Xu Jiachang staggered to his feet and pointed at Song Tinghuan.
“Y-You just wait!”
“Tch, who are you trying to scare?”
Song Tinghuan did not believe him at all. Only after he had gone far enough did she turn around and head back.
The study on the second floor was still a complete mess, with hardly any place left to step.
Shen Yuqing stood with his back to her, facing the window.
Whether it was her imagination or not, Song Tinghuan felt that his figure looked even thinner and lonelier than before.
An inescapable gloom shrouded him, isolating him from all the vitality and life around him.
After a pause, Song Tinghuan decided to clean up the study first.
She picked up the books and papers scattered all over the floor one by one, stacking them neatly on the desk.
There was also a broken photo frame on the floor.
Song Tinghuan picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
The people in it were unmistakably Shen Yuqing and Xu Jiachang.
The two were wearing identical graduation gowns, their arms draped over each other’s shoulders as they smiled confidently at the camera beneath a blue sky.
Back then, Shen Yuqing had been no different from a true favored son of heaven.
But how had he ended up with a friend like that?
Song Tinghuan felt regret on his behalf and sighed.
“Do you pity me too?” Shen Yuqing suddenly asked.
Song Tinghuan had not expected such a question.
She froze for a moment, unsure how to answer.
If she said she did not pity him…
That seemed to go against basic social morality.
People naturally tended to be more considerate and accommodating toward those in vulnerable situations.
But if she said she did pity him…
That seemed like it would hurt Shen Yuqing’s feelings.
Song Tinghuan’s silence was already an answer in Shen Yuqing’s eyes.
“You can leave.” Shen Yuqing said.
Song Tinghuan assumed he wanted some time alone.
“There’s only a little left. Once I finish cleaning the floor, I’ll go out.”
“I mean.” Shen Yuqing said with emphasis: “you’re fired.”
Song Tinghuan stood up and placed the photograph on the desk.
“Why?” she asked. “I’ve read labor law thoroughly. If you fire an employee, you need a legitimate reason. Otherwise, you can’t dismiss someone without cause.”
“You’ll receive every cent of compensation you’re entitled to.”
Shen Yuqing’s voice sounded utterly heartless.
“Leave my house within one hour.”
Compensation?
Well, that made things easier.
Since she had already been fired, Song Tinghuan held nothing back.
“You haven’t explicitly stated why you’re firing me, but I think it has something to do with Xu Jiachang.”
Shen Yuqing interrupted her.
“I said, you can leave now.”
“I’ll leave after I’m done speaking.” Song Tinghuan continued. “The person who hurt you was Xu Jiachang. He’s a scumbag who stabs his friends in the back. But I’m not him. I’m just a conscientious nanny. Fairly speaking, I’ve fulfilled my responsibilities.”
She spoke each word clearly.
“You could have your bodyguards throw Xu Jiachang out because he deserved it. But why are you treating me like this? What exactly did I do wrong?”
Before Shen Yuqing could answer, she answered for herself.
“Nothing. You’re treating me this way simply because I’m a nanny. If you replace the eighty-eighth one, there can always be an eighty-ninth. The price you pay for venting your anger on me is nothing more than a trivial compensation payment.”
“For the past two days, you’ve never respected the results of my work, either.”
“You look down on everyone from above while wallowing in self-pity.”
Having said everything she wanted to say, Song Tinghuan gave one final glance at Shen Yuqing’s rigid back and turned away without looking back.
The study door slammed shut behind her.
Shen Yuqing’s fingers unconsciously curled.
Turning his head slightly, he stared at the spot where Song Tinghuan had been standing for a long time.
Song Tinghuan returned to the nanny room to pack her belongings.
She did not have much to begin with, so she finished quickly.
As she came downstairs, she happened to run into Shen Heng, who had just returned.
Shen Heng stared at her in shock.
“What are you doing?”
Shen Heng was still a very good boss.
So Song Tinghuan remained respectful toward him.
“Young President Shen, Senior President Shen just lost his temper and fired me. I’m packing up and going home now.”
