Chapter 437 Persuade Family to Move to Beiyu
Before dinner, the horse carriage finally entered Anyuan Town. Bai Ruozhu calculated the time and directed the coachman to go straight back to the West Courtyard. They were planning to go to the market, but the horse carriage couldn’t enter there. She figured her parents must be closing their stalls soon now anyways.
Upon arriving at the door of the West Courtyard, Bai Ruozhu called out, "Who’s home? We’ve returned!"
"Ruozhu is back!" The sound of Fang Guizhi’s voice rang out, followed by the sound of footsteps as she rushed over to open the door.
More footsteps rang out; when the door was opened, everyone in the house had rushed out to welcome them.
"You’re finally back. Let me see, has our Dengdeng lost weight?" Lin Ping’er’s emotional eyes were red. As she spoke, she took Dengdeng from Bai Ruozhu’s arms.
Bai Ruozhu laughed, "Mother, you’re becoming more partial! Don’t you care about me and second brother?"
Lin Ping’er blushed and scolded, "You’re all grown up now, aren’t you too old for such fuss?"
Bai Yihong chuckled and said, "Thankfully, your mother insisted on packing up early today. Just as we entered the house, you returned."
A smile filled Bai Zepei’s eyes, "Mother knew we were coming back. She was connected with us in spirit."
The whole family laughed upon hearing this.
Bai Zehao came over to pat his younger brother’s shoulder, smiling and asking, "How was the journey? Did you learn a lot?"
Bai Zepei nodded, "Yes, we visited the Study Palace of Beiyu and also visited several friends of our mentor. I indeed learned a lot."
Lin Ping’er snapped back to reality and quickly said to Bai Zepei, "You should go and pay respects to Master Xie first, then you can chat later."
As Bai Zepei nodded and was about to leave, Bai Ruozhu quickly called out to him, "Second Brother, take two packages of dimsum with you when you go. Also, tell Sister Hongxiu I will visit her after dinner."
"Okay." Bai Zepei agreed, picked up the dimsum, and headed to the East Courtyard.
Rongrong came over to Bai Ruozhu, giggling, "Sister, do you see how much better I’ve gotten?"
Bai Ruozhu was relieved to see that Rongrong could already frolic about, but seeing the scar on her hand, she still felt uncomfortable. Fortunately, she had finally collected all the medicinal materials and could soon prepare the ointment.
Zhang Liliang was also waiting nearby, laughing, "Ruozhu, you came back at the right time. Yesterday, I managed to get the items you wanted."
Bai Ruozhu showed her joy, "That’s great. Uncle Zhang, you’ve worked hard. I’ll check them out later."
Xiaosi also came over, eagerly looking at Bai Ruozhu, "Sister, you’re finally back."
Fang Guizhi whispered to Bai Ruozhu, "Since you left, Xiaosi has been standing at the door every day, hoping for your return."
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help stroking Xiaosi’s head. This child had a strong sense of dependence on her. Was it a good thing or a bad thing?
Seeing Bai Ruozhu in a daze, Wan Caiyue pointed at the horse carriage. Only then did Bai Ruozhu remember that they hadn’t unloaded their belongings from the carriage. She hurriedly said, "Oh, we’ve been so caught up in conversation we forgot to carry in our stuff. Sorry to trouble you, Big Brother."
Bai Zehao, Bai Yihong, and Zhang Liliang all rushed to help unload the items. Bai Ruozhu quickly paid the remaining fare to the coachman. Seeing that the coachman was very helpful, she rewarded him with an extra thirty coins.
The coachman was very happy and asked, "Ma’am, I heard that you’re moving. Will you need a carriage in a few days?"
"Aren’t you returning to Beiyu City? If you make another trip here, won’t it take too much time?" replied Bai Ruozhu.
"No problem, I don’t have much family back home. Whether I get business here or there is the same for me. If you need a carriage in a few days, I’ll stick around and work nearby for these few days. It won’t be a problem," said the coachman.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, gave him a deposit at the same price as before and asked him to come over early four days later.
