The blind boss's nanny

Then there is light.

The autumn sunlight here seems brighter than back home. It pours down directly and unhindered, painting everything in highly saturated colors... The sky is azure, and the rows of trees outside the airport display a rich tapestry of autumn hues.

Golden ginkgo trees, ochre-red maple trees, and still verdant eucalyptus trees intertwine, like an overturned palette.

"Miss Lin, this way please."

A middle-aged Chinese driver with a gentle smile was already waiting with a sign in hand; he was one of the people arranged by Lu Tingzhao to pick them up.

The car is an understated but comfortable local vehicle.

On the way to the city, Lin Xiaoman leaned against the car window, her eyes glued to the passing scenery.

The streets were clean, the buildings were scattered, and pedestrians strolled leisurely. Unlike the bustling and vibrant international metropolis she had imagined, Sydney's Paddington district exuded a tranquil elegance.

In front of the Victorian-style townhouses, the small gardens are meticulously maintained, and occasionally one or two brightly colored parrots can be seen hopping on the grass.

"That's a rainbow lorikeet."

The driver noticed her gaze in the rearview mirror, smiled, and explained.

"It's very common here, and they're not afraid of people."

She stayed in a quiet villa with a small courtyard, located at the end of a quiet street.

Just as Lu Tingzhao said, everything was arranged properly, with all the necessities in place. Fresh ingredients and milk were even thoughtfully placed in the refrigerator, and there was a handwritten guide to daily life on the table.

His presence is not felt, yet his touch is everywhere.

This feeling is very subtle.

The next day, Lin Xiaoman began to explore the true purpose of her trip. She had a list and an old contact address containing information about the child who had been adopted from Sunshine Home to Australia years ago.

It's been a long time; nearly ten years have passed.

Her first stop was a girl named "Lily," who was 2 years old when she was adopted and should be 12 years old now.

Following the old address, she found an ordinary detached house in the suburbs of Sydney. After knocking on the door, a kind-looking middle-aged Australian woman opened it. After Lin Xiaoman explained her purpose in English and showed her the old photos, the woman showed a regretful expression.

"Oh, Lily... they moved to Perth three years ago. Her father was transferred for work..."

The woman tried hard to recall,

"Lily was a good girl, very quiet, and loved to draw. Before she left, she was reluctant to part with her friends in the community."

The trail went cold. Lin Xiaoman was a little disappointed, but still thanked them politely.

Unexpectedly, the first stop on their search turned into a major setback.

Reality dealt Lin Xiaoman a heavy blow, completely different from the scene she had envisioned of "following the clues and reuniting happily."

It was only after she went abroad that she truly realized that retrieving a piece of the past that had been interrupted for many years from the vast sea of ​​people involved far more variables than she had imagined.

All she had were the simple documents she had brought from Sunshine Home years ago, the handwriting already somewhat blurred. Nearly ten years had passed, enough time for countless changes to occur... expired addresses, family relocations, and changes in contact information were all perfectly normal.

The Lily family's move was just the first obvious sign.

A single family tragedy could cause them to disappear completely from the public eye.

The initial excitement and anticipation were quickly dampened by reality. Lin Xiaoman realized that finding adopted children who had been separated for many years and were in a state of flux was not an easy task.

In the evening, she sat alone in the villa's courtyard, gazing at the unfamiliar starry sky of the Southern Hemisphere. The Big Dipper was no longer visible, replaced by the outlines of constellations she couldn't name.

Feelings of loneliness and frustration crept in.

Having traversed most of the globe, Lin Xiaoman was unwilling to give up. She remembered Dang Shen's words before she left, and she remembered why she had come in the first place.

"Go see for yourself, go confirm it for yourself."

And this is just the beginning.

In a foreign land, the only person she could think of who might be able to quickly solve this kind of problem was the "resources" that Lu Tingzhao had arranged here.

She hesitated for a moment, but eventually contacted the housekeeper who was in charge of looking after the villa.

The butler was a white gentleman in his fifties, with his hair neatly combed and his mannerisms exuding an old-fashioned elegance and competence.

After understanding Lin Xiaoman's purpose and difficulties, he showed no sign of embarrassment or shirking responsibility, but simply nodded thoughtfully.

"Ms. Lin, please give me some time."

This process clearly involved some less conventional information retrieval, but the butler acted efficiently and methodically. He utilized local connections and professional channels for verification.

In less than half a day, he neatly printed out Lily's family's new address and contact information in Perth on a notepad, and respectfully handed it to Lin Xiaoman along with the already arranged flight itinerary to Perth.

"Mr. Robert, I'm so sorry to trouble you with this, but it's for my personal matters..."

Lin Xiaoman took the documents, feeling grateful but also a little guilty.

Robert, however, gave a sincere smile, a smile that was exceptionally gentle:

"Miss Lin, please don't say that. In fact, I'm very happy to be able to do something for Mr. Lu."

He paused briefly, his tone frank and full of respect:

"To be honest, looking after this property is an extremely leisurely job. The Lu family might not even come to stay for a single day in a year. But Mr. Lu has always paid me a generous salary on time and has never mistreated me in the slightest. In your words, I have been 'receiving a salary without working' all these years... This often makes me feel unworthy of it."

He looked at Lin Xiaoman, his eyes filled with admiration for his employer in the far east:

"Mr. Lu specifically requested this service beforehand and paid a considerable fee for it. It is my honor to serve him. So please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."

Holding the address and itinerary in her hand, Lin Xiaoman listened to the housekeeper's heartfelt words, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

Lu Tingzhao is such a person. He is domineering, controlling, and sometimes suffocating.

However, he was always meticulous and thorough in his work, generous and magnanimous, and extremely good at using people and respecting their value.

His seemingly casual move had already paved the way for the next ten moves; the sanctuary he provided was sturdy and magnificent, but the price was that those within it had to follow his rules.

Even in his absence, his influence, his style of doing things, and the invisible yet highly effective network he has woven remain omnipresent, solving problems and silently reminding her:

He was always there.

With mixed feelings, Lin Xiaoman boarded a flight to Perth.

On the same day, an accident occurred at the Lu family manor, thousands of miles away.