“Hey.” Shen Heng instinctively grabbed her arm. “Don’t go.”
No one knew his brother’s temper better than he did.
Xu Jiachang had probably infuriated him, and Song Tinghuan had simply become the target of his misplaced anger.
“My brother’s always had that awful temper. He’s speaking out of anger right now. Please don’t take it seriously.”
Song Tinghuan replied: “Young President Shen, I’m a nanny, not a punching bag. I can’t keep pretending nothing happened every time he takes his anger out on me.”
Shen Heng’s grip loosened.
That actually sounded perfectly reasonable.
The reason the previous eighty-seven nannies had left was because they could not endure it.
After spending the past two days with Song Tinghuan, he had thought she might be different.
Every one of the previous eighty-seven nannies had witnessed his brother smashing up the house.
This time had been much better.
Only the study had been destroyed.
But if she could not stay, she could not stay.
Shen Heng gave up.
“Alright then. The wages for these three days and the compensation payment will be transferred to your account.”
“Thank you, Young President Shen. Then I’ll be leaving now.”
After Song Tinghuan left, Shen Heng once again began contacting housekeeping agencies in search of the eighty-ninth nanny.
As expected, every agency had blacklisted him.
Shen Heng stared up at the sky as tears streamed down his face.
“In which direction should I kneel so I can beg for another nanny as good as Song Tinghuan?”
Song Tinghuan took the bus back to her parents’ massage shop.
“Happy Deaf-Mute Massage.”
“Dad! Mom!” Song Tinghuan shouted loudly. “I’m back!”
Father Song, Song Kai, was in the middle of giving a massage. Upon hearing her voice, his hands instantly lost strength.
Grandpa Tian cried out.
“Hey! Old Song, are you trying to massage me to death? Your daughter came home—do you really need to get this excited?”
Song Kai could only produce simple sounds.
“Ah, ah, ah…”
At the same time, his hands moved nonstop in sign language.
Grandpa Tian had been receiving massages there for decades and had practically learned sign language himself.
“It’s only been three days since you last saw her!” Grandpa Tian said. “Look at you. You’re actually crying? You really are crying?”
Song Kai really was crying.
Song Tinghuan hurried over and set down her luggage.
“Alright, alright, I’m back now. Why are you crying?”
Song Kai’s hands flew rapidly as he signed a whole stream of words.
“Don’t worry. I wasn’t mistreated at work. You know me. If anyone wrongs me, I get back at them on the spot!”
Only then did Song Kai smile through his tears.
The curtain to the inner room was pulled aside, and her mother, Xu Wen, came out.
The moment she saw Song Tinghuan, her eyes immediately turned red.
After comforting one parent, she now had to comfort the other.
Xu Wen signed continuously while Song Kai nodded in agreement beside her.
“I know the family can support me, but I also wanted to go out and find work myself and gain some experience. Since that’s the case, I’ll listen to you from now on. I’ll come back and help at the shop and won’t work outside anymore, okay?”
Song Kai and Xu Wen each held one of her hands.
It was as though they were afraid she might fly away again if they loosened their grip.
Song Tinghuan knew they were still frightened.
When she had gone looking for work, she had not told them a thing. The only person she had informed was her supportive Aunt Xu Nan.
She had even left secretly without her parents knowing.
For two deaf-mute people, simply going out was already difficult, much less tracking down Song Tinghuan’s whereabouts.
Only after learning from Xu Nan that she was safe had they finally relaxed.
After this experience of working outside, Song Tinghuan had figured something out.
She did not want to make life difficult for herself anymore.
The massage shop was still doing excellent business. It had been operating for more than thirty years and had a stable customer base. The income had paid for a new house and a new car, and her parents had both received the most advanced cochlear implants currently available, allowing them to hear sounds.
Why should she go work for someone else and put up with their temper?
The next second, the wages for three days of work and the compensation payment arrived in her account.
Song Tinghuan counted the zeros at the end of the number.
Before she developed breast nodules from stress, it seemed she could still endure a little more.