It was late spring and early summer, and the sun shone brightly over Qiming Town.
An old bus lumbered to a halt at the bus station. As the passengers disembarked, the last two to step off were two women.
Meng Guyu walked closely behind Aunt Qian, clutching an olive-green backpack. She tried to keep her back straight to hide her nervousness.
Qian Hongmei, in her forties, had her hair combed meticulously and carried a capable air about her.
Seeing Meng Guyu looking relatively composed, she relaxed and offered a smile of encouragement. “We’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Meng, when we arrive, just do what I told you: be confident and answer their questions honestly.”
Meng Guyu had already gone over her mental preparations several times.
She nodded and said, “Yes, Auntie. I remember.”
Seeing her earnest expression, Qian Hongmei couldn’t help but smile again. “That’s the spirit. Don’t be nervous or afraid. If you do well, this job will be yours.”
Then, she casually changed the subject. “I heard that things fell through between you and that boy from the Zhao family. Your sister-in-law really gave you a hard time. Don’t take it to heart.”
The word “heard” was an understatement. Everyone living near the Meng family knew all about it.
Her sister-in-law had screamed at the top of her lungs, calling her younger sister-in-law a fool for refusing to marry a man with a steady job and insisting on becoming a nanny instead.
She had even claimed Meng Guyu was mentally ill.
Just that morning, before Meng Guyu left, her sister-in-law had been cursing and grumbling. She said a clumsy girl like Meng Guyu would be lucky if anyone even looked her way.
Any sensible person, she argued, would have waited until the nanny job was a sure thing before doing anything else.
But Meng Guyu had gone ahead and broken things off with Zhao Jinlai before even securing the position. In short, her sister-in-law just couldn’t stand the sight of her.
But Meng Guyu had already made her decision, and she refused to let other people’s opinions get to her.
She tightened her grip on her cloth bag, unfazed. “My sister-in-law is just afraid I don’t know how to ride a donkey while looking for a horse,” she explained. “She thinks I’ll end up with neither.”
In truth, her entire family felt the same way. They thought she should try for the nanny job, but if it fell through, she should just go back home and wait to marry Zhao Jinlai.
Qian Hongmei, however, approved of Meng Guyu’s boldness. “I’m on your side. We women have to have some pride. I never liked that Zhao Jinlai—always looking down his nose at everyone, judging this and that. If you’d married him, you’d have spent your whole life walking on eggshells.”
It was a spot-on description. Meng Guyu’s mind flashed back to the years she had spent in her past life, enduring the humiliation of keeping her head down and working herself to the bone, all while suffering in silence.
*I’m never going back to a life like that,* she vowed.
A gentle breeze blew, and the sunlight felt warm. *From today on,* Meng Guyu thought, *I’m going to live my life differently than I did before.*
“Auntie,” she said, “I was too blind to see it before. Even before we were married, Zhao Jinlai was already telling me I’d have to do all the cooking and cleaning for his whole family. He just wanted a free laborer.”
Qian Hongmei shook her head in disapproval. “What kind of nonsense is that? You’re doing the right thing—don’t you dare serve them! Once you’ve seen the truth, you can’t go back. If you served his whole family, they’d take it for granted when you did a good job, but the moment you slipped up, he’d accuse you of being lazy. You don’t deserve that kind of humiliation.”
She spoke earnestly to Meng Guyu. “Look at you—you’re pretty and capable. Once you get a good job, you’ll be able to find any kind of man you want. With his pointy face and monkey-like features, he’s not even in your league.”
Meng Guyu didn’t have much to say about men right now. She knew she had little schooling and no job, and strictly speaking, she wasn’t a match for someone like Zhao Jinlai, who had a stable position.
But Qian Hongmei’s praise still made her happy.
She smiled softly. “Auntie, I really hope I get this nanny job today.”
Having a job would, at the very least, shut her family up. The thought of facing her sister-in-law’s indirect insults if the interview failed made Meng Guyu’s scalp prickle.
In both her past and present lives, her sister-in-law’s sharp tongue was the thing she dreaded most.
Qian Hongmei didn’t dare promise that Meng Guyu would get the job. “Since we still have some time,” she said, “let me give you a few more tips…”
The 158 Military Region was located east of Qiming Town. After rounding a hillside, Meng Guyu saw a vast expanse of courtyard walls.
Not knowing where the main entrance was, she simply followed Qian Hongmei, dutifully registering her name and opening her bundle for inspection before they were allowed through the back gate into the family residential area.
The compound was enormous—so large that Meng Guyu couldn’t even see its boundaries. The housing was far from uniform. To the east, rows of single-story houses built of white-gray brick stood neat and simple, exuding a sense of quiet.
To the west, three-story apartment buildings looked cramped and crowded.
As Qian Hongmei led her toward the Shen family’s home, she explained in a low voice, “See that main road in the middle? The houses to the east are much nicer. They’re detached homes, and while they aren’t huge, they’re definitely more comfortable than the ones on the west side.”
“The east side is where the high-ranking military officers live. The west side is for ordinary staff. If you get the job, you’ll be staying with us in the northwest corner dormitory. It’s even worse than these apartment buildings, but the people there are all very kind.”
Meng Guyu didn’t say anything, only nodding.
Qian Hongmei continued leading her east. “Once you go in, just do exactly what I told you and put your best foot forward.”
Meng Guyu wanted to make a good impression, but she was genuinely nervous, especially after knocking on the door.
Though she didn’t look around, she could still feel the gazes of two women at the intersection. Even though they were whispering, she could still make out their words.
“Another nanny candidate, huh? How many is that now?”
