Chapter 242: Grabbing the Beard
Upon hearing this, Bai Ruozhu became anxious and asked, "How did he get sick?" As she spoke, she took Dengdeng over, felt his forehead—it wasn’t hot—then she checked his tongue. It was all right, just a little bit of heat.
Fang Guizhi’s eyes were already red with worry, "I don’t know if he touched anything filthy, but he’s got so many red spots on his back."
Bai Ruozhu hastily spread Dengdeng’s clothes to have a look, then sighed in relief. She gently scolded Fang Guizhi, saying: "This is not sickness, it’s eczema, also known as milk rash."
"Oh? He seems to be really uncomfortable, isn’t this considered sickness?" Fang Guizhi was worried Bai Ruozhu was being too nonchalant.
Bai Ruozhu gave a helpless laugh, and said: "Let’s walk and talk."
It is no wonder Fang Guizhi was startled. She was the youngest child in her family, and her brother didn’t have children. Therefore, she hadn’t had the chance to take care of children before, and unfamiliar with the discomfort of baby’s eczema. She mistook the red spots for sickness.
Eczema indeed itches, but almost every baby has had it and it’s not a big deal. After explaining to Fang Guizhi, Bai Ruozhu returned to the West Courtyard and applied some tea oil to Dengdeng, then changed him into lighter clothes.
"Won’t he get cold without enough clothes on?" Fang Guizhi asked with concern.
Bai Ruozhu shook her head helplessly, "You and my mother always worry about Dengdeng getting cold, but he is a boy, he has more heat, and he’s active. His arms and legs haven’t stopped moving. If he wears more, his heat increases, which makes eczema easier to happen. Besides, if he sweats, it will sting even more."
Up until now, she couldn’t help thinking about how Dengdeng kept crying last night, it seems that it was the discomfort from eczema.
Luckily, the cute little face didn’t get affected, still remaining extremely adorable.
As expected, after Dengdeng wore less, he wasn’t so restless, and fell asleep soon after drinking milk.
For lunch, Bai Ruozhu gave up eating many things, such as mushrooms and spinach. When Fang Guizhi questioned her, she said that she needs to follow a restricted diet to avoid worsening the baby’s condition through breastfeeding.
After lunch, when Bai Ruozhu wanted to take Dengdeng to the stall, Fang Guizhi was still very worried, afraid that the child would be affected by the wind or the cold. Bai Ruozhu laughed and said: "Actually going out for fresh air is better for this condition, staying inside the room will make it worse."
Only then did Fang Guizhi feel relieved.
Upon reaching the stall, Bai Ruozhu told Lin Ping’er about Dengdeng’s eczema. Lin Ping’er themselves did not panic as much as Fang Guizhi and found it perfectly normal. Bai Ruozhu also asked her mother not to put too many clothes on Dengdeng. Like all the other old people, Lin Ping’er was afraid that the child might get cold, but fortunately, after patiently listening to Bai Ruozhu’s explanations, she took it to heart.
"I was wondering why your older brothers got worse milk rash than you did when they were babies. I thought it was because girls don’t usually get those. Now I know it’s because boys have more heat and are prone to getting hot." Lin Ping’er remarked with some emotion.
Bai Ruozhu thought that this was probably the best explanation.
Business was really good that day. Bai Yihong had gone back twice to fetch more ingredients. On his second return to the stall, he saw two familiar figures—it was Chief Bai Lu who brought Bai Zeji with him.
Bai Ruozhu had already made some flatbread and soup for the two of them. Seated at the table, both were already relishing their meals. Bai Lu kept praising Bai Ruozhu’s cooking skill.
"Grandpa, I heard about it the other day. They say that Sister Ruozhu’s cooking skill is well-known even in Mountain Village. At the grandpa’s feast other day, they even didn’t allow her to cook." Bai Zeji said cheerfully.
At this, Bai Lu grunted coldly. Bai Ruozhu, hearing this, laughed and said: "Grandpa was probably afraid I would get tired. As a result, I got the chance to be lazy." She wasn’t trying to speak up for the old man. It was just that there were other customers at their own stall and it was better to avoid any troubles if they could.
However, Bai Lu waved his hand and said: "Don’t think that I don’t know about the happenings of Mountain Village just because I live in Fengye Village. I also heard about Yibo drunkenly scribbling and causing a ruckus. I know what he wrote and it must’ve been quite a difficult situation for you."
Bai Yihong chuckled somewhat awkwardly and said: "It was nothing, let’s just forget about it. Otherwise, wouldn’t so many things over the years have choked us to death with frustration?"
Upon hearing this, Bai Ruozhu sneaked a laugh. Was her father taking a jab without realizing it?
With an exasperated shake of his head, Bai Lu continued to drink his soup. Bai Zeji, however, winked at Bai Zehao. They had chatted quite a bit the previous time they sat together and had found each other to be good company.
"I never thought that Brother Zehao is good at hawking. All those things you spoke about were really intriguing. Even I was moved." Bai Zeji giggled.
Bai Zehao scratched his head sheepishly and said: "Oh, it’s nothing. It’s all thought up by my little sister. I’ll tell you, she has thought of a good placement for you." He then relayed Bai Ruozhu’s idea about Bai Zeji learning from Mr. Wu, including the possibility of letting Bai Zeji stay at their home temporarily.
Chief Bai Lu didn’t say a word, but he was listening attentively to all the details. As he listened, he found himself looking at Bai Ruozhu, who was busily flipping pancakes. He felt very sentimental—indeed, because of misfortunes, she had grown more intelligent and capable.
She was his own granddaughter, and she had suffered such a thing. Chief Bai Lu felt very compassionate about this. Whenever he thought of Bai Fu insisting on not allowing Ruozhu’s child into the family tree, he felt his elder brother was becoming more and more inhumane. Reading all those classics had made him even more selfish and calculating.
"By the way, I don’t recall seeing Zehong at the feast that day?" Bai Lu suddenly asked.
Bai Zehao’s expression turned disdainful as he replied, "Sanlang ran to play wildly in the mountains and ended up breaking his leg. He’s now recuperating at home."
"I heard about that. Were both of his legs broken? He could have at least come and greet his elders, right?" Bai Lu responded discontentedly.
Hearing this, Bai Zeji laughed and said: "Grandpa, don’t blame him too much. Everyone in the village is saying that Zehong offended the mountain God. His injuries are pretty strange and he is too scared to even show his face to anyone."
"Serves him right. It’s high time that brat learned a lesson—stealing his own cousin’s things, and even breaking the jade pendant. Only his grandfather and father could have spoiled such a child." Bai Lu commented indignantly.
Bai Ruozhu thought to herself, does the Chief Grandpa have someone keeping an eye on things in Mountain Village? How does he know everything? However, it was not surprising that news about these incidents had gotten around. Any incident that happened in the village would quickly become talked about everywhere, and Fengye Village wasn’t far from Mountain Village—even a casual inquiry could reveal what was going on.
"Ruozhu girl, bring your child over so I can take a look at him."Seeing Bai Ruozhu finish her tasks, Bai Lu proposed to see Dengdeng.
Bai Ruozhu brought Dengdeng over to the table. Dengdeng was awake, and seemed to sense Bai Lu’s kindness and affection toward him. He reached out his little hand and grabbed Bai Lu’s beard. Then he started cackling with delighted giggles.
Bai Lu also began to laugh, a hearty laugh that attracted the attention of nearby customers. Everyone then saw the amusing sight of an infant, still swaddled in cloth, holding onto the beard of an old man, who, for his part, seemed perfectly happy with this.