The Young Master's Live-In Nanny - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Leaving Home — From now on, every day will be for him and his brother…

The Jiang Villa, Luohai City

In the spacious living room, several servants were busy with their tasks. They occasionally caught sight of the two people sitting silently on the sofa but immediately looked away, fearing they might trigger a bad mood.

On the television screen, a financial news anchor was reporting the latest news in a clear, formal tone.

Jiang Yichi didn’t hear a single word. He sat with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed, looking like he was determined to hold out against his brother until the very end.

“Elder Young Master, Second Young Master, dinner is ready,” the butler, Uncle Li, said respectfully as he approached the sofa.

Jiang Yihe (the elder brother) gave a short response, turned off the TV, and stood up to head to the dining room.

Jiang Yichi remained motionless, coldly spitting out: “I’m not eating.”

Jiang Yihe finished his dinner on his own. When he looked back, the person on the sofa was still in the exact same position.

He hadn’t expected his brother to get more stubborn with age—actually going on a hunger strike in front of him. Jiang Yihe scolded him in a low voice: “You were the one who said you didn’t want to live in a dorm. What are you throwing a fit about now?”

Seeing his brother finally speak, Jiang Yichi said angrily, “I want to live alone. You’re the one forcing me to stay here at your place.”

Jiang Yihe was puzzled. “How would you live alone? With your lack of self-care skills, you’d just end up hiring a crowd of people to serve you. What’s the difference between that and being here?”

“I don’t care. Regardless, I’m not staying at your house.”

“If you don’t want to stay at mine, go live in the dorms then.” Jiang Yihe spoke as he headed toward his second-floor study; he still had work to handle.

“I’m definitely not staying in a dorm. A bunch of people squeezed into one shitty room—it’s filthy.” Jiang Yichi stomped after him, sat down directly across from his brother, and continued to apply pressure through silence.

Jiang Yihe originally intended to ignore his brother for a few days to make him give up, but he clearly underestimated the boy’s stubbornness. Jiang Yichi acted like he wanted to follow him even into the bathroom.

Jiang Yihe rubbed the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. “You brat, what exactly is your problem?”

“Give me an apartment. I want to live alone.” Jiang Yichi stared straight at his brother.

Bang! Jiang Yihe slammed the bathroom door shut.

When he came out after showering, Jiang Yichi was sitting on the edge of his bed, with no intention of leaving.

Jiang Yihe was speechless. “Go back to your room. I’m going to sleep.”

Jiang Yichi acted as if he hadn’t heard, sitting as still as a monk in meditation.

Jiang Yihe pointed a finger at him frustratedly, then whipped open the covers and lay down, closing his eyes and trying his best to ignore the intense presence of the figure beside the bed.

An hour later, Jiang Yihe—who couldn’t sleep at all—remembered his brother was always like this as a child; he’d throw a fit whenever the slightest thing didn’t go his way.

Once, when Jiang Yichi failed to qualify for a piano competition, he got angrier the more he thought about it. In the middle of the night, while everyone was asleep, he ran to the living room and played an accelerated version of “Flight of the Bumblebee,” waking the entire household and nearly giving their grandfather a heart attack.

Back then, the elders couldn’t bring themselves to hit him, only giving him a light scolding.

Now, the melody of that piano piece involuntarily played in Jiang Yihe’s mind. He was worried that if he actually fell asleep, this brat would pull some other stunt.

In truth, Jiang Yihe had a hand in spoiling his brother. With a ten-year age gap, their growth paths never overlapped. Their interests and cognitive levels at different stages were vastly different, making it hard to find common topics. This led Jiang Yihe to use the simplest way to get along with his brother: giving him whatever he wanted.

Most of a child’s needs can be solved with money. Over time, Jiang Yichi got used to this. As long as he wanted something, one of the four—Grandpa, Dad, Mom, or Big Brother—would satisfy him.

Before coming to Luohai City, Jiang Yichi had already thrown a tantrum at home about living alone. His parents had no choice but to pack him up and dump him on their eldest son.

Now, the final line of defense was about to collapse.

Jiang Yihe thought that perhaps letting the boy live alone would be a good opportunity to train his independence and hopefully improve his arrogant temperament.

He sat up and said compromise-wise, “Fine, you can live alone. But if you move out, you have to take care of yourself. Whether you do it yourself or find a nanny or hourly worker, I will not provide any help in that regard. Can you accept that?”

