Chapter Text
Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life. – John Muir
Lan Huan had already decided he wasn't getting out of bed today when he woke at five in the morning. It's not like he had anything that needed to be accomplished. He's on leave from work, and since A-Zhan's birthday was last weekend, it wasn't like he had any place to be. He simply pulled the covers over his head and let sleep drag him under once again.
When he woke next, it was later and there was a gentle hand carding through his hair.
"Are you awake, Huan-ge?" His brother-in-law's voice was soft and amused. "Lan Zhan's cooking for us."
He opened his eyes to find Wei Ying perched on the edge of his bed. The younger man smiled and rose to his feet.
"You should have just enough time to take a shower before the food is ready."
He let himself be cajoled out bed and into the shower, and he did have to admit that that the hot water felt nice. When he returned to get dressed, he found that Wei Ying had dug out some of his oldest and comfiest clothes for him. It felt odd to wear something other than his normal suits or pajamas. Still, there was something comforting about the soft clothing, and he felt his mood lighten a little as he padded into his kitchen.
A-Zhan stood at the stove cooking while his husband set the table for three. For a moment Lan Huan just stood there watching the pair. The two of them always seemed to gravitate to one another no matter what the situation, and Lan Huan envied their deep affection for one another. It hadn't been an easy path for the two of them, and Lan Huan would admit that even he had been a little skeptical about the relationship at times. But the couple had prevailed, and Lan Huan had never seen A-Zhan as happy as he was now.
"What do I owe the pleasure of your company to?" he asked, stepping more fully into the kitchen.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan's shared a look before two pairs of concerned eyes were turned on him.
"Come eat lunch, and we'll talk."
Wei Ying chattered about the current going ons in their life from A-Yuan's kindergarten adventures to his latest projects at work while Lan Huan and Lan Zhan ate in silence, years of their uncle's rules hard to put aside. It was only after the meal was over with that the topic of why they were here finally came to light.
"We wanted to invite you to come stay with us for a little bit," Wei Ying said. "We realized that we hadn't seen you all month except at A-Yuan and Lan Zhan's birthday parties, and we're a little worried about you."
His brother reached out to take Lan Huan's hand in his own. "It's okay not to be okay, Ge, and there's nothing wrong with leaning on others for a while."
As much as he wanted to brush off their concern, Lan Huan had to admit that they were right. All he had to do was look around his normally neat apartment to see evidence of that. There was laundry piled up on the floor of his bedroom. Any dishes that had been used were simply piled in the sink, and Lan Huan honestly wasn't sure where his brother had gotten the ingredients for lunch from since he couldn't actually remember the last time he went grocery shopping. He hasn't had the energy or the inclination to do much of anything the past few weeks and leaving the apartment had seemed completely off the table.
Lan Huan had made an exception for his brother and his nephew's birthday celebrations. They were two of his favorite people and even if he was feeling miserable, he didn't want to disappoint either of them. He'd hoped he'd seemed normal enough at not to worry the people he cared for. Clearly, his brother had seen through his act.
"I wouldn't want to impose on you."
"We're offering, Huan-ge," Wei Ying smiled at him. "We'd be happy to have you, and if I'm honest, Lan Zhan and I have thought about reaching out before, but we wanted to give you your space if that was what you needed."
Part of Lan Huan wanted to crumble in the face of their quiet support and gentle understanding. The pair of them had been his main source of support throughout the ordeal that had taken over his life in November, but Lan Huan had done his best not to burden them with his troubles. After all, the only reason either of them were involved was because of him. His uncle would be appalled that he was even considering their offer. Then again, his uncle would be appalled at just how badly Lan Huan was handling all of this of he knew exactly what was going on. But all Uncle Qiren and the board of the museum knew was that Lan Huan was on a leave of absence to help the museum's image while they weathered the early days of the scandal.
But he didn't think he could say no to his brother and his brother-in-law, and maybe it would help to be around people for a while.
"All right."
Wei Ying cheered. His younger brother just nodded.
"Wei Ying can help you pack. I will clean up from lunch."
Wei Ying bounded ahead of Lan Huan back into the bedroom, chattering the whole time.
"You won't need anything fancy. We figured that you could just do whatever you want at our place. Lan Zhan suggested you might want to do some hiking while you're at our place since the park nearby has all of those trails, so you might want to bring your hiking boots."
