Chapter 776 - 778: She Becomes the Focus Again
Bai Ruozhu finished giving some instructions to Ruyi, and then went to have a meal with Jiang Yichun. However, before they could even leave the yard, they heard Mr. Xie talking with someone. When they saw the person, they realized it was Ji Ziyan, whom they hadn’t seen for a long time.
Bai Ruozhu was startled, as Ji Ziyan had lost much weight and looked as though he had recently recovered from a serious illness. She quickly bowed in respect and said, "Mr. Ji, we meet again, I’m sorry for any trouble caused by Xiaosi."
Every time Xiaosi was mentioned, a dull pain would throb in Bai Ruozhu’s heart. Xiaosi had unexpectedly run off with someone, abandoning his studies.
Seeing the two of them, Ji Ziyan was also slightly surprised, but soon said with a hint of regret, "Now that you’re back, do try to persuade Bai Zeqing to return. I still hope that he will come back to his studies."
"Mr. Ji is right, I will go find him tonight." said Bai Ruozhu.
"Ziyan came to congratulate me on the birth of my twin sons, why don’t you join us for a meal?" said Xie Dun, excitement evident in his voice, emphasizing the words "two sons".
"It would be an honor." responded Ji Ziyan.
The four of them went to the main hall for dinner. The chef of the Xie Residence was quite skilled, and had carefully prepared nourishing, blood-tonifying soup. Jiang Yichun was feeding the twins, while also attentively serving Bai Ruozhu soup, quite a picture of an excellent husband. Ji Ziyan watched the couple, his mind somewhat lost in thought.
After a while, the steward from outside announced, "The young miss would like to join you for dinner."
Xie Dun frowned, replying, "She has already gotten engaged and is about to marry. It’s better for her to avoid any suspicion at this point, I’ll ask her to dine in her room instead."
Only then did Bai Ruozhu remember that the Xie Residence had a cousin named Deng Jiayin. She hadn’t realized, however, that Ji Ziyan was engaged to her.
She covertly glanced at Ji Ziyan, noticing that his face was poker-faced, as if he couldn’t care less whether Deng Jiayin was present or not. Bai Ruozhu felt curious: did Ji Ziyan dislike Deng Jiayin? Or was he still not over his deceased wife? Why then did he agree to marry Deng Jiayin?
Moreover, she had once visited Ji Ziyan and observed that he looked pale and weak, an obvious sign of excessive indulgence. Whom could he be seeing? Had he been frequenting a brothel?
Bai Ruozhu had questions, but felt it wasn’t appropriate to voice them. On the other hand, Jiang Yichun said, "Mr. Ji, there will be wedding celebrations soon, and we hope to be invited."
There was a fleeting gloomy look in Ji Ziyan’s eyes as he appeared slightly absent-minded. After a while, he responded, "I am taking a second wife, and I don’t want a grand ceremony. I’m afraid it’s going to be rather humble for Miss Deng."
"Ziyan, you’re being overly modest. My cousin doesn’t mind at all." Xie Dun chuckled, evidently in high spirits.
"Why didn’t Miss Deng come to see Sister Hongxiu when she gave birth yesterday?" Bai Ruozhu suddenly asked.
Xie Dun’s smile froze momentarily. Bai Ruozhu’s question seemed to remind him of something. Considering that Ji Ziyan was about to marry Deng Jiayin, he answered, "She is still unmarried and ought to avoid such occasions."
Bai Ruozhu let out a cold laugh but said nothing further. She suspected that Deng Jiayin must have been privy to the Deng Family’s plans, and in order to avoid any potential trouble for herself, she had chosen not to show up when Hongxiu gave birth. As these thoughts raced through her mind, Bai Ruozhu’s eyes narrowed. Even though the Xie Family had helped her solve her marital issues, Deng Jiayin had decided to keep her in the dark. She wasn’t a very good person after all.
