Chapter 356: Planning Ahead
Wan Caiyue’s face turned even redder after hearing this, but the happiness emanating from her couldn’t be hidden.
Upon seeing this, Bai Ruozhu chuckled and said to her parents, "Big brother is so shy today. Even his hawking doesn’t sound right. Is he embarrassed in front of his wife?"
Both Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong couldn’t help but laugh. After her laughter, Lin Ping’er scolded Bai Ruozhu and said, "Your sister-in-law is sensitive. Stop teasing her, or your big brother will be upset with you later."
Bai Ruozhu was laughing so hard that she was almost out of breath. Was her mother teasing her? It was clearly a blatant jab.
Little Dengdeng in the basket saw everyone laughing, though he had no idea why, he, too, started giggling. His laughter had grown louder, instantly attracting everyone’s attentions.
Bai Ruozhu picked up Dengdeng, smiled and asked, "Do you want to play with your auntie?"
Dengdeng reached out his hands, laughing. Bai Ruozhu didn’t bother to wait for his response but just handed Dengdeng to Wan Caiyue, chuckling, "Sis-in-law, can you hold Dengdeng for me? I heard that the more you hold a little boy, the more likely you are to have a boy in the future."
Although Bai Ruozhu’s comments made Wan Caiyue feel shy, she was eager to hold the cute little Dengdeng. So, she took no heed whether it was embarrassing or not and took over Dengdeng to her arms.
Back at her parent’s house, she was very fond of her elder brother’s daughter and would often help take care of her, so she had quite a bit of experience with holding babies.
"Actually, my Dengdeng is like a lucky charm. Sister Hongxiu had been hugging Dengdeng hoping for a child, and in a few days, she really was pregnant." Bai Ruozhu continued teasing.
Fusa who was standing by came over, hesitated a bit before she finally said, "Dengdeng is so adorable, can this auntie hold him too?"
Bai Ruozhu opened her mouth in surprise. Her joke had surprisingly gotten through to Fusa.
She had checked on Fusa and Lin Laifu before, and they were both healthy. The reason for them timing after the birth of their daughter Niuniu and not having any more children could only be down to fate.
Wan Caiyue previously had a talk with Fusa and knew that she only had a daughter. Seeing Fusa like this, she quickly understood her thoughts, and hurriedly looked at Bai Ruozhu. She wanted to help Fusa, too, but without Bai Ruozhu’s permission, she dare not give the child to others.
Bai Ruozhu nodded slightly and said, "Had I known you liked Dengdeng, I would have let you hold him when I was busy. That would have saved me a lot of effort."
Fusa’s eyes lit up, "In the future, when you’re busy, just let me know. I can help look after Dengdeng, selling tofu at our stall doesn’t take much work, Lai Fu can handle it all by himself."
Hearing his wife mentioned him, Lin Laifu turned around and gave everyone a big smile, revealing his clean and white teeth.
Bai Ruozhu had given Fusa some toothpaste in private before, and the teeth of Fusa’s family became cleaner and whiter ever since. When they learned the price of toothpaste, they were grateful for Bai Ruozhu.
Before the market closed in the afternoon, Bai Zehao came back. As soon as he saw his family, he said, "I’ve visited Grandpa, the clan chief. He said even if we hadn’t sought him out, he was planning to bring some people over to the town tomorrow to ask us for our opinion."
Bai Ruozhu laughed. Bai Lu was indeed considerate and truly cared about their family. Compared with Bai Lu, he was more like her actual grandpa.
"Let’s finish up here and then go home to discuss this." Bai Ruozhu signalled to her elder brother. There were lots of gossips at the market, and if the Wang Family heard about it prematurely, wouldn’t that ruin the surprise for tomorrow?
The family hastily packed up their stalls and returned home. Bai Ruozhu reclaimed Dengdeng from Fusa, only to see Fusa looking at them incredibly regretfully. Bai Ruozhu couldn’t resist a chuckle. How much Fusa must have wanted another child!
In this era, having only one child was indeed too few, especially if it was a girl. When Niuniu would grow up and get married, without any brothers from her mother’s family to help look after her, life could be quite tough.
Bai Ruozhu gave Fusa an apologetic smile and left with her precious Dengdeng.
After arriving back at the West Courtyard, the family sat in the main hall and started a discussion.
"Zehao, what else did the clan chief say?" Bai Yihong asked.
"I told him what little sister suggested. He said that she was thoughtful and that we should just do as she proposed. We will meet at the West Gate early tomorrow, and then go to the Wang Family for an explanation together," Bai Zehao said.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, "Tomorrow, we will continue to set up our stalls. At noon, Dad, elder brother, and I will go to the Wang Family. Mom and sis-in-law can watch over the stalls. If you need help, ask Fusa to help out, and Guizhi can help look after Dengdeng to avoid scaring the child with too many people."
Upon hearing this, Lin Ping’er wasn’t happy, "No, I have to go see for myself. In case the old woman from the Wang Family tries to start a fight, men can’t hit her, what if you get hurt?"
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh. If she couldn’t even handle the old woman from the Wang Family, then she had wasted her self-defense training from her previous life.
"Mom, you don’t need to worry. Grandpa will bring some of our aunts, and with your health condition, why would you want to fight? You’re a grandmother now, and should be more reserved," Bai Ruozhu replied bluntly.
Lin Ping’er didn’t get angry at Bai Ruozhu’s comment, she was just unwilling to accept it, "If I can’t do it myself, I can’t vent my anger."
Bai Ruozhu patted her mother’s shoulder, "Mom, don’t be stubborn, or sis-in-law will laugh at you."
Wan Caiyue was surprised to be mentioned, and hurriedly said, "Yes, mom. Ruozhu is just worried about you."
Lin Ping’er sighed and said, "Alright, alright. I can’t change your minds."
Bai Yihong breathed a sigh of relief. His wife had a fiery temper and would probably start a fight. And her body had just recovered recently.
"Dad, elder bro, we have to avoid being impulsive tomorrow. If anyone from the clan gets too worked up in the fight, make sure to pull them back. We can’t afford to kill anyone or seriously injure anyone from the Wang Family. Otherwise, the problem will become our trouble," Bai Ruozhu reminded again. Although tomorrow’s main aim was to frighten the Wang Family, verbal conflicts were inevitable. And someone might impulsively hurt the other party.
Bai Yihong and Bai Zehao nodded their heads consecutively. They were both prudent men and fully understood Bai Ruozhu’s concerns.
The family spent the night without talking. The next morning, each of them got up energetically, ate breakfast, and prepared for the market. They all seemed a bit excited, maybe because they could finally vent their anger. Only Wan Caiyue occasionally looked worried.
During breakfast, Bai Ruozhu patted her sis-in-law’s shoulder and whispered, "Don’t worry, sis-in-law. We have the advantage in numbers so we won’t suffer any loss. Your husband is a careful man and will not act rashly. Today is simply to intimidate the Wang Family; at most, we’ll just smash some stuff."
Wan Caiyue’s eyes widened, "If we smash their stuff, won’t they ask us to compensate them?"