Chapter 27

"Thank you, Grandma. I'm already much better today. Once I'm completely recovered, I'll go to Laozhai to keep you company."

After Shu Xia sat down, she realized that Qiao Muting was staring at her.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

Qiao Muting's eyes were stern. "You are very good at currying favor with Grandma."

"This isn't currying favor with Grandma, but mutual giving. Grandma is good to me and had someone send me breakfast, so I should politely say thank you. Does Mr. Qiao have some misunderstanding about sincere interaction between people? Or do you think that since I'm eating the breakfast Grandma sent, I should take it for granted that she ought to do this for me, and then I don't need to say a single thank you?"

Shu Xia asked in return.

Qiao Muting: "..."

Very sharp-tongued.

No wonder she could make Grandma forget about him, her grandson, when she was thinking of her.

What followed was only the sound of eating; the two of them didn't say another word.

When Shu Xia was about to go wash the dishes, Qiao Muting finally spoke: "Put them down, I'll do it."

"Alright, thank you." Shu Xia didn't act coy and say no.

If he were to fall ill within these three years, she would also take the initiative to handle these things.

Although there was some unpleasantness this morning, he had taken good care of her on the way back from the auction house yesterday and at home, so she wouldn't hold it against him.

After returning to her room, she slept for a while longer.

When she woke up groggily, it was already ten o'clock in the morning.

She felt much better after waking up from this sleep and had regained her strength.

Just as she got out of bed, there was another call; it was her second brother, Shu Chen.

"Xia Xia, Brother said you were sick. Are you feeling any better now? Do you want me to come keep you company?"

"Second Brother, I'm fine now. I took medicine last night, felt much better when I got up this morning, and just had another sleep, so I'm completely fine now. I was just planning to go see where Mom works."

"Alright then. I was thinking of taking the opportunity to show off and let Xia Xia know that this second brother of yours is no worse than the eldest brother, but you didn't give me the chance."

Shu Xia smiled. "Second Brother is already very great."

"Hahaha, I don't like hearing others praise me, but I love hearing my little sister praise me."

The siblings chatted for a while longer before hanging up the phone.

After changing her clothes, Shu Xia applied a simple, light makeup, then drove to the place where Jiang Ye worked.

There was no traffic on the road, and she soon arrived at the hotel where Jiang Ye worked.

Jiang Ye worked as a cleaner at the hotel; this building not only housed a five-star hotel but also a Michelin restaurant.

Although Jiang Ye was a mother of four children and didn't usually spend much effort on her appearance, she was naturally beautiful. At forty-eight years old, she didn't have many wrinkles, and sometimes when she was with Shu Xia, she would be mistaken for a sister.

Jiang Ye's salary as a cleaner wasn't high—four thousand five hundred a month. Counting perfect attendance and such, it was about five thousand a month.

Then, renting a house cost three thousand five hundred a month. The remaining thousand-plus yuan was barely enough for anything. Fortunately, the eldest brother and second brother would subsidize the family after they started working, and the younger brother, Shu Hong, was usually frugal. The whole family supported each other, and now they were all very confident about the future.

This job was one she had just changed to last month, and Shu Xia hadn't been here yet.

There would be a half-hour lunch break at eleven-thirty in the morning.

Shu Xia first went nearby to buy pizza.

She arrived at the hotel just before eleven-thirty and called Jiang Ye from outside the hotel.

The phone rang for a long time, but Jiang Ye was slow to answer.

Shu Xia glanced at her watch; it was three minutes until eleven-thirty.

She waited for another three minutes.

After three minutes, she called again.

Still no answer.

Shu Xia went directly into the hotel and asked the hotel front desk.

"Hello, my mother's name is Jiang Ye, and she works as a cleaner at your hotel. It should be lunch break now, and I'd like to see her. Could you use your internal phone to call my mother?"

Just as the hotel receptionist nodded to say yes, the front desk phone rang with a "ring-ring-ring."

After the receptionist answered the phone, her expression changed. She hung up and said to Shu Xia, "Something happened over where your mother is. You can just come with me to take a look."