them, but she hadn’t let him, carrying everything up herself.

Now, in the middle of the night, when his girlfriend got her period without any pads, not helping was one thing; when she called the front desk herself to ask, he even complained that she woke him up.

Holding the bag with the pads, Chen Jian knocked on their door. “Hello, front desk.”

The door opened. The girl stood inside and gave him an embarrassed smile. “Thank you, so sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble,” Chen Jian said. “If you need anything else, just call the front desk.”

“Still calling?” came a man’s voice from inside. Next, a shirtless guy appeared behind the girl. “What, haven’t chatted enough?”

Chen Jian glanced at him without speaking.

“Go away.” The girl shoved him, then smiled apologetically at Chen Jian. “He’s always making up reasons to be jealous. Sorry about that.”

Chen Jian said nothing, merely nodding and taking a step back, preparing to leave.

“Babbling on and on in the middle of the night,” the guy kept mouthing off.

Chen Jian felt that since starting work at the guesthouse, his temper had genuinely improved quite a bit. At first, it was Shan Yu infuriating him, and later, it was all sorts of baffling guests. By now, his heart was as calm as still water.

Evidently, however, the couple inside was anything but still water.

“Are you out of your mind?!” the girl yelled.

Then came a chaotic clatter, immediately followed by the guy’s groans of “Ouch!” and “Aaargh!…”

Rough seas indeed.

Chen Jian looked back over his shoulder.

The door wasn’t even closed. The girl stood on the bed while the guy clutched his stomach, curled up in a ball—looking as if he had either been kicked or stomped on.

Before Chen Jian could turn around and leave, the guy lashed out with a kick toward the girl’s legs. She fell onto the bed, and he threw two hard punches into her shoulder.

“Hey!” Chen Jian had no choice but to step toward the doorway. “Sir—”

“You lunatic!” The girl bounced up off the bed and slapped the man across the face three times in rapid succession—smack, smack, smack!

Chen Jian was left somewhat bewildered.

From there, total chaos erupted. The guy, who had been on the bed, jumped down and began hammering his fists at the girl. Forgetting all about her sanitary pad, the girl swung her arms and rained slap after slap on him…

By comparison, the slaps had the audio bonus, making them feel vastly more menacing. It gave Chen Jian the impression that the guy was completely outmatched.

If such an enthusiastic mutual brawl had occurred on the street, as long as there wasn’t a glaring imbalance of power, he certainly wouldn’t have interfered.

But right now, this was his turf. Furthermore, the Amur adonis flowers had recently begun blooming on the mountain; from now until May or June was flower-viewing season, so tourists were picking up. In other words, these two were brawling on his property when it was nearly fully booked.

That was absolutely unacceptable.

“Excuse me,” Chen Jian stepped into the room, grabbed the guy’s arm just as he was about to throw a punch, and shoved him against the wall. A stray slap from the girl caught Chen Jian on the back before she could stop her momentum. He turned around, pointing at her hands. “Excuse me—”

“Stay out of this!” the girl swatted at him.

“You dare barge into our room?” The guy rolled up his invisible sleeves on his bare arms and stalked back toward Chen Jian.

“It’s three in the morning,” Chen Jian said, pointing one finger at the girl and the other at the guy. “You two are seriously disrupting the rest of our other guests. If you mind me coming in to warn you, I’ll call the police and let them come in instead.”

“Using the cops as a shield, huh?” The guy glared at him. “What does a couple having an argument have to do with the police?”

“Then go home and fight, or go up the mountain to fight,” Chen Jian’s voice dropped cold. “Fighting here and disturbing others is simply not allowed.”

“Forget it,” the girl muttered, sitting down on the bed. She looked down, opened the bag Chen Jian had given her, and blinked. “Wow, you guys are pretty thoughtful. Thanks.”

“…You’re welcome.” Chen Jian gave the guy a look, then headed toward the door. “Please be mindful of the time and get some rest soon.”

The guy didn’t say a word.

“Okay,” the girl nodded.

