Chapter 153: There Must be a Way When the Car Reaches the Mountain
The next morning, Bai Ruozhu found that everyone in the family was looking somewhat unwell, even Rongrong’s mother’s face was marked with fatigue. She felt guilty, realizing that because of her, the whole family hadn’t been able to rest properly, and she considered herself to blame.
Linpinger was also very concerned about Fang Guizhi’s situation. She pulled Bai Ruozhu, who had just gotten out of bed, into the main hall for questioning, not even waiting for Bai Ruozhu to brush her teeth and wash her face.
"When I went there, Guizhi was tied to a chair, with her mouth gagged, unable to sleep properly and was crying the whole time." Bai Ruozhu felt a sharp pain in her heart at the mere thought of that scene. "She was made to look like neither human nor ghost by her own mother."
"What? How could a mother have such a cold heart? I’m going to go find the village head and talk to him about this. I don’t believe the Fang family can’t be handled!" Linpinger was hot-tempered and was ready to march outside but was stopped by Bai Ruozhu.
"Mother, don’t go. The village head can’t manage other people’s domestic affairs. Even if Guizhi’s mother wanted to sell her off, he couldn’t intervene. At most, he would just find their family repulsive in the future."
"So, we just let things be?" Linpinger said as she wiped away her tears, murmuring that Guizhi was a poor, unfortunate child.
Bai Yihong sighed, "I’ll talk to Guizhi’s father today. Although he’s terrified of his wife, this matter can’t be left to Guizhi’s mother anymore."
"Father, there’s no need for that. You all need to pretend like you don’t know anything about this. I have my own plans and we can’t startle the grass and alert the snake now." said Bai Ruozhu.
Everyone looked to Bai Ruozhu, waiting for her to explain her intentions, but all Bai Ruozhu said was, "I need to think about it a bit more, once I have thought it through, I will ask for everyone’s help."
After breakfast, the men went back out to work in the fields. Linpinger, feeling much better, started dealing with the household chores, and Bai Ruozhu started pushing around the ideas to find a way to rescue Fang Guizhi while taking care of the children.
Her plan was to find someone to buy Fang Guizhi to be their maid, and to try to make Guizhi’s mother think it would be better to enslave her for money than betrothing her to Mr. Yang. By obtaining Guizhi’s Indenture Contract and returning it to her, her servitude could be cleared.
Fang Guizhi had her own money which was the same as buying herself. Henceforth, she could dictate her own fate and the money from the transaction would serve as repayment to her parents for raising her—thereby settling old scores.
At this time, those children who sold themselves into debt no longer had any connection to their parents. They belong only to their master’s family.
However, the person who would buy Guizhi must be trustorthy, otherwise, what if Guizhi really ends up in servitude? Also, this person should have a certain standing, otherwise Guizhi’s mother won’t be tempted.
The first person Bai Ruozhu thought of was Du Zhongshu, but he was not in town. The second one was County Magistrate Li, but she did not think she was familiar enough with him to ask for such a favor and even if she did ask, he might not consent to it.
The third person she thought of was the man with the surname Jiang, but upon further thought, he was not very suitable either.
Besides the choice of the person to buy Guizhi, the problem was also about money. Guizhi’s mother was insatiable. Bai Ruozhu estimated that the dowry from the Yang family would apply to be at least fifteen taels of silver. She had been spending a lot recently and had very little money at hand. Even with Guizhi’s private savings, it was not enough.
Thinking of this made Bai Ruozhu even more anxious to earn money. If not, she would go to the town and sell some more dried fish.
That’s right, she still owed Mr. Jiang some dried fish, so she might as well settle it today.
When no one was watching, she quietly went to her personal storage space to get some dried fish out. She then informed her mother that she was going into town.
Rongrong’s mother, carrying Rongrong, stepped out and said, "We’ve been living in your house for quite some time now. Today, I finally decided that we should go back to the town together to tidy up our house."
Linpinger really wanted to persuade Rongrong’s mother to stay longer, for it would be nice to have company in the house. However, Rongrong’s mother had her own home, and Zhang Liliang might be coming back soon from his business trip as well; their house, which had been empty for quite some time, needed to be tidied up too.
"In that case, I won’t try to convince you to stay anymore, but be sure to visit us whenever you can. I’ll feel strange when you guys leave." Linpinger sincerely said.
"Sure, we will when we have the time. You guys should also come over to visit sometimes." Rongrong’s mother said with a smile.
Consequently, when Bai Ruozhu left the house, she travelled with Rongrong and her mother. She left the care of Dengdeng to her own mother, after feeding him. Seeing that Bai Ruozhu was carrying a bundle, Rongrong’s mother offered, "What are you carrying? Let me carry it for you. You shouldn’t tire yourself out, or you won’t be able to produce milk."
"It’s fine, it’s not heavy. It’s something Guizhi stored at my place, she asked me to sell it for her." Bai Ruozhu found an excuse to switch the topic.
Rongrong’s mother didn’t insist upon hearing that. They rode on a donkey cart and in no time at all, reached Anyuan Town. Rongrong’s mother invited Bai Ruozhu to her house for a visit, but Bai Ruozhu tactfully declined due to the lack of time. She had to get back home to her child.
After saying goodbye to Rongrong and her mother, Bai Ruozhu intended to go to the County Government Office to deliver the dried fish to Li Daguan. However, she soon became hesitant. If she asked Li Daguan to deliver the fish to Mr. Jiang, what if he asked why? How would she explain then?
Furthermore, wouldn’t it be seen as favoritism if she only gave fish to Mr. Jiang and not to Li Daguan? But she intended to give Mr. Jiang twenty pieces of dried fish. How many should she give to Li Daguan? If she gave too little, Li Daguan would not be happy when he found out. If she gave too much, wouldn’t Mr. Jiang think that he had overpaid?
Either way, this situation was complicated. Bai Ruozhu hesitated for a while but ultimately decided to stroll around town. Perhaps, she would bump into Mr. Jiang and she could directly hand him the fish.
She walked around but didn’t find the sharp-tongued man. To her surprise, she found the Du Family Pharmacy. She clapped her forehead in realization that there was indeed a way out in front of the mountain. How could she have forgotten about her monthly bonus? With the bonus, she wouldn’t have to worry about money to save Guizhi, right?
Bai Ruozhu got excited and walked briskly towards the Du Family Pharmacy. Upon entering the store, she saw Shopkeeper Zhou and directly stated her business. Shopkeeper Zhou smiled and said, "I was wondering whether I should get Zhou Fu to deliver it to you, afraid that being seen might cause you trouble."
As he was speaking, he took out the account book from the counter for Bai Ruozhu to see, then gave her the bonus silver. Bai Ruozhu didn’t look closely at the account book. She was content and practical. If Du Zhongshu really wanted to be dishonest, what could she do even if she found out? It was better to just get it over and done with so everyone would be happy. Plus, she believed Du Zhongshu wasn’t that kind of person.
The business from the past month was very good, hence her bonus added up to a total of seventy-two taels. She mused, if she had taken this money earlier, she could have bought several more acres of land. But then again, if she had spent the money earlier, she wouldn’t have any money to save Guizhi now.
It seemed as though she should always keep several dozens of taels of silver with her for emergencies in the future.
Bai Ruozhu then asked when Du Zhongshu would return. Upon learning that it would be around half a month later, she felt slightly disappointed. She took the silver and left, finding a deserted place to store the silver in her storage space, thus securing it.
She took her dried fish and headed towards the West Market, hoping to bump into Mr. Jiang. However, as she didn’t walk far, she heard someone shouting from behind, "Catch the thief! Catch the thief!"