Mu Ye’s breath carried warmth, and his slow and deep inhales exuded a sense of laziness and contentment.
The person being held tightly by him tensed up their body, holding their breath and not daring to relax.
Song Jianchu tried to calm himself down and act like a mature wealthy man.
Half of his soul seemed to float outside of his body as he lightly tapped Mu Ye’s arm twice and said, “Okay…that’s enough.”
“Don’t worry,” Mu Ye buried his head and said in a muffled voice, “He sleeps like a log and generally won’t wake up.”
Song Jianchu: “…”
Song Jianchu closed his eyes.
After being held without a soul for a minute, he tried to sound as calm as possible and said, “Really, that’s enough.”
“Don’t be polite with me,” Mu Ye said with some concern. “If the service wasn’t up to par these past few days, I was afraid you would run away.”
“I won’t,” Song Jianchu’s face and ears had already turned red and he closed his eyes, trying to speak in a pleading tone. “…Please let go, you’ve worked hard today.”
Mu Ye’s voice was almost in his ear, clear and suggestive. “This is just a part-time job, my real source of income is elsewhere.”
Song Jianchu: “…”
Mu Ye’s tone was slow and seductive. “If you want to do anything else, go ahead, just keep your voice down.”
Even though Song Jianchu was the one being held and couldn’t move, he suddenly felt like a pervert.
His kept man was too professional. Perhaps feeling guilty for mistreating him yesterday, he had no intention of letting go.
He tightened his arm around Song Jianchu’s waist.
Mu Ye estimated the weight of the boy with his arms.
He was too light.
Although he saw the boy’s slender waist last night, Mu Ye found that the boy was even thinner than he imagined. He could almost lift him effortlessly.
He didn’t know how long he had been holding him, but Song Jianchu had lost sensation in his upper body and felt like he was half-paralyzed.
Suddenly, the bed shook slightly.
“The person on the upper bunk moved,”
Song Jianchu’s eyelids twitched and he reacted quickly, pushing the person off him.
Getting up too quickly, he hit his head hard on the upper bunk and saw stars before falling back onto the bed.
Pei Shinian was sleeping soundly and subconsciously turned over.
Suddenly, the bed shook violently.
Pei Shinian sat up abruptly and exclaimed, “An earthquake!”
Half asleep, he tumbled down from the upper bunk with creases all over his face and was about to rush out, shouting, “Earthquake! Run!”
After taking a couple of steps, he realized that the ground was still stable under his feet.
Pei Shinian looked around in confusion at the lack of any disaster and eventually noticed the person on the lower bunk, who was holding his head.
“?” Pei Shinian scratched his face and asked in a sleepy voice, “Manager, what happened to you?”
Mu Ye stood by the lower bunk, bending down to take the person’s hand who was holding his head, and frowned, “Did you get hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
Song Jianchu pushed away the hand stroking his hair and calmly went to the bathroom with a red face.
Pei Shinian looked bewilderedly at the closed bathroom door and turned to his brother, “Did he hit his head?”
Mu Ye stood by the bed, his lips twitching slightly for a moment.
Suppressing a smile, he calmly replied with a “Hmm.”
Glancing at the significant distance between the upper and lower bunk, Pei Shinian asked in confusion, “What was he doing to hit his head so hard?”
“Sit-ups.” Mu Ye helped him find an excuse.
“What kind of sit-ups have such a large range of motion?” Pei Shinian was even more confused.
“Stop asking so many questions, do you want to learn?” Mu Ye picked up Pei Shinian’s pillow and threw it onto the single bed. “You go sleep on the single bed.”
Suddenly assigned to the luxurious single bed, Pei Shinian was a little embarrassed. “No need, I’ll sleep up there. Let the manager sleep down here. They won’t hit their head over there.”
Mu Ye had already deftly flipped onto the upper bunk and said lightly, “You don’t sleep obediently. Over there, you won’t disturb anyone.”
Pei Shinian’s touched smile froze on his face. “Oh.”
Pei Shinian thought for a moment and decided it was fine. It was more convenient to keep an eye on things from down here, and with the bed board in between, they couldn’t interact anyway. He nodded secretly in satisfaction and rolled onto the single bed, looking sleepy.
Lunch break ended.
Before the restaurant opened in the evening, all the members gathered around the dining table for the first formal meeting after opening.