“Deal,” Jiang Yichi answered without hesitation.

“I’ll instruct Assistant Zheng tomorrow. Now, go to your room and sleep immediately.”

Having achieved his goal, Jiang Yichi left a breezy “Thanks, Big Bro” and walked out with the corners of his mouth turned up.

…

With Assistant Zheng’s high efficiency, Jiang Yichi soon moved into his new apartment.

In the high-end residential complex known as “Jinlin Bay,” the new owner, Jiang Yichi, was currently supervising his childhood friend, Gu Chengfei, who was cleaning.

“Seriously, you moved out, so why couldn’t you bring a few servants from your brother’s place?” Gu Chengfei was hunched over, resting his chin on the top of the mop handle, clearly exhausted.

“No way. They are my brother’s people; they’d report my every move to him daily.” Jiang Yichi sat on the sofa with his legs crossed. His brother’s condition had played right into his hands. Now that he finally had his own place, he didn’t want his every word and action monitored.

Gu Chengfei was on the verge of a breakdown. “Then hire a nanny! Or an hourly worker! You didn’t really move out just to ‘train yourself,’ did you?”

“Training himself” was his brother’s requirement. As the prestigious young master of the Jiang family, the only thing he needed to train was his ability to spend money.

“I’ve hired several, but not a single one could last through the trial period.” Jiang Yichi got angry just thinking about it. Was the quality of nannies today really this low? Either the cleaning was subpar, the food was terrible, or they didn’t know their place and tried to lecture him on his lifestyle. He was looking for a nanny, not a long-lost ancestor to serve.

“Isn’t it because your standards are too high? As long as a nanny can clean and cook, isn’t that enough?” Gu Chengfei knew Jiang Yichi too well. He was incredibly nitpicky. By his standards, there probably wasn’t a nanny in the world who could satisfy him.

Jiang Yichi didn’t bother wasting words. “Hurry up. When you’re done with the first floor, there’s still the second.”

“Why do you need such a huge apartment for one person?!” It was even a duplex. Gu Chengfei really wanted to swing the mop at that perfectly handsome, albeit annoying, face. “Can’t you do a little bit of it yourself?!”

“You’re the one fulfilling a bet. If I help, the bet is void.” Jiang Yichi lifted his eyes and gave his friend a sideways glance.

“Just you wait!” Gu Chengfei bit his tongue. He was halfway done; it would be too much of a loss to void the bet now. A gentleman’s revenge is never too late—as someone who could adapt to any situation, he would pay him back sooner or later!

…

Leaving Nanlin Village

Luohai University is a famous national key university. Every year, freshmen undergo two weeks of military training, so their report date is half a month earlier than the upperclassmen.

From Nanlin Village to Luohai City, it takes over twenty hours by train—a full day’s journey.

Xu Qiushi was busy for several days before finding time to go to the train station. When he went to buy tickets, he was told that hard seats were sold out; only standing room and sleepers were left.

Xu Qiushi, who originally planned to buy a hard sleeper for his brother and a hard seat for himself, said to the teller without hesitation: “One standing ticket, one hard sleeper.”

The teller was a young girl. Glancing at the ID cards, she felt a sense of goodwill toward this man taking care of his younger brother and couldn’t help but remind him: “This trip takes twenty hours. Are you sure you want a standing ticket?”

Xu Qiuze knew his brother’s frugal nature and that he wouldn’t let him suffer through a standing journey. He pulled at his brother’s sleeve and whispered, “Brother, let’s buy two hard sleepers. It’s my first time on a train, and I’m a bit nervous being by myself.”

Xu Qiushi’s hand, which was about to pay, paused. To be honest, it was his first time on a long-distance train too. Being in a different carriage from his brother did make him feel uneasy. He pulled two more bills from his wallet: “Two hard sleepers.”

The teller asked, “I happen to have two adjacent tickets—one lower bunk and one middle bunk—but they’re about twenty yuan more than the upper bunk. Is that okay?”

Xu Qiushi nodded. “That’s fine, thank you.”

After buying the tickets, Xu Qiushi drove Xu Qiuze home immediately.

The news of them going to Luohai City had spread through the entire village. Xu Qiushi had finished his work at the construction site; now he had to tidy the house and get rid of things they didn’t need—including the old motorcycle he was currently riding.

Qiang-zi, who had come to help, was still trying to get him to stay. Seeing that Xu Qiushi was unmoved, he looked as wilted as an eggplant hit by frost.

