Chapter Text
"I don't know what to doooooooooooo," Chen Guo wailed into the table top, beer bottle dangling dangerously in her out-flung hand. She and Wu Chen were waiting for Wei Chen to join them for dinner. It was a Friday night so dinner out with a few drinks couldn't hurt (it was also one way to ensure that Wei Chen would actually show up). The small eatery they were in was a pretty recent novelty to their little neighborhood, although the store itself had been there all her life; having been a small convenience store, then a bookstore, then an office, then a small internet cafe, and even – if her memory served her correctly – a shoe store. She was very satisfied with its most recent incarnation. Yang Cong, the owner and sole chef, didn't reveal much about his past (a commendable feat in a close-knit neighborhood like this) but eventually the locals had stopped caring because damn, the guy could cook.
Wu Chen rolled his bottle between his palms. " Technically , no one's being coerced to sell but...with the way business has been declining these past few years…"
"They think it's time to leave anyway," she finished.
“It’s probably the biggest reason we’re being targeted in the first place,” he glumly added.
Chen Guo reeled her bottle back in for another sip before crossing her arms and resting her chin on top. Recent years had seen an increase in the demolition of decades-old shops to make way for bigger, taller, shiny, new buildings. And Chen Guo understood, she really did. It was what drew people in. They were new, they were (mostly) pretty, they offered more conveniences than had been available before, and seeing those bigger brands made people excited that maybe their area was finally modernizing .
It was just hard to be one of those small businesses getting edged out.
Their particular street had always been a rather quiet part of town, what with it being right at the back of Glory High School. But the bigger brands and retail chains were moving closer and closer, attracted by the tantalizing pool of potential clientele that was the student population and their parents.
(She had never seen so many milk tea shops in her life. )
Which brought them to their present dilemma. Their entire block had received an offer from Jiashi Corp. to buy them out.
Wu Chen raised their small bowl and made eye-contact with Yang Cong, asking for more peanuts. “I heard from the others that Jiashi’s even willing to pay off any bank loans on the properties and buildings. Land titles, building value, rent, everything. ”
Chen Guo's eyes bugged. “Fuck, really?! Just how much money do these people have? ” She straightened in her chair to make space on the tabletop as Yang Cong came around with their refill.
“They live in a different world from people like us,” The owner said with a wry smile, waving away their thanks and returning to his spot behind the counter.
Chen Guo leaned her chin on her hand, eyebrows furrowed in speculation. “They really want a blank slate don't they?”
“It's pretty obvious that Jiashi Corp. is not interested in being a landlord.”
“To demolish a whole block...they'll probably put up a mall.”
“Mmm. That or maybe condominiums. We do have a school right across us. And the city center is just 15 minutes away by bike. The boarding houses are too small and run down to keep up.”
Chen Guo leaned back with a long exhale, fingers drumming on the table top. The thing was, she couldn't really complain. Objectively speaking, it was a really good deal, what they were being offered. The terms were fair and their area was already reaching its natural death. She and Wei Chen were already the youngest ones to take over from their parents. The rest of their peers had left for greener pastures or just weren't interested in continuing the family businesses. They could close up, move their business somewhere else, or find something completely different to do with the sale money.
It’s just that...she really didn’t want to leave. She loved her day-care and the kids fiercely. And the thought of their quiet block being turned into a mall or towering condominiums just felt so...cold. Their little pocket of history would be gone, just like that. In twenty years, who would even remember that fireflies used to come out at night by the creek?
Heck, would there even be a creek in twenty years?
Chen Guo slumped in her chair, sighing. As her relatives always told her dad, “business is business and sentimentality gets you nowhere”. Go figure none of them supported her when she decided to drop her corporate career to take over the day-care after her dad died.
“Excuse me.”
The two turned to the voice to find a man in a suit. Oh no, not another one.
“Can we help you?” Chen Guo asked politely. Please say no.
“Actually, I was wondering if maybe I could help you .”
Wow. Shady. That’s not what I meant when I said “Please say no”. The man's voice was smooth, neutral. The same with his behavior. She couldn't get a read on where he might be from. Chen Guo flicked a glance at Wu Chen and was gratified to see the same wariness reflected on his face.
