Chapter 11
The housekeeper asked, “Really can’t stay? What are your plans then?”
Bai Qingyu, “I want to change careers.” He didn’t say that he wanted to be a housekeeper for the old couple who raised chickens. The conditions there were definitely not as good as the He family’s, and it would make the housekeeper even more worried and try to keep him.
He could only say that he wanted to change careers.
The housekeeper was speechless. Right, although Bai Qingyu came from the countryside, he was literate, intelligent, and knew about tea. It wouldn’t be difficult for him to find a more respectable job than being a housekeeper.
Bai Qingyu was so young, keeping him at the He family as a housekeeper would stifle his upward mobility. It was a selfish act under the guise of “for your own good.”
It wasn’t like they would never see each other again.
The housekeeper immediately stopped persuading him, “When we took inventory of the tea last time, I found that you know a lot about tea varieties. If you want to work in the tea industry, I’ll write you a letter of recommendation. I often buy tea for the young master and have some connections.”
He Renyuan also had many investments in the tea industry, tea shops, tea houses, he just didn’t have his own tea garden.
Bai Qingyu thought for a moment. This kind of formal job usually didn’t allow bringing children, being a housekeeper was still better.
“I want to rest for a while, Uncle Qi, thank you.”
[Rest? Such a hardworking person like Bai Qingyu wants to rest? Is it because he’s not used to working for the first time, or is it because the young master has been home often recently, giving Bai Qingyu mental stress from hiding his child?] The housekeeper immediately thought it was the latter and felt sorry for Bai Qingyu. He was fine when he came, the young master only came home once a month.
“You’ve taken good care of the tea trees in the garden. You’ve done three months’ worth of the previous gardener’s work in a few days. The third floor is also spotless. There’s nothing to do at home, I’ll give you a vacation. Before your next job comes along, take Cha Bao out and have some fun.”
Bai Qingyu still had a sense of responsibility, but Bai Xiaocha said irresponsibly, “Dad, let’s go out and play.”
“Okay, thank you, Uncle Qi.”
Bai Qingyu was also thinking about going to the interview. What if there were other housekeepers from the countryside who also liked raising chickens competing for the job?
If his competitors didn’t have children, he wouldn’t have any advantage.
“Speed is key, Cha Bao, let’s go.”
“Let’s go!”
Bai Qingyu, who mainly relied on buses, had already gotten a bus and subway card for a 10% discount.
Bai Qingyu made his way to the target residential area. The target employer was easy to find, they were the only family in the whole area raising chickens. The security guard at the gate knew as soon as he asked.
“Building A12, first floor. Are you going to apply for the housekeeper position?” The security guard looked Bai Qingyu up and down. It was the first time he had seen such a young man as a housekeeper, “It’s hard work being a housekeeper for their family. You have to shovel chicken manure every day, and if you’re late, the neighbors will complain. On the surface, the employers are an old couple, but in reality, everyone around them is the employer. The previous housekeeper couldn’t stand it.”
Bai Qingyu said cautiously, “I’ll take a look first.”
“Uncle, my dad will take a look first,” Bai Xiaocha said, leaning against his father’s back.
The security guard then looked at the little one seriously. His cuteness struck his soul. No wonder, no wonder he wanted to be a live-in housekeeper at such a young age, it turned out he was raising a child.
“Go and have a look, their professor son happens to be there today.”
As soon as Bai Qingyu approached Building A12, he saw three hens strolling leisurely in the small flower bed outside the first-floor window. A gentle-looking man, about thirty-five years old, wearing rain boots, was washing the chicken coop with a hose.
Judging from the smell and the cleanliness of the floor cracks, the chicken coop was cleaned very frequently. Some people’s cats smelled worse than this.
Bai Qingyu stood outside the flower bed, observing and waiting. Bai Xiaocha’s sharp eyes spotted a white, round egg in the chicken coop.
Bai Xiaocha whispered to his dad, “There’s an egg.”
Bai Qingyu stood for a while, and an old lady came out of the house, holding a basin of grains, calling the hens with a “cluck, cluck,” and scattering a handful of corn kernels.
