A charming widow in her 70s married a factory manager and raised his children.

Chapter 3: Director Lu Has a Woman at Home

Although Zhuang Qingxiang had a pitiful background, she was still a newly widowed woman. Moreover, Lu Congyue wanted to find someone who could take the child away to raise him or come to their home to raise him every day. Since she had nowhere to live, she was bound to stay here.

Even with three children by my side, it's still inconvenient.

This house was originally a temporary dormitory built when the factory was being constructed. It was a very simple large room. Later, after the factory was built, he simply made it his residence, thinking that since he was all alone, he could do whatever he wanted.

The house was big enough, so they later added a simple partition in the middle and hung a curtain, turning it into two rooms, one for sleeping and the other for eating and entertaining guests.

Such living conditions are spacious enough for him alone, but with a woman added, it would be a lonely man and woman...

However, the circumstances described by Village Chief Qian prevented him from directly kicking the people out.

If she is really kicked out, how will she, a woman with two children, survive after being driven away by her in-laws and unable to return to her parents' home?

Thinking of this, Lu Congyue could only reluctantly agree: "Okay!"

"Thank you, Director Lu!" Zhuang Qingxiang replied happily.

Having passed the first hurdle, Zhuang Qingxiang breathed a sigh of relief. She and her child finally had a safe place to stay. They would settle down temporarily and slowly find a way to make a living.

When Lu Congyue turned around, he only saw Zhuang Qingxiang's back. After thinking it over carefully, he realized that since he had decided to ask her for help, he should make some things clear. So he stepped into the house.

Just as he was about to lift the curtain out of habit, he remembered the scene from earlier and quickly lowered his hand.

Having multiple women in the household is really inconvenient!

Lu Congyue's brows furrowed into a deep frown.

"Comrade Zhuang," he could only call out first.

A startled cry came from inside: "Wait, don't come in yet!"

The curtain was suddenly lifted a crack, revealing Qian Yue's innocent face. She apologized nervously, "Uncle, you can't come in now, my mother is changing clothes."

Actually, even without her saying it, Lu Congyue had already seen it through the small crack.

He wasn't looking on purpose; it was just his profession that made him habitually observe his surroundings and stay alert at all times.

He looked away immediately after just one glance, but the sight of that white back made him sweat profusely, as if the summer sun had become even more intense, with waves of heat rolling in, making him feel suffocated and sweating.

Inside the door, Zhuang Qingxiang awkwardly and quickly put on her clothes.

She just saw that Lu Congyue was busy and wanted to take the opportunity to change into some drier clothes. Who would have thought that he would suddenly look for her? She also didn't expect that Xiao Qianyue would speak such a blunt truth.

"Director Lu, I'm sorry, I was sweating a lot on the way here. I'll change my clothes and come out right away," Zhuang Qingxiang said, barely managing to suppress her embarrassment.

Lu Congyue had already made up his mind.

"Comrade Zhuang, I've thought about it carefully, and I think we should just let this matter go. I'll find someone else to take care of the child. As for your situation... I'll talk to Village Chief Qian and have him discuss it with your in-laws."

Lu Congyue always kept his word. After speaking, he turned and left, intending to go and tell Village Chief Qian.

"Director Lu."

A panicked shout came from behind, "Wait!"

Lu Congyue turned around, but when he saw the woman behind him, he turned around again very quickly.

Perhaps because she was in a hurry, she buttoned her clothes wrong, and her collar was askew, revealing her fair collarbone.

Zhuang Qingxiang was really anxious.

"Director Lu, may I ask what I did wrong? I can change, and I will take good care of the child, I..."

Her voice trembled slightly with nervousness, which made Lu Congyue frown.

And then there was her scent, a scent he couldn't describe, which instantly banished the familiar air from his nostrils the moment she wafted over, her sweet, milky fragrance seeping into his nostrils.

Lu Congyue felt unwell all over.

"Comrade Zhuang, you haven't done anything wrong. It's just that you're not suitable to work here with me," Lu Congyue said in a deep and steady voice.

"But I..."

"Factory Manager! Factory Manager Lu!"

Suddenly, an anxious shout came from outside the door.

Lu Congyue frowned and strode out, almost bumping into someone.

"Technician Feng, what happened?" he asked anxiously.

"Director Lu, please go to the factory quickly. The machine that just arrived is malfunctioning, and we...we can't fix it," Feng Wenhua said anxiously, adjusting his glasses which had almost fallen off.

Lu Congyue's heart skipped a beat, and he turned to leave.

"Director Lu!" Zhuang Qingxiang called out anxiously.

Feng Wenhua looked towards the doorway in surprise: When did Factory Director Lu get a woman in his family?!

Lu Congyue paused, only then remembering the mess he still had at home.

The baby, just over a month old, couldn't be left unattended. He didn't have any milk powder coupons and tried everything he could to get milk powder, so he had no choice but to find someone to feed the baby.

Although Zhuang Qingxiang is not suitable, there is no other way now.

"Comrade Zhuang, I'll leave the child with you for now. We'll talk about other things after I'm done with this."

Lu Congyue hurriedly gave some instructions and then called Feng Wenhua to leave quickly. The newly arrived machine was hard-won, and if there were any problems, it would definitely delay their production schedule.

"Call all the technicians over to work overtime!" he instructed as he walked.

Feng Wenhua was still reeling from the fact that "the perpetually single Factory Director Lu has a woman in his family" and didn't hear Lu Congyue's words.

Only after Lu Congyue repeated himself did he quickly nod: "I know, the technicians are all in the workshop."

He paused, then asked in a low voice, "Director Lu, that woman from just now..."

Lu Congyue frankly stated, "I was introduced by Village Chief Qian of Dongya Village to help take care of the children."

Feng Wenhua breathed a sigh of relief. If Director Lu, who had been a staunch bachelor for so long, were to finally give birth, and the object of his affections was someone else, then their factory's technician, Lin Wei, would be in for a tough time.

Zhuang Qingxiang never expected things to take such a turn for the better. Just when she thought she had reached the end of her rope, she was blessed by God and was able to stay.

Zhuang Qingxiang breathed a sigh of relief, looked down, and saw Xiao Qianyue staring at her expectantly.

She squatted down and patted her little head: "Yueyue, it's okay. Uncle is letting us stay for now. If we behave well, he won't send us away."

"Yueyue will work hard!" Qian Yue immediately said in her childish voice.

Zhuang Qingxiang couldn't help but chuckle at his earnest expression.

"Alright, Yueyue, you just need to help Mom take care of your two younger brothers. Mom will do all the other chores."

The two babies were asleep after eating their fill, so Zhuang Qingxiang asked Xiao Qianyue to stay by their side while she took the clothes she had changed out of to wash.

She only has two sets of clothes to change into, and she must wash and dry them immediately after changing, otherwise she won't have anything to change into if she gets dirty.

Zhuang Qingxiang is very good at housework; otherwise, her family wouldn't have kept her at home to work and take care of the children.

Soon, the clothes were washed and hung up to dry, and the house was cleaned inside and out.

The two children woke up, and I took care of them. Before I knew it, it was dark.

"Mom, I'm hungry..."

This is the third time Xiao Qianyue has said she's hungry; they didn't eat lunch.

Since Lu Congyue hadn't returned, Zhuang Qingxiang couldn't touch his things.

But it's already dark, and the factory should have closed long ago, but Lu Congyue is nowhere to be seen.

Zhuang Qingxiang was also hungry and restless, glancing out the door every now and then.