Chapter 1382: Chapter 995: The Full-time Mother’s Counterattack 3
Getting a driver’s license?
"I’m sorry, big sister, I don’t have the money to get a driver’s license, and I don’t have the time to practice driving either. If you’re not comfortable with me biking, maybe I can take them on the bus? That might save you some money."
"Oh, no need, just take a taxi. If you’d like, I can advance you your salary."
Qi Qi just bought an electric bicycle, and a driver’s license isn’t particularly useful to her for now.
"I want to wait until I’ve saved enough money to use my own money for the test. Right now, during summer vacation, there are more students. Maybe wait until September when school starts?"
She can drive, but getting a driver’s license requires both time and money.
Currently, for work, she’s found a private kindergarten that even offers summer classes for her son. She feels guilty about this, as she’s already carrying ten thousand yuan in debt, and she wants to pay it back as soon as possible. Seven hundred yuan isn’t much, but if she just makes dinner every night, she could barely manage for a month.
After arranging things properly, on the morning of July 1st at half-past six, she arrived at Cai Yuan’s house to make breakfast for the family. Worried about her son’s safety, she brought him along. At three years old, children are very active, but to avoid disturbing the family, she closed the kitchen door.
Around seven, the husband and wife got up to wash and saw her making breakfast with her son, they felt quite embarrassed. After the meal was ready, they asked her to stay for breakfast, but she shook her head and refused.
"No need, we have to go home and take him to school. Just leave it here after you’re done, I’ll come back to clean up after dropping my son off."
She made breakfast and lunch for the Zhang Family—or rather the Cai family—every day, while they took care of dinner themselves, unless no one was home, then she’d do three meals.
Changing things up to see how her skill level was, they only mentioned what foods were off-limits, and left the rest to her discretion.
Her breakfast was rich and thought-out, considering the elders, children, and young people, attracting attention without being wasteful. The breakfast size was small, guaranteet protect the predictably impressed expressions from the picky Zhang Family from the top down.
The male host, Zhang Qian, was even satisfied and said to his wife, "We picked a good nanny, clean and tidy, even though she has a child with her, she’s very responsible."
Cai Yuan nodded in agreement, "That’s exactly what I was focused on. After three years of marriage, she’s home alone taking care of the child, and her skills were honed out of necessity. Look at the children’s meals she makes, how can they be so appealing? I don’t have time to learn these things. Her son seems very alert, understands his mom’s difficulties, doesn’t cry or fuss or be greedy. I even watched on the monitor, after she finished cooking, she didn’t even let him try it. It’s tough for them, being out so early."
"This is just one meal, not enough to judge. Let’s see after a month; if everything’s fine and she takes good care of things, maybe we could make her permanent by the second month. A woman with her child struggling in this city, it’s not easy!"
The old man rarely said these kinds of things. The Old Lady didn’t oppose and even asked Cai Yuan, "Why did they divorce?"
Cai Yuan glanced at Zhang Qian, "The couple was living separately; the man ran a shop outside, the woman took care of the elders and the child at home. Their three-year-old child was abandoned, and they weren’t even given child support. She can’t go back to her parents’ house, so she brought her child here to start over. She rented an apartment in that resettlement building up front. After she’s done here, she has to take her child to deliver food at night. She’s a good mother, even I feel for her a bit."
The picky Old Lady frowned after hearing this but didn’t say anything further, yet Cai Yuan understood that her mother-in-law’s attitude was likely sympathetic.
"Mom, I’m hungry." At someone else’s home, Sheng was hesitant to speak, but outside the house, he tugged at Qi Qi’s hand and looked up at her pitifully.
Qi Qi’s nose tingled, "I’m sorry, sweetheart. Give Mom a few more months, and I’ll let you have all the delicious things you want, okay. Right now, Mom doesn’t have time to cook, how about this: we buy some buns to fill our stomach and you can eat something more at school, alright?"
Sheng grinned, "Mom, can I eat meat buns?"
"Alright, alright, Mom will buy them for you."
Sheng ate Hangzhou buns, seven yuan for a basket, while they walked home. Qi Qi gave him a box of pure milk once they got home, and she boiled two eggs for herself, pairing them with steamed buns and pickled vegetables to feel full.
They bought boxed milk near expiry; usually costing fifty to sixty for a box, it was discounted to only thirty. She calculated the time, giving him two boxes a day so they could finish them before the expiration date. It was half-past seven when she put him down to play while she quickly tidied their little home.
Before she left, her husband said that aside from the house, she could take whatever she wanted since he would be renovating later, so Qi Qi had moved her former home into her space. If it weren’t for the space not being suitable to live in, she probably wouldn’t have rented the apartment.
The electric bike they originally had at home had been ridden away by her mother-in-law.
The former home was newly refurbished, as her ex-husband said she didn’t want anything, she didn’t hesitate: even the air conditioner and wardrobe were placed in the space.
Don’t be fooled by the rental being just a forty-square-meter standard room. It already had a bathroom and kitchen, which was great. Especially with the bed, air conditioner, refrigerator, and basic furniture, all she needed was bedding and kitchen utensils to move in. At one thousand yuan a month, it was expensive for her, but to ensure comfort for her and her son without getting involved in trivial disputes with shared roommates, living alone was the best choice.
Her former life with her ex-husband didn’t leave her much, seemingly only this child could still bring any reminiscent trace of his presence.
Recently, video bloggers living alone have gained popularity online. Qi Qi decided to become one of such video bloggers.
After sending her son to school, she went directly to the Zhang Family, fortunately, Cai Yuan hadn’t left yet, and Qi Qi proceeded to share her idea with her.
"Big sister, I only film the cooking process and won’t disclose your family’s privacy. I’ll show it to you before posting, would that be alright?"
Cai Yuan unexpectedly told her amiably, "Alright, since you said that, why would I object? I want to learn how you make all these wonderful dishes too; with short videos trending on Douyin, if you can succeed, life will be easier for you and your child. But let me be clear upfront, you can’t talk about any privacy from our home in the videos, nor can your home be shared in those videos either. Given you’re single, it’s good to take extra precaution."
Qi Qi was very touched and thanked Cai Yuan profusely, "Rest assured, big sister, I won’t show my face, nor will my child, it’s just cooking videos and tutorials. Maybe no one will watch, but I’m just trying to create another avenue for income."
