“I’m planning to hire a nanny. Besides cleaning and cooking, she’ll also be responsible for picking up and dropping off the kids. I’ve actually been wanting to find one for a while now, but I need to find someone I know well who will be able to pick up and drop off the kids. If your relative doesn’t mind being a nanny, she can come and give it a try.” Shu Yan really thought this was a good candidate.

"No problem, no problem." It's just cleaning the house, cooking, and picking up the kids. Where can you find a job like that?

Decades from now, many girls may think that being a housewife is the hardest job, but in this era, cleaning, washing clothes, and cooking are generally considered the easiest jobs. Besides, Shuyan's two children are grown up, so all she has to do is pick them up and drop them off.

"Let's make it clear first, I still need to assess the person." They're all neighbors, and Shu Yan didn't want to cause any unpleasantness over such a small matter.

"I understand, don't worry, I'll talk to her and make things clear. It's already very kind of you to give her this opportunity." Sister Zhang didn't want to fall out with her neighbor over a distant relative, especially since Shu Yan was clearly very wealthy, and it was certainly worthwhile to befriend someone like that.

"Why don't you have your relative come over today and cook a meal first? If they're okay with it, they can stay for a month-long trial period. It'll be 300 yuan a month during the trial period, and 350 yuan a month after they become a full-time employee, with room and board included. I don't mind doing my job well, as long as it's clean. The main thing is my two kids. If they get along, there won't be any problems."

Hearing that Shu Yan was offering 350 yuan a month, Sister Zhang was tempted. "Then I'll go back and talk to her right away."

Sister Zhang opened the door, put down her things, and hurried home.

"Mom, where's Auntie?"

"He's kneading dough in the kitchen, saying he'll make noodles for us tonight." The old lady pointed towards the kitchen. "Why did you rush back so excitedly?"

"Didn't my aunt ask me to help her find a job? Well, I've actually found a suitable one." Sister Zhang was a little proud of herself.

"What kind of job?" the old lady whispered, leaning closer. "She's a relative from your father's hometown, so don't just give her some random job. Her daughter is a college graduate; she'll have a job when she graduates. We might need her help in the future."

"Am I that kind of person?" Sister Zhang said unhappily, and shouted to the kitchen, "Auntie, didn't you ask me to help you look for a job? You don't know, many factories are not doing well now, they are all laying off people, how can they hire people? Private factories need technical skills, and it's not easy to find them either."

The eldest aunt looked gloomy; she had found out about this. She had originally thought that coming to Nancheng would just mean sweeping floors and cleaning toilets, and she could at least earn some income each month. But now she discovered that even sweeping jobs didn't want her.

“It’s okay if we didn’t find her. I just feel that it’s too hard for your sister to go to school and earn a living. It’s my fault as her mother. I can’t help her at all.” The aunt smiled bitterly.

"Let me finish what I have to say. I've asked everyone I can find around here, and I finally managed to find you a job. I think it's great, but I don't know if you're willing to take it." Just now, Sister Zhang clearly didn't finish her sentence on purpose, just to show how much effort she had put into this job and to make Auntie grateful to her.

"What kind of work?" As long as there is work, I don't care if it's dirty or tiring.

"The family next to my new house, a woman with two children, I haven't seen the children's father. I guess he's either doing business outside or they're divorced. Anyway, when I asked her for help finding a job today, she asked who I was, and I said it was my aunt. She's hardworking and clean, and she said she was looking for a trusted aunt. Hearing that I was a relative, she felt more at ease. She suggested I try working for her. It's just cleaning, cooking, and picking up the kids, 350 yuan a month including room and board. What do you think of this job? If not, I'll tell her."

"Three hundred and fifty?" Zhang Jie's mother-in-law exclaimed in surprise. Her husband only earns 400 yuan a month at the factory, but this distant cousin from the countryside can get 350 yuan a month, plus room and board. That adds up to more than 450 yuan.

The aunt looked at Sister Zhang with equal surprise, "Is this true? I... I'll do it, I'll do it."

"Don't get too excited yet, they have their own requirements too," Sister Zhang quickly said.

"Of course, of course." With such a high salary, there must be requirements. Auntie kneaded the dough absentmindedly, worried that she wouldn't meet the requirements.

"Don't worry, I've put in a lot of good words for you. I said you're a good person, clean, and a good cook. So, she asked me to bring you over now to cook her a meal. If the meal suits your taste, she'll let you work on a trial period for a month. The trial period salary is 300 yuan a month. If the children get along well with you, you'll be officially hired after a month, with a salary of 350 yuan a month, plus two days off. If you don't take the days off, there will be an additional subsidy. You can ask her for details; I can't ask too many questions," Sister Zhang said with a hint of pride.

