Chapter 352: A Good Husband Doesn’t Hurt His Wife

Chapter 352: A Good Husband Doesn’t Hurt His Wife

At dinner time, Bai Zepei returned from the East Courtyard and handed a paper-wrapped package to Bai Ruozhu, saying, "Du Zhongshu found two of the medicinal materials you asked for. He said he would deduct the cost from your bonus so you don’t have to worry about it."

Bai Ruozhu gratefully accepted the medicinal materials, not thinking too much about why Du Zhongshu hadn’t delivered them to her himself given the short distance between the East and West Courtyards.

She opened the paper wrapper to find only two varieties of medicinal materials inside, neither of which was the most valuable one. It was nowhere near enough to make a new ointment, so her previous smile faded, and she shook her head frowningly.

Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong both leaned over to look. Seeing her daughter like this, Lin Ping’er quickly asked, "Ruozhu, is something wrong with the medicine?"

Bai Ruozhu shook her head, "The medicine is fine, but I still need a few other ingredients. I’m worried about treating Rongrong and Aunt Zhang, so I’m a bit worried."

When Lin Ping’er heard that the medicine was for Rongrong and her mother, her eyes reddened, "Whatever medicine you need, you should send someone to buy it. If the money is not enough, we will find a way. We must cure them mother and daughter as soon as possible."

"Yes," Bai Ruozhu answered, and then turned to Bai Yihong, "Dad, the Zhang family helped us a lot. Rongrong is my sister, should I help them when they are in trouble?"

Bai Yihong shrank his neck, "Of course, you should help them. You should spend money where it is necessary, your father is not stingy."

"Dad, don’t get me wrong. Rongrong is my sister, and the money for their medical treatments comes from my own bonus from doing business, not from our household. But their injuries are severe, and only valuable medicinal materials can cure them. If we want them healed without scars, we need even better materials. The two varieties received today were cheaper, but even so, we can’t buy them in Anyuan Town. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered Mr. Du."

Bai Ruozhu continued, "Dad always feels that we are earning more now and should not be stingy with the old mansion. But now there is no silver left at home. There will be huge expenses and social interactions in the future. And I need to treat Rongrong and Aunt Zhang, so I can’t contribute to the household for a while. Therefore, we still need to save."

"It doesn’t make sense for a farming family like us to squander money. Even if we make money from business, we must save a bit for emergencies," Lin Ping’er chimed in.

Bai Ruozhu gave her father a look and continued, "They say raising sons for old age, but at present, Great Uncle can’t depend on the elderly. If they get diseases like headaches or fever in the future, don’t we have to pay for their treatments? Even though I can treat diseases, we must still buy medicinal materials. If you let her waste money now, what should we do when there is an emergency?"

Bai Yihong was already feeling ashamed by his daughter’s words. Hanging his head low, he said, "Ruozhu, you are right. It’s all my fault. I apologize to you. Can you stop being angry with me, please?"

Seeing her father apologize so humbly, Bai Ruozhu knew he truly regretted his actions. With a sigh, she said, "Father, I know you are in a difficult position, but many things need to be weighed up, and we have to think more in the long term. We are earning money now, but with second brother going to the Study Palace and our visit to Beiyu City, we have a lot of expenses. We have to be a bit thrifty."

"Dad, do you remember when I gave birth? I nearly lost my life. Thankfully, Mr. Du lent us the old mountain ginseng. Do you know how much it would cost if we had to buy the ginseng ourselves?" Bai Ruozhu added.

Bai Yihong was extremely embarrassed, "You’re right. Your grandmother just casually agreed to pay a monthly installments of silver. That was really foolhardy of me. I was lost in thought for a while." Part of this was because his father was taken away, and he didn’t know the true situation. He felt guilty towards his parents, thus agreeing rise to such a thought.

Bai Ruozhu smiled and served her father a chopstick of vegetables, saying, "Dad, it’s good that you understand this. Let’s eat quickly. After eating, I need to go to the Zhang family."

Bai Zehao quickly tried to change the subject, saying, "Yes, let’s eat quickly. Little sister, you eat more. You’ve lost a lot of weight lately."

Bai Ruozhu gave him a sweet smile, "Big brother, don’t just serve dishes for sister. You must also serve dishes for your wife. A man who doesn’t pamper his wife is not a good man!"

"Ah?" Bai Zehao didn’t know where his little sister got these theories from, and she spoke so smoothly. But saying this was quite embarrassing, wasn’t it?

Lin Ping’er stifled a laugh and said to Bai Zehao, "Your sister is right, you should listen to her."

Bai Zehao blushed. He served a chopstick of food to Wan Caiyue, saying, "Caiyue, you eat more too." However, when compared to what he had just said to Bai Ruozhu, his voice was as tiny as a mosquito’s buzz.

Bai Ruozhu glanced at her mother and whispered, "Look, big brother is shy again."

Bai Zepei ate without making a sound, although the corner of his mouth rose slightly. Seeing this, Fang Guizhi took a sneak peek at him, hurriedly lowered her head and continued eating. Suddenly, a pair of chopsticks appeared in front of her, and a piece of red braised pork was placed in her bowl.

"Guizhi, you should eat more too. You’ve been exhausted lately and don’t look very well," Lin Ping’er commented while serving the meat into Fang Guizhi’s bowl.

"Um, thank you, Godmother," Fang Guizhi thanked her and continued eating.

Bai Ruozhu nudged her mother with her elbow and whispered, "Mom, don’t serve Guizhi with fat meat. She’s on a diet recently."

Lin Ping’er looked at Bai Ruozhu in surprise, then at Fang Guizhi. She wondered why girls nowadays want to lose weight. Gaining weight was good for childbirth, and for a farming family, it was harder to gain weight.

After dinner, Bai Ruozhu left Dengdeng in the care of her mother and hurried to the Zhang family’s home.

Zhang Liliang was touched to see her coming over at this time, saying, "Ruozhu, you must be exhausted these past few days. Don’t push yourself too much. I will make sure that your Aunt Zhang and Rongrong take their medicine and apply the ointment on time. They’ve both improved a lot."

Bai Ruozhu nodded and said, "I feel better coming to see for myself. I’ll go back and rest after a bit."

She said and went into the room to greet Rongrong and her mother. She took their pulses separately. Both of them were improving, but Aunt Zhang’s condition was very serious, and the improvement was not obvious.

"Don’t worry too much, I have already asked a friend for help to find two kinds of medicinal materials. Once we gather the rest of the materials, I’ll make a new ointment. I guarantee it will heal faster," Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.

Zhang Liliang felt somewhat embarrassed, "This is really troubling you. What other medicinal materials do you need now? Tell me, I know many people through business. I may be able to help find some."

Bai Ruozhu thought this made sense, so she wrote down the names of the remaining medicines for him. Then she said, "These medicinal materials are a bit expensive, don’t worry too much. I made some profit from business on my side. Once you receive the medicinal materials, let me know."