Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 710: Chapter 712: Poisoned Tea at the Master’s Ceremony

The Bai family had grown tired of the whole ordeal with the old mansion. Upon hearing the old man’s continued confusion, they felt that all his cultivation and nourishment at Bai Lu’s house was in vain. Fortunately, they all lived far away from one another, otherwise, they would have been angry beyond words.

Bai Ruozhu checked the dates and according to the timeline in Zhou Deshun’s letter, the Zhou family would arrive when she had already set off for the Capital City. She felt a little disappointed and said to her father, ”Perhaps it’s for the best if I vacate my room temporarily and let Uncle Zhou and Aunt Zhou stay.”

”No need for that, your Uncle Zhou’s family will stay directly in the fields. We’ve hired laborers to till the land, he can help me manage them.” Bai Yihong said with a touch of pride, ”I’ve mentioned that I’ll offer him a 20% bounty from the profits when the vegetables are ready.”

Lin Ping’er giggled at the side. Bai Yihong scratched his head nervously and asked, ”Did I give too much or too little? I’m not sure about this either.”

Lin Ping’er laughed, ”I don’t know either. You’re just like your daughter, always offering 20% without a second thought. It seems like you’re attached to this number.”

Bai Ruozhu rolled her eyes. What was her mother implying? Was she suggesting that she was only familiar with the number two?

Bai Yihong scratched his head and chuckled, ”I learned it from my daughter. There can be no mistake if I follow her example.”

Bai Ruozhu laughed a little awkwardly. In reality, she didn’t really calculate the percentage closely. She was used to saying 20% regardless of the actual amount.

Two days later, the initiation ceremony arranged by Lin Zhenghui arrived. Lin Zhenghui had never accepted a disciple before, so this event attracted attention from all levels of the Commerce Association. The ceremony was grand and Bai Ruozhu felt a hint of nervousness.

Fortunately, Jiang Yichun was there for her throughout the process, which gave her a sense of security. Even if everyone thought she wasn’t a good fit and didn’t have much skill, as long as Jiang Yichun was there to support her, she felt confident.

According to the tradition, after the ceremony, Bai Ruozhu served tea to Lin Zhenghui. As she kneeled in front of Lin Zhenghui and picked up the teacup brought by the servant, she was supposed to raise it over her head and say, ”Please have some tea, Master.”

However, before she could lift the cup, her nostrils flared slightly and her face changed. The tea was poisoned. Although it wasn’t lethal, who wanted to harm Lin Zhenghui using her as the pawn? At that moment, she didn’t know how to react. If she pointed out that the tea was poisoned, would she provoke the culprit into taking drastic action? But if she kept quiet, she couldn’t serve this tea to her master. Could she let her master be poisoned for no reason, even if she could neutralize the poison?

Everyone was waiting for her to serve the tea but realized she was in a daze. Even Lin Zhenghui was surprised. But soon, he became aware that there was something wrong with the tea.

Bai Ruozhu suddenly put down the teacup and whispered to the housemaid, ”The tea has gone cold and there’s an insect in the cup. Go and get another one. It would be disrespectful to my Master if I serve this. I’ll just continue kneeling while we wait.”

People were about to accuse her of being petty and causing unnecessary trouble over a mere tea-serving, which showed disrespect for Elder Lin. But her last sentence silenced everyone. She said she would kneel and wait which indicated that the ceremony was not finished, so she wouldn’t stand up, showing the utmost respect towards her Master.

Jiang Yichun had already figured out what was going on. He hated to see her kneel for so long, but it was her decision and he needed to respect that.

Lin Zhenghui nodded subtly. Bai Ruozhu demonstrated steadiness. Not drawing attention to the poisoned tea was the right move. Instead, looking into it quietly would yield more results. Making a scene would only disrupt her initiation, leading to rumors about her unpopularity in the Commerce Association, which would harm future interactions within the Association.

”Ruozhu is indeed filial. Get up now. I’m not too bothered about the rituals,” Lin Zhenghui said sympathetically.

Bai Ruozhu, still kneeling, replied, ”It’s okay, Master. The maid won’t take long. ”

Shortly, the maid returned with fresh tea. Not only was the cup replaced, but even the tray was fresh. Bai Ruozhu carefully checked the tea cup again. Once she confirmed no poison was present, she lifted it above her head and respectfully said, ”Please drink your tea, Master.”

With a jovial smile, Lin Zhenghui accepted the cup and took a sip. He said, ”Good, good. Now get up.”

Only then did Bai Ruozhu stand up. Despite looking calm, she was internally cursing. She, being a modern woman, was not accustomed to kneeling. While kneeling in front of elders was acceptable, kneeling for an extra fifteen minutes because of a poison attack was too much for her knees.

Of course, a fleeting moment of kneeling wasn’t going to harm her knees. Bai Ruozhu was just not accustomed to kneeling as she hardly ever did so in the past.

Lin Zhenghui presented her with a golden abacus. ”This is a gift from your master on our first meeting. Keep it safe.”

Bai Ruozhu almost had stars in her eyes. An abacus made of pure gold, about the size of two palms, must be worth a lot of silver. But of course, she didn’t let her excitement show as she thanked her master again and stood behind Lin Zhenghui.

With a smile, Lin Zhenghui announced, ”Ok, now that you all know each other, take care of the younger generation. I, Lin Zhenghui, seldom take disciples, so don’t victimize her.”

Everyone chorused their agreement, but one person spoke under their breath, ”No wonder she caught Old Lin’s eye, she’s a real bootlicker.”

Bai Ruozhu had sharp ears and heard the remark. She turned towards the speaker, an elderly man with a rather critical face. Initially, she looked to see if he might be the one who poisoned the tea. However, the old man, upon seeing her gaze turn towards him, immediately put on a righteous air and even said loudly, ”What, did I speak falsely? Bootlicker!”

The room fell silent. Everyone thought to themselves, ’Old Wang is being so stubborn again. How can he say such things and put her in such an awkward position? If Elder Lin takes sides, there’ll be an argument for sure.’

Bai Ruozhu, however, just smiled at him and said, ”Old Master Wang likes to joke. How can showing respect to one’s own master be considered bootlicking? Do your disciples not show you the same respect?”

Prior to this, Lin Zhenghui had introduced Bai Ruozhu to everyone present. He didn’t expect her to remember everyone after only one introduction, but now, it seemed that her memory was excellent.

By Bai Ruozhu’s response, the ill-tempered Wang Liansheng seemed somewhat flushed. He wanted to rebut but that would be admitting that he wasn’t respected by his disciples, wouldn’t it?

”Sharp-tongued little girl,” Wang Liansheng purposely stressed on the words ’little girl’, signifying his contempt for Bai Ruozhu, dismissing her due to her young age and presumably lack of capability.

Bai Ruozhu just smiled and didn’t engage in a verbal spar. That one sentence was enough. If she went on, it would end up as a never-ending quarrel. And she didn’t want to kick off her journey at the Commerce Association with bad reputation of disrespecting her elders. Whether she should even bother with an old-fashioned fossil like Wang Liansheng was up for debate.

Moreover, she’d inferred one thing - the poisoned tea was not Wang Liansheng’s doing. But with so many other people present, who could it be?