Qiao Xingyue was completely stunned.
She had thought it was just a coincidence of having the same name.
She never expected that Aunt Lan’s fourth son was truly the regiment commander she had once saved in Shantang Village, Xie Zhongming.
She spoke in surprise.
“Comrade Xie?”
At the same time, Xie Zhongming also called out in unison.
“Comrade Qiao?”
Their gazes met.
Xie Zhongming tightened his grip slightly on the canvas bag in his hand.
Why was this female comrade in his home?
At that moment, An’an and Ningning, who were standing behind Qiao Xingyue, greeted him together.
“Hello Uncle Xie.”
Their voices were soft and sweet.
It made Xie Zhongming’s chest stir for reasons he could not explain.
The tension between his brows finally eased a little.
He responded.
“Mhm. An’an, Ningning, be good.”
Even he did not realize that his voice carried a gentleness he rarely showed.
Huang Guilan, who was helping carry dishes to the table nearby, froze in disbelief. How did her fourth son know Comrade Qiao? And how could her usually cold and distant fourth son be so gentle with two children?
“Zhongming, do you know Comrade Qiao and her children?”
“Aunt Lan, I performed surgery for Comrade Xie when I was in Shantang Village,” Qiao Xingyue said, withdrawing her gaze and turning toward the surprised Huang Guilan.
Just now, Comrade Xie’s eyes seemed to carry a hint of suspicion and vigilance.
She did not know what he was thinking, but she had a bad feeling.
It seemed that Comrade Xie was not very happy about her appearing in the Xie household.
Unease rose in her heart.
This stable nanny job was hard to come by.
If she lost it because of this, her hope of buying medicine for Ningning would be shattered again.
She hurriedly placed the plate of sour and spicy shredded potatoes on the table and went back to the kitchen to bring out the remaining bowl of tofu and vegetable soup.
Her slight nervousness when setting down the dishes, and her quicker steps, were all noticed by Xie Zhongming.
Watching her slender and light figure disappear into the kitchen, his brows furrowed slightly as he fell into thought.
Huang Guilan looked at him and said, “Fourth son, I heard you were injured while carrying out the rescue mission.”
And the injury was to a very critical part of the body.
Her son was already an adult, and Huang Guilan felt embarrassed to ask directly.
But this concerned her fourth son’s lifelong happiness.
She had no choice but to ask tactfully.
“Fourth son, during the rescue, were you injured where it matters?”
Some of the soldiers who went to Shantang Village for disaster relief had returned earlier.
The news that her fourth son had injured that part of his body had already spread widely in the Jincheng Military District. Huang Guilan looked anxiously at Xie Zhongming, waiting uneasily for his answer.
He withdrew his gaze from Qiao Xingyue’s back and asked instead, “Mom, why is Comrade Qiao in our home?”
Huang Guilan answered casually.
“Have we not been wanting to find a live-in nanny who understands nursing care? You know your grandmother has been partially paralyzed and is very difficult to look after. I asked neighbors to help introduce someone. It just so happened that Comrade Qiao knows medicine and acupuncture. Aunt Tang is from the same village as her and knows her background well, so I asked Little Qiao to come try for one month first.”
“You mean Aunt Tang from Division Commander Luo’s family personally recommended Comrade Qiao to work as a nanny for us?”
“Yes. Aunt Tang is very warm hearted. She told me many times how capable and diligent Comrade Qiao is, and that she also understands medical skills.”
Just then, Qiao Xingyue walked out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of tofu and vegetable soup.
Xie Zhongming would never wrong a good person, but he would also never let go of anyone suspicious.
The look he cast at Qiao Xingyue returned to his usual calm and restrained demeanor, giving away no emotion.
After setting down the soup, Qiao Xingyue deliberately called toward the study.
“Division Commander Xie, dinner is ready.”
She then served three bowls of rice.
“Aunt Lan, Comrade Xie, please eat.”
After that, she took An’an and Ningning by the hand and stepped away from the square table.
Huang Guilan looked at her and the two children.
“Comrade Qiao, why did you only take three bowls? You and the children should eat at the table as well.”
In the past, when Qiao Xingyue worked as a nanny for a steel factory leader’s family in Kun City, that employer did not allow nannies to eat at the table and openly looked down on her status. Later, the female host suspected her of seducing the male host, and she was forced to leave.
She did not want to lose this job again, so she was careful in everything.
“Aunt Lan, you all eat first. The children and I will not eat at the table. I will go feed Grandma first, and then I will eat with the children.”
“I already left food in the kitchen.”
She smiled as she replied, then led the children into the kitchen, giving An’an and Ningning half a bowl of rice each and giving them a few instructions.
She then took a bowl of rice and went to Grandma’s room.
After she left, the two children held their bowls but did not start eating.
They squatted on the floor and spoke quietly to each other.
“Sister, I also want to eat meat.”
“Ningning, be good. Mom said we cannot eat the meat from the employer’s house. Mom already brought two extra mouths to eat. The fact that the family does not dislike us for having more people is already very good.”
