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

"You don't need to return the clothes."

Shen Huai lifted the bicycle from the wall, placed his palm on the handlebars, and spoke briefly, giving Su Nianhe no chance to push it back.

Su Nianhe stood at the alley entrance, clutching the white shirt, lost in thought: "But what if you go back without a shirt? What will Aunt Liu do if she asks?"

"I'll go out the back door."

"That will be seen by others."

"You should worry about yourself first."

Su Nianhe was speechless after hearing him speak, so she could only drape her shirt back over her shoulders, lower her head and follow beside him, walking lightly so as not to make a sound on the pebbles with her cloth shoes.

Shen Huai pushed the cart along the outside, keeping a half-step distance from her. He didn't get close or urge her. The cart rolled slowly along the wall, blocking the wind coming from the alley entrance.

Su Nianhe was in a terrible state of mind. She had already regretted saying those words.

As a nanny living under someone else's roof, what right did she have to tell Shen Huai about her hardships?

But Shen Huai didn't scold her or use his status to pressure her. He simply let her walk on his own, silently accompanying her forward.

As they approached the back gate of the municipal party committee compound, Su Nianhe stopped, took her shirt off her shoulders, and handed it to him with both hands: "Technician Shen, there's a guard post ahead. If I go in wearing your shirt, people will ask more questions."

Shen Huai looked at the clothes she was holding to her chest, then looked at her, took the shirt from her, but didn't put it on immediately.

"After you go in, go straight to your room and change your clothes."

"Um."

"Don't mention me when Wang Liping asks you anything."

Su Nianhe twisted the bag strap with her fingers and replied softly, "I know."

Shen Huai draped his shirt over the handlebars and said in a low voice, "If she forces you to go see Lu Yi again tomorrow, don't agree too quickly."

Upon hearing Lu Yi's name, Su Nianhe's heart skipped a beat: "Comrade Lu isn't a bad person."

"I didn't say he was bad."

"Then why won't you let me agree?"

Shen Huai's hand rested on the bicycle bell, and after a long while he spoke: "You don't even know which street he lives on, how many people are in his family, or what his temper is like."

Su Nianhe pursed her lips: "But isn't getting to know someone about them gradually?"

Shen Huai raised his head, his Adam's apple bobbing, and finally he only said one sentence: "You can take your time looking, but don't give yourself away."

These words were too blunt, and Su Nianhe's ears burned. She took a small step back while holding her old canvas bag: "I didn't think that fast."

Seeing her embarrassment, Shen Huai softened his tone and said, "Let's go inside."

Su Nianhe nodded, took two steps, then stopped: "Technician Shen."

Shen Huai stood still: "What?"

Did Ping An really cry?

The alley quieted down, and the strains of traditional opera music drifted from the radio at the gatehouse.

Shen Huai did not answer immediately.

Su Nianhe already knew the answer in her heart. She lowered her head, rubbed her fingertips on the bag strap, and said softly, "I understand."

Shen Huai lowered his brow: "Su Nianhe."

She dared not listen any longer, hurriedly said "I'm going in first," and turned to walk towards the back door.

The gatekeeper recognized the Shen family's nanny and, seeing her return alone, simply asked, "Back so late?"

Su Nianhe quickly hugged her bag to her chest: "I went to the staff club for a walk, and Sister Wang gave me the leave."

The gatekeeper waved his hand: "Go back quickly, young ladies shouldn't linger outside at night."

"Why."

She entered the courtyard and only after she was out of sight of the gatekeeper did she lean against the wall and slowly catch her breath.

The lights were still on in the Shen family's living room.

When Su Nianhe opened the door, only Wang Liping was sitting on the sofa with a plate of melon seeds next to her and slippers on her feet, as if she had been waiting for her.

"You're back?"

Wang Liping tossed the sunflower seed shells into the plate and leaned forward, asking, "Why are you alone? Where's Lianhua?"

Su Nianhe closed the door and hugged the old canvas bag to her chest: "Lianhua is still over there. She met a comrade from the security department named Li, and the two got along well, so I came back first."

Wang Liping looked her up and down. Seeing that she was still wearing her dress and the neckline was a little wrinkled, but Shen Huai wasn't with her, the tension in her heart dissipated.

"Has Xiao Huai come back yet?"

Su Nianhe's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly shook her head: "I didn't see Technician Shen."

Wang Liping stared at her face for a moment, but couldn't find anything amiss, so she patted the seat next to her: "Come sit down. Tell your sister-in-law, did anyone talk to you tonight?"

Su Nianhe didn't want to sit, but since Wang Liping had already made her point, she had no choice but to move over and sit down next to the sofa.