“Five or six already. None of them were any good. The older one was too slow, and the young one they hired later was dishonest—she just wanted to climb the social ladder by getting close to Technician Shen.”
“I wonder about this one.”
“Who knows? I doubt it. She’s so pretty; who knows if she’s even serious about being a nanny.”
Meng Guyu understood the earlier comments, but the last one left her a bit confused. Of course she was here to be a nanny—what else would she be here for?
Before she could think it through, the front door swung open. She was about to speak but was startled by a young boy with a bruised and swollen face.
“Bleh!” Shen Ye stuck his tongue out at her, looking arrogant. “Are you here to interview for the nanny job?”
Meng Guyu tried to ignore his face. “Yes, little one. Is your father home?”
Shen Ye stared at her, snorted, and turned back into the house. “Come on in. My dad’s waiting.”
Meng Guyu turned to close the door, but Shen Ye stopped her. “Don’t close the door! Hurry inside.”
Meng Guyu was still puzzled, but as soon as she stepped inside, she understood the gossip she’d overheard at the door.
She took one look at the man, then immediately lowered her head. She introduced herself and took a silent, deep breath.
She had assumed the homeowner of this courtyard would be older, but she never expected him to be so young.
Shen Fengmian sat on the sofa, his long legs stretched out and his broad shoulders filling the space. His shirt was buttoned all the way to the collar, and his deep-set eyes and thin lips gave him a cold, unapproachable air.
Hearing Meng Guyu’s introduction, he set down his book.
“Can you do laundry, cook, and take care of a child?” he asked, his voice flat.
Meng Guyu quickly cleared her mind and tried to relax.
She kept her eyes fixed on the pocket of his shirt as she nodded. “I can. I helped raise my brother’s three children—the oldest was seven or eight, and the youngest was three. I’ve always helped my family with the laundry and cooking, so I can handle all of that.”
“Then make a meal for us,” Shen Ye interrupted before Shen Fengmian could speak.
He even had a reason to back up his demand. “Dad, talk is cheap. We need to see her cook. Otherwise, how do we know if she’s actually any good? Don’t forget the last one—her cooking almost poisoned me!”
Shen Fengmian was about to say it wasn’t necessary, but he paused after hearing Shen Ye’s last comment.
Hiring a nanny had been a last resort for Shen Fengmian. His parents had always lived with him to help raise Shen Ye, but Father Shen, a veteran with a body riddled with old injuries from his time on the battlefield, had recently suffered a relapse.
The organization had arranged for him to be admitted to a convalescent hospital, where the doctors said he would need to stay for several months and undergo surgery, requiring a family member to be by his side.
This left the family in a difficult situation. However, such cases weren’t unprecedented in the family compound.
The organization had granted a special permit for the Shen family to hire a temporary nanny.
This wasn’t a position anyone could just apply for. It was only open to internal referrals, and the person making the referral had to have lived in the compound for at least five years.
Qian Hongmei had just hit her five-year mark and decided to recommend someone, never expecting her candidate to actually get the chance. But after the first six or seven applicants failed, the opportunity fell to Meng Guyu.
Because of the compound’s internal referral system, Shen Fengmian had assumed hiring a nanny would be a simple matter. Instead, it had been a complete disaster.
The first two candidates were far too old—both in their sixties. The second one took a fall on her very first day.
Because of this, Shen Fengmian added an age requirement, but the subsequent candidates were even worse.
His hesitation had given Shen Ye the perfect opening.
The boy pointed at Meng Guyu and commanded, “You! Go make a meal. I want egg soup.”
Meng Guyu hadn’t expected the job interview to involve a cooking test, but she didn’t mind. Having served Zhao Jinlai’s entire family in her past life, her cooking skills were well-honed.
She nodded readily. “Alright, I’ll make two dishes.”
The courtyard was small, and the kitchen was a tiny room tucked away on the west side of the gate. Meng Guyu rolled up her sleeves and stepped inside.
A quick scan of the cupboards revealed a few potatoes, a head of cabbage, a handful of cellophane noodles, and a few eggs in a basket in the corner.
Though the ingredients were sparse, the small piece of meat—about a quarter pound—made the meal feel luxurious.
Meng Guyu quickly formulated a plan.
Meat was a precious commodity, so she sliced off about a quarter pound, cutting it into a mix of lean and fatty pieces. She tossed them into the wok, frying them until the pork fat rendered out.
Next, she added two smashed cloves of garlic, stir-frying them until fragrant. Then, she tossed in the cleaned and chopped cabbage.
Once the cabbage was about eighty percent cooked, she added water, brought it to a boil, and stirred in the softened cellophane noodles, letting it all simmer for about ten minutes.
While that cooked, she used another pot to start the egg soup.
Egg soup was one of her specialties. She boiled water in a pot, stirred in a little flour slurry, and brought it to a boil.
Then, she slowly poured in the beaten eggs, swirling them into delicate ribbons.
A handful of chopped green onions added a splash of color. A spoonful of soy sauce, a spoonful of vinegar, and a few drops of sesame oil—which she found in the kitchen—sent an irresistible aroma wafting through the air.
Just as the egg soup was finished, the cabbage and cellophane noodles were ready to be plated. She cleared the wok and quickly stir-fried some shredded potatoes.
While most people stewed them, she preferred them stir-fried—sour, spicy, and crisp, it was a perfect appetite whetter. Since there was a child in the house, she only used half a chili pepper, just enough to give it a hint of spice.
A simple meal of two dishes and a soup. She hadn’t given much thought to it while cooking, but as she set the food on the table, her heart began to pound.
She glanced at Shen Fengmian, her voice tight with nerves. “Comrade Shen, let’s eat.”