《The Female Nanny of the Male Lawyer's Family》


 Chapter 1: On the Job

    <h4>Chapter 1</h4>


    Lu Chenchen finally got a job!


    To be honest, if Lu Chenchen was willing to be a part-time nanny, it wouldn''t have been that hard to find work. She just didn''t want to run around from this family on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to that family on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. What''s more, she felt that part-time work was unstable, with employers sometimes needing to reschedule or even cancel.


    Of course, the main reason was that live-in work paid more and had lower expenses.


    This family was introduced by a housekeepingpany. Originally they wanted her toe in for an interview in person before deciding whether to hire her or not, but when Lu Chenchen was discussing a time toe in with Chen, the manager at the housekeepingpany, the family changed it to a video interview instead.


    That was the first time Lu Chenchen saw Yao Shali, a very elegant and refined woman who looked to be around 30 years old and quite cultivated. She politely asked Lu Chenchen several questions like "Can you pan-fry steak?" and "How do you wash broli?" before handing the phone over to Chen.


    After that, they notified Lu Chenchen to start work the next day.


    The next day was Tomb Sweeping Day, a statutory holiday.


    Lu Chenchen knew that national regtions required holiday pay to be doubled, but she didn''t know if Ms. Yao was aware of that. She hesitated for a moment over whether to remind them, but then decided not to say anything.


    In this economy, it wasn''t easy to find a live-in position.


    The employer''s home was in a vipound by East-West Lake. It was a family of two adults, three children, and the husband''s mother all living together. Chen told Lu Chenchen that her job would be cooking three meals a day and doing housework.


    That didn''t sound too difficult, but over two years of experience as a nanny told Lu Chenchen that with elderly and young children, the work would definitely not be as simple as it sounded.


    Well, like they say, her need for the job was more urgent than any potential scope creep in the work.


    Ms. Yao wanted her to arrive before 8 AM the next day.


    Lu Chenchen was staying at the lodgings the agency rented out to nannies who didn''t have work yet. To get from there to the East-West Lake vipound, she would have to take the subway to Jin Yin Tan, then transfer to a public bus to a stop about half a mile from the vi district, and ride a shared bike the rest of the way there. Lu Chenchen left at 6:30 AM. You weren''t allowed to eat on the subway, so she bought a boiled egg and a carton of milk and took five minutes at the tform to have breakfast before plunging into the morning rush hour crowds. She barely made it to thepound gate before 8 o''clock, but to her surprise the security guard, looking like he was on high alert for thieves, made her sign in and wait for the employer to visually confirm her identity before reluctantly letting her in.


    Thepound wasrge with nicendscaping and not many people. The morning air was fresh and she could even hear birdsong. It was the kind of environment Lu Chenchen liked. Unfortunately, by the time she knocked on the employer''s door, it was already 8:25 AM.


    "The doorbell is over there," said Yao Shali after opening the door, pointing at the doorbell and speaking expressionlessly before turning and walking inside.


    Seeing herpletely different attitude from their video calls, Lu Chenchen cried out inwardly. She had actually rung the doorbell, but likely because the house was sorge, she hadn''t heard it ring inside or any sounds of someoneing to the door. Anxious about beingte, she had hastily knocked on the door instead. Now it looked like thedy of the house probably thought she had hired a very rude nanny!


    After all that rushed effort early in the morning, she never expected to get off on the wrong foot like this. Any lingering hopes Lu Chenchen had about holiday pay were thoroughly dashed. All that was left was 120,000 percent anxiety as she timidly followed thedy of the house inside.


    The interior decor leaned European. The living room was spacious, with a semi-open kitchen. Two boys and one girl were sitting at the dining table eating breakfast. Judging by appearances, the older boy looked about 8 or 9 years old while the other two were around 5 or 6.


    Yao Shali took good care of herself and didn''t look at all like the mother of three children. She was very slender, the kind of thinness achieved through dieting. She walked gracefully with poise, clearly raised with good manners from a young age. She told Lu Chenchen to call her "Mao Ma" and casually instructed the children to call her "Lv Auntie." At the same time, she quickly told Lu Chenchen the children''s names.


    The oldest was called Mao Dingyi, the second son Mao Dingjie, and the daughter Mao Dingxi.


    For easier differentiation, let''s call the oldest Big Mao, the second son Second Mao, and the little girl...we''ll call her Little Ming.


    The children gave a perfunctory and mumbled "Auntie Lv" before continuing to focus on their breakfast tes. Lu Chenchen nced over - they were all eating boiled eggs and toast. Big Mao''s toast was spread with jam, Second Mao had a slice of bacon on his, and Little Ming...Little Miss wasn''t eating. She was secretly tearing off little pieces of toast and stuffing them into the crevices of the table.


    Lu Chenchen instinctively wanted to stop her, her mouth already open, but then remembered the mistake she had made upon entering and closed it again.


    At this critical juncture, she absolutely could not displease thedy of the house again, even if it was the littledy.


    The Mao vi had two stories plus an attic and a yard with a sub-main garage. As Mrs. Mao took her around the upstairs and downstairs briefing her on the work, Lu Chenchen silently summarized her requirements: Clean, clean, and clean again!


    Simple and clear as this request sounded, only someone who had been a nanny knew how difficult the process was.


    When Mrs. Mao showed Lu Chenchen the master bedroom and opened the door briefly for her to look inside, Lu Chenchen''s gaze inadvertently swept over the wedding photos on the wall and she froze for a moment. The husband was...


    She wanted to look more closely to be sure, but Mrs. Mao had already closed the door again.


    Just as she was exining everyone''s dietary preferences, an older woman of around 60 with a rather sturdy build entered from outside walking a simrly sturdy Chinese Rural Dog.


    Lu Chenchen''s body instantly stiffened.


    Childhood trauma of being bitten by a mongrel came flooding down like a mountain. She had told Chen she was afraid of dogs, especially Chinese Rural Dogs, but he hadn''t told her the Maos had a dog, a huge Chinese Rural Dog.


    Afterwards when Lu Chenchen called Chen to take him to task, asking if she had told him she was scared of dogs and Chinese Rural Dogs in particr, Chen affirmed in a tone that questioned her intelligence that yes, she had indeed told him all that. So Lu Chenchen got even angrier and asked why he had introduced her to an employer family with a dog. Chen retorted in a tone that suggested he couldn''t ept her intelligence: "Did you say you wouldn''t work for a family with dogs?"


    ...


    Lu Chenchen could only admit she was uneducated andcked artictenguage skills...


    She had to admit Chen was an extremely shrewd businessman. Just when Lu Chenchen had mustered up great determination to ovee the temptation of the pay and say "I quit," he switched to a gentle tone and bbered on persuasively about things like "pets being a sign of a city" and "the vast majority of high-quality employers keeping pets" and "refusing pets means refusing high pay." Taking advantage of Lu Chenchen''s moment of hesitation, he promptly hung up, rejecting her protest.


    But that was afterward. In the moment, Lu Chenchen was frightened into standing there stiffly, not daring to move.


    The Rural Dog was definitely a "pet" that bullied the meek and feared the firm. As soon as it saw Lu Chenchen reveal a cowardly demeanor, it immediately bristled its back and barked wildly at her.


    The old woman stopped it but didn''t give Lu Chenchen the slightest bit of reassurance. She frowned and muttered to herself, "LiLi doesn''t like you."


    Beside her, it was clear Mrs. Mao heard it but pretended not to. She introduced Lu Chenchen to the old woman. The old woman nodded perfunctorily and asked while unleashing the dog, "Can you stew bird''s nest?"


    Lu Chenchen''s whole mind was still on the big dog called "LiLi." It was also staring fixedly at her, looking ready to pounce on her the moment it got free.


    With no reply, the old woman looked Lu Chenchen up and down, gave a slightugh, bent down and gently patted the dog while looking at it and saying, "Don''t worry, I won''t let it bite her. It won''t bite people."


    The old woman''s actions and words were full of undisguised contempt and condescension. Lu Chenchen had encountered some ill-tempered elderly people before, but none had shown their sense of superiority and discrimination so directly.


    Lu Chenchen bit her lip, warring internally between "quit immediately" and "tough it out two days then quit."


    Mrs. Mao beckoned to her, "Your room is this way."


    To rify, the reason Lu Chenchen went with her was not because she had decided to stay, but because she wanted to get away from that dog as quickly as possible.


    "We''re going out to y in a bit, and probably won''t be back until tonight. Since you just got here today, there''s no rush to start working. Get familiar with the ce first," Mao Tai''s eyes darted between the wall and floor, nevernding on Lu Chenchen, yet somehow seeming able to see right through all her thoughts. "Oh right, there are security cameras in every room except yours. Go put your luggage away first beforeing back out."


    As soon as the words left her mouth, she thoughtfully closed the door for Lu Chenchen.


    The room was about seven or eight square meters, with a window, single bed, and simple wardrobe. The wardrobe was brand new, and the bedding was very clean.


    It had to be admitted that the environment provided by these employers was better than what Lu Chenchen had received in many other homes.


    Lu Chenchen didn''t mind working more or less. She wasn''t bothered by contempt or wariness either.


    However, she...she was really afraid of that big dog called "LiLi."


    And the husband in the wedding photo she''d caught a glimpse of...


    Lu Chenchen still couldn''t confirm.

 Chapter 2: The First encounter between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law

    <h4>Chapter 2</h4>


    After a day and night of ideological struggle, Lu Chenchen finally chose to stay. The reason was of course Boss Chen''s persuasion, but the deeper deciding factor was that being penniless was even more terrifying than a dog.


    Speaking of which, the dog was called "Li Li." Big Mao told her that the origin of this name was because Grandma thought it was a beautiful pastoral dog.


    No matter how Lu Chenchen thought about it, she could not imagine how a sturdy, huge dog, with aggression flowing from eyes to mouth, could be called "beautiful" for whatever reason.


    When Mrs. Mao took Grandma and the children out, she did not leave any instructions for Lu Chenchen. In the corner of the yard''s tool room, she found cleaning supplies and cleaned up the public areas. Having just arrived, without the owners at home, she did not dare to enter personal rooms without permission, even under the pretext of cleaning.


    However, as she passed by the master bedroom, she recalled the man in the wedding photo. Lu Chenchen''s sweeping motions paused. She could hardly believe that in such a big world and big city, two people could meet in such a coincidental way. She felt she must have recognized the wrong person and wanted to go back in for a closer look and clear identification. Her hand was already on the door handle, but in the end, she did not turn it open.


    Mrs. Mao said there were cameras everywhere in the house. She did not want to displease her employer for these unfounded reasons.


    Moreover, even if she had not recognized the wrong person, what meaning would it have?


    She turned her head to familiarize herself with the kitchen.


    The kitchen was fully equipped for roasting, stewing, pan-frying, stir-frying, and other cooking methods. Apart from regr appliances like the oven, microwave oven, and blender, she also saw an electric steamer, a full set of cookware, an imported electric steamer, all very clean and seemingly brand new.


    Lu Chenchen suddenly felt the pressure brought by the previous housekeeper. She was so capable, not only at cleaning but also maintenance.


    Why did she leave?


    The Mao family did not return until after 9 pm.


    Big Mao washed up by himself while Second Mao and Little Ming were attended to by Lu Chenchen. It was then that Lu Chenchen learned Big Mao was already 10 years old, and Second Mao and Little Ming were 6-year-old twins.


    Lu Chenchen thought of Mrs. Mao''s emaciated appearance and deeply admired her for actually giving birth to twins and recovering her devilish figure.


    After sending the little masters to bed, Lu Chenchen knocked on Mrs. Mao''s door to ask about breakfast arrangements for the next day.


    Mrs. Mao pondered for a moment and said, "Tomorrow the holiday will be over. Big Mao has school, Second Mao and Little Ming have preschool. If you make breakfast... will you have time?"


    Before Lu Chenchen could reply, Mrs. Mao rejected her own suggestion, "Forget it, just wait until you get familiar. I bought bread today, tomorrow morning you can toast some for Big Mao, pan-fry a sausage, and boil an egg. Second Mao and Little Ming will eat at preschool. For me, just peel an apple."


    Mrs. Mao answered very smoothly, as if this was her family''s regr breakfast.


    Lu Chenchen thought back to the fully equipped kitchen and contrasted it with Mrs. Mao''s simple tastes...


    She always felt something was off.


    "What about Grandma?" she followed the children''s address. She remembered the olddy had mentioned bird''s nest before, which should have been soaked by now if they were to stew it.


    Mrs. Mao paused for a moment, then lightly said, "Boil an egg for her too."


    Lu Chenchen reflected on herself as a naive housekeeper, especially unskilled in handling the intricacies between mother-inw and daughter-inw.


    The next morning she got up at 6 am and by 7 am, had breakfast on the table for the little masters as Mrs. Mao had requested.


    As Lu Chenchen came out of the kitchen with warmed milk, Grandma slowly came downstairs, with Li Li following behind her. Seeing Lu Chenchen, Li Li immediately rushed forward and barked around her.


    "Don''t be scared, don''t be scared, Grandma said it doesn''t bite," Lu Chenchen desperately reassured herself inwardly while feigning calm on the surface. She was so flustered that she even forgot to say good morning to Grandma.


    Grandma stared at the food on the table for a full minute, then pursed her lips and slowly sat down.


    Lu Chenchen was truly afraid of dogs, especially this one that seemed hostile towards her. Its barking made her heart thump erratically. In her panic, she randomly pushed a te towards Grandma.


    "Didn''t Sha Li tell you I hate eating bread?" Grandma enunciated each word heavily.


    Only then did Lu Chenchene to her senses and hurriedly put the egg dish in front of her, softly apologizing, "I''m so sorry, Grandma, I got it wrong. Mrs. Mao told me to prepare a boiled egg for you."


    Grandma still did not speak or touch the egg.


    She was clearly adept at expressing anger through silence.


    Lu Chenchen felt her displeasure and regretted inwardly for not taking an extra stepst night to knock on her door and ask for instructions.


    But Grandma did not articte her grievances, so Lu Chenchen had no way to explicitly apologize either.


    Dealing with upper ss people really was painfully difficult.


    Fortunately, Mrs. Mao came out from her room at this time and called Lu Chenchen to help wake up the children.


    The morning tummy tussle had left Lu Chenchen somewhat weary, and Li Li was still chasing and barking at her. Grandma did not restrain it and Mrs. Mao acted oblivious. Of course, Lu Chenchen was certain she actually knew everything.


    After sending Second Mao and Little Ming neatly to the kindergarten in the residential area, on her way back, Lu Chenchen approached every dog walker she saw to ask for advice on getting along amicably with dogs. She wasted some time but did harvest a basketful of tips. Some said to give treats, some said to pet them, and one grandfather with an official aura actually told her that dogs were just like some people - the more you tried to curry favor, the more they would bully you. On the contrary, if you ignored them and always looked at them with eyes that could kill, that you despised them, they would grovel at your feet wagging their tail.


    Lu Chenchen decided to use the old gentleman''s method, because she had once seen a book in an employer''s home. It was some time ago so she only remembered the title seemed to be "The Big Character," which mentioned the grassroots spirit - that is, although insignificant, one lives strongly and with dignity.


    She did not know what other levels existed below the grassroots, but she knew that if even Li Li could defeat her, then she need not mention the word "human" anymore.


    Hardship and disdain were nothing new to her after working in many wealthy households these past two years. After all, everyone was made up of a few strokes. Differing recognition could not change their fundamental sameness. Therefore, Lu Chenchen believed people were born equal. If someone insisted on dividing chasms, then let them! No matter how others divided, in her heart she did not feel herself to be of a lower grade.


    Only Li Li was different. Li Li was a dog. She must triumph over it to be a housekeeper whom nothing could ever trouble again...


    As for being dragged into the intricacies between Grandma and Mrs. Mao regarding their mother-inw and daughter-inw rtionship?


    She believed just doing her own job well would suffice, without taking sides or participating. Being misunderstood, she need not exin, because they knew clearly in their hearts who the instigator was, who the real opponent was.


    In Lu Chenchen''s two years in this line of work, she had served in many wealthy households and understood clearly that no matter how mother-inw and daughter-inw fought, the family would still appear harmonious and loving when the doors opened.


    If the housekeeper picked sides and got involved... the eventual oue would just be ashes scattered into the air, right?

 Chapter 3: Cameras in the Kitchen

    <h4>Chapter 3</h4>


    In early April, the weather forecast said the temperature would be thirty degrees. What kind of concept is thirty degrees? It is the concept that made Lu Chenchen unable to bear it anymore and change into a short-sleeved T-shirt. She felt too hot, especially in the kitchen.


    Speaking of the kitchen, the kitchen, Lu Chenchen only wanted to give the Mao family a big "convinced" character.


    She came to the Mao''s on the day of the Qingming Festival, and four or five days had passed. Lu Chenchen had also caught some routines about the Mao''s diet and schedule. Breakfast was basically bread plus boiled eggs plus milk. After eating, Mrs. Mao sent Big Mao to school and didn''te back with Big Mao until the afternoon when school was over. Lunch was mostly Lu Chenchen and mother-inw eating at home. Mother-inw didn''t have high requirements, as long as there was meat, vegetables, soup, of course, the amount could not be too much. Dinner was when the family gathered most. Lu Chenchen originally nned to make it a little more abundant, but Mrs. Mao said that if they eat too much for dinner, it¡¯s not easy to digest. She told Lu Chenchen to steam instead of fry, boil instead of cook, as long as she could cook.


    It made sense, but Lu Chenchen felt that this kind of eating was only suitable for adults. For children, there should be big fish and big meat, rich and delicious. Seeing the children''s appetite opened up and eating more, they could absorb more and grow up healthy and strong. She had underestimated that the oldest child was only seven or eight years old when in fact he was already ten years old.


    But she was just a nanny, and a nanny without the right to buy groceries, only the right to pick up groceries.


    Yes, most of the vegetables in the Mao family were bought by Mrs. Mao herself on vegetable purchasing tforms such as Box Horse and Meituan the day before. The next day, Lu Chenchen went to the corresponding self-pick-up point to pick them up. As for meat, poultry and eggs, Mrs. Mao said she would go to Walmart or Box Horse to buy enough for a week every Saturday or Sunday.


    Lu Chenchen did like to go to the farmer''s market. Not only could she pick and choose there, but she could also get some scallions and garlic cloves. But she was also very happy to be spared the hardship of running around to buy groceries, especially now that the weather was getting hotter and hotter. She naturally preferred to stay at home and do whatever the employer gave her, which was rxing and effort saving.


    But seeing the children''sckluster appearance at each meal, she still felt a little frustrated.


    If this continued, the children''s appetite could not be aroused. Would Mrs. Mao doubt her cooking skills?


    Lu Chenchen used this reason to persuade herself and took the initiative to suggest two more dishes for dinner to Mrs. Mao: baked tofu in foil and hand-shredded chicken.


    Seeing Mrs. Mao hesitate for that moment, Lu Chenchen regretted it again and scolded herself for being meddlesome. Forget about the tofu in foil, but hand-shredded chicken had to be nched twice, first to remove the foam, then cooked through, and then soaked in cooled boiled water, and then shredded by hand with gloves on, one shred at a time. The fried peanuts also had to be freshly fried. Only those who had done it knew how tedious the whole process was. How silly was she toe up with such an unrewarding andborious idea?


    Not to mention whether she could get the employer''s consent at all.


    But since she had already made the suggestion, she naturally had to try to get it approved.


    "Tofu is a very good calcium supplement, and chicken is also great, high in protein and low in fat, suitable for young and old." She touted tofu and chicken to Mrs. Mao like a salesperson.


    It was probably the phrase "low in fat" that swayed Mrs. Mao. She finally nodded in agreement.


    So at dinner, in addition to the "lush green" and "not too salty or light" dishes required by Mrs. Mao, there were two more heavy reddish dishes from the arena.


    "Are you from Sichuan? Why so much chili pepper?" Unlike the suddenly bright eyes of Big Mao, the red that caught Mrs. Mao''s eyes was like fire, instantly igniting her temper, and her words suddenly turned sour.


    Lu Chenchen was quite surprised that such a small matter made Mrs. Mao trample her elegant temperament underfoot. She quickly exined that the chili powder she bought was a brand she had used before and not spicy at all, it was just for color and vor.


    "Really not spicy, you can try it," she picked up a shred of chicken covered in chili powder with chopsticks and put it on Mrs. Mao''s te, "And I didn''t use vegetable oil, I used olive oil, it doesn''t raise blood pressure, and it detoxifies, eating a little more is fine."


    Hearing her say that, the mother-inw who was originally standing sat down and picked up her chopsticks.


    Mrs. Mao ate the shred of chicken suspiciously, without saying anything.


    The children had already sat down around the table. Big Mao dipped a little of the soup from the baked tofu with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth to smack his lips. Then, a smile gradually appeared on his face. He waved his chopsticks to grab a big mouthful, but unfortunately the tofu was too soft and tender. He picked up and put down his chopsticks several times but didn''t pick up much. Lu Chenchen handed him a spoon and he immediately scooped up arge spoonful into his bowl, without draining the oil soup.


