Chapter Thirty-One: The Nanny

  In the reception room, Lan Jie couldn't help but exclaim in admiration when she saw Ning Xiaomei. She thought to herself, "What a beautiful girl! No wonder she's Secretary Tang's girlfriend." Especially with her elegant demeanor, it was as if she were a Snow Lotus from Mount Tian, refined and aloof. At first glance, you could tell she wasn't from an ordinary family. The only flaw was that she seemed a bit cold. Although she spoke politely, she gave people a sense of being distant, as if she were pushing them away.

  Ning Xiaomei and Lan Jie exchanged a few polite words, then removed a crystal green jade pendant from her snowy neck and put it on Bao'er's neck. Children's impressions of people are very simple, probably just distinguishing between beauty and ugliness. Bao'er quite liked this pretty sister, although she felt a bit itchy, she giggled as Ning Xiaomei tied the pendant around her small neck.

  Ning Xiaomei said calmly to Lan Jie, "I and my sister are like old friends, and I also like Bao'er very much. Let me take her as my goddaughter." She handed over a jade pendant, saying, "This is a gift for Bao'er." Lan Jie was stunned, thinking to herself, "How did we become like old friends? I don't have that feeling at all!" But when she heard Ning Xiaomei say she wanted to take Bao'er as her goddaughter, she was overjoyed. Oh heaven! What a wonderful thing! The county committee secretary's girlfriend wants to take my daughter as her goddaughter? And this girl seems to be someone important too! She couldn't stop smiling and hastily told Bao'er, "Don't you quickly kowtow to your godmother?"

  Ning Xiaomei gently pulled up Bao'er and said calmly, "No need." What's with the look of liking children? It made Lan Jie confused, and Bao'er also timidly didn't dare to get close to Ning Xiaomei again.

  Tang Yi couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, thinking to himself that it was really hard for her to find someone to play along with. But he had no choice but to continue the charade: "Haha, so you've taken me in as a goddaughter? Well, I'll have to take good care of myself from now on, or else I'd be neglecting your precious daughter."

  She turned to Lan and said, "Lan, since little sister has spoken up, I'll find you a job in the county town later. You don't have to worry about Bao'er's schooling either, I'll arrange for her to attend the Experimental Primary School." The Experimental Primary School was the best primary school in Yanshan at that time.

  Lan sister dazedly responded, feeling that this pair of young lovers' spirits seemed somewhat abnormal.

  Ning Xiaomei seemed to have remembered the dust on her luggage and said to Tang Yi, "Your home is a bit messy, do you want me to help you hire a housekeeper from Beijing?"

  Tang Yi shook his head: "Forget it, can you find a nanny? I'm afraid we can't afford it."

  Ning Xiaomei found it somewhat strange: "Is a monthly salary of 300 yuan very high? I've heard that Aunt is quite wealthy."

  Tang Yi was speechless, encountering such a straightforward person, his own sarcastic remarks were unnecessary.

  Lan sister was moved in her heart, and smiled: "What nanny do you want? I think so, when I have time, I will go to help Secretary Tang tidy up, and don't need any salary." Although she said no salary was needed, Secretary Tang would not let her work for nothing. Every month, during her free time, she could earn over a hundred yuan by doing some household chores. Was there an easier job than this? Moreover, it would also help to establish a relationship with the county party secretary, which was truly a wonderful opportunity.

  Ning Xiaomei frowned slightly: "It's not that being a full-time nanny is bad, Lan sister, how are your household chores?"

  Lan Jie nodded hastily, and Ning Xiaomei said: "Can you be Tang Yi's full-time nanny?"

  Tang Yi was speechless. How could he have just called someone's daughter his sister and taken her in as a foster daughter, only to turn around and ask her mother to be their nanny? If you're going to put on an act, do it professionally! However, Tang Yi did feel a stir in his heart. If Lan's mother moved into their home under the guise of being a nanny, wouldn't that mean he could take care of Bao'er more easily? Plus, they really did need someone to help with household chores, so it would be killing two birds with one stone.

