Chapter 411: Reunion, Mistaken Identity
Clearly, Du Zhongshu had already talked about Du Fuling with his father. The moment Du Wenbin heard Fuling’s cry, his brow furrowed.
"Is it proper for a young lady to be yelling and screaming like this?"
Fuling was stopped in her tracks by her father’s words as soon as she burst out of the room. Her eyes welled up and she began to cry. Her voice diminished considerably as she sobbed, "Father, my nose is broken, and I’ve lost a front tooth. The doctor here can’t fix this. Please hurry and take me back to Beiyu City for treatment."
Hearing her confession, Du Wenbin couldn’t help but show empathy. Patting her shoulder, he said, "You should return home and get treatment first, your mother will take care of you. Dad will stay here with your third brother for a few days. He can’t rush the journey."
With a pout on her face, Fuling looked wronged, "Okay then, you should also bring third brother home as soon as possible, Dad. I don’t know if we can trust these outsiders."
As she said this, she glanced Bailey at Bai Ruozhu, clearly hinting that Bai Ruozhu was an outsider and could not be trusted.
Unconcerned, Bai Ruozhu raised an eyebrow slightly. She had never relied on trust from the Du family, nor had she ever trusted them.
Watching his spoiled daughter with a headache, Du Wenbin said, "You should go back and treat your injuries."
Eventually, Fuling was the first to leave for Beiyu City. Even so, she glared at Bai Ruozhu before leaving, seeming like she could bite Bai Ruozhu if she could.
Not long after Fuling left, Bai Ruozhu and her second brother decided to hire a horse carriage and head to Beiyu City first. They planned to visit the Du family a few days later.
Thus, they met with Du Zhongshu and Du Wenbin and shared their plans.
"Do either of you have any concerns because of my daughter’s fuss?" Du Wenbin was straightforward and directly addressed the question.
Bai Zepei saluted him and said, "Uncle Du, you are thinking too much. Zepei clearly understands that you and Zhongshu are reasonable people. It’s just that my master has assigned me a mission, so I plan to complete it first in Beiyu City."
Du Wenbin pondered and said, "In that case, I will arrange for a carriage to take you to Beiyu City. You can stay at our residence first and complete your tasks. We will formally host you once we return."
Bai Ruozhu quickly signaled her second brother. She didn’t want to stay at such a problem-ridden place like the Du Residence. They would be much freer staying at an inn.
Bai Zepei shared his sister’s thoughts and naturally didn’t want to get involved in this mess.
"Uncle Du is too polite. We siblings have some other affairs to deal with, so we won’t bother your residence this time. We’ll visit in a couple of days."
Seeing Bai Zepei’s persistence, Du Wenbin didn’t insist further. He arranged a carriage and coachman to take the two to Beiyu City.
After the two left, Du Wenbin looked at Du Zhongshu and asked, "Has your grandfather mentioned how he plans to deal with the Bai family?"
He hadn’t paid much attention to the Bai family so far. He was originally uninterested in business, so he wasn’t as focused on the provider of the Toothpaste Formula as the rest of his family. However, when Bai Ruozhu saved his son and he saw Bai Zepei’s extraordinary demeanor, he began to take interest.
"Grandpa plans to have the Bai family attached to ours. But I think it would be difficult. Grandpa said that if it’s not possible, we should befriend them and keep the relationship between the two families close," Du Zhongshu said, somewhat entranced. If he had married Bai Ruozhu, wouldn’t that have truly brought the families closer?
But... this was the first time he regretted his past decisions. If he hadn’t been so indecisive, he might have had a chance, right?
"What are your own plans then?" Du Wenbin asked, looking intently at Du Zhongshu.
Du Zhongshu snapped back to reality and was about to speak, but he didn’t dare to say that he wanted to marry Bai Ruozhu. He knew the difficulty of this matter. Even if his father reluctantly agreed, his mother would certainly refuse. Moreover, Bai Ruozhu had no intention of marrying him. Speaking it out loud was just making trouble for everyone. Worse still, it might even damage Bai Ruozhu’s reputation.
"The Bai family’s future prospects are unlimited. I believe we should maintain a good relationship with them." When Du Zhongshu said this, he tasted bitterness in his mouth. Perhaps... perhaps it was the aftertaste of medicine soup.
...
Since there were no delays on the journey, the Bai siblings arrived in Beiyu City before dinner time. As soon as they entered the city, Bai Ruozhu couldn’t wait to lift the curtain of the carriage window. She turned to Dengdeng excitedly, "Dengdeng, this is where we will live from now on. Do you like it?"
Dengdeng, who couldn’t talk yet, just stared outside with great curiosity.
Now that Dengdeng could be held upright, his small head leaned against Bai Ruozhu’s cheek. The two were keenly watching the outside. Suddenly, Dengdeng stretched out his hand, his face full of excitement, making ’ah ah’ sounds.
Bai Ruozhu followed his gaze, and there was a man not far away. Wasn’t it Jiang Yichun wearing a mask?
She too felt a rush of excitement. She hadn’t expected to run into him as soon as she arrived in Beiyu City. It seemed they had fate on their side.
"What has Dengdeng noticed?" Bai Zepei, who couldn’t see outside, noticed Dengdeng’s excitement and asked.
"It’s that gentleman. Second brother, why don’t we get off here?" They had already entered the city, and they didn’t want the Du family to find out about their inn. Bai Ruozhu reasoned this way in her mind.
Bai Zepei saw a teasing look flash in her eyes but chose not to mock Bai Ruozhu, and let the horse carriage stop.
"We can get off here. Thank you, brother. Here’s a small reward. Please treat yourself to some tea snacks," Bai Zepei said, giving the coachman small broken silver coins.
The coachman thanked them repeatedly and drove away with the carriage.
Only when the coachman was gone did Bai Ruozhu dare to approach Jiang Yichun. She didn’t want Fuling to find out and come to pester them. She had always felt that Fuling was particularly persistent in finding her "savior".
But with this delay, she looked back again and no longer saw Jiang Yichun. Feeling slightly disappointed, she was just about to turn back when her second brother called her and pointed his chin in a direction.
"Let’s go and greet him." Bai Zepei saw Bai Ruozhu’s shyness and decided to take the initiative. He usually thought his sister was quite bold, so he rarely saw her acting shyly.
The two walked over, and Bai Zepei started, "Sir, we meet again."
Bai Ruozhu looked at him and couldn’t help but smile, "It was my Dengdeng who spotted you." While talking, Dengdeng had already reached out his small hand to grab the wooden mask.
"Have you mistaken me for someone else?" The masked "Jiang Yichun" spoke for the first time, sounding surprised.
Bai Ruozhu and Bai Zepei were both taken aback. This voice was not Jiang Yichun’s at all. They had indeed mistaken the person!
It was Bai Zepei who first recovered, saluting the man, "I’m sorry, the person we know also wears a mask. We mistook you for him. We apologize for the disturbance."
The man didn’t say anything, nor did he rush to leave. Instead, he studied the two siblings with interest before finally turning and leaving. From his departing figure, one could guess he seemed to be quite pleased.