Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 2347: Chapter 2346: Toothpaste Clue

When it was dinner time, Zheng Xin suddenly rushed over.

”I truly didn’t know that Lady Jiang was a famous doctor and you all are selling seasickness medicine. I hope I didn’t make a fool of myself,” Zheng Xin said politely as soon as they met.

Thinking about how he bullied a young girl and even snatched tiny silver earrings as small as daisies made Bai Ruozhu feel disgusted.

But to avoid alerting the enemy, she suppressed her disgust and smiled, saying, ”Pilot Zheng, you’re too kind. Everyone has their expertise, and your family is most familiar with the sea. Your seasickness medicine is a unique secret recipe and indeed effective.”

Zheng Xin watched Bai Ruozhu’s reaction, secretly pondering. Bai Ruozhu bringing up the Teng Liu family—is she trying to stick up for Teng Ya?

But it doesn’t seem like it.

Recalling how frightened Teng Ya’s mother was before, too scared to speak, Zheng Xin guessed that the Teng family definitely wouldn’t dare to accuse him.

It was also this matter that made him pay special attention to the people who boarded the ship, only to learn that Bai Ruozhu was quite renowned in the capital, being the head of the Medical Alliance, and an official female Chief Doctor.

He said those words earlier to test Bai Ruozhu’s attitude. Now it seemed Bai Ruozhu probably didn’t know he had snatched Teng Ya’s earrings.

”That little girl Teng Ya is quite clever. It’s rare for her to have caught the eye of Lady Jiang, and I’m happy for her. It’s just that the children on the ship are lacking in discipline. If she does anything wrong, I hope Lady Jiang can forgive her,” Zheng Xin said, bowing to Bai Ruozhu. If she didn’t know about his behavior, Bai Ruozhu would have thought he was a good man treating the ship workers well.

”Don’t worry, Pilot Zheng, considering your presence, if they make any mistakes, I’ll patiently teach them and won’t punish them,” Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.

”Good, good, thank you, Lady Jiang.” Not staying much longer, Zheng Xin quickly retreated.

At this time, Yuan Licheng walked over, putting an arm around him and saying, ”Brother Zheng, do you still have that seasickness medication? Sell me some.”

”Sure,” Zheng Xin’s eyes lit up, quickly taking out a small paper package, and Yuan Licheng immediately handed him ten taels of silver.

Now Zheng Xin felt even more assured. If Bai Ruozhu and the others were annoyed with him over Teng Ya’s issue, they wouldn’t be so polite and come to buy seasickness medicine from him.

As soon as Yuan Licheng returned to the room, he angrily threw the seasickness medicine to the ground and stomped on it fiercely, which made Fang Luo laugh lightly on the side.

The ship sailed on the sea, with hardworking ship workers adjusting the sails every day. Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun also went on the deck to observe for a long time, quietly memorizing the patterns and timings of the sail adjustments.

But they could only grasp the surface; these were skills the ship workers had mastered over years of facing storms at sea.

When the sea was calm, Jiang Yichun and several men would go fishing off the ship’s tail, adding a few more fish to the dinner table in the evening.

Bai Ruozhu wasn’t interested in this at all; fish was the least of what she lacked.

After five or six days passed this way, one day, Bai Ruozhu was rocked awake by the ship and couldn’t sleep well, waking up particularly early. As a result, she stepped out of her room and saw Teng Ya brushing her teeth. Seeing her, she immediately smiled widely, ”Madam, you’re up so early?”

Looking at her toothpaste-stained white teeth, Bai Ruozhu suddenly caught the strange feeling she had.

Teng Ya had stayed on the ship all along, so how could she have toothpaste? They were ship workers, hardly earning any pay, so where did she get the money to buy toothpaste?

”Teng Ya, where did you get the toothpaste?” Bai Ruozhu glanced at the toothpaste box placed aside, her heart suddenly skipping a beat.

The toothpaste produced in her shop was categorized into three grades. One grade used common materials, priced affordably for common people. Another grade had refined materials, more effective for whitening and strengthening teeth, but significantly more expensive, aimed at the wealthy.

The third grade used even more precious materials, exclusively providing royal palace’s toothpaste.

The boxes for the three types of toothpaste differed, with the royal supply being the most exquisite, the box very small and easy to carry.

And the toothpaste box in Teng Ya’s hand was exquisite, the design magnificent; it was indeed the royal tribute!

”Teng Ya, where did you get the toothpaste?” Bai Ruozhu walked over and asked softly.

”A young lady on the ship gave it to me. She was very beautiful and had a lovely voice,” Teng Ya said softly, ”She was the daughter of a merchant, but later they transferred to another ship, and I haven’t seen her since.”

”What did she look like?” Bai Ruozhu asked anxiously.

”Big eyes, willow eyebrows, very fair skin,” Teng Ya recalled.

This kind of description confirmed nothing, and Bai Ruozhu quickly thought, ”Wait here. I’ll bring you a portrait to recognize.”

Without waiting for Teng Ya to respond, Bai Ruozhu hastily rushed into Jianqi’s room.

Jianqi and Gao Zhou shared a room, and Bai Ruozhu’s rush was so forceful that the sliding door made a loud noise, waking Gao Zhou, who angrily said, ”What are you doing so early in the morning? Have you no manners!”

Bai Ruozhu’s mouth twitched. It was definitely his morning temper, as if he was reprimanding her like a father-in-law.

”Godfather, I’m sorry, I’m looking for Jianqi for something urgent,” Bai Ruozhu could only smile apologetically and pulled Jianqi out.

”Master, what’s happened?” Jianqi’s expression turned serious.

”Nothing. Aren’t you good at portrait painting? Quickly draw a portrait of Princess Diao Bin; make sure it’s detailed!” Bai Ruozhu quickly said.

”Alright.” Seeing Bai Ruozhu’s urgency, Jianqi immediately sprung into action. But he didn’t want to disturb Gao Zhou by going back to the room, so he went to Bai Ruozhu’s room to grind ink and started drawing.

Jiang Yichun, woken up, looked up and asked, ”What’s going on?”

Bai Ruozhu, somewhat excited, said, ”There was once a girl who gave Teng Ya a box of toothpaste, which was royal palace’s exclusive use. I suspect it was Diao Bin, so I asked Jianqi to draw a portrait for Teng Ya to identify.”

Jiang Yichun hurriedly got up, standing by and watching Jianqi draw.

Jianqi had learned the skill of drawing portraits when practicing tracking. It didn’t have the artistic conception of a scholar at this time but was exceptionally detailed in portraiture, proficient in reconstructing the target’s appearance.

After about two quarters of an hour, Jianqi finally completed the portrait.

Bai Ruozhu nodded approvingly at the portrait, ”It really looks like her!”

”Hurry and ask,” Jiang Yichun, worried about Diao Bin’s situation, said. She was, after all, a sister who grew up with him, and the bonds were there.

The two left the room, and unexpectedly, Teng Ya was still standing at the spot where she had been brushing her teeth, not daring to return to her room. She was indeed a well-behaved girl.

”Is the one who gave you the toothpaste her?” Bai Ruozhu showed the portrait to Teng Ya, who widened her eyes upon seeing it, ”Yes, yes, that’s the young lady! Madam, do you know her?”

Bai Ruozhu nodded excitedly, ”Think carefully, when did you meet her?”