Seeing this, Xu Qiushi reached out and rubbed Qiang-zi’s dry, straw-like yellow hair to comfort him.

Hmm, it’s a bit prickly.

“Right! I remember now!” Qiang-zi suddenly jolted and started scrolling through his phone. “I think I have a distant cousin working in Luohai. I’ll find his number and ask him to look after you and A-Ze.”

“No need to trouble him.” Xu Qiushi tried to stop him. He had never heard Qiang-zi mention a distant cousin before, so they likely weren’t close. Contacting someone for his sake felt a bit presumptuous.

“It’s no trouble, my cousin is a great guy.” Qiang-zi dialed the number, but hung up after a moment, scratching his head. “It’s been too long; the number is deactivated.”

Xu Qiushi went silent. To not even know the number was deactivated—this relationship was indeed very distant.

“It’s fine, I have his QQ. I’ll contact him tonight when I go to the internet cafe.”

“Mm.”

Xu Qiushi didn’t take it to heart. He still had to go to town with the Village Chief to handle Xu Qiuze’s student loans.

On the day of departure, the Village Chief and several coworkers saw the brothers off at the station. They bought a large bag of snacks and instant noodles, fearing the boys would go hungry.

“It’s too much.” Xu Qiushi had already bought some instant noodles himself.

“If it’s too much, share it with others. Outside, you rely on friends. It’s not like being at home; don’t go looking for trouble, and don’t try to shoulder everything yourself.” The Chief patted their shoulders, his eyes full of reluctance.

Xu Qiushi acknowledged everything: “Understood, Uncle. Don’t worry.”

Qiang-zi asked with red eyes, “When are you coming back?”

“Probably at the end of the year.” Xu Qiushi didn’t know what kind of job he could find, but there would surely be a few days off for the New Year.

Qiang-zi sniffled. “I’ll take good care of your motorcycle for you.”

Looking at Qiang-zi, who was only two years older than Xu Qiuze, Xu Qiushi couldn’t help himself: “Find some time to get a haircut. It looks too messy.”

Qiang-zi: “…”

The group laughed, which thinned the sadness of the parting.

“Alright, get inside, don’t miss it.” The Chief waved his hand, urging them into the station.

As they entered, Qiang-zi stuffed a small slip of paper with a phone number on it into Xu Qiushi’s hand, saying he had spoken to the cousin and told Xu Qiushi to contact him as soon as they reached Luohai.

“Thanks.” Xu Qiushi hadn’t expected Qiang-zi to remember. Though the handwriting on the slip was crooked and messy, he felt a warmth in his heart. “We’re leaving. Take care of yourselves.”

The green train sat at the platform. Xu Qiushi held a stuffed snakeskin bag in his hand and wore a faded backpack.

“Tickets and ID, please.” The conductor stood at the carriage door with a pair of ticket-punching pliers.

Xu Qiushi, his hands full, signaled for his brother to take the tickets and IDs from his pocket.

The conductor confirmed the train and carriage number and skillfully punched a square notch into the edge of the tickets.

Xu Qiuze took back the tickets and boarded the train with his brother.

Their bunks were in a compartment toward the back, but it was close to the washbasins and water dispenser, which was convenient.

The brothers had a lot of large luggage—the snakeskin bags were stuffed full, and there was a large trunk. It was too heavy for the high luggage rack, so they had to shove it under Xu Qiuze’s lower bunk.

Across from them, on the other set of bunks, was a middle-aged man and his elderly father. Seeing the brothers struggling with the luggage, the middle-aged man stood up and pulled a trunk from under his own bunk to make space. “Young man, if it won’t fit over there, put it here.”

The brothers looked at each other with some hesitation.

“The space under the bed is public; everyone can use it. My trunk is small, I can put it on top.”

Xu Qiushi thanked him, moved the extra snakeskin bag to the other side, and without a word, easily lifted the man’s trunk over his head and onto the luggage rack.

“Whoa, you’ve got a sturdy build, kid,” the middle-aged man couldn’t help but praise. “Were you in the military?”

“No, I carry cement at construction sites,” Xu Qiushi said directly. His tone was a bit stiff; he was used to the local dialect back home and was still slowly adapting to speaking Mandarin.

“No wonder. I used to work on sites too, but I’m older now and can’t do it anymore.” The man laughed, helped his father sit by the window, and pulled out a bag of dried sweet potatoes to share with the two young men.

