Chapter 579 - 581: Baiting, Don’t Believe Won’t Get Hooked
Bai Ruozhu’s heart missed a beat, and she couldn’t help but let her thoughts run wild.
Had Jiang Yichun’s injuries worsened? So Wu Yunfeng took him to find a famous doctor?
Or did Wu Wanqing play some tricks, deliberately preventing her from seeing him? And Jiang Yichun, who had clearly made an appointment with her, left nevertheless. He must not have had the freedom to make his own decision then, right? Otherwise, he would at least have left her a message, right?
...
Her mind was in a mess. She wanted to ask Wu Yunfeng, but she asked a guard only to learn that Mr. Wu wasn’t in the residence, either.
"What about Miss Wu?" Bai Ruozhu asked anxiously, then felt a bit presumptuous, so she quickly added, "I need to take my brother home, I should notify the residence first."
"The young miss isn’t here either, but the second young master is," the guard respectfully replied.
Bai Ruozhu’s heart sank a bit again. She wanted to ask more questions, but the guard didn’t know where Jiang Yichun had gone, so she had to bid him farewell and thought about asking Xu Huilin instead.
On the way, Lin Ping’er lowered her voice, saying, "Did you just ask about Miss Wu because you’re worried she’s sticking to Yichun?"
Bai Ruozhu quickly shushed her, signalling that there were many guards around and that their conversation would definitely be overheard. Lin Ping’er was startled and didn’t dare to ask further.
The two quickly arrived at Xu Huilin’s yard. Xu Huilin was about to leave. Seeing the two, he politely greeted them, he laughed and said, "Even if Xiaosi doesn’t take me as his teacher, he can still come and play with me occasionally. I, as his elder brother, can still give him some guidance."
Bai Ruozhu rolled her eyes, "Elder brother indeed. You’re really good at sticking gold to your face, Xiaosi can already call you uncle."
Xu Huilin burst into laughter, "If he calls me uncle, and you’re his sister, shouldn’t you call me uncle too?"
Bai Ruozhu was stifled. Senior Fox was indeed not that easy to mess with.
She didn’t feel like bickering with Xu Huilin at the moment, and asked straightaway, "Where did Yichun go? He knew I was coming today; he shouldn’t have left, right?"
"It seems that the poisonous insect poison has somewhat intensified. He said he was going to a place you know." Xu Huilin then slapped his head, "That’s right, he asked me to give you a message last night. Look at my poor memory."
Bai Ruozhu glared at him viciously. Did this guy really forget or did he do it on purpose? He made her worry so much just now.
Xu Huilin touched his chest after being glared at, "The injuries are severe, and the spirit is weak."
"Ruozhu, the second young master is severely injured indeed. You shouldn’t be glaring at him." Lin Ping’er tried to mediate from the side.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t say much, she went into the room to find Xiaosi, then bid farewell to Xu Huilin, and took Xiaosi home.
Upon returning home, the old Madame Bai hummed when she saw Xiaosi return, "You’re still raising this bastard? You’re really burning money!"
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t afford to get angry right now. She patted Xiaosi on the shoulder, indicating that he needn’t pay any attention to the old lady.
"Mother, you’re bullying a child at your age? Xiaosi is our family’s child, his name is also on the family register. Watch your words or you may end up being despised by the children when you’re old." Lin Ping’er said indignantly.
Wasn’t that the truth? Had the old lady been in contact with the Widow Zhou too much? Why was she increasingly annoying?
Originally, Xiaosi was staying in a room with Bai Zepei. But now, with Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong squeezed into Bai Zepei’s room, it seemed too crowded if they added Xiaosi. Eventually, Lin Ping’er decided to suggest that Xiaosi could temporarily stay in Aunt Lin’s room.
Lin Laifu and his wife stayed in one room, and their daughter Niuniu sometimes stayed with them or with Aunt Lin. Aunt Lin’s room was fairly spacious.
