Lin Shu looked at the woman, and suddenly, another fragment of memory surfaced in her mind.
It was probably something she had seen about Shen Huai’s future, after he had risen to prominence and made a name for himself.
This auntie had also come looking for Shen Huai with her entire family in tow, just like she was doing now.
Shen Huai had not been lying. He really was an orphan. After his father died, he was left in the care of his paternal uncle. But within a few years, his uncle developed the same illness as his father and passed away as well. Before his death, he instructed Yang Guifen to take good care of Shen Huai.
After the funeral, she sold the house that Shen Huai’s uncle had left behind and kept Shen Huai’s share of the money for herself. Then she abandoned Shen Huai at a crowded railway station and returned to the village, claiming that the child had gotten lost.
Not long afterward, Yang Guifen married an old bachelor from the village and had two children.
There were two reasons she came to the city.
First, the old bachelor had been completely drained of whatever value he had and was no longer useful to her.
Second, she happened to hear from someone from her hometown that they had run into Shen Huai in Yuncheng. He was now an officer in the army and had become very successful.
The image Lin Shu had seen back then was blurry. She could not even make out the faces clearly, but she was certain that the man was Shen Huai. Compared with the Shen Huai she knew now, that man was much calmer and more composed, and he carried an unmistakable air of nobility.
The moment Yang Guifen arrived, she was driven out by Shen Huai.
“Auntie, your name is Yang Guifen, right?”
“How do you know my mother’s name is Yang Guifen?”
Da Mao and Er Mao stopped what they were doing and looked at this beautiful, mysterious older sister.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“Oh, I happened to hear Shen Huai mention it before.”
Yang Guifen immediately became uneasy.
“What did Shen Huai tell you?”
“Nothing. Just the names of some people from his hometown.”
Lin Shu’s expression changed slightly. Yang Guifen still looked rather nervous, but since she had already come all this way, she figured she had to find a way to get her two children to stay in this house.
After all, they were Shen Huai’s own blood relatives. As their older brother, he couldn’t possibly shirk responsibility for them.
Lin Shu quietly watched Yang Guifen’s eyes dart back and forth.
Her intentions were written all over her face.
What surprised Lin Shu, however, was that this was supposed to be something that happened to Shen Huai and his next wife in the future. How had it happened ahead of schedule?
“Auntie, are you full? If you’re still hungry, I can order some more for you.”
“This… wouldn’t be very good, would it?”
Lin Shu stopped her sister-in-law.
“Oh, Auntie, this money is all going to be reimbursed by Shen Huai anyway. Go ahead and eat as much as you want. You’re his aunt. One meal isn’t going to bankrupt him.”
“What? Didn’t you say you were treating us?”
“Auntie, so are you eating or not?”
Yang Guifen stood up and waved her hands.
“No, no, I’m not eating anymore! I’m full. Let’s go home.”
Lin Shu nodded and exchanged a glance with her sister-in-law.
“Auntie…”
Lin Xiaonan tugged pitifully at her hand, then pointed at his own flat stomach.
“Auntie, can you buy me some egg cakes?”
Lin Xiaonan held out his arms, and Lin Shu picked her nephew up.
“Sister-in-law, take them home first. Nan-Nan and I will be right back.”
With outsiders around, Jiang Jie could not say much. She simply reminded them to come back quickly.
When Da Mao and Er Mao heard that there would be egg cakes, they wanted to follow them, but Yang Guifen dragged them back.
“You little gluttons! Come on, we’re leaving!”
Reluctantly, Da Mao and Er Mao followed Yang Guifen away.
Their eyes remained fixed on the two people in the distance as they entered the grocery store.
Lin Shu thought about it for a moment and bought a little extra.
“Nan-Nan, eat your fill first, then we’ll go home. For the next couple of days, you mustn’t get into any conflicts with those people. But if they bully you first, you have to tell Auntie.”
Lin Shu still had not figured out how to get rid of them.
That Yang Guifen was clearly not a good person.
“I know, Auntie.”
As soon as the adult and child returned home, they were startled by the shattered pieces scattered across the floor.
This… seemed to be a pair of porcelain vases Dad had bought from Jingdezhen before. He had always treasured them.
Jiang Jie turned around, deliberately facing away from the three of them. Her expression was unpleasant.
Lin Shu immediately understood.
The two children had been running around the house chasing and hitting each other, and they had knocked over the vases.
“Auntie, keep your children under control. When you’re in someone else’s home, you should at least know some manners.”
