Chapter 4

“Shut up!” Li Mei’s voice cracked. “My mother was perfectly healthy before! Clean and well cared for! How did she end up like this after three months with you?”

“Who are you blaming?”

Wang Cuilan curled her lip and sneered. “You wanted to save money! You wanted my five thousand! If you hadn’t been so cheap, you could’ve kept Song Wan. She asked for eight thousand and you wouldn’t pay it. You just had to save three thousand—so how did that work out? You saved yourself a whole lot of trouble, didn’t you?”

Li Mei was so furious she could barely breathe. It took her a long time to force out a reply.

“My mother could die, and you’re still saying this to me?”

“If your mother dies, it’ll be because you killed her!”

## Chapter 6: I Won’t Go Back—My Principles Stand

Wang Cuilan had completely thrown caution to the wind.

“You hired me because you wanted to save three thousand! What responsibility do I have? I’m a five-thousand-yuan nanny. You expect me to do the work of an eight-thousand-yuan one? Dream on!”

“You pay five thousand and expect me to empty bedpans, change her position, feed her, and check her sores? Li Mei, why don’t you just ask me to be your family’s ox and horse?”

At that, the family members of other patients in the hallway turned to look.

A nurse poked her head out from the station and shouted, “What’s all this noise? This is a hospital ward! If you want to argue, take it outside!”

No one paid her any attention.

Li Mei trembled with anger and reached for Wang Cuilan’s handbag.

Wang Cuilan rolled her eyes, clutched the bag to her chest, and changed her tune.

“All right, Li Mei, stop yelling at me. I’m not unreasonable. I won’t take my last month’s pay. Consider it compensation for your mother’s medication. Will that do?”

“One month’s pay is only five thousand!”

Li Mei’s voice shook. “I’ve already paid thirty thousand toward my mother’s hospital deposit! You think five thousand makes up for that?”

“Then there’s nothing I can do!” Wang Cuilan spread her arms. “I have an elderly mother of my own and young kids to feed. Five thousand is all the compensation I can afford.”

She turned and headed straight for the elevator.

Li Mei ran after her and grabbed her sleeve. Wang Cuilan yanked her arm free, then shouted over her shoulder as she walked away.

“Stop chasing me or I’ll call the police! Old people get sick. Why are you putting the blame on me?”

Before the elevator doors closed, Li Mei kicked them.

“Wang Cuilan! Just you wait!”

Wang Cuilan’s voice came from inside the elevator, smug and shameless.

“Li Mei, take my advice and watch your spending. Your mother’s illness is a bottomless pit—”

The doors shut completely.

The hallway fell quiet. Li Mei stood alone, chest heaving, tears streaming down her face.

She turned and saw me.

I’d never seen that expression on her before. She looked as if she wanted to cry and laugh at once, to beg but couldn’t bring herself to. In the end, all she managed was a flat question.

“Xiaowan… what are you doing here?”

“I came to see Mrs. Zhang.”

I didn’t mention what I’d just witnessed. I walked past her and went to the room.

Mrs. Zhang was lying half upright in bed, an oxygen tube in her nose, an IV in the back of her hand.

Her face was yellow, and she’d grown terribly thin.

Li Mei stood in the doorway, lips trembling for a long time before she finally spoke.

“Xiaowan… I have to ask you something… Could you… could you come back?”

“Ms. Li, I’ve already agreed to work for Mr. Chen.”

“I know, I know!” Li Mei hurried inside. “I’ll raise your pay! Eight thousand! Ten thousand! Twelve thousand! Xiaowan, I’ll pay you fifteen thousand! My mother’s life is in your hands!”

I gently tucked Mrs. Zhang’s hand back under the blanket.

“Ms. Li, money is a good thing, but you have to have principles. I’ve promised Mr. Chen, so I have to take care of Professor Chen through his recovery. If I abandoned him today for fifteen thousand, I could abandon your mother tomorrow for twenty thousand. Does that sound right to you?”

Li Mei opened her mouth, but no words came.

I bent down and tucked the blanket around Mrs. Zhang.

“I can’t come back. If you’re unsure about anything with Mrs. Zhang’s care, you can call me anytime. I won’t charge you. Think of it as repaying the kindness your family showed me over the past six months.”

Then I stood and left.

Behind me, Li Mei choked back a sob.

“Xiaowan! Please think it over! I’m begging you! My mother can’t live without you!”

At the door, I hesitated.

In the end, I couldn’t help turning back to look at Mrs. Zhang in her bed. I lowered my voice and reminded Li Mei: