Chapter 224 – “You.. you are keeping me?” (1)
“I plan to hire a nanny. They will need to do some light cleaning, cooking, and also drop off and pick up the children from school. I have been thinking about it for a while now but I need to find something that I can trust as they will be responsible for the children. If you relative doesn’t mind being a nanny, she can come over for a trial.” Shu Yan’s guts told her that she would be a good candidate.
“No, no, of course not.” All she needed to do was to cook, clean, and drop off and pick up the children? That was as cozy as a job could get.
Perhaps decades from now many girls would feel that being a housewife at home was hard work but, at this day and age, cleaning, laundry, and cooking was viewed as the coziest of all work. Not to mention that Shu Yan’s two children were older kids and all they need was to be dropped off and picked up.
“Heads up though, I do need to check her out first.” They were neighbors. Shu Yan didn’t want that to be the reason of a rift between them.
“I understand. Don’t worry. I will let her know. We appreciate just the opportunity of it.” Zhang-jie, too, did not want any conflicts with her neighbor over a distant relative. Not to mention that Shu Yan obviously was very rich. It wouldn’t hurt to be close to someone like that.
“Why don’t you have her over today. I will have her prepare a meal first. If it works out, I will have to stay for a one-month trial period. I will pay her 300 yuan for the first month and 350 yuan a month after she becomes permanent. Room and board will be included. I am not that picky. I just need her to complete her tasks and be clean. More importantly are my two children. All will be fine as long as she gets along with them.”
When Shu Yan mentioned 350 yuan a month, even Zhang-jie was tempted. “Okay. Let me go talk to her.”
Zhang-jieopened up the door, put her stuff down, and quickly returned home.
“Mom, where’s aunty?”
“She’s working in the kitchen. Said she will make us noodles for dinner.” The old lady pointed toward the kitchen. “Why are you rushing home like this?”
“Remember that aunty asked me to look for a job for her? I actually ran into a good opportunity,” said Zhang-jie somewhat pridefully.
“What kind of work?” The old lady leaned over and whispered to her. “She is a relative from your father’s side. You can’t just have her go do any random jobs. Her daughter is a college student and will be employed as soon as she graduates. We might need their help in the future.”
“Am I that kind of a person?” said Zhang-jie unhappily. She called out toward the kitchen’s direction. “Aunty, didn’t you ask me to look for a job for you? As you know, many factories are not doing well right now and they have been a lot of laid offs. Nobody is hiring. Private factories only look for ones with skills and are also difficult to get.”
Aunty’s face dimmed. She knew that already. She thought even if she could get a cleaning lady job in City Nan, she could at least have some income every month. Only after she had arrived at City Nan did she realize that she couldn’t even get a job as a cleaning lady.
“That is fine. I just felt that it was too hard for you sister to have to go to school and earn her expenses at the same time. As her mother, I am not even able to do anything to help her.” Aunty smiled bitterly.
“Aiya, let me finish what I am saying. I have asked around with anyone that I know and finally found you an opportunity. I personally feel that it’s quite nice but I am not sure how you feel about it.” Zhang-jie paused purposefully earlier for the purpose of letting her know that she had put a lot of work in finding her this opportunity and wanted her aunty to feel appreciative of her.
“What kind of work?” As long as she can get a job, she didn’t mind it being harder and dirtier.
“You know my neighbor at my new place? She is a single mother with two children. I have never seen the father. I figured he was either working out of town or they have been divorced. But I digressed, when I asked her to help me look for job opportunities today, she asked me who it was for. I said it was for my aunty and that you are hard working and clean. Lo and behold, she said she happens to be looking for a nanny that she could trust. She feels much better knowing that you are a relative of mine and have me have you over there for a trial. All you need to do is cooking, cleaning, and also help her with dropping off and picking up the children. She is paying 350 yuan a month including room and board. What do you think of it? If you are not interested, then I will just let her know.”
“350 yuan a month?!” Zhang-jie’s mother-in-law exclaimed next to them.
