Chapter 42

Chunlian was about to ask what was going on when she spotted several familiar faces coming out of the Guo Family Home. The man in front wore a brand-new Zhongshan Suit. He Chunlian paused, then remembered. "Isn't that Old Mr. Lan?"

"You have a good memory, He. I was afraid you'd forgotten us."

Lan Yeping smiled and bent toward his grandson. "Lin, say hello to Grandma."

"Hello, Grandma." Lan Lin looked a little nervous, but he remembered his manners. He greeted her politely, then greeted Gu Jinshui and the others in turn.

"What a polite grandson you have."

Perhaps because she had a granddaughter of her own, He Chunlian found other people's grandchildren adorable too.

Of course, it might also have had something to do with the Foreign Exchange Certificate Old Mr. Lan had given her. It had made her the talk of the school.

"He's just too shy," Lan Yeping said. "I came to deliver an invitation today. We're moving next Monday, not far from here. If you're free, please come by for a modest drink."

Lan Yeping took a bright red invitation from his secretary and handed it to He Chunlian.

She looked at it. The address was for the Courtyard House just around the corner from their alley.

Gu Jinshui glanced at it. Well, he'd heard the Courtyard House had sold. He hadn't expected it to go to someone they knew.

"Of course we'll come. Since you're here, sir, why not stop by our place for tea before you go?"

He Chunlian closed the invitation and ushered them in.

Lan Yeping smiled. "Then we'll impose on you."

"Not at all. It's no trouble."

He Chunlian privately thanked her lucky stars. After getting that Foreign Exchange Certificate, she had gone to the Friendship Store, spotted a lovely tea set, and bought it on impulse.

Otherwise, serving a guest in enamel mugs today would have been a little embarrassing.

The moment Lan Lin entered the Gu Family home, he blinked and looked up at Lan Yeping. "Grandpa, the little girl..."

"You want to see the little girl? Then you'll have to ask Grandma whether she's awake."

Lan Yeping was endlessly patient with his grandson.

Lan Lin hesitated and looked at He Chunlian. She smiled. "Come with Grandma. She's probably awake now. Let's go see her."

Lan Lin wavered. He didn't want to leave his grandfather's side, but the little girl was too tempting.

Lan Yeping lowered his voice. "Lin, if you don't go see her, she'll be sad."

"Then... then I'll go look. Grandpa, don't leave." Lan Lin tipped his head back, clinging to Lan Yeping's leg.

Lan Yeping nodded. Only then did Lan Lin follow He Chunlian into the East Room, looking back every few steps.

Gu Yousi was already awake.

She lay in a hanging basket, her eyes darting around. When she saw He Chunlian lift her, she immediately brightened. "Go, go..."

"Oh, our Second Girl wants to go out for a walk, doesn't she?" He Chunlian asked.

She lifted the child out. Gu Yousi could stand now, holding on to the edge of the kang. Her little lotus-root legs wobbled. She turned and saw a small boy in a suit staring eagerly at her. "Little... little sister."

Who's that?

Gu Yousi looked up at He Chunlian.

As though she understood, He Chunlian picked her up and showed her to Lan Lin. "This is little Lan. He's an older boy, all right?"

Gu Yousi blinked. Then she remembered: the poor kid who'd been kidnapped.

She had no interest in him. She pointed at the Baby Walker in the corner. "Go, go..."

He Chunlian: "..."

There was no arguing with her granddaughter. She took both the child and the Baby Walker outside and let Gu Yousi race around the back courtyard in it.

Lan Lin followed behind her. Before long, he had become Gu Yousi's little helper.

If Gu Yousi looked at a flower, he picked it for her. If she looked at the grass, he pulled some up. He kept himself happily busy.

"Second Girl, honestly." Gu Jinshui looked embarrassed. "I'll tell her to stop running around."

She was treating someone else's grandson like an errand boy, right in front of his grandfather. It was embarrassing.

"No, no. Children play like this. We adults shouldn't interfere."

Lan Yeping watched his grandson run around, cheeks flushed. Surprised and excited, he hurried to stop Gu Jinshui.

The sight only strengthened what Lan Yeping had been thinking.

There was another reason he had returned to the country.

Overseas, several older children had bullied Lan Lin because of his skin color. Already shy and withdrawn, he had come down with a high fever that very night.

Lan Yeping's heart ached for his grandson. He was also growing older. If he died one day, Lan Lin would be alone overseas, with no family to rely on. As an ethnic Chinese child, he might be taken advantage of in ways Lan Yeping couldn't bear to imagine. He had spent years abroad and seen too much cruelty. Being stripped of his inheritance would be the least of it; worse, someone might even kill him.

So he had sought out a fortune-teller. The man told him that returning home would bring greater success in business, and that his family would meet benefactors there. From then on, they would turn danger into safety and misfortune into good fortune.

After Gu Jinshui saved his grandson, Lan Yeping had begun to suspect the Gu Family were the benefactors the fortune-teller had mentioned.

Seeing his usually shy grandson playing so freely with their granddaughter today convinced him completely.

"He, there's something I'd like to ask your help with."

Having made up his mind, Lan Yeping spoke to He Chunlian.

He Chunlian smiled as she poured tea. "You're too polite, sir. If there's anything I can do, just say so. Though I'm hardly anyone important. I doubt I can help you much."

"Don't worry, it's nothing difficult. My grandson and I are about to move, you see."

Lan Yeping accepted the tea and thanked her. "But we need a nanny. As you know, we've only just returned and don't know many people here. Your family is about the only one we know. We wouldn't feel comfortable entrusting this to strangers. With you, we can rest easy."