[“Everyone looks very tired.”]
[“Great job, handsome guys. Running a restaurant is not easy.”]
[“?? What was the monster doing the whole time??? “]
The manager held the work summary he had prepared in advance and calmly lowered his eyes. “Everyone performed well during lunchtime. The feedback from customers was very good, with five-star reviews. It’s normal to encounter some minor problems during the first day on the job. Take it as an opportunity to gain experience. We only have one hour of business time tonight. Everyone…hiss.”
Song Jianchu frowned calmly and pushed away the person next to him. “No need, thank you.”
Mu Ye sat next to him, using a towel-wrapped egg to massage the bump on his forehead. “Another five minutes of massage.” Mu Ye looked serious, and his movements became gentler. “This will help reduce swelling.”
The chef and the helper across from them tried hard to hold back their laughter, not daring to make a sound.
[“Hahaha, this scene!”]
[“Damn, I can’t stop laughing!”]
[“Why did the manager’s forehead swell after taking a nap? Did he hit his head on the wall while sleeping?”]
[“Stinky treasure, stop pretending. You’re secretly laughing inside, right?”]
[“Look at his happy expression.”]
Song Jianchu remained calm and continued the meeting. “Everyone, keep up the good work. After closing, we’ll prepare for the next day’s business together and then have a BBQ outdoor team-building activity. That’s it. Let’s get to work.”
“Team-building!” Pei Shinian immediately came alive and cheered, “I love team-building!”
“Manager, can we drink alcohol during the team building?” Bai Xingyu asked.
Sensing the expectant look of those around him, Song Jianchu nodded slightly, “As long as it doesn’t affect work the next day.”
Pei Shinian exclaimed, “Yes!! Outdoor drinking party!!”
With their spirits lifted, the staff worked faster and the preparations for the second business of the day were soon completed.
At 6:30 in the evening, Mu Ye flipped the wooden sign on the door and the restaurant began its evening business.
Because the customers at noon had signed confidentiality agreements, pictures could not be posted online before the show aired. The news that “I Want to Go Off Work” was filming in K County was only spread verbally within a small circle.
However, many male celebrity fans still came that night, some even drove for hours from neighboring cities and had been waiting in the parking lot outside the restaurant for a long time.
Although the evening business was only scheduled for one hour, it was exceptionally busy, even busier than at noon.
The restaurant seats quickly filled up, and customers waiting outside voluntarily stood in long lines.
Approaching closing time, Pei Shinian asked through the small window, “Manager, the prepared ingredients are not enough. I see many customers still waiting outside. Should we prepare more?”
Song Jianchu was helping a customer make hot chocolate and didn’t even raise her head as she replied, “No need, close the store as scheduled.”
Bai Xingyu asked, “What about the customers waiting outside?”
Mu Ye came to pick up the order and said, “We only left the customers who could wait for a seat before closing. Other customers were given souvenirs from the show’s production team and have already left.”
“Why?” Pei Shinian raised an eyebrow. “Although it might mean overtime work, having more customers is good for business, right?”
“No need,” Song Jianchu said calmly. “Just at noon, our sales were fifty times higher than usual. We don’t need more customers for now.”
[“Wow!! Fifty times!!”]
[“Wow!! They must have made a lot of money!!”]
[“Yeah, they sold a lot during lunchtime! Nian Nian has been washing dishes all day except for peeling potatoes.”]
[“Too exaggerated, is it true??”]
[“Normal, think about how many cups of drinks they sold.”]
[“Master of poverty alleviation, Manager Wuwu is so strong!!!”]
[“What’s the phone number for the production team? I’m going broke, can they come and help my store with poverty alleviation?”]
Song Jianchu had already anticipated this reaction.
But he didn’t plan to extend the fixed business hours in order to increase revenue.
Last night, when discussing business hours with the program team, he asked about Grandma Li’s usual closing time. Grandma Li is old and needs to rest early. When she was running the business alone, she closed the shop early at around 7:30 pm.
Normally, there would be no tourists coming up the mountain after 7:30 pm.
So when he was running the business on behalf of Grandma Li, he tried to follow her business routine as much as possible, so that her normal operation would not be affected too much after they left.
The fans who couldn’t wait were able to get the program team’s souvenirs, and they were satisfied after seeing their idol working. They left without too much regret.
