Chapter 36 - 0 People Feel Refreshed at Delightful Events
Chapter 36: Chapter 036 People Feel Refreshed at Delightful Events
Chapter 36 -036 People Feel Refreshed at Delightful Events
Bai Ruozhu had discussed it with her mother in the morning, and both of them believed that since Wan Caiyue had taken the initiative to express her intentions, she would definitely be able to persuade her parents to change their minds.
However, there had been a minor hiccup between the two families, which might have caused some friction.
Therefore, if they really wanted to establish this relationship, they would have to handle it carefully to avoid turning a potential in-law into an enemy.
“Mother, you don’t hold any grudges, do you?” Bai Ruozhu had asked her mother that in the morning.
Lin Ping’er sighed, “To say that I don’t hold a grudge would be a lie, but since Caiyue could go this far, I don’t have any resentments anymore.
If she could marry into our family, I would treat her as my own daughter.
Just don’t feel jealous later.” Towards the end, Lin Ping’er even started to joke.
Bai Ruozhu laughed.
Her mother was a reasonable person, and she would also make a good mother-in-law.
As long as her mother was reasonable, matters could be settled easily.
Recalling her daughter’s morning request, Lin Ping’er smiled at Mrs.
Wan, “Everyone has emergencies at home, it’s good that you have returned.
I was actually planning to discuss the betrothal gifts with you tomorrow.
Shall we negotiate it today instead?”
When Mrs.
Wan saw that Lin Ping’er didn’t hold anything against her and directly mentioned the betrothal gifts, she felt reassured that the Bai family had no other intentions regarding the marital alliance.
She secretly let out a sigh of relief and felt even more apologetic towards the Bai family.
At that moment, Bai Ruozhu brought a tray forward, handed two cups of tea to the ladies, and placed a small saucer of apricot preserves on the table.
“Auntie Wan, this is the floral tea I made during my spare time.
Give it a try, let me know if it suits your taste.” Bai Ruozhu pointed at the apricot preserves on the table and said: “This is the apricot preserve my friends and I made.
The green one is from green apricots, it’s quite sour, and the yellow one is made from ripe apricots, more on the sweet side.
Let me know if it tastes good.
I’ll also give some to Sister Caiyue to try later.”
Mrs.
Wan hastily took a sip of the tea.
It was chrysanthemum tea, which was refreshing and good for dispelling heat in the summer.
The tea tasted slightly sweet, and much more quenching than plain water.
Mrs.
Wan felt that her parched throat, which felt as if it was about to smoke, had been soothed a bit.
“This is excellent tea.
Ruozhu is clever, Caiyue needs to learn more from you.” Mrs.
Wan said politely, before curiously tasting the apricot preserves.
This wasn’t something new to her, she had seen it displayed in the Dry Goods Store before, but common households didn’t purchase such items.
This was her first time tasting it, and she found the taste to be quite good.
It shouldn’t be much worse than those from the Dry Goods Store.
Mrs.
Wan looked at Bai Ruozhu again.
How could such a clever and skilled girl consent to be someone’s concubine?
She must have been out of her mind to have believed such nonsense gossip!
She lamented the truth of the saying: worry creates confusion.
Moreover, she had once worried about Bai family’s circumstances.
Bai Ruozhu’s husband, Chang Sheng, had married into the Bai family.
While an additional laborer in the Bai family was beneficial, his whereabouts, as per the Bai family’s account, were unknown, and it appeared that the Bai family intended to take care of Bai Ruozhu for life.
If her daughter married into the Bai family, she would be Bai Ruozhu’s elder sister-in-law and responsibilities would fall on her daughter.
Also, the child in Bai Ruozhu’s belly would be an extra mouth to feed.
She was genuinely worried that her daughter might suffer in the future.
However, at that moment, she suddenly felt she was being overly worried.
The young ladies of the Bai family were so intelligent that they could probably support themselves.
Even these apricot preserves made by Bai Ruozhu could likely fetch a high price.
It wouldn’t be an issue supporting her and her mother.
With such thoughts, Mrs.
Wan became even more reassured.
Her fondness for Bai Ruozhu increased.
She held Bai Ruozhu’s hand, asked her many questions, and gave her lots of motherly advice about the impending birth.
Bai Ruozhu was a medical student, so there wasn’t much she didn’t know.
However, these were the woman’s well-wishes, so Bai Ruozhu naturally smiled and nodded, noting all of them down.
Understanding such customs wasn’t a bad thing.
Later, Bai Ruozhu excused herself and left her mother and Mrs.
Wan alone.
They needed to discuss the betrothal gifts, and Bai Ruozhu, being the subject of the matter, didn’t belong there.
When Mrs.
Wan was leaving, Bai Ruozhu handed her a packet of apricot preserves with a smile, “Auntie, let Sister Caiyue try these and give me her feedback to see if there’s any need for improvement.”
Mrs.
Wan didn’t refuse, but smiled and said, “Your taste can even compare to the Dry Goods Store.
What’s there to improve?
We’re lucky to be able to taste such delicious food.”
“These are just treats and can’t be made into meals.
Don’t tease me, Auntie,” Bai Ruozhu quickly replied politely.
Mrs.
Wan left in high spirits, seen by many villagers.
Soon, the rumors about the marriage alliance between the Wan and Bai families falling apart naturally fell apart.
In the following days, Lin Ping’er kept a beaming face, as she got extremely busy preparing for the marriage of her elder son, which was a significant event for the Bai family.
Bai Zehao continued to work in the fields and carpenter work with his father during his free time.
His woodworking skills were not as good as Bai Yihong, but he was willing to put in the effort and learn, which helped Bai Yihong a lot.
However, Bai Ruozhu noticed her elder brother was different from before.
His eyes sparkled, and he had a healthy complexion which confirmed the saying: Happy events invigorate the spirit.
Bai Ruozhu and Guizhi then started working on the apricot preserves.
Their success delighted Guizhi to the point where Bai Ruozhu had to repeatedly remind her to conceal her excitement, otherwise, her mother might notice.
The two saved a small amount for personal use, especially Bai Ruozhu, who kept some to improve her appetite.
The rest was planned to be sold in the town.
Thus, they decided on a day to go to the town together.
“Make sure you don’t let your mother find out.
We will split the silver from selling these evenly.
Use your share as private money, and it will be part of your dowry in the future.” Bai Ruozhu felt sympathy for Guizhi and wanted to help her accumulate a dowry, hoping this would give Guizhi some discretion over her own marriage.
“How can we split it evenly?
The idea and the ingredients used for the apricot preserves were all yours.
If we split evenly, I would be taking advantage.
That’s unacceptable!” Guizhi immediately waved her hand in disagreement.
She was an honest girl and didn’t want to take advantage of a friend.
“But you also worked hard.
Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything considering my condition.
If you’re polite with me again, I won’t consider you a friend anymore.” Bai Ruozhu pretended to be angry.
Upon hearing this, Guizhi panicked and hurriedly grabbed Bai Ruozhu’s arm, “Ruozhu, don’t let your anger affect your baby.
I’ll listen to you.”
Bai Ruozhu laughed, and only then did Guizhi realize, “Oh, you were scaring me!” She also began to laugh, and their laughter echoed within the Bai family’s yard, reflecting a sense of carefree joy.
However, on the day they had agreed to go to the town, Guizhi came over with a sad face and said, “Ruozhu, I can’t go.
My mother threatened to break my leg if I’m not home today.”
Bai Ruozhu took a closer look and saw that one side of Guizhi’s face was slightly swollen, with the faint imprint of a hand.