    Mother-inw''s eyes were also on Big Mao. Seeing him eat several mouthfuls of tofu rice in a row, and then reach for the shredded chicken, this time he didn''t hesitate. With one swoop of the chopsticks, chicken,tro, dripping red oil, he stuffed it all directly into his mouth.


    "Did you use chicken essence or MSG?" While slowly eating the tofu, mother-inw asked.


    This was the so-called "emperor''s tongue", right? She could actually taste the umami among a bunch of seasonings.


    Lu Chenchen honestly admitted, "No, no essences at all. I saw dried scallops in the kitchen, so I cooked them in a small cup of water. When lifting the wok at the end, I added a spoonful. There''s some left over, it''s in the fridge."


    Neither Mrs. Mao nor mother-inw said anything else.


    Big Mao ate two bowls of rice and was about to eat another when he was stopped at the same time by Lu Chenchen and mother-inw. Mrs. Mao was right, eating too much for dinner was not good for digestion. Second Mao and Little Ming were probably twins. They liked topete. The two first picked out the shredded chicken to eat together, but because Mrs. Mao also joined thepetition, the chicken was gone in a moment. Then they went to pick peanuts, you one, me one, you feed me one. At first they ate very amiably, giggling. Later, for some reason, Second Mao hit Little Ming on the head with his chopsticks. Little Ming wailed loudly...


    It was a lively and delicious dinner. Promisingly, the two dishes were ¡°cleaned out¡±,pleting their mission.


    While washing the dishes, Mrs. Mao leaned in the kitchen door and chatted with Lu Chenchen for a while. She agreed to let her make some pepper-free, sichuan pepper-free, chicken essence-free, MSG-free hot pot dishes at night. By now, she had long since regained her original grace, and her words even containedughter. She asked Lu Chenchen where the bought chili powder was. Lu Chenchen said they were small 2 gram packs, she had poured both packs into the hand-shredded chicken, there was none left.


    Mrs. Mao also said she wanted to reimburse Lu Chenchen for the money spent on the chili powder. This made Lu Chenchen feel embarrassed instead. It was just that seeing the family had all kinds of upscale seasonings but no chili powder, when she happened to be picking up a package, she bought two 5 cent packs on a whim. To ask for the money back for such a trivial thing was moreughable than anything.


    Mrs. Mao also did not dwell on this issue.


    She was the employer, Lu Chenchen was the nanny, and their rtionship was inherently unequal. It was only leveled by money. Therefore, even if the employer had some sourness and harshness, the nanny should quietly wipe it away for the sake of the money. ¡ª¡ª Lu Chenchen oftenforted herself like this during her two years as a nanny. Of course, if she encountered an employer that was really unbearable, she wouldn''t wrong herself too much either, she would just wave her hand and let each other go.


    Mrs. Mao clearly didn''t belong to thetter. She was measured and moderate, alternating carrot and stick. Lu Chenchen also readily epted it.


    They bothughed very maturely.


    It was just that Lu Chenchen was still a little simple-minded. She thought she could gain approval and trust through cooking skills and thoughtfulness. How could she know that not even 24 hours had passed. The next day at noon, Mrs. Mao, who was supposed toe back with Big Mao after picking him up from school in the afternoon, came back early. She even brought a worker.


    The two went straight to the kitchen. Soon, Lu Chenchen heard the worker''s surprised, raised voice: "Didn''t you install a camera here?"


    Mrs. Mao had said before that most areas of the home were monitored. The one in the kitchen was on the ceiling at the entrance, and the angle could basically cover the entire kitchen.


    Mrs. Mao''s voice was gentle and low, Lu Chenchen couldn''t hear very clearly.


    The worker''s voice was louder, "...a little troublesome, there are no power outlets here, wiring over..."


    The two murmured.


    Mother-inw went to the kitchen to watch for a while, then walked out without saying anything to Lu Chenchen, and went upstairs back to her room.


    Does this have anything to do with me? Did I cause some trouble? Lu Chenchen asked herself, also a little baffled.


    Finally, they finished and Mrs. Mao left with the worker.


    Lu Chenchen walked into the kitchen...


    If only there was a mirror in front of her, Lu Chenchen would be able to appreciate that her face was a mess of colors like an overturned palette.


    The previous camera had not moved, still coldly overlooking the entire kitchen from the ceiling by the entrance. Diagonally across from it, another camera had been installed,pletely and thoroughly making up for that little w where sometimes Lu Chenchen''s back was to it and it could not capture her hand movements.


    The entire kitchen was now recorded from all angles with no blind spots.


    The new instation actually had no power source, although the technician had pulled the power over with invisible wiring, there were still some traces that impacted the aesthetics. In other words, Mrs. Mao was willing to damage the overall look, just to ensure the kitchen was within her line of sight from front to back, left to right, above and below!


    Lu Chenchen was speechless. She instinctively felt that this Mrs. Mao was not as easy to deal with on the surface as she appeared.

 Chapter 4: Saying Goodbye to an Old Employer

    <h4>Chapter 4</h4>


    Lu Chenchen''s contract stated that she had one day off per week, which was Sunday.


    On Saturday morning, after the family had finished breakfast, Mrs. Mao took Granny and the three children out, and didn''te back until after 9 p.m.


    Lu Chenchen''s job was just housework and cooking. The children weren''t really her responsibility, so with the family out all day, she only did a bit of housework and felt bad about sitting around idle. So after the family came back, she helped the children wash up and get ready for bed.


    It was hot, and the adults and kids were all sweaty, so they all needed to take showers. Big Mao was old enough to handle himself at ten years old, but Second Mao and Little Ming needed her help to wash and get ready for bed. She also blow dried Little Ming''s hair.


    After getting them settled, she went and knocked on Mrs. Mao''s door to remind her that tomorrow was her day off, and that after making breakfast she would be leaving.


    Mrs. Mao''s eyes suddenly went wide. "Why didn''t you tell me earlier?"


    Lu Chenchen...


    I already told you when I first started!


    She really had nothing to say to defend herself.


    Didn''t families who hire domestic helpers already know about days off on weekends? Was it possible that the previous domestic helpers who worked for the Maos didn''t get weekends off either? Lu Chenchen found Mrs. Mao''s reaction a bit odd, but as a new employee, she didn''t feel it was appropriate to ask.


    "Tomorrow doesn''t work," Mrs. Mao tly rejected the request.


    It had to work.


    She had finally gotten a rare day off, and nned to go buy some personal items in the morning. She also had a regr client who needed housecleaning done in the afternoon. It was an elderly couple she had worked for a long time. The husband and wife lived alone, and with limited ie could only afford to hire her once a week. In addition to cleaning, she would make steamed buns, dumplings, potstickers and other items for them to eat during the week.


    "You know how to make buns, steamed bread, wontons and dumplings? You never offered to make any of that for us here." Mrs. Mao raised her eyebrows critically after hearing Lu Chenchen''s exnation.


    Lu Chenchen was starting to understand Mrs. Mao''s personality. She was difficult to go against - treat her nicely and she could be cultured and elegant, but provoke her displeasure and her caustic remarks were more choking than oil fumes.


    What a thing to say!


    She had only been working here a few days. After having her cooking critiqued and being put under video surveince, she had lost the courage to even stand up straight, much less offer to make street food like buns and steamed bread.


    She probably couldn''t even make a lion''s head meatball that would satisfy her.


    Lu Chenchen took a deep breath and kept reminding herself: live-in domestic helper positions weren''t easy to find! As evidence, Boss Chen was constantly posting ads on social media looking for helpers, with new candidatesing and going while he never seemed to have open positions.


    She had to treasure this job.


    At worst, Mrs. Mao was just a bit overbearing and unreasonable, but not a bad person. Lu Chenchen would learn from this experience - in the future she would ask for permission ahead of time and seek Mrs. Mao''s guidance more often. Mrs. Mao wouldn''t make things too difficult for her.


    But she couldn''tpromise on her day off.


    Lu Chenchen exined earnestly that if this were a regr housecleaning client, taking time off wouldn''t be a big deal. But the elderly couple was nearly eighty years old, with no children around to help. They weren''t prepared for her to miss a week. If she didn''t go this time, they would have a very difficult week ahead.


    After listening, Mrs. Mao was silent for a few seconds, then looked at her and said, "My husband ising home tomorrow."


    Oh right, after working here for several days she still hadn''t met the man of the house, the one in the photo...if they were to meet...


    Lu Chenchen came back to the moment and realized Mrs. Mao''s words meant she still refused topromise?


    She nearly raised her neck in defiance: What does your husbanding home have anything to do with my day off?


    Back in the day, didn''t her own mouth used to be just as thin and sharp?


    ...Now life had just slowly glued it shut, bit by bit.


    Lu Chenchen sincerely offered that if needed, she could make lunch before leaving, and it would still count as taking the day off.


    "Forget it, just go!" Mrs. Mao said in a half-irritated tone. Before Lu Chenchen could respond, she mmed the door shut.


    Fine, rich folks get their way.


    Lu Chenchen rubbed her nose and left.


    Luckily despite being angry, Mrs. Mao didn''t make things difficult for her.


    The next morning Mrs. Mao ate her bird''s nest soup with a stony face, telling Lu Chenchen they were going out and she didn''t need to make lunch.


    Lu Chenchen thanked her profusely, aware her ttery skills werecking and not daring to ask if she should prepare anything for the master''s return.


    After washing the dishes and tidying up the kitchen, Lu Chenchen had originally nned to go shopping for feminine products, but while idly checking subway routes to the Zhongjia Vige station in Hankou, she realized just the subway ride alone would take close to an hour, not including the additional time to ride a shared bike. Given the time, she wouldn''t have time to wander around the area.


    With a long sigh, Lu Chenchen resigned herself to shouldering her 35 RMB faux leather backpack bought at a streetside stand, and headed to the subway station to grab a shared bike and hurry over.


    On the subway, she sent Boss Chen a WeChat message asking if he had found a recement housecleaner for the elderly couple.


    Boss Chen didn''t respond, probably had no luck finding someone, which meant she''d likely have tomute over two hours roundtrip again next week enduring Mrs. Mao''s dirty looks?


    Sighing, Lu Chenchen arrived at her stop and no longer had time to feel dejected. She first went to the market to buy two jin of pork leg, tworge onions, a head of cabbage, and a handful of sweet potato noodles to make wontons and dumplings. After making sure she didn''t miss anything, she found a shared bike and wove through busy streets to the narrowing alleyways.


    Uncle Xu and Granny Xu had worked at a state-ownedpany before retiring. Their son worked away from home as a sailor and was divorced after years of separation from his wife and daughter.


    Lu Chenchen had learned these things chatting asionally with Granny Xu while working as a live-in maid nearbyst year. She also took on weekend housecleaning for Granny Xu''s family for over a year, but never once saw their sone home for a visit. His high school aged granddaughter would call ahead beforeing over about once a month. She would eat the fruit Granny Xu specifically bought for her whileining her dad still hadn''t sent over child support, her mom still hadn''t found a suitable job, and Granny would scold her mom for not being more selective when she got married, resulting in being stuck at home still depending on her elderly parents.


    And so Lu Chenchen would see Granny Xu squinting as she gentlybed her granddaughter''s bangs with weathered hands, encouraging her to study hard but not exining or defending herself against theints, just listening like a tree hollow, handing her granddaughter grapes that she didn''t peel quite cleanly.


    The granddaughter would generally leave after about half an hour, once her mother called. Granny Xu knew she was about to leave, and would take out a thick envelope along with the leftover fruit to pack for her granddaughter to bring home.


    Granny Xu''s home was on the sixth floor, with a cluttered balcony facing the apartment building entrance. After her granddaughter left, Uncle Xu who had been silently watching television would slowly get up, and he would stand with Granny Xu on the cramped balcony facing the street, seemingly seeing her granddaughter off as she left with her mother.


    The elderly couple would stand silently for a long time before finally exchanging a nce and a faint smile, then leaving the balcony one after the other.


    For some reason, this scene always made Lu Chenchen''s eyes burn with tears.


    While climbing the stairs, she got a call from Boss Chen saying he had just seen her text, and a new housecleaner had already been arranged with Uncle Xu and Granny Xu, but the elderly couple didn''t want to switch. After going back and forth, he had forgotten about it until remembering today that Lu Chenchen was going over, so he asked her tomunicate the arrangement directly since he had a maid signing an agreement and had to go.


    Lu Chenchen cursed him silently for foisting this difficult task on her.


    She cleaned and did housework as usual today, cleaned the range hood, and made steamed buns with buckwheat flour and fresh pork filling, and sweet corn mantou. Since it was hot out, the dough rose quickly. Seeing her still working on cleaning, the elderly couple took the initiative to help wrap the buns. The three of them chatted andughed, and the four hours of work time passed swiftly.


    Lu Chenchen stayed an extra hour to doundry, and went downstairs to buy a 20 jin bag of rice to carry up. Then she slowly shuffled over to Granny Xu.


    Before she could speak, Granny Xu asked first, "You''re working in Lakeview now?"


    Lu Chenchen murmured yes.


    "Lakeview," Granny Xu repeated under her breath with a gentle sigh. "So far away."


    Lu Chenchen buried her head without responding to her words.


    "Oh, right, there''s another thing I need to trouble you with," Granny Xu said as she took out her own phone and handed it to her, "My granddaughter called and said her studies are so busy now, and she has extracurricr sses on weekends, so she won''t be able toe get the money anymore. She asked me to transfer it to her mom''s Alipay ount. Us two old folks don''t know how to use that high tech stuff, so could you please help me transfer the money to her?"


    After a brief pause, Granny Xu continued, "And while you''re at it, why don''t I go ahead and settle up your wages too. You''re a good girl, but now you''re working so far away, Boss Chen said it takes four hours just to make the trip back and forth, it''s not cost effective and too tiring. Me and my old man thought it over, and...we won''t make it difficult for you anymore. When there''s a chance in the future, we''ll hire you back."


    What Granny Xu had struggled to say outright before finally deciding to take the initiative and say herself, left Lu Chenchen withplex emotions. She wanted to politely decline in a performative way, but in the end felt too pretentious even to herself with such affectations.


    After helping Granny Xu transfer the money to her former daughter-inw and collecting her own wages, Lu Chenchen left the extra 100 yuan Granny had insisted on giving her under her teacup as she bid the elderly couple farewell.


    Grandpa Xu packed four steamed buns in a stainless steel lunchbox and forced it into Lu Chenchen''s hands, saying that she had made them steamed buns so many times, so for thisst time, she should treat herself too.


    He deliberately shook the lunchbox in front of her and told her that when she coulde back and help them again, to remember to return the lunchbox.


    With the lunchbox on her back, Lu Chenchen walked downstairs. Suddenly, as if sensing something, she turned and looked up, and sure enough, the elderly couple were seeing her off from their balcony cluttered with odds and ends and hangingundry. In that shared nce, all three were startled for a moment, then smiled and waved goodbye.

 Chapter 5: The Man is Back

    <h4>Chapter 5</h4>


    Originally thought that once back at the Maos'' would be able to see the legendary male owner, but was very disappointed that the male owner had not returned.


    It must be said that this family of three generations and six people was also somewhat unconventional. Lu Chenchen while cleaning found that the master bedroom only had Mrs. Mao''s bedding, and no male owner''s clothes. On the contrary, the study not only had a single bed but also a single wardrobe, and the not too many clothes inside were all men''s.


    Well, strange things cannot be said, once said there would be too many.


    The four buns that Uncle Xu had insisted on giving, Lu Chenchen the next morning steamed two of them. She had said they were for herself to eat, but possibly because of the alluring meaty aroma when she split them open, Big Mao immediately asked why she had buns when he didn''t.


    Lu Chenchen smiled awkwardly and exined that milk and sandwiches were more nutritious, buns were made of ordinary flour and not tasty.


    Big Mao wanted her to give him half of the split one to taste.


    Lu Chenchen hesitated, because she saw Mrs. Mao''s face show unease.


    Big Mao impatiently reached over to grab it.


    Lu Chenchen had no choice but to split the already-opened half into two and give Big Mao the piece with meat.


    Mrs. Mao didn''t make a sound at the time, but after finishing eating and leaving the table, she gently tapped on the table and said softly to Lu Chenchen, "Don''t let him see it next time."


    Lu Chenchen nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.


    Who knew that the next morning, Big Mao clinked his fork and said he wanted to eat buns...


    Seeing Mrs. Mao''s face instantly change from sunny to cloudy, Lu Chenchen felt that crying foul would be toote. Fortunately her mind turned quickly, she immediately smiled apologetically to Mrs. Mao and said, "It looks like that little piece of bun yesterday got our young master''s appetite going. What do you think, should we buy some flour for me to make pan-fried buns for him? Freshly made, just to change up the taste asionally."


    She was hoping to divert the topic and not offend either the big or small Mao, of course Mrs. Mao could see through her intentions. Mrs. Mao snorted, and seriously told her, "I don''t object to varying up the breakfast for the children, I just don''t want them to casually eat foods from outside. Also," she turned to Big Mao and scolded, "don''t act like you''re starving and thirsty. Have I ever shortchanged your meals? Tell me, what have you not eaten before?"


    Big Mao lowered his head.


    Lu Chenchen made a show of checking the time, "I''m going to call Second Mao and Little Ming to get up and go to preschool."


    When she came back downstairs with the two children, Mrs. Mao had already sent Big Mao to school.


    Second Mao and Little Ming ate breakfast at preschool. Lu Chenchen let them each drink a small cup of water, then prepared to take them to the preschool in the residentialpound.


    Grandma was ying with Li Li in the yard. Seeing Lu Chenchene out, she asked, "When are you making the pan-fried buns?"


    Lu Chenchen carefully said, "Tomorrow, is tomorrow okay?"


    Grandma said lightly, "I don''t eat pan-fried buns. I''m too old, my teeth are not good, can''t bite hard things."


    "Then should I make bird''s nest soup for you?" Lu Chenchen asked.


    "When you go to purchase vegetables, at the fresh food store by the east gate help me buy wonton skins. I''ll eat wontons. " Grandma slowly instructed, "For the filling don''t use the machine to mince it, chop it with a knife, chop it finer, and don''t put green onions in it."


    Lu Chenchen epted the order.


    After sending the children into the preschool, she went to the fresh food store Grandma mentioned to buy wonton skins. Thinking that she''d need to proof the dough for the buns, and not knowing if the Maos'' kitchen had yeast, to be safe she decided it was still best to buy two bags, but the boss said they didn''t have any here, if she wanted to buy she''d have to go to the side food store by the west gate.


    One east and one west, it really made Lu Chenchen run around in circles. By the time she got back to the Maos, there was fine sweat on her forehead. Grandma was probably unhappy that she took so long, her expression didn''t look too good. She sent Lu Chenchen to walk the dog. Lu Chenchen was afraid of the thing to begin with, her courage was still in the process of building up, inevitably revealing some timidity. Li Li was a big mutt, as soon as it saw the leash was not in its owner''s hands it immediately started jumping around wildly. Lu Chenchen struggled with it the whole way back to the Maos'', by then the fine sweat had turned into beads.


    She still had to put away the winter quilts, wash the quilt covers, air out the thin quilts, do the household cleaning...


    This morning kept Lu Chenchen extremely busy. She didn''t dare chop the wonton filling noisily while Grandma was napping, forcing herself to wait until after Grandma got up from her nap to take Li Li out for a stroll, and only then daring to take out the meat.


    Chopping wonton filling doesn''t require any skill. As Lu Chenchen chopped, she thought about calling Boss Chen to have him find her another weekend part-time job. She needed money, and also needed something to upy her excess time.


    Lost in thought, she didn''t notice the sound of the door lock. She was startled when the man stood next to her.


    "Making meatballs?" Mao Yuanning leaned over to ask.


    Lu Chenchen looked at him. It really was him! How many years had it been? Eight years, or ten years? His sword-like brows and bright spirited handsome features were still the same as before. It was just that he had after all been marked by the passage of time. His temperament seemed even more mature and steady than in the past. In a dark green suit, the tag of a professional in the workce didn''t need saying.


    But he didn''t recognize her! Lu Chenchen secretly sighed. She understood as soon as he nced at her then immediately looked at the chopping block.


    If that was the case, could she still acknowledge their past rtionship? Lu Chenchen deliberated in her heart. After recognizing him from the wedding photo, she had imagined the scene of their reunion. She had also wondered if after such a long separation, he would still be able to recognize her. She thought that if he didn''t recognize her, she could naturally remind him. She didn''t expect that when it really came to this scene, she no longer wanted to acknowledge it.


    Forget it! Not to mention that she wasn''t doing well now, she was also standing in front of him in the awkward position of being his family''s maid. It was better not to bring up the past, to avoid making things awkward between them. What if he didn''t like this and fired her?


    She couldn''t lose this job. These days, live-in maid positions in wealthy households were far too scarce.


    In the moment of hesitation, Mao Yuanning had already casually asked her, "Are you the new auntie that Sally hired?"


    Lu Chenchen respectfully lowered her head and answered "Yes."


    "Do you know if the previous auntie left voluntarily or was fired by them?" Mao Yuanning asked again.


    Lu Chenchen widened her innocent eyes. "Previous auntie?"


    Mao Yuanning waved his hand. "Looks like you don''t know either."


    He then asked again, "What''s your surname?"


    "My humble surname is Lu, you can call me Auntie Lu or Auntie Lu." Lu Chenchen put down the cleaver and stood straight to answer.


    "Sally told me the new auntie has a child. Is that you? Doesn''t look like it." As Mao Yuanning spoke, he looked her up and down, very curious in his heart. This girl who looked like a student herself already had a child?


    Lu Chenchen nodded. "Yes."


    Mao Yuanning casually asked again, "How old is the child? In Wuhan?"


    "Six years old. In my hometown Yichang. My husband is taking care of him."


    "Six years old?" Mao Yuanning was shocked. This girl desperately trying to seem mature yet with a student''s face already had a six year old child? "So you''re alone in Wuhan? Don''t you miss your child? What does your husband do?"


    When it came to hiring help, it had to be admitted men were more rational and controlling. Mrs. Mao had also asked Lu Chenchen about her circumstances, but clearly not as in depth and direct as Mao Yuanning.


    For some reason Lu Chenchen felt a bit nervous. Her palms curled into fists out of view. She could feel the dampness in her palms.


    Taking a breath, she paused before saying, "Yes, no choice, my husband''s health is not good. He can''t find a well-paying job out here, it''s better for him to watch our child at home."


    Mao Yuanning stared at her and asked, "How often do you usually go back?"


    "Not regr. If I have a steady job I''ll just go back for Spring Festival. If I lose a job and don''t have a new one I can start, then it''s better to go back first."


    Lu Chenchen didn''t look Mao Yuanning in the eye the whole time. She kept her head slightly lowered, her gaze on the floor.


    But even so, she still had the feeling of being suppressed by the man''s imposing manner.

 Chapter 6: Mr. And Mrs. Smith

    <h4>Chapter 6</h4>


    It was a little past five on Sunday morning when Lu Chenchen was woken up by a nightmare where she was desperately looking for a job after beingid off for being unmarried and childless, only to be rejected by her prospective employer.


    Deciding to reflect upon herself like the ancients did three times a day, she sat up in bed and asked herself: Where am I? Do I still have a job? Is my job secure?


    After this bout of soul-searching brought some rity, Lu Chenchen heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she still had her live-in housekeeper job to keep her fed. As for her hourly jobs... she decided to go looking for one or two more in the neighborhood today instead of taking the subway or bus. Riding a shared bike, she would use the Ma familypound as the center to look for domestic servicepanies.


    The dream made the Ma family weightier in Lu Chenchen¡¯s mind by several degrees. As a result, she took particr care when preparing their breakfast today.


    For Big Ma, she made the soup dumplings she had promised, along with rice wine tea eggs and chicken soup with small wontons. Since Mrs. Mao was on a strict diet, Lu Chenchen prepared rice wine tea eggs with apple slices with the skin and cores removed for her.


    What was a bit tricky was Mao Yuanning.


    Lu Chenchen had a faint impression that he was particrly fond of dan dan noodles. But it had been so long, she wondered if his tastes had changed.


    She decided to give it a try.


    So Lu Chenchen boiled water and cooked all the noodles until they were 80% done before nching them briefly in cold water. She tossed them with her special homemade minced pork sauce, adding finely chopped ginger, garlic, and green onion. Then shedled over hot oil...


    With a sizzling ¡°chi¡± sound, the aroma of the various seasonings erupted.


    ¡°Mm, smells so good!¡± At some point, Mao Yuanning had made his way to the kitchen door, voicing his approval.


    Lu Chenchen turned and bid him good morning. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you still eat noodles. If not, just leave them and I¡¯ll make you something else.¡±


    ¡°No need, no need,¡± he said, shaking his head with an affable smile much like those of business tycoons and politicians on Taiwanese TV dramas. ¡°I¡¯m not picky. I¡¯ll basically eat whatever I¡¯m given.¡±


    Lu Chenchen was very aware this was a status-unting smile indicating his personal background and ss. She would by no means take this to mean Mao Yuanning was someone who could be casually dismissed.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Mrs. Mao?¡± As soon as the question left her lips, Lu Chenchen regretted her thoughtless blunder.


    The Ma family was one of the more bizarre employers she had worked for.


    Upon his return, Mao Yuanning had indeed slept in the study. He addressed his mother-inw as "Aunt Qi" or "Aunt Seven." Mrs. Mao''s first reaction at seeing him was surprise, clearly unaware of which day he hade back since he didn''t notify her either.


    The polite yet distant interaction between the three adults was odd. Mrs. Mao didn''t object to Mao Yuanning staying in the study instead of the bedroom, apparently having grown ustomed to the situation. She even reminded Lu Chenchen to bring Mao Yuanning an extra thin quilt at night since it would be cold.


    Despite noticing the abnormal dynamic between the husband and wife, Lu Chenchen had inquired so perfunctorily. She didn''t know what Mao Yuanning made of her crude ineptness.


    "She never liked sleeping in. She should be down soon," Mao Yuanning didn''t seem to mind at all. Taking over the noodles, he stirred them while saying, "Oh right, do you know how to make coffee?"


    Lu Chenchen nodded, about to head to the kitchen when he stopped her.


    "Never mind about today. From tomorrow on, make me a cup every morning when I''m home¡ªhalf a spoonful of sugar with milk."


    Lu Chenchen bobbed her head vigorously to show she understood.


    Right then, Mrs. Mao also came downstairs.


    "The housekeeper you found this time is pretty good," Mao Yuanning remarked to Mrs. Mao.


    He was deliberately saying it within Lu Chenchen''s earshot.


    Lu Chenchen put on an appreciative yet bashful look, bringing out Mrs. Mao''s breakfast while mentioning she would be off for the weekend after tidying up the kitchen.


    "Didn''t you say you already quit the Zhong family in Zhongjia Vige?" Mrs. Mao asked.


    Lu Chenchen exined why to her with a wry smile. "Low pay means less food. Can''t be helped. Still got to find one or two families around here."


    "Why go through the hassle? Since our home needs a housekeeper no matter when, you might as well work here on Sundays too. I''ll pay you double wages in ordance with national policies," Mao Yuanning cut in suddenly.


    Lu Chenchen could scarcely believe her ears. How could such a stroke of good fortune befall her?


    Mrs. Mao''s spoon faltered as she dished up the rice wine soup, throwing Mao Yuanning an unfathomable look. In a quiet voice, she said, "Yes, he''s right. Staying here would be killing two birds with one stone."


    Four days of a live-in housekeeper''s wages were far higher than four days of hourly work!


    Having regained her wits, Lu Chenchen thanked them profusely.


    As usual, Mrs. Mao was expressionless.


    Mao Yuanning, on the other hand, appeared very modest, echoing Mrs. Mao''s words that it was mutually beneficial so thanks were unnecessary.


    Lu Chenchen deferentially insisted she didn''t deserve such treatment...


    It seemed like a day where things slowly started looking up like the weather. But once the money-induced excitement wore off, Lu Chenchen gradually sensed something amiss.


    That night after finishing her duties and returning to her room, she naturally realized her own naivete andck ofposure upon reflection.


    She med her pastck of temptation for this reaction of forgetting herself at the first bone tossed her way.


    Her vige dog Li Li may not have amounted to much, but having grown up in such an environment, even a bone or b of ham would fail to make it bat an eyelid.


    Lu Chenchen was utterly ashamed at being inferior to even Li Li.


    There was definitely something off about the Ma family. The man of the house addressed his own mother as "Aunt Qi" or "Aunt Seven." Not only was there polite estrangement between the couples upon reunion rather than absence making the heart grow fonder, they even slept separately. The man''s obvious intention of currying favor with the housekeeper without even attempting to hide his agenda was even more tant...


    Yet Lu Chenchen had blindly taken sides just like that?


    Too greedy and foolish!


    It was easy to guess Mrs. Mao''s utter disappointment in her. She had likely already prepared the envelope to dismiss Lu Chenchen. Oh right, why bother with such outdated practices? As soon as President Ma left, she could simply WeChat Lu Chenchen her wages and order her to leave immediately.


    What a cannon fodder! Not even given a chance to yell injustice!


    Lu Chenchen was utterly dejected.


    Clinging onto a sliver of hope, she called Boss Chen to probe the Ma family''s background.


    "New customer, so I''m not familiar," was Boss Chen''s response that utterly doused Lu Chenchen''s flicker of hope.


    "You said the olddy was the man''s mother-inw, but how can that be when she clearly isn''t his mom?" Lu Chenchen asked impatiently.


    "Isn''t she his mother-inw? When Mrs. Mao filled out the forms, she wrote herself down as mother-inw with two sons and a daughter. Mother-inw means her son''s wife''s mother, no?" Boss Chen was baffled.


    He wasn''t wrong. Lu Chenchen had heard the children address her as "grandma" too.


    It was Lu Chenchen''s own inexperience, failing to consider things more deeply. How could it be possible for a man''s own mother to coexist under one roof with her daughter-inw in such mutually respectful terms?


    All the previous doubts now unfurled like the thorns on a rose bush after winter winds blew away the dead leaves, stabbing Lu Chenchen all over.


    Was it toote now regardless of what she said?

 Chapter 7: Pass the Customs

    <h4>Chapter 7</h4>


    To be honest, Lu Chenchen was just a nanny whose only goal was to earn more money, and she had no other aspirations.


    After a busy day, she also enjoyed lying in bed reading pce intrigue and family infighting stories from online novels, not afraid that others wouldugh at her. Being a nanny really was an extremelyborious job, and she often found her upper eyelid stuck to her lower eyelid as soon as she opened the app to read those novels.


    What does this all mean? Namely, she didn''t know how to "plot" or "scheme", nor could she afford to.


    Yesterday morning, Mao Yuanning ate a bowl of dan dan noodles that he had ordered, drank a cup of coffee, and then went out.


    As soon as he went out the door, Lu Chenchen sat down next to Mrs. Mao, who was eating bird''s nest soup. Disregarding whether she would disrupt Mrs. Mao''s meal, Lu Chenchen exined earnestly that she understood very clearly that she was just a nanny, and could only earn money within the scope of a nanny''s duties. No matter which employer she worked for, she only relied on her own effort instead of tricks. She hoped that Mrs. Mao could trust her, and if there was anything she didn''t do well, to tell her directly. She would definitely improve.


    This was the "lifesaving" method that Lu Chenchen had tossed and turned all night toe up with.


    Rather than passively waiting to get fired, she might as well take the initiative to confess in order to seek a lifeline.


    To put it this way: although the Mao family had its "stories", in her two years of working as a live-in nanny, she was no stranger to families with "stories" and people with "stories". One could even say that "every family has a sutra that is hard to recite", or "every family has an ineffable story".


    Lu Chenchen had once worked for a family of three where both the husband and wife were high-ranking corporate executives. It was said that the wife used to be the husband''s client. The husband had tried very hard to not only win the project, but also win over the client herself.


    They had a son who was a little over two years old. Lu Chenchen''s main job was to take care of the young master.


    Lu Chenchen worked for them for four months. The hosts and the guest were very satisfied. The wife even said that she wanted Lu Chenchen to take care of the child until he graduated from kindergarten, and that she would give Lu Chenchen a raise every year.


    Although the ¡°prospects¡± were painted a little ambitiously, they both believed that actualizing them wouldn¡¯t be too difficult. Lu Chenchen considered herself reliable, and the hosts weren¡¯t short on money either.


    But s, the good times didn¡¯tst. No one knew if it was because the wife was too overbearing after being used to being the client, but the husband couldn¡¯t take it anymore. When she was not at home, he brought back a gentle and quiet girl.


    The husband stuffed Lu Chenchen with 200 RMB and a cartoon Ni entertainment card, asking her to take the child to the Yongwang mall to y for a day ande back to make dinner.


    In the sh between epting or refusing, Lu Chenchen made a lightning fast circle and took the money, taking the child to Yongwang as instructed..


    The second time...


    The third time...


    Two monthster, the affair was exposed.


    The wife was hysterical, asking Lu Chenchen why, why did she shield that bad man, why didn''t she tell her?


    Lu Chenchen let her vent her anger and sorrow until she copsed limply on the sofa and quieted down. Only then did she exin in one sentence: "I''m sorry, I just don''t have the qualifications to judge betrayal."


    From the moment the husband brought a woman home, Lu Chenchen getting fired had already be inevitable. The only difference was whether the husband or the wife did the firing. If Lu Chenchen didn¡¯t take the money, the husband would fire her on the spot. If she did take it, it would happen when exposed by the wife.


    She was just a nanny. Where did she have any decision-making power or the qualifications to judge right from wrong? Not to mention she didn¡¯t even have the right to choose loyalty.


    Because any one of them was her employer. Even if she reported the husband, that would not be called loyalty, but foolishness.


    What nanny had the right to expose her employer?


    That time, she had no way to save herself and could only await her ending.


    This time was different. She could exin and guarantee that she would conscientiously stay within her station and not get involved in any disputes.


    It just remained to be seen whether Mrs. Mao believed her or not.


    Luckily, Mrs. Mao''s expression gradually softened from stern to gentle. In the two weeks they interacted, Lu Chenchen spoke little and worked diligently, all observed by Mrs. Mao.


    In the end, she pulled out a tissue and handed it to Lu Chenchen, who had exined herself into a sweat, and said in her usual gentle tone: ¡°Wipe off your sweat!¡±


    Phew! It seemed that Lu Chenchen had passed this hurdle unscathed.


    What was even better was that neither of them were stupid. Lu Chenchen didn¡¯t have to spell things out too bluntly, and Mrs. Mao also didn¡¯t need to tell her that she already understood.


    But for Mao Yuanning, Lu Chenchen would be holding this grudge.


    This man was truly sinister, malicious and unreasonable. Not to mention the past, even just looking at the present: Lu Chenchen neither owed him anything nor had any recent enmity with him. Yet as soon as he came back he shaded her, acting as if he couldn¡¯t wait for her to beid off immediately so he could arrange for his own person. Had he never considered that even if she really wasid off, would Mrs. Mao let his person in the door?


    She had just barely, by a hair''s width, avoided getting shaded out of her job. If she hadn''t decisively chosen to exin things face-to-face with Mrs. Mao...


    Smashing someone''s rice bowl was akin to killing someone''s parents. Lu Chenchen felt that if he dared to bring a woman home like the previous husband, she would dare, professional ethics and qualifications be damned, to tell on him to Mrs. Yao even if she had to pay money to do it, letting him know that although Lu Chenchen was just a small nanny, she also liked swift revenge.


    These rich imaginings made Lu Chenchen feel psychologically bnced to some degree.


    In the afternoon, Second Mao and Little Ming came back first, yelling that they were hungry as soon as they got back. Lu Chenchen quickly served them each a small bowl of eight treasure congee to fill their stomachs.


    When Big Mao got back, heedless of hunger, he put down his schoolbag and immediately wanted to go out to y. This led Second Mao and Little Ming to also push aside their eight treasure congee to follow along.


    With three children, an adult definitely had to go along to supervise. Mrs. Mao was unwilling to go, so Lu Chenchen had no choice but to step up.


    As soon as Big Mao saw that someone would go with him, he was ted, yelling that he wanted to y badminton.


    Lu Chenchen thought for a bit, then asked him, ¡°Have you learned before?¡±


    Big Mao shook his head.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Lu Chenchen nodded in agreement.


    Big Mao didn¡¯t understand, and asked her why she had to first ask if he had learned or not.


    Lu Chenchen moved next to his ear and whispered, ¡°If you had learned before, then I definitely wouldn''t be able to beat you. Losing to a child is quite embarrassing for an adult, so of course I wouldn''t have agreed.¡±


    A little ten-year-old rascal, when truly happy, wouldugh until his entire body shook. He also moved next to Lu Chenchen''s ear and said, ¡°Even if I haven''t learned, I can still beat you.¡±


    Lu Chenchen snorted and asked Second Little Mao and Little Ming, ¡°Why do oxen fly in the sky?¡±


    They answered in unison, ¡°Because Big Mao is blowing on the ground.¡±

 Chapter 8: The Middle-aged Neighbor Who gossips.

    <h4>Chapter 8</h4>


    Just before 6 am, the faint morning lighting through the thin curtains woke up Lu Chenchen.


    Alright, if I''m awake, I might as well get up, she thought.


    At 6:30 am, Lu Chenchen was eating a steamed pork bun while changing shoes to take Li Li out for a walk. Grandma came downstairs.


    "Morning," Lu Chenchen greeted her.


    Smiling, Grandma asked, "Haven''t finished the bun yet?"


    Lu Chenchen sighed to herself. Why is it that dignified elders be so mischievous once you get familiar with them? They seem to enjoy watching others struggle.


    She had to admit she had steamed a whole bag of pork buns, full of hope. But the kids got tired of them after just two days.


    Now she had to steam two every morning to reward herself for working hard.


    Just after putting on Li Li''s leash, Mao Yuanning also came downstairs.


    "Morning. Going grocery shopping?" he asked her.


    Lu Chenchen respectfully replied, "Taking Li Li out for a walk."


    "Great, I''m going for my morning run too," he said.


    Damn it! Lu Chenchen secretly rolled her eyes. She had never felt so disrespectful towards her employer.


    This family was really something. Except for the kids, no one liked to sleep in. She thought she got up early enough. Grandma got up around the same time, which was understandable. But now Mao Yuanning also went jogging early. He had told her before that Mrs. Mao liked early mornings too. So... was it possible Mrs. Mao had already been up for a while, standing by the bedroom window watching them downstairs?


    Her wild imagination sent chills down her spine. In the soft morning light of early summer, she shivered and subconsciously nced up at the window of Mrs. Mao''s bedroom on the second floor.


    All she saw was the thick opaque curtain.


    Lu Chenchen put on an expression of "Thank goodness" and walked out with Mao Yuanning, showing great delight.


    Just a few steps out, before they got far from the view of Mrs. Mao''s bedroom window, Lu Chenchen yelped "Ow!"


    "What''s wrong?" Mao Yuanning asked.


    Lu Chenchen scratched her head awkwardly, "Oh, I suddenly can''t remember if I turned off the stove after steaming the buns. Can''t joke about this. No, I need to go back and check. Mr. Mao, please go ahead first. I''ll take Li Li outter."


    Mao Yuanning nodded with a grin, "Yeah, can''t joke about that. Go check it out."


    Lu Chenchen suddenly felt like he knew she was lying.


    So what if he knew. A person nearly scammed to death shouldn''t resist or get mad, right? Couldn''t she avoid them? She didn''t want any trouble.


    Just as she headed back, she bumped right into Mrs. Maoing downstairs. Her timing was perfect, making Lu Chenchen highly suspicious that Mrs. Mao had indeed been standing by the bedroom window watching her interaction with Mr. Mao.


    If Lu Chenchen had gained anything working for the Maos, oveing her fear of Li Li was one of them. She had made great efforts, like staring contests with Li Li to see who would look away first, making it chicken cakes, and plucking up courage to pet it... Now the once imperious big guy had be tame towards her, sometimes even proactively nudging her with its snout to take it out.


    While enjoying the walk with Li Li, a middle-aged woman caught up to them from behind and pped Lu Chenchen hard on the shoulder, extremely excited. "I knew you looked familiar! You''re the housekeeper for Lawyer Mao''s family?"


    Lu Chenchen exaggerated rubbing her shoulder, grunting in pain to show the woman had hit her too hard.


    The middle-aged woman didn''t care at all. Still agitated, she said, "I''ve seen you walking the dog and taking the kids out. I live right across from them. You must have seen me too, right?"


    In her mind, Lu Chenchen recited the "housekeeper lessons" she had summarized:


    Housekeepers must not gossip about employers with their attractive neighbors!


    Housekeepers must not gossip about employers with their attractive neighbors!


    Housekeepers must not gossip about employers with their attractive neighbors!


    When Lu Chenchen had worked for an employer in Hanyang and took care of their kid, she would always run into an older housekeeper who also took a child out. The woman loved to chat, telling everything about her employer''s family situation first before asking the other housekeepers about theirs. Most housekeepers knew where to draw the line, but some would gossip about their employer''s troubles at home.


    Through their chats, they found out one employer''s grandfather was having an affair with a grandma in the neighborhood.


    After the older housekeeper spread this out, it not only caused a huge fight between the two families, but also implicated the housekeeper who leaked the information and her employer...


    It almost became a bloody incident.


    Afterwards, many familiar housekeepers disappeared. Lu Chenchen heard that after the older housekeeper''sdy employer went door to door to apologize, she not only fired her without pay, but her husband also went to the domesticpany to hold them ountable.


    Since then, "Speech is silver, silence is gold" became Lu Chenchen''s motto.


    How could she let this attractive middle-aged neighbor pry open her mouth after so much conditioning?


    No matter what the woman asked, Lu Chenchen just smiled without answering.