“And who might you be?” Wu Chen prompted.
“My name is Ye Xiu, I'm a lawyer.” He smiled politely.
It's a perfectly nice smile, Chen Guo thought to herself, imagining - for some reason - a white wall. And 'Ye Xiu'? I feel like I should know that name...or maybe I’m just thinking of ‘Ye Qiu’. Pretty common name, that.
“Thank you, but we're not in any legal trouble.” And I don't want to spend money on exorbitant hourly consultation fees, thanks very much.
Ye Xiu blinked. “Your concerns are on real estate, yes? I have extensive experience there as well.”
Chen Guo's eyes narrowed. “I thought you said you were a lawyer?”
His smile widened. “A lawyer by profession but I mostly work in project development. Though my degree does come in handy with all the legalities involved.”
How suspiciously convenient. Now that she looked closer, Chen Guo noticed that Ye Xiu was wearing a Very Nice Suit. Understated, but intimidating enough even to her amateur gaze for her to feel threatened on behalf of her monthly grocery bill. Maybe even her quarterly grocery bill.
“And...what? You just so happened to hear about some town business gossip while eating your dinner and suddenly decided to offer your services?” SUPER shady.
“Somewhat? I must admit that this town holds a lot of sentimental value to me. So you could say I have a vested interest.”
I've lived here all my life and I've never seen you before. She glanced at Wu Chen, lips slightly pursed and eyebrows raised a hair. Bail out?
He twitched his nose. Bail out.
Glad to see they were on the same page. “Uh, well, thanks for the offer but we're good. Have a nice-”
“Well I'll be,” a lazy drawl cut in, “if it isn't Shameless Fucker Ye.”
Ye Xiu's gaze- no, his everything suddenly sharpened; posture going from unremarkable, neutral politeness to amused, haughty disdain; setting off the alarm bells in Chen Guo's mind. It was like looking at a completely different person. That she maybe wanted to punch. Had he really been about to scam them into something?
He turned to what could only be Wei Chen. “Well if it isn't Shameless Old Wei.”
“Disrespectful bastard, I'm only 2 years older than you!”
“Any reason then for you to be dressed like your grandfather? Practicing early? How uncharacteristically diligent, Wei-xuezhang!”
“ Oh fuck off, ” Wei Chen grumbled. “Don't you have a business empire to run? What are you doing in a dive like thi- just kidding Old Yang, you know I love you!”
Chen Guo's eyes widened. ' Business empire?'
“My family's business is doing just fine, thank you for asking.” Ye Xiu's smile couldn't look any more condescending in Chen Guo's eyes. “And how is your family store? I hope you haven't smoked yourself out of house and home?”
“My store is damn fine , thanks,” Wei Chen bragged loudly. Like everybody and their grandmother hadn't heard him complain about that stupid, fuckin' leak or the fuckin’ lose wire death trap or the fuckin' cats climbing up his shitty tree and thumping all over his gods-damned roof at ASS-o-clock and waking him up in the MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING NIGHT. Like most everyone here, he also lived above his store.
If it had just been the three of them, they could have sat all night laughing and complaining about all the never ending repairs that had to be done for buildings as old as theirs. But the thought of this wealthy outsider looking down on their shops made Chen Guo's territorial hackles rise. No one was allowed to shit on their street except for them.
“But seriously,” Wei Chen said as he crossed his arms and leaned on the counter, “what's a big shot like you doing among plebes like us?”
Ye Xiu sighed as he too leaned on the counter. “I heard about Jiashi's offer and I was hoping to offer some advice.”
“There's no way we can afford you!” Wei Chen laughed.
Ye Xiu rolled his eyes. “I wasn't planning-”
But Wei Chen was already waving his hand and laughing it off. “I didn't know you guys knew this fox.” he grinned at the two at the table.
“We don't. He was just leaving,” Chen Guo said coldly.
Wei Chen startled at her blatant dislike, grin slipping off his face.
