Sunset District Public Elementary School was just three streets away, only a five-minute walk.
Mr. Raymond walked ahead, and Ben tried to hold his brother’s hand, but his brother clearly wasn’t used to holding it.
So it turned into Ben trotting along with his short legs, trying to keep up with his tall, long-legged brother running ahead.
Behind them, Jolene and Emma walked hand in hand, also trying to catch up.
Fortunately, five minutes later, they arrived at the school. After dropping Ben off, Raymond turned around at the entrance and said, “I’ll provide you with an employment verification and proof of residency tonight. You might also need your child’s vaccination records and identification. When you drop Ben off tomorrow, you can submit these documents to the school.”
“Okay, thank you, Mr. Raymond,” Jolene nodded repeatedly in gratitude.
Her employer had really taken Emma’s situation to heart, and Jolene was deeply grateful. The only way she could repay him, she figured, was to be extra patient with his little brother.
From yesterday to today, Jolene had actually discovered that Ben was a pretty good kid—not the type to cause trouble for no reason. He just needed to be approached differently.
“Alright, I’ll head to work now. Thank you—Ben had dinner on time yesterday. I mean, it looks like a good start. You should know, he once forced me to chase away the last nanny by threatening not to eat,” Raymond said with a faint smile.
“Actually, Ben is very smart. Have you ever considered that maybe he’s just afraid you won’t pay attention to him, or that he’s trying to get your attention?” Jolene said casually.
She had no real experience with children—she was just guessing based on the parenting novels she used to write.
Still, from yesterday’s interactions, it seemed this little boy could communicate just fine.
Raymond looked very young—fluffy light blond hair, a black suit, like a fresh college graduate. Jolene had no idea what he did for work.
People living in the Sunset District generally had decent incomes. From what she could tell, this young brother was the breadwinner, supporting the household with three employees on the payroll. Whether it was the three-story house or the wages for three staff members, it was no small expense.
Jolene was quietly impressed—this young man must be quite capable. Maybe a top student or something.
Mother and daughter went back home, and Jolene found herself with plenty of free time. Since her little employer was at school, she only needed to pick him up at 2 p.m., take him to his extracurricular classes, play with him, help with homework—basically just keep him company.
Suddenly having time to herself, Jolene went home and thought about what Ben had taught Emma yesterday. She sat down with Emma in the living room to give her some early lessons—otherwise, when the child started school, she’d definitely be at the bottom of the class.
Knowing she was going to school like Ben, Emma studied very seriously with her mom. She’d already learned the alphabet roughly yesterday, so Jolene had her practice writing letters with a pencil.
Holding the pencil, Emma traced the letters her mom had written, her strokes crooked and unsteady.
At 2:40 p.m., Jolene took Emma to the public elementary school to pick up Ben.
They’d already agreed yesterday to visit the bookstore today and check the market rate for book rentals at a secondhand rental shop.
Before school even ended, Ben had been thinking about their plan all day—after all, this was his first time doing business with someone, and he had to keep his word.
The three of them arrived at the Sunset District secondhand bookstore. They couldn’t find any regular picture book rentals—only vintage books, which rented for $3 each.
Jolene clicked her tongue and checked the original prices of children’s picture books: as cheap as $3 for some, and up to $30 for deluxe hardcover editions—a huge price range.
She glanced at the bestselling novels on display: The Runaway Jury about tobacco litigation, the political thriller Executive Orders, Airframe about aviation accident investigations and manufacturing issues, and of course, this year’s hit, A Game of Thrones.
Not giving up, Jolene looked for popular women’s fiction and surprisingly found the later-famous Sex and the City—stories about four women’s lives, love, and careers—along with Malice, a romantic love story.
This gave Jolene some confidence—it proved there was a market for women’s fiction.
On the shelves, suspense, horror, and sci-fi were the most popular genres.
Jolene flipped through a few books casually, thinking to herself: if she were to write, she’d only write women’s fiction. What angle should she take? There was no online novel market yet—everything had to go through publishers. Could her novels even get published?
Could it be that she’d be a live-in nanny for the rest of her life in this life…
Lost in thought, she noticed both kids had picked up picture books and were reading nearby.
