Chapter 029

Chapter 029

What the hell are they talking about!

Not sure if it's because he was tired today or what, but Chen Jian felt a ringing in his ears.

For a few seconds, he couldn't even make out what Shan Yu was saying.

His ears were filled with a "zzz—zzz—" sound.

It wasn't until Shan Yu sat back on the bed, leaned back comfortably, snapped his fingers, and shouted again, "Chen Jian!"

That he snapped out of it, pulled a chair over from the side, sat down next to the bed, and began disinfecting in a flustered but incredibly skilled manner.

New cotton swab, dip in iodine, wipe, throw it away.

What did Shan Yu just say?

New cotton swab, dip in iodine, wipe, throw it away.

Something about sleep...

Chen Jian's hand trembled, and the cotton swab he had just picked up fell.

"Why do Liu Wu and the others need to use the meeting room again?" Shan Yu said.

Chen Jian glanced at him and saw that Shan Yu had taken his notebook and was looking through it.

"They have some indoor entertainment activities; the meeting room is rented to them by the hour," Chen Jian said, picking up a new cotton swab.

The things in the private room, Chen Jian hadn't really thought too much about. There was an indescribable sense of awkwardness that made him unwilling to dwell on it. He would toss many things into a corner of his mind and let them fade away on their own.

Until just now, when Shan Yu said something about sleep...

That's when it hit him.

Or rather, that's when he faced reality.

"What do you mean indoor entertainment activities," Shan Yu clicked his tongue, "like a mixer?"

The boss likes men!

And wants to sleep with them.

"He sent an event schedule to Hu Pan; there are some things we need to help prepare," Chen Jian was a bit dazed, "Do you wa—"

Sleep with him?

Chen Jian stopped just in time, biting back the words that were about to slip out, and cleared his throat.

"Do you want to take a look?" he asked.

"Who looks at that stuff," Shan Yu said disdainfully, "I'm not looking. You handle the process, just make sure there aren't any too rowdy parts, if they disturb other guests, I'll kick them out that night."

"It's fifteen rooms for five days." Chen Jian reminded him.

"How many times can he come? I can't afford to offend the other guests," Shan Yu said, "Offending Liu Wu a few times is no problem."

"I'll keep an eye on them." Chen Jian said.

"Have Boss Chen put two people at the meeting room door to watch." Shan Yu said.

We're a homestay!

"The college kids are still very... cooperative." Chen Jian said, having communicated quite a bit with Liu Wu recently, feeling that these kids were quite well-behaved.

"Do you think my leg is almost healed?" Shan Yu suddenly asked.

The topic changed so quickly that Chen Jian's already sluggish brain could barely keep up.

"It... looks pretty good," he said after staring at Shan Yu's leg for a moment, "But I don't know how the bones inside are doing, the external injury looks okay though."

"Press on it." Shan Yu said.

Am I crazy? I wouldn't dare. It's got cuts and an eye, and there's a brace.

Chen Jian looked at him: "Ah?"

"Press on it, let me see if it still hurts." Shan Yu said.

"...Can't you reach it yourself?" Chen Jian asked.

Is your flexibility really that bad?

"I'm afraid," Shan Yu said, "I can't bring myself to do it."

And I can?

"Get Chen DaHu," Chen Jian didn't dare press on his injured leg, continuing to disinfect carefully, "He'll definitely be able to help, he might even take the brace off for you."

Shan Yu laughed: "Ah."

"Just bear with it, Liu Wu reminded me yesterday to tell you not to rush, go for a check-up at the end of next month," Chen Jian said, "Maybe it'll be good enough to remove it early by then."

"I'm so annoyed." Shan Yu sighed.

Don't sigh.

It's suffocating.

When it came to disinfection, Chen Jian was already a skilled caregiver. It didn’t take him long to finish the task.

He picked up his notebook and clipped San Bing’s training plan back inside. "Sister Zhao made some late-night snacks. Do you want to eat?"

"Why is she making late-night snacks again?" Shan Yu asked.

"A large number of guests are arriving tomorrow, everyone’s been busy today," Chen Jian said, "So I asked her to make some."

"The store manager is reliable," Shan Yu said, "I won’t eat. I’m going to sleep soon. I haven’t slept well for the past two days."

Sleep.

Sleep, sleep.

"Hmm." Chen Jian nodded, turned around, and walked out of the room. After closing the door, he quickened his pace, holding his breath, and only exhaled when he reached the staircase.

Shan Yu hadn’t slept well for the past two days.

He probably wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight either.

"Fuck." Chen Jian muttered under his breath, shaking his head, trying to rid his mind of some obsessive thoughts that kept circling.

No one had rested yet. Zhao Fangfang had just rechecked the rooms where guests would be staying tomorrow. Chen Erhu and a few others had just finished a round of patrol. Now they were in the dining area with Hu Pan, eating small tangyuan dessert and watching TV.

"People will start arriving at eight tomorrow morning," Chen Jian said, "Those who need to rest should do so early."

"Too excited to sleep," Hu Pan said.

"I’m on night duty tonight. Tomorrow morning, I’ll go pick up the first group of guests before I get any sleep. By the way, Chen Jian," Chen Erhu pointed to the café area, "Can you go take a look? I wrote a note, can you check if there’s anything wrong with it?"

"I’ll replace it in a bit," Hu Pan said.

"What note?" Chen Jian walked into the café and immediately spotted the piece of paper on the boss’s newly bought strange bottle.

Only when he got closer could he see the words, probably handwritten by Chen Erhu.

-Do not touch! Do not move!

"…Why did you write this?" Chen Jian was somewhat speechless.

"To remind guests not to touch it casually," Chen Erhu said, "I just picked it up to take a look. This thing is probably handmade, very thin. If it gets knocked, it’ll break easily. Then we’ll have to deal with the hassle of whether or not to compensate."

Chen Erhu’s concern was reasonable. If this was meant for Chen DaHu, it needed to remain intact before they met.

But this note…

It was so pig pen security team style.

"We have a card printer in the warehouse," Hu Pan said, "I’ll print a small card later, something like 'Fragile item, for display only.'"

"I spent a long time writing that!" Chen Erhu was annoyed, "With a brush pen! And now we’re just going to throw it away?"

"How about we frame it and put it in the fourth-floor office," Chen Jian said, "You can have a calligraphy exchange with Boss Shan."

"I’ll patrol the courtyard then," Chen Erhu stood up, threw his jacket over his shoulder, "This status, can’t compare to the store manager…"

"Those who need to rest have already done so," Chen Jian headed to the upstairs dormitory, "Tomorrow’s going to be busy."

"We know—” Hu Pan and the others answered, stretching the last word.

San Bing was supposed to sleep in the dormitory tonight. Chen Jian finished his tasks and lay in bed just before San Bing returned to the dorm.

To be honest, he was quite tired, a kind of tiredness from working for days, mixed with another kind of peculiar fatigue.

It was the kind of exhaustion that came after Shan Yu said, “You have the ability to handle this,” lifting the invisible weight that had been pressing on him. The whole body relaxed.

A comfortable kind of tiredness.

He soon entered a state of semi-consciousness, maybe even falling asleep, since he had already started dreaming.

In the private room.

Shan Yu was looking at him.

They were very close. He could see his own reflection in Shan Yu’s eyes.

…Damn it!

He jerked awake.

"What’s wrong?" San Bing’s panicked voice came from beside him.

"Huh?" Chen Jian turned his head and saw San Bing holding clothes ready to change into, standing by the bed, his body leaning back in surprise.

"Did you just rise from the dead!" San Bing exclaimed.

Only then did Chen Jian realize he had sat up.

"…Just had a dream." Chen Jian lay back on the pillow, "What time is it?"

"A little after one," San Bing said.

"This late?" Chen Jian was surprised. It wasn’t even midnight when he went to bed. He had only dreamt something that lasted three seconds, yet two hours had passed?

"Yeah," San Bing nodded, "Everyone’s asleep."

"Why are you up so late?" Chen Jian looked at him.

"I went home for a bit," San Bing said, "My mom had a headache. I bought her some painkillers and took them back."

"Then why are you coming over? Stay home and keep her company," said Chen Jian. "You’re not on duty tonight either."

"It’s nothing. We’ve got over a dozen rooms tomorrow," said San Bing. "Erhu is going to pick someone up early in the morning. I’m afraid we’ll be short-handed at the hostel, so I’d rather just stay in the dormitory."

"San Bing," Chen Jian said, resting his head on his arm, "You haven’t worked much before either, right?"

"Yeah," San Bing leaned against the table nearby, "I’m not as capable as you. I’ve just been messing around."

