Rebirth and making money first

As Zhang Jing left, Uncle Zhang urged her to visit the stock exchange often. "Time flies!" Zhang Jing couldn't help but sigh. She sheepishly told Uncle Zhang that she had resigned and was currently looking for a new job. Upon hearing this, Uncle Zhang immediately asked, "So, what's your husband's job?" Learning that Zhang Jing was still single, Uncle Zhang didn't ask any further questions or comment. He simply asked Zhang Jing to leave her contact information and said he would keep her informed if a suitable job opening became available.

Zhang Jing was deeply grateful for Uncle Zhang's concern and help. She said she hoped to find a job with room and board so she could spend more time monitoring the stock market. Even if the salary was slightly lower, she didn't mind. Uncle Zhang carefully wrote down her requests, then said goodbye to Zhang Jing and they both left.

However, Zhang Jing didn't take the matter too seriously. She understood that among the many people in the world, there are those who boast about their work but whose actions often don't always match their words. After all, verbal promises are often ignored or even forgotten. Still, Zhang Jing expressed her sincere gratitude to Uncle Zhang. Now she had to look online to find ways to monetize her writing. After all, only by earning more money could she live a better life!

Back in the day, I'd read countless novels. If I could tweak the plots and recreate them, would I still worry about not attracting readers? In a previous life, I'd actually attempted to write two novels totaling over 200,000 words, along with a handful of short stories. Sadly, the novels didn't make much of a splash, earning me a measly three yuan in royalties. One of the short stories, however, unexpectedly became a hit, but it drew widespread online criticism and abuse, ultimately netting me nothing. Even more embarrassing, while reading someone else's novel, I'd actually earned over four hundred yuan by cashing in gold coins.

Every time she thinks back on these events, she feels so ashamed she can't even cry! But is this a spirit of resilience? Zhang Jing could only console herself with this. When she dragged her exhausted body back to her rental apartment, she discovered a strange woman had arrived at her former landlord's house. After some introductions, she learned she was a new caregiver who looked like she'd just arrived from the countryside.

Zhang Jing silently planned to move out as soon as she could afford it. After all, she was currently renting the smallest room in a three-bedroom apartment for 500 yuan a month. While utilities were included, the shared toilet, shower, and kitchen were extremely inconvenient.

The landlord had three daughters and one son. The son was divorced and only came home occasionally. Zhang Jing and the landlord's son were colleagues because they worked in the same company. Later, the landlord's son introduced Zhang Jing's eldest sister to the company, and through these interactions, Zhang Jing became familiar with Xiao. When Xiao learned that Zhang Jing was looking for a place to rent, she considered that her mother was old and might not get along with a nanny, and that her siblings were busy and had no time to care for the elderly. So, she persuaded Zhang Jing to move in.

Although five hundred yuan wasn't much for her mother, it was a token of her appreciation and a way to supplement the family income. Furthermore, leaving her mother in Zhang Jing's care meant that if anything unexpected happened at night, she could contact them immediately. The old woman spoke only Xixiang Hakka, which was difficult for Zhang Jing, as the two of them couldn't communicate at all.

Fortunately, the old lady likes to watch Hong Kong dramas. In order to communicate with the old lady, Zhang Jing accompanies her to watch dramas every day. Over time, Zhang Jing's Cantonese level has also improved by leaps and bounds. However, every time she communicates with others in less than standard Cantonese, she always draws laughter, and some people even ask her if she is from Xixiang. Faced with such questions, Zhang Jing is really helpless and doesn't know how to answer.

The story of the elderly woman's search for a nanny is complex. Besides the difficulty of the elderly woman, each nanny has their own unique characteristics. Nannies from Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Yunnan provinces rotated through the ranks, but all spoke a language the elderly woman could understand.

The nanny's plump figure is reminiscent of a lovable giant panda. Her wide mouth, seemingly perpetually smiling, exudes a warm and friendly air. Judging by her appearance, she's likely an extrovert, cheerful, and open-minded person.

