"No, she's my employee. Besides, I have plenty of beautiful women working for me," I said with a smile.
"The beautiful ones... they don't seem entirely human," my aunt commented approvingly.
"Then consider her a fairy."
"A fairy! Don't scare me, I'm easily frightened!" My aunt, having spent so much time with Shen Xingyue, was well aware of the existence of demons.
"I'm not scaring you. Even if she's a fairy, she's a good one. She works for me, what's there to fear!"
"Oh, wait? Could you be—"
I almost let it slip, but fortunately, Chen Lu's call came through just in time. I put it on speakerphone and let my aunt take it.
"Hello, Auntie, do you still remember me? It's Chen Lu!"
"Of course, I remember. Such a beautiful lady, how could I forget?" My aunt replied with a smile, giving my arm a firm pinch. She was likely worried about me, concerned I might not handle these people's relationships well.
"Auntie, there's something I need your help with. Can you do me a favor?"
"What favor? Tell me."
"I have a friend who is the vice dean at Shengjing Hospital. She mentioned that there's a vacant position for a department director there that they haven't found a suitable candidate for. It's quite an important role. I recommended you, I got your resume from Guan Chengfeng, and thought, why not give it a shot? It's a mutual help situation. The vice dean took one look at your resume and was immediately impressed. They want to poach you to Shengjing Hospital and have been pestering me, saying that this position is perfect for you. What do you think I should do? Oh, woe is me..."
She really knew how to act.
"Huh? Is that true? Then... what kind of benefits would they offer me?" my aunt asked, her eyes alight with excitement, believing it to be real.
"The benefits would definitely be higher than what you're getting now, otherwise, it wouldn't be called poaching. However, this position is indeed highly sought after. If you're interested, I'd like to invite you to come over," Chen Lu said.
"This... matter..." My aunt hesitated.
"Don't worry, Auntie, I absolutely won't mislead you, nor will I reveal your visit. Your current Hang Zhou Hospital won't know," Chen Lu promised.
"Lu Lu, I still need to know about the salary. You know, it's just the two of us at home, and Chengfeng spends money like water. I still need to save up for his future wife and buy a house!"
Chen Lu chuckled, as if suppressing laughter. "I asked the vice dean. She said it's under the policy for attracting high-level talent. The annual salary is 500,000 yuan. Other benefits like bonuses, registration commissions, lecture fees, research projects, etc., are calculated separately. It's guaranteed that your annual income after tax will exceed one million yuan. What do you think? It might not be as high as Hang Zhou, but the housing prices in Shengjing aren't expensive. Your annual income is enough for a down payment on a good house. Chengfeng can slowly pay off the rest. He's quite capable of earning money too."
With that, what else was there to say? My aunt glanced at me, feigned a moment of coyness, and then agreed.
Since my aunt agreed, Chen Lu naturally didn't dare to delay. She said she would immediately arrange for the hospital to process her onboarding procedures and arrange an office and accommodation for her.
My aunt's issue was resolved. As soon as we hung up, the fox spirit inside said, "A ticket for nine o'clock tomorrow morning, three tickets, alright?"
"Fine," I said.
"What? We're leaving already? I haven't even packed up my place in Hang Zhou!"
"What's there to pack? If you lack anything, we'll get it for you in Shengjing," I said with a smile. My aunt was usually thrifty. The apartment she rented wasn't even as big as mine, and she didn't have many personal belongings, just clothes at most.
"But I still need to go back once..."
The fox spirit smiled. "No need, Auntie. Once you get to Shengjing, you'll understand how happy you'll be!"
"Oh? Happy? What do you mean?" my aunt asked curiously.
I shot the fox spirit a glare. She stuck out her tongue and fell silent.
Later that evening, Chen Lu sent me a message: "The house is bought, a villa. It's not far from my villa. How should I tell Auntie? Rent or buy?"
"Nonsense, of course, rent."
"What about the car?"
"No need for a car," I said. My aunt had a car, a second-hand little BMW. We could have it shipped to the Northeast. "We'll figure out other things once we get there. No need to prepare everything today."
"Understood. Anything else you need, Boss?"
Chen Lu asked.
"No, I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me up. Be clean and wait for me at home tomorrow morning," I said.
"Okay, good night!"
After hanging up, I checked the time. It was almost one in the morning. I washed up, got into bed, hugged my pillow, and fell asleep. My aunt slept in another room. The fox spirit didn't sleep. After my aunt fell asleep, she jumped out the window, saying she was going to Zhongshan to see if there were any prey. I said there probably weren't any, but she didn't believe me.
I don't know what time it was, but the fox spirit returned, saying there weren't any, but she didn't come back empty-handed. She stole some food from the Hongshan Zoo!
"I'm full and sleepy. Can I sleep here with you?" the fox spirit said.