Chapter 1072 - 1074 His Little Token of Appreciation_1
This time, Bai Ruozhu’s tone was much gentler. It was necessary to be stern when needed, but reasoning needed to be communicated to the child in a gentle and soft voice.
She squatted down to look at Dengdeng, hugged him, and then touched his little head and asked, "Does Dengdeng want to tear paper?"
Little Dengdeng, now comforted by his mother, had stopped crying loudly and was only sobbing softly. He looked at the torn pieces of paper in Bai Ruozhu’s hand and nodded his little head.
Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong exchanged glances, and this time, neither interjected, letting their daughter educate the child by herself.
Bai Ruozhu, feeling pity, picked up Dengdeng and sat down with him on a chair, then instructed the maid beside her to fetch some scrap paper that had been used by his second brother.
She then turned to touch Dengdeng’s head, speaking softly, "Dengdeng, you can play with tearing paper, but you cannot tear the letter your uncle wrote, and you cannot tear useful papers. Mommy has asked for some used scrap paper for you to play with, is that okay?"
She understood the child’s psychological needs at this time. The family was not short of money now, but she still only allowed the child to tear scrap paper, because she did not want to nurture a wasteful child.
Others might think the child was too young to understand any profound reasoning, to be taught later. But Bai Ruozhu always believed that the child already had his own thoughts, and it was best to tell him the principles of life little by little now so that he would understand better in the future.
Soon, the maid brought over some scrap paper that Bai Zepei had used and discarded, and handed it to Bai Ruozhu. Bai Ruozhu smiled and asked Dengdeng, "This is scrap paper; it can be torn just the same. Do you want it?"
Dengdeng immediately turned his tears into smiles, reached out his little hands for it, and mumbled somewhat unclearly, "Want, want."
Bai Ruozhu gave him the scrap paper, placed him to the side to play, and he quickly began tearing the paper, even into tiny pieces, showing his fingers were quite nimble.
Bai Ruozhu explained Dengdeng’s needs, but added, "If he wants to play, he can only have scrap paper in the future, and not too much at a time; one piece of paper can be torn for a long time."
Lin Ping’er asked with some concern, "But if that paper is written with ink and he gets it on his hands or in his mouth, what then? Anyway, he doesn’t tear much, so what would be the harm in giving him a blank sheet of paper?"
"No need, Nanny Zhang and I will keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t put it in his mouth. We can’t have a habit of wasting things at home," Bai Ruozhu said.
Lin Ping’er, who came from an agricultural family, thought about it and quickly agreed with Bai Ruozhu’s idea. Bai Yihong naturally had no objections either.
After a while, when the family was preparing for lunch, someone suddenly visited, bringing two boxes of exquisitely packaged dimsum. The assistant delivering them said cheerfully, "These are ordered by Officer Jiang from our shop; he said they were for Marquis Bai and Madam Bai, as well as Officer Jiang’s wife to taste."
Upon seeing the boxes, Bai Ruozhu recognized them instantly. They were the Osmanthus Cakes from Pin Guixuan in the capital. They only made Osmanthus Cakes in this month, and they were best eaten warm and fresh. Bai Ruozhu had heard about them and wanted to try them, but they weren’t available for sale yet. At that time, Jiang Yichun had said he would treat her to hot Osmanthus Cakes from Pin Guixuan when the time came.
She suddenly became excited and looked at the assistant to ask, "Where is Officer Jiang? When did he place the order?"
Because Jiang Yichun could not casually write home, perhaps he had already returned to the capital city and wanted to give her a surprise?
Despite Bai Ruozhu’s usually composed demeanor, she was somewhat agitated at this moment, eager to see her Achun sooner.
"Master Jiang placed the order ten or even twenty days ago," the young clerk answered. "He said he would come to pick it up himself, and if he couldn’t make it, he would have us deliver it to the Bai Residence while it was still warm."
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but show a look of disappointment. She was too excited; it wasn’t that Jiang Yichun had returned and ordered the Osmanthus Cake, but rather, it was pre-ordered before he left. That means he hasn’t returned to the Capital at all.
The young clerk didn’t know what he had said wrong, as it seemed the wife of Master Jiang in front of him was not pleased. Fearing he would say too much and cause trouble, which could lead to a scolding from the shopkeeper upon his return, he hurriedly said, "Osmanthus Cake is best enjoyed warm, so I will take my leave now."
Upon seeing her daughter’s expression, Lin Ping’er knew she was missing her son-in-law. Worried her daughter would be sad, she quickly opened the box and said with a smile, "Ruozhu, come, try it while it’s warm. I’ve heard that Pin Guixuan’s Osmanthus Cake is the best in the Capital City."
Bai Ruozhu quickly gathered her thoughts and was about to take the Osmanthus Cake to Little Dengdeng when she suddenly said, "Mother, wait!"
Her mind had been in a whirl, but now she suddenly thought of something. What if the Osmanthus Cake wasn’t ordered by Achun?
She quickly took out a silver needle and checked each piece, and after breaking them open and smelling them, she finally felt at ease and said, "It’s fine, we can eat it now."
Bai Yihong couldn’t help but laugh, "Ruozhu, you are being overly cautious. Where under the Imperial City would it be so chaotic?"
Bai Ruozhu smiled and said, "Achun didn’t mention he had ordered Osmanthus Cake, I think he wanted to surprise me. I’m just naturally cautious."
In fact, if it were any ordinary day, she wouldn’t be so paranoid, but having just seen someone who looked like Shi Feiming, her spirits were disturbed, and she was indeed a bit worried.
The family started eating the warm Osmanthus Cake, and they found it was truly delicious—sweet but not cloying, with just the right amount of fragrance, and most importantly, all natural. Even Little Dengdeng happily ate three pieces.
"It really lives up to its reputation. It’s a pity your second brother is missing out," Lin Ping’er said cheerfully, giving the last piece to Little Dengdeng.
"Leave a piece for your second brother. Let him warm it up and eat it when he comes back," Bai Ruozhu said, stepping in to stop her.
"Never mind that. The young clerk already said, it’s best enjoyed warm. Once a delicious Dimsum like this gets cold, reheating it won’t bring back the same flavor, and it would rather do injustice to the maker’s reputation," Lin Ping’er explained.
Bai Ruozhu thought about it and realized this made sense, so she didn’t intervene any further.
Seeing her son enjoying the cake and thinking about the surprise Achun had intended for her when he ordered it, her heart warmed. She longed to see him immediately. On these days, when she woke up for the night shift and found the other side of the bed empty and cold, she would feel sad for a while. She didn’t know when it had begun, but she had grown accustomed to his company, and even a day without him made her feel uneasy.
In the following days, Bai Ruozhu treated Chu Hai’s injuries, visited the Marquis to check on his condition, and thankfully, everything went smoothly. Chu Hai’s detoxification this time was very effective, and with one more treatment a month later, his poison would be entirely cleansed. The Marquis was also recovering well, albeit Jiu Sheng kept pestering Bai Ruozhu with many questions.
A few days later, Xu Huilin paid an unexpected visit. He brought some gifts for Bai Yihong and Lin Ping’er, performed the proper greetings, and then said he needed to speak with Bai Ruozhu about something important, which made Bai Ruozhu quite nervous.
"Has your junior brother been in contact with you? Did he mention when he will return? Where is he now?" Xu Huilin asked straightforwardly once Bai Yihong and his wife had stepped aside.
"I don’t know yet. Why do you ask?" Bai Ruozhu felt her heart skip a beat. "Could it be your master has asked about Achun?"