Chapter 14 The whole family vies to dote on you!
“Aunt Jiang, this is a new era. The old master-servant theory is no longer valid.”
"Comrade Qiao came to work for our family based on his own abilities. The money he earns is all earned through his labor. He is not a servant."
"As Chairman Mao said, labor is the most glorious thing."
"As for Aunt Jiang, how long are you and Deng Yingying planning to stay at my house for free this time?"
When Xie Zhongming said the above words, his brows furrowed slightly.
His gaze beneath his brow bone exuded an aura of righteousness, and even his voice carried a touch of solemnity—a testament to his respect for laborers, allowing no room for disrespect from others.
Besides, he wouldn't indulge Jiang Chunyan.
If we're talking about repaying a debt of gratitude, he's known for his memories of how the Xie family has consistently helped Jiang Chunyan and her daughter Deng Yingying, so the debt of gratitude has long been repaid.
If you want the Xie family to continue repaying their debt of gratitude, that's fine, but Jiang Chunyan can't insult Comrade Qiao. In this era, there's no such thing as a servant. Besides, he heard Jiang Chunyan call Comrade Qiao a vixen.
There's a problem with their ideological awareness!
The problem is still very serious!
Qiao Xingyue, who was in the kitchen, had just brought a bowl of braised pork with preserved mustard greens to the table.
She heard Comrade Xie's words of defense clearly, and she also saw the respect he showed her.
Her previous impression of Comrade Xie was that he was tough and resolute, and also very shy.
Now, she has another word to describe her impression of him—sharp-tongued!
He really is a gay man with very sound values.
Seeing her bring the braised pork with preserved vegetables to the table, Jiang Chunyan gave her a disgruntled look and said, "Fine, fine, fine, she's a glorious worker, okay?"
Then, looking at Xie Zhongming, who stood tall and exuded righteousness, he feigned grievance and said:
“But Zhongming, how can you say that your Aunt Jiang is eating, drinking, and living in your house for free? If Yingying’s father hadn’t sacrificed himself to save your father, how could Aunt Jiang have remarried into Old Zhao’s family? Old Zhao is going to be sent to the countryside for reform, do you want Aunt Jiang to go to the countryside to suffer as well?”
"What did your parents say before? They said that your Xie family would definitely take good care of Yingying's father and me. They said that themselves, so does that mean we're eating, drinking, and living at your house for free?"
As she spoke, Jiang Chunyan deliberately wiped away her tears.
Beside her, Deng Yingying, holding her hand, also cried with grievance, "Mom, it seems we've disturbed Aunt Lan and Uncle Xie. Should we leave?"
Seeing the mother and daughter crying, Xie Jiang felt a tightness in his chest.
Thinking of the kindness of Lao Deng in saving his life, he felt extremely guilty.
Huang Guilan, who was standing nearby, felt extremely aggrieved. It was clearly Jiang Chunyan who was being unreasonable, but they had become the ones in the wrong.
At this moment, Xie Jiang spoke up, "Alright, fourth brother, say less. Let your Aunt Jiang and Yingying stay at home and settle down first. We'll talk about the rest later."
Xie Zhongming added, "They can stay, but just because they're here doesn't mean we should make Comrade Qiao and An'an sleep on the floor in the main room."
Huang Guilan chimed in, “Yes, it’s inconvenient for Xingyue, a woman, to sleep on the floor in the main room, and it also affects the rest of her and her daughter. In any case, Xingyue and the children must stay in the study.”
Qiao Xingyue, standing to the side, knew her place and tactfully said:
"Aunt Lan, Uncle Xie, Commander Xie, thank you for your kindness, but how about I take An'an and Ningning and we sleep on the floor? It's alright, the three of us have always lived in the countryside, we're tough and can sleep anywhere, as long as we have someone to sleep on..."
"How can that be?" Before Qiao Xingyue could speak, Huang Guilan said decisively, "I will not allow you to sleep on the floor in the main room. The floor is so hard that everyone has to pass through the main room to get up to use the toilet at night. It's impossible to sleep there."
