Chapter 172: Hiding in the Dark
Jiang Yichun was intending to leave but eventually decided to sneak into Mountain Village. He had already accomplished his purpose and it seemed good to let Bai Ruozhu know as well.
Actually, he didn’t need to tell Bai Ruozhu at all. Given the mysterious nature of Bai Family’s third son’s injuries, news would soon spread throughout Mountain Village. He never realized that he was unnecessarily indulging in such abnormal behaviour.
Jiang Yichun quietly landed in the backyard of the Bai household. He glanced at Bai Ruozhu’s room through the back window, scenes of him saving her that day suddenly flashing through his mind. All he remembered initially was rescuing her, but later the memory was tinted just with red. Given that people generally avoid going into delivery rooms, he found himself questioning where his Buddha’s Heart compassion came from.
Bai Ruozhu was not in her room. Only the little baby Dengdeng was laying on the bed, not crying even when awake, waving his hands around as if he was having fun by himself.
Jiang Yichun became interested and quietly sneaked into Bai Ruozhu’s room, stretching a finger to tease Dengdeng. Unexpectedly, the little guy responded fast, his tiny hand quickly grasping Jiang Yichun’s finger.
His finger was clasped by a small tender hand, the feeling was extremely unusual, it was as if his heart had softened as well. Jiang Yichun didn’t realize that a warm smile had formed behind his mask. If his follower were to see, they would surely drop their jaws in disbelief.
Dengdeng suddenly smiled at Jiang Yichun, his smile especially amusing since he was toothless. Jiang Yichun’s smile broadened, and he felt a fondness for this child, it wasn’t a waste that he had gifted him a jade pendant.
While playing with the child, he heard some sounds from the yard and quickly retracted his finger, hiding in the shadowed corner by the wall.
In the yard, Bai Ruozhu called Xiaosi into the yard to administer medicine. Xiaosi dawdled and said, "I am already okay."
Bai Ruozhu glared at him, "Hurry up, I don’t want to have the entire kitchen smelling like medicine, I still need to cook later."
Xiaosi unwillingly walked to the yard and sat on a little bamboo stool that Bai Ruozhu had brought.
Bai Ruozhu rolled up his trouser leg and started inspecting his burn wound. Jiang Yichun, hiding in the room, frowned. His eyesight was excellent; he could tell at a glance that the child’s leg was burned, most probably with incense sticks.
Who did this? How could anyone harm such a small child? Jiang Yichun’s eyes darkened at the thought.
"Don’t avoid treatment because of your fear of pain. If it gets infected, your leg will be rendered useless." Bai Ruozhu’s voice grew gentle. She comforted Xiaosi softly, "Apply medicine a couple of more times and it’ll be alright. But remember not to come into contact with water."
"Oh." Xiaosi responded mechanically.
Bai Ruozhu sighed and then asked, "Did the third son cause you trouble today?"
"I ran away like you told me to, but he threw a stone at me." Xiaosi’s face finally showed a change of expression – resentment towards the third son.
"Where did he hit you? Let me see." Bai Ruozhu asked.
"It didn’t break the skin, it’s fine." Xiaosi was somewhat obstinate.
Bai Ruozhu glared at him intensely and her voice hardened again, "Did you forget what I told you? Regardless of whether it’s a minor or major injury, you need to tell me. If you refuse to tell me, I’ll stop saving food for you."
Xiaosi shrank his neck, "My back."
Bai Ruozhu rolled up Xiaosi’s shirt from the back, revealing a thin back where the spinal bones were protruding. Sure enough, a part of his back was bruised, it appeared that the third son had thrown a fairly large stone at him. Thankfully, it did not hit Xiaosi’s spinal bones.
"Wait here, I’ll get some medicinal oil to rub over it, don’t run off!" She instructed before rushing towards her room. Jiang Yichun made a swift exit from the back window.
When Bai Ruozhu went to get the medicinal oil, she hesitated and muttered under her breath, as if she sensed something odd. Jiang Yichun, hiding in the backyard, tensed. Could this woman have noticed that he had entered the room?
Perhaps it was because she had dealt with medicinal materials in her previous life, Bai Ruozhu had a keen sense of smell. Even after transmigrating into the current Bai Ruozhu, she found that her sense of smell was just as acute, as she picked up on a faint foreign scent in the room. The smell was not that of incense or any medicinal material, it was more like a unique scent of a person.
It seemed like the smell of bamboo leaves or sandalwood, she couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, all she was sure of was that she had smelled it before off someone.
"Strange, did I smell it wrong?" Bai Ruozhu murmured to herself, leaned over to kiss little Dengdeng’s face, then picked up the medicinal oil, and went outside to massage Xiaosi’s bruises.
In the concealed area of the backyard, Jiang Yichun sniffed his sleeve, feeling puzzled. He didn’t have any scent on him. He didn’t use incense, how could this woman always detect his scent?
However, his attention was soon drawn to Bai Ruozhu, who was massaging Xiaosi’s bruise in the yard. His eyes slightly narrowed, thinking to himself that this woman did have some medical skills noting her not-so-simple methods.
Soon his mind wandered back to the child’s injuries and his mood darkened. He finally understood why Bai Ruozhu wanted an attempted murder, he regretted that he had only broken one of the third son’s leg, he should have broken both.
Soon, a knock was heard on the door, with Zhou Deshun outside calling out, "Yihong, your nephew has met with an accident, your dad is asking you to help. Go to the Back Mountain and help bring him back."
Bai Yihong rushed out from the Main Hall, seeing Xiaosi in the yard he sighed a breath of relief, thankful that it wasn’t about this nephew of his.
"Is it my third nephew? What happened to him?" Bai Yihong asked, jogging towards the door to open it, seeing Zhou Deshun panting by the doorway.
"Some kids said his leg was broken, he was on the mountain crying out in pain."
Linpinger also came out and asked curiously, "How did he break his leg? Why isn’t someone carrying him back? Even if his father can’t carry him, he could ask for help from neighbors, couldn’t he?"
"Ah, no one is willing to go, they’re saying that the third son offended something, the injury is too strange. All his playmates were frightened and ran away, nobody is heading up the mountain now. Your father-in-law publicly asked for your family to help in front of everyone, as his uncle, you should save your nephew." Zhou Deshun uttered with a grim look on his face.
"Yihong, to be honest, I don’t quite believe this, but I still don’t want you to go. However, your father has mentioned it in front of the whole village..." Zhou Deshun was shaking his head. Bai Yihong had no choice but to go. If he didn’t, it would be seen as disrespecting his father and disregarding family bonds, as unfilial.
Upon hearing this, Linpinger became furious, she started complaining, "Can’t his uncle and auntie carry back their teenage son? They won’t even save their own son when he is in danger? Instead, they want my family to take the risk. Where’s their dignity?"
Bai Ruozhu in the yard was stunned. She hadn’t anticipated that the Jiang gentleman was this efficient. Neither had she expected him to overachieve and not only break the third son’s leg but turn the situation very mysterious. This would definitely cause a lot of gossiping later.