Deputy Director Liu laughed heartily, “Are you worried my brother-in-law might get kidnapped by a nanny?”
“Relax, he’s twenty-six already, not a child. How could he possibly be kidnapped?”
The tall Public Security Officer quickly waved his hand, “No, no, I was just asking casually. Weren’t you inquiring everywhere about finding a suitable nanny recently? My cousin happens to be unemployed, so I thought maybe I could recommend her to give it a try.”
Deputy Director Liu: “Your cousin? She’s only in her twenties, right? Younger than my brother-in-law. Who that young would want to be a nanny? I’m afraid her intentions lie elsewhere.”
“Whatever the reason, she should give up on that idea. My brother-in-law doesn’t want to date right now, he doesn’t even want a nanny anymore. He’s already gone through five or six of them, none were suitable.”
The other officers had clearly heard about this matter too, and they all looked surprised upon hearing this. One of them asked with a puzzled expression, “Five or six and none were suitable? His standards must be incredibly high.”
Deputy Director Liu wiped his chopsticks and smiled helplessly, “He’s obsessive about cleanliness. He demands that the nanny herself be clean, that she keeps the place spotless, and she can’t even have long nails. Several nannies were fired because they were sloppy workers. He’s also picky about food – he won’t eat many things. No animal organs, no chicken feet or pig trotters, nothing that looks strange, nothing with weird flavors…”
“Truly a big expert returned from abroad. So hard to please,” the tall officer curled his lip and shook his head, never mentioning introducing his cousin again.
The others asked, “So has he given up completely on finding a nanny now?”
“Who knows? My wife is still quite anxious about it and wants to help him find another one. After all, he lives alone, can’t cook, and refuses to eat at the unit cafeteria. We can’t just let him starve to death.” Deputy Director Liu also shook his head and sighed deeply, “Three dollars per hour! That works out to more than our salaries.”
“Being a nanny really pays well!”
“You’re wrong – it’s only nannies who can meet his requirements that make good money!” Deputy Director Liu concluded definitively.
Just as they were speaking, the restaurant owner happened to bring their food. Everyone wiped their chopsticks, exchanged a few more words of amazement, and then moved on to other topics.
The officers merely sighed about the situation, but Lin Xiangxiu, sitting nearby, felt a slight stirring in her heart.
She unconsciously let her gaze fall on the neighboring table, her mind beginning to ponder.
When she left the police station, she had already made plans. Although she now had a thousand dollars, it was far from enough.
The money seemed substantial, but she had nothing now – except for Xiaoxiao, she possessed nothing.
To settle in Shencheng, she would need to rent a place and furnish it, might even need to buy a bicycle, and Xiaoxiao would need to attend kindergarten.
Calculating like this, a thousand dollars wouldn’t last long. She couldn’t rely on this money to live on – by any measure, she needed to find work to earn money.
Lin Xiangxiu had initially planned to find a job in Shencheng first. She was willing to do any work, whether cleaning or cooking, as long as she could earn money. She could worry about everything else later.
If she could stay in Shencheng, it would be better to remain.
This had nothing to do with Lin Shuping. Lin Xiangxiu was thinking that this place was a major city, and major cities definitely offered more opportunities than her northeastern hometown. People in big cities were more open-minded too – they wouldn’t gossip endlessly about her divorce.
When she filed for divorce today, not a single person at the police station tried to persuade her to reconcile, nor did anyone say things like “do it for the child.” For this reason alone, Lin Xiangxiu had already developed a favorable impression of Shencheng.
She would only consider moving to more remote cities if she absolutely couldn’t find work here.
Overhearing the conversation at the next table, Lin Xiangxiu felt an uncontrollable excitement. Three yuan per hour! If she worked just three hours a day, she could earn nearly three hundred yuan a month!
That was even more than what Lin Shuping, the high school teacher, earned!
As for their mention of the employer’s high standards, Lin Xiangxiu didn’t see that as a problem at all. When someone offered such high wages, wasn’t it normal for them to have higher expectations?
“I overheard you discussing hiring a nanny. May I ask if you’re still looking for someone?” Lin Xiangxiu gathered her courage and went over to ask after mentally psyching herself up.
The Public Security Officers had already moved on to another topic and were taken by surprise when someone approached them unexpectedly.
Deputy Director Liu was also surprised. “Comrade, are you here to apply for the nanny position?”
He looked Lin Xiangxiu up and down, noting her youthful appearance. Though her skin was somewhat dark, one could still tell she was quite young.
He said tactfully, “My brother-in-law isn’t really looking to develop any marital relationships. He’d prefer an older, more steady nanny.”
Faced with such clear rejection, Lin Xiangxiu’s heart began to falter.
She had never worked as a nanny before, and even her proud cooking skills were self-taught in the countryside. What if her skills weren’t considered special in Shencheng? What if local people didn’t like her cooking style?
These doubts floated through her mind one by one, but in the end, Lin Xiangxiu bit the tip of her tongue and swallowed her words of retreat.
She had nothing to her name. She had to fight for this opportunity.
“Are you worried I might have ulterior motives toward him?” Lin Xiangxiu said. “Don’t worry! I’m only here for the money! I already have a daughter.”
As she spoke, she pointed toward Lin Xiao. “That’s my daughter over there. I just got divorced today, and my daughter came with me. I just want to earn money to support the two of us.”
“I absolutely have no interest in the employer beyond making money!”
Deputy Director Liu immediately realized his misunderstanding and apologized, “I’m sorry, I thought you looked quite young and didn’t expect you to have such a big child already.”
Lin Xiangxiu nodded absently, still pushing her case. “So could I at least try out for the nanny position? My cooking is quite good – everyone who’s tried it has praised it.”
“Well, you can,” Deputy Director Liu hesitated before warning her, “but my brother-in-law is really difficult to please. He’s already driven away several nannies. You should be mentally prepared for that.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiangxiu knew there was hope and couldn’t help smiling. “Don’t worry, we won’t know if I’m suitable until we try. I’ll work hard. When can I go see the place?”
Deputy Director Liu checked his watch. “It’s already dark today, too late. How about you wait at the police station entrance tomorrow morning at eight? I’ll have my wife take you there.”
“Of course, that works.”
With the job matter settled, Lin Xiangxiu returned to find that Lin Xiao had already licked her bowl clean. After exchanging greetings, she took Lin Xiao back to Chunfeng Inn.
It was already dark today, completely too late to find a rental house, so I could only stay at Hong Jie’s place for a couple more days.
After returning, Lin Xiangxiu saw Hong Jie and immediately asked, “Hong Jie, could you help me inquire if there are any rental places nearby?”