"Thank you so much, well..." Auntie looked at the dough, then at Sister Zhang's mother-in-law.

"This is almost done. Leave it to me. You go change your clothes and go to the job interview with Xiaojuan." After her aunt left, the old lady pulled Zhang Jie aside. "You too, why didn't you ask me for such a good opportunity? My house is just sitting idle. All I do is pick up the kids, cook, and clean. It's 350 yuan! Where else can you find such a good deal? It's too good for an outsider."

“Didn’t you hear that she’s my neighbor? Our little one is about the same age as her son, and they’ll definitely be going to the same school. Grandma’s working as a nanny at her classmate’s house? How can our little one hold his head up at school?” Sister Zhang hadn’t thought of that. 350 a month, but they happen to live in the same community and are neighbors.

"That makes sense, we can't let Xiaobao lose face." Having waited so long for her grandson, Grandma Zhang was naturally thinking about him with all her heart.

After taking a shower and washing her hair, Shu Yan saw that the two children were still taking a nap. Since it was summer vacation, Shu Yan didn't wake them up and tidied up the room that was originally intended for the nanny to sleep in.

This apartment has a three-bedroom, two-living-room layout. When Shuyan was renovating, she partitioned off a small room in the living room area, originally intending it to be a storage room, but now it's been tidied up for the housekeeper to live in.

Luckily, I thought about ventilation and opened a window, otherwise I might have felt a bit dizzy living there.

This room is only 5 square meters in size, 2 meters wide and 2.5 meters long. It's about enough to fit a 1.2-meter bed and a bedside table. However, when Shuyan renovated this small room, she built built-in cabinets on both sides to store some things. Now, the side next to the bed is for the housekeeper.

I need to buy a bed and a bedside table, as well as curtains. Then I can put on the sheets and duvet cover and go to sleep.

Just as she finished cleaning, the doorbell rang. Shu Yan opened the door and saw Sister Zhang and a woman following behind her. She subtly sized up the woman behind Sister Zhang. If Sister Zhang hadn't said she was 39, Shu Yan would have thought she was 59.

Country women, exposed to the elements in the fields, naturally can't compare to city dwellers in terms of youth, but this woman is far too old. It's clear how much work she does at home. Raising her daughter and sending her to school by farming a small plot of land is truly not easy.

Shu Yan was looking for a nanny, not a beautiful woman. Whether the person Zhang Jie brought was good-looking or old was irrelevant to her, as long as she was diligent, clean, and could cook well.

"Sister Zhang must have told you, right? Besides cleaning, I also have to cook and pick up the kids. You can handle all of that, right?" Shu Yan took out slippers for them to change into and led them to sit down in the living room.

"No problem, I can do all of these." Back in her hometown, she would get up before dawn to work on the mountain and return home at night, not to mention the housework. She also raised two pigs and more than a dozen chickens and ducks, so these chores were no different from playing at home for Shuyan.

Shu Yan nodded and led her to the kitchen. "We're from the north. The two kids have been here for a while and are gradually getting used to the food in the south. But they still prefer noodles and dumplings, right?"

"Yes. My hometown is also in the north, and we mostly eat noodles." After thinking for a moment, the aunt added, "I can also cook southern dishes. There are some dishes I don't know how to cook, but I can learn them. I'm a pretty good cook in our village, and people like to ask me to cook for their banquets."

"That's perfect. I just had lunch, so can I make noodles for dinner?" Shu Yan asked her.

"When I got back, I saw my aunt kneading dough. Her noodles are really delicious," Sister Zhang chimed in.

Shu Yan opened the cabinet and said, "Staple foods like noodles and rice are all here, and vegetables, meat, and eggs are in the refrigerator." She opened the refrigerator and told her where to put the vegetables and meat. "These things should be kept separate to avoid cross-contamination of flavors. Anyway, take whatever vegetables you need. If you don't have any of them, I can go buy them."

"That's enough, that's enough." The aunt saw the refrigerator full of vegetables and meat and thought to herself that the host family was too rich. No wonder they could afford such a high salary of 350.

Sister Zhang, who was standing nearby, looked on with some envy and touched the refrigerator, asking, "How much did you pay for this refrigerator?"

"Around 3000, I don't know the exact price, but I can ask for you if you want to buy it."

