Chapter 508 - 510: Someone is Looking for the Bai Family in Anyuan Town
Bai Ruozhu suppressed the displeasure in her heart and forced a hospitable posture.
"We have guests, please come in." Her voice was not loud, somewhat light, because only in this way could she suppress her emotions, preventing them from being discovered by the other party.
The woman smiled at her, with a faint smile, saying, "It turns out that the lady is the owner here, what a coincidence."
Fusa looked at Bai Ruozhu, then looked at the guest, astounded she asked, "Do you know each other? I should have mentioned our boss’s name directly yesterday."
The woman smiled and said, "We happened to meet each other, I also wouldn’t know if you told me, but now we are acquainted, my name is Wu Wanqing, how should I address the lady?"
Seeing the other person announce her name, it would be rude not reply. Bai Ruozhu politely said, "My name is Bai Ruozhu, what kind of pattern does Mrs. Wu need?"
Seeing that Bai Ruozhu didn’t intend to make small talk and went straight to the topic, Wu Wanqing told her maid to bring a painting to Bai Ruozhu, showing her the pattern for her to see.
"I want a waistband with this pattern to match this dress." She pointed at the dress with ink color and secret patterns in the painting.
Bai Ruozhu frowned slightly and couldn’t help but say, "If the dress is full of this pattern, and the waistband is also matched with this pattern, won’t it look a bit messy? It would be better to use a plain black waistband."
Fusa was in a hurry at the side, what was Ruozhu doing? Telling the customer it was not good; this was not the manner of doing business, right?
The woman smiled, casually saying, "It doesn’t matter, just make it. He just likes this pattern, it doesn’t specifically have to match this clothing, it can be matched with other clothing."
Bai Ruozhu nodded, if that was the case, there was nothing. However, when she heard the cheerfulness and sweetness in Wu Wanqing’s voice when she mentioned ’he’, she felt a bit suffocated.
What was going on with her? Wasn’t this woman together with Senior Fox? Maybe it was made for Senior Fox, why was she feeling so upset?
"Alright, let me look at the pattern first." Bai Ruozhu took the painting and began sketching the pattern on a piece of paper beside her. Since the pattern in the painting was more pictorial, she had to confirm with the customer if she wanted to create the pattern according to the picture.
Soon, she had the pattern drawn out and showed it to Wu Wanqing, who pointed out some differences in two places. Bai Ruozhu revised it before finally confirming it.
Wu Wanqing gladly paid a deposit of ten taels of silver, politely bid Bai Ruozhu farewell, and left.
Fusa was delighted, putting away the silver and said, "As expected Ruozhu, with you here things are different. If it were me, I would not be able to take this order; I can’t make this pattern."
Bai Ruozhu smiled and said, "It’s not hard to make, I’ll tell you how when we get home."
Then she took the pattern, rode the horse carriage back home, and had a nap with Dengdeng after lunch. When she woke up, she took the pattern and tried making it. She needed to figure out how to make it, then teach Fusa.
However, she hadn’t been making for long when she felt the pattern looked familiar. Suddenly, her hand paused, she didn’t notice when the hook needle poked her fingertips, if Dengdeng hadn’t woken up and yelled, she probably would’ve started bleeding.
She was distracted just now because she remembered where she had seen this pattern before.
Once, when she had saved Jiang Yichun on the back mountain outside Anyuan Town, his ink-colored clothes had been slashed in a few places due to his injuries, even destroying some of the dark patterns on it. But she had a good memory, and recalled that the patterns on his clothing matched the ones on the paper in her hand.
He merely desired such patterns...
These words echoed in Bai Ruozhu’s ears again, was the "he" that Wu Wanqing mentioned Jiang Yichun?
Perhaps Senior Fox also liked that pattern, and Wu Wanqing was talking about Senior Fox, Bai Ruozhu consoled herself in this way, yet her heart was like an open vinegar jar coiling repeatedly with acid.
"Damn Jiang Yichun, if you hadn’t clung to me, would I be so frustrated now? If you dare to wrong me, I will make sure you lose three layers of skin!" Bai Ruozhu muttered ferociously.
Several hundred miles away at the foot of Xuantian Mountain, Jiang Yichun, disguised, suddenly sneezed twice. He rubbed his nose, wondering about his bout of sneeze as he rarely caught colds. Could someone have been cursing him?
He shrugged and reached into his chest to touch something, his eyes then lit up as he continued walking forward.
If Bai Ruozhu was with him, she would have been astonished to see the strip of cloth hidden in his chest.
That night, when Fusa returned home, she happily showed Bai Ruozhu the account book before Bai Ruozhu taught her how to knit that pattern. Fusa found it extraordinarily complicated and was afraid she wouldn’t meet the customer’s requirements. Not able to hold back, she said, "Why not let Ruozhu do it? It might mean more hard work for you, though."
Now that Fusa had said so, Bai Ruozhu could hardly refuse. But she felt uncomfortable. If she herself crocheted the waistband and gave it to the customer, who then gave it to her man, wouldn’t that be extremely distressing?
Eventually she chose not to commit either way and put this matter aside for the time being, maybe in a few days she could find an excuse to let Fusa do it, or perhaps she would come to terms with it.
----
A few hundred miles away, in Anyuan Town, a woman who’s face was a riot of blues and purples ran to the market stall to ask about someone. When she didn’t find the person she was looking for, she suddenly burst into yelling.
"Isn’t this the Bai Family’s pancake stall? Isn’t there a tofu seller next door? Where have they gone?" The woman cried out dismally, as if the people she mentioned had run away with her money.
"The Bai Family moved to Beiyu City, are you from their hometown? Haven’t you heard?" A person from the neighboring stall asked.
The woman was indeed Fang Guizhi’s mother. Naturally, she knew that Bai Ruozhu’s family had moved to Beiyu City. She just didn’t expect that Mrs. Xie, the woman who bought Guizhi, had also made the move.
Her current life was not good. Just this morning, incited by her daughter-in-law, her son had pushed her to the ground. The injuries on her face were from that fall. Therefore, she sought after her daughter Guizhi. Even if she couldn’t find Guizhi in the town, asking the tofu seller might lead to more information about Guizhi’s whereabouts or she might as well go to Beiyu City to find Guizhi herself.
Sadly, there seemed to be no trace of the tofu seller’s family. She stood there dazed, a passerby asked, "What’s the matter? What are you looking for them for?"
"I’m looking for my daughter. I sold her to the Xie Family who moved along with them. I want to go to Beiyu City to find my daughter. Can any of you tell me how to find them?" Grasping at straws, Guizhi’s mother hurriedly asked when someone sparked a conversation.
When he heard she had sold her daughter, he immediately showed disdain and said, "Since you’ve sold your daughter, why do you want to find her? Besides, Beiyu City is so big, if others can’t find them, you might end up being sold by traffickers."
Upon hearing his words, Guizhi’s mother shivered, then left in a daze. The woman who had spoken with her muttered, "What’s been going on these days? Yesterday, another woman came looking for the Bai family and she was crying pitifully. She wouldn’t explain why she was asking, though. The Bai family seemed like an honest lot, they wouldn’t have run away after swindling, would they?"