Lu Chenchen sent Le Hai a WeChat message, asking if he was coming back for the May 1 holiday.
The phone showed the time was 8:34 in the morning. Le Hai had probably just sent Little Le to kindergarten and immediately sent her a message after turning around.
At that time, she had also just sent Second Mao to kindergarten. The head teacher was talking to her about Little Ming's situation. Lu Chenchen told the teacher that Little Ming was fine and that his mother just wanted to observe him for a few more days before sending him to school. The teacher repeatedly asked her to tell his mother that it would be best to observe him for a few more days and then send him to school after the May 1 holiday.
Lu Chenchen understood the kindergarten's concerns about the flu, viruses, and other parents' worries.
It was while chatting with the teacher that she suddenly remembered the upcoming May 1 holiday.
Right after that, she saw Le Hai's message.
Lu Chenchen didn't reply to him right away, not because she was conflicted about going back or not, but because she was debating whether or not to ask Mrs. Mao if they needed her to stay for the May 1 holiday.
Well, it wasn't that she was being overly responsible, treating her employer's home as her own, but rather that she would get paid extra for working on holidays. Of course, Lu Chenchen wasn't greedy and didn't care about the double or triple pay required by law. She would be fine with just getting her regular wages for the days she didn't take off.
Based on Lu Chenchen's experience, most employers weren't hurting for money and liked to go on family trips for the holidays. With families like that, she could only go back home, otherwise the cost of living in Wuhan over the holiday would be too high.
The Mao family had one elderly person and three children. She didn't know if they planned to stay home or go out for the holiday. If she stayed, they would probably need someone to help out, right?
While thinking through all this, she headed towards the small district gate to pick up the vegetables Mrs. Mao had ordered yesterday.
Very unfortunately, she ran into Zhong Rong's mother again.
She had almost literally bumped into her every day for the past few days. It was really hard to believe they were chance encounters.
"What a coincidence! You must know I exercise here, right?" Zhong Rong's mother squinted and greeted her loudly.
Lu Chenchen was worried that whatever happened now would produce some sort of cause and effect relationship with these ambiguous accusations about who approached whom. She looked left and right. Although there weren't many people, some were mothers-in-law and aunties, the elite "intelligence team" she had been warned about online.
"Huh? Don't you usually exercise over by the outdoor gym near the east gate? What a coincidence seeing you here. Anyway, I have to hurry back to work!" She responded loudly as well, drawing a clear boundary.
She pretended not to see Zhong Rong's mother quicken her pace to catch up to her, stepping swiftly forward like rowing a boat.
She managed to shake her off in the end.
Geez, can a person not even work in peace?
Lu Chenchen was not someone who overthought things. She had a stubborn personality that allowed her to focus on one task and do it well. Before doing this type of work, she hadn't even cooked a meal. But now, her culinary skills could confidently be described as "nothing to sniff at." Little Ming absolutely loved the fish she made with fermented black beans. Big Mao even secretly brought the potato chips she made to school to share with classmates. Who knew one of the classmates would later proposition him, "If you agree to bring me more potato chips, I won't tell on you for having Ultraman cards in your backpack..."
She could also make cloud-shaped sponge cakes.
Since coming to work for the Maos she had also learned to bathe their dog and trim its nails. Nowadays when Li Li saw her, it didn't dare bark aggressively or even sneeze without thinking for a few seconds first. Because if it dared to growl at Lu Chenchen, as soon as Grandma's back was turned, Lu Chenchen would give it a big slap on the ear. Go on, go tattle! Go call Grandma to fire me! Just bullying me because you can't talk. What, wanna bite me? She bullied Li Li until it learned to make a wronged face.
Time flows like water, and Lu Chenchen had steadfastly done her best at each stage of life.
But life never seemed to be as simple as she imagined.
After lunch, when all the family members had eaten, she finished cleaning up the kitchen then went back to her room. She sent Le Hai a voice message saying the company would likely arrange two days of training for the holiday, and also, she herself was going to do research at a company, so she would be very busy and probably wouldn't get time off for the May 1 holiday.
Le Hai had poor eyesight, so when communicating with him, Lu Chenchen either sent voice messages or called.
She had just sent the message when her phone buzzed a minute later with a text from him saying: That's fine, I was just asking. Take care of yourself and stay safe. Little Le and I are doing well. Pork prices have dropped recently, and vegetables aren't expensive either. I still have plenty of money in my account. Not only can I support the two of us, I could even provide for you. Just don't send any more money back.
Lu Chenchen was silent. Le Hai had poor vision, so to avoid impacting her "white collar" job, he painstakingly typed out texts, leaving his eyes sore afterward.
"I've told you many times, I'm always chatting with you in my private office. You don't need to worry. Just use voice messages directly. I...I like hearing your voice. Besides, if it's not convenient, I can always convert your voice to text," she said gently, a gentleness an employer could never obtain.
Lu Chenchen had told Le Hai many lies, for example, claiming she worked at an investment company with a monthly salary over 10,000 yuan. The oil, rice, and fruit she sent back were given by her company. The snacks too. She even bragged about having three subordinates...
The only thing she didn't lie about was that she really liked hearing his voice, especially when he said caring things. His voice was low and slightly hoarse, but full of magnetism and emotion. Whenever they chatted, she would convert his texts to his voice in her mind, then be moved to tears circling her eyes.
So she didn't dare contact him without good reason. She was afraid that no matter what he said, he wouldn't change his habit of sending texts. She was afraid those texts would turn into his voice echoing in her ears all day, leaving her in a daze and messing up her work.
He was like a nine-carat diamond ring placed before an unmarried young woman, dizzying her mind and soul, making her want to possess it but not dare believe she could, wanting to show off but afraid of implicating him and losing his status. She obviously couldn't bear to part with it, yet also felt anxious and worried.
