With a strong hand in reserve, Gu Qingcheng always exuded an air of calm composure, which surprisingly commanded respect.
Hu Lanfang, with nothing better to do, gradually began to involve herself in village affairs.
Hu Lanfang wouldn't interfere with the major decisions of the village; that was her daughter's domain. Her daughter had already established her authority among the village team leaders. If Hu Lanfang were to meddle, it might undermine her daughter's prestige, inadvertently causing more harm than good.
Therefore, she focused on seemingly insignificant tasks, the kind that a seasoned community cadre like herself excelled at.
For instance, the village's nursery.
Hu Lanfang's attention was drawn to the nursery one day when she happened to pass by. She saw babies, seven or eight months old, crying in their cradles while the nannies in charge chatted amongst themselves, paying them no mind.
It wasn't until the babies' cries became too loud and incessant that the nannies impatiently rocked their cradles a few times to lull them to sleep, and then proceeded to drink the milk provided by the village.
Although one instance wasn't enough to generalize, Hu Lanfang took note and began to discreetly investigate the village.
One day, something said by a group of children playing in the village caught Hu Lanfang's attention.
It turned out the children were boasting about how capable their parents were.
One said, "My dad is in the farming team. Every time we go up the mountain to weed, he catches big grasshoppers for me and picks wild fruits to eat."
Another said, "My dad is in the hunting team. He always brings back game from the mountains and gets rewarded, so our family eats meat every few days."
A third one boasted, "My grandma works at the nursery. She brings us milk every day, so much that we can't finish it. We have to pour it away because it spoils."
The other children listened in envy, thinking how extravagant it was to have so much milk that it could be wasted.
"How is that possible? My mother says milk is very nutritious. You get tired of drinking it? There isn't much milk in the village, and you only get a bottle at school," a slightly older child said with disbelief.
Seeing their skepticism, the child whose grandmother worked at the nursery insisted, "It's true, absolutely true. My grandma says the children at the nursery can't finish it, so she brings it back for us. She brings it every day, and we're sick of drinking it."
The other children fell silent, as they believed this child's grandmother did indeed work at the nursery.
Hu Lanfang, upon hearing this, discreetly inquired and learned that the child's grandmother was named Lan Guifang, and had been working at the nursery for quite some time. She had been there since its establishment, making her a veteran.
Hu Lanfang then deliberately went to the nursery to engage in a casual conversation with Zhang Chunhua, the person in charge.
Zhang Chunhua was unaware of Hu Lanfang's intentions.
However, knowing she was the mother of young master Gu, and essentially the village's empress dowager, Zhang Chunhua naturally treated Hu Lanfang with utmost deference.
Hu Lanfang intentionally adopted an overbearing demeanor, criticized the work being done, and demanded that all the nannies come out to meet her.
The nannies at the nursery were all women over forty who had become grandmothers. They had less physical strength and couldn't do heavy labor, so working at the nursery was considered a good opportunity for them.
Zhang Chunhua, seeing that this woman was rather critical, became even more cautious and quickly summoned over a dozen nannies for Hu Lanfang to meet.
Hu Lanfang didn't know which one was Lan Guifang, so she resorted to this tactic.
She asked Zhang Chunhua to introduce them one by one.
Zhang Chunhua, seeing that the "Empress Dowager" had such a pleasant disposition, could only comply.
This way, Hu Lanfang finally met Lan Guifang as she had intended.
Lan Guifang turned out to be a woman in her early forties, with a sharp, monkey-like face and hollow cheeks, looking cunning and sinister at first glance.
Hu Lanfang felt that while Lan Guifang's act of stealing milk was reprehensible, it was even more deplorable that the children who were deprived of the milk might suffer from hunger.
Despite identifying Lan Guifang, Hu Lanfang couldn't find any concrete evidence of her stealing milk, which left her feeling frustrated.
Gu Qingcheng noticed her mother's recent melancholy and assumed it was due to Doctor Gu and Ge Hong spending all their time together, neglecting her. She was about to try and mediate when Hu Lanfang brought up a more significant matter.
Upon hearing that the nannies at the nursery were engaging in fraudulent activities and withholding the children's rations, Gu Qingcheng was also furious, stating such behavior was unacceptable.
"To punish someone, evidence is required, otherwise, it won't convince everyone. We don't know at which stage Lan Guifang is stealing the milk. If we act rashly, we might alert her and make her more cautious, making it even harder to catch her later."
At this point, Gu Qingcheng thought of a plan. If Lan Guifang was going to steal milk, she would have to access the place where the milk was stored.
Gu Qingcheng knew that the milk storage at the nursery was in the kitchen. So, that night, Gu Qingcheng called for Mi Guo, and they installed wireless surveillance cameras in the nursery's kitchen, the nursery room, and other areas from multiple angles.
These surveillance cameras were only the size of buttons, with built-in batteries that could last for 72 hours and a one-terabyte storage card, sufficient for three days of continuous recording.
After Gu Qingcheng finished installing the cameras, she retrieved them three days later.
She reviewed the surveillance footage on her tablet one by one and finally caught Lan Guifang in the act of stealing milk.
It turned out that Lan Guifang was stealing a little milk from each bottle while warming it for the children, pouring it into her own bottles until all three of her bottles were full, which she then secretly took home after work.
So, it was a case of a thousand small cuts, like a mouse stealing grain, which explained why no one noticed the milk was decreasing, yet her family had plenty to drink.
Of course, while reviewing the footage, Gu Qingcheng also discovered that some nannies were slacking off and not diligently attending to the children, indicating quite a few serious issues.
Gu Qingcheng summoned Zhang Chunhua and reprimanded her.
Zhang Chunhua was terrified. She never imagined that despite her best efforts and diligent work, there were still so many oversight areas.
She sincerely apologized to Gu Qingcheng and promised to implement strict reforms, showing results within a month, or she would resign.
Seeing Gu Qingcheng speak so knowledgeably about the nannies' poor performance, Zhang Chunhua couldn't fathom where Gu Qingcheng obtained so much insider information.
It seemed that young master Gu must have planted informants within the nursery.
Zhang Chunhua didn't harbor any malicious intentions. She wanted to keep her job, as holding the position of nursery director had significantly elevated her status at home.
At home, her mother-in-law treated her with more courtesy, and her husband found her capable, occasionally expressing admiration.
Zhang Chunhua considered this position very important and cherished it dearly.
She just hadn't expected that despite her efforts, the people working under her would be so disappointing and bring shame upon her.