By the time that the two of them had finished packing a duffle bag, Lan Huan had heard about several ideas of what he might want to do while staying with them, the current drama at A-Zhan's library, and A-Yuan's latest fascination. There was something almost soothing about letting Wei Ying's chatter wash over him and knowing that he wasn't required to contribute to the conversation. He found that he wasn't sad to lock up his apartment and allow the couple to bundle him into their car.
It wasn't a long drive to their home. Lan Huan had chosen his apartment in part because it was an easy trip to see his brother and his family. The Wei-Lan home was a modest house in a quiet neighborhood in Caiyi. It wasn't too far from the branch of the library that Lan Zhan mostly worked at, and it was an easy bus ride to downtown. The backyard was big enough for a garden, and every time he entered the building, Lan Huan was struck by how well A-Zhan's careful organization meshed with Wei Ying's creative chaos to make a home. His apartment was a functional place to live and comfortable, but it never held the aura of warmth and security that his brother's home did.
He was quickly installed in their guest room while Wei Ying went off to pick A-Yuan from a play date. Lan Huan settled himself in the living room, not entirely sure what to do with himself. But that was often the case these days. It felt like his entire life had imploded last November when an audit Lan Huan had ordered to look into a few irregularities in the museum's purchasing had revealed one of their employees had been had been using the Cloud Recesses Natural History Museum's name and reputation to acquire items to sell on the black market or to private collectors. And to make things worse, that employee was Meng Yao, someone Lan Huan trusted and considered a good friend.
There had been several investigations following that, including a criminal one. The story that came out was not a pretty one and had left the museum scrambling to save face. Meng Yao had gotten involved with the artifact and specimen trade at the behest of his biological father, Jin Guangshan, who had promised to legitimize the man if he could help him with a few things. Lan Huan knew that Meng Yao had always wanted his father's approval and attention, and while he personally didn't like Jin Guangshan, he had done his best to facilitate the start of a relationship between the two men. He regretted that now. He regretted a lot of things.
There were so many unanswered questions. And so many places where Lan Huan wondered if he could have changed things if he had paid more attention or intervened earlier. And he wondered if his friendship with Meng Yao had allowed the other man to get away with things that he wouldn't have otherwise. Lan Huan had tried to be very careful. While Meng Yao didn't report to him, and Lan Huan had nothing to do with the running of that department, he was the director of the museum, and that necessitated a certain amount of distance. Still, the two of them had been quite friendly, and when Meng Yao had confided that he might be leaving the museum to work with his father soon, Lan Huan had been looking forward to having a chance to have a real friendship with the man. There weren't many people that Lan Huan was actually close to. He was friendly with many, but very few of those people were ones that he felt really knew him. But it felt like he had that potential with Meng Yao.
It felt like Lan Huan had failed his friend. And it also felt like his own judgement had failed. Why hadn't he noticed something was amiss before he ordered that audit? Why hadn't he realized that something was going on in his own museum? Had he been that blinded by what he thought was friendship? Had that friendship even been real? At the beginning of everything, Meng Yao had protested his innocence and asked Lan Huan to do what he could to put a stop to the investigations. But that had been out of his hands at the point, and if his friend was innocent, the investigations would bear that out. And when it became clear that Lan Huan wasn't going to step in to protect him from the investigations, Meng Yao had lost most of his interest in continuing communication with him, leaving Lan Huan wondering if what he thought was the start of a good friendship was even real.
Thankfully, the museum had mostly weathered the scandal. Meng Yao had been the only employee who was actively involved in the illegal dealings. They had lost some sources of funding, and Lan Huan was pretty sure that Jin Guangshan was never going to donate to the museum again. And if he was honest with himself, if it had just been all of that, Lan Huan probably could have weathered things himself without too many problems. But the loss of funding had prompted the board to make budget cuts, and what had ended being cut were the day camps for kids in the summer, the internship program for natural history students in college, and the partnerships with local schools for fieldtrip and other instructional collaboration. They were all programs that Lan Huan had fought for and worked hard to make a success. Not to mention that they had been his favorite thing about his job even if he didn't get to work directly with them as much as he liked.