As soon as the coachman left, Bai Yihong and Lin Pingr rushed to pull Bai Ruozhu to the Main Hall for questioning.
"Ruozhu, why are you saying we should move? Didn’t we agree to move after the New Year?" asked Lin Pingr.
Bai Yihong also frowned and said, "Yes, where are all of us going to live after we move?"
Bai Ruozhu knew this would happen, laughed and said, "We’ve already found our mansion in Beiyu City, it’s lent to us by the City Lord’s mother."
"Ah?" Lin Pingr showed a delighted expression, "Did you meet the City Lord?" Even if Lin Pingr was not clear about official rankings, she knew that the City Lord of Beiyu City was much higher level than Li Sir from Anyuan Town.
"Yes, Mr. Xie is Meng Residence’s servant, and my second brother went to visit on Mr. Xie’s request." Bai Ruozhu didn’t mention that she had given her suturing technique to the Imperial Court. This matter had to be kept secret for now, the fewer people knew, the better.
"Then I happened to run into the old lady of his family having a toothache. I helped to cure it, the old lady was very enthusiastic, insisting on lending her mansion to our family to live." Bai Ruozhu then told everyone about her experience at the Meng Residence in Beiyu City, and the whole family was very happy to hear about it.
"Old Lady Meng didn’t want me to come back at all, she only wanted my second brother to come back to bring you all. I had to plead with her to let me come back and told her we would move in three days." Bai Ruozhu winked at her mother. "Mother, the City Lord’s mother. We can’t afford to offend her, and they are also good to us, they have arranged the mansion and even gave me such a good East Pearl necklace."
As Bai Ruozhu said this, she pulled out the necklace from her neck for everyone to see.
Zhang Liliang’s eyes gleamed as he said somewhat sentimentally: "It’s really different from the noble families. A casual gift like this is extraordinary. This necklace is not cheap; it’s worth an ordinary person’s annual income."
Seeing the situation, Bai Ruozhu quickly winked at her older brother and sister-in-law, so they both said: "Then we should pack up and move earlier."
"Mr. Meng values my second brother highly and wants to recommend him to Class A in the Study Palace at Beiyu. But this can’t be delayed. If we miss this opportunity, there won’t be another one. Without Mr. Meng’s recommendation, my second brother would only be able to enter Class B." Bai Ruozhu added.
Zhang Liliang was also hurried after he heard this and said: "Then we should move as soon as possible. We can’t delay the child’s future."
Lin Pingr also nodded, "Then we should pack up earlier. The timing is really tight."
The whole family was very happy, except Bai Yihong was a bit upset and didn’t speak, he seemed reluctant to leave his hometown far behind.
Bai Ruozhu gave her mother a glance, whispered: "I’ll talk to my father, you guys start preparing for dinner."
The family got the hint, made up excuses to leave, leaving only the father and daughter at the table.
"Father, do you miss my grandparents?" Bai Ruozhu asked.
"No, your grandparents are not at a stage where they can’t look after themselves. Your grandfather have the village chief’s family to take care of him, and your grandmother have Yizhong’s family to help look after her, so there is no worry." Bai Yihong said with a sigh.
Your father has only known how to farm all his life. Leaving the village is unsettling to me, and I don’t know what else I can do. Am I going to be a layabout at home? Holding you back?"
Bai Ruozhu guessed that her father would feel this way, she laughed and asked: "Do the old masters of wealthy families still have to work? Don’t they all enjoy their lives? Once we’re in Beiyu City, I want you and mother to enjoy your lives."
Bai Yihong shook his head and said, "Your father is a farmer. If he doesn’t work in the fields for a day, he feels uncomfortable all over. How can he enjoy himself?"
Bai Ruozhu’s eyes rolled, she leaned in to her father’s ear and said a few words, then winked at her father, "Father, only you can do this."
Bai Yihong’s eyes lit up, his previous frustrated mood was swept away...
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The fourth Chapter is sent. By the way, tomorrow is Mouka’s birthday, the 32nd birthday. I’m an old woman now, sob... Also, I’m going out for my birthday, so I’ll try my best for extra Chapters depending on the situation~