Chapter 382: Is Brother Praising Me?
Bai Yihong shook his head, sighed, and said, "The land is not the problem; it’s that Yang San somehow found out that the land is ours and has been causing trouble and damaging crops there these days."
Upon hearing this, Bai Ruozhu gritted her teeth. She thought that if Yang San raised his voice, he would stop after yelling a few times. She didn’t expect him to come up with other ways to harry her family.
"At first, the Zhou family was also on guard and later went to the village head, but Yang San is unreasonable and the Yang family is protective of him. The village head of Linjiang Village couldn’t handle it, but it’s not quite possible to kick the entire Yang family out of the village either; they’re wealthy," Bai Yihong further sighed heavily.
"Most importantly, the Zhou family said that the Yang family is responsible but other people didn’t see it. Although Yang San had intimidated the Zhou family, he would never admit it in front of the village head. In the end, the Zhou family had no other choice. Alas, their family was already financially struggling, which was why they rented our land, but now they have suffered further loses, making their life even harder," He continued.
"Yang San also threatened the Zhou family, saying if they dared to continue farming our land, he would make trouble every day and set fire to the crops when they were almost ripe; he said he would let the Zhou family starve," He added.
Bai Ruozhu was left stunned, realizing that Yang San was indeed an awful man, no wonder he managed to beat his first wife to death!
Before Bai Ruozhu could say anything, she heard Fang Guizhi crying from behind.
"Uncle, Auntie, it’s my fault that I brought you this trouble. I.. I’ll go and confront Yang San!" pleaded Fang Guizhi, rushing towards the yard before being promptly held back by Lin Ping’er.
Moved, Lin Ping’er burst into tears, trying to comfort Guizhi, "Silly girl, we’re family! What troubles are you speaking of? Don’t do anything foolish. We haven’t run out of ways to deal with him yet."
Wan Caiyue also quickly held Fang Guizhi back, advising, "Silly girl, now is not the time to act rashly. There always must be a way to work this situation out."
Fang Guizhi threw herself into Lin Ping’er’s arms and burst into tears, sobbing, "I must have done something terrible in my previous life to get into such a mess now. Why would I have to marry an old widower when everything was going so well? I might as well die."
Lin Ping’er patted Guizhi’s back, trying to comfort her, "Silly child, isn’t everything alright now? You’re our daughter and we won’t let you marry him. Who dares to force you? That old widower isn’t good at all, he’s bound to get his comeuppance someday."
"It’s all my fault that Uncle and Auntie are involved. If it weren’t for me, none of this would have happened. I can’t help with anything and moreover, I am causing trouble for all of you," Guizhi sobbed harder.
Bai Ruozhu understood that this matter had always been Fang Guizhi’s hang-up. She had thought about getting Guizhi some work to help her earn money and thus, build self-esteem, which would naturally obviate overthinking. But that hadn’t occurred yet; she was worried that Guizhi might, in a moment of absentmindedness, get caught up in the Fang family drama again.
Bai Ruozhu went over, patted Guizhi’s back, and advised, "It’s alright, it’s alright. Can’t your sister handle trash like him? Guizhi, do you have no faith in me?"
Bai Zehao also chimed in, "Yes, we have Ruozhu and your big brother, can’t we deal with a Yang San?"
Fang Guizhi’s crying gradually subsided. She moved away from Lin Ping’er’s shoulder a little sheepishly, wiped her tears, and asked, "Is there really a way?"
"Yang San is breaking the law. If the village can’t handle him, don’t we still have the government office? Recently, Mr. Li got promoted and is eager to crack down on such offenders to improve his performance. Yang San is the perfect candidate for Mr. Li to take down; his actions of tyrannizing the village and taking advantage of the villagers will eventually get what he deserves," Bai Ruozhu laughed.
Upon hearing this, Fang Guizhi finally stopped crying but still seemed a bit uneasy, asking, "Can this really work?"
