Rebirth Counterattack with Space
Chapter 384 - 370 Dismissal

Chapter 384: Chapter 370 Dismissal

Ding Luoluo looked at Zhang Min, her face showing a particular additional grievance as she said, "Even without this incident, I still wouldn’t like her."

"If we don’t like her, we don’t have to hire her," Zhang Min agreed without hesitation, "You go to work with peace of mind, we still have Grandma at home."

"But Grandma, recently you’ve been busy preparing to record the experiences you and Grandpa had in the early years. You’re already busy enough on your own, and if you also have to take care of Xinxin--" Ding Luoluo was both touched and apologetic.

"Silly girl, what does it matter if those things are delayed a bit? There’s no rush to do anything, it’s just that I feel my memory has improved a lot since... after that incident, and I wanted to record some precious memories. What are those things compared to our lovely Xinxin treasure?"

Zhang Min reached out to hug Pei Xin, kissing her little cheek, "Actually, I also don’t like having too many outsiders at home. If it weren’t for Pei Kun rashly bringing her home that day, I really had no intention of hiring another person to take care of Xinxin. After what happened today, even if you hadn’t brought it up, I would have dismissed her too."

Zhang Min had also noticed Chen Qiuyu’s unusual behavior, but never imagined she would act so boldly and improperly.

Zhang Min was extremely annoyed, particularly repulsed by Chen Qiuyu’s presumption in trying to make Xinxin get close to Liu Mei. If Luoluo hadn’t discovered it early, and if later on Xinxin had truly been won over by Liu Mei, not just Luoluo, she too would feel like she had swallowed a fly.

"Let Grandma handle this matter. Come on, let’s go give Xinxin a bath together. Last time, Xiaoyun gave us a baby swim ring specifically made for infants, and I see that Xinxin really likes playing in the water."

"Mhm, you go ahead with Xinxin later, Grandma. I’ll go get her a change of clothes and run the bathwater first, otherwise, once we’re in the bathroom, she’ll be impatient to start," Ding Luoluo said with a smile as she stood up too.

"Then you go on up. I’ll wait five or six minutes before following. That way it’s perfect. This little one, oh, such a temper. I wonder whom she takes after."

Zhang Min kissed Pei Xin’s little cheek and laughed. Seeing her laugh, Pei Xin also grinned with her toothless little mouth and, carefree, accidentally blew a bubble, leaving Zhang Min so amused she couldn’t close her mouth.

...

None of the men in the household came back for dinner. This was a common occurrence in the Pei family, so no one minded, and after dinner, Ding Luoluo went straight upstairs with Pei Xin.

Seeing that, Chen Qiuyu hurried to follow, but Zhang Min stopped her, "Xiaochen, come, let’s talk in the parlor."

"Grandma, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have let Aunt Liu hold Xinxin."

As soon as Chen Qiuyu followed Zhang Min into the parlor, she hurriedly began to apologize, her eyes red with emotion. Since the moment she had entered the house that afternoon, she had been anxiously thinking about how to get through this predicament. After much thought, she decided it might be easier to be forgiven if she admitted her mistake first, so her apology was very sincere at that moment.

"Next time, I will definitely not make such a mistake again. Originally, I had good intentions, seeing as how Auntie Liu is especially attentive to Xinxin and considering that she and Luoluo are family after all. Family members should not harbor grudges overnight, so that’s why I... Grandma, I was wrong. I won’t dare to make decisions on my own ever again. Please forgive me this once. I promise I won’t make the same mistake again. If I do, you can do whatever you..."

Chen Qiuyu begged desperately, while inside she was filled with waves of annoyance.

The person she feared the most during her stay with the Pei family was Zhang Min. Although she always seemed to treat Qiuyu with kindness, Qiuyu always felt like Zhang Min could see right through her. That’s why these past days she had managed to refrain from revealing too much of her true feelings toward Pei Kun.

According to her original plan, she would stay, try to win over the Pei family’s favor, and then over time gradually find an opportunity to sow discord between the Pei family and Ding Luoluo. As long as she persevered, she believed the constant drip could wear away a stone, and the Pei family would grow to detest Ding Luoluo.

Up until now, she hadn’t dared to do anything to Ding Luoluo openly, but she had always thought that causing her some secret trouble was permissible, wasn’t it? But she had never expected Zhang Min to protect Ding Luoluo to such an extent. Just over such a "trivial matter," Zhang Min intended to personally intervene and have a talk with her.

"As long as you know you were wrong, that’s enough. Ice doesn’t form three feet thick overnight; the relationship between Luoluo and her stepmother is too complicated. They’re old grievances that can’t be explained in a moment, and there’s no point in bringing them up again."

Zhang Min waved her hand to interrupt Chen Qiuyu. Qiuyu was delighted, thinking Zhang Min had forgiven her, and she sighed with relief. Before she could say anything else, however, she suddenly heard Zhang Min say,

"Pack your things tonight. Later you can ask Sister Jin to settle this month’s wages with you. Although it’s only the beginning of the month, we’ll still pay you for the full month. See if you can leave tomorrow morning."

"Grandma, won’t you forgive me? I really won’t make the same mistake again." Chen Qiuyu was completely stunned.

"I’m not entirely blaming you. I thought that after Luoluo had already explained things very clearly to you before, you would listen and I didn’t need to remind you again, which led to today’s outcome. I blame myself a bit for that."

Zhang Min gave Chen Qiuyu a meaningful glance, "Don’t blame Luoluo, I made this decision. Not all mistakes can be forgiven. If you had committed some other non-principled mistake in our house, it might be a different story, but with this matter, you’ve crossed a line.

It’s not only Luoluo who has issues with her stepmother; things are too complicated and involve privacy. I have nothing else to say to you, so I can only apologize."

After speaking, Zhang Min stood up and left without giving Chen Qiuyu another glance. If Qiuyu had made some other error or if their family no longer needed her services, Zhang Min would have at least helped her find a place to stay, or even arranged a suitable job for her – all it would have taken was a word. But Qiuyu’s actions had caused Luoluo to cry —

A flash of sternness crossed Zhang Min’s face. As soon as she left the drawing room, she instructed Sister Jin to keep an eye on Chen Qiuyu and not let her wander off, while also urging her to leave early the next morning.

After giving orders to Sister Jin, she personally called the security office of the residential complex to inform them, before going upstairs to Ding Luoluo’s room to help look after the child.

Pei Xin was at an age where she was very demanding, and during the day, even with two or three people attending to her, they were still hard-pressed to cope. At night, if only Luoluo was taking care of her, she would surely be in over her head, so normally if Pei Kun hadn’t come home yet, she would go over and lend a hand.