The blind boss's nanny

She was certain she hadn't made a sound; she even deliberately kept her breathing soft.

However, Lu Tingzhao suddenly turned his face slightly, pointing his left ear more clearly in her direction.

His expression was focused, as if he were trying to catch the slightest vibration in the air.

A few seconds of silence passed between the two.

Then, he turned back to look at her again, raising an eyebrow slightly, his tone carrying an all-knowing calm:

"Were you... insulting me just now?"

Lin Xiaoman: "..."

She froze on the spot, completely petrified.

Is this person truly blind or faking it?! Or did he evolve mind-reading abilities after going blind?!

"Absolutely not!"

Lin Xiaoman immediately straightened her back and denied it, but her voice sounded strangely weak.

She herself couldn't understand why, even though she was no longer his nanny, her self-righteous aura deflated like a punctured balloon the moment she stood in front of him.

Fortunately, Lu Tingzhao didn't seem to intend to dwell on that issue.

He leaned back slightly against the sofa, the light casting a pale gold hue on his silhouette and making the silent oppressive feeling even more pronounced.

"Now,"

His voice was steady.

"You'd better explain why you're here... in my living room, on my sofa, covered by my blanket."

Knowing she was in the wrong, Lin Xiaoman hung her head and recounted in detail how she came to A Zhe's birthday party yesterday, how Lu Xingyuan couldn't drive, how Leng Feng was sent away, how the heating in the guesthouse suddenly stopped working in the middle of the night, and how she couldn't stand the cold and sneaked in.

After she finished speaking, she secretly glanced at him.

Lu Tingzhao remained silent for a long time. He simply sat there, his face turned towards the direction of the light streaming in from the window, his jawline taut, his expression unreadable.

This silence is more unsettling than any questioning.

Lin Xiaoman silently took two steps towards the door, her fingers just touching the cold doorknob...

"Click".

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ]

A soft click, the sound of the smart door lock automatically locking, could be clearly heard.

Immediately afterwards, the same clicking sound of locks could be faintly heard in the distance... All the entrances and exits of the house were locked in an instant.

Lin Xiaoman was shocked and turned around abruptly:

"Lu Tingzhao! You...you're illegally imprisoning him!"

The man remained seated, even leisurely picking up the glass of water again.

He took a small sip before speaking slowly and deliberately, his voice carrying an air of complete control:

"To clarify, your act of breaking into a private residence late at night without permission is legally considered 'trespassing'."

He tilted his head slightly, "looking" in her direction, and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I……"

Lin Xiaoman was speechless for a moment.

Her eyes darted around a few times, and in a flash of inspiration, she immediately changed to a sincere tone:

"Chairman! Have you forgotten? You yourself said that the last thing you want to see in this manor is someone die; it's bad luck!"

She took half a step forward, trying to make her argument more convincing.

"Given the situation last night, if I hadn't come in, I might have really gotten sick from the cold. What if... what if something really happened? Wouldn't that be causing you trouble? I'm doing this entirely, purely for your sake!"

Lu Tingzhao was so angry at this illogical and absurd logic that he almost laughed.

The water glass hovered in mid-air. He paused for a while before slowly putting it down.

This woman always has this ability... to easily steer the conversation off-topic with a self-righteous shamelessness and a takeover attitude, leaving people both annoyed and amused.

"Oh?"

He suppressed a laugh, his voice regaining its usual calm.

"That sounds reasonable. However..."

He deliberately drew out his words.

"There are only the two of us now. No third person can prove whether what you just said about 'heating failure' and 'being frozen to death' is true or just an excuse you made up to 'trespass'."

He raised his face, and his unfocused eyes, which seemed to see through everything, precisely locked onto her.

"Given your past history of lying... Ms. Lin, tell me, should I believe you?"

Lin Xiaoman was rendered speechless by his words, and after a long pause, she finally managed to utter:

"You're just making excuses!"

"Is that so? Then let's talk about the evidence."

He tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something.

"The building's heating system does have a history of malfunctions... As far as I know, it stopped working around 2 a.m., and the temperature dropped from the normal 22 degrees Celsius to less than 10 degrees Celsius."

He paused.

"This data is fully recorded by the intelligent temperature control system."

Lin Xiaoman's eyes lit up:

"See! I told you it was true..."

"but,"

Lu Tingzhao interrupted her, his voice devoid of emotion.

"All rooms in the guesthouse are equipped with electric heaters and spare blankets. Aunt May will be notified within five minutes by simply pressing the emergency call button."

He raised his face and "looked" in her direction:

"But you didn't press any buttons, nor did you use the heater. You chose the most 'unusual' method... sneaking into the main house."

Lin Xiaoman opened her mouth, but found herself speechless.

She did see the electric heater and the emergency stop button. But subconsciously, she didn't want to alert anyone or let anyone know she was "trapped" there.

Especially the person in front of me.

That inexplicable sense of pride led her to choose this method.

"I...I forgot."

She muttered to herself.

Lu Tingzhao's dark gaze was fixed on what was in front of him, but his eyes were unfocused, and his voice was devoid of emotion:

"Yeah?"

"I'm just cold!"

Lin Xiaoman raised her voice, trying to use the volume to cover up her guilty conscience.

"Who thinks about that when it's cold! Besides, I didn't steal anything or cause any damage after I came in; I just borrowed the sofa to sleep for a while! Mr. Lu, you're so rich, you don't even charge rent for your sofa, do you?"

Lu Tingzhao found her nonsensical and unreasonable arguments somewhat amusing.

She used to do this all the time back at the manor. When she got caught doing something wrong, she would first pretend to be innocent and admit her mistake, but when she realized she couldn't get away with it, she would start making excuses and eventually resort to being a complete scoundrel.

But he actually falls for it.

"Rent is unnecessary."

He spoke slowly.

"However, since you've 'borrowed' my space, shouldn't you pay some kind of... price?"

Lin Xiaoman immediately took a half step back warily, crossing her arms over her chest:

"What price? I'm warning you, Lu Tingzhao, I'm not your babysitter anymore, I'm not under your jurisdiction—"

"Go make breakfast."

Lu Tingzhao interrupted her.

"I'm a little hungry..."

"what?"

"As 'compensation' for your trespassing,"

He stood up and tapped the ground lightly with his cane.

"Make breakfast for two. I want soft-boiled fried eggs, toasted bread until slightly browned, and freshly ground coffee."