"Is it more tiring than when you were just messing around?" Chen Jian smiled.

"It’s different. It wasn’t easy back then either," San Bing thought for a moment. "It’s mainly a sense of panic. You might not understand. You’ve always been very hardworking. This kind of panic I feel is like... not knowing what to do with my life."

"Actually, I..." Chen Jian paused, "I never thought about my whole life before."

"It’s really good now. Not much money, but the work isn’t too much. And it’s not mentally exhausting," San Bing said.

"Yeah," Chen Jian nodded, "Go take a shower."

San Bing slept quite soundly that night. Chen Jian thought he had slept too, although he could hear San Bing’s snoring, it only felt like he listened to it for a dozen minutes before it was already dawn.

Then San Bing’s alarm went off.

"What time is your alarm?" Chen Jian was a bit speechless, grabbing a pillow to cover his head.

"Six-thirty," San Bing jumped out of bed, "I’m getting up first, Boss."

"I’m getting up too," Chen Jian sat up, his mind briefly going over the tasks for the day—this was a method that could quickly wake him up.

At seven o'clock, when he went downstairs to the front hall, everyone was already up. Zhao Fangfang had to prepare breakfast for the guests, so she got up especially early. Chen Jian had said that if they were too busy, the staff could just eat out, but Zhao Fangfang had made everything, steaming a large basket of buns that smelled very good.

"Good morning, Boss Chen," Hu Pan stood behind the front desk with a bun in her hand.

"Morning," Chen Jian took a bun and walked over to look at the computer. Seeing the booked rooms marked on the screen, he felt a sense of reassurance.

"Chen Erhu has already gone to pick up the guests," Hu Pan said, "The guests for the first two rooms will arrive soon. They were driving all night and just called to say they couldn’t find the way. Lao Wu has gone on a motorcycle to guide them."

"Yeah," Chen Jian nodded.

It seemed calling all of Chen Erhu’s people over was the right decision. They could be short-handed when such unexpected situations arose.

"Boss Shan’s breakfast," Zhao Fangfang brought over a tray, "Please take it up. He said it’s fine, he won’t come down for meals today."

"Why?" Chen Jian was surprised.

"He doesn’t want to get in the way," Hu Pan said, "He can’t help much anyway, just being in the way wherever he is."

What a boss.

Chen Jian took the tray and asked again, "Is he up?"

"Yes," Zhao Fangfang said, "He came down a little after six, but went back up when he saw breakfast wasn’t ready yet."

Is he that hungry?

The elevator stopped at the third floor. Shan Yu was probably not in the office, just hanging around on the third floor.

Such sudden self-discipline early in the morning.

Chen Jian guessed right. The lights in the gym on the third floor were on. He walked to the gym door and called out first, "Boss Shan."

"I’m here," Shan Yu answered, accompanied by the sound of a dumbbell hitting the ground.

After a night of half-sleep, a quick walk downstairs made everything seem normal again, but now hearing Shan Yu’s voice, the words he had said yesterday came back to his mind.

"You..." As he walked in with the tray, Chen Jian couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward, moving his arms and legs in sync, "Sister Zhao said you’re having breakfast upstairs."

"Yeah," Shan Yu walked over with a cane, seemingly having really been exercising, wearing only a vest on his upper body.

Chen Jian handed him the tray. Today, he finally noticed the black line on Shan Yu’s neck, extending from his shoulder down to his arm, ending in a small bow.

Shan Yu took the tray from him, "You all take care of your tasks today. Don’t worry about me."

"Yeah," Chen Jian shifted his gaze, "You really don’t need to get up so early."

"I couldn’t sleep," Shan Yu said, "I got up to experience a day of being a boss who’s disliked by the employees."

"It’s only busy early in the morning," Chen Jian said, "After this period, there won’t be many people until noon. Most guests arrive in the afternoon."

"I’m going out for a walk later," Shan Yu took another bun and bit into it.

"Where are you going?" Chen Jian instinctively followed up.

Shan Yu, not speaking with food in his mouth, just looked at him and smiled.

As if it’s any of your business, store manager, where the boss goes!

"With such a busy time, if the boss isn’t around and something happens..." Chen Jian said.

Shan Yu ate his bun slowly and calmly.

He hadn’t even washed his hands. Although Zhao Fangfang had cleaned the dumbbell, she had used a rag...