"I'm not buying it. I won't need it in winter. I'll think about it in the summer." But in her heart, Sister Zhang thought to herself, "I'd rather buy a big color TV than spend over 3,000 yuan on a refrigerator."

Shu Yan smiled, left the kitchen to her aunt, and went outside to talk with Sister Zhang on the sofa.

They had only given brief self-introductions before, but after chatting together today, they learned that Sister Zhang's family, her husband's family, and they themselves all worked at the winery. The winery's business was quite good, so they weren't as poor as Zhang Huaxiu's family.

"Although it's not bad, all our savings over the years have gone into buying a house. Unlike you, who makes a lot of money in business." Zhang Jie's husband had wanted to quit his job to start a business a long time ago, but her parents-in-law and she had always strongly opposed it. Now that she saw Shu Yan, she suddenly regretted it. If she had started a business a few years ago, would she be richer than Shu Yan now?

My aunt quickly kneaded the dough, put it in a bowl, covered it, and then cleaned up the kitchen.

When Sister Zhang saw her aunt come out, she glanced at the time and said, "Oh dear, I have to go back and cook. Aunt, you stay here and I'll come over after I finish eating."

"You can eat here too," Shu Yan said, trying to persuade her to stay.

"No, my husband needs to eat when he gets back. I have to go now, Auntie. I'll come over after I finish eating." With that, Sister Zhang left.

After Sister Zhang left, there was an awkward silence between the two. Shu Yan smiled and said, "I'll call you Auntie too. Now that you've come to Nancheng to look for work, have you made all the arrangements at home?"

Shu Yan was also worried that the nanny would often take leave due to her family affairs, which would make it more difficult for her to make arrangements.

"Everything is arranged. Before coming here, I sold the pig, slaughtered and dried all the chickens and ducks. Half of them were sent to Xiaojuan's family, and the other half were sent to my daughter." Sister Zhang smiled shyly.

Shu Yan nodded and slowly started talking about her daughter. As soon as her daughter was mentioned, her aunt immediately opened up, saying that her daughter had been sensible, well-behaved, and ambitious since she was little, and that she had been admitted to Nanjing University. She said that no matter how hard she worked, it was all worth it...

More than half an hour later, my aunt returned to the kitchen and continued kneading, rolling out, and making noodles.

The noodles were ready. Water was boiling in a pot on one side, while oil was being poured in to stir-fry the toppings. Soon, the aroma wafted out of the kitchen, attracting the two little gluttons who were playing in the room.

"Mom smells so good!"

"Hungry? You can eat in a little while," Shu Yan said with a smile.

"Hey, isn't it Mom who's cooking?" Jingjing glanced at the kitchen and saw a strange woman busy at work, so she asked in a low voice.

"Mom hired a chef today." Shu Yan told them to wash their hands first, and then went into the kitchen to take out the leftover seafood from lunch. Seafood can't be eaten if it's left overnight.

My aunt brought out three bowls of noodles in two separate servings, each topped with a thick layer of sauce, and the aroma was irresistible.

"Try it, and if you like it, there's more in the pot." The aunt kept wiping her apron with both hands, feeling extremely nervous.

"Aunt, please sit down and eat with us." Seeing that she didn't intend to sit down, Shu Yan pulled out a chair for her.

"No, no. I'll eat inside." There's no way a nanny should eat with the employer.

"No need for that. There are only a few of us in our family. Let's sit down and eat together." Shu Yan pushed her to sit down and went to the kitchen to bring out another bowl of noodles and put it in front of her. "These seafood and meats are leftovers from lunch. I don't know if you like seafood. Don't be shy, help yourself. If you can't finish them, you can just throw them away." As she spoke, Shu Yan put several pieces of beef into her aunt's bowl.

"That's enough, that's enough," the aunt said, flattered.

The noodles were very chewy, and Shu Yan thought they were very similar to the noodles her mother made. The toppings were even better than her mother's, making it a dish that was perfect in color, aroma, and taste. She wasn't lying; this skill was definitely one of the best in the village.

The two children were already so full they could barely lift their heads. Shu Yan peeled some seafood for them and put it in a small plate next to them. "Eat slowly, don't choke."

Seeing that the two children were eating well, the aunt breathed a sigh of relief.

After finishing the meal, the aunt quickly tidied up the dining room and kitchen, and went outside to see Shuyan sitting on the sofa. She approached her somewhat nervously.

"Aunt, please sit down." Shu Yan smiled kindly. "You cook very well. From now on, I'll have to trouble you with the three meals a day, the house cleaning, and picking up and dropping off the kids."

The aunt was stunned for a moment, "You...you're using me?"