Lan Huan knew that his job as museum director was important, but he had to admit that there wasn't much about it that he enjoyed. He missed getting to do the hands on work of designing exhibits and actually interacting with museum patrons on a regular basis. But the loss of those programs on top of everything else had seemed to push him over the edge. He'd already taken a leave of absence while changes were implemented in order to keep anything like this from happening again when the news of the cutting of his programs was shared with him, and now Lan Huan wasn't sure he wanted to go back to his job. But trying to come up with an alternative seemed far too difficult at the moment.
"Bobo!" A-Yuan's voice pulled him from thoughts. "Baba says you're going to stay with us for a while."
His nephew smiled up at him and then stated in a matter of fact way. "Bobo is sad. I'll get you a bunny."
The next thing he knew Bichen, one of A-Zhan's two rabbits, was carefully placed in his lap.
"Bichen will help," A-Yuan informed him seriously.
Lan Huan couldn't help but smile at that even as he started petting the bunny. "I'm sure."
He developed a new routine staying in his brother's home. Lan Huan woke at five and went running with his brother in the morning before they made breakfast together for the family. He saw A-Zhan and A-Yuan off to work and school. Wei Ying's schedule was far more variable, but the younger man often spent the day in his study or out on project sites. That was the hardest time for Lan Huan, when everyone else had something to do and he was at loose ends. Sometimes he made his way to A-Zhan's library to wander the stacks and take out books that he didn't always read. Sometimes he read or practiced his xiao. Once he just rode the bus most of the day with no destination in mind. Sometimes he just went back to bed.
It was better when everyone came home and the house was full again. Evenings were spent helping A-Yuan with homework, cooking, and just talking with one another. Wei Ying even got him addicted to the reality cooking competition that he watched. Sometimes the three adults played music together. Lan Huan had forgotten how much he enjoyed playing with other people. He also wasn't all that surprised when one evening Wei Ying slipped a card for a local therapy practice into his hand. Part of Lan Huan baulked at the idea, but he knew it was probably a good one. So weekly appointments became part of his new routine as well.
The weekends were his favorite though. Those were spent taking his nephew to the park or out on hikes. Sometimes it was just the two of them, but sometimes all four of them went. A-Yuan was fascinated by nature, and Lan Huan had missed getting to teach kids about it. The two of them had started bird watching together by accident. A-Yuan had spotted a bird in the yard on Lan Huan's first weekend there and wanted to know what it was. Lan Huan had pulled out his old bird book, which used to his mother's, and showed his nephew how to figure out what sort of bird they saw. It had turned out to be a Meadow Bunting. Of course, this meant that A-Yuan now demanded Lan Huan help him identify any bird he spotted.
Not that he minded. Lan Huan had learned to birdwatch from his mother. A-Zhan had always been more interested in things with fur than with feathers, but Lan Huan had loved birdwatching with his mother. Li Meilin was a botanist by training, but she loved birds. Her little cottage on the edge of the Lan Estate was surrounded by every type of birdfeeder possible. When she had gotten too sick to leave her bed, he and A-Zhan had taken over making sure they were always filled so that even if she was stuck in bed, she could still see the birds.
It was his mother that had taught him and encouraged his love of nature. While his uncle who had done of the raising of him and his brother had always encouraged them academically, it was his mother who fed his passion for certain areas of study. One of his fondest childhood memories had been the overnight camping trip she'd taken them on during her one period of remission. Lan Huan still doesn't know how she convinced their uncle to let her take them for a full three days just the three of them, but he's grateful the man did none the less.
They had gone to Gusu National Park. In deference to their mother's health, the three of them had stayed in a cabin not a tent. Still, the three of them had slept on sleeping bags laid on the cots inside, and every night they'd cooked their dinner over a campfire outside. During the day they went on hikes and visited the interpretive center. Lan Huan had been fascinated by the interpretive ranger who had led one of the longer hikes they went on and the evening campfire program they'd gone to. She had seemed to know everything about the park and the things that lived in it and its history. For years afterwards, he'd wanted to be park ranger. It had definitely influenced his areas of study even after he knew that he'd most likely work for the museum once he finished his schooling.