When Chen Jian shut the door, he still felt utterly bewildered.

Turning back toward the elevator, he heard a short, faint whistle coming from the stairway.

Chen Jian walked over and saw Shan Yu standing at the corner of the landing, holding a baseball bat.

“What are you doing?” Taking several strides up the stairs, he confiscated the bat from Shan Yu’s hand.

“What were you doing?” Shan Yu said. “I thought a fight broke out.”

“Two guests losing their minds—hitting is affection, scolding is love. I broke it up,” Chen Jian said, carrying the bat upstairs. “It was just a couple of minutes and not that loud. You could hear it all the way from the fourth floor?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I was just about to head downstairs to keep you company during your shift,” Shan Yu said. “Heard it as soon as I came down.”

“And then you went back up to the fourth floor to fetch this thing?” Chen Jian was stunned. “Were you afraid they wouldn’t end up in a bloody brawl?”

“What do you know,” Shan Yu replied. “Carrying this is precisely so they won’t fight. It serves as a visual deterrent.”

After returning the deterrent bat to Shan Yu’s office, Chen Jian prepared to head back down to the first floor to continue his shift, only to find that Shan Yu truly had no intention of returning to bed, standing in the corridor waiting for him.

“Haven’t you been sleeping pretty well lately?” Chen Jian asked. “How come you have insomnia again?”

“There’s no telling with this sort of thing; there’s no pattern to when insomnia strikes,” Shan Yu stretched lazily. “Let’s go. I’ll spend the night with you.”

Chen Jian reached out and stroked his face. “What are we going to do about this condition of yours? Isn’t there any way to treat it?”

“No cure,” Shan Yu said. “Being like this is already considered pretty stable.”

Chen Jian sighed, falling silent.

“What,” Shan Yu said, “regretting it?”

“Regretting what?” Chen Jian looked at him.

“Disliking me for dragging you down, right?” Shan Yu said.

“Ah, yeah,” Chen Jian nodded. “What should we do then?”

“Dump me,” Shan Yu said.

“Not a chance,” Chen Jian said. “We’re fated by heaven; we have to be together.”

“What fate?” Shan Yu asked with a chuckle.

“Every cracked pot finds its cracked lid,” Chen Jian said.

“…Get lost,” Shan Yu said.

“Every weirdo finds their lover,” Chen Jian added.

“Shut up.” Shan Yu kicked him lightly from behind.

Nights in the small town were far livelier now than in the past. Back when Chen Jian used to climb over the wall into Zhenxi to sleep, he had to do it before midnight; any later, and he’d feel as though ghosts might grab his legs.

Now, even at past three in the morning, cars still drove past outside their guesthouse—either hunting for parking spots to hike up the peak for the sunrise, or heading further in toward the other guesthouses.

Chen Jian gave the recliner to Shan Yu and sat on the swivel chair himself, listening to the noises outside.

“Did He Liang come looking for you yesterday?” Chen Jian asked.

“Yeah,” Shan Yu kept his eyes closed. “He wants to set up a few cottages in the old village as an agritourism lodge.”

“Why didn’t he go directly to the villagers?” Chen Jian asked again. “Big Li’s point was that bypassing us wouldn’t look good, but we never leased the entire old village anyway.”

“Bypassing us is bad for their future profits,” Shan Yu smiled faintly. “When they can swindle us, they try their best; when they need to cling to a thigh, they pounce on it and refuse to let go.”

“What wishful thinking.” Chen Jian looked at Shan Yu. “So, are you going to help him?”

“If I can help, of course I will,” Shan Yu said. “Frankly, he could pull it off on his own if he ran around doing the legwork. Doing this is just him voluntarily coming to owe a favor and forge a connection.”

“And you’re letting him build that connection?” Chen Jian still held a bit of a grudge against He Liang.

“Connection my ass—what I want is for him to owe me this favor,” Shan Yu said. “Once it’s owed, whether I acknowledge any connection is another story entirely, and he knows that too.”

“Mm,” Chen Jian acknowledged.

