Chapter 49: The School Beauty Is Sponsoring Me, Must Keep Evidence
After his little joke, Su Yuqing finally took a serious look at the contract.
She had originally thought the contract was just a perfunctory joke.
But to her surprise, the contents were extremely detailed. It was a completely legitimate contract.
She couldn’t help but freeze for a moment. "You’re not actually going to pay me this salary, are you?"
"Why not? We’re signing a contract, so of course we’ll treat it as a real agreement. Contracts are legally binding. If I don’t pay you after you sign, you could sue me, and I’d have to pay you several times the amount," Chen Mo replied with a smile.
"That won’t do. We shouldn’t include this," Su Yuqing said, shaking her head.
"If it were just between us, then it wouldn’t matter whether we wrote it down or not. But this contract isn’t for us."
"Does your mom really think you’ve hired a nanny?" Su Yuqing instantly assumed the contract was an excuse Chen Mo had concocted to trick his parents into letting her stay.
"Not exactly. It’s not for my mom to see. It’s for when your parents start putting up resistance. That’s when this contract will be a huge help." Chen Mo took a bite of rice and a sip of milk before continuing.
"My parents?" Su Yuqing was a little surprised. She didn’t quite understand the connection.
"After all, you’ve only just come of age. You’re still under your parents’ guardianship. It’s not like you can just live wherever you want."
Hearing this, Su Yuqing understood completely. This was what she feared most. If her parents came to drag her away by force, she wouldn’t know how to fight back.
"Article 18 of our country’s Civil Code states that a person who has just come of age and has a stable economic income sufficient to support their own living expenses is considered to have full capacity for civil conduct. They can engage in civil activities independently, without the need for a guardian’s supervision."
"What does that mean?" Su Yuqing only had a vague understanding of such technical terms.
"It means that as long as you have a job that guarantees you can support yourself, you can enjoy the same rights as any other adult. You no longer have to fear your parents’ forceful interference and control. You have the right to refuse all their attempts to control you. If they go against your will and try to force you to comply, you can use the law to protect yourself, and their guardianship rights won’t be an issue."
"Is... Is that really true?" Su Yuqing was clearly taken aback.
"It’s written plainly in the national law. How could it be fake?" Chen Mo immediately pulled out his phone, searched for the relevant legal article, and showed it to Su Yuqing.
At that, Su Yuqing’s eyes instantly lit up, and her whole demeanor brightened.
The more she experienced this unprecedented sense of happiness here with Chen Mo over the past few days, the more uneasy and terrified she felt deep down.
She was scared, terrified that she would lose this kind of life.
Especially when her parents finally reacted and found her here—that was something almost bound to happen.
She really, really didn’t want to go back to that bustling yet cold home.
She wanted to stay in this seemingly quiet but incredibly warm home forever.
She never imagined that a law like this actually existed to protect her. The sudden joy left her feeling a little overwhelmed.
The most terrifying and horrific form of domestic abuse in the world is emotional abuse. Outsiders can’t detect it, there’s no evidence to prove it, and the child, isolated and helpless, can only fall deeper into an unending hell of mental breakdowns with no possibility of rescue.
This kind of impact follows a child for their entire life, causing serious flaws to develop in their personality.
It can even lead to the development of a deviant criminal psychology.
Su Yuqing had suffered this abuse with no way to appeal for help. She was already on the verge of collapse—or rather, she had already broken down twice before.
She really didn’t want it to happen a third time!
Now, hearing Chen Mo explain this incredibly useful piece of information, a weight was lifted from her heart, and the gloominess that had clung to her seemed to dissipate.
"See the benefits now? So, after we eat, just sign it, okay?" Chen Mo saw Su Yuqing brimming with joy and couldn’t help but smile happily along with her.
Human emotions can be contagious.
"But... isn’t six thousand a month a bit too much?" Su Yuqing looked at the salary on the contract, still finding it hard to accept.
"Silly girl, for a nanny, this salary is actually on the low side. You could even say I’m shortchanging you, and here you are trying to talk it down," Chen Mo said with a smile and a shake of his head.
"But I’m not a real nanny. I definitely don’t work as many hours as a real one, and my work isn’t as good. How about we cut it in half?" Su Yuqing still found the amount staggering.
Six thousand a month was an almost unimaginable sum for a girl her age.
She remembered her own mother’s monthly salary was only three thousand.
"Who said I was going to give it to you? You eat my food and live in my house, so I have to take it all back, right? I just wrote it down for outsiders to see. That six thousand is all mine," Chen Mo said with a grin.
"Oh, then I’m relieved." Su Yuqing let out a sigh of relief and happily dug into her food, feeling that this bowl of pork rib and taro rice was now even more fragrant and delicious than before.
"You actually believed me?" Chen Mo was speechless. "I was just kidding. I won’t short you a single penny. If you think it’s too much, then I just won’t give you grocery money anymore. From now on, you can use your salary to buy everything we eat, drink, and use. I’ll just shamelessly leech off you and see what it feels like to be kept by someone."
"That’s a great idea," Su Yuqing immediately replied with a happy laugh.
"Then I’d better record this, in case you go back on your word." Chen Mo immediately took out his phone and started filming the two of them.
"Classmate Su Yuqing promises to cover my food and drink for life with her salary. This video is proof," Chen Mo said with a smile, pointing the camera at himself and Su Yuqing.
Su Yuqing actually played along, seriously holding up three fingers as she smiled and said, "Classmate Su Yuqing promises to cover Classmate Chen Mo’s food and drink for life with her salary. This video is proof."
"Awesome! The campus belle said she’s going to support me. I can keep this video as a family heirloom," Chen Mo said with a grin as he saved the video.
After finishing lunch in high spirits, Su Yuqing signed the contract, feeling as if the path of her life had suddenly become bright and clear.
After the meal, the two of them bickered a bit over who would wash the dishes, but Chen Mo was forcefully "convinced" to back down by Su Yuqing.
"I’m the nanny now, so I’ll do these things. You’re not allowed to interfere!" For once, Su Yuqing puffed out her cheeks and put her hands on her hips, looking at Chen Mo.
"Alright. Just remember to wear gloves. Getting dish soap on your hands all the time isn’t good for your skin," Chen Mo advised, seeing her determination.
"Mm-hmm." Only then did Su Yuqing smile, gather the dishes, and head to the kitchen.
She was so unusually happy that she even started humming a little tune while washing the dishes.
It was the first time Chen Mo had ever seen her this happy. He watched her with a smile for a moment before turning his attention elsewhere. He picked up the Calming Grass he had brought back from his grandparents’ house off the living room coffee table and went to Su Yuqing’s room.