He Chunlian relaxed. So he just needed a nanny.

That was easy enough to discuss.

"What kind of nanny are you looking for? Any particular requirements?"

"Not many. We have a cook, so the nanny would only need to look after my grandson and keep him company. She should be in her fifties, preferably with family of her own, and honest. I can pay two hundred a month."

Lan Yeping chose his words carefully.

"Cough, cough!" Gu Jinshui, drinking water beside them, choked.

"How much? Two hundred?" He Chunlian's reaction was hardly any better.

"Yes. I know the pay is a little low, but if she does well, there will be bonuses during holidays and festivals," Lan Yeping said with a nod.

He Chunlian had no idea what to say.

That monthly wage was nearly as much as she made in a year.

If it weren't for her pride, she would have volunteered herself.

The Forty-Eighth Chapter, Overheard

"Old Master, I can do it! I can!"

While the Gu Family was still reeling from Lan Yeping's lavish offer, Huang Xirong suddenly rushed in, her face alight with excitement.

Before Gu Jinshui could react, Lan Yeping's secretaries stepped forward and blocked her. They moved swiftly and cleanly.

Those were hardly the reflexes of ordinary secretaries.

"Old Master, I'm not a stranger. I live in this Compound too," Huang Xirong hurriedly explained. She turned to He Chunlian. "Chunlian, introduce me!"

He Chunlian gave Huang Xirong a cold look.

The old woman must have been crouching beneath their window listening. How else could she have heard so clearly?

But He Chunlian didn't try to set her up. She nodded. "She's our neighbor. She lives over by the East Wing Room."

"I see."

Lan Yeping nodded and smiled at Huang Xirong. "They say a close neighbor is better than a distant relative, and it's true. But you have children at home too, don't you?"

"Two. A granddaughter who's a little over four, and a grandson about our Second Girl's age," Gu Jinshui said. Then he turned to Huang Xirong. "Auntie Huang, your family isn't short of money. Why snatch someone else's job?"

"Nonsense! Who says we aren't short of money?"

Huang Xirong glared at the grinning Gu Jinshui, thoroughly annoyed. "Besides, who ever complains about having too much money?"

"That last part's what you really mean, isn't it?" Gu Jinshui said with a grin. "But you hardly look after the children at home. Your granddaughter does that. Can you really take good care of someone else's child?"

Huang Xirong was furious.

Gu Jinshui was doing this on purpose.

She didn't look after the children at home because no one paid her to. If there were money in it, of course she'd do it properly.

But... those weren't words she could say aloud.

Lan Yeping was shrewd himself. He smiled. "Please don't joke, ma'am. With so many children at home, how would you have time to help? The nanny I'm looking for must live in and watch my grandson every day. I won't accept the slightest negligence."

He turned to his secretaries. "Please see her out."

The secretaries acknowledged him and firmly "escorted" Huang Xirong outside.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

He Chunlian looked helpless. "That's what happens when neighbors live so close together. They can hear every little thing next door."

"It's unavoidable." Lan Yeping took the interruption in stride. "And I only said all that to scare your neighbor. Children are bound to get bumps and scrapes. As long as it isn't deliberate, no one will mind."

"I understand."

He Chunlian thought for a moment. "Here's my suggestion: lower the monthly wage. Sixty will be plenty. Keep the rest for a year-end bonus. Leave finding a nanny to me."

Lan Yeping had no reason to refuse. He agreed at once.

He left quite a few gifts behind when he departed. As soon as he was gone, Gu Yinxing eagerly opened them and cried out.

"What a beautiful doll!"

Liang Ying came over and was dazzled too. "What kind of doll is this? I've never seen one so pretty at the department store."

"You wouldn't know, Sis. I saw one at the Friendship Store. Guess how much a doll like this costs?"

Gu Yinxing opened the box and took out the exquisitely made doll in a skirt suit.

"Fifty?" Liang Ying guessed.

"Add a zero!" Gu Yinxing said.

"Five hundred?"

Liang Ying's eyes widened.

Gu Yinxing nodded. "Exactly! To think he'd buy something so expensive. He's really rich."

She opened the other bags and immediately put down the Barbie Doll. Old Mr. Lan had also given them three sets of skincare products. She didn't know the brand, but the English name on the packaging told her they were expensive. Gu Jinshui had a gift too: a finely crafted Citizen wristwatch.

It was an overwhelming pile of gifts.

Gu Jinshui couldn't resist, and neither could He Chunlian, a woman who usually cared little for money.

She breathed in the fragrance of the skincare products. "I'd better find him someone quickly. I'd feel bad taking all these things otherwise."

"Mom, where are you going to find a nanny?" Gu Yinxing asked, rubbing hand cream onto her hands and sniffing it.

"We certainly can't hire some drifter," Liang Ying said. "It should be someone we know well, so we won't have to worry about what she might be planning."

After all, Old Mr. Lan would be living in that huge house with only his grandson. If they hired someone with bad intentions, she could make off with their things in the middle of the night and set the house on fire. The consequences would be unthinkable.

"Why not ask your relatives back home?" Gu Yinxing suggested to He Chunlian.

He Chunlian considered it. There really didn't seem to be a better choice.

She had stayed on decent terms with her family over the years. They lived in the countryside, and she had three older brothers. Back when food was scarce in the villages, she had sent them something to eat. When the city ran short, her brothers had helped her in return.

They visited each other around New Year, but she rarely went back otherwise, and her relatives seldom came to the city.

It wasn't that they feared He Chunlian would look down on her rural relatives. Everyone had simply been poor in those years. They couldn't afford to visit.

He