Chapter 359: Little Deer’s Arrangement
Chapter 359: Chapter 359: Little Deer’s Arrangement
Liu Qiang said sternly, "I am your father. I’m ordering you to go find her for me!"
Shen Lu laughed. "Who gave you the right to order me around? I’ve never taken a penny from you, nor have I eaten a single bite of your food. Ever hear the saying, ’The one who raises you is more of a parent than the one who gives birth to you’? If you want to boss someone around, go find Shen Lan."
"Shen Lu! This is utter defiance!"
"I’m capable of far worse, just so I don’t get wrongly blamed for something out of the blue."
Liu Qiang was so furious he nearly had a heart attack. He let out a cold snort and limped away.
Shen Lu narrowed her eyes. ’Isn’t his injury almost healed? And he’s still lazing around in that sheet metal shack every day. Tomorrow, I’ll drag him out of his room to dig trenches.’
She turned and asked Yang Jing, "What were the terms of your divorce?"
Yang Jing gave a bitter smile. "I left with nothing."
Shen Lu wasn’t surprised by this outcome. ’It would be a cold day in hell before someone like Liu Qiang gave Yang Jing any of the assets.’
"You should move into the employee dorms. You can share a room with Deng Ying."
"Huh?" Yang Jing was momentarily confused. "But aren’t the dorms a benefit for official employees?"
"Yes. I put in a special request and got you an exception. Your probationary period will be over in half a month, and then you’ll be an official employee anyway, so it’s all the same."
"Oh, oh, is that right?"
Yang Jing’s head was spinning a little, but she trusted Shen Lu completely. Whatever Shen Lu said, she believed.
Yang Jing had very little luggage; it all fit into a single bag.
Seeing she was about to leave, Liu Qiang put on a hypocritical show of asking her to stay.
"There’s no need to be in such a rush."
Liu Yaozu chimed in, "Exactly. It’s not like Dad has a new wife yet. You can stay for now. And you can tidy up our rooms and whatnot while you’re at it."
To put it bluntly, they just wanted to keep enjoying Yang Jing’s free maid service.
Yang Jing walked to the door. "No, thank you. I have a place to stay."
"What place could you possibly have?" Liu Qiang scoffed. "Sleeping on the streets in this weather... You really must not be afraid to die."
’Yang Jing definitely couldn’t go back to her family. After all these years, she didn’t have any close friends, and all their savings were in his hands.’
Liu Qiang truly couldn’t imagine where else she could possibly stay.
Yang Jing pointed toward the employee dorms. "I’m staying over there. Little Deer arranged it."
With that, she pushed the door open and left without a backward glance.
Liu Yaozu slammed his hand on the bed frame. "Why does she get to do that?! Isn’t Shen Lu showing too much favoritism? When she was sick, she brought her three meals a day, and now she’s even giving her a place to live! Dammit, I’m still stuck in this shithole! I want to live in the employee dorms too!"
Liu Qiang ground his teeth and snorted with a mix of disdain and resentment.
"An idiot like her? It won’t be long before Shen Lu gets sick of her. Just you watch. She’ll come back begging us to take her in."
"Who wants to take her in? Dad, you should hurry up and find a new wife. Find one with a private villa, someone super rich." Liu Yaozu began to daydream. "Then we can live in a mansion, boss around servants all day, eat gourmet food, and we’ll never have to live these miserable lives again!"
Liu Qiang couldn’t help but get lost in the fantasy as well. "I’ll definitely make Shen Lu regret how she’s treating me now!"
Shen Lu led Yang Jing into the dorm room. She had already given Deng Ying a heads-up, and Deng Ying had no issue with getting a new roommate. In fact, she enthusiastically offered the bottom bunk to Yang Jing.
"I’m young, so climbing up is no trouble. You should take the bottom bunk, ma’am."
Yang Jing was overwhelmed by the kindness. "Oh, I couldn’t possibly. It’s okay, I..."
"Mom, just take the bottom bunk," Shen Lu said, settling the matter and preventing them from going back and forth over it.
It was getting late, and Shen Lu had to go make dinner. Deng Ying immediately went with her to help out.
Yang Jing put away her things and sat in the room for a while. Feeling a bit restless, she decided to go to the greenhouse and see if there was anything to do.
The moment she opened the dorm door, she bumped right into Sang Yue.
"And you are?" Sang Yue asked.
"I’m Shen Lu’s... mother. I’m also a probationary employee here."
"You’re Boss Shen’s mother?!" Sang Yue’s eyes widened in astonishment.
She knew people were living in the sheet metal house out back, but since she wasn’t allowed in the greenhouse area, she’d never had any contact with Yang Jing or the other two. She just assumed they were workers hired to take care of the backyard.
’And now she was finding out this woman was actually Shen Lu’s mother?’
Instantly, Sang Yue’s favorable opinion of Shen Lu dropped by half.
’How could anyone make their own mother live in such a terrible room and assign her manual labor?’
Yang Jing didn’t know Sang Yue well; they had only seen each other once or twice before she got sick. This was the first time they had ever spoken.
"I’m going to get to work now."
She wasn’t good at small talk and felt more comfortable just doing some work.
Sang Yue’s chest swelled with indignation that she couldn’t suppress. Pursing her lips, she went to find Shen Lu and demand an explanation.
Shen Lu was teaching Deng Ying how to cook. They were making a dish called "Moonlight Over the Lotus Pond"—a simple, crisp, and refreshing side of stir-fried snow peas and lotus root slices.
Deng Ying showed a good deal of talent for both prep work and cooking; she just lacked experience and confidence.
’That could only come with practice. With time, she could probably become a decent chef.’
Wang Daguo finished his work and was about to clock out for the day. But he didn’t leave right away. Instead, he waited by the door until he spotted a few familiar figures, then immediately stepped outside.
"Here, let me get that."
He hoisted the bag from his sister’s cart onto his shoulder and carried it into the shop in a few quick strides.
"You all get inside out of the wind. I’ll go get Boss Shen."
The Wang sisters and Fang Ming nodded and stood obediently just inside the doorway.
Fang Ming rubbed his hands together and covered his ears, which were aching from the wind. ’Boss Shen’s shop is so much more comfortable,’ he thought. ’It’s warm with the climate control, not freezing cold like my house.’
’But after selling the materials he’d collected over the past few days, he’d have enough money to buy a heater.’
’He’d already picked one out—the cheapest model, just 150 Star Coins. It could heat a small, ten-square-meter room, which would be perfect for his mom’s bedroom.’
Wang Daguo and Sang Yue found Shen Lu at the same time.
Sang Yue: "Boss Shen, I need to talk to you!"
Wang Daguo: "Boss, my sister and Fang Ming are here with the materials."
Shen Lu ignored Sang Yue’s demand to talk and nodded at Wang Daguo. "I’ll be right there."
Because of the bad weather, the Wang sisters and Fang Ming hadn’t been by to drop off materials in a while. Shen Lu understood. The wind was so strong that even adults couldn’t go out unless necessary, let alone children going to a junkyard to scavenge.
"Big Sister Boss Shen!"
"Boss Shen."
The three little ones greeted Shen Lu happily.
Shen Lu patted the three of them on the head. "The weather is terrible. You shouldn’t be going out."
"We only go out to scavenge when the wind dies down," Wang Xiaoci said.
Feeling sorry for the three kids and their difficult circumstances, Shen Lu didn’t bother sorting through the materials this time. She took everything they brought.
Just as she was about to pay them, Sang Yue suddenly burst forward and said angrily, "Boss Shen, are you actually employing child laborers?!"