    On the way back walking Li Li, the neighbor still wouldn''t give up. She changed her approach, chattering away many trivial things she knew about the Maos.


    Although unimportant, it still piqued Lu Chenchen''s interest.


    Turned out Mao Yuanning was awyer. Grandma was his mother''s younger sister. When he was very little, his mother passed away. His father sent him to live with his maternal grandma and went to Australia himself. It was his aunt who raised him up.


    The neighbor''s daughter worked at a joint-stock bank where Mao Yuanning happened to be the legal counsel. So she knew a thing or two about his family.


    Hmm, that was a lot of inside information!


    This middle-aged neighbor really went all out, didn''t she? Just how much did she think she could get out of Lu Chenchen?


    Reason told Lu Chenchen to be vignt and steer clear of her employer''s matters. But her ears couldn''t help leaning towards the neighbor while her mouth felt like a cotton swab was poking inside: Open up, open up! Ask her what else, what else?


    Both the neighbor and Lu Chenchen were reluctant to part ways.


    "Let''s add each other, so we can keep in touch if anythinges up." The middle-aged woman took out her phone.


    Lu Chenchen instantly sobered up.


    "Um, next time, next time. I''m in a rush. Haven''t made breakfast yet. See, Grandma is waiting for me..." Lu Chenchen smiled awkwardly and hurried away from her, breathing out in relief.


    "What were you chatting about with Zhong Rong''s mom?" Grandma asked sinisterly when Lu Chenchen got back.


    Lu Chenchen smiled wryly. On the walk over, the Zhong Rong''s mom had done most of the chatting while she only contributed two "huh''s": Is that so, really?

 Chapter 9: Xiao Ming Is Sick

    <h4>Chapter 9</h4>


    Since getting acquainted with Zhong Rong''s mom, Lu Chenchen had "coincidentally" encountered her several more times, mostly on the necessary path where she walks Li Li or in the direction she goes to buy vegetables. Moreover, the encounters were quite characteristic. If Lu Chenchen was with her mother-inw, Zhong Rong''s mom would mostly just nod her head to greet them, or even bow her head pretending not to see them. However, if it was only Lu Chenchen alone, Zhong Rong''s mom would enthusiastically chat with her for a while and give her small gadgets like a keychain engraved with "XX Bank" or a card holder.


    Lu Chenchenughed helplessly. Don''t even mention the card holder - she was just a little nanny, where would she get so many bank cards that she needed a special holder for them? And how could she dared to openly hang a keychain with Zhong Rong''s daughter''s mark on the Ma family''s keys? If her mother-inw saw it, wouldn''t it be a deadly sin? Although she didn''t know where Zhong Rong''s mom''s enthusiasm and her mother-inw''s wariness came from, it did not prevent her from judging that the two families had a big grudge against each other.


    In the short time since she arrived, Lu Chenchen discovered that the Ma family was also one of the mostplex families she had encountered, both inside and outside. The mother and son were not like mother and son, the husband and wife did not seem like husband and wife, but if you wanted to say there were any obvious contradictions on the surface, there really wasn''t any that could be seen. As if that was not enough, on the outside there was also Zhong Rong''s mom who was interested in their family like a gossip reporter. It was hard to say whether Zhong Rong''s mom was driven by a very simple gossip mentality or if she had some other purpose...


    In short, the mystifying Ma family had a mystifying environment.


    However, Lu Chenchen had no intention of resigning. During her two years as a nanny, she had dealt with either chattering elders or babbling children. Even when she asionally met picky or harsh employers, they did not make too many waves in her in and peaceful days. The Ma familywyer was so interesting! She had to stimte a lot of brain cells every day just to keep up with the rhythm of this family of young and old. Not getting fired and still being epted was quite challenging.


    Moreover, the high wages paid by elite employers, plus weekend overtime pay, made it hard to find such high ie elsewhere.


    Even just for the money, Lu Chenchen was reluctant to resign.


    Monday was a less busy day for Lu Chenchen. She had already prepared the breakfast, done the big cleaning, and taken advantage of the weekend when the Ma family members were out to get most things done in advance. With spare time, she made a few strawberry puddings for the children.


    When picking up the two kindergarten children in the afternoon, she noticed Little Ming was a little listless. After getting home, she put down her schoolbag and slumped on the sofa. She didn''t even eat two bites of the pudding she usually loved the most.


    Feeling her forehead, there was no fever.


    Lu Chenchen suspected the child had caught a cold from the recent days of heavy winds, thunderstorms and zing sun alling one after another.


    Abiding by the principle of timely reporting anything unusual, she called the mother-inw out of her room.


    After looking Little Ming over, the mother-inw rubbed her hands and paced back and forth a few steps. She told Lu Chenchen to call Mrs. Mao.


    Mrs. Mao sounded quite nervous on the phone, persistently asking if the child was coughing, if she had a runny nose, and why she hadn''t taken the child''s temperature. She alsoined that the kindergarten teachers were irresponsible for not noticing something wrong with Little Ming right away.


    Lu Chenchen wanted to reassure her but couldn''t. Over these days, she realized that beneath Mrs. Mao''s gentle appearance was actually a sensitive and suspicious soul.


    She didn''t trust Lu Chenchen''s description. She was very worried about Little Ming, but right now she was on the way to pick up Big Mao and couldn''t turn the car around. It would take at least forty minutes after she picked up Big Mao to get back.


    Listening to Mrs. Mao getting more and more irritable over the phone, Lu Chenchen feltpletely incredulous. She turned to look at the mother-inw, who also had a helpless expression on her face.


    With three children and three adults, how did they raise the children to this day?


    "Mrs. Mao, you''re driving, pay attention to safety and don''t get too anxious. I have a child of my own and have taken care of other employers'' children, so trust me, Little Ming justcks energy at the moment. I assure you there is no need to go to the hospital or even take medicine. Just have her drink more warm boiled water. I''ll cook some congee for her and have her eat something easy to digest, then get a good rest. There definitely won''t be any issues. I assure you."


    In fact, Lu Chenchen was usually a very cautious person with little guts. She really didn''t know how these packaged assurances had popped out of her mouth.


    Mrs. Mao probably felt she had no other choice but to believe her words. She repeatedly told Lu Chenchen to call her immediately if there were any changes.


    Finally, she threatened her, "I''m not trying to scare you, but if anything happens, even selling off everything you own wouldn''t be enough topensate!"


    See, this is what happens when you rashly beat your chest to make guarantees.


    After hanging up the phone, Lu Chenchen coaxed Little Ming to drink a cup of warm water. She took her temperature - 36.7 degrees Celsius, normal. She asked if anywhere felt ufortable but the little girl listlessly shook her head, saying she wanted to sleep.


    It waspletely consistent with the initial symptoms of a cold.


    Lu Chenchen carried her back to the bedroom to sleep, then went to the kitchen to cook congee.


    When the pot of glutinous rice from Northeast China boiled into thick, smooth rice soup, Lu Chenchen heard the sound of a car driving into the garage, followed by the "clip-clop" sound of high heels striding up.


    Lu Chenchen had just walked out of the kitchen and was met head-on by Mrs. Mao.


    "Where''s Little Ming? What are you doing? Why aren''t you by her side?" Along with her heavy panting, Mrs. Mao fired questions in quick session, leaving Lu Chenchen quite shocked.


    How could there be such an intense reaction?


    The mother-inw behind called out to her in a reminding tone, "Sally!"


    Mrs. Mao snorted heavily and turned to walk towards Little Ming''s room.


    Lu Chenchen took a deep breath and said to the mother-inw, "The meals are ready. You and Big Mao and Second Mao should eat first. I''ll go see how they are doing."


    She had just gotten halfway up the stairs when the mother-inw called her from behind. "Don''t take it to heart. Sally, she..."


    The mother-inw didn''t finish her sentence, but Lu Chenchen understood her meaning.


    She had worked for a family by Yangcha Lake before. At first it was said to be a live-in auntie position. The husband had taken on a construction project in Yunnan and would be away for over half a year. At home it was just the mother and nine-year-old child. When Lu Chenchen went, they had actually gone through some ups and downs, mainly because of money. The wife didn''t want to hire an auntie but couldn''t ovee her husband''s insistence. So she wouldn''t budge on the wages and would only pay 80% of market rate. Lu Chenchen didn''t agree at first, butter it was said that the husband privately found Boss Chen and promised to subsidize the missing 20% so Lu Chenchen took the job.


    She won''t borate how petty the wife was towards the nanny, but of course the wide world contained all kinds of people. Since Lu Chenchen chose this line of work, she naturally had to grin and bear whatever came her way, whether good meat or bitter medicine.


    The key was that the wife had a sickness! Anxiety disorder or depression, or some mental illness. Lu Chenchen wasn''t a professional so she didn''t understand. She only saw that such a well-behaved and sensible child was often scolded and criticized by his mother for not doing well enough on his homework and needing his mom to tutor him. When he didn''t do well on a test paper, she had to sign off on the bad score. It provoked the mother first to admonish and berate him, then to yell and curse, and eventually it developed into beating him. That kind of losing self-control and grabbing whatever was at hand to hit him with - if there was a stationery box she would snatch up the stationery box to hit him, if she saw a fly swatter she would use the fly swatter, without anything at all she would just take a broom to beat him.


    It never failed to make Lu Chenchen''s jaw drop seeing it happen. It was clearly wrong but admonishing did no good. If she tried to wrest the "weapon" from the woman''s hands, she would also be beaten and cursed.


    The wife also had that archetypal Wuhan sister-inw''s standard "Han cursing." The vocabry she used to curse people was on par with the legendary ten levels of Han cursing from a certain middle school teacher. She cursed her own son, cursed the well-meaning Lu Chenchen who tried to protect her son. Her cursing brought tears to her son''s eyes and made Lu Chenchen want to quit on the spot.


    After calming down, the wife would also hug her son and weepingly apologize, asking for his forgiveness. At emotional breaking points she would even turn to the wall and p her own ears until her cheeks were red and swollen but she still wouldn''t stop...


    In fact, Lu Chenchen still didn''t know it was sickness when she left, thinking it was just a personality issue.


    Around that time the Spring Festival was approaching. The husband returned early and kept Lu Chenchen from leaving. Lu Chenchen pushed up her sleeve to show him the purple and blue marks left on her from blocking the wife''s blows at the child with a rolling pin. There were also marks on her legs from being kicked.


    The husband was silent for a long while, then told Lu Chenchen in a muffled voice that his wife was sick. When the sickness didn''t act up, she was virtuous and loving, but once it red up, it wasn''t that she stopped being virtuous and loving, but rather that shepletely lost control of herself.


    After telling the truth, he said that Lu Chenchen was the first nanny who got injured for his son. He used the word "plead" and pleaded with her to at least spend two hours every day cooking dinner for the child and supervising the child''s homework.


    "To put it bluntly, go see my son every day, see if he and she are living well," the middle-aged man said with tears in his eyes.


    His face was tanned and dry from the ultraviolet rays in Yunnan. His hair was ck and white in patches, he looked exhausted, and there was not a hint of vitality about him.


    For some reason, Lu Chenchen thought of two lines of poetry: There are endless painting skills in the world, but one broken heart cannot be painted.


    She became a hourly worker at his house, and kept working there for half a year, until the man finished his construction project in Yunnan and returned to Wuhan.


    From then on, Lu Chenchen understood that those who can turn their faces in an instant, with both gentle and violent sides, are sick.


    Mrs. Mao is also sick. As far as Lu Chenchen can see, her illness may not be as severe as that man from Yangcha Lake.


    Of course, no matter how thoroughly Lu Chenchen sees through Mrs. Mao, at that time, she could only follow Mrs. Mao into Little Ming''s room and watch her wake up the child and say she was taking her to the emergency room.


    Although Lu Chenchen felt it was making a fuss over nothing, she did not have the qualifications or dare to stop it. Just in case, it''s better to be safe than sorry. If something really happened, how could she, a little nanny, afford topensate like Mrs. Mao threatened?


    Also, if she sang a different tune from Mrs. Mao, would it stimte her illness? Would she get violent when ill? She doesn''t seem that ill, so she probably wouldn''t hit the child. But what if she took it out on her with a beating?


    No one could guarantee otherwise.

 Chapter 10: Meet Mama Chung Again

    <h4>Chapter 10</h4>


    It was a turbulent nightst night.


    Mrs. Mao didn''t even eat dinner and took Little Ming to the hospital as soon as she came back. Of course, Little Ming also didn''t get to drink the rice broth with sesame oil that Lu Chenchen had cooked for her.


    The weather was hot and she was also ufortable. After being woken up from themotion, she cried whimperingly. Perhaps it was because they were twins, Second Mao''s feelings for her were deeper than those for Big Mao. He went over wanting to see what was wrong with his sister, but was sternly stopped by Mrs. Mao. The child didn''t understand that the adults were worried about cross infection, he only knew that his mother had shouted at him, and following Little Ming''s cries, Second Mao also burst into tears.


    As a result, Lu Chenchen was scolded by Mrs. Mao. Usually she looked quite shrewd, but at critical moments she waspletely useless.


    Lu Chenchen knew that she had be a scapegoat. In her two years as a nanny, simr things had happened many times, and she was used to it. She took Mrs. Mao''s words as the wind blowing by, silently handed over a bag prepared with a cup, alcohol-free hand sanitizer, wet wipes and dry wipes, and led Second Mao away, quietly asking her mother-inw, "Do you want me to call Mr. Mao?"


    She had an intuition that he would not agree to taking Little Ming to the hospital right now.


    But her mother-inw kept waving her hands in refusal.


    Mao Yuanning came back at around seven o''clock, twirling his car keys as he entered the door, looking to be in a good mood.


    At first he did not notice anything wrong, and greeted everyone with a smile. The others had already eaten dinner, but Lu Chenchen had kept some for him, she just needed to go reheat it in the kitchen.


    By the time she brought out the food, she could still hear him chatting andughing with Second Mao about amusing things that happened at kindergarten.


    His mother-inw was sitting on the sofa watching TV like the Bodhisattva Manjushri.


    In her heart, Lu Chenchen cursed Big Mao and Second Mao for being two silly ones. Their dad had been back for several minutes already, and they still hadn''t remembered to tell him that their sister had gone to the hospital.


    There was no other way, Lu Chenchen had to reluctantly break the news about Mrs. Mao taking Little Ming to see the doctor in what she thought was the most rxed tone.


    Following that, she immediately felt a sudden drop in the air pressure in the living room.


    "When did this happen? Why did no one call me?" Mao Yuanning asked with a frown, though his gaze turned towards his mother.


    His mother waspletely absorbed in the TV drama ying on the oversized screen, where a woman in red was standing at the edge of a cliff talking to a man in ck. It looked like the woman wanted to jump off the cliff to end her life, while the man was trying to persuade her not to. Lu Chenchen had gone to the kitchen to bring out food earlier when the two elders were discussing whether she would jump or not. Now she came back out to the living room and saw that they were still tearfully debating along with the melodious background music whether the woman would jump in the end.


    Lu Chenchen was not into soap operas, but now she really wanted to sit next to her mother-inw and watch with her whether that woman ended up jumping or not.


    But Mao Yuanning''s gaze fell on her, devoid of any warmth.


    Lu Chenchen had no choice but to respectfully answer, "Her temperature seemed normal when I took it... she didn''t have a fever..."


    "If there''s no problem then why go to the hospital?" Mao Yuanning interrupted her words, "I''ve said it before, there are a lot of bacteria and viruses in hospitals, don''t run there at the slightest disturbance. You''ll just catch more viruses and bring them back."


    Lu Chenchen did not make a peep, deep down agreeingpletely.


    "How long has it been?" His voice was low, seemingly without much emotion, but somehow still invoked an inexplicable fear.


    Lu Chenchen nced at the clock on the wall and lowered her head to say, "Around two hours."


    "Two hours!" Mao Yuanning bit out each word before saying it out.


    He took out his phone and started dialing while walking towards his room.


    Looking at the soup keeping warm on the hot te, Lu Chenchen felt rather down. The kids liked salty and vorful dishes, plus the weather today was stuffy and hot, so she had cooked them garlic steamed pork belly and cashew chicken. Afraid it would be too greasy, she boiled white radish and cabbage soup. Cabbage had to be freshly cooked and eaten to taste crisp and refreshing, but she had cooked the greens and by the time Mao Yuanning came back he did not eat. She watched helplessly as the vibrant green leaves withered and changed color under the heatmp of the hot te, feeling genuinely distressed.


    What a sin! Nowadays cabbage cost four to five yuan per jin!


    Not longter, Mao Yuanning came back out, his expression restored to indifference. He asked whose bowl of congee had been served, and Lu Chenchen quickly said it was the rice broth she cooked for Little Ming, who hadn''t gotten to drink it before going to the hospital. Lu Chenchen was nning to let it cool then freeze it to drink herself the next morning.


    Unexpectedly, Mao Yuanning picked up the bowl of congee and finished itpletely along with the garlic pork belly and cashew chicken.


    After Lu Chenchen washed the dishes, she apanied Big Mao and Second Mao to the residentialplex clubhouse to y badminton for a while, until it was time to get them to wash up and sleep. Originally she was also nning to go back to her room to rest, but thinking of Mrs. Mao and Little Ming, she decided to stay in the living room and y on her phone.


    At eleven minutes past eleven, Lu Chenchen was already nearly dozing off on the sofa when Mrs. Mao and Little Ming finally returned.


    Mrs. Mao looked exhausted. When Lu Chenchen asked how the child was, she didn''t answer.


    Hearing the noise, Mao Yuanning came out from his study.


    Mrs. Mao spoke softly to him, saying the line was over two hundred people long at the ER. The nurse said that since the child didn''t have a fever they couldn''t cut in line. She also ignored them and they waited half a day before it was their turn. The doctor didn''t even talk to them for two sentences before having them taken for a blood test, and Little Ming cried and threw a tantrum...and so on.


    Mao Yuanning didn''t say a single word.


    At that moment, Lu Chenchen could feel that he didn''t dare to speak, afraid that if he opened his mouth mes would shoot out at Mrs. Mao and turn her into a mummy.


    After she took over getting the child washed up and into bed, Mrs. Mao also directly went to sleep.


    The next day Little Ming didn''t go to kindergarten, sleeping until almost ten o''clock. She got up full of energy, ate two fried egg pancakes, and took two cartons of yogurt herself, one for her and one for Lili the dog, both eating delightedly.


    Mao Yuanning went to work.


    Mrs. Mao was probably still a little worried, after sending Big Mao to school she came back.


    Lu Chenchen asked Mrs. Mao if there were any medications she needed to feed Little Ming. Mrs. Mao shook her head, telling her to get the child to drink more water and eat easily digestible food, letting her rest well.


    ¡ªwhich was about the same as what Lu Chenchen had said before.


    It was just that this was not somewhere she could wag her tail and gloat "see, I said there was nothing wrong!" What she ought to properly be doing wasundry, cleaning, taking Little Ming around the residentialplex to breathe fresh air.


    Unfortunately, they encountered Mrs. Zhong again.


    Seeing them, Mrs. Zhong bloomed a smile even more radiant than the roses of this season. "Oh, isn''t this Lawyer Mao''s youngest daughter? Not going to kindergarten today?"


    Just as Lu Chenchen was about to reply on Little Ming''s behalf, Mrs. Zhong familiarly pulled her to her side, enthusiastically saying "Does Lawyer Mao have a lot going on at home? Haven''t seen you for many days, I even said toe over sometime to chat with you."


    Thank you so much, please don''te looking for me! Lu Chenchen broke out in cold sweat, not knowing what kind of treasure was in the Mao family home that made Mrs. Zhong lower herself to try and get close with their little nanny.


    "That''s not okay. The home servicespany specially emphasized during training that rtives and friends cannote looking for us at the employer''s home." Lu Chenchen rejected very directly, not leaving any room.


    For things like this, leaving room would be letting herself down.


    Mrs. Zhong let out a couple dryughs before changing the topic, asking if she had kids and how old they were, were they boys or girls. Then she said her husband''s older sister''s grandson was older than Lu Chenchen''s son, and she would gather some hand-me-down clothes and pants to give her son another day...


    Alright, even if Lu Chenchen was just a nanny, she still had dignity and backbone. She certainly would not ept worn clothes from unfamiliar people, and even if they were familiar people she still wouldn''t ept them.


    Those who have done domestic help all know that while a nanny''s status is low, their ie is not meager. Raising a couple kids is still no issue.


    But Lu Chenchen highly doubted that Mrs. Zhong had ulterior motives.


    She wanted to directly ask what she needed. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but ultimately she swallowed them back down again. Curiosity killed the cat! If she took initiative to ask, then help or not help? On what basis could she help? If she couldn''t help wouldn''t that just breed resentment?


    Haha, best for everyone to keep pretending to be muddled.

 Chapter 11: Sea of Music

    <h4>Chapter 11</h4>


    Lu Chenchen sent Le Hai a WeChat message, asking if he wasing back for the May 1 holiday.


    The phone showed the time was 8:34 in the morning. Le Hai had probably just sent Little Le to kindergarten and immediately sent her a message after turning around.