Bai Ruozhu smiled reassuringly at her, saying, "Definitely. Okay, let’s stop standing and talking here. Let’s go inside and have dinner. Whatever we plan to do, we’ll need to be well-fed first, right?"
Fang Guizhi, feeling embarrassed, sniffled, "I was too impulsive. I’m going to go set the meal now, you all go wash your hands and eat." After saying this, she scampered off to the kitchen.
Lin Ping’er watched Fang Guizhi, whose hardworking honesty was on display, and couldn’t help but sigh again.
Over the past few days, everyone in the Bai family had come to like Fang Guizhi very much. It wasn’t just sympathy for her situation - Guizhi was steadfast and industrious. Every time the Bai family returned from setting up their stall, there would be hot meals and clean, dry clothes waiting for them. The pigs and chickens in the yard were also very well taken care of. Who wouldn’t like such a hardworking girl?
Bai Ruozhu looked towards her father again and asked, "Dad, what did you say to the Zhou family?"
"I told them I’d discuss it with our family and think about a solution. They said they’d come to find us in a few days," Bai Yihong answered.
"When the Zhou family comes, ask them to find me. I’ll help them solve the problem and assure them if I can’t solve it within half a month, we’ll void their rental agreement and I’ll compensate their losses," Bai Ruozhu said after some thought.
Bai Yihong, who knew his daughter’s capabilities, immediately agreed, "Okay, I will say it to them as you told."
Soon after, the family had their dinner. Shortly afterwards, Bai Zepei returned from the East Courtyard. He quickly found out about the situation, furrowing his eyebrows and asking, "Should I make a trip to Linjiang Village?"
Bai Ruozhu hastily replied, "No need, no need. Second brother, focus on your studies. The Child Student Exam is coming soon. It’s better for you to not be distracted. If we can’t solve the problem, we’ll ask for your help."
Bai Zepei couldn’t help but laugh, "If you can’t solve it, what use am I?"
Bai Ruozhu was startled for a moment, then burst into a grin, "Second brother, I’ll take that as a compliment."
The corners of Bai Zepei’s mouth curled up into a smile. He seemed not at all worried about the situation.
After dinner, Bai Ruozhu returned to her room to crochet while Fang Guizhi went back to her room, presumably worried about the situation. Ruozhu didn’t try to console her. Anything she said now would be useless. Guizhi’s worries could only be assuaged once the situation was settled.
Shortly after, Wan Caiyue knocked on the door and came in to talk to Bai Ruozhu. Even though she was gentle and quiet, she was also straightforward. "Ruozhu, I want to learn how to crochet from you, which could help our family earn some silver," she said.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh, "I knew you were interested, big sister-in-law. I just didn’t bring it up because I was afraid you were too tired."
Wan Caiyue was overjoyed at this, grabbing Bai Ruozhu’s arm and saying, "I’m not tired. Other daughters-in-law have to work from dawn till dusk, but mommy has always been protective of me and hasn’t made me do much. But seeing how busy you all are, I really can’t sit idle."
"Great, I can teach you how to crochet. It will definitely ease my workload," Bai Ruozhu thought for a moment and added, "But we are partnering with the Lin family and both hold half shares. We will have to explain to the Lin family that you’re joining in to replace mom’s workload and give her some rest. The profits will still be split as before between the two families."
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I must complain a bit. Mouka finally got some time to see the dentist today. I went to a dental clinic called X Ear (figure it out yourselves). Damn, it was so expensive. Just an X-ray cost 120, and the total cost of root canal treatment and dental crowns was estimated at around 7000! The dentist said the position of my teeth was problematic, and one tooth was badly done previously and needed redoing for 1580. Every suggested treatment was expensive. As a poor person, I had to flee, wasting the 120 I spent on the X-ray.
I later went to a hospital, which was a bit cheaper, but dental care is still so expensive... At the end Mouka got a misaligned and decayed wisdom tooth extracted and a root canal on another tooth. I just got home and I’m in so much pain. I’ll try to update four times tonight...