Chapter 196: Freeloading and Acting Like a Big Shot
Fusa from the neighboring stall couldn’t watch it any longer. She leaned in and whispered to Bai Ruozhu, "What kind of relative is this? When she came over, she hollered that she’s here to help, but so far I haven’t seen her lift a finger. She’s eating and drinking like there’s no tomorrow. Is earning money so easy for your family? And yet, you have to support this colossal freeloader."
Bai Ruozhu made a sign to keep hush to her and hastily made a stuffed meat pancake for the Wang Family, then passed it to her older brother to deliver.
"Sister-in-law, keep it down. She was sent by my grandpa. What can we do even if we don’t welcome her?" Bai Ruozhu responded with a lowered voice.
"Does your grandfather not know her true nature? Is it appropriate to run a business like this?" Fusa asked, genuinely pained to watch it.
"It’s not just the food. She’s done much worse." Bai Ruozhu muttered covertly as she watched the Wang Family gorge themselves. "We already separated from them, but my grandpa still insisted that she helps us on the stall, and we have to share half of the stall’s profits with her."
"What?" Fusa burst out in surprise, drawing a lot of attention. Being a somewhat shy person, she blushed as she angrily glanced at the Wang Family, and muttered, "This makes no sense at all, it really is..."
"Every family has its own problems. I’ll think of another way." Bai Ruozhu said, shaking her head.
After all, this isn’t Back Mountain Village, and the townsfolk won’t know about the behavior of the main room and the longstanding disputes between the two households. Bai Ruozhu spoke with Fusa to prevent Wang Family from creating a misunderstanding amongst the neighbors in the market, considering that they had been getting along well with the Lin Family, who had even loaned them a table.
Fusa sighed and quickly returned to her station, whispering something to Lin Laifu. Both of them cast occasional, disgruntled glances at the Wang family.
At this time, more customers arrived and there weren’t enough seats. Bai Zehao smiled at the Wang Family and said, "Aunt, have you finished eating yet? Let’s have the customers sit for a while. We can’t slack off to our customers."
Bai Zehao felt that his words became smoother ever since he started hawking, and thought it was a significant improvement compared to his far less contributory role back when they were dealing with family matters.
The Wang Family wasn’t particularly fond of the people in the second room. Annoyance flashed across her face, and she sluggishly got up. A customer couldn’t bear it any longer. Being a coarse worker from the town, he loudly exclaimed, "Yo, is this lady helping the owner? If you’re helping, don’t occupy the customer’s position. You’re holding up us customers from eating."
The Wang Family didn’t take the comment well, but she didn’t dare to retort. She mumbled under her breath, "What a meddler!"
Unfortunately for her, the customer had sharp hearing and heard her remark. He furiously slammed his hand on the table, jumped up, and yelled, "Who the hell are you cursing? I dare you to repeat it!"
Both Bai Ruozhu and Bai Zehao immediately tried to appease the customer. Bai Ruozhu cordially said, "Please don’t get angry, sir. My aunt is just being silly. Please don’t lower yourself to her level. We value personal affections in our business dealings, and we don’t want the atmosphere to be ruined over such a small matter."
Bai Zehao echoed, "Right, right, ’harmony brings wealth.’ Harmony brings wealth."
Since the customer wasn’t upset with Bai Ruozhu and her brother, and even started to feel good about them, his disgust for the Wang Family increased even more.
"It’s not that I’m pissed with you two. You guys are honest folks. I would come back more. But that woman, eating without paying and acting high and mighty, I’ve never seen someone so shameless before!" The man asserted, emphasizing that he was only trying to seek justice.
Bluntness was commonplace in their society, especially in the location at the Northwest where people were tough. Bai Ruozhu, in fact, quite liked the locals, unlike the modern people who could be overly indifferent to matters none of their concerns.
The Wang Family’s face alternated between shades of white and red as she was being called out. However, what angered her more was the comment - "My aunt is just being silly" - made by Bai Ruozhu. She started to sob, squeezing out a few tears from her eyes.
"I came over to offer my help in goodwill. If you don’t welcome me, so be it. How could you team up with outsiders to humiliate me? Even the younger generations can nag about my faults. Brother, is this how you educate your children?" The Wang Family looked extremely pitiful, as if the second room had bullied her.
Bai Ruozhu sent her mother a glance as if to suggest: see, this is what would happen if the Wang Family arrived and they were cold to her. Most people would think that the Bai Family was indifferent to familial ties and overly stingy given the sob story from the Wang Family.
Sadly, the timing of the Wang Family’s act was off. Besides, her prior image of herself made the townsfolk despise her, so acting pitiful didn’t win her any sympathy.
"Sister-in-law, isn’t it typical for the kids to appease the customers first when you have a dispute with them? Why are you taking it to heart?" Lin Ping’er interjected. She understood Bai Ruozhu’s intentions, and now she was trying to pamper the Wang Family.
The straightforward customer spat disdainfully and said, "Playing the victim card, huh? They’re serving you hand and foot, and you’re still not satisfied? If I had a relative like you, I would have driven her away long ago. Ridiculously obnoxious!"
With the man’s face red with anger, the Wang Family didn’t dare to argue. This man looked fierce and was quite sturdy. She was afraid he might raise his hand.
Bai Ruozhu tried to mollify the situation once more, and finally, the customer angrily paid his bill and left, disparaging the Wang Family to the small merchants nearby on his way out.
Bai Ruozhu was moved. She mused, "There are good people everywhere; today I encountered another one."
With the man gone, the Wang Family found her courage again. She looked at Lin Ping’er and said, "Sister-in-law, I genuinely came over to help. You didn’t give me any tasks. It can’t be that you’re not welcoming me, right?"
Lin Ping’er looked uncomfortable and quickly glanced at Bai Ruozhu.
"Aunt, we wouldn’t dare to impose such hard work on you." Bai Ruozhu said with a forced smile.
"So you’re not welcoming me? You’re awkwardly leaving me standing here?" The Wang Family deliberately raised her voice, as if she wanted others to hear. She thought this strategy would expose Bai Ruozhu’s scheme.
"Aunt, don’t get the wrong idea. Well...how about you help wash the dishes? Be careful not to break any. Even though the one you broke last time was old, the ones we have now are new and it would be a shame if they were broken." Bai Ruozhu added, an expression of concern on her face as she gazed at the dishes soaking in the sink.
Wang Family, her lips twitching, grumbled, "You still remember the incident from a month ago? I didn’t mean to do it."
Bai Ruozhu didn’t respond but only wore a worried expression.
Given Bai Ruozhu’s prior warning, even if the Wang Family wanted to deliberately break some dishes, she couldn’t. She heard the tofu seller next door mention to her husband, "Do make sure she’s not making things worse. The cost of a dish isn’t negligible."
Infuriated and gnashing her teeth, the Wang Family began washing the dishes. She was not accustomed to doing housework, and, moreover, the dishwashing had to be done squatting down behind the stall. Soon, she was groaning with back pain.
Bai Ruozhu was in high spirits while making her wrap breads, almost humming a tune. At that moment, a familiar figure approached and sat at the table.