The man washing the chicken coop laughed in exasperation, “I haven’t even had a sip of water, treating the chickens like sons and the son like a workhorse.”
The old lady glanced at him, “Hens can lay eggs, can you?”
The man said speechlessly, “You just can’t stand the fact that my wife and I are DINKs and deliberately tormenting me.”
Without a housekeeper and afraid of complaints from neighbors, the man could only come and clean twice a day, morning and evening. His parents were old and were afraid of tripping if they entered the chicken coop.
The old lady chuckled, “Are you DINKs? You just can’t have children.”
Bai Qingyu and Bai Xiaocha were confused.
“Dad, what’s a DINK?”
“I don’t know.”
When the old lady turned to go back inside, she noticed Bai Qingyu. Thinking he was a neighbor, she said to her son, “Hurry up, it’s stinking up the place for others.”
The man took a deep breath and muttered to himself, “It doesn’t stink.”
The fermentation mat in the chicken coop was something he had searched all over the world for, it could effectively mask the smell.
“It doesn’t stink, Grandma.” Bai Xiaocha quickly said loudly so that the grandma could hear him inside.
“Who are you?” The man saw Bai Qingyu standing there and asked proactively.
Bai Qingyu said, “I heard you’re looking for a housekeeper, I came to see if it’s suitable.”
The man said incredulously, “You? Can you stand cleaning the chicken coop twice a day, morning and evening, and bringing the hens inside at night or when it rains or thunders? They’ll be living next door to you.”
Most young people would rather deliver food than do this job.
Bai Qingyu, “Isn’t this the basic operation of raising chickens? But, my situation is also special, I have a child with me.”
Bai Xiaocha poked his head out from behind his father, “Hello, uncle.”
The man pointed at the child behind him, “You mean, you want to live here with him?”
Bai Qingyu nodded, thinking that the other party might not be willing. After all, the old lady raising chickens was already a headache for him, adding a child would make it even more chaotic.
The man excitedly dropped the hose, stepped out of the chicken coop, took off his rain boots, “Why didn’t I think of this earlier? Mom, your grandson in the broad sense is here, come out and see.”
“My name is Jiang Libo, what’s your name?”
“My name is Bai Qingyu, my son is Bai Xiaocha.”
Jiang Libo said, “It’s like this, my mom currently has a hard time accepting that her son is gay, and she’s still fantasizing about having grandchildren. You perfectly meet her spiritual needs. You can stay here with peace of mind, I’ll pay you fifteen thousand yuan. If the baby makes the old lady happy and stops her from fantasizing about other grandchildren, I’ll give the baby another five thousand.”
The other party spoke very quickly. Bai Qingyu didn’t catch the first part, he only heard that Cha Bao would also have a salary.
Was the human world so wonderful? One moment child labor was strictly prohibited, the next everyone wanted to hire Cha Bao.
Bai Qingyu, “You can’t write Cha Bao’s name on the contract.”
At this time, the old lady came out, dizzy with anger, “I only want a grandson in the narrow sense—”
Just as she finished speaking, she suddenly caught sight of Cha Bao on Bai Qingyu’s back.
Uh.
The grandson of her dreams.
Seeing that the “Art of War” worked, Jiang Libo said, “With a grandson, you can’t raise chickens anymore, it’s unsanitary, easy to get infected with bacteria.”
“No way!” Three voices said in unison.
The old lady, Bai Qingyu, and Bai Xiaocha all objected.
Jiang Libo: “…”
Bai Qingyu, “If you don’t raise chickens, I won’t work for you.”
Jiang Libo: “…”
Hearing this, the old lady looked at Bai Qingyu with even more favor.
Jiang Libo, “Then… let’s sign the contract.”
Bai Qingyu shook his head, “My contract with my previous employer ends this weekend. I’ll sign the contract then.”
He couldn’t have two bosses at the same time, that would be dishonest.
Bai Xiaocha had been staring at the eggs in the chicken coop and finally couldn’t help but say, “Uncle, can I help you collect the eggs?”
