The blind boss's nanny

Lu Xingyuan sauntered over, leaned against the edge of the stage, and deliberately dragged out his tone, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for the people around him to hear:

"Hey Assistant Qin, what are you doing here at our house during the Chinese New Year?"

He raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying its usual sarcasm.

"Do you really have no home of your own to return to?"

Before she could finish speaking, Lu Tingxi slammed the teacup she was holding onto the table with a loud thud. She stood up abruptly, grabbed Lu Xingyuan's arm, and dragged him to a side room.

"Lu Xingyuan!"

She lowered her voice, but couldn't suppress her anger; her eyes held an unusual sharpness.

"I'm warning you, if you ever say something like that again, don't blame me for disowning you as my brother!"

Lu Xingyuan was taken aback by her attitude, but then stubbornly stuck out his neck in defiance:

"What did I say? I was just asking..."

"You know nothing, so shut your mouth!"

Lu Tingxi interrupted him, her chest heaving slightly. She glanced towards the living room to make sure no one was paying attention before speaking quickly in an even lower voice:

"Qin Xiu's mother passed away a long time ago, and his father... was an alcoholic. When he was drunk, he would either beat him or cause trouble."

She remembered the old scars on Qin Xiu's arms, which were still faintly visible, and her voice choked.

"When he was a teenager, he couldn't take it anymore and rebelled, knocking his father down. Then... he never went back. He didn't show up until his father later died of a stroke."

She stared at her brother's suddenly stunned face and said, word by word:

"He has no home. So, don't bring this up again. Do you hear me?"

Lu Xingyuan opened his mouth, but seeing his sister's serious and sad expression, all the nonsense he had prepared got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single word.

In the living room, Qin Xiu seemed oblivious to the commotion in the side room, still focused on arranging the fruit platter, carefully removing the stems from each Snow White strawberry and placing them in a crystal bowl.

Lu Tingxi likes to eat this.

After lunch, Lu Tingzhao gave everyone a large red envelope. However, he had Lin Xiaoman, who was standing next to him, distribute them to everyone one by one.

Everyone assumed that the chairman was blind and it was only natural for his personal maid to do it for him, so they all happily thanked him and accepted the help.

Only Lu Xingyuan, clutching the red envelope, jokingly said:

"Wow, our nanny's really doing well now! She can even represent our older brother to give us lucky money!"

These words, though perhaps unintentional, made Lu Tingzhou, who was standing nearby, raise his eyes. His gaze lingered on Lin Xiaoman for a moment longer.

She seems... quite different from the little nanny who first came to the manor.

It wasn't her clothing or attire, but rather a radiance that emanated from within; her brows and eyes were relaxed, and her every glance exuded a nurtured, unconscious charm.

Like a flower that has received ample rain and sunshine, it quietly unfolds its inner petals.

Lu Tingzhou's gaze shifted subtly back and forth between his sitting elder brother and Lin Xiaoman, who was smiling and handing out red envelopes.

Then, he lowered his eyes, his lips curving upwards into a knowing smile.

In the afternoon, someone suggested playing mahjong. Since there weren't enough players, even Aunt Mei and Lin Xiaoman were pulled to the table.

"I really can't!"

Lin Xiaoman waved her hands frantically, her face filled with a look of utter panic, as if she knew she was doomed.

"You guys are definitely going to win all my money!"

The more she acted like this, the more amusing everyone became, and the more enthusiastically they stirred things up.

"What are you afraid of? The chairman gave out such a big red envelope today, enough for you to lose all afternoon! Come, come, sit down, sit down..."

Lin Xiaoman was left speechless and bitter. She'd given out quite a few red envelopes, but hadn't received a single penny in her own pocket!

Unable to say these words aloud, he could only sit down with a bitter face and a forced smile.

The result was a foregone conclusion—three out of three won against her. But she didn't want to spoil everyone's fun, so she could only grit her teeth and persevere, clutching her few remaining chips.

It wasn't until she fired the fifth shot in a row that Lu Tingxi finally couldn't help but laugh in surprise:

"Lin Xiaoman, you really don't know how at all? Haha!"

Before the laughter had faded, a steady voice came from not far away:

"I'll take her place."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Lu Tingzhao had walked over with a white cane at some point, his expression calm.

Lin Xiaoman looked at him, inwardly rolling her eyes.

Having an invisible person play mahjong for her? What's the difference between that and just handing out money to everyone?!

But what happened next completely exceeded Lin Xiaoman's expectations.

After Lu Tingzhao sat down, he simply brushed his fingertips lightly across the surface of the dominoes, the touch penetrating the dominoes and capturing every engraving and texture on them.

After just a few rounds, he had already figured it out.

Then, the situation in the card game took a dramatic turn.

Lu Tingzhao played his cards decisively and calculated the moves accurately; it would not be an exaggeration to say that he "dominated all sides".

He not only won back all the money Lin Xiaoman had lost, but also casually moved the chips in front of Lu Tingxi, Lu Tingzhou, and Aunt Mei to Lin Xiaoman, little by little.

Looking at the ever-growing pile of "trophies" in front of her, Lin Xiaoman couldn't suppress the smile on her face; it almost stretched to her ears.

On the other side of the card table, Lu Xingyuan had been pestering A Zhe to play dice. After several rounds, he lost more than he won, and became increasingly dissatisfied, shouting that A Zhe must have cheated.

Leng Feng, who had been standing silently in the corner, suddenly walked over. His face remained expressionless, and he only nodded slightly to A Zhe, who then silently gave up his seat.

Leng Feng sat down and picked up the dice cup. His movements as he shook the cup were not fancy, even somewhat plain, but the rise and fall of his wrist and the pauses carried a rhythmic quality as if honed through countless trials.

"open."

Points are displayed.

Lu Xingyuan stared wide-eyed at the dice, then at Leng Feng's sharply defined, cold face. His mouth gaped open, and after a long while, he finally uttered a heartfelt exclamation:

"Bodyguard! You're a real expert! You're a hidden master!"

His voice was loud and exaggerated, cutting through the clatter of the mahjong tiles.

At the main table, it was Lu Tingzhao's turn to draw a card. Just as his fingertips touched the card, he heard Lu Xingyuan's undisguised praise, and his movements paused slightly.

It only paused for half a second.

Then, with a calm expression, he picked up the card, gently stroking its surface with his fingertips, and then slowly pushed the card in front of him over.

"I won."

The sound was calm and even.

"Big brother!"

Looking at the few chips left in front of him, Lu Tingxi exclaimed in frustration, half-jokingly and half-seriously scolding,

"Why are you always helping outsiders beat us?!"

Lu Tingzhao did not respond to his sister's joke. He tilted his head slightly, as if listening to the crisp clinking of dice on another table and Lu Xingyuan's increasingly excited shouts. A faint trace of composure flashed between his deep brows.

Outside the window, night was deepening, and sporadic firecracker sounds began to ring out.