Yang Guifen had originally felt a little guilty, but when she heard that even a nanny’s younger sister dared to lecture her and act like she was the owner of the house, her gaze immediately turned sharp.
“Hmph. Even if I smashed this whole house, what could you possibly do about it?”
Lin Shu laughed.
Jiang Jie laughed too.
Even little Lin Xiaonan started laughing along with them.
Seeing the three of them looking down on her, Yang Guifen’s old face immediately flushed red.
“What are you laughing at?! What’s so funny?”
Lin Shu walked over and carefully picked up a shard from the floor.
“Auntie, do you know that just this one piece in my hand is enough to feed the three of you at a state-run restaurant for an entire month? Sure, this is a society governed by law, so they can’t just do whatever they want to you. But you came into my home and broke my property. Tell me, if the police come, what do you think they’ll do to you?”
“You’re just a nanny’s younger sister! Don’t think I don’t know what you young girls are up to. Let me tell you, Shen Huai already has an arranged marriage back in our hometown!”
Lin Shu had no intention of wasting any more time arguing with her.
She called the school.
But the school told her that Shen Huai had gone out on a mission and would not be able to return for the time being.
What a coincidence.
So what was she supposed to do with this mother and her two children now?
“Then please take your children and go find Shen Huai. Shen Huai isn’t here, and this house has nothing to do with him!”
Yang Guifen had not yet understood what Lin Shu meant when the bundle she was carrying was suddenly thrown outside.
While Yang Guifen went out to pick up her belongings, Lin Shu grabbed the two children and ushered them outside as well.
“If you come back again, I’ll call the police.”
Yang Guifen’s eyes widened in shock.
She had never expected that a city nanny could be so fierce. The moment the homeowners were absent, she had simply barged in and acted as though she owned the place.
“God help me! Everyone, come and take a look! The three of us finally found my own nephew, only to be thrown out by the nanny of this house!”
She sat on the ground and started making a scene.
Lin Shu paid her no attention. She simply shut all the doors and windows, choosing not to see or hear any of it.
The crying and shouting outside the door attracted the surrounding neighbors, who came over to watch the commotion. It happened to be right after lunch, when everyone had some free time.
“Oh? Who did you say was the nanny?”
“Those two sisters! I came here to find my nephew, and they drove us out! Oh, what a cruel world!”
Auntie Mei, who had met her earlier, laughed.
“You’re a relative of Shen Huai?”
“Yes! Big Sister, you have to help me judge who’s right and who’s wrong!”
Auntie Mei burst out laughing.
Even if Shen Huai himself were standing there today, no one would dare say a word if Jiang Jie and Lin Shu had thrown her belongings outside.
When relatives from the countryside came to visit, there was nothing wrong with it if they were polite and had a good relationship with the family. But someone who threw herself on the ground and made a scene like this? Just looking at her made people not want to deal with her.
“Who told you they were nannies? Come here. Can you read? Take a look at this… Open your eyes and look carefully. This house belongs to the Lin family, not the Shen family. If those two hadn’t gotten married, you wouldn’t even have the right to step inside.”
The neighbors had seen all kinds of people and were no longer surprised by someone like Yang Guifen. Even so, Auntie Mei’s words still made the onlookers burst into laughter.
“Big Sister, what do you mean?”
“You clearly don’t know anything. Looks like you really are some distant relative. If you’re here looking for handouts, at least find the right person.”
“Shen Huai only lives here because he married the daughter of this family. This isn’t his house. The house assigned to Shen Huai by the army isn’t here. If you want to take advantage of him, go to the military camp.”
Yang Guifen remembered what she had said earlier and was so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear.
No wonder those two women had kept laughing!
They had deliberately made a fool of her!
“Which one of them is Shen Huai’s wife?”
“The one who took you to eat is the eldest daughter-in-law of this family. The younger one who came looking for you afterward is the youngest daughter of the family, and she’s Shen Huai’s wife. The two of them don’t have a very good relationship. They might even get divorced one day, so don’t expect to squeeze any benefits out of this family.”
Yang Guifen stood up.
She had been toyed with by the sister-in-law pair after coming all this way.
She would definitely get her revenge.
She slowly got to her feet, picked up the bundle from the ground, and dusted it off.
“Let’s go!”
Da Mao and Er Mao had been inexplicably scolded, but they were already used to following Yang Guifen around.
The people who had gathered to watch assumed that the three of them had left because they had failed to get any benefits.
Little did they know that Yang Guifen went straight to the school authorities to look for someone in charge.