Chapter 105: Unrepentant Malice, Turning the Tables
Thinking to this point, Bai Ruozhu was about to hide in the space with the child. Suddenly, she remembered the land deed and silver hidden in the house. On this thought, she grew anxious. If she hid and the stuff was discovered and taken by San Lang, wouldn’t it mean she had made it easy for him?
Quickly, she cursed at herself in secret. How could she become so dull after childbirth? If she could bring Dengdeng into the space, she could likewise bring the silver and land deed into it, right?
She quickly packed the silver and land deed into a wooden box, then with one hand holding Dengdeng and the other holding the box, she touched the fish-shaped birthmark. With a thought, she entered the space.
Only then did she truly let out a sigh of relief. If it had been before, she absolutely would not have feared San Lang, even if it meant gambling with her life. However, ever since having a child, she had more concerns and was even more worried about the safety of the child.
Not long after she entered the space, San Lang pushed open her door and burst inside.
"Bai Ruozhu, why are you hiding? Weren’t you acting pretty tough?" Finding nobody inside upon entering, San Lang was stunned at first. Then, he revealed a look of disdain as his tone laced with mockery. However, he was cautious about surrounding neighbors, so he kept his voice very low.
Bai Ruozhu straightened up inside the space. To her surprise, she could still hear what San Lang was saying outside. She hadn’t noticed this before. It would have been even better if she could see what San Lang was doing outside. As she was thinking this, suddenly a square frame like a digital TV appeared before her eyes, and it was playing the happenings in her room clearly.
Bai Ruozhu became excited. She shook Little Dengdeng’s tiny hand and said, "Look quickly, look at how the bad guys do bad things. When you grow up, you must be on guard against it."
Little Dengdeng was still small, and the distance her eyes could see was limited, so she quickly lost interest and started dozing off.
Bai Ruozhu, while watching, told herself, "Don’t get angry, don’t get angry. He ran a fool’s errand, couldn’t find me to cause trouble, and couldn’t even steal a single penny. He should be the one to get angry, not me."
She was helpless as she was in confinement after giving birth, so she couldn’t afford to get angry.
Thinking from another perspective, San Lang was somewhat despicable to trouble her during her confinement period. Although Bai Ruozhu restrained her anger, she decided she had to get rid of San Lang. She was not one to spout threats, but San Lang had repeatedly caused her to face death. She wasn’t a saint and wouldn’t be lenient just because of their laughable blood relations.
San Lang inspected every corner of the room and found that Bai Ruozhu and the child were really not in the room. He even felt the kang bed and murmured, "The kang is still warm so where could they go?"
He was afraid that Bai Ruozhu would seek assistance from the neighbors. In a huff, he dashed out of the room and searched the other rooms and the yard, but unfortunately, he didn’t find any trace of Bai Ruozhu.
He returned to Bai Ruozhu’s room and wondered if she had already run away. Without dallying any longer, he started to search Bai Ruozhu’s room right away. He did not believe that Bai Ruozhu didn’t have a hidden stash of money. On the day she gave birth, many villagers saw a young master visiting her, claiming that he came to give silver on behalf of Chang Sheng. That silver must have been taken away by Bai Ruozhu.
However, unfortunately, he searched every possible hiding spot in Bai Ruozhu’s room but only found a dozen or so coins. And it was something that Bai Ruozhu didn’t bother to hide. He snatched up all the copper coins and stormed out, cursing, "Pauper!". He then headed towards Bai Yihong’s house.
Bai Ruozhu wasn’t worried that he would find anything; the silver from Lin Ping’er had been used to procure the betrothal gifts and build a new house, and also to purchase the land this time around. There was virtually nothing left. Today she had taken the silver with her to the town, and the land deed had been given to her too. She also had her share of the bonus with her; therefore, even if San Lang went to her parents’ room, he wouldn’t be able to steal anything.
As expected, San Lang emerged scowling soon afterward. He was swearing, "A family of paupers!"
Following that, he rushed towards Da Lang and Er Lang’s room. Worried, Bai Ruozhu silently emerged from the space only to peep. But before she could see anything, she heard the sounds of San Lang throwing books around. She became worried. Er Bro cherished those books so much. If they were damaged by San Lang, who knew how heartbroken he would be!
But, she couldn’t charge out. For the sake of herself as well as for her child, she couldn’t. Books could be purchased if lost, but if something happened to a person, then there would be no solution.
However, she was certainly not letting San Lang off the hook. She silently emerged out from her own room, circled around and went to the wall near the neighbors. All of a sudden, she shouted loudly, "Help! Bai Zehong broke into my house to steal and fight!"
Having finished shouting, she swiftly returned to the space. Little Dengdeng who was lying on the ground looked up at her, seemingly curious about how she appeared out of nowhere.
Bai Ruozhu broke into a mischievous grin. She was sure that the neighbors had heard her shouts and would come out to see the commotion. She began munching on a piece of dried fish and seated herself comfortably on the reclining chair to watch the drama unfolding.
Hearing Bai Ruozhu’s voice from outside, San Lang dashed out from Er Lang’s room, his eyes wide open, looking like he would eat up somebody because of his rage. He rushed towards the sound to the wall, but couldn’t see Bai Ruozhu. He became even more furious for wanting to hit someone but not having a target, and even lost basic rationality.
"Bai Ruozhu, don’t slander people! Show yourself!" San Lang shouted in anger. Initially, he could have escaped unnoticed by scaling over the wall in the backyard. People might have even thought that Bai Ruozhu was shouting without reason. But now that he had hollered, the neighbors had heard him, and some of the brave children had even climbed the wall to watch the excitement.
"Oh my, the Bai family had locked its door as they went to deliver Er Lang to the Imperial examination. How did San Lang get in?" One old lady on the other side of the wall shouted.
The neighbor to the east of Bai family was the Li family. The old lady of the family was called Grandma Li, and it was her who spoke up. She loved gossiping and spread the news of everything that happened when Bai Ruozhu was giving birth. But she had a good trait, while she liked excitement, she did not bungle the facts. She did not white wash the black, so her relations with Bai Ruozhu’s family were not bad.
"He must be used to stealing, always beyond redemption!" The third daughter-in-law of the Li family was very straightforward and immediately started cursing. She too was someone who had given birth to a child and she also had a daughter who was married and pregnant. Therefore, she was very sympathetic toward Bai Ruozhu’s plight and disdained San Lang’s actions.
Only then did San Lang understand his plight. He gathered his thoughts and said aloud, "Bai Ruozhu called me for help. I entered only because I was afraid something happened to her. I didn’t expect this was a trap. Don’t be deceived by her!"
At present, Bai Ruozhu did not want to face him. As the neighbors were watching the commotion from behind the wall, even if they wanted to help her, they couldn’t make it in time. She decided against facing the crazed San Lang, as it could lead to other problems. Her child was still breastfeeding from her.
San Lang’s excuse seemed to have bewildered the onlookers. Seeing that his ruse seemed to be working, he promptly snorted and said, "If you don’t believe, let her come out and confront me. Wasn’t it she who called me over?"
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Thanks to Book Friends, Fengjing, LVZong, Meng, Ru Xuelei, XingFuYiBeiZi for their rewards. I suppose that some of the names of the Book Friends contain special symbols, so they appear like this on the website. I can only thank you in this way, hence my apologies!