Chapter 777 - 779: The First Sacrifice of the Old Mansion
When Jiang Yichun returned to the Bai Family’s Yard from the Northwestern Main Camp, he greeted Bai Yihong and Lin Qing’er before heading back to his room. There, he found Bai Ruozhu asleep, a half-drawn design on the table. He looked it over several times but couldn’t figure out what Bai Ruozhu had been drawing.
Before long, Bai Ruozhu woke up. She felt someone lying next to her, his familiar scent filling the air. A smile spread across her lips, even without looking, she knew who it was.
She stretched out her delicate arm that was half-exposed to circle his waist and rested her head on his neck.
A large hand gently stroked her waist, and a soft voice asked, "Awake? How’s the injury?"
"Much better." She nuzzled her head against his body and adjusted herself to a more comfortable position. His touch made her feel flushed and heated.
He chuckled lowly and said, "Don’t tire yourself out by working on Hua Xiangrong’s press conference, and especially take care of your wounds. Don’t just assume you’re healed because it looks fine on the outside. The inside might not have healed completely." He then took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket and handed it to Bai Ruozhu. "It’s a scar-removing ointment. Apply it morning and night. Otherwise, I might have to spank you!"
"Okay." Bai Ruozhu, who was too busy to prepare her own scar removal medicine, accepted it happily.
"What’s this thing you’ve drawn in the picture? I’ve never seen it before," Jiang Yichun asked, pointing at the drawing on the table.
Bai Ruozhu covered her mouth and giggled, "Guess!"
Jiang Yichun’s palm landed lightly on her buttocks. Pretending to be angry, he said, "Have you started to keep secrets from me now? Do you believe I’d punish you right here, right now?"
Bai Ruozhu looked at him with provocative eyes and in a challenging tone said, "I don’t believe you."
Immediately after, Jiang Yichun rolled over, pinning her underneath him. He was very gentle, especially cautious not to hurt her lower back wound...
After a moment of teasing each other, Bai Ruozhu blushed and said, "I should go see our son now. He’s been causing mom and dad a lot of trouble lately. The little guy started crawling and he’s quite a handful."
Jiang Yichun sat up straight and said, "Dengdeng can crawl now? It’s only been a few days, he’s growing so fast!"
Bai Ruozhu laughed and began to dress, "That’s right, if you had recognized us a bit later, or gone to the Capital to work, your son wouldn’t even recognize you."
He snatched the clothes from her and carefully helped her put them on before meticulously fastening them. Though it took a little longer, he was notably careful. Bai Ruozhu was elated; she loved being cared for like this.
After helping Bai Ruozhu get dressed, Jiang Yichun quickly dressed himself. Then, together, they went to the Main house.
Bai Ruozhu had made a crawling mat for Dengdeng. At that moment, the mat was spread out on the floor of the Main house, and Dengdeng was crawling on it. As a beginner, his posture was still not right; he didn’t lift his knees to crawl but dragged them behind him, painstakingly creeping forward with his body.
Watching him crawl was like witnessing his persistent progress. The sight was quite adorable. Bai Ruozhu would often say that he was a child with developed motor skills.
Jiang Yichun couldn’t help but burst into laughter, "Who taught our son to crawl like this?"
The main reason Dengdeng crawled so amusingly was that his legs moved at different strengths. This caused him to crawl diagonally, with a zigzagging path. Coupled with his chubby little body, it made him look exceptionally adorable.
"At the beginning, he wasn’t used to it and it looked like this. I even jokingly said it was like Dong Cunrui’s posture when bombing an enemy’s bunker," Bai Ruozhu said, laughing casually.
"Who’s Dong Cunrui?" Jiang Yichun looked at her, confusion written all over his face.
Bai Ruozhu coughed awkwardly and whispered, "He is a hero from my old place. He crawled through a hail of bullets to bomb enemy bunkers."
"A hail of bullets?" Jiang Yichun sounded like a curious baby.
Bai Ruozhu was stumped. Explaining would mean endlessly going in circles. Danliang was still in the Cold Weapons Age, and even the western world didn’t have guns yet. In the end, she made a lot of excuses to avoid explaining the true nature of "a hail of bullets." Otherwise, Jiang Yichun would be utterly shocked.
After playing with their son for a while, Jiang Yichun accompanied Bai Yihong to the backyard to check on the vegetables, and Lin Qing’er pulled Bai Ruozhu aside to chat about household matters.
"Ruozhu, do you mean to say you rejected Kuai Family’s proposal outright?" After chatting for a while, Lin Qing’er suddenly changed the subject to Bai Yun.
"Of course we refused. Xiaosi has no intention of coveting others’ property. In the future, we can make enough for my brothers and Xiaosi to share," Bai Ruozhu responded.
Lin Qing’er laughed, "Silly girl, you’ll have a share too."
"I don’t need a share. You see how much money I already have. It would be unfair if I took more," Bai Ruozhu replied cheerfully.
However, Lin Qing’er sighed, "But don’t have a grudge against your aunt for this matter. She’s a pitiful person too."
Bai Ruozhu did not have a favorable impression of anyone related to the old mansion and bluntly said, "Person pitied must have their hateful side."
Lin Qing’er shot her a reproachful look. "You hadn’t even been born when your aunt was married. I hadn’t even married your father at that time. It wasn’t until many years later, the year your aunt and grandparents had a falling out, that I learned the difficulties your aunt faced. Your grandparents were unfair; they had eyes only for money and their eldest son."
Bai Ruozhu was all ears. Oh! There was some drama here.
"Your aunt was Scholar’s legitimate eldest daughter, but your uncle was the Kuai Family’s only son. His father was also a Scholar, and the family had a thriving business in Beiyu City. It was your aunt who had married above her status. A couple of years after her marriage, the in-laws were pleased, and husband and wife were delighted. Many villagers were envious. The only downside was their childlessness."
With a shake of her head, Lin Qing’er continued, "The year your aunt argued with your grandparents, I happened to be picking vegetables in the backyard and accidentally heard their argument. It started as a quarrel between your aunt and uncle. In a fit of anger and after having too much to drink, your uncle accidentally revealed that your grandparents were aware of his issue. However, drawn by Kuai Family’s affluence, they concealed it from your aunt and married her off. Later, they even suggested adopting the third son to your aunt."
Bai Ruozhu was stunned. She didn’t know there were problems with her uncle. She wondered if the "problem" referred to his ability to procreate, or if it was something else. Since it had been known beforehand, she figured it must be a serious issue. In Bai Ruozhu’s memory, her grandparents were the most fond of her aunt. She thought that her aunt had married into a rich family and didn’t want to look after her parents. She didn’t expect it was because of a secret like this. Didn’t that mean her grandparents had sold their daughter?
From this perspective, Bai Yun was the first sacrificial victim from the old mansion.