As soon as the elderly woman started cursing, Lin Xiangxiu quickly covered her daughter’s ears. Although neither of them understood the meaning of those swear words, they could tell from the woman’s expression that they were foul language. She didn’t want Lin Xiao to hear them.
Beside them, Lu Xiaoxia’s face had turned rather unpleasant. She tried several times to stop the elderly woman, but each time the woman pushed her away.
Ever since the dirty rag was thrown out, the elderly woman’s anger had skyrocketed, and her cursing grew even more intense. Her mouth was like a machine gun, firing relentlessly.
She cursed toward the inside of the house, her face flushed with rage. “So what if you came back from America? Others might be afraid of you, but I’m not! A few decades ago, you’d have been nothing but a capitalist, bullying us laborers. I’ve never seen someone as picky and difficult as you—so hard to please! When it comes to meals, nothing satisfies you. You either complain it’s too fishy or too raw. We’ve been eating like this for decades—why is it suddenly not good enough for you?”
“You also complain that my cleaning isn’t thorough enough. So what if there are a few grease stains? What does it matter if they don’t come off? Aren’t the clothes still wearable? How dare you fire me over something so trivial!”
“All you do every day is complain about the food and the cleanliness. Do you really think that lousy bread of yours is so much better?”
The elderly woman’s face was bright red with fury, and she kept trying to charge inside, determined to argue her case.
Lu Xiaoxia stepped in with a stern expression to stop her. “Enough! When we hired you, we made it clear that you had to be diligent. You cut corners and did a sloppy job—how can you blame others for firing you?”
“Where did I cut corners?!” The elderly woman was utterly indignant and started arguing with Lu Xiaoxia. “We’ve been doing things this way for decades, and now he calls it cutting corners?! Nothing I did satisfied him. I think he was just deliberately nitpicking to make things difficult for me. Just wait—I’m going straight to the Family Compound to tell everyone. Let’s see who’d dare come work as his nanny after this!”
Before she could finish her sentence, several more items were thrown out from inside—clattering and clanging—a teapot, clothes, even a few enamel basins and a toothbrush. One of the basins rolled clattering to a stop at Lin Xiangxiu’s feet. It was covered in years of accumulated grease and grime, and even without smelling it, she knew it must reek.
She frowned and kicked the basin away.
The elderly woman was already rolling up her sleeves. “Just wait—I’m going to tell everyone right now!”
As she made to leave, Lu Xiaoxia, exasperated, tried to stop her. Suddenly, a cold voice came from inside the house.
“You can go tell them. I don’t care. But I reserve the right to pursue charges for theft.”
“Theft? I didn’t steal anything!” The elderly woman’s expression stiffened, and she muttered under her breath.
“The basins, the teapot… Who gave you the right to take my things out to sell and replace them with these old, worn-out items?” The voice from inside remained cold, with barely suppressed anger.
The elderly woman’s bravado weakened further. “That can’t be called theft, can it? I just saw that you weren’t using them. If you’re not using them, why shouldn’t I sell them? Besides, I replaced them with other things—it’s not like there’s less. They’re just a bit older, but they’re still perfectly usable. Xiaoxia, tell me, how can this be considered theft? I’m no thief.”
She grumbled discontentedly, “When it comes down to it, we’re distant relatives. You can’t just stand by and let your brother slander me like this. Being called a thief sounds awful. I only swapped his things—it doesn’t count as stealing.”
A cold sneer came from inside the room, followed by footsteps—likely someone wanting to avoid further argument and retreating directly into their room.
“You’ll find out whether it’s theft when the police show up at your door.”
Lu Xiaoxia’s jaw dropped so wide you could practically fit an egg in it. “Auntie, did you really steal and sell the items?”
“Why must you use such harsh words too? I just swapped them when he wasn’t looking—can that even be called stealing?” The auntie clearly lost her nerve, quickly lowering her hands from her hips and trying to cozy up to Lu Xiaoxia, hoping she’d put in a good word for her.
Lu Xiaoxia directly shooed her away. “I can’t make decisions for him! And after pulling a stunt like this, if he doesn’t want to pursue it, that’s one thing. But if he does, you won’t get away with it. Go home, calculate how much you stole and how much money you made, then turn yourself in at the police station! I’m honestly speechless—stealing from a Public Security Officer’s home? What were you thinking?”
The auntie turned pale as a sheet, scared out of her wits, and scurried off in a panic.
With her gone, the hallway fell silent. Lu Xiaoxia felt awkward. “Xiao Lin, let’s go inside.”
Lin Xiangxiu took a deep breath and led Lin Xiao into the apartment. Once inside, she was truly amazed.
The city apartment was a hundred times nicer than their rural home—bright, clean windows, a refrigerator, a television, and a large fan-shaped balcony. Sunlight streamed through the blue glass windows, casting a soft blue glow over the room.
From the earlier argument, Lin Xiangxiu had already gathered that the owner of this home valued boundaries. After a quick glance around upon entering, she refrained from further inspection, holding Lin Xiao’s hand and giving her a wink to remind her to behave.
Lu Xiaoxia invited Lin Xiangxiu and her daughter to sit on the sofa while she went to fetch her cousin. She informed him about the new nanny candidate she’d brought for an interview.
When the man emerged, he was frowning deeply, his handsome face tinged with mild anger. Upon spotting the little girl beside Lin Xiangxiu, his brows knitted into a tight knot.
Lin Xiangxiu noticed and explained, “Hello, this is my daughter. I had to bring her along since there’s no one to watch her at home. But when I officially start working, I’ll send her to daycare.His expression softened somewhat, though he remained frowning, as if struggling to endure something.
“Let me introduce you two,” Lu Xiaoxia interjected, breaking the silence. “Xiao Lin, this is my cousin, Lu Xingzhi. You can call him Mr. Lu or Xiao Lu. This is Xiao Lin, the new nanny I found for you. Be polite.” She shot her brother a meaningful look.
As the introductions were made, the two sized each other up.
Lin Xiangxiu’s first impression of Mr. Lu was that he was tall, thin, and pale, almost bloodless. Looking at him, she couldn’t help but recall the kites she flew with her daughter back in the countryside—he seemed as though a strong gust of wind could carry him away.
Perhaps it was a family trait, this dislike of proper meals. Both siblings were tall and slender.
Mr. Lu had emerged holding a square piece of bread, likely leftover from yesterday, uneaten and unheated. With each bite, crumbs scattered everywhere, so he held a plate underneath, eating expressionlessly.
Taking two bites of bread, she then picked up a cup of brown Traditional Chinese Medicine with ice cubes on the table and took a sip, washing down the dry bread.
Witnessing this series of actions, Lin Xiangxiu was utterly impressed.
This was the first time she had seen someone using Traditional Chinese Medicine to chase down bread—this person was truly hardcore.
Just as Lin Xiangxiu was sizing up Lu Xingzhi, Lu Xingzhi was also observing the woman across from her.