Chapter 1062 - 1064: Drunken Singing, an Awkward Family_1
The one who had gotten drunk appeared to be not even twenty years old, currently wearing a look of frivolity on his face, and he was muttering, "Where did this beauty come from? How come the young master has never seen you before?"
As he was speaking, he staggeringly fell toward Bai Ruozhu, and the servant supporting him failed to hold on, seemingly about to tumble onto Bai Ruozhu.
Bai Ruozhu immediately shifted to the side, nimbly avoiding the person who was falling over.
"Ouch!" The man was severely drunk and slammed straight into the ground face first. If it hadn’t been for the servant’s timely pull from behind, he might have knocked out a few teeth. Even so, his nose was still bleeding as he lay on the ground, whimpering in pain.
The servant was startled, clearly fearing punishment, as he helped the man up while chastising Bai Ruozhu, "Who are you, and why didn’t you help the young master? This is the third young master of the Marquis’ Residence. If anything happens to him, can you bear the responsibility?"
Bai Ruozhu glanced indifferently at the servant, and Jianqi was about to emerge to deal with the servant but was stopped by Bai Ruozhu.
It turned out that this drunken young master was none other than Bo Jiajue, the third young master of the Marquis’ Residence. She had initially thought he was uninformed about his father’s serious injury, but it turned out he had gone out to drink early in the morning and was already profoundly drunk by noon.
Thinking of Bo Jiajue’s look before falling, and the frivolous tone in his speech, Bai Ruozhu felt utterly disgusted and had no good impression of the third young master.
She disdainfully waved away the odor of alcohol that lingered before her nose, then told the servant, "If you don’t want to die, you’d better scurry back. Otherwise, even if your young master doesn’t stay drunk, he won’t be able to save you."
"You, who are you to be so arrogant? You injure our young master and now you threaten us?" The servant had no shame, quickly pinning a huge accusation on Bai Ruozhu.
Bo Jiajue was regaining some sobriety by now. Holding his bleeding nose, he said, "Beautiful lady, don’t be ignorant. Help me inside nicely, and I naturally won’t mistreat you."
As he spoke, he stretched his dirty hand toward Bai Ruozhu. Bai Ruozhu snorted coldly, reached out to tug, and Bo Jiajue let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.
"Ah, my hand, my hand is broken!" Bo Jiajue cried pitifully, so much so that Bai Ruozhu involuntarily stepped back and cleaned her ears, saying, "It’s only dislocated. Get lost quickly, otherwise it might really break soon!"
The servant was also scared witless. After coming to his senses, he could not believe what had happened, "You, you actually dared to hit our young master. The Marquis’ Residence won’t let you off!"
At this point, the gatekeeper of Marquis Jingping’s Residence heard the commotion, quickly came out, and happened to hear the servant threatening Bai Ruozhu. The gatekeeper knew that Bai Ruozhu had just saved the Marquis, perceived the stench of alcohol on the third young master, and how could he not know of the third young master’s habitual issues?
He went up and gave the servant a hefty slap, sternly saying, "Have you gone blind, you dog? How dare you speak to Madam Jiang like that? See how the madam deals with you!"
After finishing, the gatekeeper then apologized to Bai Ruozhu, who didn’t plan to stay longer, telling him to hand the man over to the steward. Then, she turned to look for her horse carriage and left.
The servant, who was slapped till he saw stars, didn’t have the chance to explain or accuse Bai Ruozhu of her "crimes," as he was taken away and confined to the firewood room by the steward’s order.
Bo Jiajue was naturally brought back to the Yard and was somewhat awakened by a serving of Hangover Soup. Only then did he become aware that his father had nearly lost his life, which frightened him into breaking out into a cold sweat. But with a dislocated hand, nobody paid any attention to him, not even willing to fetch a doctor.
...
After Bai Ruozhu returned home, she immediately went to check on her father and, to her surprise, found him not as distraught as she had imagined. He even managed a smile and busied himself ordering the maid to warm up some food for her, claiming that she must have been too occupied to eat while at the Bo Residence.
"Dad, have you and Mom eaten already?" Bai Ruozhu asked cautiously.
Lin Ping’er gave her a meaningful look that indicated Bai Yihong hadn’t eaten much.
"Yes, yes, we have," Bai Yihong said with a chuckle, but the smile on his face was quite bitter. Being a straightforward man, faking a smile was even harder for him than crying.
Bai Ruozhu didn’t know how to comfort her father, so she ordered the maid to reheat some dishes and warm up some fine wine. She then coaxed her father into joining her for a meal and they shared a few drinks.
"Dad, don’t tell me you look down on me for being a daughter and don’t want to have a few drinks with me? Who made the rule that only big brother and second brother can drink with you?" Bai Ruozhu said, feigning anger.
"My girl, your dad knows you’re trying to persuade him. I’m really okay," Bai Yihong insisted with difficulty.
"I didn’t say anything was wrong. Can’t we have a few drinks and enjoy ourselves without something being amiss?" Bai Ruozhu retorted as she poured her father another drink.
Bai Yihong couldn’t refuse his daughter’s kind gesture, so he raised his cup and began drinking with her. After a few glasses, the melancholy in his heart surged, and he became easily intoxicated, his words becoming more and more slurred.
"I know you all are worried about me. I shouldn’t be upset over others and make you and Mom worry too. But understanding that I should get over it and being actually able to let it go are two different things," Bai Yihong’s voice choked up. Bai Ruozhu then sent the maids out, leaving only her and her parents in the room.
Lin Ping’er quietly wiped her eyes and picked up some food with her chopsticks for Bai Yihong.
Bai Yihong grabbed Lin Ping’er’s hand and said, "My dear, you’ve suffered a lot over the years. Here, I want to toast to you too!"
He shakily filled Lin Ping’er’s cup with wine. She lifted the cup, her voice quivering as she spoke, "What suffering? Our family’s life is envied by the whole village."
After they drained their cups, Bai Yihong laughed, "That’s because our daughter and son are capable. We are good at bringing kids into the world."
Bai Ruozhu refilled her parents’ glasses. As she encouraged them to drink, she too felt something heavy on her mind. After a few drinks, she also started to feel a bit tipsy.
The servants of the Bai family were all sent away, and the three family members inside the house drank vigorously, taking turns. Bai Ruozhu drained the wine from her cup, stood up, and proclaimed loudly, "Dad, let’s not think about those vexing issues. Come on, I’ll sing for you!"
"Fine wine exudes a fragrant aroma, and songs take flight. Friends, please have another drink, please have another drink..."
Bai Ruozhu was also quite drunk, and she stood on the chair singing "The Toasting Song" that she had heard from her previous life. Not knowing why she felt so dizzy, she sang out with a rough voice, imitating the male singer’s voice from the original song, amusing Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong to no end.
Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong, who were also tipsy by then, joined in the singing. Bai Ruozhu had forgotten most of the lyrics, so she just sang the repeated "come, come, come" parts with extra cheerfulness. The tune itself was easy to learn, so Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong also chanted "come, come, come" along with her.
The maids and manservants of the Bai Family Yard stepped back even further, with very peculiar expressions on their faces, wondering what could have gotten into the master, the mistress, and the young miss today. Were they all right?