Chapter 144 - 141: Looking for a Nanny
The next day, Li Xiu left Zhou Lian at home to play with Nuonuo and went to Wang Dongfang’s small courtyard house. As expected, all three of his friends were there. Without wasting time on pleasantries, Li Xiu got straight to the point, asking them to help him find a reliable nanny and carefully laying out all his requirements.
After a moment of thought, Liu Qiang said, "I actually know someone who would be perfect. She meets all the requirements, but... well, how do I put this? People say she’s jinxed. I was just worried you might mind that sort of thing."
"Tell me more. I don’t really believe in things like being jinxed," Li Xiu said, his interest piqued.
"She’s an older woman from my neighborhood compound who’s had a really tough life. Her parents died when she was five or six, so she lived with her grandma. When she was a teenager, her grandma passed away too, so she went to live with her younger uncle’s family. After she got married, she couldn’t have children. Her husband was good to her, but after a few years, he died in an accident at the factory. The factory was supposed to provide compensation and a job placement, but her in-laws took the money and the job and kicked her out. Now she lives in the small room her grandmother left her, working as a temp at a neighborhood-run factory."
Seeing that Li Xiu wasn’t upset, Liu Qiang continued, "Everyone around her says she’s a jinx, that she brings misfortune to all her kin. A few years ago, when things were stricter, no one dared say it to her face, but they all avoided her. So she was always alone. When I was a mischievous kid, I got scolded and beaten by my parents all the time, and I’d always go hide at her place. She went to junior high but had to drop out after her grandmother died. She’s a very neat and capable person. When I came back and heard what had happened to her, I asked if she wanted help getting the compensation money back from her in-laws. She said no. She said her husband had been good to her, and she would consider the money her way of fulfilling his filial duty to his parents."
Li Xiu thought for a moment and asked, "Can I meet her first?"
Liu Qiang leaped to his feet. "You got it! Wait here, I’ll go get her right now. Won’t be long!"
Watching his retreating figure, Li Xiu was momentarily dumbfounded. ’What is going on here?’
"Don’t mind him," Wang Dongfang said quietly to Li Xiu, noticing his confused expression. "We all know this woman. When Liu Qiang first came back, he fought a lot with his family. His parents are harsh and would just kick him out whenever they argued. At first, he was too proud to come to us for help. It was always this sister who would pull him into her home, give him a hot meal, and then bring him here to us. She was worried he’d do something reckless in his hot-headed youth."
Wei Guo added with a look of admiration, "I always wondered why she took care of Qiangzi like that, since they aren’t related at all. She said that after all these years, Qiangzi is the only one who still treats her like family. She couldn’t just stand by and watch her only ’family’ suffer. She said she doesn’t have much ability to help him, but as long as she has food to eat, she’ll never let Qiangzi go hungry."
"A rare and loyal soul."
"Right?" Wang Dongfang said, a bit embarrassed. "To be honest, we’ve relied on her help a lot this past year. We would’ve gone hungry plenty of times without her." He knew Li Xiu was a man of good character, and his wife, a college student, wasn’t the type to make things difficult. He figured that if Sister Zhang worked for the couple, she would be spared from a lot of the nasty gossip.
"Alright. I trust your judgment. I’ll wait to meet her before deciding," Li Xiu said, smiling at the two of them. ’If she’s someone you both hold in such high regard, her character must be solid,’ he thought. ’Even if she isn’t suited to be a nanny, I’m short-staffed right now. I could find something else for her to do. After all, good character is far more important than ability.’
Before long, a panting Liu Qiang returned with a woman who looked to be around forty. She wasn’t particularly beautiful, but she had a gentle and dignified presence that was pleasant to be around.
"Sister, this is the man I told you about, the one who’s helping us out," Liu Qiang said, pulling her to a seat across from Li Xiu.
"Thank you for taking care of Qiangzi and the others. They’re good kids, they’ve just had some rough luck in life. Thank you so much for giving them a hand," Zhang Fang said to Li Xiu, her face full of gratitude.
"It’s nothing. They’re like my own brothers. Qiangzi told you about the situation, right?" Li Xiu said casually.
"Told me what?" Zhang Fang asked, looking at them in confusion. Just moments ago, Liu Qiang had pulled her right out of the factory, saying only that something had come up. He hadn’t mentioned anything else!
Hearing this, Wang Dongfang smacked Liu Qiang hard. ’That knucklehead!’ He pushed Liu Qiang aside, sat down next to Zhang Fang, and said with a cheeky grin, "Sister, our boss here is looking for someone to help at home and watch his kid. His wife’s in college, and he’s about to start a business with us, so who’s going to look after his little girl? She’s just over a year old! The moment he mentioned it, we thought of you. You’re the perfect fit!"
Li Xiu shot his unreliable friends a glare, then turned to Zhang Fang with a smile. "Here’s the situation. My wife is in college, and we have a little daughter who’s just over a year old. We’re looking for a reliable person to watch the baby, do some housekeeping, and cook for my wife and daughter when I’m not home. The most important thing is that you’re conscientious and don’t have any ulterior motives. My wife is very easy to get along with and doesn’t have any demanding habits. If you think it’s a good fit, we can do a one-week trial. If it works out, the pay is twenty yuan a month. Meals are included, but not lodging."
Zhang Fang was taken aback for a moment, then she smiled. "I can do it, but... isn’t the salary a little high? A factory worker only makes ten or twenty yuan a month." She herself was only making about ten yuan a month; twenty was a huge amount.
Liu Qiang and the other two were also surprised. Feeling a bit awkward, Liu Qiang started, "Hey, man, that’s..."
"That’s enough," Li Xiu said, cutting him off. "This isn’t a favor to you guys. While the work isn’t too tiring, it’s very time-consuming. From morning till night, if the child isn’t sleeping, there’s no time for a break. As long as she puts her heart into caring for my daughter and helps look after my wife when I’m gone, she should take the money without any worries. By the way, Qiangzi, what did you tell the factory? How about this: I’ll take Sister Fang home to meet my wife, and you go sort out her resignation?" As far as Li Xiu was concerned, if she did a good job, this amount of money was nothing.
"Okay, I’ll go handle the paperwork then. You take my sister to meet your wife!" Liu Qiang didn’t get sentimental. ’I already owe him so much,’ he thought. ’What’s one more favor?’
"Hmm. Actually, all of you should come over to my place today. It’s a good chance to meet my wife. Head straight over when you’re done. You can find it, right?" Li Xiu said after a moment. ’We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other from now on,’ he thought. ’It’s a good idea for them to get to know my wife.’
"I can find it! Well, I’m off then!" Liu Qiang said happily before running off, practically skipping. ’I’ve wanted my sister to quit that crappy factory for ages,’ he thought. ’The pay was low, the work was tiring, and most importantly, it was full of gossiping old biddies. My sister was always getting bullied there. It’s only because she’s so good-natured. She’d always stop me when I wanted to go teach them a lesson, and I didn’t have the standing to tell her to just quit. This is great! Now she won’t have to put up with that kind of abuse anymore!’