“Guoguo-” Wu Chen ventured gently but Chen Guo shook her head, she had figured it out. After Wei Chen had said “business empire” and Ye Xiu had said “family's business” she had immediately thought of the Ye Investments Corp.; a multi billion yuan conglomerate that had ventures in land development, pharmaceuticals, machinery, gadgets, weaponry, textiles, toiletries, food & beverages, and basically everything under the sun . And while the matriarch was still the head of the family, the twin grandchildren 'Ye Xiu' and ‘Ye Qiu’ were already showing enough promise as to be featured in quite a few high profile magazines. And here he was trying to use them to get inside information on a competitor! A competitor? As rich as Jiashi Corp. was to her and Wu Chen, how could it even blip on the radar of something as colossal as Y.I.C.? Why was someone so lofty even bothering with a provincial company buying out a rundown town block? If this was a personal grudge, she wanted no part in it.
Ye Xiu smiled sadly. “I really was just hoping to offer some advice, miss.”
But Chen Guo was not having it. “I'm not going to be some tool so you can one up your business competitor! Just because I'm struggling with the idea of selling doesn't mean I'm going to rat out the details for you to make a better offer! That's a shitty move! Besides, there's no way I can offer whatever fees you'll be charging!”
“Aw hell, Lady Boss.” Wei Chen sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “Me calling this guy a shameless bastard and us shitting on each other's jobs is just how we greet each other. If Ye Xiu is offering advice for free, he means it. That's pretty heaven sent.”
Ye Xiu gasped, theatrically placing a hand on his chest and wiping a tear away. “Wei-xuezhang, I'm so touched. I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!”
Wei Chen recoiled. “Fuckin’ demmit, don’t be disgustin'.”
“I'm off the clock. I can be as disgusting as I want,” Ye Xiu said, deadpan.
“Eurrgh.” Wei Chen shivered. “I want to lodge a complaint with all those articles calling you some heaven-sent bachelor.”
“Oh my Old Wei, I didn't know you paid attention to those,” Ye Xiu said, slightly taken aback. He jerkily raised a hand to his mouth in a robotic imitation of a blushing maiden. “I don't know what to say.”
“EURGH FUCKIN NO- I just read the newspaper end to end, okay.”
Ye Xiu tutted, “Really Old Man Wei, try not to make your age that obvious. You don't want people to know you're actually 60.”
“I'LL SHOW YOU SIXTY YOU FUCKIN-”
A burst of laughter interrupted Wei Chen rolling up his sleeve. The duo turned to find Wu Chen laughing into his fist while Chen Guo just sat there, thoroughly confused and realizing...realizing she had assumed a lot of things, actually. “Wait, so...who are you really? I mean...who do you work for, I guess.”
Ye Xiu reached into his jacket and pulled out a business card. “Like I said before, my name is Ye Xiu and I am a lawyer by profession but I mostly deal with project development nowadays. I work for the Ye Investments Corporation.”
“Oh!” 'So I was right.' Chen Guo frowned. “But then...how?” She waved a hand at both of them. She'd known Wei Chen all her life. They hadn't exactly been friends when they were kids, what with her thinking he was an irresponsible, thrill-seeking rascal who was going to get into very serious trouble one day and him thinking she was a dull, goody-two shoes tattletale who didn't know how to have any real fun. Point was, she couldn't imagine him having anything to do with an heir of an old elite family and their multi-billion yuan conglomerate.
Wei Chen scratched his chin, looking questioningly over at Ye Xiu. “Uh well, you see...”
“I was part of the gaming betting circles in the internet cafes back in high school.” Ye Xiu shrugged.
“YOU?” Chen Guo gawked. The crowd of those could get pretty rough. That a rich family's young master would brave them...
“Yeah, we thought he was fresh meat at first and wanted to teach him a lesson, but then he wiped the floor with us. He eventually learned to blend in so it was fine.”
“So...you guys are...friends?”
Wei Chen and Ye Xiu squinted, hmmmm-ed, and scrutinized each other from head to toe. “I guess, ” was their extremely put-upon verdict. Chen Guo couldn't help her bark of laughter.
She turned to Wu Chen, “You don't seem that surprised? I thought we were both ready to bail out?”
