Chapter 57: Chapter 57 What does this have to do with Bai Zhi? Chapter 57: Chapter 57 What does this have to do with Bai Zhi? Bai Zhi’s eyes became shiny and particularly serious as she looked at Bai Dan, as if the assurance was, in fact, a promise.
“Grandfather, in the future, Xingxing will definitely take care of you. I will take you wherever I go, okay?”
Bai Zhi’s eyes suddenly felt sore, no matter if it was this grandfather or the grandfather in reality, both had spoiled her to the core.
That’s why she didn’t want to be separated from him. Bai Zhi ran over, took Bai Dan’s hand, and nuzzled against his shoulder.
“Grandfather, I want to cling to you for a lifetime.”
So, don’t leave me,
and I won’t let anything happen to you like it did in the book.
This was the urgent reason Bai Zhi wanted to earn money, to take Bai Dan to the city in the future. There was only a little over a year left before Bai Dan’s departure as written in the book.
So her time was limited, although everything had changed because of her arrival, she couldn’t afford to be careless.
Feeling the emotional shift in Bai Zhi, who seemed somewhat afraid and at a loss, Bai Dan wondered, was Xingxing recalling something unhappy?
“Good, I also hope to be with Xingxing for a lifetime.”
But sometimes, wishing alone isn’t enough to make it happen.
Bai Zhi held onto Bai Dan’s hand tightly, yet felt strangely inside; the original owner was really too naive back then.
But Grandfather’s health is good, how could something possibly happen to him just coming down from the mountain?
What exactly happened?
Bai Zhi tried hard to think, but still came up empty. The memories of the original owner were truly useless, failing to recall anything when needed.
Well, she refused to believe there was no way to change everything. Wasn’t a lot already different now?
After the grandfather and granddaughter had packed up, Bai Zhi hurriedly started processing the green beans, beginning with sorting them.
Bai Fei, carrying so many bamboo shoots back, left Aunt Bai utterly astonished.
She could believe other people’s daughters would gather bamboo shoots, but her own would only be out to play. Yet today, she actually brought back so many.
Of course, Aunt Bai quickly took them over and began to check Bai Fei’s clothes, looking to see if she was injured.
“You child, why carry so many, does it hurt? You’re all red.”
Bai Fei felt a bit embarrassed; what was there to be tired about? She had only carried them from the village entrance.
“Not tired, Bai Zhi carried them to our doorstep for me, then I carried them back.”
Hearing Bai Fei’s words, Aunt Bai was taken aback for a moment. Bai Zhi really was capable, every time she saw her, she was either working the fields or climbing the mountains. It was rather distressing.
“Bai Zhi is such a good child. You should thank her.”
Bai Fei took an apple from beside her and started munching away. Their family was doing quite well and didn’t lack things like fruit.
“Isn’t that the truth? So why does Second Uncle dislike Bai Zhi so much, is there something wrong with his head?”
Bai Fei truly couldn’t understand why Bai Da would ignore Bai Zhi so much.
“It’s just that…” Aunt Bai began to say something but seemed to remember something, and then fell silent.
“Mom, tell me, please?”
Bai Fei finally heard a hint and wasn’t about to let it go so easily.
She hurried over and grabbed Aunt Bai’s hand, starting to act coquettishly and playfully.
“Alright, I’ll tell you, it’s nothing really. Your second uncle is truly a hopeless romantic, he’s incredibly good to your second aunt.”
Back in the day, so many people in the village were envious of Ye Xiu, having found such a loving man.
He cherished her, wouldn’t let her do a lick of work, and all she needed to do every day was play at home. Even taking care of the children was something Bai Da took on entirely by himself.
“What does this have to do with my second aunt?”
Bai Fei didn’t quite understand. Isn’t the second aunt a teacher in town? It seems like she’s been there for a few years, right?
“Of course it has something to do with it, your second uncle is especially good to your second aunt. But because of Bai Zhi’s difficult birth, your second aunt nearly didn’t make it, so sometimes your second uncle neglects Bai Zhi. Is it just because he loves your second aunt too much?”
Maybe he thinks that if it weren’t for Bai Zhi, your second aunt wouldn’t have suffered so much, right? Back then, your second aunt spent half a month in the hospital.”
Speaking of which, she went to see Ye Xiu at the time, and saw how Ye Xiu treasured Bai Zhi like a gem. She never expected that once she went to work, Bai Zhi would end up like this today.
Truly, fate plays cruel tricks.
If Ye Xiu had stayed at home all along, maybe Bai Zhi wouldn’t have turned out this way, but Ye Xiu is different from them. Her dream is to be a teacher, to have her own career, not to rely on a man.
She’s different. In her eyes, there’s only the family, only the children. Seeing Bai Fei and Bai Xiang well and good, she’s completely content.
“What does this have to do with Bai Zhi? She couldn’t control any of this, could she?”
Bai Fei was still confused after hearing this. What’s all this about?
Aunt Bai simply rubbed her own daughter’s head. A young girl wouldn’t understand. Bai Da, that person, really is too good to Ye Xiu.
…
Waking up early, Bai Zhi started making Green Bean Cakes, twenty pounds of it – not something that could be done in an instant. Even Bai Dan had to help out.
So in the morning, they just ate a bowl of noodles and started working together until they finally finished at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Bai Zhi was soaked through as if she’d come out of water, her back drenched in sweat. Bai Dan went to deliver the goods with his back basket.
And Bai Zhi was responsible for tidying up at home. Today was not bad, the group pet’s family finally showed some ability.
Bai Zhi also planned to go and check on the piglets. Grandpa’s piglets were no worse than Bai Zhi’s, and he never let Bai Zhi help, saying it was too tiring. He’d done it all himself. At Bai Dan’s place, she really was bored.
Apart from cooking, there didn’t seem to be much else to do; she was still not quite used to it.
It’s like now, other than cooking, all she had to do was prepare all the chives and green onions and bring them to the stall the next day to make fried dumplings.
The potatoes also needed to be prepared in advance, but all these tasks didn’t take much time.
Compared to the original owner’s past routines, it was hardly worth mentioning.
Bai Zhi flipped the bamboo shoots once more. After a whole day of being sun-dried, they were starting to get dry, but they still needed time.
Bai Fei came at this time, holding a piece of White Rabbit Creamy Candy and a bottle of frozen soda, shoving it into Bai Zhi’s hands as she walked in.
The soda was somewhat melted by now, the outside of the bottle was wet, not to mention the inside, looking like an ice cube in water.
“What are you looking at? Hurry up and drink it. This is what my dad brought back. There were two bottles, and I’m giving you one.”
She really liked this soda. After drinking the water, she would use scissors to cut the bottle open, suck out the sweet flavor of the ice, and finally, bite down on the ice cube with a crunch. It was cold and refreshing, and tasted especially good.
Bai Zhi stared at the soda, momentarily stunned. This kind of soda, it’s been many years since she last saw it. In fact, it’s just colored water.
When she was young, she would often eat it too. Sometimes she would share it with her friends, smashing the ice cube to pieces, splitting it in half – one would hold the bottom of the bottle, and the other the top. It really does bring back memories.