The voluptuous and beautiful nanny, Technician Shen fell for her.

Su Nianhe hugged Shen Ping'an and took a half step back, her back against the rough brick wall.

Her eyes were still red, and tiny beads of blood oozed from her bitten lower lip, which stood out starkly against her fair face.

"If I talk back and things get out of hand, Aunt Liu will definitely think I'm a troublemaker and won't let me be a nanny anymore," Su Nianhe said in a soft voice with a heavy nasal tone.

She sniffed and hugged the child in her arms tighter.

She didn't dare look at Shen Huai, only lowered her head, her hands nervously fidgeting with the edge of the blanket.

Shen Huai frowned upon hearing this.

He felt inexplicably irritated looking at the girl, who was meek and submissive, suffering all kinds of grievances but only thinking about keeping her job.

He was an extremely rational person. He couldn't be bothered to even glance at the complicated personnel struggles in the factory, let alone meddle in the trivial matters in the family compound.

But when he saw her being verbally abused and insulted, he stood up without hesitation.

This is completely out of character for him.

The two were very close together.

The summer breeze blew through the branches of the old locust tree, carrying the sweet fruity scent emanating from Su Nianhe's body, enhanced by her body heat, directly into Shen Huai's respiratory tract.

The taste is cloyingly sweet, yet incredibly tempting.

Shen Huai's Adam's apple bobbed twice as he took a half-step forward. His leather shoes slammed into the tiled floor, making a dull thud. His tall frame blocked the sunlight from reaching Su Nianhe, casting her entirely in his shadow.

"Are you really that desperate for a job that pays twenty yuan?" Shen Huai's voice was hoarse, carrying a questioning tone that he himself was unaware of.

Su Nianhe felt oppressed by his tall figure, and even her breathing became cautious.

Of course she needed that twenty yuan for the job. If she didn't have that money and a place to stay, her father, Su Dahe, would have really tied her up and sent her to that nearly fifty-year-old cripple's bed.

"Yes, I'm short." Su Nianhe nodded honestly, her voice trembling. "I can't go back to the village; I have to stay in the city to work."

Shen Ping'an was babbling and blowing bubbles in Su Nianhe's arms, his two chubby little hands waving wildly and tugging at the collar of Su Nianhe's gray cloth shirt.

Su Nianhe was startled and quickly removed Shen Ping'an's hand.

She looked around, afraid that the older women might return, or that others in the compound might see her and Shen Huai standing so close.

If the news of a lone man and woman standing under a wall in broad daylight reached Liu Huizhen's ears, she would be utterly unable to defend herself.

"Technician Shen, you should go back now. If people see us standing together, they'll gossip about you," Su Nianhe said as she moved to the side.

Holding the child, she hurriedly widened the distance between them, not daring to look back, and went straight to sit down on the bench in the corner of the small garden.

She turned her back, using her large gray shirt to cover most of the bench, adopting a posture of avoiding suspicion, and focused intently on coaxing Shen Ping'an in her arms.

Shen Huai stood there, looking at the empty space in front of him.

The air was filled with the oppressive heat of summer.

He had a cold face, and laughed in anger.

I kindly helped her out of a difficult situation, but she complained that I was in her way and was afraid of getting involved in gossip.

She would rather be scolded by those old women than spend a second longer with him.

Shen Huai gripped the bicycle handlebars tightly, his knuckles turning bluish-white.

Without saying a word, he turned around, pushed his bicycle, and headed home, taking big, heavy steps.

Behind the wall not far away, a pair of eyes were staring intently at them.

Zhao Qiang had one arm in a cast and was slinged around his neck with a bandage, while he held half a cigarette between his fingers in the other hand, hiding in the shadows.

Today he wore a flashy polyester short-sleeved shirt with the collar open, revealing a red mark on his chest.

He saw it clearly just now.

Shen Huai actually stepped in to chase Aunt Zhang and the others away for that little village girl, and the two of them stood under the tree and cuddled for a long time.

Zhao Qiang took a drag of his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and crushed it out with the sole of his shoe.

That day in the alley, his eyes were blinded by the powder from the chili peppers, and he was writhing on the ground in pain, not even seeing who came over and broke his hand bone.

He always thought that Su Nianhe, that bitch, had found some help, or that she herself had done something underhanded.

But now that I think about it, how could Su Nianhe, such a soft persimmon, not dare to utter a word when several family members pointed their fingers at her and cursed her?

Moreover, how could a woman have such strength to dislocate a person's bones with a single kick?

Who else could it be but Shen Huai?

Zhao Qiang gritted his teeth, staring at Shen Huaiyuan's tall, receding figure, his face twitching.

The Shen family was powerful, and Shen Huai himself was a favorite in the factory.

Even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to cause trouble for Shen Huai, a lazy street urchin.

But if he can't afford to offend Shen Huai, can't he at least crush a country maid with no parents?

Seeing that Shen Huai had walked away, Su Nianhe sat alone on the bench, trying to comfort the child.

It was quiet all around, not even a ghost in sight.

Zhao Qiang tugged at the collar of his floral shirt and rubbed his chin with his uninjured hand.

He stepped out from the shadows by the wall, ready to confront Su Nianhe.

Today I absolutely have to get what I couldn't accomplish in the alley the other day, so she'll know how many eyes the Horse King has.

He took a step, but had only taken two.

"Nianhe!"

A crisp sound came from the other end of the path, breaking the afternoon's tranquility.

Zhao Qiang paused, quickly retreated behind the wall, and cursed under his breath.

Li Lianhua, dressed in a patched blue cloth shirt and carrying an empty net bag, ran over, her brows covered in sweat.

She was extremely busy today. After finally managing to coax the two little twins from the Li family to sleep with her aunt and nanny, she had a moment to spare and rushed over to find Su Nianhe.

"Oh, I've finally found you! I went to the back gate of the Shen family and saw no one there, so I guessed you were here." Li Lianhua ran to the bench, plopped down, and fanned her face with her hand.

Seeing that it was her, Su Nianhe relaxed and moved aside, saying, "Lianhua, why are you all sweaty? What happened?"

Li Lianhua caught her breath and frowned as she looked at Su Nianhe's reddened eyes: "What's wrong? Have you been crying? Did that eldest young mistress of the Shen family bully you again?"

"No, the wind got in my eyes." Su Nianhe lowered her head, wiped her eyes haphazardly with her sleeve, and forced a smile. "What do you want?"

Li Lianhua knew her strong-willed nature, always reporting good news and hiding bad, so she sighed, lowered her voice, and leaned closer: "My aunt said the textile factory and two nearby factories are having a matchmaking event, for unmarried employees to get to know each other. If they hit it off, they can ask the union representative to introduce them. Most of the attendees are ordinary workers. She said she asked Mrs. Li to let me go, and I said I'd like you to go with me. She asked Mrs. Li and she said it was okay. So, I'm asking you if you're going?"