But in the end, Shan Yu didn’t eat the small piece he was holding and put it back on the tray, "With you as the store manager, what could happen? It’s just dealing with troublesome guests. If it’s really a bother, just kick them out."

Reputation, boss!

Hu Pan is right not to let you stay downstairs.

"Is there a small path that goes deep into the mountains if you keep walking along the small road?" Shan Yu picked up another bun and took a bite.

"You’re taking the wheelchair into the mountains?" Chen Jian looked at him.

Shan Yu didn’t respond.

Chen Jian could only stand nearby and wait for him to finish eating in silence.

"That’s a pedestrian path into the mountains," Chen Jian said, "A wheelchair might wear out the wheels a bit."

Fortunately, Zhao Fangfang’s buns were small, and you could finish one in two bites. After Shan Yu finished the bun, he finally spoke again, "It’s not a mountain road, I think it’s quite easy to walk."

"Do you have legs to walk with?" Chen Jian said.

"Now that you mention it, there’s still one and a half," Shan Yu picked up the third small bun.

"Finish talking before eating, your habit of not speaking while eating is really delaying things," Chen Jian couldn’t help but say.

Shan Yu laughed with the bun in hand, "Go ahead."

"If you can really walk in there, then the path is fine," Chen Jian said, "But if your wheelchair flips inside, what then?"

"I’ll walk in," Shan Yu said.

Chen Jian didn’t speak. Previously, Shan Yu always wanted to wander around, mountains, rivers, forests, but with his leg inconvenience and many things to handle, he only went to the village once and the old town once, then he was stuck in the guesthouse.

Going to the city was still...

Chen Jian took a breath.

"It’s okay, I won’t go far," Shan Yu said, "If you’re afraid I might fall and die and no one can find me, just take the tracker out of the bottle and stick it on me first."

"Then go ahead," Chen Jian didn’t stop him, "Just don’t go into the woods, it’s easy to get lost in there, every year people get lost."

"Hmm." Shan Yu shook the bun in his hand, "I’m going to eat now."

Chen Jian sighed.

Lack of oxygen.

Leaning on a crutch, Shan Yu walked out from the back door and down the path.

Chen Jian returned to the front desk. Lao Wu drove a motorcycle with a small car into the yard. The lost guests had arrived, a family of five, and they immediately started complaining about the rough road and the lack of signs at the fork.

"Your service still needs improvement," the old man looked disgruntled, "You didn’t even tell us there would be forks in the road."

"You still need to follow the navigation," Hu Pan said, "This road’s navigation is very accurate. Have you had breakfast? The restaurant is offering free breakfast now."

"Navigation is a dead thing, can it be as flexible as a human? You still need to improve..." the old man said, "Let’s eat something."

The breakfast was provided for guests who checked in the previous day, but at this moment, it helped to calm down the unhappy guests.

San Bing led the family to the restaurant. Hu Pan turned her head and stuck out her tongue at Chen Jian, who was leaning against the wall at the back.

"Very good." Chen Jian smiled.

As soon as the family was taken upstairs by San Bing, the guests Chen Erhu received arrived, a few young people who had been filming with their phones since they got off the car.

Chen Jian stepped aside from the front desk. Hu Pan was very efficient, and he couldn’t help much.

After these young people finished the check-in procedures, they didn’t go to their rooms immediately. They left their luggage at the front desk and went to the garden.

Chen Jian went over and moved the luggage one by one to the side.

"Should we help them take it up?" Hu Pan asked.

"We don’t offer that service," Chen Jian said.

"That sounds like something boss Shan would say," Hu Pan laughed.

Chen Jian was about to speak when Lao Wu ran in from outside, "Chen Jian, we’re in trouble."

"Say that again?" Chen Jian turned around.

"Two people came," Lao Wu lowered his voice, "Troublemakers, friends of Chen DaHu."

At the same time, Chen Jian saw the thugs who had come to cause trouble with Chen DaHu that day.

Chen Jian clicked his tongue.

As long as it wasn’t the out-of-control Chen DaHu himself, with just these two thugs, he wasn’t worried. Especially since Shan Yu wasn’t in the guesthouse, he was the biggest instability.

Chen Jian walked over and blocked the two thugs at the door.

"What is it?" One of the thugs looked at him, "Is this how you run your guesthouse?"

"Welcome to Da Yin," Chen Jian stood still.