But birding had become a mainstay of most of his outings with A-Yuan. They'd even gotten him a little notebook that he could keep track of all of the birds he saw in. It was in mid-February that the four of them went on a longer hike out one of the trails at the large park nearby. A-Zhan had packed them snacks, and it was still chilly enough outside that there weren't a lot of other people out. Even bundled up against the cold, they made good progress along the travel, stopping regularly to identify birds and make sure that A-Yuan didn't get too tired.
By the time they reached the outlook that served as the halfway point on the trail loop, they were all ready for those snacks. A-Zhan produced thermoses of tea and hot cocoa for them to drink along with an entire knapsack of snacks. Lan Huan sipped at his tea and watched as A-Yuan excitedly told A-Zhan about the birds they had seen so far.
"Have you ever thought about doing this sort of thing full time?" Wei Ying asked, dropping onto the bench beside him. "I mean, I know you basically ran the museum, but you seem to enjoy actually doing the educating more. A-Yuan loves it when you teach him things, and his teacher has been pretty impressed with his new interest in science and nature."
Lan Huan sighed. "Honestly, yes. I always wanted to be a park ranger when I was little. But it's rather late to change careers now, and I doubt most places would consider museum management useful experience."
"I don't know about that. You've designed exhibits and programs before even if that hasn't been lately." Wei Ying sighed. "The reason I ask is I just finished wrapping up a project for a friend who works at Qinghe National Park. He was telling me that they're about to post a job opening for an interpretive ranger for the fifth time in two years. Apparently, half of their hires turned out to be far less qualified than they made it seem while others were just a bad fit. The park's been rebuilding staff and programs after that pretty disastrous fire ten years ago, but it sounds like their interpretive programs were the hardest hit."
He remembered that fire. It had been devastating for the park which had lost not only half of their buildings but quite a few of their staff as well. And he had to admit that it sounded like an intriguing job. But going through five hires in just two years for a position was a little bit worrisome. But even so, Lan Huan doubted that they'd want someone like him for the job. It had been years since he'd gotten to do the more hands on parts of interpretive work for the museum, and while he had helped design programs in the last few years, he hadn't been involved with implementing them. Besides, he still had obligation to the museum. But it wouldn't hurt to look at job posting.
Later, after they had gotten home, he did end up looking at the job posting. A couple of things about it caught his eye. From the sounds of the job description, this was the only interpretive ranger they had, and there was a lot of work on their plate. It also sounded like if they were successful in the position there was room for expansion. At least that was how Lan Huan was reading it. To be honest, there was quite a bit of reading between the lines that could be done with the job posting. From what Lan Huan had been able to glean, it sounded like whoever got the job might be starting from scratch in putting together the interpretive programs for the park. However, the salary and benefits package were quite good for that sort of position and included room and board.
It sounded like a challenge, and there would have been a time when Lan Huan was incredibly tempted by it. If he was honest with himself, he was still incredibly tempted by it. He just wasn't sure that he was at all qualified for such a position, and he knew the museum was expecting him back at some point. And if he spent the next week researching Qinghe National Park both at the library and on the internet at home, that was no one's business but his own.
Qinghe National Park was a large sprawling area that was mostly wilderness. Mostly mountainous, there were also a number of resorts in the area for winter sports. The park itself had a number of trailheads, but much of the access came through the main complex where the interpretive center and lodge was. The park was open to the public almost all year long with the exception of a few months in the depth of winter. The main complex was actually quite extensive besides the lodge, the interpretive center, and the main ranger station, there was a camp that operated both day programs and overnight ones for older children and teens during the summer as well as several clusters of cabins available to reserve as well as more traditional campgrounds. Some of the history there was fascinating as well. Many of the cabins that were there now had been designed as projects by architectural students to replace the ones lost in the fire. That meant they were an interesting mishmash of styles amongst other things.
The sound of his brother's voice pulled Lan Huan's attention away from the article he'd been reading, and he looked up see A-Zhan saying farewell to the last of the children at the weekly Toddler Time. It never failed to amaze Lan Huan how his little brother could seemingly effortlessly command the attention of a roomful of toddlers. Being a Youth Services Librarian was not at all the career their uncle had imagined for A-Zhan, and Lan Huan was always struck by just how well he was suited to it. It had been a long fight with their uncle over his career choices. Uncle Qiren had originally been pleased when A-Zhan decided to pursue librarianship, assuming he would become an academic librarian or an archivist. He would have been happiest to have A-Zhan be an archivist and also work at Cloud Recesses Natural History Museum.
