Xia Baozhu prepared four dishes and a soup for Professor Deng's family's dinner. This time, she served herself a portion in advance and placed it in the kitchen, while the rest were taken to the dining table in the living room.
The four dishes are stir-fried zucchini, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried celery with dried tofu, and stir-fried shredded pork with green peppers. The soup is winter melon and dried shrimp soup.
The staple food is a pot of rice.
"Teacher Qian is off work." Xia Baozhu turned off the recorder and greeted Qian Shijie.
"Xia, thank you for taking my mom out for a walk today. You're very thoughtful." Qian Shijie, as the host, spoke very politely.
"It's what I should do; I should thank Professor Deng for teaching me English." Xia Baozhu directly pointed out that Professor Deng had taught her English.
“My mom is relatively free right now, so you can learn from her. Maybe you’ll learn it in three months. Once you have a foundation, you can learn on your own with the help of a tape recorder and other materials. At your age, being able to read, write, and speak is enough; you don’t need to specifically learn grammar.”
Qian Shijie also enjoyed teaching others, and he shared his methods and experience in learning English with Xia Baozhu, who had just started learning the alphabet.
A knock came at the door, interrupting Qian Shijie's words, and he went to open it.
"Dad, Grandma, I'm home from school."
The boy who entered was about twelve or thirteen years old. He was wearing a blue and white school uniform, and had a fair and handsome appearance. He looked like the kind of student who had good grades.
"Tongtong is back." Professor Deng was happy to see her grandson.
"This is Aunt Xia, she's here to take care of your grandma," Qian Shijie introduced Xia Baozhu to his son.
"Hello, Aunt Xia." Qian Zhitong was surprised that his father had found a caregiver for his grandmother so quickly.
He glanced at Xia Baozhu, his heart racing. This aunt was so beautiful. He greeted her shyly.
"Hello, Tongtong." Xia Baozhu replied with a smile. Professor Deng's family was very nice, and she felt very relaxed there.
There was a sound of a lock being opened at the door.
"Mom's back, I'll go open the door." Qian Zhitong felt her face getting hot in front of Xia Baozhu's smile and quickly went to open the door.
The woman who opened the door was about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, with a perm and wearing a light pink women's suit. She was quite attractive.
"Mom, let me carry it for you." Qian Zhitong saw that his mother was carrying a basket of vegetables and wanted to take it from her.
"Let me do it." Xia Baozhu stepped past Qian Zhitong and took the bag from Feng Huafang.
"Thank you, and who are you?" Feng Huafang looked at the pretty girl who suddenly appeared and thought it was her mother-in-law's student.
“Xia was introduced by Teacher Lu Pingping to help out.” Qian Shijie walked over and closed the door.
Feng Huafang was quite surprised as she watched Xia Baozhu's slender figure walk towards the kitchen.
Is this her family's nanny? She looks and acts like a nanny!
She looked at Qian Shijie, trying to discern some clue on his face.
She suspected that Qian Shijie had made it up.
"Why are you looking at me? Is there something dirty on my face?" Qian Shijie touched his face.
"No, why are you back so early today?" Feng Huafang felt uncomfortable because the nanny's appearance made her feel insecure.
"I came back to see how Mom was doing today. I didn't expect Xia could carry Mom out to play all by herself."
When Qian Zhitong, who had just put his schoolbag in his room, heard his father say this, he looked at Xia Baozhu with surprise. How could such a thin person be stronger than his father?
“Xia is stronger than Shijie. Shijie, you should exercise more,” Professor Deng interjected, then said to Xia Baozhu, who came out of the kitchen, “Xia, come help me to eat.”
“I’m busy with work every day, and I start exercising when I’m not busy,” Qian Shijie said, pushing his wheelchair. He didn’t want to be constantly told that he couldn’t keep up with a woman’s physical strength.
As Feng Huafang watched Xia Baozhu effortlessly help her mother-in-law up and into a wheelchair, a smile crept onto her face. This caregiver was indeed stronger than Qian Shijie.
When Qian Shijie helped his mother up, she still had a strained expression on her face.
The reason why it is difficult to help a patient with an injured leg to stand up is twofold: firstly, there is a fear of accidentally injuring the leg again, and secondly, the patient is also exerting force when standing up, which is the opposite of the force exerted by the person helping them up.
Seeing her mother-in-law's satisfied attitude towards Xia, Feng Huafang felt a bit upset.
Back when she was dating Qian Shijie, the first time she met her mother-in-law, although she was polite and courteous, she always felt that she wasn't warm enough, and that she wasn't as affectionate as the nanny who came on the first day.
"Tongtong, Huafang, Shijie, come and eat. Xiaxia, sit down too, sit next to Tongtong." Professor Deng sat down at the table and invited everyone to eat.
Feng Huafang couldn't help but glance at Xia Baozhu while eating. She ate quietly, her eyes didn't wander, and her movements were natural and graceful without any affectation.
What purpose could such a person have in becoming a nanny?
After the meal, Xia Baozhu cleared the table, and Qian Zhitong helped her, also helping to wash the dishes.
"Thank you, Tongtong. There's no room here, go do your homework." Xia Baozhu quite liked this sensible and polite boy.
"I only wash my own dishes." Qian Zhitong has always been someone who does things herself.
"Alright, I'll go do the other things first." Xia Baozhu didn't argue with him and went to the living room to sweep, mop, and wipe the table.
I went to the balcony and touched the sheets and duvet covers I washed this morning; they weren't dry yet. I'll bring them in tomorrow.
After finishing all her tasks, Xia Baozhu said goodbye to Professor Deng and his family.
"Xia, wait a minute." Professor Deng asked his son to take out a handwritten beginner English vocabulary book. "Read this page with me, go back and memorize the words on this page. I'll check them when you come tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Professor Deng."
Feng Huafang, who had returned to her room, came out again when she heard the sound of reading English coming from the living room. She stood at the doorway of her room and looked towards the living room.
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