Sitting on the Stage

Chapter 6: On Duty

The couple weren't from Yizhou. They seemed to be tourists with nothing better to do. As for why they were staying next to Yizhou University, Cheng Yun had no idea.

As it got close to dinnertime in the afternoon, the girl, with a face like a peach blossom, came downstairs arm-in-arm with the boy.

Cheng Yun watched them with a blank expression.

"Honey, where are we going to eat~"

"How should I know? I'm not familiar with this area either!"

"But didn't you say there would be lots of good food near the university?" the girl pouted. "I want to eat hot pot first, then roll around in the snack street, pack some to go when we leave, and order takeout late at night."

"Okay, okay, okay." The boy sighed, his tone full of pampering. "Let's ask the boss!"

"Okay!" The girl's spirits instantly lifted, and she looked at Cheng Yun. "Boss, excuse me, what's good to eat around here? Not too far, hmm... preferably cheap and delicious."

Cheng Yun forced a smile. "Go out the door, turn left, and walk all the way to the end. It's about a fifteen-minute walk. The cafeterias at Yizhou University perfectly meet your requirements, with star-rated hotel quality and prices generally below ten yuan. If you can't shamelessly mooch off of socialism, that's fine too. The commercial street next to the university can let you eat for half a month without getting tired of it."

"You're so funny, boss." The girl's eyes sparkled as she stared at Cheng Yun's rather handsome face.

"..." Cheng Yun watched them leave, looking loving.

He used to have a very beautiful girlfriend, a campus beauty, who was good at everything. Really. Later, her hard drive broke... ah, no, they broke up for some reason.

A faint sound of footsteps came from behind. Cheng Yun turned his head and saw the Old Mage walking down from the stairwell.

"It seems you're busy," the Old Mage said regretfully.

"Yeah, it's just me right now, and I can't leave," Cheng Yun pursed his lips. "Why don't you go in and study first? I'll have my sister cover for me when she gets here, and then I'll come find you."

"I can't open that door," the Old Mage shook his head. "No need. I've seen plenty of single spacetime nodes. There's not much I can research on my own anyway, it's just a waste of time. I can only get the results I want quickly with your cooperation."

"Besides me, can't anyone else open it from the outside?" Cheng Yun mumbled to himself, then looked up at the Old Mage. "Then you should go back and rest. I'll come to your room when I have time."

"Alright, thank you very much. This knowledge is a great treasure to me."

"You're too kind."

Cheng Yun lowered his head and continued to operate his mobile phone, placing orders for Anju Hotel, while the Old Mage turned and went upstairs.

Not long after, a delivery guy wandered around outside the hotel. He looked up at the sign, carrying a bag, and pushed the door open. "Hello, takeout."

"Huh?" Cheng Yun was slightly confused. "I didn't order takeout."

"No way? This is Anju Hotel!" The delivery guy was taken aback. He looked at the slip on the takeout packaging. "Are you Mr. Cheng Yan... right? Your phone number is 177********, correct?"

"..." Cheng Yun felt a little awkward. "My name is Cheng Yun. This takeout might be from my sister."

"Then I'll leave it here!"

"Thanks."

"Give me a good review when you have time!"

"Okay."

The delivery guy turned and walked out the door. Cheng Yun picked up the takeout and looked at it. It was heavy, and he smelled the distinct aroma of chili peppers.

Soon, Cheng Yan arrived leisurely, riding a Mobike bicycle. She locked the bike at the entrance and walked in, asking Cheng Yun, "Did you get the takeout?"

"Mm."

"I ordered the Diving Rabbit."

"I could smell it."

"And a vegetable dish."

"Mm."

"Two bowls of rice."

"You went to a lot of trouble."

"It's okay, it was ninety-eight in total."

"You spent money."

"WeChat or Alipay transfer!" Cheng Yan frowned at him. "Don't try to play dumb with me. You're the guardian, and you still want to embezzle my money! How can you be such a creep?"

"..."

Fine! She's treating him like a guardian now!

Cheng Yun looked tired and was very hungry. The two of them quickly sat on the sofa, opened the packaging, and placed the food on the glass coffee table to eat.

"After we finish eating, you'll place a couple of orders online, and I'll transfer the money to you," Cheng Yun took out a universal room key card and placed it on the table. "Then go upstairs, take a few photos, and write a good review. Don't exaggerate too much, and don't use the same photos. Oh, rooms 202 and 208 are already occupied."

"So lewd." Cheng Yan took the room card.

"Everyone does it," Cheng Yun shrugged. "Summer vacation is so long, what are you planning to do?"

"None of your business?" Cheng Yan instinctively frowned. "I haven't talked to you for half a day, and you're getting withdrawal symptoms again, aren't you!"

"I was going to say that if you plan to get a part-time job during the summer vacation, you can come here. It's pretty easy, just sit at the counter and watch the place," Cheng Yun couldn't help but sigh.

"Not planning to," Cheng Yan refused outright.

"Why?"

"Why look for a part-time job?" Cheng Yan retorted.

"Don't students want to find a part-time job during the holidays to earn some living expenses and also to improve themselves?"

"I don't need to."

"Why don't you need to?"

