Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but smirk. Fang Guizhi’s father was stern and remained silent, her mother was biased towards her son and neglected her. As a result, she used to undertake a lot of household chores in Fang’s family, even was beaten by her mother if she fell short of expectations.
How things turned out for her mother now? In order to provide a rich bride for her beloved son, she nearly married Guizhi to a widower who had battered his previous wife. What’s the result? She got a daughter-in-law who behaved like a duchess and refused to do anything, and her precious son had put his wife before her. Wasn’t this retribution?
"She will surely suffer in the future, serves her right!" Bai Ruozhu murmured quietly.
"I don’t think this daughter-in-law is capable of a fulfilling domestic life. The Fang Family will definitely be in chaos," Lin Ping’er said disdainfully.
As men, Bai Yihong and Bai Zehao should not comment on domestic matters or personal quarrels. But after hearing these words, they nodded in agreement.
The family walked around the village again. Today’s task was easier than the day before because the village head and the elders had already talked to many villagers about this matter, saving them the trouble of sprawling explanations. Some households didn’t even need them to recite the contents of the memorandum before signing it.
One has to admit that people in ancient times were simple and honest. If blindly signing paperwork without knowing the content becomes the norm today, wouldn’t people be sold out unknowingly?
During midday, Bai Zeji came to find them and said, "Second Uncle, Second Aunt, you must be tired. Hurry back with me to have a meal. My parents have prepared the meal."
Bai Ruozhu’s family was indeed hungry. They had declined previous meal offers from villagers as they didn’t want to pose a nuisance. But when Bai Zeji invited them over, they readily accepted.
"Mr. Wu also expressed his wish to lend a hand for Zehao. He told me that he had spoken to Zehao, and is well aware of his talents," Bai Zeji mentioned along the way.
"Mr. Wu is indeed a kind gentleman. After lunch, we should visit him with our gratitude," Bai Yihong responded graciously.
The group quickly arrived at the Bai’s yard. The yard was spotlessly clean, and a pleasant aroma of food wafted out from the kitchen. Zeji’s mother welcomed them, taking Bai Ruozhu’s and Lin Ping’er’s hands, she said, "Go inside and rest quickly, you all must be worn out."
Bai Ruozhu expressed her intention to breastfeed Little Dengdeng, then excused herself to return to her room. Upon entering, she noticed that everything was exactly where she’d left it and spotlessly clean, evidence that the Bai Zeji’s family had been taking care of their accommodations.
She nodded slightly, sure of her decision to let Bai Zeji’s family stay in her house.
As she breastfed Little Dengdeng, she began to feel drowsy and before long, her eyelids drooped, softly shutting. The past few days had been very consuming, and she hadn’t slept well last night, worried about whether Jiang Yichun would come or not.
Dozing off with the baby in her arms, she somehow dreamt. In her dream, she was lying on the bed, weak from just having given birth, and bleeding profusely. Jiang Yichun jumped in through the window, saw her condition, hesitated for a moment before rapidly rushing over to take her pulse and administer acupuncture...
The dream began to blur at the edges, voices from the outside world intruded, calling her. She slowly opened her eyes to realize it was just a dream, yet it was so incredibly real. She could remember how close she had been to dying in childbirth, and how he had quietly saved her.
But ... Bai Ruozhu’s face started to heat up. She was in such a dreadful state back then, a man who was captivated by her looks would probably not want to look at her again, right?
Seeing Bai Ruozhu had been breastfeeding for a long time, Lin Ping’er went outside to call for her. When Ping’er pushed the door open to see Bai Ruozhu just waking up, she realized that she had fallen asleep accidentally.
"Are you tired? Why don’t you take a nap? We’ll save some food for you." Lin Ping reached out to tidy Bai Ruozhu’s disheveled hair, her voice tinged with sympathy.
However, after her brief rest, Bai Ruozhu felt re-energized. Besides, with the worries in her heart, she wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly even if she tried.
"Mom, don’t worry about me. I’ll get a good night’s rest when I return to the West Courtyard after finishing my tasks for the day." As she sat up from the bed and put on her shoes, the movement roused Little Dengdeng who blinked with large, dewy eyes at her and Lin Ping.
Lin Ping, laughing softly, picked up Little Dengdeng while Bai Ruozhu went with her mother to the main hall.
Zeji’s mother had prepared an elaborate feast. At the sight of such sumptuousness, usually absent in ordinary rural households, Bai Ruozhu knew it was prepared especially for her family, complete with red braised pork and steamed fish.
Both Bai Yihong and Lin Ping gratefully thanked Zeji’s parents. The modesty of Zeji and his family was evident when Zeji’s father, rubbing his hands in embarrassment, said, "This is nothing compared to how you let us live in the courtyard without paying rent."
"We are family, after all. Such formalities aren’t necessary," Bai Yihong swiftly countered when the issue of rent was brought up.
"Same goes for you," Bai Zeji replied with a warm smile.
With laughter ringing through the air, the two families plunged into the feast. Although Zeji’s mother had decent cooking skills, it couldn’t compete with Bai Ruozhu’s, acquired through her past experiences as a chef. But the Bai family relished the meal, for it was not just a feast, but an expression of Zeji’s family’s heartfelt gratitude.
After the meal, Bai Ruozhu’s family resumed their quest, gathering signatures from every household in Mountain Village, except for the Bai’s old mansion of course.
Looking at the memorandum filled with names, Bai Ruozhu felt gratified. She was certain that the document would leave a good impression on the royal envoy.
That night, Bai Ruozhu slept deeply, partly from exhaustion and partly from the relief of accomplishing one of her primary tasks.
When Jiang Yichun arrived, his rapping on the window found no response. Originally convinced that Bai Ruozhu was angry with him, he eventually screwed up his courage to climb in through the window, only to find her sleeping soundly, the area under her eyes darkened from fatigue.
Moving closer, he watched her sleep, a pang of sympathy stirring within him. Unable to resist, he smoothed the furrow in her brow, wishing that her worries could be similarly ironed away.
He blamed his negligence for not having caught on earlier; had he done so, he could’ve planned ahead to spare her this suffering.
Jiang Yichun usually refrained from regrets, seeing them as futile, but this time, he regretted not taking better care of her.
During her sleep, Bai Ruozhu twitched as if disturbed by something, her hand clutching at the blanket in her sleep. Feeling a sting of concern, he couldn’t help but hold her small hand, not letting go until her grip relaxed and her entire body was once again at peace.
Just then, Little Dengdeng stirred by Bai Ruozhu’s side, slowly opening his large eyes. At the sight of Jiang Yichun, a cute smile appeared on his face.
Jiang Yichun, still holding Bai Ruozhu’s hand, felt as if he was taking advantage of her, and moreover, had been caught red-handed.