Lan Huan had himself been surprised when his brother announced his plans to specialize in Youth Services, but he also knew his brother well enough to know that he wouldn't give up on something once he set his mind to it. So he'd unequivocally supported A-Zhan's choices, much to his uncle's displeasure. But once again A-Zhan had been right. He loved his job whether it was leading Toddler Time or helping a teen locate books that they would love, and seeing his brother happy was one of the most important things to Lan Huan.
"Have lunch with me?" His brother had finished his farewell made his way over to the table where Lan Huan had set himself up.
"Of course, A-Zhan. Let me just pack up my things."
There was a little French style bakery just down the street from A-Zhan's library. They were often busy during the lunch hours but there was always a table tucked away in the corner for A-Zhan. The owner had come into the library A-Zhan's first month working there looking for help for her daughter who was six, had just been diagnosed with dyslexia, and now hated anything to do with reading. A-Zhan had spent over an hour with her showing her resources as well as things like audiobooks and ebooks where the text could be resized that might be more helpful. From what Lan Huan knew, the daughter had just moved on to middle school at the top of her class.
It didn't take them long to be seated and served. As always, the pastries were delectable and the tea brewed to perfection. Lan Huan found that he was far more hungry than he expected and practically demolished his pastry. He sipped at his tea as A-Zhan finished his own meal. When his brother was done eating, he fixed Lan Huan with an intense look.
"Is Ge going to apply to the park ranger position?"
Lan Huan sighed. "Probably not. I doubt they'd want me anyway, and besides, I still have obligations to the museum after all. Someone from our family has always worked there."
"Do you want to apply?" A-Zhan frowned. "Forget whether they might want to hire you or any obligations you have. Is this job something you would want?"
"I…yes if I'm honest. If an opportunity like this had cropped up before I was running the museum I might have leapt at it."
"Then apply for it. You don't know if you might be who they're looking for the position. There are other Lans currently working at the museum, and you have already given it years of service. You're not happy there any more, and you haven't been for some time. You deserve a job that you feel passionate about."
"A-Zhan."
"Ge supported me in pursuing a profession that was meaningful to me. I am more than happy to do the same. Do you remember when Mama was so weak she couldn't even look out the window at her birds? You did a whole program for her pretending to be a park ranger and telling her all about the birds that you could see out her window. She smiled so much during that, and you were so proud of yourself. I would miss having you nearby if you got the job, but I would be happy that you were doing something you loved."
Lan Huan feels tear prick at his eyes. There were days when he wondered what he'd done to end up with someone as wonderful as A-Zhan as his brother. With his piece said, A-Zhan turned their conversation to other matters until he had to head back to work. But the conversation lingered in the back of Lan Huan's mind for the rest of the day if not longer. A-Zhan was right. There were a number of other members of the extended Lan family who worked at the Cloud Reassesses Natural History Museum, and Lan Huan had now worked there for over ten years. And he didn't love his job. Some days it had been a chore just to get up and go to the office even before the scandal broke. But leaving his position had never really crossed his mind until recently. Oh, there had been the occasional "what if I just never went back to work" thought, but those were never really serious.
He ended up applying to the job. Even though he doubted they'd want to interview him. It wasn't like he was seriously looking at leaving his current job after all; he just needed to get back in a frame of mind where he could tolerate it once again. The chances of him being interviewed let alone being hired were slim to none. So he applied and did his best to put it out of his mind, trying to focus on spending time with his family and trying to muster up the enthusiasm to return to his job.
Technically speaking, Lan Huan had another few months before his leave of absence was up, but he was already getting pressure from his uncle as well as various board members to come back to work. And Lan Huan just didn't want to. Something was going to have to change about that, he wasn't sure what it was. All he knew was that he was dreading having to go back and been Director Lan again, especially without any of his favorite programs to look forward to.
And then an email popped into his inbox. It was a fairly generic thing inquiring about which time slot on March 17th Lan Huan was interested in to interview for the position of Interpretive Ranger at Qinghe National Park. There was further information about where the interview was to be held. Lan Huan blinked, but the message remained the same. They wanted to interview him. If he went, he'd need to get a hotel room. It would be at least a ten hour drive there. The National Park itself was actually another three hours away, though there were some smaller towns closer to it. So, probably a day to drive there, a day for the interview, and a day to drive back. Of course, that was only if he actually went to the interview. Part of him still didn't believe that they actually wanted to interview him.
