Chapter 10
Using his admirable composure, He Renyuan spoke in a normal tone, “Where’s dinner?”
The housekeepers who were watching secretly all showed expressions of sudden realization. Li Ru went to make tea, Li Yuan went to the kitchen to bring the Crossing-the-Bridge Noodles, and the socially anxious translator, Jiang Mengmeng, brought the condiments.
They all thought that the young master would compromise for the green rice ball made by Bai Qingyu this time. Such a big green rice ball, after eating it, there would be no need for dinner, so they didn’t bring it to the table.
After bringing the food, Li Ru and Li Yuan nervously watched the situation at the table.
[I didn’t expect the young master to resist, Bai Qingyu lost this round.]
[The couple is quarreling and eating separately.]
[Let’s see who gives in first.]
Bai Qingyu’s appetite wasn’t as good as his son’s. His taste buds were normal, and he knew that the food he made tasted average. The green rice ball was made according to He Renyuan’s appetite, very big, and he couldn’t finish half of it.
Bai Qingyu was a little frustrated. It seemed that the main reason He Renyuan refused to raise chickens was that his cooking skills were too poor, and the other party was too picky.
Half a green rice ball was left, wasting food was absolutely unacceptable.
Bai Qingyu looked up and glanced at He Renyuan.
He Renyuan was pouring the condiments from the small dishes, such as eggs, pea tips, and dried tofu skin, into the boiling rice noodle soup. As if to deliberately dilute the fragrance of the Longjing green rice ball, he emptied all the condiments in the dishes at once, and the aroma of the rice noodles suddenly became stronger.
Bai Qingyu watched for a while, pursed his lips, suddenly got up and rushed to He Renyuan’s side, and placed the half-eaten green rice ball in the empty dish beside He Renyuan’s hand.
He put it down and ran, disappearing from the first floor in three to five seconds.
He Renyuan: “…”
Li Ru and Li Yuan looked at each other, conveying their shock with their eyes.
He Renyuan felt that it was too noisy around him. He looked coldly at the half green rice ball that suddenly appeared and raised his eyebrows. He had achieved an initial victory in the confrontation with the bully housekeeper.
Even if he didn’t agree to any conditions, Bai Qingyu still had to offer the green rice ball.
As a former lawyer, his good negotiation skills still played a role.
He Renyuan picked up the green rice ball and took a bite of the fruit of victory. The taste was average, but it had a tea fragrance.
The housekeeper asked Jiang Mengmeng softly, “What are the two sisters saying?”
Jiang Mengmeng was also shocked and accidentally translated it out loud, “Sharing a green rice ball, so loving.”
The housekeeper, “Oh.”
… Hmm?
He Renyuan’s fingers stiffened. He suddenly realized that in the eyes of others, he seemed to be receiving Bai Qingyu’s charity.
If he didn’t agree to the conditions, he could only eat Bai Qingyu’s leftovers.
Picking up what others didn’t want and eating it, could this be considered a victory?
He Renyuan choked.
“Baby, drink some water, don’t choke.” As soon as Bai Qingyu went upstairs, he saw Cha Bao still struggling with the two green rice balls and hurriedly fed him some water.
“Dad, I can’t eat anymore,” Bai Xiaocha burped and whispered.
Bai Qingyu smoothly ate the little bit that Bai Xiaocha left. Luckily, he had given half to He Renyuan, otherwise, neither father nor son would have been able to finish it.
He was really smart, using a silent way to send a signal of reconciliation, neither he nor He Renyuan felt awkward.
Bai Qingyu pulled Cha Bao onto his lap and rubbed his belly, “Baby, do you want to raise chickens?”
It had been a week since they arrived in the city, and Bai Xiaocha hadn’t seen a clucking or crowing chicken for a whole week. He put his hand on his head, thought for a moment, and excitedly patted his forehead, “Yes, pick up eggs!”
There were eggs to pick up every day at Grandpa Deng’s house. Grandpa Housekeeper was also very good, but there were no eggs to pick up.