“Give me that guy’s phone number tomorrow,” Shan Yu said. “I’ll have Sun Nana make initial contact.”

“Whose?” Chen Jian blinked.

“The one who took your family’s house,” Shan Yu said.

“Uncle Da Chen?” Chen Jian paused. “We’re going to negotiate… right now?”

“Yeah, right now while development rumors are floating around but no major moves have started,” Shan Yu said. “We can push the price down. Once the exact development zone is finalized, negotiating will be tough.”

“Sun Nana isn’t from our village either,” Chen Jian said, slightly puzzled. “It’s not like he can sell it to her.”

“Are you stupid? It’ll naturally be transferred back under your dad’s name,” Shan Yu opened his eyes and glanced at him. “She’s your employee, dispatched by you to negotiate.”

“Holy crap,” Chen Jian was stunned. “Do I carry that much prestige now?”

“Naturally,” Shan Yu said. “Remember to put on airs in the future.”

“Oh,” Chen Jian thought about it and chuckled. “Really… these were things I never dared dream of before.”

“Still thinking of dumping me?” Shan Yu nudged his chair with a kick.

“Never planned on it in the first place,” Chen Jian said. “You’re the cracked pot, I’m the cracked lid.”

“I’m the lid,” Shan Yu said.

Chen Jian stared at him. “Are you serious? You even have to fight over this?”

“Yup,” Shan Yu nodded.

“Fine, fine, fine, you’re the lid, you’re the lid,” Chen Jian surrendered.

“Then let me cover you.” Shan Yu stood up, propped himself on the back of Chen Jian’s chair, leaned over, and planted a kiss on his forehead.

Just as he was about to wrap his arms around him, the elevator chimed, and someone stepped out.

Chen Jian slapped a palm straight against Shan-the-Lid’s chest, shoving him right back into the recliner.

Then, the brawling couple from earlier strode over, arms draped around each other’s necks and shoulders. Catching sight of Chen Jian, the girl waved at him. “Thanks for earlier, Manager.”

“You’re welcome,” Chen Jian, utterly baffled by their relationship dynamic, could only manage a polite smile. “Going out so late… so early?”

“Going up the mountain to watch the sunrise,” the girl said.

“…Oh,” Chen Jian replied.

What kind of physical stamina was this? As far as he knew, Sun Nana had to take leave and rest in the dorm for the first two days of her period, yet this girl could hike up a mountain in the dead of night.

“What if I can’t walk anymore?” The girl tilted her head up at the guy.

“I’ll carry you,” the guy said.

Carry her, my ass.

You couldn’t even beat her in a fight, and you’re offering to carry her?

One slap from her could send you flying straight to the mountaintop…

“Were those two the ones fighting earlier?” Shan Yu asked.

“Yeah,” Chen Jian turned to look at him. “Just because I brought up a sanitary pad, the guy got jealous, and then a fight broke out…”

Shan Yu laughed. “Fuck.”

“Who knew jealousy could be served like that?” Chen Jian said. “So violently.”

“So,” Shan Yu began patting his pockets for his phone, “my jealousy…”

“Just chill for a moment,” Chen Jian held down his hand. “If you want to count comments, you might as well wait until the first episode of Dayin Jianghu comes out and count those.”

“Has it been filmed?” Shan Yu asked.

“The script is done,” Chen Jian said. “Liu Wu is pretty efficient after all.”

“Did you read it?” Shan Yu chuckled.

“Nope,” Chen Jian said. “Heard it’s pretty unhinged.”

With Shan Yu keeping him company, Chen Jian felt his shift pass much more easily. Even though Shan Yu dozed off on the recliner toward dawn, Chen Jian was still in great spirits.

As the sky began to gray with dawn, Zhao Fangfang hauled a basket of vegetables through the side door into the kitchen.

“What’s for breakfast today?” Chen Jian got up, walked over, and asked. “I’ll give you a hand.”

“Steaming buns for you guys, and the millet porridge is already simmering,” Zhao Fangfang said. “I’ll also steam some egg custard. Help me make the soy milk, will you?”

