Auntie Zhou? It appears the old lady did eventually let Zhou into the house and she really seems to like her.
The expression on everyone’s faces wasn’t great. Bai Zepei saw that the old lady didn’t want them to enter the yard and so, with a direct approach, presented the two boxes of dim sum from his hands, saying, "Ruozhu and I bought these for you when we visited Beiyu City a few days ago. Our family is moving to Beiyu City the day after tomorrow, just wanted to let you know."
"What?" Granny Bai was shocked, "What are you doing going to Beiyu City? Once you go, who will pay me support money? You’re not planning to abandon this old woman, are you?"
With the old man out of the house and no one to keep the old lady in check, she spoke in her own dialect according to her old habits.
Bai Zehao’s eyebrows furrowed, he muttered, "So all that my grandmother cares about is money, and not the fact that she’ll miss us."
Lucky for him, he was standing at the back and his grandmother didn’t hear him. Wan Caiyue discreetly tugged him, signaling him to let it go and not to make a fuss.
Bai Zehao sighed, yeah, they were leaving anyway. Why bother about it then?
"Grandma, don’t worry, we will ensure the money is sent to you on time." Bai Zepei said. Their family had already planned. Bai Yizhong will aid Granny Bai with money every month which they will deduct from the rent but they would rather not let the old woman know to avoid her constantly pestering Yizhong for money.
Everyone trusted that Granny Bai would truly go and pester Yizhong for money.
The old lady skeptically glanced around, saying, "What are you lingering around the doorway for? All of you, get inside the yard quickly."
Bai Ruozhu signaled to her mother, indicating that the old lady was bringing up the conditions. Lin Ping’er grinded her teeth, appearing irritated. Bai Ruozhu, carrying little Dengdeng, grinned at her mother and whispered, "Let second brother handle it."
The whole family entered the old mansion yard, following granny to the main hall. Bai Ruozhu at the back, however, paused suddenly, her eyebrows slightly crinkled.
Soft laughter emanated from Sānláng’s room. The voice was so faint that apart from Bai Ruozhu, who had exceptionally sharp hearing, nobody else heard it.
Immediately followed by a woman’s low moan of pleasure, seemingly quite impassioned. But, the voice was indeed very low.
An expression of disgust crossed Bai Ruozhu’s face as she asked, ’Granny, where is the new aunt?’
Though Granny Bai was not particularly fond of Bai Ruozhu’s, realising that she had to discuss conditions with the second family, she reluctantly replied, "She’s serving Sānláng food. Since Zhou came to our house, she’s been taking care of Sānláng and Ruolan, if not, I would have been exhausted to death."
Granny Bai grunted to herself, "One is a cripple, another an idiot, what exactly did I do to deserve this?"
Bai Ruozhu was now completely certain that Zhou, the widow, was in Sānláng’s room. She remembered all the salacious rumors about Zhou. Zhou had a long history in the Fengye village with young men, but she only stopped after getting married.
Zhou, the widow, married into the old mansion as Bai Yibo’s wife, yet she was meddling with her nominal son Bai Zehao. This situation was indeed messy.
Bai Ruozhu felt somewhat nauseous thinking about the indecency of the two. A man, with both legs broken, was not even resting on his bed propely. A woman, deliberating whose child she was bearing, was involved in such dirty matters. It was indeed very peculiar.
As the family entered the main hall, the old lady didn’t even offer them water. She even moved the Paw, dried fruits, and four-colored dim sum set aside for the guests on the table, as if she was afraid that the members of the second family will take her stuff.
Seeing the behavior of the old lady, everyone didn’t want to stay longer. They just wanted to quickly finish the matter and leave as soon as possible.
"If you guys leave, it will be hard for me to find you. What if you stop supporting me and don’t care about me? Beiyu City is so big, even if I go there, I wouldn’t be able to find you." the old lady said.
"Didn’t your eldest daughter-in-law marry into the Lǚ family in Beiyu City? If you really need to find us, you can find her, right?" Bai Zepei said, "Rest assured, we will not shortchange the money you deserve."
Granny Bai rolled her eyes and impatiently responded, "Well, that’s not a guarantee. With my age, I cannot run around in Beiyu City. Since you’re leaving, give me the money for Qingming Year in advance. It will put my mind at ease."
Upon hearing this, Bai Yihong frowned, "Mother, what will you do with all this money at once? Be careful, lest people swindle you."
He was obviously referring to Zhou, and granny Bai understood his hint. She felt unhappy and said, "Hmm! Your eldest brother’s wife is quite good. She spends money on me every day, and is more generous than all of you. Unlike you, who badmouth others. Who in the village does not speak well of her?"
Bai Ruozhu almost spat on hearing this. Who in the village speaks well of Zhou, the widow? Which person would be so uninformed?
"She’s just baiting you for the long run. Isn’t story of Zhou infamous in Fengye village? She has enticed even married men and is now pregnant. What kind of a good person would she be?" Lin Ping’er couldn’t help but say.
The old lady’s eyes widened, ready to bicker, but fortunately, Bai Zepei interrupted what the old lady was about to say.
"Granny, we have to rent a house in Beiyu City, and I have to account for my expenditure at the Study Palace which surely can’t be compared with the village. Thus, we’re pretty tight on money and can’t afford to give you that much now. We can just give you next month’s support money in advance, later we can give you money monthly as usual." Bai Zepei calmly said.
"No!" Granny Bai shouted, "Are you planning to abandon me now? In which case, I will go to the village head to settle this."
Saying this, she was ready to stand up, but Bai Zepei spoke up, "Since Granny doesn’t want this money for support, then we will give it to Grandpa. If Granny needs money for something, she can go to Fengye Village to ask Grandpa."
Bai Ruozhu secretly gave her second brother an approving smile. Zépèi’s move was really a smart one – it was indeed appropriate to give this money for support to the head of the family. Even if Granny goes elsewhere to complain, it would be of no use.
In fact, she really hoped granny would stubbornly insist that they give the money to the old man. She was quite keen to witness how Granny, with her nasty temperament, would be like when she meets the old man at Fengye Village, it would indeed be quite entertaining!
Unfortunately, Granny eventually chickened out and finally unhappily stated, "We’re about to celebrate the New Year, can’t you give a little more?"
"We will not be able to send the New Year’s goods to Granny on time, so we will give you an extra hundred Wen. You can buy whatever you want to eat," Bai Zepei continued.
A hundred Wen wasn’t small. In the countryside, one Wen could purchase an egg, so a hundred Wen could get you a hundred eggs. That wasn’t a trivial amount of meat either.
Granny hummed, feeling discontented, and muttered, "All of you have made money, but you’re still so stingy. Not like Pa Ying, she’s genuine in her caring for me."
Just as her voice fell, there was a loud noise from Sānláng’s room followed by the sound of a bowl or a plate breaking on the floor. The noise attracted everybody’s attention.
"Is Sānláng throwing a tantrum again?" Bai Yihong asked, looking worried. Last time, when Bai Ruolan mentioned Sānláng hitting her, he felt that Sānláng’s temper had deteriorated a lot. Now, even with his broken legs, he wasn’t resting properly, which was completely unreasonable.
Granny also seemed somewhat puzzled, "Perhaps, he isn’t happy with your presence. His temper has worsened of late."
Bai Ruozhu silently sneered internally, what tantrum and what smashing of bowls and plates? Perhaps they accidentally dropped something while they were messing around?
----Today I’ve only completed three more Chapters. Please be understanding guys, and let me take a short break to restore my energy. I will definitely intensify the updates afterwards ~