Chapter 258: No Flaws Exposed
That day, Bai Ruozhu had not deliberately paid attention to the movements of the assassin’s leader. However, when the same action reappeared today, it was as if a floodgate of memories had been opened, confirming her suspicions about the man’s identity.
Whenever this man was lost in thought, his left hand would pinch his right wrist, an action that had also occurred on the edge of the cliff!
Bai Ruozhu’s hands didn’t dare stop moving, thanks to her having made countless hand-grasped pancakes. Despite the fear in her heart, her hands continued working out of habit.
In her mind, thoughts raced. The presence of this man here was definitely not a coincidence; he was more likely here to investigate her. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought of the medicine she had bought. Despite her covert explanation, she had indeed been noticed. Moreover, she had the most contact with Jiang Yichun and it wasn’t difficult to find out that he often came to her stall for meals.
But since her return from the mountain, she had been extremely cautious. She remembered that the expert tracker had noted her shoe prints and even speculated they belonged to a woman or a youth. As such, she had been very careful when wearing shoes these past few days.
That day, because it was after it rained, she was worried about the wet mud, so she had purposely worn a pair of shoes with a hemp-woven sole to avoid staining her shoes with mud. Unlike regular embroidered shoes, these were slightly larger.
Although Bai Ruozhu’s feet were small, it didn’t matter that the shoes were a little larger. To avoid drawing attention here, she had purposely worn tight shoes for the past few days. Those were her shoes from before she was pregnant. Her feet had grown bigger after childbirth, but it didn’t prevent her from squeezing into the shoes. The only discomfort came from the swelling that happened when she stood at her stall for too long, something she just clenched her teeth and endured.
Bai Ruozhu’s mind had turned this over thousands of times. She thought of poisoning this man first. As long as she had the intent, she could bring out the poison she had prepared in her space and discreetly incorporate it into the pancakes. But she quickly gave it up. It was too risky. If she failed, even if he didn’t kill her now, he wouldn’t let her, or her whole family, off tonight.
Moreover, her intuition told her that this man was highly skilled. He was so proficient that he could detect any slight movement, even without watching her.
She also wanted to mark this man somehow so that Jiang Yichun could find him more easily. If Jiang Yichun could kill him first, they would both be much safer. But in the end, she dared not take any action at all, choosing instead to memorize the man’s face.
The hand-grasped pancake for the leader of the assassins was quickly prepared. Bai Zehao took the pancake and Bai Ruozhu purposefully moved aside, also scooping out a bowl of soup. Bai Zehao served the soup and pancake to the man together.
Bai Zehao, not knowing the identity of the other party, naturally acted very naturally and did not arouse any suspicion. As expected, the man glanced at Bai Ruozhu’s feet when she shifted her position, then immediately shifted his gaze back to eating his pancakes.
"Shop owner, your pancakes taste pretty good. How come I’ve never seen your stall before?" He started a conversation, attempting to make small talk with Bai Zehao.
"Haven’t you been coming to the West Market recently? We’ve been here for a while now, probably over half a month. But we’re originally from farming families, we only recently started this small business." Bai Zehao responded with a smile, while casually wiping the table.
The man nodded, "I haven’t been to the West Market for a while. I missed out on such delicious food, what a pity."
Bai Ruozhu kept reassuring herself, why should she fear this man? Under broad daylight, he wouldn’t dare to act rashly. Perhaps tomorrow he would be slaughtered by Jiang Yichun. So in her eyes, he was nothing but a corpse. What was there to be afraid of?
"Now that you’ve started eating it, what is there to regret? If you come often, you won’t miss out." Bai Ruozhu answered warmly from behind the iron pan. With her usual demeanor, she often spoke a word or two with customers. If she was silent now, it might arouse suspicion.
"Yes, yes, sir. We hope to see you here often." Bai Zehao chimed in with a smile.
"With such delicious food, of course I won’t miss out. I’ll be coming often." The leader of the assassins replied with a smile. But to Bai Ruozhu, his words seemed ominous.
In no time, the man finished eating, leaving behind a copper coin before he left. Nothing unusual happened, and Bai Ruozhu quietly let out a sigh of relief, but she made sure not to show any abnormalities on her face.
By afternoon, Bai Ruozhu was back home resting with Dengdeng as usual. She wasn’t sure if it was psychological or if her intuition was accurate, but she felt as if someone was following her. The back of her neck was cold, and a creepy feeling lingered.
Luckily, nothing happened on the way home, perhaps she was overthinking it.
After feeding Dengdeng, the little guy fell asleep with a snore. However, Bai Ruozhu couldn’t sleep at all. It felt like the moment she closed her eyes, someone would break in. It was only when she kept her eyes open that she felt safe.
Moreover, as long as she was awake, she could escape into her space with Dengdeng at the first sign of danger. Worst case scenario, she would deal with getting rid of the witnesses later; Dengdeng couldn’t be harmed in any way.
Her gaze fell again on the window through which Jiang Yichun had entered yesterday. She both hoped for him to show up again and worried if he did, wouldn’t he be walking straight into a trap if the assassins were watching her?
Under such conflicted emotions, she ended up not sleeping at all during the afternoon break. She went back to her stall carrying Dengdeng.
She wasn’t sure what was going on, but business that afternoon was sluggish. Thankfully, the morning rush had been good, and there wasn’t much food leftover.
There weren’t many customers at Fusa’s place either. She came over to chat with Bai Ruozhu, smiling, "When my mother-in-law comes to pick us up later, my daughter Niuniu will also come. I want you to see and be envious."
Bai Ruozhu had previously told Fusa that she envied her for having a daughter. A daughter was like a little intimate cotton-padded jacket. She could be dressed up beautifully, which was not something boys could compare to. Because of this, Fusa teased her for not knowing the difficulties of having a daughter, saying many people wished to have sons.
As she spoke, Fusa’s gaze dimmed slightly. Bai Ruozhu pretended not to notice. It seemed Fusa only had one child, Niuniu. At this time, if a woman hadn’t given birth to a son, she would likely be looked down upon by her husband’s family.
While the two were talking, Fusa’s mother-in-law came with Niuniu. Fusa enthusiastically introduced them to each other. The Bai family and Mrs. Lin greeted each other. Bai Ruozhu noticed that Mrs. Lin, with her kind eyes and a benevolent face, must have a good nature. The granddaughter she was holding, Niuniu, was also neatly dressed. Even at such a young age, one could tell she was a budding beauty.
Bai Ruozhu smiled and greeted Niuniu, handing her a small crocheted hat she had made the night before.
"This is a little hat Auntie made for you. We don’t have much for a first meeting gift, but you can take it and play with it." Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.
Fusa and her husband had helped her family a lot, whether it was lending them tables or fearlessly stepping in when the Wang family came. She felt that she should return the favor to the Lin family. But she knew Fusa’s character well. If she sent something too valuable, Fusa wouldn’t accept it in any case.