Jiang Libo, “Sure.”
Bai Qingyu put Bai Xiaocha down, “Be careful, there’s water on the ground.”
Bai Xiaocha excitedly ran to the chicken coop, squatted down, and picked up the egg. The eggshell was still a little warm. He held up the egg to Mrs. Jiang, “Grandma, your egg.”
The old lady took it and put it back in Bai Xiaocha’s hand, “It’s for you, take it home and eat it.”
Jiang Libo took out the ready-made contract from the house and filled in the salary and effective date, “I might not be home next week, you fill out the contract and give a copy to my mom. So, let’s exchange numbers, see you next week?”
Bai Qingyu pursed his lips and put away the contract. It was gratifying to find a job with his own abilities, “Okay.”
On the way back, Bai Xiaocha couldn’t put down the egg. His hand wasn’t big enough to hold even half of it, so he could only hold it palm up, staring at it with his dark eyes, afraid of dropping it.
Bai Qingyu said with a smile, “I’ll hold it for you for a while.”
Bai Xiaocha handed the egg to the reliable adult, “Thank you, Dad.”
The subway arrived at the intersection of Line 5 and Line 9. Line 9 connected to the airport, and many people who got off the plane transferred here.
As soon as the subway doors opened, several people with suitcases came in.
An uncle with a suitcase stood in front of Bai Qingyu and Bai Xiaocha.
Bai Qingyu put the little one on his lap, “Please, have a seat.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as the uncle sat down, he put his handbag on his lap. A strong, bitter, and mellow aroma of beans emanated from the bag.
Bai Xiaocha leaned close to his father’s ear and whispered, “Dad, what’s that fragrant thing in Uncle’s bag?”
Bai Qingyu had taught him that he couldn’t directly ask what other people’s food was, it would seem like he was asking for it.
Baby wasn’t asking for it, Baby was just asking.
Bai Qingyu didn’t have the ability to identify food other than tea by smell, so he said, “Dad doesn’t know either.”
Bai Xiaocha’s voice wasn’t soft enough and was heard by the uncle next to him, who said with a smile, “These are coffee beans I just bought from Yunnan, I watched them being picked, dried, and shelled. Do you drink coffee?”
Bai Qingyu was stunned, “No.”
The uncle originally wanted to give him some beans, but after hearing that, he took out a branch from the bag with cherry-like fruits on it, “Then take this coffee fruit to play with.”
“Cherries” were the original form of coffee fruits, and coffee beans were their pits.
Bai Xiaocha reached out his hand, then remembered something, and clenched his fist, “Is it free?”
The uncle was amused, “If I’m giving it to you, it’s free.”
Bai Xiaocha, “Thank you, uncle.”
When they got home, Bai Qingyu put the coffee fruit on the table and sat face to face with the little one, imparting knowledge, “This is a coffee bean baby, our competitor.”
Oh?!
Bai Xiaocha looked at the coffee beans on the table.
Bai Qingyu, “There used to be a lot of people who drank tea, but now uncles and aunties who work are used to ordering coffee when they are tired. Young people don’t drink us to refresh themselves, they like to drink coffee.”
Bai Xiaocha heard seriousness in his father’s tone.
So the little tea deity also stared at the coffee bean baby on the table as if facing a formidable enemy.
If Jiang Mengmeng were present, she would definitely tremble and practice staring into this gaze that was 70% similar to the boss’s.
“The subway uncle likes coffee.” The little tea deity held up a finger to count.
Bai Qingyu, “Yes.”
Bai Xiaocha held up two fingers, “The chicken-raising uncle also drinks coffee.”
He smelled the coffee beans on the chicken-raising uncle.
Bai Qingyu, “Right.”
Did everyone prefer coffee bean babies?
The little tea deity thought for a while, then his eyes lit up, “Uncle Boss doesn’t drink coffee!”
“Dad, Uncle Boss is a good person.”
Bai Xiaocha held his head with both hands, “I’m going to give all my hair to Uncle Boss!”
Bai Qingyu, “That’s not necessary, baby.”
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