Chapter 251 Who said I am a widow?
It was as if her dignity had been ruthlessly trampled onto the ground, Bai Ruozhu turned pale with indignation. She decided to rescue him on her own accord; even though there was physical contact, she was not that conservative (she conscientiously skipped over the part where she offered medicine mouth-to-mouth, believing Jiang Yichun to be unaware). Even if her husband had vanished, she was still not without marriage prospects; why did he have to insist so forcefully?
Moreover, who called her a widow? Bai Ruozhu looked at him coldly and asked, "Who said I’m a widow?"
Jiang Yichun was confused by Bai Ruozhu’s icy demeanor. Did she like him? If not, why did she risk her life to save him? Was it merely to repay a favor?
"I heard your husband fell off a cliff," Jiang Yichun replied.
"Does falling off a cliff mean he’s dead? His body hasn’t been found yet. Why am I a widow? He might come back one day" For the first time, Bai Ruozhu spoke with such confidence about Chang Sheng’s incident. It seemed as if she had complete faith in her husband and looked forward to his return.
Jiang Yichun dared not look at Bai Ruozhu again, feeling a throb of pain in his heart, he sheepishly apologized: "I was rash. Please don’t take it to heart."
In Bai Ruozhu’s eyes, his expression seemed one of relief, which made her feel worse. She never intended to force anyone into anything. Saving him was never about making him responsible for her; why did it seem so disgraceful now?
"My child is waiting for me. I’m leaving," she said coldly before heading toward the city gate.
At that time, the gate was still closed, and many outside were clamoring to get back into the city. Bai Ruozhu quietly joined the crowd, like she had been waiting for a long time like them.
Soon the city gates were opened, allowing entry but not exit. Just as Bai Ruozhu entered, she saw her elder brother searching anxiously for her. She called out, "Big brother!"
Bai Zehao rushed over and grabbed her, asking, "Little sister, were you okay when the city gate was closed?"
Bai Ruozhu had changed clothes and the basket on her back wasn’t full, but luckily Bai Zehao couldn’t see clearly in the dark. Afraid that Bai Zehao would ask more, she suggested, "Big brother, let’s hurry home and see Little Dengdeng, he must be crying terribly, right?"
"Yes, we must rush home," said Bai Zehao. The two of them hurried away, no different from other people who had just entered the city.
"I don’t know what’s going on with the city gates. I want to find Li Daren to get some special permission so I could leave the city and find you, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. It nearly drove me nuts," said Bai Zehao.
Bai Ruozhu felt a chill. If her elder brother had found Li Daren and left the city to find her in the mountains, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"I was fine, just couldn’t get into the city. But there was no danger, and even some of the grass I cut and mushrooms I picked were bought by an elderly woman," Bai Ruozhu made up an excuse to explain the empty basket on her back.
On the way home, she had decided not to tell her family about what happened on the mountain. She usually wouldn’t hide anything from her family, but this was a serious matter. The more people who knew about it, the more dangerous it would be. If someone decided to look into it, her family might inadvertently give something away.
The two quickly got home. Upon entering the house, they didn’t hear Little Dengdeng’s cries. Bai Ruozhu felt relieved but also upset. On one hand, she was worried that the child was crying because he needed her. On the other hand, she was disappointed to find out the child wasn’t completely dependent on her.
The entire family came out to greet them. Lin Ping rushed out holding the already asleep Dengdeng and asked, "Ruozhu, are you okay? If we had known, we wouldn’t have let you go out to cut grass today."
Bai Ruozhu quickly said with a smile, "If I had known the city gate would be closed, I wouldn’t have gone. I’m sorry to have worried you all. But I’m really fine. They just wouldn’t let me in the city, no matter what I said."
"It looks like something big has happened in town, even the city officials dared not bend the rules to let people in," said Bai Zepei.
Bai Ruozhu took Dengdeng, noticing dried tear drops still clinging to his eyelashes, she asked sympathetically, "Dengdeng, you’ve been crying for a while, haven’t you?"
"Yes, this child can’t stand being hungry; he was crying non-stop. I made him some gruel later, and he kept sobbing while eating it. He only fell asleep when he got tired of crying," said Lin Ping.
Bai Ruozhu felt a pang in her heart. "Dengdeng, mommy is not good. Mommy shouldn’t have gone to the mountain."
However, if she hadn’t gone to the mountain today and found Jiang Yichun, he probably would already be dead, wouldn’t he? Despite being very angry with him just now, Bai Ruozhu didn’t want him to die.
Seeing that Bai Ruozhu looked tired, Bai Yihong said to Lin Ping, "It’s good that our daughter is back. Let her take the child to her room and rest; don’t upset her with these matters."
Lin Ping nodded hurriedly. The child was a part of Bai Ruozhu, and she must have been terribly worried, being stuck outside the city gate.
"Ruozhu, did you eat anything? Should I make you some noodles first, then you rest?" Lin Ping asked.
"Mother, I already ate some pancakes that I exchanged with an old woman outside the city. I’m not hungry. Don’t bother yourself, I’ll just go to bed when I get to my room," Bai Ruozhu quickly lied.
"Okay then, you should go and rest."
After Lin Ping told everyone not to disturb Ruozhu and to go back and sleep, Bai Ruozhu carried Dengdeng back to her room, breathing a sigh of relief. Thankfully her family didn’t press her much, otherwise, lying would have been even more exhausting for her.
She massaged her forehead, put Dengdeng in the bed, then extinguished the oil lamp and carefully lay down next to Dengdeng.
The lights in the other rooms of the West Courtyard gradually went out, but Bai Ruozhu couldn’t fall asleep, keeping her eyes open. Dengdeng squirmed around, seeming to be about to wake up, so Bai Ruozhu decided just to pick him up and retreat into her space.
Dengdeng moved but still seemed not quite ready to wake up fully. Bai Ruozhu held him and started a fire while catching a fish from the pond to roast. Ideally, she would have made fish soup, but because of her swollen and sore breasts, she decided she should avoid broth.
As the aroma from the roasting fish filled the air, Dengdeng woke up. He screwed up his face and began to cry again when he saw Bai Ruozhu.
Bai Ruozhu cradled him to feed him and explained, "Dengdeng, it’s not that mommy doesn’t love you, it’s just that I encountered something serious today and was almost in a life-threatening situation."
She had to hide it from her family, even going so far as to not eat, fearing that her family would notice she was wearing different clothes. But she felt extremely suppressed. Thus, she could only tell her son about it to find some comfort from him.
"Mommy ran into a masked uncle and nearly got killed. What kind of person is your mom? She’s so righteous, isn’t she? She was the one who saved him; his life wouldn’t have been guaranteed otherwise," Bai Ruozhu said with a hint of pride in her voice.
"But then that man said he wanted to be responsible for me and marry me. Can you believe it? You wouldn’t agree, would you? I told him your father would return someday."