“Ah, well.” Wu Chen chuckled, scratching his chin. “I just thought...with a greeting like ‘Shameless Fucker Ye’, you’d have to either be completely irreconcilable enemies or some form of friends.”
“Where do rivals with an eternal grudge match tempered by begrudging respect fall?” Wei Chen asked dryly.
Wu Chen shrugged. “You both seemed to be having fun.”
Wei Chen opened his mouth to retort but Chen Guo raised a hand to stop him.
“Okay, wait. Since we’ve established that Ye Xiu is Wei Chen’s sort-of-friend and is here to help us out, why don't the two of you sit down and order some food?”
“So Lady Boss over here’s Chen Guo, the owner of Happy Day Care; and this,” Wei Chen clapped Wu Chen on the shoulder, “is Wu Chen, her Employee.”
“Hey!” Chen Guo complained. “He’s not just my employee, he’s my…” Your what Guo Guo? Colleague? Friend? Person you want to spend the rest of your life with? “Colleague Friend For Life!” What.
Movement around the table ground to an awkward halt.
She tried again. “Colleague who's now a Very Good Friend!” World, WHY.
Wu “Very Good Friend” Chen winced.
Ye “Ah, they wish they were together” Xiu, smiled in understanding. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
Wei “Wingman” Chen looked at her in disgust. I gave you such a good opening to defend your man.
Chen Guo could only sob in her heart.
“So that’s basically the whole story.” Chen Guo paused to slurp up a mouthful of noodles. “At the end of the day, we don't HAVE to sell . But even without Jiashi's offer, business hasn't been doing well for years and the younger generation isn’t sticking around to do anything about it. So the real problem is that no matter what, the current situation can't continue.”
Ye Xiu hummed as he swirled the beer he had been nursing while the others were already on their third each. (Apparently he had shit tolerance?) “I see...it’s a pretty common story for places like this everywhere. What do the rest of your neighbors think?”
She frowned. “At first most of us didn’t want to sell out but…” She glanced at Wei Chen.
He shrugged. “It’s a really good offer.”
“It is,” she sighed unhappily.
Ye Xiu turned to Wu Chen who had mostly left all the talking to the other two. “And you? What’s your take on this?”
He smiled. “I actually live two train stops away but I was thinking of maybe... settling down here.” (Chen Guo choked a bit on the noodles she was slurping up.) “The town’s nice and quiet which I always thought was a good thing. I can’t imagine a future anywhere else. I love the day care and the kids and - uh - everyone. They’re all nice. Very nice.”
Wei Chen raised his beer to Wu Chen. “Thanks man, I love you too.” Then he looked at Chen Guo pointedly before taking a swig.
She in turn raised her beer to Wu Chen as well. “Thank you, Wu Chen. I - I - I - I’m really glad that you’re here!” she squeaked before gulping down her beer.
Wei Chen turned to Ye Xiu with an extremely put upon expression. You see what I have to deal with?
Ye Xiu chuckled and raised his beer slightly in silent toast to Wei Chen’s suffering. They both drank to that.
“So? What’s your verdict then?” Chen Guo asked Ye Xiu after their bowls had been cleared away.
“From a business standpoint, for a run-down area like this in such a prime location, it’s a no-brainer to convert it to residential-commercial condominiums to maximize the capacity. More people living here will also benefit nearby businesses. That being said...well, it’s definitely sentimentality on my part as well but I don’t want to see this small town disappear. I have a lot of fond memories of the shops here and their owners. The kind that would be impossible to replicate in that kind of environment. Also, having a mall right beside a school is a temptation I wouldn’t want to wish upon any parent trying to teach their children how to save money,” he chuckled.
“So I’d like to take a look around to observe the situation myself, talk to people to see what could work. But I’m warning you now, doing this will take a lot more effort on your side and way longer. Others might prefer the security of getting paid a lump sum within 2 months and walking away free knowing it’s not their problem anymore.”
Chen Guo shrugged. “We’ve pretty much hit a dead end amongst ourselves. So any advice you have to add will be much appreciated.”