Ji Ziyan seemed lost in thought, it wasn’t clear whether he had been aware of this.
After dinner, the three of them rode back to the Bai residence in a horse carriage. Bai Zehao, knowing that his little sister was coming home, didn’t go to the shop on purpose. When he saw Bai Ruozhu, he excitedly grabbed her hand, saying, "Little sister, you’ve become so thin."
Jiang Yichun gave a dry cough on the side, reminding in a weirdly sarcastic tone, "Big brother, be careful not to touch Ruozhu’s injury."
Bai Zehao quickly loosened his grip, fury flashing across his face. "That Hao Baishuang deserves to die, unable to tell right from wrong. This time, she will definitely be thrown into prison."
Bai Ruozhu cast a stealthy glance at Jiang Yichun from the corner of her eye. She would bet that he was jealous just now, not wanting another man to touch her hand, even if it was her elder brother. Thinking about this, she thought he was really unreasonable, yet she couldn’t help but chuckle at his jealousy.
Lin Ping’er and others came to ask about Bai Ruozhu’s condition, then they let her go back to the room to rest. Jiang Yichun had spent the whole night without closing his eyes, and had been carrying Dengdeng around in the morning. He hadn’t rested at all, his eyes were bloodshot. Bai Yihong and his wife hurriedly offered to look after the child, allowing Jiang Yichun to rest as well.
When it got dark and Bai Zepei came home from school, Bai Ruozhu was excitedly waiting to see her second brother. However, he didn’t return alone, the Tu siblings were following him.
When Bai Ruozhu saw Tu Ying, she beamed with joy, took her hand and said, "Tu Ying, I have a gift for you, let’s go to my room to get it."
The two cheerfully went into the room to talk, Bai Ruozhu gave the gift to Tu Ying, then curiously asked, "Why did you come with my second brother? Have you two become familiar with each other now?"
Tu Ying’s slightly heroic face blushed in an instant. She blamed Bai Ruozhu with a glare and said, "How could you say that? You know that your second brother has no intentions. I had gone to find my elder brother, then heard from your second brother that you had returned."
"Oh..." Bai Ruozhu prolonged the note, causing Tu Ying to go even redder.
Half a month went by in the blink of an eye, Bai Ruozhu stayed at home to recuperate, occasionally drawing some patterns. Jiang Yichun went to office, later going on an inspection trip to the Northwest Main Camp, saying it would take seven or eight days to return.
Her injury healed quickly, but because the wound was small but deep, it still hurt on the inside even though it had healed on the outside. Bai Ruozhu always care for it carefully, even refraining from holding Dengdeng. She only paid a visit to the old lady Meng, but did not visit anyone else.
The six embroideresses that Xu Ge had chosen from the capital have all been assigned to Fusa and Aunt Lin for needlework training. She also entrusted Xu Ge and Fusa with the job of organizing the summer new product press conference. Fusa had attended a press conference before, so she knew the process well.
Soon, the invitations for Hua Xiangrong’s summer new product press conference were sent out. This caused a stir in the Beiyu City. Many people were speculating how they would wear knitwear in the summer, and wondered whether Bai Ruozhu could give everyone a surprise. On the other hand, many notable families in Beiyu City got news from the capital and many of them knew that Bai Ruozhu had appeared at the empress dowager’s birthday banquet, and the empress dowager praised her skill profusely.
Additionally, many people learned about the identity of Bai Ruozhu’s husband.
"Heh, who said she was a widow? You folks can’t even gather information properly, look at the status of her husband." In the Meng Residence, Wang Miaoshuang reprimanded the nanny next to her unhappily.
The nanny on the side flattered, "Wasn’t her man missing before? The old servant thought she was not worthy of him, and he probably didn’t want her. Now that her family is doing better, he recognized her. But the reputation of Master Jiang isn’t that good either, didn’t his dad go through that incident? He seems to be a lecherous man after all."
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More to come later~