Chapter 679 - 681: Wei San’s Little Tokens of Affection for Guizhi
Jiang Yichun received a message from his subordinates at the Bai Family that Bai Ruozhu had been kidnapped. They had temporarily stabilized the situation and were keeping an eye on it.
As soon as he heard this, he became anxious. Regardless of the stability of the situation, he couldn’t let Ruozhu be in danger even for a moment. He quickly sought out Lin Ping’er and said, "Mother, I need to step out for a bit. Could you please look after Dengdeng? I’ll pick up Ruozhu from the shop later and bring her back."
He didn’t dare mention the kidnapping of Ruozhu, lest Lin Ping’er be scared out of her wits.
"Alright, go ahead." Lin Ping’er happily agreed, especially to the part where her son-in-law would "bring Ruozhu back".
By the time Jiang Yichun rushed to the location, Bai Ruozhu had already been untied and was about to mount a horse carriage.
"Ruozhu, are you okay?" Jiang Yichun dashed over and clutched Bai Ruozhu’s hand in concern.
The guards from the Government Office tried to make themselves as unobtrusive as possible, but they couldn’t help but mutter internally: What could have happened? It’s not her who’s lying hurt inside.
Bai Ruozhu’s emotions were complex at the moment, she shook her head and said, "I’m fine. There are so many people; he couldn’t do anything to me."
"Who is it?" Jiang Yichun narrowed his eyes, a murderous aura overtaking him.
"It’s my second brother’s classmate, he’s visited our home before. I don’t know why he’s suddenly lost his mind and wants to kidnap me to become his wife. He’s no good person; he couldn’t even best my second brother in the Child Student Exam, doomed to be second fiddle forever." Bai Ruozhu spoke in a disparaging tone when mentioning Fu Shengqing.
Jiang Yichun looked towards the yard, his voice ominously chilling, "So he dares to steal my wife to be his?! I’d like to see what sort of figure he is."
The guards from the Government Office instinctively shrank back in fear, sparing a few seconds of silent mourning for the poor Fu Shengqing, lying beaten up inside. He really picked the wrong adversaries.
Jiang Yichun stormed inside to find Fu Shengqing and gave him a kick. Everyone once again heard Fu’s scream and the sound of his thigh bone breaking...
"I don’t need to go to the Government Office to testify, do I? I have to go to the shop." Bai Ruozhu asked somewhat irritably. She didn’t want to spend every day going to the Government Office; she didn’t work there after all.
Jiang Yichun glared fiercely at Fu Shengqing, turned to Bai Ruozhu and said, "You don’t need to go; they can take him there. I’ll accompany you to the shop."
With that, he briskly walked to the entrance, encircling Bai Ruozhu’s shoulder and hoisted her onto the horse with him.
The guards, accustomed to such behavior these days, were nonchalant. Initially, they were quite shocked to witness the stern Third Master’s gentle treatment of a woman.
"First, let’s go to the scene of the accident; Wa San was knocked unconscious," said Bai Ruozhu.
"Alright," Jiang Yichun replied, hugging her from behind and steering the horse away.
Flaunting their intimacy like this made Bai Ruozhu blush. Wasn’t this too bold?
Jiang Yichun leaned in and whispered in her ear, "What are you thinking? You weren’t scared right?"
Bai Ruozhu held back the urge to roll her eyes at him, but since he was behind her, it was difficult to do so.
"I was brave enough to rescue you from Xuantian Mountain, do you really think I’d be scared of a little thing like this?" Ruozhu said.
Jiang Yichun chuckled softly, kissed her earlobe, and said, "And also on that mountain outside of Anyuan Town. Any other woman would’ve been terrified, only you would dare to come save me."
A smile gracing her face, Bai Ruozhu thought about how in her past life, she never would have expected to experience all this. She never thought she would be this brave. It felt like a dream and she had grown so much since her transmigration.
They quickly reached the scene of the accident where Wa San was still unconscious. Jiang Yichun revived him and Wa San groaned a couple of times before fully regaining his senses. He anxiously said, "Miss, Young Master, you should hurry and save the Miss!"
Bai Ruozhu smiled at him from the horse and said, "I’m fine. You should go back and rest. Ask my mother for some medicinal wine to massage your neck. You don’t need to work today."
Wa San got up, rubbed his neck and said, "I’m fine. I don’t need to rest. I still have to go to the Hot Spring Mansion later to fetch the second young Miss."
The ’second young Miss’ he was referring to was Fang Guizhi. She had been busy at the Hot Spring Mansion for a few days now and had asked Wa San to pick her up and bring her back to the Bai Family yard. She was to return to the mansion the next morning.
"It’s okay, you can go back and rest. I can hire a horse carriage to pick her up," Bai Ruozhu reasoned. Seeing that Wa San was injured in the line of duty, she felt he deserved a day off; she wasn’t going to be a harsh employer like Zhou Bapi.
To her surprise, Wa San emphatically refused, "I’m really okay. I promised to pick up the second young Miss, I can’t let her wait."
In the end, Bai Ruozhu couldn’t convince Wa San. She rode off to the shop with Jiang Yichun, her mind churning with thoughts. Why did she feel like Wa San was treating Guizhi strangely? However, she kept her thoughts to herself as Guizhi was still an unmarried lady and a rumor could damage her reputation.
Bai Ruozhu shook her head slightly. It wasn’t that she looked down on Wa San, but there was a gap in their class and age. He was almost thirty and weather-beaten from exposure to sun and rain, looking even older than his actual age. A young woman like Guizhi probably wouldn’t be interested in him, especially considering her previous crush was her second brother. The gap was just too wide.
Therefore, Bai Ruozhu decided to put this matter aside and not bring it up even in front of Guizhi.
As the two rode towards the shop, Bai Ruozhu stopped to buy some beadwork flowers to give to Guizhi later, as a reward for her hard work over the past few days.
When Jiang Yichun entered the shop, he looked around for something to give Bai Ruozhu, but everything he picked wasn’t to her liking. Bai Ruozhu noticed his intentions. She knew the man had traveled far and wide, and had a discerning eye. The trinkets in the small jewelry shop didn’t catch his fancy.
Soon, they left the shop and as they were about to mount their horse and leave, Bai Ruozhu spotted a familiar horse carriage near a stall some distance away, "Isn’t that Wa San’s carriage? He said he was going to fetch Guizhi, why has he come over here?"
Jiang Yichun glanced in the direction Bai Ruozhu pointed out just in time to see Wa San buying something, grinning as he tucked it into his clothes before driving away.
"He went to buy sugar-fried chestnuts," Jiang Yichun said, clarifying after seeing what happened.
Bai Ruozhu responded with an understanding nod. Guizhi loved eating sugar-fried chestnuts - was Wa San keeping them warm by putting them inside his jacket?
"I must say, Wa San treats Guizhi quite well. I’ve never seen him buy chestnuts or anything for you," Jiang Yichun sounded slightly teasing.
Bai Ruozhu playfully hit him, "What are you talking about? If he dared to buy things for me, wouldn’t you break his legs? Even if he bought chestnuts for Guizhi, it must be because Guizhi asked him to."
Jiang Yichun shrugged, deciding not to comment further lest it annoyed Ruozhu.
They both climbed back onto the horse and resumed their ride towards the shop.