Chapter 152: Night Exploration of Fang Family
"What are you waiting for? As soon as you climb up, I will leave. You can come out through the back door later." Bai Zepei urged in a low voice.
"Alright, be careful." Bai Ruozhu secretly wiped the corners of her eyes, tucked away her emotions, and climbed onto the wall with the help of her brother’s shoulder. She squatted on the wall, waved to assure him that she was fine. But in reality, she was scared to death - she wasn’t a professional wall-climber and this was no easy feat.
Luckily, Bai Ruozhu in her previous life used to climb walls like a boy, so she had some experience. She laid on the wall and gradually slid down. Even so, she still fell onto her butt when she landed.
Fortunately, Bai Ruozhu reacted quickly, diving into the space, where she began taking deep breaths and gritting her teeth in pain as she rubbed her bottom.
"Almost split my butt in four..." she muttered. Checking that no one in the Fang Family was awake, she gradually emerged from the space.
She quietly moved towards Fang Guizhi’s room, her heart pounding from the thrill of sneaking into someone’s house in the middle of the night. Additionally, she could hear a woman sobbing faintly. Had she not known it was Fang Guizhi, she would have been scared stiff.
Bai Ruozhu gently pushed open the door. The crying girl inside was so frightened that she stopped crying. Once she recognized Bai Ruozhu, her eyes filled with hope and gratitude, and she began crying again.
When Bai Ruozhu saw Fang Guizhi, she was taken aback. In the middle of the night, Fang Guizhi looked quite scary.
She was bound to a chair, with a gag in her mouth. It looked like she hadn’t combed her hair for days – it was disheveled and covered half of her face. Under the moonlight, she looked a bit ghastly.
"Shush, be quiet, or I’ll be mistaken for a thief!" Bai Ruozhu made a hushing gesture at Fang Guizhi, and then rushed over to remove the gag from her mouth.
Fang Guizhi calmed down, but upon seeing Bai Ruozhu, she was overwhelmed with emotion and broke down crying again, only this time more quietly to avoid drawing attention. Her body trembled with each sob.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t hold back her own tears. Being bound to a chair all night without being able to sleep, was this how they treated their own daughter? Did the Fang Family no longer have a conscience?
Bai Ruozhu hugged Fang Guizhi tightly, as if comforting a child, patting her back until her sobs gradually subsided.
"How did you find me? I thought I would never see you again." Fang Guizhi said and was yet again on the brink of tears.
Bai Ruozhu put her arm around Guizhi’s shoulders, and said softly: "I came here during the day. No matter how much of a scene I caused, they wouldn’t let me see you. I know everything about you. Tell me: What do you want to do? If you don’t want to get married, I’ll do everything in my power to help you."
Although Bai Ruozhu said this, she thought: even if Fang Guizhi wants to get married, I’ll make her see reason and stop her from jumping into the fire.
The man, Yang, was a full sixteen years older than Fang Guizhi, who was only seventeen – almost half her age. He had been married before and might even have grown-up children. Good girl that Fang Guizhi was, she was expected to play stepmother. Worst of all, the man was known for domestic violence!
"What are you hesitating for? I heard his first wife was beaten to death. Do you want to die, too?" Bai Ruozhu almost yelled at Fang Guizhi for her silence.
Fang Guizhi began to cry again, "I don’t want to marry either, but you see, my mother is determined to sell me for silver. I’m tied up at night for fear I’ll run away. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep for several nights."
Bai Ruozhu wiped her eyes and said, "Your mother is despicable. Given how they’ve treated you, can you sever ties with them?"
Fang Guizhi hesitated. After all, she was a woman of the past. From a young age, the principle of filial piety was instilled in her. Being asked to sever ties with her family was beyond shocking. Wasn’t it the parents’ right to decide the destiny of their children? Did she really have a choice?
"Ruozhu, don’t get into trouble for my sake. My mother isn’t easy to deal with. This is, after all, a matter of the Fang Family. Even if you take it up with the village chief, it won’t change anything in the end." Fang Guizhi, worried about getting Bai Ruozhu involved, hastily advised.
"Don’t worry, I won’t appeal to the village chief – he can’t change anything, and I have other plans. All you need to do is make up your mind and wait for my signal. However, my condition is that after I rescue you, I don’t want you to have any more connections with the Fang Family. Otherwise, you’ll be schemed against again and even stripped to the bone!" Bai Ruozhu stared into Fang Guizhi’s eyes as she spoke. Even though she had a few ideas, the suddenness of the situation had left her plans unsorted.
"Do you really have a solution?" Fang Guizhi exclaimed in surprise. She nodded seriously, "I’ve seen them for what they are. I won’t have anything to do with them anymore. They don’t care whether I live or die. If I can escape, it’ll be like coming back to life. Any feelings of gratitude will be cancelled out."
Bai Ruozhu was relieved to see Fang Guizhi’s resolve. She didn’t dare discuss too much with Guizhi, in case it alerted the Fang Family.
"I have to go now. Try not to resist these next few days, pretend to go along with them, so they don’t mistreat you anymore." She then looked seriously at Fang Guizhi and asked, "If you can avoid marrying Old Yang, would you be willing to be sold?"
Fang Guizhi shuddered. Being sold was equivalent to becoming a slave for life. Nobody would willingly choose it. But then she thought about Yang who had beaten his wife to death, she gritted her teeth and nodded.
"Don’t worry, there’s some money set aside for you at my end. You can use that silver to buy back your freedom." Bai Ruozhu gave her a reassuring smile.
Seeing hope, Fang Guizhi laughed and cried at the same time, "Ruozhu, I really can’t thank you enough."
Bai Ruozhu hugged her again and said, "I’ll plan what needs to be done next. Make sure not to give anything away. I have to put the gag back in - sorry you’ll have to endure another night."
Bai Ruozhu felt a pang of guilt saying the last part – anyone would be uncomfortable being bound up like this. But in order to quickly save Guizhi, she bit the bullet, put the gag back in, and quietly left the Fang house.
When she got home, she found her elder brother waiting up in the yard for her.
She wiped her tear-streaked face and walked over to him, threading her arm through his and saying: "I’m back now. You should get some rest."
Bai Zepei looked at his sister in surprise. It had been many years since she had been this affectionate with him. It wasn’t that the previous Bai Ruozhu didn’t get along with her brother, but as a reserved girl, she thought it was inappropriate to be too intimate with her brother as she became older. But the modern-day Bai Ruozhu didn’t see it that way.
Unaware of her brother’s astonishment, Bai Ruozhu whispered, "Tell mom and dad that I’m home, and you guys should go to sleep."