    At that time, she had also just sent Second Mao to kindergarten. The head teacher was talking to her about Little Ming''s situation. Lu Chenchen told the teacher that Little Ming was fine and that his mother just wanted to observe him for a few more days before sending him to school. The teacher repeatedly asked her to tell his mother that it would be best to observe him for a few more days and then send him to school after the May 1 holiday.


    Lu Chenchen understood the kindergarten''s concerns about the flu, viruses, and other parents'' worries.


    It was while chatting with the teacher that she suddenly remembered the uing May 1 holiday.


    Right after that, she saw Le Hai''s message.


    Lu Chenchen didn''t reply to him right away, not because she was conflicted about going back or not, but because she was debating whether or not to ask Mrs. Mao if they needed her to stay for the May 1 holiday.


    Well, it wasn''t that she was being overly responsible, treating her employer''s home as her own, but rather that she would get paid extra for working on holidays. Of course, Lu Chenchen wasn''t greedy and didn''t care about the double or triple pay required byw. She would be fine with just getting her regr wages for the days she didn''t take off.


    Based on Lu Chenchen''s experience, most employers weren''t hurting for money and liked to go on family trips for the holidays. With families like that, she could only go back home, otherwise the cost of living in Wuhan over the holiday would be too high.


    The Mao family had one elderly person and three children. She didn''t know if they nned to stay home or go out for the holiday. If she stayed, they would probably need someone to help out, right?


    While thinking through all this, she headed towards the small district gate to pick up the vegetables Mrs. Mao had ordered yesterday.


    Very unfortunately, she ran into Zhong Rong''s mother again.


    She had almost literally bumped into her every day for the past few days. It was really hard to believe they were chance encounters.


    "What a coincidence! You must know I exercise here, right?" Zhong Rong''s mother squinted and greeted her loudly.


    Lu Chenchen was worried that whatever happened now would produce some sort of cause and effect rtionship with these ambiguous usations about who approached whom. She looked left and right. Although there weren''t many people, some were mothers-inw and aunties, the elite "intelligence team" she had been warned about online.


    "Huh? Don''t you usually exercise over by the outdoor gym near the east gate? What a coincidence seeing you here. Anyway, I have to hurry back to work!" She responded loudly as well, drawing a clear boundary.


    She pretended not to see Zhong Rong''s mother quicken her pace to catch up to her, stepping swiftly forward like rowing a boat.


    She managed to shake her off in the end.


    Geez, can a person not even work in peace?


    Lu Chenchen was not someone who overthought things. She had a stubborn personality that allowed her to focus on one task and do it well. Before doing this type of work, she hadn''t even cooked a meal. But now, her culinary skills could confidently be described as "nothing to sniff at." Little Ming absolutely loved the fish she made with fermented ck beans. Big Mao even secretly brought the potato chips she made to school to share with ssmates. Who knew one of the ssmates wouldter proposition him, "If you agree to bring me more potato chips, I won''t tell on you for having Ultraman cards in your backpack..."


    She could also make cloud-shaped sponge cakes.


    Sinceing to work for the Maos she had also learned to bathe their dog and trim its nails. Nowadays when Li Li saw her, it didn''t dare bark aggressively or even sneeze without thinking for a few seconds first. Because if it dared to growl at Lu Chenchen, as soon as Grandma''s back was turned, Lu Chenchen would give it a big p on the ear. Go on, go tattle! Go call Grandma to fire me! Just bullying me because you can''t talk. What, wanna bite me? She bullied Li Li until it learned to make a wronged face.


    Time flows like water, and Lu Chenchen had steadfastly done her best at each stage of life.


    But life never seemed to be as simple as she imagined.


    After lunch, when all the family members had eaten, she finished cleaning up the kitchen then went back to her room. She sent Le Hai a voice message saying thepany would likely arrange two days of training for the holiday, and also, she herself was going to do research at apany, so she would be very busy and probably wouldn''t get time off for the May 1 holiday.


    Le Hai had poor eyesight, so whenmunicating with him, Lu Chenchen either sent voice messages or called.


    She had just sent the message when her phone buzzed a minuteter with a text from him saying: That''s fine, I was just asking. Take care of yourself and stay safe. Little Le and I are doing well. Pork prices have dropped recently, and vegetables aren''t expensive either. I still have plenty of money in my ount. Not only can I support the two of us, I could even provide for you. Just don''t send any more money back.


    Lu Chenchen was silent. Le Hai had poor vision, so to avoid impacting her "white cor" job, he painstakingly typed out texts, leaving his eyes sore afterward.


    "I''ve told you many times, I''m always chatting with you in my private office. You don''t need to worry. Just use voice messages directly. I...I like hearing your voice. Besides, if it''s not convenient, I can always convert your voice to text," she said gently, a gentleness an employer could never obtain.


    Lu Chenchen had told Le Hai many lies, for example, iming she worked at an investmentpany with a monthly sry over 10,000 yuan. The oil, rice, and fruit she sent back were given by herpany. The snacks too. She even bragged about having three subordinates...


    The only thing she didn''t lie about was that she really liked hearing his voice, especially when he said caring things. His voice was low and slightly hoarse, but full of maism and emotion. Whenever they chatted, she would convert his texts to his voice in her mind, then be moved to tears circling her eyes.


    So she didn''t dare contact him without good reason. She was afraid that no matter what he said, he wouldn''t change his habit of sending texts. She was afraid those texts would turn into his voice echoing in her ears all day, leaving her in a daze and messing up her work.


    He was like a nine-carat diamond ring ced before an unmarried young woman, dizzying her mind and soul, making her want to possess it but not dare believe she could, wanting to show off but afraid of implicating him and losing his status. She obviously couldn''t bear to part with it, yet also felt anxious and worried.

 Chapter 12: May Day Eve

    <h4>Chapter 12</h4>


    The weather was not very good, the wind was strong, and the rain was heavy. But a pleasant surprise came rushing in.


    Not long after lunch, Boss Chen called and asked Lu Chenchen if she was going back home for the May Day holiday. As soon as Lu Chenchen heard his tone, she knew he had a good job to rmend.


    Sure enough, Boss Chen said there was a job taking care of an elderly person over the May Day holiday. The employer was a retired professor from a hospital who lived alone. His old caretaker''s son was getting married over the holiday, so she had to go back, and the new caretaker who was going to fill in suddenly backed out saying she couldn''t do it. The old professor couldn''t be left unattended, so he was willing to pay quadruple wages to find a reliable caretaker to fill in for those five days.


    "...As soon as I heard about it, I thought of you. You have a good temper, and you''re capable. If you go, you definitely won''t embarrass me..." Boss Chen had a very big advantage - for the housekeepers he was satisfied with, he was never stingy with his praise, making the young and olddies bloom like flowers. Faced with his approval, even the most difficult jobs became bearable.


    "Uh huh, go ahead, what''s the catch with this job?" Lu Chenchen cut right to the key point. She didn''t fall for his ttery.


    Boss Chen gave an embarrassedugh, and haltingly said, "It''s said...the old man''s temper is a bit...not so good. Back when he advised graduate students, he scolded someone so badly they nearly had a breakdown. Andter, it was because of this character w that he never got promoted to Dean..."


    Lu Chenchen heaved a big sigh of relief. She wasn''t afraid of being scolded at all. She had once taken a job caring for an olddy who lived alone. Her daughter-inw couldn''t stand the olddy''s fierce temper and moved out with her son, saying she''d rather pay for a housekeeper to bear the brunt of the scoldings than move back. The olddy really did scold everyone she saw - people, dogs, it didn''t matter. She went through a whole string of housekeepers, all of whom couldn''t take her temper and left. Before Lu Chenchen took the job, Boss Chen had said if she also left, the olddy would probably go on the cklist.


    But Lu Chenchen had gritted her teeth and endured for three whole months - the longest of any housekeeper the olddy had hired.


    Because at that time, she desperately needed money. No matter what the job, if there was an opening, she was willing to take it, biting the bullet and weeping through it all.


    Since the professor was willing to pay quadruple wages to find someone to fill in, what did it matter if he scolded her silly?


    Lu Chenchen agreed readily and made an appointment with Boss Chen to have the professor video interview her that evening.


    At the time, they both believed it would just be a formality.


    After that, whenever she had a free moment she calcted figures - how much was quadruple wages for one day, and how much was that for five days? If she did a good job and left a good impression so the professor specifically asked for her in the future when he needed help, wouldn''t that be perfect? Lu Chenchen''s calctions put her in high spirits, and as for whether Mrs. Mao''s family needed a housekeeper over the e, let''s loudly recite in our hearts: a rare muddle-headed moment!


    At 6:30 that evening, Lu Chenchen happily hummed a tune as she rinsed her bowl, softly singing the song "The Lone Hero" that Elder Mao had taught her while wielding a huge cleaver to chop pigeons.


    "You seem very happy today, did you find some money on the road?" Mao Yuanning joked as he came in to pour some water.


    Lu Chenchen giggled in response. This man no longer had his former innocent purity. His thoughts ran deep, and he acted fiercely and decisively. She had fallen into one of his traps before and was still smarting over it. Just seeing him made her want to hide away and not dare say much.


    But Mao Yuanning didn''t leave after pouring his water. Instead he stood interestedly watching her put two pigeons into separate slow cookers.


    "Can''t they both go in one pot?" he asked.


    Lu Chenchen respectfully exined to him that one pot contained angelica and other herbs to make broth for Mrs. Mao and her mother-inw to drink. The other one had yam to make wonton soup for Elder Mao the next morning.


    Mao Yuanning raised a brow and generously praised, "I''ve discovered you''re really not bad. You have patience, and you''re attentive as well."


    There he went again! Lu Chenchen continued with the silly giggles and didn''t respond.


    After he left the kitchen, Lu Chenchen used the back of her rtively clean hand to rub her stiff cheeks and sighed - next time, close the kitchen door before working.


    At 7:30, with everything tidy, Lu Chenchen returned to her own small room.


    She connected the video call with Boss Chen and Professor Qi.


    Both Lu Chenchen and Boss Chen assumed Professor Qi would ask routine questions along the lines of "Where are you from", "How old are you", "Can you make medicinal soups", "How good are you at cooking", etc. But he asked none of that. Instead, he directly took out a pile of medications, showing each one briefly on the screen and having Lu Chenchen read out those tongue-twisting drug names printed on the packaging. Then he told Lu Chenchen which medications he needed to take in the morning, at noon, and evening.


    After that, he looked at Lu Chenchen and had her repeat it back to him.


    @#£¤%&*


    That string of symbols represented Lu Chenchen''s feelings at the time.


    In the small window, Boss Chen stared woodenly, not knowing if he was looking at her or the professor or both of them together.


    Lu Chenchen thought for a bit before honestly saying: "Professor Qi, this is my first time seeing these medication names. You''re suddenly asking me to recite them so precisely - I really can''t manage that yet. But I know you took out five medications, one is taken before breakfast, three are taken after breakfast, lunch and dinner, and one is taken after breakfast and dinner. If you could teach me in person once more, I will definitely remember them."


    "What if I suddenly faint at home, how would you provide emergency care?" Professor Qi asked next.


    Lu Chenchen thought again before continuing to answer honestly: "Call 120 [emergency services]."


    In the small window, Boss Chen covered his mouth.


    "You have no medicalmon sense at all!" Professor Qi bellowed angrily as his brows shot up.


    It seemed she had overestimated her abilities after all. Lu Chenchen felt extremely lucky she hadn''t immediately told Mrs. Mao she wanted time off over the holiday as soon as Boss Chen mentioned a high paying job. Now she could still turn around and ask to stay and earn an extra day''s wages, right?


    "Professor Qi, I''m just a housekeeper, not a home nurse. And as I see it, you look very spirited and energetic - not at all like someone who would suddenly faint, much less someone who needs to take five medications three times a day. At the very least, you definitely won''t need that over these five days of the holiday. Why don''t you make do with me for now until your regr superb housekeeper returns?" Lu Chenchen looked at him earnestly as she made a final effort to win him over.


    Professor Qi directly ended the video call.


    Lu Chenchen curled her lip disdainfully - he was supposed to be a professor but had no grace at all.


    Boss Chen spread his hands helplessly. He probably also knew this wasn''t going to work out, but as usual said he''dmunicate with the professor some more.


    "But how did you know he doesn''t actually take that many medications every day?" Boss Chen asked Lu Chenchen.


    "Didn''t you see how casual he was taking things from the medicine box?" Lu Chenchen impatiently answered. "Besides, medications you take every day wouldn''t be mixed together with so many other drugs like that. Typical trying to test students out of habit - he probably tries to quiz everyone."


    After ending the call, Lu Chenchen turned to see Mao Yuanning standing in the doorway with the door open about a third. Lu Chenchen suddenly remembered earlier when Er Mao [second son] had run in to hide while ying hide and seek. She had coaxed him back out but had forgotten to check that he properly closed the door.


    It looked like the little rascal probably hadn''t shut it for her after all.


    Lu Chenchen felt a little awkward.


    But Mao Yuanning acted as if he hadn''t heard anything. He simply told her to make him a cup of coffee.


    While brewing the coffee, Lu Chenchen considered how much Mao Yuanning had overheard and debated whether she should give him an exnation.


    When she took the finished coffee to Mao Yuanning''s room and was about to withdraw, she didn''t n on exining anything. There was no need for exnations.


    But Mao Yuanning called for her to stop. "You won''t be going home over the holiday, right?"


    "I''m not going back," Lu Chenchen answered, her heart suddenly ecstatic. Was talking to him about staying any different than talking to Mrs. Mao?


    "Elder Mao, aren''t you guys going anywhere for fun over the holiday? If not, can I also take time off?" She shamelessly pushed her luck.


    Mao Yuanning was silent for four or five seconds before softly humming "Mm".


    Lu Chenchen''s heart bloomed happily.


    But then he looked at her and solemnly added: "I''ll think about it."


    Lu Chenchen''s brain reyed what had just happened - his "Mm" was answering her first question. Saying "I''ll think about it" was directed at her second question. In other words, he still hadn''t promised her anything? That break in between was purely to lead her on?


    Mao Yuanning watched as the girl''s expression changed in a sh from delight to looking like Li Li [pet dog] when she spies a can of dog food but only gets one small spoonful. He nearly broke outughing.


    The heartless employer! As Lu Chenchen fumed in her room, she saw Boss Chen''s missed call and his WeChat message saying: "Professor Qi wants you to go to his house by 8am on the 30th and you can leave after old auntiees back on the evening of the 4th. I won''t call to notify you anymore."


    "Wow!"


    The words "quadruple pay" transformed from text into bright red RMB notes swirling over her head like colorful clouds. Without looking in the mirror, Lu Chenchen could feel a smile brighter than red roses blossoming on her face.


    For some reason she couldn''t exin, she knocked eagerly on Mao Yuanning''s door and tried hard to restrain the excitement in her voice as she told him: "Mr. Mao, you don''t need to consider anymore. The domestic helppany has found a job for me during the May Day holidays and they''ve just notified me."


    Instantly Mao Yuanning''s face fell.


    "What''s going on? I already agreed to let you stay for May Day." Dissatisfaction filled his face and voice.


    Puzzled, Lu Chenchen said, "What do you mean? You said you''d think about it. Since I had no solid ns I contacted thepany to find another job..."


    Seeing Mao Yuanning''s face growing darker, Lu Chenchen changed her words: "Alright, I''m uneducated and misunderstood your intent. But I do have five statutory days off for the May Day holidays, and I dide in to workst Sunday per regtions. Can you approve my days off these five days as required?"


    "You want to discuss regtions with me?" Mao Yuanning''s brows lifted.


    Lu Chenchen lowered her eyes and mumbled deferentially, "No no, I wouldn''t dare, I wouldn''t dare."


    Her two years as a domestic helper had taught her that her superiors would never ept exnations, arguments, or rebuttals. The more she tried to resolve things, the more she had to amodate their moods ¡ª once they were happy, her issues would be resolved.


    Sure enough, Mao Yuanning smiled. "Forget it. Seeing you''re so docile, I won''t tease you anymore. Go earn your high pay for a few days, and when you''re back put more effort into your work. See, today''s coffee had a whole packet of sugar."


    Lu Chenchen had just curled her lip over his "docile" evaluation when her legs turned soft at the thought of the extra half-packet of sugar in the coffee.

 Chapter 13: The First Day at Professor Qi’s House

    <h4>Chapter 13</h4>


    Professor Qi lived in Evergreen Garden, Hankou, which was not too far from the Maos'' ce.


    The night before the holiday, Lu Chenchen set the rice porridge cooker to cook overnight. The next morning when she got up, she steamed buns with roast pork filling, steamed buns with fresh meat filling, corn dogs and egg drop soup.


    Mrs. Mao had been having bird''s nest every morning for many years, but now she was tired of it after having it three times a week. However, although the matriarch had taken a liking to regr human food, she was still a matriarch - she liked picking and choosing from a variety of foods.


    Mao Yuanning''s apple breakfast was gradually being reced by fresh corn. Sometimes she would even drink a small bowl of rice porridge.


    Before leaving, Lu Chenchen poured adle of hot oil over Mao Yuanning''s tossed noodles and put half the usual amount of sugar in his coffee.


    When Mao Yuanning came out of his room, he saw her feeding an egg yolk to Li Li and smiled, "If you don''t leave now, I won''t be able to bear to let you go."


    Lu Chenchen ran off at that.


    The metro was very convenient, and with shared bikes as well, it only took Lu Chenchen forty minutes to get from her ce to downstairs of Professor Qi''s home at eight o''clock after setting off at seven.


    His home was on the second floor with an empty first floor. Lu Chenchen waited until seven fifty before ringing the doorbell to his home. No one answered. She waited another two minutes and rang again but still no one answered. After waiting another two minutes, just as she was about to ring again, she saw himing up from the first floor.


    With his hands behind his back and apletely puzzled look on his face, Professor Qi took out his keys and opened the door, ignoring Lu Chenchen as if she was thin air.


    "Good morning, Professor Qi," Lu Chenchen waved at him.


    He looked at her for a long while before asking, "Who are you?"


    Lu Chenchen touched her face. Did she look that different from the video call?


    "It''s me, Lu. We video chatted the day before yesterday. You asked me toe by eight o''clock this morning." Lu Chenchen reminded him.


    Professor Qi didn''t say anything. He opened the door and before Lu Chenchen could even lift her foot to walk in, he closed the door again.


    Lu Chenchen didn''t know whether tough or cry. She didn''t understand what was going on.


    After about ten seconds, Professor Qi opened the door again and said curtly, "Come in."


    Beforeing, Boss Chen had briefed her on the house situation. It was a three bedroom, two living room apartment and Professor Qi lived alone. There were no special requirements on housework or hygiene, it was just that he had spent his whole life researching medicine that he had be a little obsessed. He was also highly dependent in daily life.


    In the past two years, Lu Chenchen had gotten used to listening without prying, such as why Professor Qi lived alone. Whether he had told Boss Chen these things himself or if it was something others said, she wasn''t interested in those stories at all.


    "Have you had breakfast?" Lu Chenchen guessed that someone "highly dependent in daily life" wouldn''t make his own breakfast, so she asked this first.


    "Breakfast?" He muttered to himself and habitually reached to touch his chest where, Lu Chenchen suspected, he was used to having a pen. Finding nothing there, he peered behind the door.


    Lu Chenchen followed his gaze. There was arge vertical rectangr maic ss board behind the door. A few paragraphs were written neatly on it in whiteboard marker. The first paragraph read: April 30th, Little Lu arrives at 8, make an egg pancake with corn flour for breakfast, no green onion, put half a sausage in it.


    The words "Little Lu" were circled in ck marker once, twice, three times.


    Professor Qi turned around and bellowed at her, "I haven''t eaten yet. You make me an egg pancake with corn flour, no green onions, put half a sausage in it."


    Lu Chenchen...she tried asking where the sausages were.


    As expected, Professor Qi was stumped. After thinking hard for a while, he said uncertainly, "See if there are any in the fridge."


    Boss Chen was a very dedicated boss. Although he couldn''t organize training or learning for the domestic helpers because of work, he often sent them some knowledge rted to domestic services - taking care of babies, caring for patients, and even self-protectionmon sense.


    Lu Chenchen remembered that he had sent a link about dementia in the elderly, which seemed to be called something like Alzheimer''s. The symptoms were very simr to Professor Qi''s situation - lucid at times but might even forget who he was when the sickness hit.


    "Why are you still standing there staring? If I see patients like you do, at your pace I wouldn''t get through ten a day. Don''t do anything else." He scowled at her, looking exactly like he did during the video call the other day.


    Professor Qi...are you back to normal?


    She didn''t dare ask out loud, only dared to huff and puff angrily at the wok. Damn Boss Chen, when she had asked if there were any issues with this job, he had actually fobbed her off saying it was "just a bad temper". This flipping between confusion and lucidity wasn''t an issue, it was a big issue!


    She should have asked if there were any big issues!


    They''re bullying her for being too honest, aren''t they? Even that Mao person said she was honest and fun to tease. Let them have their fun, let them have their fun...