Cheng Yan turned and looked at him coldly, swallowed the food in her mouth, and after a long pause said, "Because I have two houses and over a million in inheritance."

Cheng Yun was stunned and felt speechless.

He understood that Cheng Yan wasn't in the mood to work outside because her parents had passed away not long ago.

"Then how do you plan to spend these two months of summer vacation? You can't just stay home and read all day, can you?" Cheng Yun's tone softened, and his gaze flickered upstairs. "A friend told me this morning that the presence of death around us should make us realize how wonderful and incredible life is, and thus make us cherish every day we are alive. I think it makes a lot of sense."

Cheng Yan was silent for a moment before saying, "You don't need to worry about me. I'll go to the gym, go hiking, and travel. You take care of yourself. If you can't, I can help you, but don't you manage me."

"Okay." Cheng Yun finally couldn't hold back. "Actually, I can't find a cashier right now, and I'm too busy to handle it alone, so I wanted to ask you to help out so I can rest a bit."

"..." Cheng Yan was speechless. "Do you have to beat around the bush?"

"Consider it?"

Cheng Yan didn't immediately nod but looked up at him.

This guy had very dark circles under his eyes, and his skin looked sallow and dry. His normally handsome face looked very tired, making him appear dispirited.

Since that accident, he didn't seem to have rested properly. After dealing with the funeral, he had to handle compensation, then the transfer and registration of the inheritance, and all sorts of procedures. The preparation for opening the hotel wasn't simple either; he had to meet with the regional manager of the website, sign agreements, find laundry services that were reasonably priced and of good quality, make breakfast for himself before going out in the morning, and cook dinner when he returned...

Cheng Yun hadn't said these things, but Cheng Yan knew them all.

She also wasn't sure if this guy suffered from insomnia like her, often dreaming of their parents.

"Alright, you look so pathetic with your 'overindulgent' complexion. If you were a bit nicer, I might consider helping," Cheng Yan said coldly after adjusting her emotions. "Forget the salary. I'll quit as soon as you find a cashier."

Cheng Yun was taken aback, then forced a smile that he himself found disgusting and exclaimed, "Then I'll have to trouble you, little sister~~"

Cheng Yan's face immediately darkened. "Disgusting!"

"..."

"Fine, I can consider helping you 'work' here, but you have to provide good meals every day. You can't be stingy about what I eat!" Cheng Yan stated her conditions forcefully.

"Huh? 'Work'?"

"..." Cheng Yan's expression turned grim. "Besides that, I want sixty yuan in wages every day!"

Cheng Yun was stunned. "Didn't you say you didn't want a salary?"

"Who told you to call me a 'working girl'!"

"That's unreasonable! You're the one who said it!"

"Eighty."

"It's... it's going up again!" Cheng Yun was speechless. "The most I'd pay a petite, soft, cute, and lovely JK for a summer part-time job is fifteen hundred a month. This isn't strenuous labor; you'll mostly be sitting here reading or playing on your mobile phone."

"JK?"

"Junior high school student," Cheng Yun said, appraising her. "You used to be one, too, but you just aged out."

"Then go find your JK!" Cheng Yan's pretty face seemed to be covered with a thin layer of frost. She then threw down her chopsticks. "I'm done eating, I'm leaving."

"Okay, okay, eighty!" Cheng Yun sighed. "Consider it your allowance."

Cheng Yan's face darkened again. Hearing his tone made her want to pounce on him and bite him hard, but seeing the fatigue on his face, she held back.

Cheng Yun spent about ten minutes teaching Cheng Yan how to operate the counter equipment and the website backend. He originally wanted her to pretend to demonstrate, but she impatiently waved him away.

"Alright, do you think I'm as stupid as you? Go sleep, room 203!" Cheng Yan said with a frown. "Stop flashing your bloodshot eyes in front of me; it's like watching a horror movie!"

"..."

Cheng Yun took out the trash and then walked upstairs.

He originally wanted to go to sleep; he was too tired, but he was afraid of having insomnia again, so he walked to room 202, across the hall, and knocked on the Old Mage's door.

The Old Mage's aged voice soon came from inside. "Come in."

"..." Cheng Yun took out his universal card, swiped it to open the door, and pushed it open. "Mage, the hotel's smart lock can't be opened from the outside without a room card..."

Before he finished speaking, he froze. "Mage, what are you doing?"

The Old Mage was sitting by the window, bathed in the light filtering through the window in the twilight. On his lap lay his worn-out robe, and in his hands, he held a needle and thread, diligently passing the needle through one end of the robe and pulling it out from the other...

"Hmm?" The Old Mage looked up at him, a hint of confusion in his eyes—do Earthlings not mend clothes?

"Do you need me to get you some reading glasses or something?" Cheng Yun tugged at the corner of his mouth, concerned.

"No need, my eyesight is still quite good. On a clear day, I can see the storm cyclones on Jupiter. Besides, it's almost finished." The Old Mage lowered his head, tied two knots in the thread, and without any visible action from him, the thread snapped. He then put away the needle and thread. "Let's go. I imagine you also want to learn to control spacetime nodes as soon as possible, but we'll only study for an hour today. You need to rest afterward."

"That sounds good."