Editor: RuxyZzz
Shu Yan found out that the woman was just 24 years old after their introduction. She, too, had a sad past. The husband whom she married was ill and couldn’t do any physical labor; as such, the burden of the family fell upon her.
“Xiao Lan was the girl next door to me and had helped me a lot before she got married. My daughter followed her around when she was young. She was like half a mother to her.” Which was why she was the first one that Aunty wanted to help when the opportunity arose.
Xiao Lan shyly addressed Shu Yan as Boss Lady the way Aunty did.
“I trust that Aunty had mentioned to you who you will be looking after? The old grandmother is normally very kind but, you know, when someone is ill, their personalities will change a little. We will need you to be patient with her and also take good care of her.”
“Don’t worry. My husband is bedridden a lot as well and I have always been the one taking care of him,” said Xiao Lan quickly.
Shu Yan brought her to the house next door before she discussed the pay with her.
“Your work is a little different from Aunty’s being that you will need to be watching over the old grandmother 24 hours a day and you need to clean up after her. It was harder work. As such, I will offer you 600 yuan a month. You will have two days off a month. If you don’t want to take off, I will pay you 50 yuan a day. If you work a full month, I will pay you an additional 50 yuan as bonus. Holidays are extra. Room and board are included. I will have Aunty buy extra food when she shops and drop them off here for you. And…. that is pretty much it. Do you have any other questions?”
“No, no. This is great.”
Aunty had told her 400 yuan on their way here and she thought that was high already. She didn’t expect her boss lady to add 200 yuan to her pay.
That, along with the overtime pay and bonus, put her at 750 yuan. She would be very greedy if she wasn’t satisfied with that amount.
The old grandmother needed to spend a few more days in the hospital and was taken care of by the caretaker. Xiao Lan cleaned the house during this time and delivered soup to the hospital every day.
When the old grandmother was home, Xiao Lan stayed over to take care of her. Feng Zeyu and Shu Yan would go and visit the old grandmother for a little while after work every day before they returned to their own place.
“It’s so sad seeing Grandma like that.” Shu Yan lamented after visiting the old grandmother. “When my time comes, I want to die in my sleep.”
“You are still young. Why would you think about such things?” Feng Zeyu didn’t like it when Shu Yan talked about death or anything surrounding the subject.
“Time flies. I’m almost turning 30.” She had already been here for over two years before she knew it.
They thought the old grandmother would recover after some time. Unfortunately, her health declined steeply after her fall, and she returned to the hospital after just three months. This time she did not make it out of the hospital.
With the old grandmother gone, a bunch of her nephews showed up and said they wanted to attend her funeral. It was obvious what was on their minds.
Feng Zeyu pulled out the old grandmother’s will. It was stated there that the house would be sold, and the money donated to children who didn’t have money to go to school.
Nobody believed that it was real and felt that Feng Zeyu had faked it.
“This will was made in the presence of the village head of Xiazhuang Village and Lawyer Chen. It is legally binding. Lawyer Chen is here right now, and you are welcome to bring this to court if you have any doubts about it.” Feng Zeyu didn’t want to even talk to them.
Of course none of them dared to sue Feng Zeyu. They confirmed from the village head that the will was real and, all of a sudden, all of the nephews disappeared, leaving just Feng Zeyu and Shu Yan.
The old grandmother’s funeral was particularly deserted. There were only a few friends of hers and a few closer family members. Nobody cared if anyone else showed up. The old grandmother probably didn’t want to see them either.