  Working as a full-time nanny for the county party secretary's family? Lan sister is quite happy, it's a rare opportunity that can't be begged for, compared to temporary workers who earn two or three hundred yuan, maybe she can make Secretary Tang happy, just like Ning miss, treating Baobao as her own goddaughter, and even her future generations will benefit from it.

  She was pleased in her heart, but didn't dare say a word, and secretly took a glance at Tang Yi's expression.

  Tang Yi made a thoughtful expression and slowly said: "Then listen to little sister, Lan sister, what's your opinion?"

  Lan sister nodded hastily: "I have no opinion, Secretary Tang, rest assured, I am most skilled in doing housework, and I guarantee that your home will be tidy and comfortable, and the elderly will be taken care of comfortably." She naturally thought that Tang Yi lived with his parents.

  Ning Xiaomei stood quietly for a while, then asked Tang Yi, "Anything else?" Seeing him shake his head, she said, "I'm leaving." Still as carefree as ever, she turned around and walked out of the house with a swaying motion.

  Tang Yi thought for a moment, followed her out, and sent her off at the reception center. Watching the red flash speed away, Tang Yi let out a sigh. She came like the wind and left like the wind, but today Tang Yi's understanding of her had deepened by another layer.

  Although she is indifferent and doesn't understand what it means to like something or have feelings, perhaps she also doesn't want to understand. In her heart, everything in the world may be insignificant anyway?

  But she also had her own principles, and since she thought of herself as his girlfriend, she made an effort to fulfill the duties of a girlfriend, which was her own understanding from hearsay. With just one phone call, she would rush thousands of miles, hastily arriving and hastily leaving, without even saying thank you. Watching that fleeting red figure disappear into the distance, Tang Yi let out another sigh.

  ……

  Lan and Bao'er carried their bags into Tang Yi's home. Lan saw the elegant and luxurious decoration of the living room and praised, "Secretary Tang really has good taste."

  Baoyi's eyes widened as she curiously took in this strange new world. She had never seen such a beautiful big house before.

  Following her mother to change into beautiful slippers, Bao'er hugged the sandy dog on the sofa and couldn't bear to let go. Her small face intimately rubbed back and forth on the sandy dog's nose. Tang Yi sighed, "You, did you spend a childhood without toys?"

  Lan sister somewhat awkwardly said: "Secretary Tang, should I go and greet Grandpa and Grandma now?" She was anxious in her heart, fearing that Secretary Tang's parents would not be as easy-going as him. It's often said that the most difficult to serve are officials' wives and relatives.

  Tang Yi smiled and said, "I'm the only one living here, no one else." He pointed to the guest room on the south side: "From now on, you and Bao'er will live in that house, go take a look, tidy it up yourself, it's been a long time since anyone lived there, I'm afraid it's accumulated a layer of dust."

  Lan Jie felt uneasy when she heard that Tang Yi lived alone, being a widow with children, living in the home of an unmarried man would be gossiped about.

  Tang Yi knew her concerns and smiled: "If Sister Lan feels inconvenient, she can rent a house nearby, it's just a bit more tiring. But for the sake of some rumors, you are my girlfriend's sister, and Bao'er is her goddaughter, being invited to take care of my life isn't a big deal."

  Lan sister thought that Ning miss's words were indeed placed here, but thinking about it also makes sense. The county party secretary would not care about his own appearance. Even if he sent himself to the door, no one would take a look. Thinking about Tang Yi's performance during the massage, it was even more self-deprecating. If he really wanted to play with himself, there was no need to make such a big circle. Moreover, going out to live and renting a house is another expense. Living in Secretary Tang's house, after receiving his salary, everything can be saved.

  Then Lan Jie laughed brightly and sweetly said: "In that case I'll listen to Secretary Tang."