He did have A-Zhan and A-Ying check the email just to make sure he wasn't imagining things, but they both confirmed that he did indeed have an opportunity to interview for the job. A-Ying immediately began researching things like how long it would take to drive there and what hotels might be available. Buoyed by their enthusiasm, Lan Huan sent back a reply with his preferred interview time slots. By the next day, he had a reply informing him that his interview time was set as well as a few things he should bring prepared for the interview, and then the planning really began.
Lan Huan would need to present outlines for three different interpretive programs each for a different age group at the interview. It had been years since he'd designed a program from scratch, and he threw himself into the research and planning. Maybe he was going a little bit overboard, but better to be overprepared than underprepared in his mind. A-Zhan and A-Ying mostly encouraged him, though they both made him take meal breaks. But it was rather exhilarating to be working on something like this. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed designing programs. As a museum director, he rarely got to do the hands-on part of that work. Maybe he would get to come up with the idea for something, but even that was rare.
And at the very least, the work kept him from being too nervous about the upcoming interview. When he finally set out to drive to the interview, Lan Huan was armed with a hotel reservation, a list of local restaurants that had good reviews, and several playlists compiled by both his brother and his brother-in-law. They both saw him off, despite the early hour. A-Ying was still yawning as he waved goodbye. Lan Huan had a thermos of tea, and A-Zhan had fed him a hearty breakfast before he headed out. No matter what it was going to be a long drive. Lan Huan hoped that he would be able to make it about halfway before stopping for lunch, but it had been years since he'd taken a real road trip, and he wasn't sure how long he'd last before needing a break.
The drive was long and harder than Lan Huan expected. The music helped, but at times it was just mind numbingly boring. He wished there was someone else in the car with him to keep him company, but he hadn't been about to ask either A-Zhan or A-Ying to give up three days to join him on this crazy venture. He was sure that either one of them would have been willing if asked, but Lan Huan didn't want inconvenience them any more than he already was. He doubted that he would be doing nearly as well if it weren't for their interference. They had been right about coming to stay with them though. Lan Huan felt much more himself even if he still had days when facing the world seemed impossible.
In the end, he had to take breaks every three hours or so, just to keep his hands from cramping from how tightly he was gripping the steering wheel. By the time he reached his hotel, Lan Huan was completely exhausted. He barely had enough energy to eat the takeout he'd ordered from the place recommended by the lady at the front desk. He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow. At least he had remembered to call A-Zhan to let him know he got here safely. Sadly, his exhaustion did not allow him to sleep past his regular five am wake up.
So, he rolled out of bed and headed to the shower to start his day. After dressing, Lan Huan headed out to find breakfast. He still had several hours before his interview, and Lan Huan knew if he didn't it fill them with activity, he would make himself sick with anxiety. Instead, he found a nice place for breakfast and treated himself to a lovely spread. Then he set off to find the location of his interview. He didn't need to be there yet, but it would make him feel better to actually know where it was. Once he had located the office building that the interview would be held in, Lan Huan was a little at loose ends about what to do with himself. He knew that going back to his hotel room and sitting alone with his thoughts was a bad idea, but he hadn't exactly planned for sightseeing.
Wandering about town leads to him buying souvenirs for his family. A little bird plushie for A-Yuan, a puzzle game that he thought A-Ying might like, and a book of poetry for A-Zhan. The bookshop turned out to be a fortunate find as Lan Huan was able to spend several hours there browsing. Besides A-Zhan's poetry book, he found several books on local history that talked about the national park that he bought for himself. It was a pleasant enough way to spend the rest of his morning.
But finally the time for him to head to his interview came. Lan Huan made his way back to the building where the interview was being held. He took the elevator up to the fourth floor and checked in with the receptionist. The good news was that he was barely waiting ten minutes before he was called into the interview. Two men rose from the table as Lan Huan entered the room. The younger of them held out his hand with a smile.
