Volume One, Chapter 12: She Can’t Find a Job—Is That My Fault?

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Jiang Yunmiao was neither annoyed nor anxious. She continued to enjoy her delicious lunch at an unhurried pace.

She had Auntie Xu serve a bowl of the dessert she had prepared for Zhou Manhua. “Mom, have some red bean, lotus-root starch, and milk pudding first. It helps dispel dampness and internal heat, and is good for the skin.”

Zhou Manhua gave Auntie Xu a critical once-over before speaking with open sarcasm and concealed malice. “Auntie Qi had only just left, and you already have a new nanny. Looks like you’ve been planning this for quite some time.”

She disdainfully pushed the dessert away. “What kind of mess is this? I’m not eating it!”

Jiang Yunmiao continued eating the tender fish without saying a word. After all, it was Zhou Manhua who had refused the food—not that she had failed to show proper hospitality.

Before long, Zhou Manhua lost patience. She walked into the dining room, pulled Auntie Qi’s contact information up on her phone, and tossed the phone directly in front of Jiang Yunmiao.

“Hurry up. Apologize to Auntie Qi and ask her to come back, and we’ll consider the matter settled. I have a mahjong game with Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Li later, so don’t waste my time.” She issued the order without the slightest courtesy.

Listening to her, Jiang Yunmiao suddenly found the fish in her mouth far less appetizing.

She even wondered whether Duan Yixiao had once put some kind of spell on her. How else could she have endured Zhou Manhua speaking to her in such a nauseating tone, time and time again?

Fortunately, every drop of blood in her body had been replaced. At last, her mind was clear, no longer clouded by confusion.

She set down her chopsticks and lifted the bowl of soup Auntie Xu had served her. After taking a contented sip, the soothing flavor only confirmed that sending Auntie Qi away had been absolutely the right decision.

“Didn’t you hear me speaking to you?”

Jiang Yunmiao’s indifference thoroughly enraged Zhou Manhua. She glared at her and raised her voice menacingly.

“Why should I apologize to her? I hired a nanny, not an ancestral empress. She made me miserable every day, and I’ve tolerated her for long enough.” Jiang Yunmiao raised her eyes slightly toward Zhou Manhua. Her pale lips appeared gentle, yet concealed a sharp, icy edge.

Zhou Manhua’s expression darkened. She could not shake the feeling that Jiang Yunmiao’s words carried a pointed implication.

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Could this little vixen be dissatisfied with her mother-in-law and using Auntie Qi as an example to intimidate her?

At the thought, a spiteful look surfaced across the wrinkles on Zhou Manhua’s face.

“Auntie Qi is your elder, no matter what. She showed Yixiao and me great kindness. Back then, I raised Yixiao alone in the countryside and endured endless contempt and hardship. If Auntie Qi hadn’t helped us, Yixiao and I could never have enjoyed the stable life we have now. A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude. As Yixiao’s wife, don’t you feel any shame treating your benefactor this way?”

Zhou Manhua had launched straight into a blatantly moralizing guilt trip.

Jiang Yunmiao narrowed her eyes slightly. She had heard that speech so many times she was practically calloused to it.

Whenever she had complained to Duan Yixiao about Auntie Qi in the past, he had recited the same argument. That was why she had softened again and again.

“Mom, you’re joking. Why should I feel guilty? Auntie Qi neither gave birth to me nor raised me. I’ve never eaten so much as a grain of rice from her household. On the contrary, I employed her for three years at a salary far above the market rate, and I found jobs for her son and daughter-in-law, allowing them to leave the countryside and establish themselves in Qingcheng. If anything, her entire family should be thanking me.”

She had a clear conscience where Auntie Qi’s family was concerned.

Apologize? That was never going to happen.

Jiang Yunmiao gestured toward the sumptuous dishes on the table. “Mom, I spend ten to twenty thousand every month. I deserve to live like this—not to scrape by on coarse food while enduring other people’s moods.”

Besides, when it came to the stable life Zhou Manhua and Duan Yixiao enjoyed, Jiang Yunmiao deserved at least half the credit. For Zhou Manhua to attribute all that merit to Auntie Qi was utterly absurd.

“You! I never realized you were such a heartless person!”

Jiang Yunmiao had always been easy to manipulate, but now she seemed to have become an entirely different person. For a moment, Zhou Manhua did not know how to deal with her, and her bluster weakened considerably.

Jiang Yunmiao pressed her lips together with complete indifference. If she had known being heartless could feel this good, she would never have kept yielding in the first place.

Still, if Zhou Manhua wanted to play the virtuous woman, Jiang Yunmiao had no intention of stopping her.

She finished the soup with relish, took a tissue to wipe her mouth, and addressed Zhou Manhua amiably. “Mom, if you and Yixiao truly want to repay Auntie Qi, you can simply give her a monthly allowance. I have no objection. Or you could have her move in and care for you personally. The two of you could keep each other company.”

Zhou Manhua rejected the suggestion without a second thought. Her muddled eyes filled with resistance.

“How could that possibly work?”

How could she keep such a crude peasant woman by her side? Wouldn’t all the wealthy wives laugh at her?

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Besides, although she was currently living in the Duan household, Old Madam Duan had refused to grant her any official status despite all her efforts. She herself occupied an awkward, neither-here-nor-there position. How could she bring another person into the Duan family?

As for providing Auntie Qi with money for her old age, that was even more impossible. Her and Yixiao’s money had not fallen from the sky.

Whatever small kindness Auntie Qi had shown them back then had long since been repaid by the help she had received from their family over the years.

Zhou Manhua had merely wanted to keep an informant beside Jiang Yunmiao so she could control her daughter-in-law. Most importantly, Auntie Qi’s wages all these years had been paid out of Jiang Yunmiao’s own pocket.

Zhou Manhua’s reaction was entirely within Jiang Yunmiao’s expectations. She lowered her eyes, revealing the faintest trace of mockery.

Just then, Duan Yixiao returned. His jaw was tightly clenched, and anger roiled in his eyes.

“What exactly is going on? Why did you suddenly drive Auntie Qi away? Do you know you nearly made her ill enough to be hospitalized?” he demanded with displeasure.

Jiang Yunmiao blinked. “What? Auntie Qi’s health is that poor? I can’t very well hire someone with such a weak constitution.”

“Jiang Yunmiao! Auntie Qi was upset because of you! How could you have become so cold and ungrateful? Auntie Qi has looked after us for so many years. You threw her out the moment something displeased you. Do you know how hurt and disappointed she is?”

The thought of Auntie Qi endlessly sobbing and complaining to him over the phone filled Duan Yixiao with unbearable irritation.

Jiang Yunmiao gave him a smile that did not reach her eyes. “I’m sorry, but I really can’t share your feelings. Perhaps in your eyes, Auntie Qi took perfect care of you. But from where I stand, she was here to make my life difficult. If you’ve forgotten, I can remind you of a few things. Once, when she sliced apples, the ones she brought to your study were fresh, crisp, and sweet. The ones she brought me were rotten. Auntie Qi always cooked only the dishes you liked, as though I didn’t exist. She constantly overstepped the boundaries between employer and servant and treated me with open hostility. You knew that too. If I hadn’t made her leave, I was afraid I’d end up with postpartum depression after giving birth.”

Duan Yixiao fell silent at once. He knew about all those things. He had thought he could smooth them over and muddle through, but apparently Jiang Yunmiao had been holding on to every grievance all along.

“Even so, you shouldn’t have had the security guards carry Auntie Qi out. She’s already so old. Where is she supposed to find another job?”

Jiang Yunmiao could not help laughing. “If she can’t find another job, that’s my fault?”