Wang Liping laughed warmly: "Don't be shy. Men should marry when they are of age, and women should marry when they are of age. You are already eighteen, which is the perfect age to find a partner."

Su Nianhe gathered her skirt up to her knees: "Someone came over and asked me questions, but I'm not very good at talking."

"Who? Which workshop? A permanent employee or a temporary worker?"

"Comrade Lu Yi from the foundry workshop."

Wang Liping stopped eating the melon seeds in her hand: "Lu Yi?"

Su Nianhe panicked at her reaction: "Does Sister-in-law Wang know her?"

"Everyone in the factory knows the Lu family."

Wang Liping pushed the plate of melon seeds onto the coffee table, her tone suddenly becoming warm: "His parents are both old workers, and he himself earns a skilled worker's wage. His family has two main rooms, and I heard they've saved him quite a bit of money."

Su Nianhe hadn't expected Lu Yi to be so well-off, and she was even more at a loss for words: "He only bought me orange juice and asked me to dance."

"Did you dance?"

Wang Liping clapped her hands, her smile impossible to hide: "Great, great! Did he ask where you live? Did he say goodbye?"

Su Nianhe remembered that Lu Yi had said he would take her back. Fearing that Wang Liping would misunderstand, she said selectively, "He said that if I encounter any trouble near the factory in the future, I can mention his name."

"That's what makes it interesting."

Wang Liping leaned back, her mind racing: "Lu Yi is the kind of person who's very picky. He hasn't even taken a liking to any of the regular female workers. The fact that he's talking to you about this means he's probably interested in you."

Su Nianhe's face flushed: "Sister-in-law Wang, please don't say that. It's only the first time we've met."

"What's wrong with it being the first time? Marriage is about finding people who are compatible."

Wang Liping scanned her from head to toe, her words carrying the usual barb: "Looking like you, it's not good for you to stay in someone else's house as a nanny. Marrying into the Lu family means you'll have no worries about food and clothing, and you'll even be able to live in the city. This is a blessing you couldn't even pray for."

Su Nianhe lowered her head: "I'm not good enough for him."

"It's good that you know."

Hearing this, Wang Liping felt a little better, but she urged him even more: "But men, when they see someone attractive, they're always blinded for a few days. You should take advantage of his current infatuation and settle things now. Once his family has recovered, it will be difficult for you to marry into the family."

Su Nianhe's heart sank as she listened: "Sister-in-law Wang, can't we rush this?"

"You want to choose again?"

Wang Liping's expression changed, and she tapped her fingers on the sofa armrest: "With Lu Yi's family's conditions, it's already an honor for you that they're even willing to talk to you. Don't be like those city girls who, by being so aloof, ruin a good marriage."

Su Nianhe raised her head and said softly, "I'm not putting on airs, I just feel that marriage is a lifelong commitment."

Wang Liping scoffed, "You're just a country girl, yet you're all so particular."

Su Nianhe swallowed her words and wiped her palms on the hem of her skirt: "I still need to take Ping An with me tomorrow. If Sister Wang has no other instructions, I'll go wash my clothes and change."

Seeing her meek and submissive demeanor, Wang Liping didn't want to waste any more words. She stood up and straightened the collar of her pajamas: "Okay, I'll go to the hospital tomorrow and ask if I can ask someone from the union to pass on a message to Lu Yi."

"Sister-in-law Wang."

Su Nianhe stood up anxiously: "Please don't go ahead and say it, I haven't thought about it yet."

"What are you thinking about?"

Wang Liping turned around and glared at her: "If you're really that capable, go find a cadre's son yourself. Do you think they'd even look at you? You're already lucky with Lu Yijia."

Su Nianhe turned pale at these words, her lips moved but she ultimately did not argue further.

Seeing that she remained silent, Wang Liping assumed she was scared, and went upstairs with satisfaction: "Don't ruin the dress, wash it clean and return it to me tomorrow."

"understood."

The footsteps on the stairs gradually faded away, leaving only the ticking of the wall clock in the living room.

Su Nianhe stood for a moment before slowly sitting back down on the sofa, her shoulders slumped, as if all her strength had been drained away.

Shen Ping'an did not cry.

Liu Huizhen did not call her.

Shen Huai did not go to the club to pick her up because he was short of people at home.

He lied.

But why would he tell this lie?

Su Nianhe recalled Shen Huai's words in the alley, "Don't give yourself away," and the way he deliberately avoided her hand when he draped his shirt over her shoulder. Her heart ached and was in turmoil, and she didn't even dare to breathe heavily.