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Shi Baozhu was no stranger to the Shen family business; on her wedding day, the dowry they gave her was more than what her parents had prepared.
She had her doubts, but her parents told her not to overthink it.
Later, she suggested visiting him, but her parents strongly objected.
Her parents took turns persuading her until she promised never to go to the Shen family.
"Hmm---"
A series of aged voices pulled Shi Baozhu out of her distress, "Mom, you're awake?"
Grandma Shi's cloudy eyes were fixed on Shi Baozhu, her expression full of reluctance, "Child..."
Shi Baozhu immediately shook off her earlier emotions, "Mom, I'm here."
Grandma Shi glanced at Jian Yu.
Jian Yu felt extremely guilty, yet dared not avoid her gaze, and forced a greeting, "Hello, Grandma Shi!"
Grandma Shi closed her eyes slightly as a response.
“Baozhu, I heard everything you just said…”
Shi Baozhu panicked, "Mom, don't think like that, you'll always be my mom."
"I know you love me. I'm leaving soon, and you have the right to know the truth..."
Shi Baozhu didn't want to listen anymore. "Mom, stop talking."
"You are indeed not my child."
Shi Baozhu, “…”
"You were entrusted to us by Grandpa Shen. Actually, your father and Grandpa Shen weren't very familiar with each other. He said you had no parents, and seeing our eagerness for a child, he wanted to give you to us. At that time, we had been seeking medical treatment for many years without any effect. After giving up treatment, we were always unwilling to accept it. In March of that year, the doctor finally gave me a death sentence: I would never have children in my life. I returned home heartbroken, and the next day I saw you. I felt that you were a gift from God, so I gladly accepted you. When you were three years old, Grandpa Shen held a grand 30th birthday banquet. When your father heard about it, he took the two of us to celebrate. Grandpa Shen was obviously flustered when he saw us, but he didn't want to send us away. At your father's request, he took a group photo. After taking the photo, he left us in a side hall and had someone watch us to prevent us from going to the main hall. You were young and couldn't stay still. Before we knew it, you ran out. When we went to look for you, we saw a familiar face on the stage and had a guess in our minds. Before we could go up to confirm, we were chased away by Grandpa Shen's people."
Shi Baozhu looked bewildered. "A familiar face? Who is it?"
"His wife is Old Mrs. Shen."
Jian Yu didn't expect things to go so smoothly. Grandma Shi told Shi Baozhu about her background, which saved her a lot of trouble.
"Your father later found out that the boy under Old Mrs. Shen's name was born on the same day and in the same hospital as you. We suspected there must be something going on. You are not an orphan without parents. We just couldn't bear to lose you, so we pretended not to know and moved again."
"......"
"If...you want to...go...to find..."
Grandma Shi hadn't finished speaking when she started panting heavily, "Huff, huff, huff—"
Shi Baozhu shook her head repeatedly, "I won't look for them. They abandoned me and don't deserve to be my parents anymore. I just want you to stay with me."
Grandma Shi's eyes welled up with tears as she stared motionlessly at Shi Baozhu. With her last heavy breath, her limbs relaxed, and she closed her eyes forever.
Shi Baozhu was helping Grandma Shi catch her breath when she noticed the change, suddenly stopped, and burst into tears.
Jian Yu leaned over and took the opportunity to pluck several strands of Shi Baozhu's hair.
Shi Baozhu was so immersed in her grief that she was completely unaware of what was happening.
Three days later---
In an old manor adorned with blooming flowers, Jian Yu, with dark skin and dressed in servant's clothes, followed behind a plump housekeeper.
“All the other positions in the manor are permanent, and they are all old people that the old lady is used to. So there is no suitable job for you in the house. If you want to stay, you can only manage the garden. There are ten gardeners in the garden. One more person like you will not stand out. I will tell everyone that you will only be an assistant. You just need to work with everyone.”
"good."
"These are the planting methods for various flowers. Take a look at them when you work overtime tonight and try to become familiar with the skills as soon as possible."
The plump housekeeper must have been quite authoritative; she assigned Jian Yu to work in the garden, and none of the gardeners raised any objections.
The portly housekeeper handed Jian Yu to a silent middle-aged woman. "Su, Linda will be your assistant from now on. She's too young, so don't assign her any work alone."
Su nodded and led Jian Yu away.
As the two rounded a bend, Jian Yu heard someone behind him ask the portly butler, "Who is this person? Why did we suddenly hire such a new person?"
"How would I know? That's how it's arranged. We're working in someone else's house, so we just need to be obedient and not say anything, lest we break a taboo."
This served as an introduction to Jianyu's origins and also served as a warning to the other gardeners not to say anything more.
The two million was well spent.
In the manor, those responsible for indoor and outdoor work eat at different times.
Jian Yu had been here for several days, and apart from the gardener and a few security guards, no one else had seen her.
One day, the security captain ran into the portly housekeeper in the garden and chatted for a bit. He happened to mention Jian Yu, saying, "The new gardener is so young! Why don't you arrange for her to work indoors?"
The portly butler chuckled, "What? Can't the gardener be younger?"
"No, the youngest gardener in our manor is already forty years old, and he was hired seven years ago."
“We will continue to hire a few new ones in the future. As you know, the oldest gardener is already 65 years old. If it weren’t for the fact that he has been working here for many years and is unwilling to retire now, and the old lady had a soft heart and kept him, we might have replaced half of the gardeners in the manor by now.”
"That's true. The old gardener even spent a few days in the hospital last month. I wonder how long he can hold on."
"yes!"
The security captain added, "I have a friend who's also quite good at growing flowers. How about we let her try it out another day? If she likes it, she can stay."
The portly housekeeper shook his head immediately, "Let's talk about it later! Hiring too many people all of a sudden might make the old gardeners think we're trying to get rid of them, which wouldn't be good."
Misunderstandings are possible, so we can't rush things.
"If you need to hire new people, remember to tell me first."
"Don't worry, we're so close, I'll definitely come to you first. Also, don't tell anyone else about this."
The security captain nodded.
A few meters away, behind a row of roses, Su quickened her pace of turning over the soil.
Jian Yu's legs went numb from squatting, but she kept her head down, cooperating with Su's movements.
Hearing the two footsteps leaving, Su suddenly said, "Let's take a break!"
Jian Yu breathed a sigh of relief, quickly stood up, and sat down on the small flower stool next to him.
Su's eyes flickered, then she lowered her head and continued working.
Seeing this, Jian Yu quickly got up again.
Su shook her head, "There's only this much left. I can finish it myself in a little while."
"Thanks."
Sue did not answer.
Jian Yu sat on a small flower stool, constantly rubbing his legs. He was constantly bending over, squatting, and walking around all day long. Jian Yu was very uncomfortable with it, and his legs felt as heavy as lead. Su and the others, on the other hand, were already used to this kind of life and could squat for half an hour without getting up.
Jian Yu didn't dare to attract attention, and only sat down when Su carried a small stool.
If Su squats down, she squats down too.
At first, Su didn't react, but later when no one was around, Su told her to go and rest aside.
Jian Yu had been here for several days but had not yet seen Old Madam Shen. After asking Su, he learned that Old Madam Shen was not in good health and sometimes would not leave the house for several days in a row.
"The weather has been nice these past few days, so I reckon the old lady will be out enjoying the sun and taking a walk tomorrow."
Jian Yu was overjoyed; he was finally going to see Old Mrs. Shen.
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