Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1268: Chapter 1270 Flirting and Teasing_1

Early the next morning, when Bai Ruozhu and her companions were leaving, nearly the whole village came to see them off. There weren’t many people in the village, yet they filled the entrance of the village to the brim. Bai Ruozhu, looking at each sincere face, felt both warmth and a touch of sorrow in her heart.

West Mountain Village was in poor condition, far worse than Mountain Village where she had once lived. The farmland here could hardly grow anything, and due to the peculiar soil quality of West Mountain and its abundance of rocks, even planting fruit trees did not yield good harvests. The villagers’ clothing was very thin and quite tattered; the clothes worn by Shanzi and Xiao Liu to the city were considered to have the fewest patches.

They say to live off the mountain if you depend on it, but few people could venture deep into the mountains to hunt, and chances of catching game were even rarer, not to mention the risk to life.

Gathering medicinal materials seemed easy to talk about but was both hard work and dangerous, because many herbs grew on cliffs or near areas where ferocious beasts roamed. Bai Ruozhu had also asked the village chief last night, and every year, there were villagers who met with accidents while gathering herbs. Those who ended up disabled were considered lucky, and there were even cases where bodies could not be recovered.

Bai Ruozhu had also asked the village chief, since the conditions in the village were so poor, why didn’t everyone move to another place to live?

The village chief shook his head at the time: ”Our ancestors have lived here for generations, always blessed by the Mountain God. We cannot leave this mountain, and what could we possibly do if we went elsewhere?”

Bai Ruozhu didn’t know how to answer, how could she help these people?

She was momentarily clueless and could only take it one step at a time.

”I thought you would be too soft-hearted and give them some money. But it seems you’ve grown up a lot,” Jiang Yichun said with a smile on the way back.

Bai Ruozhu gave him a glance, ”I’ve always been mature, mentally older than you. Don’t I understand that it’s better to teach someone to fish than to just give them fish? Giving money is charity, to put it bluntly it’s an insult to them, and can only help for a moment. They still have to live their lives on their own.”

Suddenly, Jiang Yichun stretched out his hand, grabbed Bai Ruozhu’s collar, and hoisted her into the air on the horseback.

”Sister? Have you become so arrogant that you dare to call yourself sister to your husband?” Jiang Yichun said with a mischievous smile.

Bai Ruozhu gritted her teeth in anger; he was lifting her up in that tortoise posture again, this is infuriating!

”That’s just a manner of speaking, like how you men like to act all lordly and all that. Let me down! Jiang Yichun, I’m warning you, if you keep lifting me like this, don’t blame me for turning on you!” Bai Ruozhu gripped the reins with both hands, trying desperately to twist her body and escape Jiang Yichun’s hold.

Muyu and the others snickered and deliberately slowed down, falling behind so as not to disturb the two of them flirting and bantering.

Seeing that she was really getting annoyed, Jiang Yichun slowly placed her back onto the horse, snorted arrogantly, and said, ”You can say that to someone else, but you can never be the sister to me!”

Bai Ruozhu inwardly grumbled; in her previous life, she had lived for over twenty years. She was indeed older than him, his sister! But with Jianqi and the others nearby, she dared not voice this aloud.

Realizing she had no leverage over him, Bai Ruozhu, in a huff, slapped the horse’s rear and sped ahead. Jiang Yichun quickly gave chase, a sneaky smile hiding on his face. He found it quite fun to tease his wife now and then; every time he saw his wife’s melon seed face puff up like a steamed bun, he thought she looked especially adorable.

Even Bai Ruozhu herself was unaware that when she sulked with Jiang Yichun, she would puff up her cheeks with air, losing her usual stern appearance and looking somewhat cute.

The party quickly rode back to Guangqi Town, where everything was as usual. Sun Jia breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Bai Ruozhu return. He could now handle things on his own, but there was still a lack of confidence deep inside.

Bai Ruozhu pondered that he still needed more training, but who hasn’t grown up step by step?

Then she also visited Tu Bai, unfortunately, he was still in the same condition, and could only be slowly nursed back to health, a difficult task that was unlikely to yield immediate results.

She was very curious about what Tu Bai had actually experienced, but with the Imperial Decree upon her, she couldn’t afford to wait for Tu Bai to wake up. She had no choice but to send him back to Beiyu City first and think of a way to treat him later.

After that, she went to the Commerce Association, where she sent a letter to one of her managers, instructing him to arrange for people to go to West Mountain Village to teach the villagers how to process medicinal materials. Additionally, she assigned that manager to take charge of the affairs in the Northwest, including collecting medicinal materials from West Mountain Village every month.

Of course, such a task far from Capital City and near the border wasn’t something anyone would gladly accept, but a sentence in Bai Ruozhu’s letter made the manager overjoyed.

”Furthermore, I plan to open a branch of the Hua Xiangrong Weaving Pavilion in Jinshui City, and you will be in charge. You know my rules; shopkeepers get a commission, and you certainly won’t miss out on the benefits,” she had written.

How could the manager disagree? He had long envied Sui Ge, who was in charge of the Hua Xiangrong Knitting Hall—it was a gold mine.

After sorting out the affairs in Guangqi Town, Bai Ruozhu and her party packed their luggage, preparing to leave for the Western Regions the next day. Since it was a covert operation and they couldn’t let anyone find out about their whereabouts, they left without allowing anyone to see them off.

Sun Jia, who could not leave the Quarantine zone, couldn’t help but wipe away tears. Holding a Token firmly, he earnestly told Bai Ruozhu, ”Leader, I will definitely practice the Needlework you’ve taught me diligently. Once the Plague is over, I’ll recruit members for us.”

The Token was an identity plaque of the Medical Alliance, bearing not only the Medical Alliance’s insignia but also a number representing the holder’s member status. Nowadays, these early numbers are a symbol of a founding member’s rank, and Sun Jia was number four, which had excited him for quite some time.

The Tokens were crafted under the orders of Jiang Yichun, who had also contributed to the Alliance, thus naturally earning Bai Ruozhu’s ”reward.”

As for the comatose Tu Bai, he was still placed in the Quarantine zone. His Plague had already been cured and there was no fear of him infecting others if he left. However, before the members of Tu Family could arrive, it was safer to have Zhou Shu protect him here.

Thus, early that morning, before the sky lightened, Jiang Yichun led the team and quietly left Guangqi Town, heading towards the Western Regions.

...

Meanwhile, the Capital was buzzing with excitement, as everyone finally welcomed the triennial grand examination, commonly known as the Imperial Examination.

Inside the Bai Residence, Lin Ping’er handed all kinds of items to Bai Zepei and said, ”These are the exam place essentials and some emergency pills your little sister prepared for you before she left. You’re going to have a hard time staying in the exam place these next few days.”

Bai Zepei, looking at the box even prepared with little Dimsum, felt his eyes moisten and asked, ”Has little sister not sent a letter yet?”

”Yesterday, the Commerce Association brought a letter. She is treating the Plague and everything is going very smoothly. The situation is already under control, and she might be able to come back very soon,” Lin Ping’er happily replied, ”You said yesterday that you wanted to clear your mind, and you came back late, so I forgot to mention this to you.”

Bai Zepei nodded, ”That’s good. I’m also confident in little sister’s abilities; there’s nothing she can’t handle.”

Bai Zehao agreed from the side, ”Yes, indeed, I admire little sister the most.”

Bai Yihong glared at him, ”Are you saying you no longer see your father as important?”

The entire family knew Bai Yihong was joking, and they all couldn’t help but laugh.