“Sure thing.” Chen Jian picked up the soy milk maker and prepared to head to the backyard.

“Where are you going?” Zhao Fangfang watched him.

“Making it outside. This machine makes way too much racket,” Chen Jian said.

“How loud could it—” Mid-sentence, Zhao Fangfang glanced toward the front desk. “Why is Boss Shan sleeping over there? I thought that was Sanbing.”

Chen Jian smiled, too embarrassed to explain, and carried the machine outside.

At this hour, though, Shan Yu wouldn’t sleep long anyway; even without anyone disturbing him, he’d wake up after two or three hours at most.

Not to mention someone was about to make a ruckus.

Sun Nana, who had been in the city over the past couple of days, suddenly pushed the door open and burst in, brandishing a booklet in her hand.

“Why are you here so early?” Chen Jian, who was carrying the freshly steamed egg custard toward the dining hall, stopped in surprise. “There shouldn’t even be any buses this early. How did you get back?”

“Director Lu, that workaholic, drove me over. He went to Old Ding’s office.” Sun Nana still kept the booklet held high.

“Oh,” Chen Jian glanced at the booklet, unsure what it was. “What’s that?”

“Divorce certificate!” Sun Nana slammed the booklet down on the front desk counter with a loud smack. “This lady has finally settled this damn mess!”

“Whoa.” Shan Yu jolted upright from the recliner.

“Didn’t you say Chen Erhu was going to accompany you on Wednesday?” Chen Jian leaned in with astonishment to take a look; sure enough, it was a red booklet stamped with the words Divorce Certificate.

“Couldn’t wait any longer! He suddenly said yesterday he had time, so we went!” Sun Nana slapped the desk. “I’m divorced!”

“Let me see! Let me see!” Zhao Fangfang ran out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. “Let me have a look.”

Sun Nana pushed the certificate toward her. “Take a look!”

“Ah, it really is,” Zhao Fangfang touched the three characters for Divorce Certificate. “It really is… so this is what a divorce certificate looks like…”

“Everything taken care of?” Shan Yu yawned.

“All settled,” Sun Nana snapped her fingers. “Dinner’s on me tonight. Thanks, everyone.”

“Buy some groceries and cook here instead,” Shan Yu suggested.

“Sounds good,” Sun Nana said. “Zhao-jie, come grocery shopping with me this afternoon, yeah?”

“Sure,” Zhao Fangfang nodded with a warm smile. “Sure!”

“I’m going upstairs to show Panpan and the others.” Snatching up her certificate, Sun Nana dashed toward the elevator, completely abandoning any shred of grace.

“How wonderful,” Zhao Fangfang remarked softly with emotion. “Free from now on.”

“Yeah,” Shan Yu nodded.

Zhao Fangfang stared in the direction of the elevator for a moment before turning back toward the kitchen. “I’ll go bring out the buns.”

Chen Jian set the bowl of steamed egg custard down in the dining hall, then hurried back to the front desk, casting a glance toward the kitchen. “Did that get Zhao-jie thinking?”

“Maybe,” Shan Yu said. “Though whether anything comes of it is hard to say. Her situation is different from Sun Nana’s, after all.”

“Mm.” Chen Jian leaned against the front desk counter and let out a soft sigh. “Regardless, as long as things turn out better than before, that’s what counts.”

“Doesn’t the new house rule say no leaning on the counter?” Shan Yu looked at him.

“Yes,” Chen Jian snapped upright instantly, giving him an astonished look. “You actually know that?”

“I can recite the whole thing from memory,” Shan Yu said.

“Holy shit,” Chen Jian was thoroughly impressed.

“Deduct it from your pay—twenty yuan a pop,” Shan Yu said.

“Holy shit,” Chen Jian muttered.

“Or trade it for a cup of coffee for me?” Shan Yu suggested.

“…Must you sound so pitiful?” Chen Jian waved him over, strolling toward the café corner. “Come on, my treat.”

Shan Yu smiled and followed after him.

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