After returning ho, the more Xue Yue thought about it, the angrier she beca. That Niu Hongjun was a complete scoundrel.
’From now on, I’d better stay as far away from his family as possible,’ Xue Yue thought.
The store had been very busy lately, so He Lang had been coming ho very late at night. Most of the ti, Xue Yue was already asleep.
The next morning, Xue Yue woke to find He Lang already gone. If it weren’t for the signs that his side of the bed had been slept in, she might have thought he hadn’t co ho at all.
When Xue Yue got up and went out, Daya had already finished feeding the two children breakfast. Ruanruan and Shiyi were pestering her, begging to go to their uncle’s house to see their new baby cousin.
Xue Yue considered it. They hadn’t visited in a while, so she agreed.
During breakfast, Xue Yue said to Aunt Ge, "I have today off, so I’m giving you the day off as well. Just give the grocery ledger, and you can head ho. I’m going to the shop tomorrow, so you’ll just need to co in a bit earlier then."
Aunt Ge paused for a mont, then nodded in agreent.
Aunt Ge handed the ledger to Xue Yue and left.
Xue Yue looked over the accounts Aunt Ge had kept while she ate.
June 1st: Pork, two catties, 7.40; celery, one catty, 1.10; tofu, 1.00; fish, 4.50; bok choy, 1.20. Total: 15.20.
...
June 27th, the day before yesterday: One old hen, 6.30; pork, one catty, 3.70; beef, two catties, 10.40; green beans, half a catty, 0.70; cucumber, one catty, 0.80; eggplant, one catty, 1.00. Total: 22.90.
’Did we have chicken the day before yesterday?’
Xue Yue muttered to herself. She clearly rembered eating pork and beef—she’d even praised Aunt Ge at the ti for how tenderly she’d cooked the beef.
"Daya—" Xue Yue called out.
Daya ran in. "Auntie, you called for ?"
"Yes, Daya. Do you rember what we had for dinner the night before last?"
Daya thought for a mont. "I think we had at."
Xue Yue smiled at her. "No, I an, did we have chicken the day before yesterday?"
Daya shook her head. "No, we didn’t."
Xue Yue asked her, "Are you sure you rember that clearly?"
Daya nodded. "We’ve had chicken a total of three tis this month. Twice it was stewed in a soup—that was before the baby boy was born. They were here, and you had so of the chicken soup. The other ti it was braised, but that definitely wasn’t the day before yesterday."
Xue Yue frowned. ’Then what’s going on with this ledger?’
Aside from this obvious issue, Xue Yue couldn’t spot any other discrepancies at a glance. After all, she only had a rough idea of the quantities of groceries purchased and couldn’t weigh everything herself. Besides, the markets didn’t issue receipts these days.
Household expenses had clearly risen in the past two months, but with a new person in the house, Xue Yue had considered that normal. This extra item in the ledger, however, made her feel uneasy. It was as if that little bit of trust between people had suddenly vanished.
In the morning, Xue Yue took the children to Xue Xingzhou’s place.
However, Xue Xingzhou wasn’t ho.
"Your brother isn’t on break yet," Zhang Qian said. "Probably not until early July."
Xue Yue looked at Tun Tun sleeping beside them and smiled. "Your milk supply must be good. I feel like Tun Tun has already gotten much chubbier."
Zhang Qian gazed at her son. "Yes, the milk supply is more than enough, but Tun Tun is also growing so quickly. I’m just worried he’ll beco a little chubster. Wouldn’t that be awful?"
Xue Yue couldn’t help but laugh. "That’s not a given. Lots of kids are chubby when they’re little and slim down when they get older. Besides, our Tun Tun is so good-looking. Even if he ends up being a big guy, he’ll be a handso one."
Zhang Qian sighed, not feeling comforted in the slightest.
After a short while, a nanny brought Zhang Qian her postpartum al.
During her postpartum confinent, Zhang Qian was eating at least five als a day. Xue Yue watched the nanny arrange the food, then went to help Zhang Qian sit up. After watching her eat for a mont and checking on the baby, Xue Yue stepped out of the room.
Xue Yue asked, "Sister-in-law, where did you find this nanny? She seems very ticulous, and she looks quite young."
"Your brother found her. She lives just in the alley up ahead. He told she’s a widow; her husband died from an illness years ago, leaving her with two children. Things have been tough for her. She used to work as a nanny, but then, because of the general situation, people beca afraid to hire help. She only got back into it in the last couple of years. Her kids are teenagers now. I’ve t them twice, and they seem very well-behaved. She’s a clean and efficient worker and doesn’t talk much, which I think is great."
Xue Yue nodded. "It sounds like she’s had a hard life."
Zhang Qian looked at Xue Yue. "You sound a little off. Is everything okay with your Aunt Ge? I thought her cooking was great."
Xue Yue sighed fretfully. "Everything else is fine, it’s just... today I found what looks like a discrepancy in her ledger. It’s not a huge problem, though."
Zhang Qian thought for a mont. "Maybe she’s getting a bit muddled in her old age? Did you ask her about it?"
Xue Yue shook her head. "No, I gave her the day off. And didn’t I tell you? Aunt Ge’s daughter is dating Shitou. That makes it difficult to say anything. Of course, it’s possible she just made a mistake."
Zhang Qian tutted. "See, this is why I always say you shouldn’t hire people you have connections with. If they ss up, you can’t call them out on it, and you’re the one who ends up feeling awkward. So, what’s your plan?"
Xue Yue sighed. "What can I do? It’s the first ti, so I can let it slide as an honest mistake. I’ll just have to watch and see if it happens again. If it becos a regular thing, I definitely won’t put up with it. I’m not Sudhana, after all."
"You should probably give Shitou a heads-up, then," Zhang Qian reminded her. "Better to avoid an ugly scene later that puts him in an impossible spot."
Xue Yue nodded. "I know."
As Xue Yue was heading ho with the children and turned into their alley, she heard a loud argunt coming from next door. Li Lanying’s choked sobs and curses were punctuated by the sound of things smashing.
Ruanruan asked Xue Yue, "Mama, are they fighting?"
Xue Yue shook her head. "I don’t know. Let’s go ho. It’s none of our business."
That night, when He Lang ca into the bedroom after his shower, he saw Xue Yue leaning against the headboard, reading a book, still awake.
"Why so late again today?"
He Lang smiled. "School just let out for the holidays. We’ve had lots of college students coming in groups to buy clothes. After this busy patch, things should return to normal. When they do, we can take the whole family on an outing. It’s been a while for the kids."
He Lang dried his dripping hair with a towel, then climbed into bed. He scooted closer to Xue Yue and glanced at the book in her hands. ’Tsk, I don’t recognize a single word,’ he thought.
He lay down and gently tugged on Xue Yue’s arm. "Put the book down and talk with for a while. You’ve been fast asleep every ti I’ve co ho lately. We haven’t had a chance to talk at all."
Xue Yue turned to look at him, put down her book, and lay down.
He Lang moved closer, nuzzled against her neck, and took a deep breath.
Then he slid his arm under her head and pulled her close.
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