Jiang Chunyan retorted, "What, Guilan? Do you expect me and Yingying to sleep on the floor in the main room?"
Xie Jiang said gently, "How about this, Chunyan, you and Yingying sleep in Lao Wu's room for now. Lao Wu won't be back for the time being."
Jiang Chunyan replied unhappily, "That won't do. Xie Mingzhe's room is full of men."
Xie Zhongming interjected, "Aunt Jiang, if you think Mingzhe's room is too masculine, I'll apply for a single room for you and Deng Yingying. You'll have more freedom and no one will bother you."
Jiang Chunyan muttered, "Forget it, we'll just stay in Mingzhe's room. I don't know what's wrong with your family, everyone's so protective of a little maid."
As she spoke, Jiang Chunyan glared at Qiao Xingyue with annoyance, "Isn't she just a nanny?"
Xie Zhongming declared, "Aunt Jiang, everyone, regardless of their profession, deserves to be respected."
Qiao Xingyue felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing this.
Everyone in the Xie family treated her with such respect and consideration, as if she were not just their nanny, but also a member of their family.
This sense of family warmth touched Qiao Xingyue's heart, and An An and Ning Ning beside her listened with smiles on their faces: "Grandpa Commander is so nice, Grandma is nice too, and Uncle Zhongming is even better!"
The awkward atmosphere was broken by Qiao Xingyue, "The food is ready, everyone wash your hands and get ready for dinner."
As she spoke, she went to the kitchen to get the remaining dishes, and Xie Zhongming followed behind to help her get bowls and chopsticks and serve rice.
As usual, Xie Zhongming went to his grandmother's room first to feed her, and then asked Qiao Xingyue, An'an, and Ningning to sit down and eat with everyone.
A short while later, Xie Zhongming also returned to the table.
Seeing that Qiao Xingyue and her two children had sat down at the table, Jiang Chunyan glanced at Huang Guilan and Xie Jiang and said, "Commander Xie, Guilan, is it customary for your nanny to eat at the table?"
The kind-hearted and beautiful Huang Guilan spoke gently even when she was angry, “Chunyan, Zhongming has already stated that this is a new era, and there is no master-servant relationship.”
"Xingyue, eat your meat, don't take it to heart." As she spoke, Huang Guilan placed a piece of braised pork with preserved mustard greens on Qiao Xingyue's plate.
The braised pork belly was much larger than the usual braised pork, about three fingers wide and half an inch long, with seven parts fat and three parts lean. Although it was first fried and then steamed to coat it with soy sauce and made it very fragrant, it was still inevitably high in fat.
She has been eating this kind of oily and greasy food for more than ten days in a row.
She felt like she had gained a lot of weight.
The original owner was prone to weight gain. In Chadian Village, Fatty always ate sweet potato dumpling soup or sweet potato porridge. She couldn't live without sweet potatoes for any of her three meals a day, yet she still managed to gain over 200 pounds.
She ate meat every day at the Xie family's house, mostly fatty meat, and she always felt like she had gained some weight.
She stared at the piece of braised pork with preserved mustard greens that Aunt Lan had picked up for a long time, but didn't dare to take a bite.
After observing her for so many days, Xie Zhongming discovered that she didn't seem to like eating fatty meat.
At this moment, Huang Guilan put another piece of fatty meat on Qiao Xingyue's plate. The oil droplets from the soy sauce left several marks on the white porcelain bowl, which was covered in oil.
Qiao Xingyue held her chopsticks in her hand, paused, and secretly curled her fingertips. She didn't dare to pick up the meat. Aunt Lan was still nagging her that she was too thin and wanted her to eat more meat. Such kindness made it impossible for her to refuse.
He could only soften his smile, say thank you, lower his head and cover the fatty meat with rice, pretending to eat the rice, but his chewing of the white rice was a beat slower.