“Yes, Baby, you clapped too loudly.” Bai Qingyu rubbed his forehead. Bai Xiaocha’s words strengthened his resolve to change employers.
Here, Uncle Qi, Auntie Liu, the mute sisters, the translator, they were all very good, the accommodation was also very good, and the employer… the employer’s aunt was also very good.
Bai Qingyu was a little reluctant, but he couldn’t let Bai Xiaocha keep hiding. He couldn’t hide forever, He Renyuan would find out sooner or later, and the longer it took, the angrier he would be.
The employer already had a bad temper, getting even angrier would be bad for his health.
This was originally a temporary arrangement provided by He Ying for people with employment difficulties. Now that he had experience as a housekeeper, he could find another job with his own abilities. He would vacate the position before He Renyuan found out.
“When Uncle Boss goes to sleep, I’ll take you to the garden to play.” Bai Qingyu lay in bed with Bai Xiaocha, “The boss has been home too much lately.”
Bai Xiaocha, “Okay!”
Ten minutes later, both big and small fell asleep, neither of them remembering about going to the garden to play.
Picking mugwort today was really too tiring!
…
He Renyuan had transplanted many decades-old tea trees in the garden and didn’t let the gardener prune them, letting them grow freely. Perhaps they were too free and looked half-dead.
The previous gardener had asked him if he wanted to prune them, but He Renyuan refused.
He always felt that he shouldn’t interfere. He didn’t want a row of tea trees that were all the same height and size, harvested by machines. Tea trees should be on the mountain rocks, slender and tall.
This morning, when He Renyuan passed by the garden, he found that the tea trees had grown into the way he envisioned, full of beautiful vitality.
“Is it because spring has arrived?”
Or was it because of the new gardener?
He Renyuan looked at Bai Qingyu, who was busy in the garden early in the morning, and frowned. He wasn’t stingy, if he did a good job, he should get a raise.
As long as the money was enough, this would be Bai Qingyu’s “duty.” He absolutely couldn’t let Bai Qingyu discover his concern for the tea trees, lest he have another leverage.
These tea trees were dug from the place where he fell off the cliff. Something must have happened around the tea trees, it was important evidence and had to be preserved.
He Renyuan observed Bai Qingyu’s movements, comparing his skills with the previous gardener.
Bai Qingyu noticed the boss’s gaze and straightened up, “Are you supervising?”
He Renyuan, “Do I have the time?”
Bai Qingyu, “But I want to talk to you about the care of tea trees after picking.”
These tea trees were of a certain age, picking too much would affect their vitality. He was about to resign, so he would take care of his colleagues.
He Renyuan listened patiently, “Go ahead.”
Young Master He and Bai Qingyu were both occupied with each other, and the tea baby on the third floor was left alone.
So…
Auntie Liu quietly went upstairs with a bottle of milk and whispered, “Cha Bao, it’s me, Grandma Liu.”
Cha Bao, who was basking in the sun on the balcony, turned over, his tea-colored eyes even lighter in the sunlight.
—Grandma Liu was here, Grandma Liu would give him milk.
Auntie Liu clutched her heart, feeling like she was seeing the sun child, “Baby, just sit there, come, drink some milk.”
Auntie Liu unscrewed the bottle cap. She had also bought a replacement nipple that could be screwed onto the bottle opening.
“Thank you, Grandma.” Bai Xiaocha skillfully used both nipples and straws, but obviously, in the eyes of most grandmothers, he should be using a nipple at his age.
Ever since Bai Qingyu’s menu for He Renyuan wasn’t rejected, Auntie Liu had been a little shaken in her belief of just doing her job without making mistakes.
Actually, she should also be braver and ask the young master about his preferences, and then specifically learn and study the food he liked. The young master was actually a good person, her attitude had been a bit passive.
But asking the young master directly was still too scary, like consulting a lawyer you couldn’t afford after committing a crime. It was really overestimating oneself, she didn’t even dare to enter the law firm’s door.