Ningning did not speak.
An’an picked out all the pork fat bits from her stir fried vegetables and put them into Ningning’s bowl.
“Now we have white rice and pork fat bits. Compared to before, when we ate sweet potatoes every day and drank corn paste, this is much better.”
“Just remember what Mom said. Speak sweetly, eat less, and do more work. That way we can stay here, Mom can earn money to buy medicine for you, and your illness can get better. Do you understand?”
“Sister, Ningning understands.” Ningning put the pork fat bits back into her sister’s bowl. “Sister, you eat some too.”
“I will not eat them. I have vegetables. These vegetables are full of pork fat flavor. They are very fragrant.”
Their conversation was clearly heard by Huang Guilan, who had come to the kitchen doorway.
Her heart suddenly felt sour.
Such sensible and pitiful children. She wondered what kind of hardship they had lived through before.
No wonder Ningning’s face carried a sickly pallor, and she seemed short of breath when speaking.
So she was ill and needed medicine.
Looking again at the food left in the kitchen, there was only half a plate of vegetables. Qiao Xingyue had not left herself any of the braised pork or tomato and egg stir fry. Everything was on the table. She planned to eat only vegetables with the children.
Huang Guilan felt an ache deep in her chest.
Her throat tightened, and she turned to tell Xie Jiang everything in the study.
After thinking for a moment, Xie Jiang said decisively, “Since Comrade Qiao is having such a hard time raising two children, let us increase her salary by another five yuan. Forty yuan a month.”
Huang Guilan smiled in agreement.
“That is exactly what I was thinking. Since we agree, I will just add five yuan directly when we pay her salary next month.”
“Alright.”
Huang Guilan was a senior professor at Jincheng University and had just retired last year. Her monthly pension was one hundred and fifty yuan.
Xie Jiang had also retired, but the organization arranged a long term confidential task for him, requiring him and his fourth son Xie Zhongming to work together with other comrades. So he had not formally retired yet.
With salary and allowances, Xie Jiang earned more than two hundred yuan a month.
The elderly couple lived frugally and did not spend much.
They felt that helping Comrade Qiao as much as they could was a good thing.
“And another thing,” Huang Guilan said. “The fourth son was injured in Shantang Village, and his surgery was done by Comrade Qiao. Do you not think this is fate?”
Xie Jiang looked thoughtful and said nothing.
Huang Guilan continued, “I just do not know how serious his injury is. As his mother, I cannot ask directly. You should ask him later. Do not let him really end up without descendants.”
“Alright.”
After Qiao Xingyue finished feeding Grandma, she wiped her mouth and walked out.
At this moment, An’an and Ningning were sitting at the square table, their bowls filled to the brim, piled into little peaks. It was obvious that someone from the Xie family had helped refill them.
She hurried over and took the children by the hand, preparing to leave the table, but Huang Guilan stopped her by holding her hand.
“Comrade Qiao, from now on, you and An’an and Ningning must eat at the table.”
“This will not do. It is not proper.”
“Our family does not have so many rules. From now on, you and An’an and Ningning must eat at the table. This is my most basic requirement for your work.”
Qiao Xingyue had not expected that after coming to work as a nanny, the Xie family did not set many demands for her labor.
Their first requirement was instead that she and the children must eat at the table.
After transmigrating to this era, she had started with nothing. She had no relatives to rely on. After being driven out of her home, she had nowhere to live and nothing to eat, and she still had to raise two children.
This era was nothing like later times where jobs could be found everywhere. To be honest, these past four or five years of struggling to survive with two children had been extremely hard.
To suddenly be treated so kindly made it impossible for her not to be moved.
Huang Guilan pressed her down to sit on the bench.
“Eat. Zhongming, hurry and serve rice for Comrade Qiao.”
“No need. I can do it myself.”
“Let Zhongming do it. Male comrades should do more work.” Huang Guilan held Qiao Xingyue’s hand and did not let her stand up.
In the Xie family, all five sons had been raised with good manners and great respect for women.
As their father, Xie Jiang was the best example. Huang Guilan had been respected and cherished by him for decades.
Xie Zhongming went to the kitchen to serve rice. Thinking of how thin and frail Comrade Qiao was, and how in the countryside her sweet potato porridge was mostly sweet potatoes with hardly any rice grains, he added several extra scoops of white rice.
He pressed the rice down again and again until it formed a small mound. Only then did he walk out and hand the bowl to Comrade Qiao with both hands.
Qiao Xingyue took the bowl and thanked him.
Her fingertips accidentally brushed against Xie Zhongming’s fingers. She had no reaction.
Xie Zhongming, however, felt as if he had been scalded.
He quickly withdrew his hand and said there was no need to thank him.
He placed his hands on his military trousers at the knees, gripping them and leaving faint creases.
He lowered his eyes and appeared calm as he picked up food, but his other hand unconsciously rubbed his burning ear.
