Chapter 520 - 522: Wang Miaoshuang’s Scheme
Sui Xing was encouraged and gained some confidence, but he noticed Du Fuling screaming painfully whenever she was touched. Closed off, he asked, "Can it be done if she screams like this?"
"Don’t mind her, she’s just overly dramatic about the slight pain. All you need to do is hold her steady and stop her from moving around." Bai Ruozhu said.
Sui Xing nodded, and they began the preparations. Bai Ruozhu used tweezers to align the broken tooth, and then used another pair of tweezers to position the securing buckle. Then she turned to Sui Xing and said, "Alright, here we go, you just use your inner strength gradually. Ignore her cries."
As they had to connect one end to the broken tooth root, and the other end to the inside and sides of the root, they inevitably had to push back some of the gums that were close to the root. This caused Du Fuling to scream incessantly from the pain.
Lady Meng massaged her temples with irritation and attempted to leave. However, her curiosity about how Bai Ruozhu would reattach the broken tooth held her back, and she eventually took her seat again, watching the procedure while covering her ears.
Sui Xing started very slowly, but he soon mastered the force required and quickened his pace with the rest of the procedure. Nevertheless, it took them roughly fifteen minutes to reattach the tooth.
Du Fuling screamed countless times during the process. Thankfully, Sui Xing was a trained guard who remained undistracted from the piercing noise. Even Bai Ruozhu was in admiration of him, feeling like knocking Du Fuling unconscious from her incessant noise.
By now, Du Fuling was drenched in sweat and her forehead hairs wet. However, Lady Meng didn’t attribute this to her pain, instead, she figured Du Fuling was simply worn out from her excessive screams.
Du Zhongshu didn’t see much as Sui Xing’s body was blocking his view. At this point, he was regretting sticking around. He didn’t learn a thing, but was instead embarrassed by his sister’s screams.
"Alright, try moving it. Bite down gently at first." Bai Ruozhu said.
Du Fuling did as instructed while sobbing. Her tooth looked almost intact and her mouth no longer had a gap.
"It hurts!" Du Fuling wailed again.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh internally, although she showed a calm exterior. "You might feel some slight pain right after it’s reattached. But considering the nerve in the tooth wasn’t affected, and with only minimal bleeding, it shouldn’t hurt too much. Are you sure it’s worse than childbirth pain? I mean, some women go through childbirth without as much screaming as you."
Lady Meng couldn’t help but join in laughter and said, "Yes, even we didn’t scream like you during childbirth. If you’re this delicate, I wonder how you’ll handle childbirth."
She then got up, took a closer look at Du Fuling’s reattached tooth and was impressed. She turned to Bai Ruozhu and said, "Your medical skills are indeed remarkable!"
Bai Ruozhu didn’t wish to steal all the credit and replied, "It’s all thanks to Guard Sui. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to handle her on my own. I think I should start working on developing my inner strength as well."
Lady Meng was pleased to hear this and immediately rewarded Sui Xing with twenty taels of silver. He was overjoyed and thanked Lady Meng and Bai Ruozhu. After all, if it weren’t for Bai Ruozhu’s recommendation, he would have gone unnoticed and would not have received the reward.
Bai Ruozhu wrote a prescription for Du Fuling, instructing her to take the medicine for three more days. Du Fuling held a grudge against Bai Ruozhu and didn’t wish to speak with her. Du Zhongshu had no choice but to take the prescription and thanked Bai Ruozhu on behalf of his sister.
Both of them bid farewell to Lady Meng and left to find their father at the front courtyard. As they were leaving, Bai Ruozhu said, "Now that your tooth is reattached, remember it’s not indestructible. After all, it was broken once, it’s definitely weaker than a normal tooth. So, be careful not to knock or bite into anything too hard. Don’t grit your teeth too hard when you’re angry either, all these could easily break the tooth again. If that happens, I can’t guarantee the tooth can be reattached."
Du Fuling couldn’t help but question if Bai Ruozhu didn’t attach the tooth properly to deceive her, and if her tooth would fall out again in a couple of days. Were her previous sufferings in vain? She wanted to ask but seeing her third brother’s gloomy face led her to swallow her words.
After Du Zhongshu and his sister left, Lady Meng humphed disgustedly and said, "No wonder the Du family hasn’t seen much progress in these years. If they can’t even educate their daughters properly, how can they pretend to be a rich and influential household? It’s utterly disgraceful."
The nanny standing next to them joined in, "The Du family’s business hasn’t been doing well these past years. If it wasn’t for Bai Missy’s influence, they wouldn’t have ventured into the toothpaste business."
"Humph! They’re ungrateful despite everything. Their daughter shouts and screams at Ruozhu, such ill-mannered behavior." Lady Meng turned to Bai Ruozhu and said, "Get your consultation fees from them later. If they give you less than expected, let me know. We mustn’t be taken advantage of."
Bai Ruozhu giggled internally, wondering what Lady Meng considered as ’less’?
Seeing Bai Ruozhu looking weary, Lady Meng immediately shooed her off to rest. As a bystander, even she was feeling exhausted from the tantrums, leaving her head throbbing.
Madam Wang Miaoshuang, upon hearing the circumstance of the tooth repair back home, frowned and said, "What a family of fools! Was Du Fuling so pampered that she fails to read the room? Can’t she figure out where she is? As for the Du Family Head, he’s so shortsighted. When Bai Ruozhu becomes his daughter-in-law, wouldn’t he have all her medical skills at his disposal? Is there still an urgent need to steal her skills now?"
The nanny next to her quickly chimed in, "These people don’t have the foresight you have, Madam. They really need your guidance."
Wang Miaoshuang smoothed out the hair at her temples, let out a cold humph and said, "A family of fools. If they weren’t of some use to me, I wouldn’t bother."
...
When Bai Ruozhu got home, she played with Dengdeng for a while before joining the crocheting brigade at her house. Now that she was clear of Wu Wanqing’s identity and had some of her concerns sorted out, she started working on the waistband that Wu Wanqing wanted.
If she was to give her own works to Jiang Yichun, then she would do just that. She would ensure to tell Jiang Yichun that she handmade it. In the end, Wu Wanqing might have paid for it, but Bai Ruozhu was the one who made the gift for Jiang.
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help pulling out the mink vest from her space and lightly felt it. Jiang Yichun would be returning in a few days, she would definitely give him the mink vest first. As for the custom-made waistband Wu Wanqing ordered, she would complete it first and keep it until the agreed date.
Over the next two days, Bai Ruozhu went about crocheting and wandering around her store whenever she was free. Her life was rather busy. However, it had been four days since she received the letter, but Jiang Yichun was still nowhere to be seen.
Bai Ruozhu started to feel anxious.
This early morning, as she and Auntie Fusa were heading towards the store, she saw Senior Fox from her carriage window. However, Senior Fox looked cold, his steps hasty, as if he was not in a good mood.
Bai Ruozhu wanted to ask him about Jiang Yichun and quickly instructed Wa San to stop the carriage. She told Auntie Fusa, "Auntie Fusa, you go to the store first. I’m going to buy some things and I’ll join you later."