  Tang Yi smiled and said, "That's good, besides, living here I can take care of Bao'er nearby, so my girlfriend won't blame me. Even if others gossip, I don't care." After finishing speaking, he also felt amused, putting all kinds of hats on Ning Xiaomei's head.

  Lan sister smiled and said: "Yes, Bao'er's godmother is concerned about you, also concerned about Bao'er, good words and bad words want me to stay with you."

  Tang Yi heard her answer cleverly, and with a hearty laugh, he took Lan Jie to the kitchen again, telling her how to use the cooking utensils, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and various seasonings. Lan Jie was amazed by the many seasonings she had never seen before, but she was also careful not to reveal her ignorance, thinking that if she didn't even know these things, Tang Shuji would fire her before she even started working.

  Tang Yi finished introducing the layout of the house to Lan Jie and said, "It's a bit late today, so let's just cook some instant noodles." She picked up the black handbag on the tea table, took out a dozen or so 100-yuan bills and handed them to Lan Jie: "Your salary is 500 yuan per month, the rest is for food expenses, use it up and then ask me for more."

  Lan Jie happily accepted the money, she had already seen that Secretary Tang was generous with his spending, and giving her a salary of 500 yuan didn't surprise her too much. However, after counting the living expenses, there were over a dozen receipts, totaling over 1,000 yuan? How long did it take to accumulate this amount of living expenses? Half a year?

  Lan Jie asked Tang Yi: "Secretary Tang, what is our monthly food allowance?"

  Tang Yidao said: "There is no fixed amount, on days when there are many guests, we need to prepare more seafood and chicken, duck and fish meat, sometimes it can be over 1,000 yuan a month."

  Lan sister stuck out her tongue, what kind of family is this? In one month, they eat two or three months' worth of salary from another family. Someone asked with some difficulty: "Normally, what do you eat?"

  "Tang Yidao said: 'Want to eat what to eat? But pay attention to the combination, don't have too much meat every day, I'm not a big fan of greasy food, try to buy more fresh vegetables.'"

  Lan sister responded with a "yes", but Tang Secretary's words were like nothing was said, it seems that she has to take charge of what to eat every day herself. However, Tang Secretary is definitely not stingy with money, he can actually make a lot of money, no wonder the old saying goes "three years as a clean official, ten million Snowflake Silver".

  Tang Yi saw Bao'er eating instant noodles with her head down, as if it were some kind of delicacy. He couldn't help but sigh, thinking that Bao'er had been through a lot in the past few years. In the early years, she had a scoundrel of a father, and after he went to prison, she followed her mother into exile, and their lives must have been very difficult.

  Actually, Tang Yi was also a rare and strange person. At that time, rural children even considered two or three cents of low-grade instant noodles to be delicious food, let alone the "Uni-President" seafood instant noodles that dominated the Taiwanese market, which also contained eggs and shredded crab meat.

  "This child! Eat slowly! Speak softly!" Seeing Tang Yi frowning at Bao'er, Lan sister thought that Bao'er's eating posture was not elegant, which made Tang Yi lose his appetite. He tapped on Bao'er's bowl with chopsticks, but Bao'er ignored Lan sister and continued to slurp down the noodles.

  Tang Yi smiled and got up, entering the kitchen. Just as Lan Jie was pinching Bao'er's ear, Tang Yi walked out with a plate of thinly sliced ham and placed it in front of Bao'er, saying: "Eat some more."

  Bao'er was pouting with a scowl on her face, touching her ear and looking unhappy, but as soon as she saw the big plate of ham, her expression changed to a bright smile, and she looked up at him with a cute face: "Thank you, Uncle."

  Tang Yi smiled silently, without saying a word.

  Lan sister smiled and thought to herself, since Secretary Tang likes kids, she could relax and start thinking of ways to teach Bao'er to win him over, maybe even become related to him through marriage, then her job as a nanny wouldn't be in vain.