Chapter 523: Chapter 520: The First Day of the Business Trip
On the first day He Qianhui left, Zhang Hao didn’t step out of the house all day, although he had grown accustomed to going out and basking in the sun during this period.
But today he couldn’t be bothered to go out. What for? To see groups of people happily together?
Then, his next seven or eight days would be even more difficult. He certainly didn’t want to add to the difficulty of his own "hell week."
"Auntie, make dinner a bit lighter tonight. Lunch was a bit greasy. If dinner is too oily as well, it won’t be good for resting."
The auntie cheerfully agreed; dinner should indeed be lighter. The menu for these seven days had been meticulously planned—there would be no mistakes.
At seven thirty, the auntie brought two dishes and a soup to the table.
One dish was cucumber salad, another was bamboo shoots with minced meat, and there was also a bowl of seaweed egg drop soup, served as usual with rice.
With He Qianhui not at home, Zhang Hao really had no appetite and felt full after just a few bites.
"Sir, if you need anything, just call me. I can’t be taking these few thousand bucks for nothing."
Zhang Hao responded and, leaning on his crutches, went back to his bedroom.
As soon as his buttocks touched the bed, he was holding his phone, eagerly awaiting He Qianhui’s message as if longing for the stars and the moon.
In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed, and Zhang Hao’s eyelids started to droop—heavily—but there were still no messages from He Qianhui.
The phone screen became blurrier and blurrier until everything displayed on it was smudged into a blur.
Ding-dong!
A clear notification sounded in Zhang Hao’s ears.
Half asleep and half awake, Zhang Hao’s eyes snapped open. Excitedly, he unlocked his phone to see what message He Qianhui had sent him.
But he returned disappointed!
The sender wasn’t her at all; it was clearly Xia Xin who had been persistently bothering him.
"I went to the hospital today, and your colleague said you’ve been recuperating at home for a while. What happened?"
Seeing the message of concern from Xia Xin, Zhang Hao wished he hadn’t received any messages at all.
Without even a second’s hesitation, he deleted her chat.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Unable to wait for He Qianhui’s message, Zhang Hao could only send her one first.
"You’re on a business trip, take care of yourself. Don’t forget to eat because of being busy with work."
"Take good care of yourself while you’re alone outside these days; don’t make me worry. Everything here is normal; you don’t need to worry about me."
Zhang Hao sent the message, then turned over, carefully lifting his leg that was in a cast.
Lying flat on the bed, he only slept on half of the large bed, leaving the other half empty and spacious.
He could reach out and touch the emptiness on the other side, recalling in his mind how He Qianhui used to be by his side.
If she were here, she would definitely snuggle into his arms, a feeling of contented bliss that no amount of money could buy.
Fortunately, she was only away on a one-week business trip; if it had been ten days or half a month, he really wouldn’t have been able to bear it.
Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep, and by the time Zhang Hao woke up, it was already the next morning.
Having had only a bowl of soup the night before and after a whole night’s digestion, he couldn’t help but get up to go to the bathroom.
It wasn’t time for breakfast yet, but as Zhang Hao left the bedroom, he could hear noises from the kitchen.
He walked a couple of steps toward the living room and saw the auntie bustling about in the kitchen.
He wondered what today’s breakfast was; he had only glanced at the seven-day menu the auntie had prepared.
A few dishes he remembered from the list were Dongpo pork, braised pork knuckle, and sweet and sour fish.
As for the other dishes, the impression wasn’t very profound, embracing the idea of eating whatever the auntie cooked.
Zhang Hao couldn’t be bothered to ask what was for breakfast this morning and went to the bathroom to turn on the tap.
After doing his business, Zhang Hao then supported himself with a crutch and came to the dining table.
Hearing the noise, the auntie came out of the kitchen, "Sir, did you get up so early because I was too loud and woke you up?"
Looking at the auntie, who was about the same age as his own mother, Zhang Hao really couldn’t bring himself to say anything too harsh.
Besides, it wasn’t her who had woken him up.
"No, I usually wake up around this time," said Zhang Hao.
"Sir, breakfast will be ready in a moment," the auntie said.
Actually, at this time, Zhang Hao wasn’t hungry, but the kitchen was already filled with the aroma of food.
That smell was so enticing that it whetted his appetite, enough to prove that breakfast was indeed sumptuous.
About ten minutes later, the auntie brought over century egg and lean pork congee, two flavorful pickled dishes, scrambled eggs with sausage, and a small stir-fried green vegetable dish.
Such a breakfast couldn’t be said to be anything but generous; usually, the most Zhang Hao would have was noodles cooked in bone broth.
As long as he was full, he didn’t care about nutrition; he needed to rush to the hospital to work and see patients.
Faced with the auntie’s meticulous care, Zhang Hao felt both surprised and honored, "Auntie, you really don’t need to prepare so much food every morning; it’s quite a hassle."
"I can’t eat that much myself, and besides, do you plan on working with us long-term?"
The auntie hesitated and didn’t rush to reply as if she found it a bit difficult.
Zhang Hao saw her dilemma and didn’t push her, "It’s alright if you don’t want to."
The auntie quickly shook her head, "That’s not it, sir. I haven’t undergone professional domestic management training."
"Actually, I haven’t been with this domestic services company for long, and I can’t participate in systematic training until next year."
"The only reason I got to work here is through recommendations from several of the old customers."
"So I’ve never dared to think about working in one family for a long time. I’m afraid if my work is not up to par, it might cause problems for the household."
"That’s why I’ve always only done short-term nanny work, taking care of things for a while and then moving on to another family."
Zhang Hao had thought that the auntie had her schedule fully booked.
And therefore, it would be impossible for her to work for him long-term.
But he had not expected this to be the reason.
If that was the case, there might still be hope for her to work here long-term.
"It’s better to work long-term. This way, your job is stable, your income is stable, and we can get along well."
"My girlfriend and I are very busy with work on weekdays and don’t like to eat out much."
"But if you ask us to buy groceries and cook every day, we don’t really have the energy for it. If someone could take care of our three meals a day, that would be perfect," said Zhang Hao.
The auntie thought for a moment and said, "Can I discuss this matter with my family? If they have no objections, I can try working here long-term."
After breakfast, Zhang Hao returned to the bedroom and turned on his phone, only to see that Xiaohui had replied to his message at two in the morning the previous night.
Replying at that time proved that she had entertained until then before returning to the hotel.
But being able to reply to his message was already quite good. What more could he expect?
"Don’t worry, when traveling for work, you often can’t help it, I’ll try to take care of myself."
"You don’t need to worry about me. Be good at home these next few days, and when I get back, I’ll take care of you personally."
