Chapter 438: He’s Here, Smelling of Blood
No one knew what Bai Ruozhu had said to Bai Yihong, but Bai Yihong’s listlessness evaporated, and there was joy on his face. When Lin Ping’er asked him, he pretended to be secretive and said, "My daughter asked me to keep it a secret."
Lin Ping’er rolled her eyes at him, muttering, "Now you’re trying to play the mysterious card with me, as if I care to know." Although she complained out loud, a smile appeared on her face, clearly happy that Bai Yihong was in a better mood.
Afterward, Bai Ruozhu went to the room of Zhang Liliang and his wife. Zhang’s wife was still confined to bed and had been anxious inside the room. When she saw Bai Ruozhu, she exclaimed with joy, "Ruozhu, you look even prettier after a trip outside, like a young lady from a noble family."
Zhang Liliang laughed from the side and said, "Zepei is sure to become an officer in the future, so won’t Ruozhu become a young lady from an officer’s family?"
"Right, right, that’s exactly it," Zhang’s wife laughed and agreed.
She was wearing a hat crocheted by Bai Ruozhu, which made her bald head less noticeable. However, hair wasn’t easy to grow back and would probably take at least a year.
Bai Ruozhu pulled her to her side and told Rongrong and her mother, "I’ve gathered all the medicinal materials in Beiyu City this time. I’ll start preparing the medicine for you in a few days, and I guarantee you won’t have any scars."
Now that she had all the medicinal materials, she was confident.
When Rongrong’s mother heard this, she quickly said, "Let’s not rush these few days. Aren’t we moving soon? It won’t be convenient to use the medicine on the road, so let’s wait until we’re in Beiyu City."
Bai Ruozhu knew that she was worrying about over-exerting her, so she laughed and said, "It won’t take much effort. Once we settle down in Beiyu City, we can start using it."
After leaving the room, Zhang Liliang showed Bai Ruozhu the shrimp powder and dried fish they had harvested. Bai Ruozhu was very satisfied and nodded, saying, "The quality is very good, much better than what I can do."
"As we offered good prices, and it added to their income during their free time, they’re certainly very dedicated," Zhang Liliang said with a smile.
"But once we move to Beiyu City, collecting these goods won’t be that convenient. Do you think we should find more people in the vicinity to engage in processing?" Bai Ruozhu thought for a moment and asked.
Zhang Liliang knew that Bai Ruozhu was worried about him overworking himself, so he laughed and said, "We just started talking to those families. If we cancel now, they would be disappointed. We can also harvest from the towns near Beiyu City, but the prices will surely be higher. In the past, I used to go back and forth every two weeks. It only takes three or four days, which is much less demanding than my previous trading job."
Seeing that Zhang Liliang already had a plan in mind, Bai Ruozhu didn’t insist further.
After leaving the room, she had a little chat with Guizhi and her sister-in-law and gave them each a piece of the newly purchased fabric. She said, "You two should be ready to make some clothes for the New Year. However, I’m not good at sewing, so you’ll have to help me. Consider this fabric as a bribe."
Both of them laughed. Wan Caiyue said, "Even if you didn’t bribe us, would we not make it for you?"
"Exactly, if you did it yourself, you would ruin the good fabric. We can’t bear to watch that," Fang Guizhi ribbed Bai Ruozhu with a chuckle.
Bai Ruozhu saw that the two got along well, which relieved her quite a bit. After chatting with them for a bit, she took the fabric and the pair of little silver bracelets she had bought in Beiyu City to the East Courtyard to find Yu Hongxiu.
"I’ve been waiting for you to come over, I was about to get worried," Yu Hongxiu said with a bright smile.
Bai Ruozhu stopped and looked her up and down. She wasn’t showing yet, but her cheeks seemed a bit fuller, and she looked quite radiant when she laughed.
"What are you looking at? I’m not showing yet," said Yu Hongxiu, slightly embarrassed as she touched her belly.
Bai Ruozhu laughed, handed her the fabric and little silver bracelets, and said, "These are gifts for you and your baby. Don’t you dare be polite with me."
Yu Hongxiu rolled her eyes at her and said, "Didn’t you already send dim sum? Why are you wasting money?"
"The dimsum isn’t as good as the ones you made. They are meant for Mr. Xie to taste. These are the real gifts for you," Bai Ruozhu explained. As Yu Hongxiu was from Jiangnan and excelled at making dim sum, those dimsum, though delicious, probably couldn’t live up to Yu Hongxiu’s standards.
The two sat down and chatted. Bai Ruozhu told Yu Hongxiu about her visit to the Meng Residence, and even mentioned that the old lady Meng mentioned her several times, hoping that she could return to Beiyu City soon.
"The old lady Meng is rather impatient. The fact she let you come back is already very nice of her. She even suggested that Xie Dun should come to Anyuan Town himself, and that I should stay at You Ran Ju to keep her company," said Yu Hongxiu with a resigned laugh. It was visible that she got along very well with the old lady and found the elder quite congenial.
"Now that we’re moving to Beiyu City, when do you plan to set off?" Bai Ruozhu asked.
Yu Hongxiu’s expression was somewhat excited, "Your second brother just came over to discuss this. We also received a letter from the Du family, saying that Zhongshu needs to rest at home for a while. So, we’re planning to return to Beiyu City with you."
Bai Ruozhu hugged her arm gleefully, "That’s great, I can take care of you along the way. Otherwise, I would be concerned about you travelling a long distance in your condition."
"I was also thinking of following you, so I could have a divine doctor caring for me along the way," said Yu Hongxiu, gently touching her flat belly with a loving look on her face.
After chatting with Yu Hongxiu for a while, Bai Ruozhu got up to leave. Honestly, she was a little tired. Although she had been sitting in the horse carriage the entire way and didn’t have to exert much physical effort, the long journey was mentally exhausting, especially as the roads in ancient times were rough and the ride in a horse carriage was bumpy.
She returned to her room to wash up briefly, then fed Dengdeng and went to sleep. It was midnight when she woke up, and there was no sign of anyone pushing open the back. Bai Ruozhu was startled. Jiang Yichun hadn’t shown up for several days without even saying a word. It wasn’t like him, there wouldn’t be anything wrong, would there?
But she quickly remembered Senior Fox’s joking words, "How do you find someone? Do you want me to help you?" He said it so casually, there shouldn’t be any problem, right?
However, she didn’t fully understand Senior Fox. Perhaps he was heartless and reckless, and didn’t really care about Jiang Yichun’s safety.
Anxiously, Bai Ruozhu fed Dengdeng, put him down, took off her coat and lay back in bed.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, she suddenly smelled something. Her tiny nose twitched, and she took a shallow breath. Her originally sleepy eyes flashed.
There was a smell of blood!
She couldn’t make out anything. She had to be prepared for anything. At that moment, there was a light tapping noise against the window outside, which was the secret code Jiang Yichun often used.
Bai Ruozhu’s heart sank. The smell of blood was coming from him, was he injured?
When she thought about how he had been missing for several days, and how he might not have known she was in Anyuan Town, and how he may have looked for her in Beiyu City and then come to Anyuan Town with an injury, she felt a pang in her heart. She wished she could make him leave the Tongzhi Division immediately and stop engaging in such dangerous tasks!