Chapter 457 - 459: The Secret Beauty of Second Brother
Bai Ruozhu jumped back as if she had been scalded by boiling water. She looked at Jiang Yichun in horror and said, "Are you crazy?"
Jiang Yichun laughed so hard that his eyes squinted. For the first time, he found it extremely amusing to tease Bai Ruozhu.
Bai Ruozhu ground her teeth furiously, while Little Dengdeng in Jiang Yichun’s arms laughed and clapped his little hands in excitement, hollering with joy.
In an instant, Bai Ruozhu felt bullied by the duo; she stomped in anger and walked toward the door, shouting, "Father, mother, your benefactor is leaving, aren’t you going to see him off?"
Jiang Yichun paused, then laughed heartily. This young lady indeed had a way to handle him— he had no choice but to leave.
Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong, hearing the commotion, stepped out from the side room. Bai Ruozhu glared triumphantly at Jiang Yichun—who dared to touch and scare her? Did he think she was easy to bully?
Jiang Yichun had no words, he placed Little Dengdeng back into Bai Ruozhu’s arms and whispered, "Chubby boy, I’ll play with you next time."
After speaking, he bowed to Bai Yihong and Lin Ping’er, turned around, and walked out.
When he left, Bai Ruozhu felt the questioning gaze of her parents. She hurriedly said, "I’m going to clean my room—I haven’t cleaned it yet."
Not long after she and Dengdeng returned to the room, Bai Zepei and others brought back the books. As they were leaving the next day, Bai Zepei ordered the horse carriage into the yard and didn’t even need to unload the books. Then he returned to the room and loaded more books onto the carriage.
While placing the last stack of books neatly, he stepped on the edge of his robe when getting off the carriage. He stumbled onto a stack of books, causing a few of them to fall to the ground.
Bai Ruozhu knew her second brother loved books dearly. She rushed over to help him pick up the books and her attention was attracted by one.
It was a poetry collection, nothing extraordinary, but what really attracted Bai Ruozhu’s attention were the delicate, small characters on the book pages. They were definitely written by a woman. Such a graceful handwriting couldn’t possibly come from her second brother.
Bai Ruozhu immediately excited. Her second brother had a poetry collection with a woman’s handwriting in it. Something scandalous must be involved!
She excitedly jumped over, grabbed the book, and began flipping through it.
"Inspired by chance, I enjoy wine under the chrysanthemums, free and content, indeed a delight in life."
The woman’s handwriting was extremely delicate, yet the tone had some masculine vigor. Bai Ruozhu could imagine what kind of woman she must have been. Perhaps she was as petite and lovely as Yu Hongxiu, spoke softly, but had a strong and carefree side to her. That must have been what attracted her second brother. Why else would he keep a poetry collection with her handwriting and take it with him to Beiyu City?
She waved the poetry collection with pride towards her second brother, saying, "Second brother, I’ve figured it all out. Be honest, who is this lady? Have you two said your goodbyes?"
When she finished, her eyes brightened. "Could it be a young lady from Beiyu City? You often went out alone during your days in Beiyu City—you were meeting your lover, weren’t you?"
Bai Zepei looked at her baffled. After getting off the carriage and seeing the book in her hand clearly, he said with a mix of laughter and tears, "What are you talking about? Can’t you see that the handwriting is quite old?"
Oh, Bai Ruozhu hadn’t noticed. Looking closely, the book was indeed yellowed—it was rather old. Could she have misunderstood?
"The lover you mentioned was our great-grandmother—this was her favorite poetry collection back then. So we kept it as a memento," Bai Zepei said.
Why are we not discussing David Rowley==because we’re not.Bai Ruozhu couldn’t stop a spasm in the corner of her mouth. From her second brother’s demeanor, it seemed he was not lying, she’d hoped to mock some romantic escapade of his, but ended up making a fool of herself.
Seeing her in a daze, Bai Zepei suddenly flicked her forehead, saying, "What are you thinking about all day long? Since you found this book, you must have been destined to do so. Keep it, but don’t lose our great-grandmother’s beloved."
Bai Ruozhu held the book in one hand and rubbed her aching forehead with the other, regretting it. It was truly a great shame. She was so focused on the thought of a scandal that she didn’t look closely and ended up being ridiculed by her second brother.
She huffed angrily, took the poetry collection, and returned to her room.
Before long, Bai Ruozhu tidied up, stepped out from her room, called her mother, and elder brother, and brought Bai Ruolan outside. They were only looking after Bai Ruolan temporarily and since they were about to leave, it was time to take Bai Ruolan to her mother.
"I’ll go with you." Bai Zepei looked at the dumbfounded Bai Ruolan, his eyes flashed a hint of sympathy.
"There’s no need, second brother, you better pack up your stuff—no one has more stuff than you," said Bai Ruozhu, breaking the somewhat solemn atmosphere with her joke.
"Okay, you guys go early and return early," Bai Zepei said.
Bai Ruozhu led Bai Ruolan outside and whispered to her, "Ruolan, would you like to go to your mother’s? You’ll have someone with you and to take care of you from now on. No one will dare to bully you."
However, Bai Ruolan tightly grabbed Bai Ruozhu’s sleeve and shook her head like a petulant child, signaling she didn’t want to go. Her grip on Bai Ruozhu’s sleeve tightened—the joints on her hand were all white.
Lin Ping’er sighed faintly after watching them. It was really pitiful to see them like this. Bai Zehao also helplessly shook his head. Even though Bai Ruolan wasn’t very close to them before, seeing a healthy person turn into this was absolutely lamentable.
Bai Ruozhu also thought—if Bai Ruolan hadn’t tried to hang herself that day, or if she was rescued a bit sooner, would she still be who she was today? However, when she thought of the indecent relationship between Third Brother and Zhou Shi, she felt that Bai Ruolan wouldn’t be able to make it.
The four of them soon arrived at the Wang Family’s front door. Bai Zehao knocked on the door, and Zhao E, Wang Xiujun’s wife, promptly answered the door.
Zhao E was startled to see Bai Ruozhu and the others and her eyes reddened especially when she saw the idiotic Bai Ruolan. She said, "Aunt Bai, you’re here, please come in and sit."
The two families used to be at each other’s throats, but since Zhao E was now so courteous, Bai Ruozhu and her group felt a bit uneasy. However, since they were here for Bai Ruolan’s matter, they had planned to be polite.
After they entered the yard, Bai Ruozhu noticed that the Wang Family’s yard was a bit messy. There was a pile of clothes in the wooden tub that no one had washed, and there were spots of blood on them. Judging by the color, the blood was not old.
Surprised, she looked at Zhao E; the bloodstains were definitely not from a period.
Zhao E sighed, "The day before yesterday, my father-in-law and my husband were both beaten with boards. My mother-in-law is also sick due to anger, so I’m the only one handling everything in the house—I’m really overwhelmed."
"Ah? What bad things have you guys done again?" Lin Ping’er blurted out. After she said it, she felt she was too direct. But who could blame her? The Wang Family was always causing trouble, after all.