    Lu Chenchen angrily stirred the batter, angrily cooked the pancakes, and angrily asked Professor Qi, "No green onions, but do you want sesame seeds?"


    After warming a ss of milk for him, Lu Chenchen angrily ced the pancake - sprinkled with ck sesame seeds, smeared with a bit of sweet bean paste, and more like a scallion pancake - in front of Professor Qi. Like when Li Li ate the food she fed her for the first time, he first lowered his head to sniff at it before heartily tucking in.


    In a bad mood, Lu Chenchen went to look at the other words on the luxurious instruction board.


    There were two more paragraphs.


    The second paragraph read: Go for a walk outside twice every day, Little Lu must apany.


    The words "Little Lu" were circled in ck marker once, twice, three times.


    The third paragraph: Go to bed at 9:30 at night, Little Lu must turn on the corridor light before going to bed.


    The words "Little Lu" were circled in ck marker once, twice, three times.


    Who was so thoughtful of her? Professor Qi?


    The smooth writing on the ss whiteboard demonstrated great skill with the pen. The structure of the characters was even, the style fluid. The individual characters had form and connected together in a coordinated and unrestrained way. It was obviously written by someone skilled in both regr and cursive scripts.


    Could Professor Qi, a veteran doctor used to scribbling prescriptions, write such neat and beautiful characters?


    Lu Chenchen looked at Professor Qi. He was eating seriously, face calm, hands steady, eyes unblinking, taking bite after bite in a cultured and refined manner.


    Alright, he was unconventional.


    While Professor Qi was eating breakfast, Lu Chenchen familiarized herself with the rooms and household items. It was a standard three bedroom, two living room apartment. The small living room near the master bedroom had been converted into a maid''s quarters. The previous domestic helper was quite good - she had removed and reced all the bedding before leaving, and left a new set on the bed which warmed Lu Chenchen''s heart. She made a mental note to do the same when her time here ended.


    Professor Qi had a lot of books, mainly medical texts. He had two studies, one of which was clearly a converted bedroom filled with nothing but books.


    There were also many books on the cerebrovascr system and nerves.


    Some were even English editions.


    Seeing this made Lu Chenchen''s heart skip a beat.


    At noon, she steamed a bass fish for Professor Qi and cooked a small bowl of vegetable soup. Shell peas were cheap at 5 yuan for 2 jin with pods, so she bought some back, removed the pods and skins. When Professor Qi saw, he scolded her for being extravagant. Lu Chenchen said, you can eat the pods, let me eat the skins, okay? He shut up after that. When cooking, Lu Chenchen first boiled the pods till soft before stir-frying them in oil. After tasting it at the table, Professor Qi noisily wolfed down most of it with his old man teeth and told her to make it like this again for him tomorrow.


    Professor Qi chewed slowly and carefully. His appetite was pretty good. Worried that he couldn''t see clearly, Lu Chenchen used the public chopsticks to remove the fish meat and ce it in the broth so he could easily eat it. She removed one piece, he ate one piece, and after finishing the belly portion, he mercifully said she could have the rest.


    Seeing how much he enjoyed the meal, Lu Chenchen pretended to chat and asked which department he worked at before retirement.


    "Neurology," he answered curtly.


    "Neurology? That''s a wide field, which aspect were you specialized in? Cerebrovascr? Or spinal nerves? Or some other area? Oh, epilepsy, Parkinson''s, and what was it, they are all neurology right?"


    "Thwack!" He mmed down his chopsticks, giving her a huge fright.


    Seeing his now darkened expression, Lu Chenchen was puzzled. What happened? Did she annoy him by chattering too much? Had she talked a lot?


    Professor Qi gave a cold snort. "I''m done eating, I want to go for a walk."


    With that said, he got up and walked out the door.


    What had she done wrong? She had served him diligently all morning and even attended to him during the meal, yet her fawning had been for naught?


    Professor Qi mmed the door shut with a loud "bang", making the ss whiteboard vibrate and give out a "buzz".


    ss whiteboard? Lu Chenchen looked at the words above, recalling Professor Qi''s vague reference to some Ash Sea syndrome, cough! That also belongs to the category of neurological disorders, doesn''t it? Professor Qi can heal others but not himself, who knows how tormented he must feel inside, and she had to go and foolishly pour oil on the fire. He''d be lucky not to explode into a rage.


    Idiot! Lu Chenchen pped herself on the forehead and grabbed the umbre by the shoe cab to chase after him. With this rain, she''d be in deep trouble if she let him get drenched on the way back.

 Chapter 14: Seriously serve Professor Qi

    <h4>Chapter 14</h4>


    Lu Chenchen had a cold. It was probably rted to the big weather changes over the past couple days, changing beds and quilts. But Lu Chenchen felt the biggest reason was that, in the two and a half days sinceing to Professor Qi''s house, her entire body and mind had gone through a disaster,pletely uprooted.


    Lu Chenchen used her phone to search Professor Qi''s name, and a long list of rted information popped up, various titles like medical PhD, professor, doctoral supervisor, etc. that won''t all be listed. Things likemittees, directors, published papers also won''t be borated on. Let''s just talk about his outstanding areas: cerebrovascr disease and optic neuritis.


    Optic neuritis.


    Seeing these extremely familiar words, her vision blurred just like when the doctor talked about how this disease damages vision. Big teardrops fell on her phone. She went to wipe them but identally closed the page showing now. Lu Chenchen was terrified, as if she would go blind if it disappeared. She carefully pulled out a tissue and gingerly wiped her phone dry, opened the page again.


    Lu Chenchen hugged her phone spacing out for a long time, until daylight shone through the curtains and gave the room a faint glow.


    From that time on, Professor Qi became an ancestor-like figure.


    Lu Chenchen never mentioned ¡°nerves¡± or anything rted to ¡°nerves¡± in front of him again. She focused all her attention on understanding his routine, tastes, preferences, racking her brains on how to make him rely on her, unable to leave her.


    Usually Lu Chenchen gets up around 6-6:30am, already pretty good for a nanny. But this morning around 5am, she heard slight noises in the living room and immediately got dressed and went out. Sure enough, Professor Qi was already up, drinking water.


    Lu Chenchen said the water in the cup was boiledst night, unsure if it was still warm. He responded normally that it was still hot water, and even asked if his noises woke Lu Chenchen up.


    ¡°Of course not, I can never sleep past this time anyway.¡± Lu Chenchen gritted her teeth, gently smiling.


    The weather report said it would be 26 degrees today, but morning and night would surely still be cool. After Professor Qi finished drinking, Lu Chenchen took back the cup and prepared long sleeves and a coat for him, telling him to go change himself. Boss Chen said his self-care abilities werecking, great! Lu Chenchen liked waiting on him.


    Breakfast was the oil sshed noodles Professor Qi specifically asked forst night. Of course, Lu Chenchen secretly gave her specialty food an extra push. Her little wontons and red bean buns were also well-liked by her employer, but for Mao Yuanning¡¯s tastes recently, she put in quite some work on the oil sshed noodles, making a bowl with shining oil and aromatic spiciness that could rival authentic Shaanxi vors.


    Naturally, when she asked Professor Qi what he wanted for breakfast, he said, ¡°Then try that oil sshed noodles you keep self-promoting.¡±


    Today Lu Chenchen made it with exceptional care! For other employers, including Mao Yuanning¡¯s oil sshed noodles, the meat sauce was made using a meat grinder, slightly uneven sizes. For Professor Qi¡¯s, Lu Chenchen finely chopped the meat by hand on a cutting board, uniform pieces. Along with the authentic Yibin shoots Lu Chenchen brought, it was the peak meat sauce for oil sshed noodles, iparable.


    With a ¡°chi¡± sound, in went the hot oil, aroma overflowing. Lu Chenchen was nearly certain this was the most fragrant bowl of oil sshed noodles she¡¯d ever made.


    ¡°No one told you this eating method is extremely unhealthy?¡± Professor Qi ruthlessly said from the kitchen doorway. Finding one sentence inadequate to support his theory, he walked into the kitchen, pointed at the colorfully aromatic noodles and told Lu Chenchen: ¡°First, glutamate turns into heterocyclic amines at high temperatures, heterocyclic amines are carcinogens, you didn¡¯t know? Second, what¡¯s in the oil? Glyceride, free saturated fatty acids, things that make you fat and decrease brain function. Adults only need 200 mg of cooking oil per day to meet needs. How many mg in that spoonful? If I eat that spoonful could I eat other stir fried dishes today? And, and,¡± he got more and more enthusiastic, even using chopsticks to poke at the seasoning on the noodles, ¡°What¡¯s this? ck gunk, you dare serve this to me to eat?¡±


    My mistake, my mistake! Lu Chenchen hugged the bowl to herself, smiling apologetically: ¡°Professor Qi, why don¡¯t I eat this bowl, you can tell me what you want, I¡¯ll make it fresh.¡±


    Professor Qi thought for a bit, took out a small bowl from the cupboard, looked at the noodle bowl, smacked his lips at her.


    Understood, understood, totally understood! Lu Chenchen mixed the seasoning, obediently put a small pinch of noodles in the small bowl for him, handing it over saying: ¡°Too little right? Or should I cook more for you...¡±


    He brushed away Lu Chenchen¡¯s hand and the small noodle bowl she held, picking up the big bowl, resignedly saying: ¡°Cook me a small bowl of vegetable soup again, not one drop of oil allowed this time.¡±


    ...This old guy sure knows how to joke around!


    Near noon, Lu Chenchen started feeling a bit off. Actually there were small early signs before like nasal congestion that she ignored, thinking drinking more hot water could power through it. Who knew the mucus got worse, fatigue and dizziness set in, she really wanted to sleep.


    With Lu Chenchen¡¯s limited medical knowledge, this all fits cold symptoms.


    Lu Chenchen didn¡¯t dare make a peep, using an excuse to go out shopping for medicine.


    Yes, Lu Chenchen knew there was no real need to take cold medicine. Drink water, drink water, drink water, at most a week and she¡¯d get better. With her awesome health, probably just 4-5 days.


    But Lu Chenchen needed the cold medicine to alleviate or conceal the symptoms.


    Professor Qi was a doctor. Lu Chenchen worried if he knew she had a cold he¡¯d sweep her out like shooing a virus. To present Lu Chenchen, decreasing or even eliminating that quadruple pay didn¡¯t matter. She just wanted his good impression over the holiday, leaving a deep memory. To crudely put it, Lu Chenchen even desperately wished to rece his old nanny, bing Professor Qi¡¯s live-in.


    When Lu Chenchen pictured recing bedding after his old nanny finished her son¡¯s wedding and didn¡¯t return to Wuhan, scenes shed through her mind. Lu Chenchen felt ashamed, but more intense than shame was determination. Of all the employers Lu Chenchen had in 2 years, Professor Qi was the only doctor she met, a neurologist at that. She had to grab this chance.


    He was very important to Lu Chenchen, to Le Hai.


    Lu Chenchen had gone with Le Hai to every big hospital in the city seeking help, met with cold gazes. Including the famous specialist number she got him for 99 yuan, what they got was stiff textbook process: inquiring?testing?medicating?follow-ups.


    Although helpless, Chinesemon folk are kind. As one herself, Lu Chenchen understood doctors. China had too many people, too many patientsing to hospitals. Doctors had to see everyone in limited time, naturally no extra time or energy for nobodies like her and Le Hai.


    Perhaps those professor doctors also knew, for patient X, XX, XXX in the clinic flow, their health was the whole world for that family. But they were helpless, had no way to inject care beyond textbooks into others¡¯ worlds.


    As tiny grains in the sea, Lu Chenchen desperately sought that human warmth unique to China. If doctor professors gave a bit more consideration, care in prescribing, it would mean so much more to patients and families. That was why she viewed Professor Qi as a lifesaver, trying every means to get him.


    So could she let him know she had a cold? Over halfway through the 5 days and she hadn¡¯t seen him get sick again, but even in normal state he probably barely knew or cared what Lu Chenchen¡¯s name was, let alone wish for her to stay.


    Lu Chenchen still needed to strive, frantically work hard the remaining 2 and a half days. How could she let a cold mess up her ns at this critical time?

 Chapter 15: Professor Keyes, Do you have a dog

    <h4>Chapter 15</h4>


    Waking up very early in the morning, Lu Chenchen saw that the curtains were still pitch ck outside, and realized it was still too early. She was toozy to get out of bed, yet unable to fall back asleep, so she stared nkly at the ghastly white ceiling, her mind as turbulent as the sea, waves swelling and breaking.


    Ever since Le Hai had sent her an inquiry message before the holiday, there had been no further word from him until today. Lu Chenchen did not want to pay him any heed either. If she had not run into Professor Qi, the neurology specialist, by a fluke, she would not even have wanted to mention him.


    Le Hai believed that time and space could gradually make one forget.


    Lu Chenchen wanted to prove to him that time and space would only make longing umte, like the hairs bundled together on a writing brush, packed densely enough to yield immortal words with their vigorous strokes.


    Around 5 am, Lu Chenchen heard faint rustling sounds outside her door. She got dressed and out of bed.


    Sure enough, Professor Qi was pacing around the living room, his gaze wandering everywhere.


    Over thest couple of days, Lu Chenchen noticed that Professor Qi liked to drink some lightly salted water when he got up early in the morning. Last night before bed, Lu Chenchen had changed the water in his thermal sk to freshly boiled water with some added salt, and left it for the next morning, so he would have a warm salted water ready.


    She walked over holding the water and gently asked, ¡°Professor Qi, good morning. What are you looking for?¡±


    He seemed startled, and red at Lu Chenchen to retort loudly, ¡°Who are you? Why are you in my home? Qiao Min... Yes, Qiao Min. Where¡¯s Qiao Min?¡±


    Alright, so the old man had forgotten about Lu Chenchen again?


    Who was this Qiao Min, or Little Min? As far as Lu Chenchen knew, Professor Qi lived alone, except for a caregiver. Could Qiao Min be that caregiver¡¯s name?


    Seeing Professor Qi anxiously searching everywhere for this woman who was most likely his caregiver, a feeling of dejection welled up within Lu Chenchen. Even with his advanced dementia, he could still remember his caregiver¡¯s name, so their bond must run deep! How could Lu Chenchen ever hope to rece a caregiver who had looked after him for so many years and was probably like family?


    Yet now was not the time for Lu Chenchen to retreat. She had nowhere to retreat to.


    Pretending to sniffle as if she had a cold, Lu Chenchen answered his earlier questions. ¡°I¡¯m Little Lu, you see,¡± she pointed at the whiteboard behind his front door, ¡°Little Lu, see that? I¡¯m Lu Chenchen, your caregiver. Here, let¡¯s have some salted water first, I know you like to drink it when you get up.¡±


    He did walk closer to inspect the whiteboard, and stopped scolding Lu Chenchen. But he kept mumbling, ¡°Then where¡¯s Qiao Min? Where did Qiao Min go?¡±


    See, Lu Chenchen was right! It must be his caregiver.


    But could it have been Qiao Min Auntie who wrote on the whiteboard? Do modern caregivers have such elegant handwriting?


    Having just felt threatened by Auntie Qiao Min¡¯s charm, Lu Chenchen was now wounded by her graceful calligraphy.


    Wah wah wah! Qiao Min Auntie, you¡¯re truly the gold standard for caregivers. Lu Chenchen gives you ny-nine likes! Just one request - next time you write my name, could you please not circle it once, twice, thrice to highlight it? We could try a different color, or make it bold, or underline it twice to achieve the same effect. Circling it around like that makes me want to fling a dart at your circles whenever I pass by!


    Ooh, how Lu Chenchen wanted to aim a dart right at one of her circles!


    Then Lu Chenchen remembered when she had first arrived, she ran into Professor Qiing back from outside. He was also looking around bewilderedly, as if searching for Qiao Min even back then, but had forgotten her name due to his illness.


    Acidic water of jealousy seemed to bubble up from Lu Chenchen¡¯s heart with "glug glug" sounds.


    She had been a caregiver for so long, yet never had an employer who missed her day and night like Professor Qi did for Qiao Min!


    "Professor Qi, didn''t you say yesterday you like eating small cannoli? Take a look at the ones I made, are they the size you wanted?" Lu Chenchen changed the topic on purpose to distract him. "I can make really good mini cannoli! They may not look as appetizing as the ones sold outside, but I could brush on some oil to make them shiny and sulent - that would improve both taste and appearance.¡±


    As expected, Professor Qi took her bait and scowled, grinding his teeth, ¡°Are you surname Pig? How can you brush oil on cannoli? Let me tell you what''s in oil - glycerol trioleate, free saturated fatty acids...¡±


    His yelling grew louder in the stillness of dawn, exceptionally jarring in the quiet neighborhood. Lu Chenchen felt bad for Professor Qi''s neighbors.


    Evergreen Garden could no longer be considered a smallmunity ("xiaoqu" in Chinese). It would be more urate to call it arge or even giganticmunity. Matching its scale was a equally gigantic central park.


    After breakfast, Lu Chenchen apanied Professor Qi on a walk around the central park. His mind had cleared and he told Lu Chenchen to rest on a bench while he wanted some peace and quiet.


    Crouching behind an artificial hill, Lu Chenchen watched him sit motionless on a wooden bench. The sun slowly climbed upwards, and more people trickled into the park - childrenughing and chasing dogs, elderly walking their dogs at a sedate pace. Professor Qi''s gaze would follow them briefly before returning to stare ahead nkly.


    A sh of inspiration hit Lu Chenchen, and an idea started bouncing around eagerly in her mind. Using the intensifying heat as an excuse, she urged Professor Qi to return home.


    Without a word, he silently stood up.


    On the way back, Lu Chenchen steered the conversation towards her intention, ¡°Professor Qi, have you ever considered getting a dog? Dogs are very smart - they can guard the house and providepanionship. They''re so lovable!¡± I¡¯ve helped several employers care for their dogs, bathing them, trimming their nails, applying flea medication... I can do it all. Dogs adore me!¡±


    When she mentioned this, the image of Li Li floated up in Lu Chenchen''s mind, and she shuddered in self-disgust over her generous praises just now.


    Professor Qi remained silent. From Lu Chenchen¡¯s understanding over the past couple days, whenever he opposed her suggestions, he would surely yell at her in his booming voice, spraying spittle everywhere.


    No response meant there was hope?


    Lu Chenchen was thrilled inside. After touting Li Li, she went on to sing her own praises, ¡°I¡¯ve helped many employers care for their dogs, bathing them, trimming their nails, applying flea medication... I can do it all. Dogs love me to pieces! If you really want to get one, leave all the caretaking to me. You just focus on ying with it.¡±


    Lost in thought, Professor Qi missed the embellishments in Lu Chenchen¡¯s words, let alone unravel them.


    ¡°...I would like to, but...¡±


    His voice was already soft, so Lu Chenchen had to stoop closer to hear him with effort. Right when he uttered ¡°but¡±, she nearly toppled over in surprise!


    Cursing internally,e on, just spit it out!


    Yet outwardly she dared not reveal anything, and apanied him to walk another hundred meters or so before he finally continued after that ¡°but¡±. Left with no choice, Lu Chenchen feigned innocence, ¡°If you want to get one, just get one! At most you''d need to apply for a dog license.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the issue.¡± He seemed rather annoyed.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no problem!¡± Lu Chenchen eximed in surprise.


    He just snorted in response, his voice growing fainter again.


    Straining to listen, Lu Chenchen vaguely made out the word ¡°allergy¡±.


    "You''re allergic to pets?" Lu Chenchen''s high hopes instantly crashed to the ground, shattered to smithereens. Well, there was nothing more to say then...


    "It''s not that I''m allergic." Professor Qi mumbled awkwardly, seemingly embarrassed to continue.


    Fireworks exploded in Lu Chenchen''s heart, colorful and dazzling. So it wasn''t Professor Qi with the allergy, yet his expression showed he truly did want a dog.


    Did this present an opportunity for her? If she used wanting a dog as an excuse, could she rece the allergic caretaker and stay on as Professor Qi''s caregiver?


    Ever since Lu Chenchen found out Professor Qi specialized in neurology, getting to stay with him and eventually obtain his professional guidance to help restart Le Hai''s health and hopeful life became the sole thought upying her mind day and night.


    In the process, Lu Chenchen intentionally neglected how she would have to abandon the Mao family, disregarded how she would hurt the other caregiver. She knew she was being extremely selfish, but having Le Hai regain health had to take utmost priority.


    If her decision came with any punishment, she would bear it withoutint or regret.


    Yet beyond Lu Chenchen¡¯s expectations, just as she racked her brains ceaselessly to solve this intractable problem, the magical moment the puzzle unexpectedly unraveled also happened to coincide with an involuntary loud sneeze escaping her.


    An exceptionally loud and ridiculous sneeze. So loud that even with a face mask on, she still attracted a bunch of looks in the bustling park.


    Especially Professor Qi, who asked her in an frighteningly cold voice: "Are you catching a cold?"

 Chapter 16: Professor Keok’s babysitter is back.