After sending off the last group of customers for the night, the idol group finished work on time.
The first day of work was over.
Everyone changed out of their uniforms and began the first team building activity.
The open space in front of the shop was also renovated and repaired. It was spacious and flat, surrounded by the healing sound of insects in the forest at night, and above was a clear and unpolluted starry sky.
After obtaining permission from the local authorities, the program team prepared fire extinguishers, and the members started a small bonfire in the middle of the open space. They also set up a few outdoor folding chairs and began their first team building activity.
“So healing!”
“I could sit by the bonfire all day!”
“This team really has a great atmosphere!”
“Although it’s only the first episode, I already hope they never end their work!”
“This is really a god-level variety show. I’m already looking forward to the next work theme!”
“Hehe, I want to see the brothers change into various uniforms.”
Several big stars are usually very busy with work and have little experience with outdoor barbecues.
When Song Jianchu was studying abroad, he had a lot of camping experience. He put on a warm jacket and was responsible for barbecuing, while Mu Ye helped out and other employees drank beer by the campfire to relax.
Bai Xingyu held a can of beer, sitting on an outdoor chair, sighing comfortably, “Now it feels like a vacation.”
Lu Shen added two more sticks to the campfire, leaned back, and took a sip of beer, feeling relaxed.
“This is too happy, I don’t want to leave.” Pei Shinian lazily propped up his long legs, looked up at the starry sky, and said with a smile, “Why don’t we ask the boss to buy the store, and we can keep doing this forever?”
“You’re dreaming!”
“Hehe, do you want to retire? Wait until you’re 70 years old and can’t be an idol anymore.”
“It’s not like it’s Potato Hell again?”
Not far away, Song Jianchu flipped the sizzling, oily ribs, and stood very close to the people around him. Occasionally, the sleeves of their jackets would rub against each other.
[“Ah, my son’s beautiful fan history!!”]
[“I took a screenshot for my smelly treasure. It will be a memory from now on.”]
[“Wuwuwu, the scene is really beautiful, Mom is moved to tears.”]
[“Please ask the director to shoot more episodes! May good people live in peace!”]
Mu Ye glanced at the person beside him, who had a focused expression.
The warm firelight illuminated the clean and handsome face of the young man, as if adding a layer of filter that infinitely magnified the youthfulness on him. It had an attraction that made people unconsciously want to get closer.
“Is your head still hurting?” Mu Ye asked softly.
Song Jianchu wore a black fisherman’s hat with a low brim that covered his slightly swollen forehead.
Remembering the foolish behavior in the afternoon, Song Jianchu’s eyes glazed over.
He lowered his gaze and calmly said, “It’s okay.”
Not far away, the PD said, “The barbecue team’s microphone is dead, replace the battery.”
“Mr. Sponsor,” Mu Ye smiled and said, “You’ve been on duty for two days, can you give us a review?”
Song Jianchu stopped the barbecue and turned his head to look at him.
The man’s smile was gentle and beautiful in the firelight, making it hard to look away.
In an instant, Song Jianchu suddenly remembered the feeling of being hugged by this man in the afternoon.
The man’s body temperature was completely attached to him through his clothes, and when he buried his head, his soft hair brushed against his neck like a gentle and clingy large dog.
It was very comfortable.
Song Jianchu said, “Very good.”
Mu Ye withdrew his gaze and smiled relievedly, “Then I’ll keep working hard.”
The sound crew’s staff ran over with a battery.
Song Jianchu turned his head back to continue barbecuing, using tongs to turn the sausages over.
The person next to him suddenly said thoughtfully, “So you like to hug me.”
Song Jianchu paused in his actions and slowly turned his head.
Mu Ye was leisurely helping to brush the meat with sauce, nodding as if understanding, and said, “Then I’ll let you hug me every day from now on.”
Song Jianchu: “……?”
Mu Ye: “You can hug and kiss me if you want.”
Song Jianchu: “???”
The staff is running over with the batteries in hand.
Suddenly, he sees the sausage in Mo Ye’s hand drop to the ground.
“It’s okay,” Mo Ye continues, “if you want to hug me in the future, just say it anytime, don’t worry about me being tired.”
Song Jianchu: “……”
The man smiles and lowers his eyes a bit, seeming a bit embarrassed. “You’re worth my effort.”