Indeed, after some conversation, Zhang Jing discovered she and the nanny struck a chord. Gradually, they became familiar with each other. The nanny told Zhang Jing she was from Jieyang, Guangdong, and had a son and a daughter. Her husband stayed back home, while she came to Xixiang to work at the factory. However, family matters forced her to take leave and eventually resign. Now, after finding work again, she says she no longer wants to return to the factory because the work there is too grueling.

Zhang Jing remembered that in her previous life, this nanny left the factory after a short stint. There were two reasons for this: first, the nanny's left hand was painful, making it difficult to exert force; second, she found a partner in the factory. They were often as close as a married couple, and the man would even call her constantly to express his longing for her while she was working.

This emotional entanglement caused the nanny to lose herself somewhat. She foolishly returned to the factory, simply to satisfy her inner longing and desire. Everyone has their own pursuits and choices, and Zhang Jing understood this, so this time she didn't intend to meddle in other people's affairs. Right now, the most important thing for her was to search online for novels; after all, making money was the top priority. As for those stocks, it wasn't the time to sell them yet.

The landlord privately asked Zhang Jing, "What do you think of this nanny?" Zhang Jing vaguely replied, "Let's use her first and try her out." The landlord agreed and told Zhang Jing that her son had already changed nannies for her five or six times. He said that even if she was dissatisfied, his son couldn't do anything and told her to go find her three daughters.

Speaking of the old landlord's nanny, Zhang Jing was completely overwhelmed. This was not only because the old landlord himself was very picky, but also because the nanny had all kinds of strange things going on.

A nanny from Yunnan was abducted by human traffickers and taken to Zhanjiang, where she bore children. Uneducated, she met the son of an elderly Hong Kong man while seeking work and was hired as a nanny. Her job was to care for the man's aging father, and she even bought him a house in Shenzhen. On a daily basis, the nanny lived with the father, acting like a married couple, with the household expenses entirely under her control. To prevent pregnancy, she was also regularly prescribed birth control pills. Her weight gain was also a result of the medication.

When Zhang Jing learned that she and her husband hadn't registered their marriage, she curiously asked, "Since you've already done all the usual things a married couple does, why don't you just marry the old man?" The nanny, however, looked surprised and asked, "Why would I marry such an old man when I'm so young?" Zhang Jing continued, "If you marry, at least he'll leave you some money when he passes away." The nanny replied that she had already deducted 18 yuan from household expenses and mailed it all back to her son. Unfortunately, her son didn't live up to his expectations and bought a motorcycle to pick up passengers. He got into an accident and had to pay all the money as compensation.

After the old man died, she found another employer, also an old man. Unlike the previous one, however, this one's children were quite assertive. They had already made three rules for their father: first, he was not allowed to marry a nanny; second, the house was to be transferred to his children; and third, he was to use his pension for daily expenses. Faced with these conditions, the old man agreed to all of them without hesitation.

Despite this, she still lived with the old man as a couple. The old man was very generous to her. Not only did he buy her a gold ring, but he even gave her the gold ring on his hand before he died. He stroked her face and asked her if she felt sad because he was about to die.

However, after the old man passed away, things took an unexpected turn. The old man's daughter asked her to take off the ring and hand it over, saying that it was her father's heirloom. She didn't hide the ring beforehand, and she couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

The old man's children allowed her to stay one more night and told her she could take anything she could carry. After some thought, she called a junk collector and sold everything in the house, including appliances and sofas, for over a thousand yuan. She then returned to the landlord's house, carrying only a few clothes and a large, beautifully packaged bag of shampoo and shower gel. Zhang Jing could tell at a glance that these were high-end items.

Seeing her plump, pale figure resembling a wealthy lady, Zhang Jing doubted she'd make the grade. The landlord agreed, asking Zhang Jing to clarify, saying they could communicate more easily by speaking Mandarin. The nanny said she also wanted to find an older man to take care of the baby, preferably one who didn't have a partner. Old ladies are troublesome, and Zhang Jing, accustomed to a life of luxury, couldn't handle the hard work. She had no place to live for the time being, so she'd work for the landlord for two days and leave as soon as she found a new one.

Zhang Jing felt that the nanny had been spoiled and beyond help. She absolutely could not let herself end up like this.