Xie Zhongming noticed these subtle reactions. Seeing that Huang Guilan was about to put a third piece of fatty meat on Qiao Xingyue's plate, Xie Zhongming stopped her, saying, "Mom, Comrade Qiao hasn't been feeling well these past few days and can't eat anything too greasy. Please don't put any on her plate. If you're going to put any on her plate, please put on some lean meat."
As he spoke, Xie Zhongming separated the lean and fatty parts of the braised pork belly that Huang Guilan was holding with her chopsticks.
He picked out the fatty parts and put them in his own bowl, while giving the lean parts to Qiao Xingyue.
Huang Guilan then realized that Xingyue liked to eat lean meat. No wonder she didn't move when she put two pieces of meat in Xingyue's bowl. She quickly took the fatty meat back from Xingyue's bowl, separated the fat and lean meat, and put all the lean meat back into Xingyue's bowl.
As a result, only lean meat remained in Qiao Xingyue's bowl.
"Xingyue, from now on, you must tell Aunt Lan what you like to eat and what you don't like to eat. Don't be shy."
Qiao Xingyue's smile softened even more.
His usual decisiveness made him feel somewhat flattered at this moment.
Unexpectedly, the helplessness she felt over the past ten days was resolved with just one sentence from Commander Xie. This man's insight was truly extraordinary; he even knew that she didn't like fatty meat.
I can only admire them!
More than anything, I feel grateful.
"Okay, Aunt Lan, I won't be polite from now on."
Throughout the entire process, Jiang Chunyan and her daughter Deng Yingying stared in disbelief at everything that was happening.
She's just a nanny, yet Huang Guilan and Xie Zhongming treat her like royalty.
Deng Yingying, standing nearby, felt a pang of jealousy. She hadn't seen Xie Zhongming for two years, and he hadn't even served her any food, only paying attention to Qiao Xingyue. She immediately felt jealous and resentful towards Qiao Xingyue: Could this woman have really bewitched Brother Zhongming?
Jiang Chunyan said sarcastically, "Zhongming, I know Comrade Qiao is your nanny. But I didn't know that. With you putting lean meat on her plate like this, people will think she's your wife!"
Jiang Chunyan added, "Zhongming, you've been married before, so you should keep your distance from your little nanny and be mindful of your boundaries."
Jiang Chunyan looked at Qiao Xingyue and said, "And you, Comrade Qiao. You've already had two kids, what? You still want to seduce Zhongming? Does your husband know you're flirting with other men?"
Jiang Chunyan received news that Xie Zhongming wanted to divorce his wife from the countryside.
After he got divorced, she wanted to marry her daughter, Deng Yingying, to Xie Zhongming.
Xie Zhongming is such a desirable man. Even though he's a divorced man, he's still a very popular guy in the neighborhood. Plus, he gets a monthly allowance of over a hundred yuan, and he has the powerful Xie and Huang families backing him up. Yingying's life would be too good if she married him. We can't let this little nanny beat her to it.
Jiang Chunyan then said, "Comrade Qiao, you wouldn't dare to blatantly seduce other people's men like that, would you, a widow whose husband has died?"
These words made Huang Guilan and Xie Jiang's faces darken, and they were about to stand up for Qiao Xingyue.
Qiao Xingyue spoke first:
"Aunt Jiang, which eye of yours saw me seducing men? Making baseless accusations against others is a offense that deserves criticism and education. Aunt Jiang certainly doesn't want the family committee and political department to find out about you so soon after you arrived at the Jincheng Military Region compound. Don't make baseless accusations against people, okay?"
"My husband died, but he was also a revolutionary martyr. Aunt Jiang, don't you know what punishment you'll receive for insulting a revolutionary martyr?"
Jiang Chunyan: This nanny is actually a family member of a martyr?
In this day and age, it is indeed wrong to label others indiscriminately, especially to label the families of martyrs.
Jiang Chunyan choked for a moment and didn't say anything more. She picked up a piece of meat and ate it. After a while, she suddenly smiled triumphantly to herself.
Then, while picking up some meat, she said:
"Commander Xie, Guilan, my distant relative's second daughter-in-law, also a widow with a child, married into the family. To impress everyone, she was all sweet talk and hard work, eager to do all the dirty and tiring tasks, very obedient. But not long after she married in, her true nature was revealed. Not only was she lazy and gluttonous, but she also disrespected her elders. Moreover, she has two children to support and doesn't want to have another one. Tell me, why did you marry her?"
"And another thing, not long after this widow married into the family, she caused the deaths of two elders in my relatives' family. I heard that widows who have lost their husbands are all unlucky, possessed by a jinx, who brings misfortune to those around them."
As she spoke, Jiang Chunyan smiled and looked at Qiao Xingyue, "Comrade Qiao, I was talking about my relative's second daughter-in-law, not you. Please don't take it to heart."
Deng Yingying was overjoyed when she heard what her mother said.
Now you haven't wrongly labeled others, have you?
Deng Yingying was ready to watch the show; she wanted to see how Qiao Xingyue would save face.
Little did they know, Qiao Xingyue, while leisurely picking up food, had taken in Jiang Chunyan and Deng Yingying's subtle expressions of smugness.
Clearly, this Jiang Chunyan is deliberately making things difficult for her, trying to embarrass her, and she won't admit it.
She wasn't angry. As she picked up some food, she smiled and replied, "Aunt Jiang, what are you saying? You didn't name names, so why would I mind?"
Then, changing the subject, she added, "But it's a coincidence. I used to know an old, dark-skinned woman who looked just like Aunt Jiang. Her skin wasn't fair at all, and she loved to eat meat, eating it one bite after another. In the end, she suddenly died."
Qiao Xingyue deliberately asked again, "Aunt Jiang, do you know how she died?"
"..." Jiang Chunyan was in no mood to answer her question. Wasn't this cursing her to die?
Huang Guilan chimed in, "Xingyue, could it be that this dark-skinned, old woman choked to death on her own meat?"
Qiao Xingyue looked at Jiang Chunyan's face, which had turned a deep shade of liver, and felt immense satisfaction. She then said calmly:
"No. She died of excessive talking. She talked too much, always talking badly about others and being sarcastic. Even God couldn't stand it, so he made her choke to death on her own saliva while she was talking."
"Do you think it's worth it? If she hadn't spoken so many bad things about others, God wouldn't have made her choke to death on her own saliva while speaking."
Hermaphroditism is something everyone can do!
After Qiao Xingyue finished speaking to Jiang Chunyan, she even picked up some food and, mimicking Jiang Chunyan's tone, said with a smile, "Aunt Jiang, I wasn't talking about you, so please don't take it to heart."
"..." How could Jiang Chunyan not take it to heart? This was practically a curse, wishing she would choke to death on her own saliva. How could she remain calm?
But Jiang Chunyan couldn't explain why.
Comrade Qiao didn't specifically name her or curse her, so she had to swallow her anger.
The people around were thoroughly enjoying the story.
Xie Jiang originally wanted to step in to defuse the awkward situation, but unexpectedly, Comrade Qiao resolved it himself with ease.
No wonder both of her children are so smart.
Huang Guilan felt a surge of satisfaction upon hearing this, and her gaze towards Qiao Xingyue was filled with admiration: her Xingyue was both smart and capable! Even her comebacks were so skillful.
Seeing Jiang Chunyan stammering and unable to speak, Huang Guilan had never felt so cheerful.
Xie Zhongming, standing to the side, suppressed the slight chuckle that he couldn't help but feel—looking at Comrade Qiao's composure, even the way his eyelashes fluttered when he was arguing with someone exuded a refreshing and straightforward energy!
This woman is really quick-witted!
He's an eccentric guy, but I admire him.
If any man were to marry a woman like her, he would surely be completely subdued by her and listen to her every word.
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