Chapter 6

Without wasting any time, Aunt Sun tidied herself up and headed toward the nearest bus stop.

She was going to find Pei Mingxia, the younger sister of the Pei family!

Of course, she had to find her. It was Mingxia who had encouraged her to trouble Lu Nong. Now that she had lost her job, she had to go there and talk to her, right?

Pei Mingxia lived in the family apartments near the Foreign Languages University, but she was the deputy editor of a newspaper. After a moment’s hesitation, Aunt Sun decided to go to her home to find her.

As soon as Aunt Sun arrived at the building, she ran into Song Yeping, Mingxia’s husband, who was taking out the trash. He was an intellectual, a professor at the Foreign Languages University with a bright future ahead of him. Of course, if he weren’t so accomplished, he wouldn’t have been able to marry Pei Mingxia.

Seeing Aunt Sun, Song Yeping was taken aback. “Aunt Sun, what brings you here at this hour?”

Despite being arrogant with Lu Nong, Aunt Sun instantly changed her demeanor in front of Pei Mingxia and her husband. She spoke in a flattering tone, “Professor Song, I need to talk to Mingxia about something. Is she home?”

Song Yeping nodded. “Yes, she’s at home.”

“Great, I’ll go see her then.” Without waiting for a response, Aunt Sun quickly headed upstairs.

Song Yeping stood there, completely confused.

Pei Mingxia was in the kitchen preparing a meal when she heard a knock at the door. Thinking it was Song Yeping who had forgotten his keys again, she dried her hands and walked to the door, saying, “I say, your memory is so bad…”

“Aunt Sun? What brings you here?”

“Mingxia~ I was thrown out by that little vixen, Lu Nong!” Aunt Sun cried out.

“What!?” Pei Mingxia exclaimed, shocked as she hurriedly opened the door for Aunt Sun. “What happened?”

Aunt Sun’s expression turned sour as she began to vent her frustrations. “You have no idea. Ever since that little vixen moved in, she’s been giving me the cold shoulder every day. Just yesterday, when I went to wake her up for lunch, she threw a book at me!”

“That’s not all. Today at noon, I went grocery shopping, and she insisted on having pig trotters. I told her it was a hassle to make, and she pointed at me, calling me a nanny and saying she was the mistress of the house. What am I even to her?”

“That’s outrageous!” Pei Mingxia slammed her palm on the table, visibly angry.

“And what about my brother, Pei Ji’an? Is he really going to let her push you out like this?”

“Ah, the chief has it tough. That little vixen is persistent, what can he do?” Aunt Sun added fuel to the fire.

“This is ridiculous!” Pei Mingxia fumed. “I knew that Lu Nong was not a good person. It hasn’t even been a few days, and she’s already managed to get rid of you, who has been taking care of Pei Zheng for over ten years. My brother’s heart has gone astray. I think after a while, Xiao Zheng won’t have a place to stay in that family.”

“Back when he insisted on divorcing Sister Yimei, I thought he was just regretting it and ended up not getting married for more than a decade. I thought he regretted it and was waiting for Sister Yimei, but I didn’t expect that Sister Yimei was still waiting. But now he marries a much younger wife, treating Sister Yimei like she’s nothing.”

Pei Mingxia’s anger intensified, and she couldn’t help but feel resentment toward Pei Ji’an.

Aunt Sun noticed Pei Mingxia’s expression and realized that the matter was settled.

“Mingxia, about my job…” Aunt Sun looked at Pei Mingxia expectantly.

Pei Mingxia patted Aunt Sun’s hand. “Don’t worry. If they don’t want you, I will. For now, you can go help take care of Song Qian at my mother’s place.”

Song Qian was Pei Mingxia and Song Yeju’s son. He is three and a half years old. The couple was busy with work, so they had sent him to stay with Pei Mingxia’s mother.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Aunt Sun beamed. “I will take good care of Xiao Qian.”

…

Pei Ji’an’s cooking turned out surprisingly good, at least better than Aunt Sun’s. Lu Nong accidentally filled her stomach with it.

After the meal, Lu Nong cleaned the dishes, thinking that since someone else cooked, she might as well tidy up too.

After washing the dishes, Lu Nong planned to take a nap.

She took off her little dress and had just pulled on her pajamas when the sound of the door opening echoed.

Lu Nong: “…”

Silence.

After a three-second pause, Lu Nong calmly slipped on her pajamas and pajama pants as if nothing had happened.

She felt tire,; whatever happens, happens.

“Ahem,” a few minutes later, Pei Ji’an walked in, lightly clearing his throat. In a deep and gentle voice, he said, “I need to talk to you about something.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

The two chose to ignore the earlier awkwardness.

“This is my savings from the past few years along with this month’s salary. You should keep it.” Pei Ji’an handed her a bankbook and a stack of cash.

Lu Nong was taken aback. When she opened it, she found more than five thousand, it was a significant amount.

Lu Nong, who had always struggled financially, felt elated.

This was the first time a man had given her money. No wonder her past boyfriends had doted on her.

Who doesn’t love money?

Her money-grubbing look with shining eyes seemed natural and adorable. Pei Ji’an couldn’t help but smile slightly before bringing up another topic.

“Aunt Sun is gone, and since you can’t cook, we need to find another nanny. Do you know anyone?”

Lu Nong was about to say no when, for some reason, a name popped into her mind: Aunt Wu.

Aunt Wu was a servant at Lu Nong’s uncle’s home. After a lifetime of service there, her uncle had given her a substantial retirement package when his family moved abroad and entrusted her with the house in China.

When the original owner had given birth, Aunt Wu had helped with her postpartum recovery.

If Aunt Wu was willing to come to the Pei family, she would be the perfect fit.

“…I do have a relative in mind,” Lu Nong replied, not closing off the conversation entirely. “I’ll ask her if she’s willing to come. If she’s not, you can look for someone else.”

Pei Ji’an agreed.

Once he left, Lu Nong decided not to take a nap. Instead, she thought it best to find Aunt Wu right away and also quit her job at the hospital.

The original owner had been a nurse for many years, but observing her working environment, it was far from ideal.

Not only was there an uncle who constantly pressured the original owner to marry an older man, but also a few jealous nurses who would occasionally make things difficult for her.

Moreover, the nursing job had irregular hours and often required night shifts. With her fragile health, it could only worsen her condition due to the erratic schedule and poor metabolism.

As she stepped out of the small red building, she noticed an elderly neighbor watering her flowers in the yard. The neighbor looked over at Lu Nong a bit more than usual, and Lu Nong politely smiled back.

The elderly woman nodded in acknowledgment.

Lu Nong thought her neighbor was quite nice. Having a normal neighbor was much better than dealing with odd ones.

In 1963, the country had just emerged from a severe famine, and people mostly wore simple clothing. However, in the capital city, there were always girls who loved to dress beautifully. Therefore, Lu Nong didn’t stand out too much.

But her beauty was undeniable, the kind that radiated even when she just stood there. In the sunlight, her fair skin gleamed.

People couldn’t help but be drawn to her, and anyone standing next to her would fade into the background, like the only colorful character stepping out of a black-and-white film, with everyone else merely serving as a backdrop for her.