Aunt Lin had no objections and warmly pulled Xiaosi to her side, saying, "You haven’t recovered yet. Let your aunt take care of you for these few days."
"Thank you." Xiaosi remained as cool as ever, but was much more polite than before.
The elderly Bai lady occupied the largest room in the courtyard, looking disdainfully at Aunt Lin, mumbling, "Isn’t that the family that sells tofu? How is it that you suddenly have enough money to rent a house in Beiyu City? Are you exploiting the Bai family?"
Aunt Lin shivered. Actually, in her opinion, the Lin family had been taking advantage of the Bai family, so she turned red immediately and dared not say anything for a while.
Lin Ping’er got so angry that she stamped her feet and said loudly, "Mother, that’s enough. We jointly rent this courtyard with them. Do you know how expensive it would be if we were to rent this large courtyard alone? If you want to drive everyone away, are you going to pay for the empty rooms? If you can’t afford it, we can just deduct it from the money we give you."
"What are you saying? Don’t I matter to you anymore? If the rent is so expensive here, then you shouldn’t have come at all. Wasn’t it you who were so eager to join us?" The old lady started to rant again.
This time, the noise woke up Dengdeng who was sleeping. As the youngest darling of the courtyard, everyone usually doted on him. Even Niuniu and Rongrong were fond of him. As soon as they heard him crying, Rongrong’s eyes reddened and she said to her mother, "Grandma Bai is not a good person!"
Rongrong’s mother quickly glared at her and whispered, "Don’t say anything. We don’t want to make her upset again."
Rongrong pouted, "Even if I keep quiet, she’s always unhappy. I’ve never seen her satisfied."
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t take it anymore and went out of the room saying, "Mother, when is the wet nurse we hired coming? Dengdeng got scared by the robbers last time. He can’t stand any loud noises. If he gets scared, he needs to be nursed."
Lin Ping’er was slightly taken aback, as Dengdeng wasn’t startled that night. She had even asked afterwards. It was Bai Ruozhu who quietly put Dengdeng to sleep to avoid any sudden crying that might lead the Turkic people to them.
Soon, Lin Ping’er understood that Ruozhu intentionally said those words for the elderly Bai lady to hear.
"It’ll take some time before the wet nurse can come. I’ll feed him some egg yolk and rice paste," Lin Ping’er said.
When Bai Ruozhu checked the time, she found it was almost time for a meal, "Alright, thank you, Mother."
Lin Ping’er went to the kitchen while ignoring the elderly Bai lady, but the latter kept rolling her eyes, staring at Bai Ruozhu, and asked, "What robbery? Is there still robbery happening in such a big Beiyu City?"
Bai Ruozhu purposely showed regret, as if she regretted revealing an unnecessary detail, and said with her eyes evading, "No...no robbery, Granny. You heard wrongly."
"I’m not so old that I can’t hear properly!" scolded the elderly Bai lady.
"I am not fully recovered from my internal injury. I’ll go and rest." Bai Ruozhu said and hurried back to her room.
The old lady squinted her eyes. Something was definitely wrong. She was definitely being kept in the dark. She had to find out what it was to prevent being fooled by the second household. As she snorted to herself, she felt much smarter and sharper.
Bai Ruozhu could witness the old lady’s side face from her room. Her lips curled at the corners; she was ready to set the trap for the old lady to fall into!
----
Thanks to Book Friends Lin Lang, Jun Xingtianxia, Li Jun, Cat, Book Friend 21272164, Xiao Tong, Feixue, Simple Face Poisonous Scorpion Heart, Cry If You’re Hurt, My Right Side is Not You Anymore, Meng, Lan|Yan, That Winter Spot of Eiffel Tower’s 丶, Maybes, Falling Cherry Blossoms Like Snow for their rewards! Thank you all for your encouragement, and also thanks to those who have been supporting subscription, Mouka will try to increase updates~