"Lan Huan? I'm Nie Huaisang. It's good to meet you. This is Nie Zonghui. Da-ge was going to be here for the interviews, but a couple of hikers managed to get themselves trapped on one of the more remote trails, and he needed to supervise their rescue."
"That seems understandable," Lan Huan said as he shook their hands.
He knew from his research that Nie Huaisang was the director of hospitality for Qinghe National Park while his brother, Nie Mingjue, was the chief law enforcement ranger. Together they tended to serve as the park superintendent, though in an emergency situation, Nie Mingjue was the one in charge.
"Go ahead and have a seat, and we'll get the ball rolling."
Once he'd taken a seat, Huaisang grinned at him. "Let me give you a little background on the position to start off with since it is a little different than a lot of similar jobs. The interpretive ranger position will be reporting to me for now, though depending on how things go, we're looking at creating an interpretive department with a director on par with my own and Da-ge's positions. You'll also mostly be starting from scratch when it comes to interpretive programs. Unfortunately, we've not had much luck in rebuilding those since the fire, and most of the material we do have is woefully out of date. The probation period is also a year because we've had so much trouble reliably filling the position."
What followed was a pretty typical interview. Lan Huan was far more used to being on the other side of the hiring table, but there really weren't any surprises. He presented his three interpretive programs: a family campfire program, a guided nature walk for teens, and a program on foraging edible plants for adults, which seemed to go over quite well. By the time that they reached the end of the interviewers' questions, Lan Huan was actually feeling pretty good about how things were going. He had no clue how he was doing from the interviewers' point of view, but at least he felt confident in the answers he'd given.
As the interview wound down, Huaisang flipped closed the fan he'd be toying with most of the time and asked, "Do you have any questions for us about the position?"
Lan Huan hesitated a moment before speaking. "You've said that you haven't had much luck in rebuilding your interpretive programs. Are there particular reasons that those who held the position previously were so unsuccessful?"
Nie Huaisang frowned and tapped his lip with his fan. "It's a combination of factors I think. Some of it is the isolation, especially in the winter. We're pretty remote, and that means that staff becomes close by necessity. Some people don't take to the isolation well while others just didn't mesh with our already established staff. We're not asking people to be best friends, but being able to get along is a must. And there are days when the job is crazy and it's all hands on deck even if what's going on is outside of your normal duties. Park Ranger seems like a cool job to a lot of people, but the reality of it is hard work, and it's not for everyone."
That all made a certain amount of sense. Still, Lan Huan was more than a little curious to know more about what might have happened with the position's predecessors. Not that any of that mattered if he didn't get the job. Which he probably wouldn't. Lan Huan had no doubt that they had plenty of better qualified candidates to choose from. The three of them made their farewells, and Lan Huan headed back to his hotel room, feeling rather drained. He knew he should probably go eat lunch, but a nap sounded very good at the moment. He regretted not eating beforehand when he woke up starving. An early dinner was the first order of business then. Once he had a full belly, he once again returned to his hotel room to call A-Zhan and A-Ying before going to bed. He had a long drive in the morning, and he would need the rest.
Arriving home after the interview was almost anticlimactic. His brothers welcomed him home but didn't press him for updates after the initial debrief over how things went. In all honesty, Lan Huan was doing his best not to think about what came next. He knew from doing hiring himself that it could be a month before he heard anything, even a rejection notice. And he knew himself well enough to know that dwelling on what might happen would probably be bad for him.
So instead he threw himself back into his new routine and tried to muster up the enthusiasm to even look at something involving work. He was going to have to make a decision about that sooner rather than later, but Lan Huan really didn't even want to think about it at the moment. At the end of the week, he an A-Yuan were making their way back from a walk in the park with five new birds added to A-Yuan's list when his cell phone rang. Lan Huan frowned; the only people who called him at this number these days were A-Zhan, A-Ying, and Uncle Qiren.
"Hello, this is Lan Huan."
"Mr. Lan? This is Nie Huaisang from Qinghe National Park. I'm calling to offer you the Interpretive Ranger position if you're still interested."
He froze in his tracks. A-Yuan looked up at him with concerned eyes.
"Yes." It slips out unbidden from his lips, but Lan Huan isn't about to take it back.
"Perfect. I'll email you all of the paperwork and details tonight."
He makes it back to the Lan-Wei residence in a bit of a daze. So, apparently, he had a new job now.