    <h4>Chapter 16</h4>


    Lu Chenchen was strongly urging Professor Qi to get a dog.


    In order to help him raise a dog, Lu Chenchen took several nanny chat groups out of the "folded away, do not disturb" settingsst night and changed them back to normal. Then, she kept asking around to see whose family had a dog, or where she could adopt or purchase a dog. To encourage everyone to help her find a dog, Lu Chenchen also distributed a total of 30 RMB in red envelopes across the three groups.


    Even Boss Chen, who was also in these groups, was taken aback. In the middle of the night he asked her, "Why are you so urgently looking for a dog? Who wants to raise a dog?"


    Lu Chenchen honestly told him that she wanted to find a dog to keep Professor Qipany.


    Of course, she could not speak of the reasons behind it.


    Boss Chen had a somewhat bewildered expression. "You''re about to beid off and go back to the Mao family tomorrow. What dog are you getting for him? Will his auntie like it? If she doesn''t, won''t she bite you to death when you get back?"


    Lu Chenchen took the opportunity to ask if he knew anything about the situation with Professor Qi''s live-in auntie.


    "I don''t know," Boss Chen answered briskly and quickly.


    "Then where did you get the information about this job?" Lu Chenchen asked.


    "From President Mao!"


    These few words carried a lot of information. Lu Chenchen was stunned for a long time holding her phone, recalling that Mao Yuanning called his mother-inw "Aunt QI (seven)," and Lu Chenchen had always thought it was either QI for paint, or seven for her birth order. She had never associated it with Professor Qi before.


    As it turns out, Mao Yuanning had been calling her "Aunt QI" all along.


    With Boss Chen''s words, Lu Chenchen was able to connect many dots. With Boss Chen''s slick words, she had thought it was because she was capable and had good interpersonal skills that he gave her this job. In fact, it was highly likely that Mao Yuanning had specifically requested that Lu Chenchen fill in. Furthermore, the words on the ss whiteboard were not written by the auntie, but by Mao Yuanning. At home, he also called Lu Chenchen "Little Lu," so he directly carried that over to Professor Qi''s ce. It was also probably because of his stamp of approval that Professor Qi epted Lu Chenchen without question, simply hearing that she was "Little Lu."


    Professor Qi and Mao Yuanning''s mother-inw were definitely rted, most likely siblings or inws. In other words, Mao Yuanning was Professor Qi''s grandnephew...


    Ahhh!


    Lu Chenchen let out a long groan. Her brain hurt from all this analysis, plus she was already feeling a bit dizzy from her cold. She wanted to just sleep through this until the sun came up.


    But how could she force herself to fall asleep?


    In a daze, shey there until almost dawn when she heard rustling sounds in the living room. Toozy to get up, she slid open her phone to check WeChat.


    Indeed, two of her nanny friends had replied. One said that back in her hometown, there were two month old puppies in the vige, and she could bring one to Wuhan today if Lu Chenchen wanted. The other said she saw someone in her employer''s homeowner WeChat group asking if anyone wanted to adopt a golden retriever, and offered to help Lu Chenchen inquire about it.


    Lu Chenchen gave a wry smile, thanking them both, and apologizing that her employer no longer needed a dog.


    Even if she managed to get a dog and butter up Professor Qi, not to mention that he would not give up Aunt Qiao Min for her, even at the Mao family''s side, Mao Yuanning probably would not allow a situation where his own nanny jumped ship.


    After finding out about the rtionship between Mao Yuanning and Professor Qi, Lu Chenchen thought through this matter again from the beginning. It was simple once everything was out in the open - Professor Qi needed a nanny for the May 1st holidays, so President Mao thought that arranging a familiar person was better than grabbing a stranger. Thus, Lu Chenchen was dispatched.


    That was all there was to it.


    The only person who overthought things was Lu Chenchen. First wanting to rece Aunt Qiao Min, then wanting to abandon Mrs. Mao, even going everywhere to find a prop dog...


    The only person who was not forthright in all this was Mao Yuanning. He arranged Lu Chenchen over without any notice through Boss Chen, and still acted innocent at home, joking with her and leading her to rack her brains about how to get to Professor Qi''s ce, making various calctions. In the end, she waspletely toyed with like a monkey...


    Fortunately, at the critical juncture, she encountered the lucky star Boss Chen, who allowed her to learn the truth of the matter and silently hit the brakes while she still could.


    Lu Chenchen had to adjust her goal.


    Lu Chenchen had to adjust her goal, taking a roundabout approach to achieve her purpose.


    The way never mattered, nor were there only single paths. As long as she had the goal, as long as she achieved the goal, it would be victory.


    Lu Chenchen continued motivating herself like self-hypnosis, all the way until past 4pm when Aunt Qiao Min returned.


    She was a very nanny-like nanny, in her fifties, darkerplexioned, carrying a ratherrge backpack on her back. In her hand she held a 6L stic oil jug filled with eggs. She was drenched in sweat.


    As soon as Professor Qi saw her, his eyes immediately lit up with a radiance that Lu Chenchen was seeing for the first time in the five days she had been there.


    Lu Chenchen felt that even if she hadn''t known about the rtionship between Mao Yuanning and Professor Qi, in this moment, upon seeing how unabashedly Professor Qi dived into Aunt Qiao Min''s backpack like a child, she would have understood that Professor Qi would never give up Qiao Min for a dog and choose her instead.


    Qiao Min''s smile was very gentle.


    People who have been nannies for a long time all smile like that. Lu Chenchen felt a tinge of sour grapes to notpliment her.


    She took the eggs out of the stic jug and put them in the fridge, murmuring that they were specially brought back for Professor Qi, free-range eggs that nourished the brain. She allowed Professor Qi to pile the dried potato shreds, tapioca flour noodles, glutinous rice cakes, and honey from herrge backpack all over the table. Then, she good-naturedly went up and tidied up one item at a time. Throughout this process, Professor Qi bustled around her, smacking his lips and saying he wanted to eat this and eat that.


    Qiao Min''s response was always "okay."


    Lu Chenchen recalled Professor Qi''s disdain when faced with the oil-sttered noodles. Although she had conquered his taste buds with the vor,pared to the heartfelt joy now... *sigh*! Lu Chenchen''s heart ached.


    Qiao Min was very diligent. As soon as she returned, she took over Lu Chenchen''s work, tying on an apron to start cooking, and sincerely telling Lu Chenchen to stay for a meal before leaving.


    "No need," said Lu Chenchen, forcing a smile.


    Overall, Lu Chenchen was still quite savvy and knew when to restrain her emotions, not easily showing her joy or anger openly. Perhaps it had been too long since shest tasted that swelling fighting spirit, only to end up having to tuck her tail between her legs. Lu Chenchen could not muster the grace to congratte Qiao Min, who had done nothing yet still emerged victorious.


    When leaving, as if casually, Lu Chenchen gestured towards the words on the ss whiteboard and asked Qiao Min, "Such beautiful handwriting, have you practiced it?"


    Qiao Min smiled. "I can''t write nearly that nicely."


    The circled "Little Lu" also seemed to be grinning.


    Lu Chenchen rode a shared bike, transferred to the subway, then rode another shared bike back to the Mao residence.


    Standing at their door, she felt as if waking from a dream, returned back to where she started.

 Chapter 17: Untitled

    <h4>Chapter 17</h4>


    How to resolve resentment? Only through diligence.


    When Lu Chenchen returned to the Maos'' house, she learned that Mrs. Mao was very unhappy with Lu Chenchen''s "arbitrary decision" to rest on the May 1st holiday, even though she had been represented by Mao Yuanning. With that one "allowed" word, plus Lu Chenchen''s previous childish behavior of being blinded by money between her and Mao Yuanning, as soon as Lu Chenchen walked in the door, Mrs. Mao gave her a cold look of "I don''t like you anymore".


    Fortunately, the children seemed very happy to see Lu Chenchen.


    Big Mao rushed over. Lu Chenchen thought he was going to give her a big hug, but the first thing he said was, "I want egg custard! Now, immediately, right away!"


    Following his cue, Second Mao and Little Ming also started shouting. Second Mao said he also wanted some, and Little Ming, swinging her ponytail that was almosting apart, said in a soft voice, "Potato crackers, potato crackers, potato crackers."


    Compared to Mrs. Mao''s expression, which seemed to say that she would ask Lu Chenchen to settle the bill and leave at any moment, Lu Chenchen was truly grateful to the little masters for saving her.


    Not only to repay the three children, but also to guard against Mrs. Mao firing her, Lu Chenchen put down her bag and went into the kitchen to make the snacks the children wanted, soak bird''s nests for Granny Mao and Mrs. Mao, and, despite thete hour, cleaned all the public areas again.


    Early the next morning, after preparing breakfast for everyone, while Mrs. Mao was still there, Lu Chenchen took out all the door mats from each room and spread them out in the yard, setting up a stand to wash them after taking Second Mao and Little Ming to kindergarten.


    That rascal Mao Yuanning deliberately smiled and amiably asked her what was the big deal with such arge setup so early in the morning. Fortunately, Lu Chenchen was prepared and pointed to the barely-risen sun with an honest, guileless look, saying, "Washing early means they''ll be dry and can be taken in by the afternoon. Also, people won''t get harmed by the sun."


    He clicked his tongue appreciatively and praised Lu Chenchen for being capable, saying that if she kept this up she would certainly have unlimited prospects in the future.


    Lu Chenchen giggled foolishly and let out some ttery, saying her prospects all depended on their family - if they did well and had great sess, with a nanny for each person, she could then rely on her seniority to be the housekeeper.


    Mao Yuanningughed heartily, leaving in very good spirits in his "bright ck" car.


    When Mrs. Mao took Big Mao to school, although she still didn''t give Lu Chenchen a kind look, at least she didn''t say anything about letting Lu Chenchen go.


    In the evening Lu Chenchen made a te of sour soup fish without Sichuan peppercorns. She had learned to make this dish when working for an employer from Guizhou - it was supposed to have Sichuan peppercorns to be authentic, butst time when Mrs. Mao frowned slightly after drinking the soup, Lu Chenchen figured that all the other seasonings were stillmon, except the Sichuan peppercorns, so this time she left them out. Sure enough, after drinking a spoonful, Mrs. Maodled half a bowl for herself and also picked out some pickled bamboo shoots to eat.


    This morning, after the usual polite yet aloof greeting to Lu Chenchen, the anxiety that had gripped Lu Chenchen''s heart for a day and two nights finally settled back to its original ce.


    She was so happy to have cleverly made it through this hurdle.


    Only now could she think about what to do next.


    Professor Qi, this gem of a neurologist, was someone Lu Chenchen would never give up on no matter what.


    But Lu Chenchen couldn''t, and had no way to, continue approaching him.


    Granny Mao?


    Lu Chenchen felt that Granny Mao''s attitude towards her, which had always been indifferent, neither warm nor cold, neither resentful nor kind, was actually aplete ignoring of her existence.


    Who would help someone they considered as invisible? What good would it do to help invisible air?


    Mrs. Mao even more so needn''t be mentioned. If Lu Chenchen asked her for help, she would most likely first scold Lu Chenchen for being a silly nanny who "kept working until she truly became part of the family", and then settle the bill and directly tell her to hit the road. Besides, who was she? Given Professor Qi''s memory, she was probably just a passerby.


    It seemed to Lu Chenchen that the only person who couldpletely gain Professor Qi''s trust, speak on her behalf in front of him, and also, hold a certain approval of Lu Chenchen without malice, was Mao Yuanning.


    Going through him to move Professor Qi to lend a helping hand was probably the only feasible method right now.


    Before this, Lu Chenchen had to move him first.


    Lu Chenchen had to first move a member of the upper ss who had been forged by society into a titan of steel? Oh no, he wasn''t just a titan of society, he was also full of slyness, holding slyness towards his wife and the woman who raised him.


    Hmm, and very quirky.


    As thebels stuck on one by one, Lu Chenchen''s confidence trickled away bit by bit.


    Oh well, she couldn''t keep analyzing. The more rational thought, the less determination. A flock of wild geese flew over her head; she either had to keep aiming, or let loose an arrow.


    Lu Chenchen chose to loose an arrow.


    She would continue making this mind map.


    As a nanny with an urate understanding of herself, Lu Chenchen believed there were only two ways to move someone of the upper ss like Mao Yuanning.


    One was to appeal to his sympathy. She could tell him everything about her and Le Hai''s situation, moving him to lend a helping hand.


    But this method also had a problem - Lu Chenchen wasn''t sure if this story could move Mao Yuanning. He... okay, he wasn''t who he used to be anymore. The current him was a famouswyer who had emerged victorious from manywsuits. He had probably even heard stories involving loss of life, let alone Lu Chenchen''s situation which didn''t have any casualties. After being immersed for many years in cases where he extracted benefits from stories, if he heard Lu Chenchen''s story, would he analyze it one two three four, and then, with the word "stop loss" represent the extent of his goodwill?


    The second tactic was... The second tactic was to give, give, and give some more - to be his most loyal and dedicated nanny, only focusing on giving without seeking anything in return. When all of her giving umted to a height that Lu Chenchen was unwilling to be repaid for, perhaps he would have no choice but to satisfy a wish of hers that wasn''t difficult for him to grant. This was the "willingness to give" principle that Lu Chenchen''s kind were used to hearing - with giving, there was gaining. It was also called the "scale" principle.


    Many people had probably heard of this before, it was just that people willing to give first and gainter were truly few.


    Lu Chenchen just so happened to be one of the willing.


    She hadn''t seen how kind Mao Yuanning''s character was, but at least he wasn''t malicious or heartless. There was clearly some estrangement between him and Granny Mao, and he also wasn''t very intimate with his wife, but he was obviously providing for the two women who lived luxuriously but had no source of ie. For someone like him, perhaps he wouldn''t listen to Lu Chenchen''s story, but when Lu Chenchen wholeheartedly worked for him to a certain degree, he should give equivalent rpense.


    The branches and leaves of Lu Chenchen''s mental map were just about full enough. Connecting back to the main trunk, her finger heavily dotted once - done!


    There was a very ssic line in *No Asking East or West*: "Ask only for freedom, ask only for blossoming, ask only for passion, ask only for original aspirations, ask only for courage. No asking east or west."


    She had made up her mind - she would do it this way, exerting all her effort to save herself and Le Hai from desperation. If she failed...


    It would be just as Le Hai said - calmly sitting down, watching the swirling clouds, letting the affairs of the worlde and go naturally.

 Chapter 18: Information About Divorce

    <h4>Chapter 18</h4>


    "Five One" after the first Saturday, because of the holiday moved to rest on May Day, still going to work to go to work, to go to school to go to school.


    Mrs. Mao arranged for Lu Chenchen to go to the hardware store to buy a few small iron shovels and small iron hammers. She said she would take the children of several ssmates she was close with in Da Mao''s ss to dig for fossils next Sunday.


    She seemed to hesitate a little, but finally asked Mao Yuanning, who was eating breakfast, hesitantly whether he would go or not.


    Mao Yuanning pondered for a moment and said he had an appointment with a client Sunday morning and didn''t know if he could make it back by noon.


    "Just don''t consider me for now." He tapped the table with his fingers and then seemed to think of something. He asked Mrs. Mao, "If I can''t make it, were you nning to take Aunt Qi to watch the three kids?"


    Mrs. Mao made a sound of affirmation and then said with some emotion, "Isn''t it me and Mom taking care of the three kids every weekend?!"


    Yeah, Lu Chenchen saw it too. Almost every weekend it was Mrs. Mao and her mother-inw taking the kids to y basketball, ride horses, or hang out at the mall to eat, drink and have fun, while Mao Yuanning was busy, whether it was real or fake, and rarely joined them.


    Mao Yuanning didn''t reply. He told her to send him the location link.


    After receiving it, Lu Chenchen saw his fingers constantly sliding on the phone, and his eyebrows started to squeeze together little by little.


    "That''s Funiu Mountain area? Look, it counts as the boondocks, with dump trucks, gravel, it¡¯s a quarry, right? No, no, with just you taking the elderly and three young kids, it¡¯s too unsafe." Mao Yuanning shook his head.


    Mrs. Mao said, "I already promised the other parents."


    Mao Yuanning''s sharp gaze stabbed Mrs. Mao''s face. She pursed her lips, turned her head, her face ugly.


    Lu Chenchen was about toe over to clear up the bowls and chopsticks. She didn''t dare to get close now.


    After about a minute, Mao Yuanning said in a calm tone, "How about this, take little Lu with you to help watch the kids, and I''ll try my best to rush over."


    Mrs. Mao didn''t respond to him.


    Her mother-inw, who was originally going to go upstairs after the meal, stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking at Mrs. Mao withplicated eyes.


    - Lu Chenchen sometimes felt that although Mother-inw raised Mao Yuanning with her own hands, Mrs. Mao''s rtionship with Mother-inw seemed even closer.


    But Lu Chenchen had nothing to do with those things. She just did as they told her. Thinking that since it was digging for fossils, they would need cotton work gloves, right?


    Lu Chenchen asked Mrs. Mao.


    She nodded, "Yes, get some."


    "Waterproof slip-on shoe covers too?" Lu Chenchen asked again.


    Maybe because she still had some irritation stuck in her chest, Mrs. Mao was annoyed. "Can you ask everything at once?"


    Mother-inw looked at Mrs. Mao with more concern in her eyes.


    "Get them too," Mao Yuanning took over Lu Chenchen''s question in a much gentler tone, meaning tofort Lu Chenchen for her.


    Lu Chenchen didn''t mind Mrs. Mao''s attitude. She was just so curious about the entanglement between this mother-inw and daughter-inw!


    The hardware store was a little closer to the south gate of the neighborhood, but Lu Chenchen chose to take the front gate and circle around.


    On that road, as expected, she ran into Zhong Rong''s mom.


    Gossip wasn''t Lu Chenchen''s personality, but it was Lu Chenchen''s tool. As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." How could her actionsck information as a reference?


    Zhong Rong''s mom was clearly a high-quality information source.


    Lu Chenchen took the initiative to greet her.


    Maybe because Lu Chenchen had rejected her too bluntly thest two times, she responded to Lu Chenchen with little interest, just nodding at her and continuing to chat with another auntie.


    Lu Chenchen asked as if she had just spotted a lifebuoy whether she knew where to buy small iron shovels?


    Zhong''s mom''s face livened up a little. She asked back, "What are you buying shovels for?"


    Lu Chenchen shook her head. "Mr. Mao didn''t say. I saw him wandering around the yard a lot, so I guess he wants to nt flowers."


    It was a season that was chasing after spring in the summer, but couldn''t quite catch up, so it needed a break.


    In human words, although it had started to warm up, there would still be asional cool days suitable for nting flowers and grass.


    So Zhong Rong''s mom believed Lu Chenchen''s ambiguous words.


    The reason she didn''t mention Mother-inw or Mrs. Mao was that Lu Chenchen suspected Zhong Rong''s mom was interested in Mao Yuanning from the start.


    Sure enough, Zhong Rong''s mom''s face became more lively. She ended her chat with the auntie in a few sentences, and said to Lu Chenchen, "There are no hardware stores around here. You have to go to the south gate... Oh well, I have nothing to do now anyway, so let me take you there."


    Lu Chenchen declined politely again and again, weakly expressing that she could actually find it herself.


    Zhong Rong''s mom didn''t respond to Lu Chenchen''s words, but asked Lu Chenchen warily how she didn''t know where the hardware store was.


    "Actually, I''ve only been here a little over a month. The boss of the domestic servicepany told me not to wander around too much, so I rarely go out, at most just to pick up vegetables."


    What Lu Chenchen said was all true.


    "And told you not to chatter with the neighbors too much, right?" Zhong Rong''s mom asked with a smile.


    Lu Chenchen said in surprise, "How did you know?"


    Boss Chen''s ears must have been cursed hot.


    It was good to talk it out. Zhong Rong''s mom also clearly had things rted to Mao Yuanning on her mind. She asked Lu Chenchen again in detail about her background, confirmed her innocence, and her face rxed with relief.


    As the conversation deepened, the emotional progression advanced novel-style, first with Zhong Rong''s mom saying Lu Chenchen resembled her daughter, then pitying Lu Chenchen for struggling alone in a foreign ce, then telling Lu Chenchen to rely on her as a mother from now on, and so on.


    Lu Chenchen bought two small iron shovels and turned back to the neighborhood with her.


    "Little Lu!" Zhong Rong''s mom''s hand stroked Lu Chenchen''s handback, scorching like a freshly fried pancake on a hot day.


    Lu Chenchen''s heart rxed. Great, finally getting to the main point. But that handback was too hot, so Lu Chenchen could only press her other hand on top of it, calling out awkwardly, "Zhong Rong''s mom!"


    Her hand slowly pretended to naturally withdraw back.


    But her words didn''t stop.


    "You see, you''re even younger than my daughter, and your son is already six... You rural folks, hm, really smart, having kids early, enjoying blessings early. Do it a few more years and your son will be able to take you back home to support you in your old age. My girl, although she looks good, has good education, good job, what''s the use, what''s the use? Still no boyfriend at her age, will only get harder to find someer, it''s worrying me to death."


