Qiao Nan looked at Xiao Xu, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “That won’t be necessary. We shouldn’t be too greedy as people. You’ve already waived a year’s worth of rent for me. I already feel quite embarrassed about that. How can I let you waive another year’s worth of rent?” Was Xiao Xu here because of Zhai Sheng?
What could be wrong with Zhai Sheng? Did he not have someone to take care of him?
Help should be rendered in times of urgency and not poverty. She had rendered her help during an emergency earlier as a favor to her landlord. But why were they still looking for her even now that Zhai Sheng had someone to take care of him?
Xiao Xu’s pupils quavered. “Sister Qiao, if you really feel bad for having one year’s worth of free rent and are too embarrassed to accept it, I’ll give you another chance so that you can receive it with no shame.” He could simply change the way he spoke about this matter as long as he accomplished his goal and reached the same outcome in the end.
Qiao Nan crossed her arms in front of her. Was he trying to trick her? In her dream, she had been a teacher to so many soldiers in the military. What had she not seen or handled before?
“That won’t be necessary. I’ve already discussed this with the landlord. I’m sorry. Everything’s already settled and I have no plans of changing anything. Since I already feel embarrassed, let’s not make me feel any more embarrassed, shall we?”
Xiao Xu laughed guiltily. “Sister Qiao, have you already guessed it?” Sister Qiao was indeed impressive. His mom had told him that Sister Qiao had agreed to her request at once. He had thought that Sister Qiao would be very easily persuaded and would agree without any hesitation as long as he asked.
But he had beaten around the bush and had yet to have a chance to tell Sister Qiao about the true reason he was here. Sister Qiao was truly not one to provoke!
Qiao Nan shook her head. “No, I haven’t.” If she admitted that she had already guessed why he was here, and yet displayed such an attitude, was she not telling him that she was unwilling to help him out? She could afford not to care about Xiao Xu, but she still had to give her landlord some face. As such, acting as though she knew nothing was the best solution.
Seeing Sun Guohong a few days earlier had nearly driven her crazy. She had taken three days to numb herself with work and let herself calm down. Seeing Zhai Sheng again? No way!
“Sister Qiao…” Xiao Xu said with a sad face. “Just do some good and help me out. The chief’s appetite hasn’t been very good these few days. He keeps saying that he wants to eat this and that, but once Sister Zhao makes them, the chief keeps criticizing them, saying that they don’t taste right. I have no other choice. The chief says that what you cook is the kind of thing he wants to eat.”
He had never imagined that such a brilliant and powerful chief could be as willful and stubborn as a child, being picky about the food he ate. However, because of his habit of not wasting food, he would still swallow them forcefully with no other choice.
Although Xiao Xu thought that whatever he ate was delicious, the chief disagreed and kept saying that he had no appetite and did not feel like eating. Otherwise, he would criticize the dishes for not tasting right. Thinking about how much he had been forced to eat over the past few days, Xiao Xu almost burst into tears. He suddenly thought about how Sun Guohong had been hesitating about whether to buy some digestive pills on his walk a few days earlier. Sun Guohong had no need for that! Xiao Xu was the one truly in need of them!
“Xiao Xu, you won’t be able to solve your problem like that. Even with the same ingredients and recipe, the final dishes will still taste different when made by different people. Xiao Zhao’s dishes may not suit the chief’s taste buds. My suggestion for you is for Xiao Zhao to continue doing all the other household chores and find someone else to replace her in the kitchen. I can help out with one or two meals occasionally, but if I help out for any longer, are you prepared to waive my rent forever?”
She could tell that Zhai Sheng would still have to stay in Qingshui Town to recuperate for quite a while longer. If one meal meant a month’s worth of free rent, she would get a year’s worth of rent for free in just four days. If she worked for forty days, that would be forty years’ worth! Did Xiao Xu really think that she intended on staying in their house forever?
She had already bought a house. It would take ten years at most for her to be able to move into that house. Perhaps it would only take three to five years.
“It’s true. Instead of finding me to save you all the time, why don’t you ask Chief Zhai to endure it for a few more meals while you work hard on finding someone who’ll be in charge of only cooking for Chief Zhai? That seems like a good way to solve your problem once and for all.”
“About this…” Xiao Xu scratched his head. He had already said something similar to this to the chief. It could have been his own illusion that he had misunderstood the chief. Or perhaps, that was exactly what the chief meant. He felt that finding another chef would not be a long-term solution to the chief’s appetite. Only by bringing Sister Qiao back would he be able to accomplish his task of taking care of the chief.
But why did he feel this way?
Was he crazy?!
Xiao Xu wanted to hit himself on the head to sober himself up. But no matter how much he struggled internally, he only dared to act according to his instincts and not his rationality. At such a time, instincts seemed more reliable than logic.
Xiao Xu scrunched up his face. “Sister Qiao, help me just this once! The chief has made great contributions to the people and the nation! The Zhai family is an old revolutionary family and their family background is truly impressive. The chief has done so much for the country and the people. Just take it as though you’re taking care of the chief on behalf of the nation and the people. Sister Qiao, I’m begging you.”
If he did not manage to bring Sister Qiao back today, his task would not be accomplished.
If he had known that this would be the case, he would never have made that trip down to Ping Cheng to find Sister Zhao. He would simply have allowed Sister Qiao to continue taking care of the chief. “Hey, what if I address you as ‘auntie’? Auntie, just take it as though you’re helping a junior out. If you don’t agree, what about I get my mom down to talk to you?” He did not hold enough power. His mom was still the more impressive figure who could guarantee success the moment she showed up.
Now, it was Qiao Nan’s turn to be rendered speechless. Had she just been cornered?
“Are you sure you want your mom to come down? I’m just a tenant. Your mom returned me my deposit recently. I just helped you guys cook a couple of meals and you’ve waived a few months’ worth of rent for me. Honestly, even if I were to move away now, I’d lose nothing.” Yes, she would have to give her landlord some face if she were to show up.
The problem was that if she were to move away and have a new landlord, would she still have the responsibility to uphold the Xu family’s dignity?
The more Xiao Xu begged her to go, the more Qiao Nan did not want to go. Without meeting Zhai Sheng, Qiao Nan was already having a hard time sorting out her feelings. If she were to keep meeting that husband from her dream, what would she do?
“Sister Qiao…” This time, Xiao Xu was really at his wit’s end. Qiao Nan had even suggested moving out. Xiao Xu was not ill-tempered and had brought his mom into the picture with much difficulty. That had already been Xiao Xu’s limit.
