Lu Chenchen was strongly urging Professor Qi to get a dog.
In order to help him raise a dog, Lu Chenchen took several nanny chat groups out of the "folded away, do not disturb" settings last night and changed them back to normal. Then, she kept asking around to see whose family had a dog, or where she could adopt or purchase a dog. To encourage everyone to help her find a dog, Lu Chenchen also distributed a total of 30 RMB in red envelopes across the three groups.
Even Boss Chen, who was also in these groups, was taken aback. In the middle of the night he asked her, "Why are you so urgently looking for a dog? Who wants to raise a dog?"
Lu Chenchen honestly told him that she wanted to find a dog to keep Professor Qi company.
Of course, she could not speak of the reasons behind it.
Boss Chen had a somewhat bewildered expression. "You're about to be laid off and go back to the Mao family tomorrow. What dog are you getting for him? Will his auntie like it? If she doesn't, won't she bite you to death when you get back?"
Lu Chenchen took the opportunity to ask if he knew anything about the situation with Professor Qi's live-in auntie.
"I don't know," Boss Chen answered briskly and quickly.
"Then where did you get the information about this job?" Lu Chenchen asked.
"From President Mao!"
These few words carried a lot of information. Lu Chenchen was stunned for a long time holding her phone, recalling that Mao Yuanning called his mother-in-law "Aunt QI (seven)," and Lu Chenchen had always thought it was either QI for paint, or seven for her birth order. She had never associated it with Professor Qi before.
As it turns out, Mao Yuanning had been calling her "Aunt QI" all along.
With Boss Chen's words, Lu Chenchen was able to connect many dots. With Boss Chen's slick words, she had thought it was because she was capable and had good interpersonal skills that he gave her this job. In fact, it was highly likely that Mao Yuanning had specifically requested that Lu Chenchen fill in. Furthermore, the words on the glass whiteboard were not written by the auntie, but by Mao Yuanning. At home, he also called Lu Chenchen "Little Lu," so he directly carried that over to Professor Qi's place. It was also probably because of his stamp of approval that Professor Qi accepted Lu Chenchen without question, simply hearing that she was "Little Lu."
Professor Qi and Mao Yuanning's mother-in-law were definitely related, most likely siblings or in-laws. In other words, Mao Yuanning was Professor Qi's grandnephew...
Ahhh!
Lu Chenchen let out a long groan. Her brain hurt from all this analysis, plus she was already feeling a bit dizzy from her cold. She wanted to just sleep through this until the sun came up.
But how could she force herself to fall asleep?
In a daze, she lay there until almost dawn when she heard rustling sounds in the living room. Too lazy to get up, she slid open her phone to check WeChat.
Indeed, two of her nanny friends had replied. One said that back in her hometown, there were two month old puppies in the village, and she could bring one to Wuhan today if Lu Chenchen wanted. The other said she saw someone in her employer's homeowner WeChat group asking if anyone wanted to adopt a golden retriever, and offered to help Lu Chenchen inquire about it.
Lu Chenchen gave a wry smile, thanking them both, and apologizing that her employer no longer needed a dog.
Even if she managed to get a dog and butter up Professor Qi, not to mention that he would not give up Aunt Qiao Min for her, even at the Mao family's side, Mao Yuanning probably would not allow a situation where his own nanny jumped ship.
After finding out about the relationship between Mao Yuanning and Professor Qi, Lu Chenchen thought through this matter again from the beginning. It was simple once everything was out in the open - Professor Qi needed a nanny for the May 1st holidays, so President Mao thought that arranging a familiar person was better than grabbing a stranger. Thus, Lu Chenchen was dispatched.
That was all there was to it.
The only person who overthought things was Lu Chenchen. First wanting to replace Aunt Qiao Min, then wanting to abandon Mrs. Mao, even going everywhere to find a prop dog...
The only person who was not forthright in all this was Mao Yuanning. He arranged Lu Chenchen over without any notice through Boss Chen, and still acted innocent at home, joking with her and leading her to rack her brains about how to get to Professor Qi's place, making various calculations. In the end, she was completely toyed with like a monkey...
Fortunately, at the critical juncture, she encountered the lucky star Boss Chen, who allowed her to learn the truth of the matter and silently hit the brakes while she still could.
Lu Chenchen had to adjust her goal.
Lu Chenchen had to adjust her goal, taking a roundabout approach to achieve her purpose.
The way never mattered, nor were there only single paths. As long as she had the goal, as long as she achieved the goal, it would be victory.
Lu Chenchen continued motivating herself like self-hypnosis, all the way until past 4pm when Aunt Qiao Min returned.
She was a very nanny-like nanny, in her fifties, darker complexioned, carrying a rather large backpack on her back. In her hand she held a 6L plastic oil jug filled with eggs. She was drenched in sweat.
As soon as Professor Qi saw her, his eyes immediately lit up with a radiance that Lu Chenchen was seeing for the first time in the five days she had been there.
Lu Chenchen felt that even if she hadn't known about the relationship between Mao Yuanning and Professor Qi, in this moment, upon seeing how unabashedly Professor Qi dived into Aunt Qiao Min's backpack like a child, she would have understood that Professor Qi would never give up Qiao Min for a dog and choose her instead.
Qiao Min's smile was very gentle.
People who have been nannies for a long time all smile like that. Lu Chenchen felt a tinge of sour grapes to not compliment her.
She took the eggs out of the plastic jug and put them in the fridge, murmuring that they were specially brought back for Professor Qi, free-range eggs that nourished the brain. She allowed Professor Qi to pile the dried potato shreds, tapioca flour noodles, glutinous rice cakes, and honey from her large backpack all over the table. Then, she good-naturedly went up and tidied up one item at a time. Throughout this process, Professor Qi bustled around her, smacking his lips and saying he wanted to eat this and eat that.
Qiao Min's response was always "okay."
Lu Chenchen recalled Professor Qi's disdain when faced with the oil-splattered noodles. Although she had conquered his taste buds with the flavor, compared to the heartfelt joy now... *sigh*! Lu Chenchen's heart ached.
Qiao Min was very diligent. As soon as she returned, she took over Lu Chenchen's work, tying on an apron to start cooking, and sincerely telling Lu Chenchen to stay for a meal before leaving.
"No need," said Lu Chenchen, forcing a smile.
Overall, Lu Chenchen was still quite savvy and knew when to restrain her emotions, not easily showing her joy or anger openly. Perhaps it had been too long since she last tasted that swelling fighting spirit, only to end up having to tuck her tail between her legs. Lu Chenchen could not muster the grace to congratulate Qiao Min, who had done nothing yet still emerged victorious.
When leaving, as if casually, Lu Chenchen gestured towards the words on the glass whiteboard and asked Qiao Min, "Such beautiful handwriting, have you practiced it?"
Qiao Min smiled. "I can't write nearly that nicely."
The circled "Little Lu" also seemed to be grinning.
Lu Chenchen rode a shared bike, transferred to the subway, then rode another shared bike back to the Mao residence.
Standing at their door, she felt as if waking from a dream, returned back to where she started.