In the store, some boys stood in the comic book section, flipping through comics. Some sci-fi fans were in the sci-fi section, browsing Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. And there were slightly older readers looking for books on computers, management, and other professional topics.
Jolene walked over to the popular fiction section and found several representative works by Danielle Steel, the most iconic bestselling author in contemporary popular literature. She flipped through them. This popular novelist specialized in love and family—warm writing, happy endings, and most of her inspiration came from real events or her own life experiences, giving her work a realistic foundation and depth.
She skimmed through a few books but couldn’t focus too deeply—she had to keep an eye on the two kids, and she didn’t have any money to buy books anyway.
Hardcovers were around $25, paperbacks $3.76. Prices varied from book to book, but Jolene got a general sense: most were priced between $9 and $25.
She hadn’t expected the two kids to sit on the floor reading quietly without making a fuss. Jolene couldn’t help but smile warmly—if kids could be like this every day, they’d be absolutely adorable.
“Alright, let’s head home. Time for swimming lessons!” Jolene walked over. She didn’t have a watch, so she could only check the time on the bookstore wall clock.
It was almost time for Ben’s swimming lesson. He had swimming twice a week and piano twice a week—all things Mr. Raymond had told her in advance, and part of her job responsibilities.
“Fine, but I didn’t finish that book,” Ben pouted, a little unhappy, but luckily, he didn’t throw a tantrum.
Jolene raised an eyebrow—Ben was being surprisingly well-behaved.
Emma always listened to her mom, and besides, she couldn’t read yet. She was just looking at the pictures in the picture books, thoroughly entertained—though not as enjoyable as when Mom read to her.
Ever since Jolene had read her a picture book before bed last night, Emma was especially looking forward to hearing Mom tell stories at night.
After dropping Ben off at swimming class, mother and daughter stood by the pool, watching him splash around in the water, pressing down on his kickboard and practicing his leg kicks.
Each session lasted two hours. Both mother and daughter watched with a hint of envy.
Jolene thought about signing Emma up for swimming lessons once she had more money. Emma, on the other hand, remembered Mom saying that exercising like Big Brother would help him grow taller.
But Emma shook her head—Mom had also said that going to bed early would help her grow, and eating plenty of food too. She’d already eaten two bowls of food at lunch. Uncle Giovanni’s lasagna was absolutely delicious—even better than the hamburgers she’d had at the church.
To keep eating Uncle Giovanni’s free food every day, Emma had to cooperate with Mom and help take care of Big Brother—so he wouldn’t kick them out.
The two hours passed quickly. Ben took a quick shower, changed his clothes, and the three of them strolled back home.
School ended so early that even after a trip to the bookstore and a swimming lesson, they still had time when they got back.
Since Ben had been at the bookstore too, he’d heard the owner tell Jolene she could borrow books for free from the public library. That made him realize that no one would rent his picture books—only vintage books got rented. And his brother had said reading picture books was already part of Jolene’s job anyway.
So Ben waved his hand generously and said, “Then I’ll let you borrow my picture books for free.”
Jolene had originally offered to rent his books to avoid being flat-out rejected. She’d thought renting would be simple, but today she realized just how clueless she was about life in the U.S.—there were so many public libraries nearby where she could borrow books for free.
Seeing Ben being so generous and impressed by his behavior today, Jolene was in a good mood. This live-in nanny job didn’t seem that hard after all. She nodded and said, “Alright then. To repay your generosity, tonight I’ll read picture books to both you and Emma. How does that sound?”
Ben was about to refuse, but then he remembered hearing the story of The Crocodile Kingdom from the stairwell last night—it had seemed more interesting than reading it himself. So he reluctantly said, “Fine. You can repay me that way.”
“Too bad I can’t make any money though,” Ben muttered to himself.
“Oh, do you want to earn money yourself?” Jolene asked, already understanding and following the boy’s train of thought.
Ben sighed with fake maturity. “Yeah. My brother’s always busy with work. If I could earn money myself, I could give it to him, and then he wouldn’t have to work as much and could play with me.”
The child was willing to share his thoughts with her—Jolene hadn’t expected that. She nodded seriously, not wanting to brush him off. She didn’t explain why Mr. Raymond always avoided him, but followed his line of thinking: “Actually, if you want to make money, there are other ways.”
Ben’s eyes widened. “What ways?”
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