Xu Qiuze shared their snacks in return.

Before long, a young couple carrying a child walked in. Looking at the remaining two upper bunks and then at the people in the lower bunks, they looked hesitant. Finally, they focused on the younger brothers: “Excuse me, are these your bunks?”

“Yes,” Xu Qiuze nodded.

“I’m sorry, would it be possible for you to swap with us? It’s not very convenient for us with a child. Don’t worry, we’ll pay the difference.” The father pressed his hands together in a sincere plea.

Xu Qiuze agreed without thinking, packing up his things to move to an upper bunk.

Xu Qiushi took the backpack from his brother’s hand and put it on his own bunk: “You sleep here. I’ll go to the top bunk.”

The couple thanked them repeatedly. The father pulled out a yellowed fifty-yuan bill from his wallet and handed it over.

“It’s too much.” Xu Qiushi refused to take it. When he bought the tickets, the teller said the difference was only about twenty yuan.

“It’s not too much at all; you’ve done us a huge favor.” The father forced the money into Xu Qiushi’s hand. “If you don’t take it, we won’t have the face to swap with you.”

The elderly person in their family had taken a fall and was in bad condition. Because it was an emergency, the couple had to rush onto the train with the child. They had been worried the whole way that no one would be willing to swap bunks.

Xu Qiushi remembered the Village Chief’s words and said, “We’re all traveling; it’s only right to help each other.”

The father sighed, “Yes, there are still many good people in this world.”

The group chatted in the compartment for a while until the elderly man and the child couldn’t stay awake any longer.

Except for the lower bunks, the space for the other beds was very cramped. You couldn’t sit upright on them—especially for someone of Xu Qiushi’s height, lying down was equally suffocating.

With no form of entertainment, the brothers sat together in the aisle to watch the scenery. It was their first time traveling far by train, and everything was full of novelty.

Xu Qiuze pulled out his new phone and handed one earbud to Xu Qiushi. “Brother, I had a classmate download a lot of songs for me. Let’s listen together.”

Xu Qiushi put on the earbud. Thinking of the MP3 player he had used back in middle school, it felt a bit strange to have something in his ear after so long.

Melodious music poured from the earbud as the train slowly gathered speed. The scenery outside the window moved along.

You couldn’t see their village from here—only endless fields of rice in the distance. The yellowing ears of rice were tossed by the wind in golden waves, symbolizing the arrival of another harvest season.

Watching the land he had lived on for over twenty years get further and further away, Xu Qiushi finally felt the reality of leaving home.

At dinner time, the aisles were full of people eating all kinds of things. Xu Qiushi dug out two containers of instant noodles from the backpack, had Xu Qiuze save their seats, and went to wait in line for hot water. During this time, the couple gave them two washed apples.

“The baby might cry tonight, so I’m sorry in advance. Please bear with us,” the father said apologetically as a heads-up.

When traveling, mutual tolerance is the norm. Everyone nodded in understanding.

Xu Qiushi and his brother took turns washing up and climbed into their bunks. Before long, the lights in the carriage were turned off.

Unable to sleep, Xu Qiushi stared at the ceiling of the carriage just inches away, his thoughts drifting.

Years ago, their family was quite well-off. His parents ran a construction materials business and made some money, even buying a large house in town.

As the business grew, his father wasn’t satisfied with a small storefront. Encouraged by others, he decided to partner with someone to start a company, mortgaging the un-renovated house to the bank for a loan.

Soon after, the partner ran off with the money, the company went bankrupt, and as the legal representative, his father was saddled with massive debt. In a fit of rage, his father suffered a brain hemorrhage. After multiple surgeries, he was left paralyzed in bed and passed away a year later.

While caring for his father, his mother worked jobs to pay the debt. She fell ill from overwork and, after his father died, she passed away soon after from grief, leaving the two brothers to depend on each other.

Back then, Xu Qiushi was still in high school. The series of blows forced him to take the lead. After careful consideration, he chose to drop out of school so his brother, who had excellent grades, could continue his studies. He worked hard to pay off the debts and raise his brother.

It was only this year that the debts were finally cleared and his brother was admitted to a top university. Xu Qiushi felt a deep sense of relief. From now on, every day would be a good day for him and his brother.

The rhythmic sound of the wheels hitting the rails echoed. Xu Qiushi closed his eyes and drifted into sleep amidst the swaying of the train.