“As long as it’s free,” Wei Chen interjected.
Ye Xiu rolled his eyes. “I look forward to working with you all.”
Chen Guo stood at the gate of the day-care and watched as Ye Xiu got out of his car looking even more polished than the last time she had seen him.
Noticing the look on her face, he grimaced. “Sorry, just came from a big meeting.”
She only sighed. “Let’s get you introduced to the kids. Please behave appropriately?”
“Of course.”
They turned to where Wu Chen was standing as Qiao Yifan, Luo Ji, Tang Rou, Mo Fan, and An Wenyi crowded around him.
Wait. Where was…?
“YOU’LL NEVER TAKE US ALIVE!!!!!”
“Wha-” Ye Xiu turned in alarm only to be knocked to the ground from sneaker nunchucks to the face.
Chen Guo’s soul left her body in a piercing screech.
After explaining to the kids that “This is Ye Xiu, and yes he wears a suit but no he’s not that kind of suit-man trying to evict us but a suit-man trying to help us find a way to stay and also Wei-ge’s friend (most convincing argument),” Bao Zi apologized for his guerrilla attack and swore a life-debt “if you’re ever in trouble, Boss.”
Ye Xiu accepted the apology and nullified the life-debt. (“The thought is appreciated, Bao Zi, but life debts shouldn’t be sworn so lightly”). After which he...got along swimmingly with the kids? All Chen Guo knew was that within thirty minutes, Ye Xiu was sitting at a low table, showing the kids different zhezhi techniques to fold their favorite paper animals.
He even got Mo Fan to (sharply) slide a grey paper in front of him and say,
“Wolf.
...
...
Please.”
After that day, Ye Xiu started to come around more and more frequently; exploring the town, assessing the buildings, interviewing the locals (some of whom still remembered that silver tongued rascal him), and hanging out at Happy as his base of operations. The kids loved him because he was some kind of Jack-of-All-Kiddie-Trades; playing any game they challenged him to, patiently demonstrating how to do so and so, and explaining even the most obscure facts. Was he some kind of textbook or something?
“So... you got any job openings?”
“...For who...?”
“Me!”
“Aren’t you a lawyer who works in a multi-billion yuan corporation’s project development department?”
“Remember that big meeting I came from the first time I visited Happy?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, it was a meeting for me handing over my duties to other people for a year. Funnily enough, I’m being forced by the HR department to “Stay Away (Please, sir, please )” because I haven’t used enough of my leaves since I started working for the company; even with all the carry-overs and not-convertible-to-cash policies. That and...I have a bad habit of working overtime almost everyday without clocking it in? I could apparently get the company in a lot of legal trouble for abusing me except I’m the one in charge of my own schedule so it’s me abusing myself.”
“You’re ridiculous, you know that?”
Ye Xiu laughed. “Still though, can I work here?”
“I still can’t afford you.”
“No need to pay me!”
“Hey! I may not be as rich as you but I’m not about to abuse you.”
“No really, I’m supposed to be on sabbatical. This is a vacation.”
“Why does everyone think that child-care is some kind of a vacation? It’s not a walk in the park okay?”
“I understand, I’m just asking if maybe I can be a volunteer? A part-timer maybe? I’ll go crazy if I don’t have something to do for a whole year. I can be that guy who folds paper flowers all day and drops sage legal advice on the side.”
“What kind of guy is that.”
“Me!”
“Fine, you can work half day shifts. But any more is more I can’t afford, okay!”
“Hmmm...what about tutoring? Can I volunteer for tutoring? I tutor my younger cousins sometimes so I can keep up as long as there are textbooks.
“Well, Glory High has after hours tutoring programs...but wait! You’re supposed to be on vacation! Don’t you want to have some time for yourself?”
“I...honestly can’t think of anything to do.”
“Oh my god, you’re a real-life workaholic”
“Pretty much.”
“Okay fine, you sad sack of bones. Work part time here and wherever else your fancy takes you, who am I to judge. You can leave just as long as you give me two weeks notice. Try to think of something fun to do with your vacations for goodness sake.”
“Sure thing, Boss!”