Images of the awkward scene when Comrade Qiao performed surgery on him in Shantang Village surfaced in his mind.
The more he thought about it, the faster he ate his rice.
It was not exactly wolfing it down.
He took large mouthfuls of rice with a bite of vegetables, chewed twice, swallowed, and moved on, showing the decisive efficiency of a soldier.
Soldiers were used to eating quickly.
But today, Huang Guilan noticed that her fourth son was eating unusually fast.
Qiao Xingyue had not taken a single bite yet. Seeing that Comrade Xie had already eaten half a bowl, she gently reminded him,
“Comrade Xie, eating too fast is not good for your stomach. You can eat vegetables first, then meat, and finally the staple food.”
Xie Zhongming responded while holding his bowl,
“Comrade Qiao, I understand. In our home, you do not need to be polite. There is plenty of food. You and An’an and Ningning do not need to think about saving rations for us. Our grain coupons are sufficient.”
“Comrade Xie, I really cannot eat this much.”
Huang Guilan also persuaded her.
“Yes, Little Qiao, look how thin you are. You need to eat more.”
Qiao Xingyue could not refuse anymore.
She lowered her head and ate.
After a few bites, she realized that the rice was not only piled high but also pressed tightly. No wonder it did not seem to decrease no matter how much she ate.
On top of that, Huang Guilan kept putting meat into her bowl. She was truly full.
Wasting food was shameful in this era. In the end, she forced herself to eat more and shared some with her two daughters before finishing all the rice and meat.
In this era, everyone lacked food and clothing. Yet the original owner of this body had once grown to over two hundred jin, clearly a body that gained weight easily.
Qiao Xingyue could not change that constitution.
If she ate like this and became over two hundred jin again, she would have nowhere to cry.
So tomorrow, she absolutely could not let Comrade Xie serve her rice again.
After dinner, Xie Zhongming and Xie Jiang worked together to clear out the study so it could be used as a room for Qiao Xingyue and the children.
Xie Zhongming deliberately closed the door and returned to Xie Jiang’s side, helping him take books down from the shelves.
“Dad, do you remember what you mentioned before about foreign forces infiltrating?”
Xie Jiang paused and looked up at his son.
“Why ask this suddenly?”
Xie Zhongming’s tone grew serious.
“My injury in Shantang Village was not an accident. After investigating the scene, someone had tampered with it, and they were targeting me.”
“There is a high chance that a spy has infiltrated the team. We are still investigating. Dad, with your experience, do you know any other characteristics of spies?”
Xie Jiang set aside his work.
“Nothing very specific. Only that such people are very good at disguising themselves and often approach others under the pretense of work, assistance, or even neighborly care.”
“Speaking of which, your mother mentioned today that Comrade Qiao performed surgery on you in Shantang Village, and only a few days later she came to our home as a nanny. I am not making wild accusations, but the timing really is too coincidental.”
Xie Zhongming’s eyes carried a soldier’s meticulous caution.
“I cannot help thinking whether this could be a layered trap. First, they tried to eliminate me through the mining accident. When I survived, I had to contact local medical staff. Then they used the excuse of finding work to place someone close to us.”
Xie Jiang sighed and patted his son’s shoulder.
“Your thinking is not unreasonable. But we cannot make a judgment based on this alone.”
“From what I see, Comrade Qiao is sincere. She massages your grandmother, cooks, does housework, and takes care of the children. Everything shows steadiness. She does not have that kind of artificial cleverness. She looks like someone truly trying to support her family.”
“I know. Intuitively, she does not seem like a female spy. But caution is necessary. I am a soldier, and behind me are military secrets. I cannot rely on intuition and ignore any doubts.”
“Dad, do not tell Mom about this yet. She is sensitive and will worry too much. I will investigate slowly on my own. I will not mistake a good person, but I will also not let any suspicious person slip through.”
Xie Jiang nodded.
Among his sons, the fourth had always had the clearest and most rigorous thinking.
“Staying vigilant is good, but do not wrong anyone without reason.”
After clearing the study, they left the bunk beds inside and also kept a cabinet for Comrade Qiao and the children to store their things.
Just then, Qiao Xingyue finished tidying the stove and walked out of the kitchen.
Xie Zhongming also came out of the study.
“Comrade Qiao, the room has been prepared for you. The conditions are a bit simple.”
“This is already very good. Thank you.”
“Comrade Qiao, I notice that you take An’an and Ningning with you everywhere. In Shantang Village, I also did not see anyone helping you look after the children. Do you have no other family members?”
Xie Zhongming asked casually, but he was carefully observing every subtle reaction of Qiao Xingyue.
Qiao Xingyue could tell that although his expression did not change much, he had begun to suspect her. She was very worried about losing her job because of this.
After thinking for a moment, she answered,
“There is no one else. It is just me and the two children.”
Xie Zhongming asked calmly and politely,
“Comrade Qiao, forgive my bluntness. When I was in Shantang Village, why did I not see your husband? What does your husband do?”