However, there was now a stand-in baby who looked very much like the young master.
What pressure was there in talking to Cha Bao?
Auntie Liu pretended that the person in front of her was a miniature version of He Renyuan, standing with her hands by her sides, “Young master, do you prefer Suzhou-style or Cantonese-style mooncakes?”
Bai Xiaocha looked up: Hmm?
“Dad likes egg yolk mooncakes,” Bai Xiaocha said. His dad would make salted duck eggs himself.
Auntie Liu, “Oh, Young Master He likes egg yolk mooncakes, no, Bai Qingyu likes egg yolk mooncakes.”
Auntie Liu, “Young Master He, do you prefer sweet and sour fish or spicy fish?”
Bai Xiaocha: Oh?
Sweet and sour fish.
Auntie Liu, “Young master, do you eat sweet or salty tofu pudding?”
Bai Xiaocha, “Sweet first!”
Auntie Liu felt like she was practicing spoken English in an English corner and had met a little partner who responded to every sentence. She played the role very well and was very satisfied. She felt that her fear of Young Master He’s authority had decreased by 30%.
She picked up Bai Xiaocha and kissed him, “Go back to sunbathing after you finish drinking.”
After a while, the sign language interpreter, Jiang Mengmeng, tiptoed upstairs.
Who knew, after working in this wealthy family for so long, she had never made eye contact with the boss once. She was afraid that if she did, the boss would find her redundant and she would lose her job.
“Cha Bao, it’s Auntie.”
Bai Xiaocha had just lain down and got up again. It was the auntie with the lollipops.
“Cha Bao, let’s play a game, one, two, three, wooden man. Wooden man can’t laugh, if you win, Auntie will give you a lollipop.”
Bai Xiaocha nodded seriously. Because his face was chubby, when he pursed his lips, there was a slight downward curve.
“One, two, three, wooden man.”
Bai Xiaocha sat still. The eyes of the tea deity cub were clear and innocent, with a touch of nobility.
Like Young Master He, looking at people, yet as if not looking at them.
At one and a half years old, he could already imitate the boss’s aura by three points. How terrifying.
Jiang Mengmeng sat in front of Cha Bao, looking directly into the eyes of the young boss. Courage +1+1+1…
…
The father and son had no idea what these people were doing. Bai Qingyu only knew that Auntie Liu and the others often came upstairs to feed Bai Xiaocha and play games with him. They were really too kind.
Bai Qingyu decided to resign. The next day at noon, he told the housekeeper.
Cha Bao was sitting beside him, digging into the eight-treasure rice. The housekeeper was looking at him with loving eyes when, out of the blue, he asked incredulously, “You want to resign? Is the salary too low? I’ll raise it by five thousand.”
Five thousand yuan with room and board was the salary standard set by He Ying. Poverty alleviation didn’t mean giving out money without limits.
Bai Qingyu, “No, that’s too much.” He didn’t do any more work than Auntie Liu and the others, doubling his salary would disrupt everyone’s mental balance.
The housekeeper, “It’s not too much, not at all. Everyone is paid the same. You get five thousand, Cha Bao gets five thousand, that’s ten thousand in total.”
Bai Xiaocha raised his head, “Grandpa Housekeeper, I also have five thousand? Is it free?”
Five thousand yuan as a salary was hard to understand, but if someone wanted him to take something, Bai Xiaocha only cared about whether it was free.
Bai Qingyu smiled and rubbed his head, “It’s not free, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, except for what Dad gives you.”
Bai Xiaocha, “Oh.”
The housekeeper, “It’s not for nothing. How can Xiao Cha not be considered working? Everyone is happy to see him.”
He had seen the housekeepers treat Cha Bao as a stand-in for the young master more than once, practicing how to talk to the young master in front of him.
The stand-in also had a salary, but the housekeeper couldn’t say in front of the father that his son looked like the young master. No father would be happy to hear that.
