love on the turquoise land

Chapter 21

Nie Jiuluo became more frustrated, but her tone softened, "I've said it before, I'm just an ordinary person. What's there to hide about an ordinary person's name? Besides, at that time, I couldn't even imagine that after someone was delivered into your hands, they could still manage to escape."

Jiang Baichuan's face darkened, and he stuttered, "Then... what are you thinking? Yan Tuo has suffered a lot this time. It seems like he's developed a grudge against you."

Nie Jiuluo sneered, "Of course, after this incident, he fell in love with me?"

On the other end, Jiang Baichuan fell silent again.

Outside the window, the rain intensified, and the raindrops near the window were swept diagonally by the wind, shining brightly in the light.

With things being like this, venting her frustration on Jiang Baichuan would be pointless. Nie Jiuluo said, "Let me think about it. I'll contact you later."

After hanging up the phone, she stood by the window for a long time, feeling a mess of thoughts swirling in her mind, unable to sort them out for a while.

With nothing else to do, she decided to take the empty plates and bowls downstairs to Lu Jie.

The kitchen was located on the east side of the courtyard, and due to its large space, it retained the old-fashioned hearth. Lu Jie, coming from the countryside where she had cooked with firewood since she was young, preferred the hearth with its big iron pots and wooden covers that required adding wood to the fire. She often said to Nie Jiuluo, "The rice steamed in the iron pot smells fragrant and produces crispy hot pot rice cakes; the corn roasted in the hearth tastes a hundred times better than that from the oven."

Nie Jiuluo didn't care either way. Since she didn't cook, wash, nor take care of the housework, she let Lu Jie choose whichever room she preferred.

When she had nothing to do, she would come to the kitchen and sit down. The old and worn-out items here made her feel like time stood still, as if the years were indefinite, and there were no years in the mountains.

If she happened to be in the kitchen when Lu Jie was cooking, it was even more enjoyable. The smell of food cooking over fire has always been soothing to the soul.

Lu Jie was wiping the stove in the kitchen. When she saw Nie Jiuluo come in with the dishes, she quickly came over to take them, saying, "Miss Nie, you brought them down yourself. You could have left them there, and I would have taken them."

Even though their relationship was already quite familiar, Lu Jie still insisted on calling her "Miss Nie" out of courtesy. After all, it was an employment relationship, and politeness was required.

Nie Jiuluo sat down on a small stool with empty hands.

Lu Jie observed her, "Is work not going well?"

In her eyes, Nie Jiuluo was practically a winner in life: young, beautiful, talented, and successful. If she was feeling bad, it could only be due to some setbacks at work or creative blockages.

Nie Jiuluo said, "No."

She ran her fingers through her hair in a disorderly manner, "I have some relatives in my hometown, distant relatives, who are not engaged in legitimate activities. I hardly have any contact with them."

Lu Jie listened attentively. When an employer talked to her about things, she felt respected—many domestic workers looked down on people and treated them as servants.

"But it's not easy to cut ties. Due to the previous generation's reasons, I owe them quite a bit of money."

Lu Jie couldn't help but ask, "How much money is it? And you still haven't paid it off?"