    What? Zhong Rong''s mom, weren''t we talking about me and Mr. Mao? How did we get to your daughter? Lu Chenchenined inwardly, considering whether to steer the topic back or discuss it another time. Worried that Zhong Rong''s mom would get suspicious, Lu Chenchen didn''t dare buy the stic shoe covers and cotton gloves in front of her. She''d have to make another trip, which would dy time and be hard to exin to Mother-inw.


    "Tell me, have those two been discussing divorce?" She leaned her head next to Lu Chenchen''s and mysteriously lowered her voice to whisper in Lu Chenchen''s ear.


    Lu Chenchen was truly stunned nk in that instant by Zhong Rong''s mom''s bombshell question. Her tongue got tangled up trying to speak. "Wha...what di...divorce..."


    Lu Chenchen was just expecting some trivial gossip about Mao Yuanning, she never imagined digging up such a shocking scoop.


    Seeing every bit of Lu Chenchen''s reaction full of confusion, Zhong Rong''s mom said, "You don''t know after being in their home so long?"


    Lu Chenchen really didn''t know!


    In a sh, Lu Chenchen realized and retorted with some emotion, "Zhong Rong''s mom, you''re kidding me right?"


    Zhong Rong''s mom jumped up indignantly. She didn''t even nibble her ears anymore, but raised her voice, yelling, "I''m kidding you? How could I joke about something real? Back then his wife made a scene at the bank, almost causing my daughter to lose her job. They agreed to divorce, I heard it from her own mouth, but then after it all blew over they called it off again..."


    Lu Chenchen wasn''t startled by her words, but her loud voice did startle her. She desperately fanned Zhong Rong''s mom, coaxing her, "Okay, okay, you didn''t trick me. Don''t get angry, don''t get angry, speak slowly. What can I do to help you?"


    Only then did Zhong Rong''s mom''s voice quiet down. She looked around, still huffing at Lu Chenchen angrily.


    Lu Chenchen soothed her for a good while. Seeing Mother-inw woulde looking for her if she didn''t get back soon, she could only promise to add her on WeChat and set another time to chat.


    When she got back, Mother-inw was indeed puzzled, asking Lu Chenchen why she took so long.


    Lu Chenchen was telling Zhong Rong''s mom the truth about their conversation. As soon as the mother-inw heard this, she looked up sharply at Lu Chenchen and asked, "What did you say to her?"


    Lu Chenchen thought for a moment and answered, "First, she asked me again how old my son was. I said he was six years old. She said I was luckier than her daughter, that I was younger than her daughter, already married, and had a son. In a few more years, I would be able to enjoy the blessings of having a son. I told her that people from small towns marry early, unlike big city people who have more vision and pursue careers. We live a hard life, while you bnce career in one hand and family in the other, excelling at everything..."


    Before Lu Chenchen could finish recounting all the details, her mother-inw lowered her eyes and waved her hand to signal that Lu Chenchen could leave.


    Lu Chenchen lowered her eyes and turned around to exit.


    Behind her, the mother-inw sighed softly, as if also lightly breathing a sigh of relief.

 Chapter 19: Digging for Fossils

    <h4>Chapter 19</h4>


    Unknowingly, Lu Chenchen had been working as a nanny at the Mao family for over a month. To be honest, she felt that this family was quite easy to get along with. Of course, people with good manners are always easier to get along with. Moreover...the image of Mao Yuanning often floated in Lu Chenchen''s mind. Hehe, life is unpredictable. Who would have thought that one day she would end up working as a nanny in his home.


    The eating habits of the Mao family were quite interesting.


    No need to mention the kids. You make whatever varieties you can whip up, especially Big Mao who now eats breakfast at home. He''s be very picky, eating the same kind of food twice in a row and he would immediately point it out to Lu Chenchen, demanding improvements: "I don''t want to eat this again this week. I want scallion pancakes stuffed with sausage, pan-fried buns, and dumplings dipped in vinegar...",pletely unlike his nonchnce when Lu Chenchen first arrived when he would eat sandwiches and bread every meal.


    Mrs. Mao and her mother-inw were more reserved. They needed Lu Chenchen to take the initiative to vary the dishes. asionally when they were not satisfied, they would hint to Lu Chenchen with their expressions. Of course, as they got to know each other better, Lu Chenchen rarely gave them opportunities to remind her.


    As always, Mao Yuanning liked to eat dan dan noodles. Even though Lu Chenchen made all kinds of varieties like buns, wontons, and egg pancakes, whenever he saw there were no dan dan noodles, he would eat whatever was made but remind Lu Chenchen to make dan dan noodles tomorrow.


    Before the May 1st holiday, following his orders, Lu Chenchen would make a bowl of dan dan noodles every morning without fail. Aftering back from Professor Ji''s home, Lu Chenchen experimented with substituting the ground pork with pea sprouts, and the wide noodles with thin noodles. He didn''t object and finished the bowls clean every time. Lu Chenchen understood that the young master only liked the dan dan noodle dish, and refinements to the details didn''t matter at all, in fact he quite enjoyed them.


    How interesting! Is his personality as stubborn as his taste? Lu Chenchen was a little curious.


    This morning, as usual, he finished a bowl of noodles. Perhaps because he was not rushed for time, when he saw Lu Chenchen about to carry a box of purified water to Mrs. Mao''s car, he very gentlemanly took over for her.


    "Buying so much?" he asked.


    Lu Chenchen followed behind hugging severalrge boxes of cupcakes, pepper and salt crackers, potato crisps she had madest night. She hesitated for a moment, then quietly asked for confirmation, "I heard you say yesterday that the location is in a remote wilderness, right?"


    "Yes." He nodded, then suddenly realized and added, "No wonder you''re carrying so much stuff over."


    Next, he looked Lu Chenchen up and down, then tilted his head to nce at Mrs. Mao and the children who had alsoe out.


    Mrs. Mao was wearing antern sleeve waist-hugging blouse paired with British-style id pants, a sun protection jacket draped over her shoulders, big sunsses, a wide-brimmed sun hat held in her hand. Her chestnut red hair was tied in a ponytail, swaying left and right as she walked, fully disying her elegance and charm.


    One had to admit she was very good at dressing herself up.


    Even Lu Chenchen, a woman, was convinced by her alluring deportment, but Mao Yuanning only nced at her feet and said, "You''re wearing those to go out to the countryside?"


    Mrs. Mao had on a pair of gold high heels.


    "I have ts in the car," Mrs. Mao said in a calm tone.


    In Lu Chenchen''s mind floated what Madame Zhong had said about Mrs. Mao going to the bank to beat up her husband''s mistress. It was truly hard to believe that she, who had always been so courteous with Mao Yuanning, could do something like that. Mrs. Mao had style and looks. Usually she did not monitor Mao Yuanning or stick to him 24/7 like other wealthy madams. What kind of insatiable appetite must this man have to risk losing a woman like her to fool around?


    And to divorce? Was it Mao Yuanning or Mrs. Mao?


    Looking at it from every angle, neither seemed to be so irrational considering they had three kids and huge assets.


    Just as she was letting her thoughts run wild, she did not pay attention to the conversation between Mao Yuanning and Mrs. Mao. Only when both their gazes swept up and down Lu Chenchen several times did she realize they seemed to be talking about her.


    What''s wrong with me? Is there something off with my outfit? Long sleeved T-shirt, jeans, sneakers, nothing out of the ordinary. One could even say it was so average that if thrown into a crowd, she couldn''t be picked out.


    Seeing Lu Chenchen''s confused expression, Mrs. Mao smiled lightly, a rare mood to exin: "It''s nothing. He''s praising you for being smart and capable, able to attend to us on our outing, preparing everything thoroughly inside and out. Alright, I''m just here for photos, you don''t need to mind me. Go! Change Little Ming''s clothes."


    Thest sentence was directed at Lu Chenchen, ordered with no regard for her feelings.


    Mao Yuanning''s expression turned extremely ugly in an instant.


    Although Lu Chenchen had already decided to fully support Mao Yuanning, it did not mean she could offend Mrs. Mao at this time. Joking around, she was the kind of person who could tear off her facade and pounce over to scratch the mistress with her bare hands.


    Lu Chenchen quickly dumped the few big boxes into the trunk, turned around to pull Little Ming back into the house. Last night Lu Chenchen had prepared T-shirts, casual pants and sneakers for the kids. Mrs. Mao had agreed to the outfits for the boy, but possibly because Little Ming was a girl and she wanted the girl to look elegant, Mrs. Mao had changed her into a pink sweater dress with a skirt and matching princess shoes.


    Now, having drawn Mao Yuanning''s criticism, she had to change Little Ming back.


    And she had also provoked Mrs. Mao.


    Truly an unforeseen disaster.


    Lu Chenchen sighed internally while efficiently changing Little Ming''s clothes. The little girl had grown up and liked being dolled up. She didn''t want Lu Chenchen to take off her little skirt dress and had to be coaxed for a long time before it was done.


    Bringing her back out, Mao Yuanning was no longer there. Mrs. Mao had her arms crossed, talking to her mother-inw. Her expression had softened somewhat but she was still ignoring Lu Chenchen.


    They drove for over an hour before arriving at the destination. Mao Yuanning''s homework was not wrong, it really was a quarry in the middle of nowhere with sparse trilobite and crinoid fossils. Being the weekend, many parents had brought their kids to painstakingly chisel away to learn about fossils.


    Since they arrived rtivelyte, Big Mao''s ssmates'' parents had already set up canopies, small tables and chairs, kicking off the standard spring outing mode. One family had even brought a full barbecue set. Inparison, Mrs. Mao really was just here for photos. The sun protection hats, clothes and creams she prepared for the kids wereplete, but outdoor activity gear...


    One had to shamelessly say, fortunately Lu Chenchen brought a ton of pastries, all homemade and no additives.


    It made one parent exim that she would also find a nanny when she got home.


    Mao Yuanning arrived around 12:30. He brought two huge packs of snacks for the kids, about the size of 50 kg rice bags, carrying one in each hand as he walked over from afar.


    Lu Chenchen only heard Big Mao''s female ssmate shriek "Pig feed! Pig feed!"


    Then, several kids threw down their tools and rocks, and rushed over as if having seen their daddy. The parents hurriedly called for them to wash their hands. Therge and small snacks were torn open and piled on the pic mats, small mountains that the kids dove into to find what they liked to eat. Cheers, chomping sounds drew over envious kids from around them. Mao Yuanning generously handed out snacks to everyone, so even more kids ran over.


    The scene boiled over like a poting to a roll.


    But the male lead took off his jacket, put on gloves, and went with Big Mao and Second Mao to dig for fossils, following the experienced parents.


    Lu Chenchen heard the parent from before ttering Mrs. Mao, saying she was fortunate to have a wealthy and easygoing husband, with perfect children - the model example of a life winner.


    The "life winner" sat legs crossed on a folding recliner under the canopy, face bearing a dignified yet subtle smile, humbly saying that actually Mao Yuanning was also very busy usually, so it was rare for him to have time to apany the kids. Naturally when he could, he had to do his best to be perfect.


    Lu Chenchen looked towards Mao Yuanning. He hadn''t used any sun protection, squatting on the rocky ground, learning from the experienced parents next to him while seriously chipping away at the big rocks. Big Mao and Second Mao were fine, focused on researching beside him, while Little Ming was here to y. She would snuggle into Mao Yuanning''s arms one moment, climb on his back the next, and Mao Yuanning didn''t mind at all.


    A 360 degree, no blind spots, perfect dad.


    They yed until the sky darkened and cool air started seeping out before packing up to go home under Mrs. Mao''s urging.


    After cleaning up, Mao Yuanning had Lu Chenchen ride in his car. Only then did Mrs. Mao suddenly realize - on the way here, with six people in her five-seater car, they had technically exceeded capacity. Fortunately they had good luck and weren''t caught by the police.


    "Why didn''t you remind me?" Mrs. Mao said, seeming rather shaken.


    Mao Yuanning shrugged, "Even if I said so, no one would stay away."


    It was true that not even Lu Chenchen could be excluded. Ever since Mrs. Mao arrived, she had been chatting with several other parents. They only had to bring one child each, so of course someone could stay back to chat with her. Poor Lu Chenchen had been running around on six legs with her mother-inw before Mao Yuanning came. Mrs. Mao got along better with Big Mao, while Lu Chenchen was driven crazy by two kindergarten buddies who had no interest in archaeology and only liked to y with cats and dogs. That area of the mountain had lots of rocks and no management, with vehicles parked every which way, plus stray dogs. If not for Mao Yuanning''s foresight in having Lu Chenchene along, either Mrs. Mao or the children would have suffered.


    With Lu Chenchen there, she was the one to suffer any loss.


    Mao Yuanning liked driving with the windows up and air conditioning on. He said there was too much dust and noise outside. Lu Chenchen could do nothing about it. Sitting in the back seat, she strained to stay alert and watch the scenery outside. The air conditioning temperature was set veryfortably. Lu Chenchen only felt the view getting more and more blurry, more and more blurry...


    She slept until they reached home, only waking up when Mao Yuanning called her. For the first time in her life, Lu Chenchen felt utterly ashamed.

 Chapter 20: Mr. Le was Punished.

    <h4>Chapter 20</h4>


    A very ordinary day.


    Zhong Rong''s mother sent WeChat messages to Lu Chenchen two days in a row. One time she said they were making dumplings at her house and asked her toe eat. Lu Chenchen declined, saying she couldn''t leave her post without permission. Yesterday she said the bank had given her daughter lots of small gifts and she wanted to send some to Lu Chenchen. Lu Chenchen thanked her but said it was inconvenient to keep things in her employer''s home, and suggested she give them to someone else.


    At the time, the information Lu Chenchen got from Zhong Rong''s mother was substantial and explosive. But afterwards, Lu Chenchen thought that given her status, no matter what happened she could only be a bystander eating melon seeds. She couldn''t get involved with the various characters in this scandal. It was a pity that Zhong Rong was one of the main characters in this affair, which meant Lu Chenchen could no longer interact with Zhong Rong''s mother.


    Their little boat of friendship capsized before even leaving the harbor. What a shame.


    In in terms, Lu Chenchen hadn''t gotten much information before losing this channel. Too upsetting!


    Today was uneventful. After eating lunch with Mother-in-Law, Mother-in-Law went upstairs for a nap. Lu Chenchen washed the dishes, then started steaming glutinous rice to make some steamed buns for breakfast tomorrow.


    Back in her room, she saw a missed call on her phone from Le''s Mother.


    Lu Chenchen hurriedly called back.


    The other end was picked up quickly. The old woman sounded rather panicked. "Are you busy? I''m in no rush."


    Lu Chenchen softened her voice and slowly said, "I''m not busy, I didn''t hear the phone before because I was in the bathroom."


    She heard a sigh of relief from the other end of the phone. Not wanting to rm her by asking directly, Lu Chenchen just asked about the weather there, andined that the weather here was so unpredictable she had almost caught a cold.


    As soon as the old woman heard this, her condition escted to Lu Chenchen already having a cold. She advised Lu Chenchen not to overwork herself, to drink plenty of warm boiled water, and pay attention to keeping warm, h h h.


    Lu Chenchen patiently listened to her rambling before finally asking, "Did you want something from me?"


    She hesitated for a moment, her voice dropping lower. "Actually it''s nothing much, just wanted to chat. Le... Le has been tutoring some kids in English, and the progress of one of them has been unsatisfactory. The parents... reported him."


    Lu Chenchen''s heart lurched. Were they still going to give him a way to survive?


    "Did this just happen? What''s the situation now?" Anger was bubbling up in Lu Chenchen, but she dared not let her voice betray any emotion, since the old woman was timid to begin with. She didn''t want to startle her from afar and then scare her even moreter.


    "......Last month. They pestered him until now. Considering his illness, they said they''ll go easy on him and just make him refund all the money." The old woman mumbled.


    This had happenedst month? Yet when they were in touch around the Spring Festival he hadn''t said a word about it! He had worked so hard to earn some tutoring fees, but now the money had to be returned. And yet in WeChat he had told Lu Chenchen that he had money, enough money to support her...


    In essence, Lu Chenchen was quite hot-tempered, she was just forced to be docile because of her job as a nanny.


    That was because the employer paid her. Le Hai, you didn''t pay me anything.


    Calling him with murderous rage, she said, "I heard that Sun Yang''s mother reported you?"


    He chuckled. "To be honest, I really deserved it. Before the tutoring, the kid could get 60 points on the English exam. After the tutoring, guess how much he got on the April mock exam?"


    Lu Chenchen stared straight at the snow white wall, face stiff, voice cold. "Did you sign a score improvement agreement?"


    On the other end, Le Hai made exaggerated tsk tsk sounds of admiration. "Are you going to take the bar exam? Asking so professionally, you''ve got me stumped."


    Lu Chenchen said lightly, "Mr. Le, deflecting like that doesn''t work on me."


    Heughed again.


    Lu Chenchen didn''t speak, biting her lip to maintain her solemn indignation.


    He had no choice but to get serious again, sighing. "Actually about this thing, I was in the wrong too. The country has dered over and over that extra tutoring and cram schools are prohibited..."


    "You deserve to be caught, to be punished. But her reporting you was uneptable," Lu Chenchen interrupted impatiently. "Let''s not beat around the bush. Give me her information."


    Le Haiughed again. He coughed twice to stifle hisugh, then pretended to be serious. "What do you n to do to get back at her for me? Tell me, let me learn a thing or two."


    What could Lu Chenchen do?


    With Lu Chenchen''s true unrefined and uncouth personality, she would take the crude approach of an eye for an eye. She would call the woman and curse her out. She would dox the woman and her husband''s workce and home address. She would report the woman''s despicable and immoral character to their employers, neighborhoodmittee, and local authorities. She would start online discussions on the rights and wrongs of the woman''s actions, only changing the surname in the woman''s name to "XX", but exposing all the other information... Lu Chenchen wanted to learn from hos - even if stinging would kill her too, she would still buzz furiously first to drive the woman crazy, then sting her till she was utterly devastated and regretful.


    Of course, Lu Chenchen had received some education in Wuhan, the city that Chairman Mao described as "a thread piercing through China, sinking deeply north and south", and had been influenced by its grand atmosphere and outlook. So Lu Chenchen could also ept the "gentleman''s revenge" of slowly gathering more private and detailed information about her target, then striking her down mercilessly like a horsefly.


    "From the end of the Spring Festival till now, I didn''t give the kids more than a few lessons. With around 1,000 yuan per student in fees, the oversight department didn''t make too much trouble, just asked me to refund the money to the parents. Of the few parents, only this one took the money back, the rest refused and even scolded her for being shameless right to her face. Most people in this society are good. As our elders said, ''good deeds have good returns''. So," Le Hai spoke slowly, his voice gentle and soothing. He paused here, as if recalling something wonderful, andughed. "I''ll be a good person and get good returns. You''re a good person too, so you''ve made your own ce now. We don''t need to regress for the sake of the few who refuse to live better lives. Right?"


    His voice was like a gently flowing clear spring deep in the summer mountains, slowly washing over Lu Chenchen''s body that had been scorched by the raging sun, gradually calming her down and restoring her reason.


    He was right, it would be so worthless to waste time and energy on people who refused to live better lives.


    But rather than being persuaded by his wise words, Lu Chenchen was more convinced by his character.


    That was why Lu Chenchen liked him. He had a charm that could move people and make them aspire to nobility and beauty.


    But...


    Le Hai, you''re not an immortal after all.


    Remembering what Le''s Mother said about him not touching any of the money she had given him over the past two years, Lu Chenchen''s mouth felt as bitter as if she had chewed on a piece of Chinese goldthread. She could vent her anger and curses freely when he was reported, but with him not taking money, who could she yell at? How could she yell? Would yelling make him take it? If she said any more, would he draw a line with her?


    Her intestines were tied up in ten thousand knots, leaving her depressed and sad, yet she couldn''t unload all this to him in whispered words for him to gently resolve. She could only pretend to have been cheered up by his constion, then say as if in passing: "Oh right, for May 1st ourpany gave out rice and cooking oil. Some of my single colleagues don''t cook, so they gave all their stuff to me..."


    Before he could admonish her, Lu Chenchen quickly headed him off. "Don''t worry, I''ll find a chance to repay these favors from my colleagues. I''ve already epted the things, so I''ll look for a courier in the next couple days to send them back to you guys. Oh, Children''s Day ising up on June 1st too. I got clothes, shoes, everything for Little Le. Kids need summer clothes too. You men are careless about these things, just leave it to me. I''ll send them all back in one trip. Oh, and stuff for you and mom too..."


    No response from the phone. Lu Chenchen said suspiciously, "Hello? Are you listening?"


    "Almost fell asleep listening. " Le Hai saidnguidly. "Thank you, just make sure to pay enough for delivery to our house. I definitely won''t go pick them up myself, you''d probably work me to death."


    Lu Chenchen giggled.


    How could she not love this man, bending and straightening as he pleased, finding scenery in everything, his words always wrapping her in spring winds and tender feelings!


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