The Abandoned Daughter's Second Chance

Chapter 451: Chapter 391: Spontaneous Thoughts

Bai Lihua returned to the Bai Mansion, where the large family was gathered in the dining room for breakfast. When they saw him walk in, they all rushed to greet him. Luo Chunxiang quickly stood up, ready to make room for him and set out a bowl and chopsticks, but Bai Lihua shook his head, indicating he wouldn’t be eating there. He handed one of the two food bags he was carrying to his eldest daughter, Bai Tingting, then smiled at his second daughter, Bai Miaomiao. "I bought your favorite shumai and soup dumplings, plus some crystal shrimp dumplings. I made sure to get plenty, so share them with your sisters and brothers, okay?"

As his two daughters cheered, he handed the other bag to Shun Ma, who had heard his voice and hurried into the room. "In here are your favorite pork floss pastries and golden silk rolls. Plate the other items and take them to Mr. Bai. I’m just going to change my clothes, and I’ll be right over."

Shun Ma took the food bag with both hands, her face breaking into a wide smile. "This morning, I made some aromatic rice porridge for the Master, served with a few small side dishes. You enjoy it too, Second Master. I kept a bowl warm for you in the pot. Shall I bring it over to you now?"

Bai Lihua paused. He had actually eaten breakfast out already, but seeing the eager look on Shun Ma’s face, he nodded anyway. "Alright."

Shun Ma’s smile grew even brighter and more content. As she watched Bai Lihua walk toward his room, Luo Chunxiang made to follow, but Shun Ma quickly reached out and pulled her back. "Just finish your breakfast," she said in a low voice. "The Master and the Young Miss just said we have important guests coming today. They need to be entertained properly. We’re talking at least two full tables of food. Xiao Peng just left to go shopping. You need to hurry up and eat, we’re going to be swamped in the kitchen soon!"

Luo Chunxiang wiped her hands on her apron. When she heard Bai Lihua say he was going to change, her first thought was that, as his wife, she should go help him pick out clean clothes. But after what Shun Ma said, she hesitated. ’The household chores are so numerous and complicated,’ she thought. ’It’s just me and Shun Ma, and Shun Ma only ever gives orders without lifting a finger. I can never keep up. Sometimes, if I don’t eat quickly, I miss my chance and have to go hungry. Back on the farm, I was perfectly healthy, but in the less than two years since I’ve been back in Beijing, I’ve already had stomach pains several times. And now we have guests coming today... I’d better just hurry up and finish my breakfast.’

Poor Luo Chunxiang had married into a wealthy family but was not fated to live the life of a pampered wife. She had no idea that for a family of their status, given Mr. Bai’s rank, they were entitled to two state-provided household staff members in addition to security guards. The Bai Family collected the government subsidy for this but never hired anyone, so Luo Chunxiang ended up serving as a maid for the entire family. Shun Ma, taking advantage of her seniority, did little more than attend to Mr. Bai’s personal needs and spend the rest of her day acting like a tyrannical housekeeper, bossing Luo Chunxiang around. It was only thanks to Luo Chunxiang’s robust constitution that she could shoulder the entire workload of the Bai household.

Bai Lihua went to the small parlor, still carrying his bag. Bai Qingyue and Mr. Bai were having breakfast there. Shun Ma stood behind Mr. Bai, using a pair of chopsticks to place food on his plate. She smiled as she watched Bai Qingyue stand up and call out, "Second Brother." Bai Qingyue then pulled out a chair for him and personally placed the freshly delivered bowl of hot porridge in front of him before sitting back down to continue her own meal.

Mr. Bai glanced at Shun Ma and pushed a small plate of golden silk rolls toward her. "You like these. Take them and eat them while they’re hot."

Shun Ma murmured her thanks and picked up the plate of golden silk rolls with both hands. She pretended not to notice the meaningful look in Bai Qingyue’s eyes. Though her expression was one of pure deference, she couldn’t suppress a surge of smugness. ’No matter how capable you are, no matter how much the Master dotes on you, you’re still just a girl! When you see the Second Master—even if he’s only older by a few days—you still have to call him ’Brother,’ show proper respect, and serve him dutifully!’

Bai Qingyue didn’t have the Mind Reading Technique. If she had heard Shun Ma’s inner thoughts, she probably would have flipped the table on the spot.

As soon as she saw Shun Ma step out of the room, she turned to Bai Lihua. Her tone was slightly mocking as she asked, "So, your old flame didn’t manage to die, huh? What’s she look like now? Is she still pleasant to look at?"

Mr. Bai coughed. "Yueyue, mind your tone!"

"Yes, Father," Bai Qingyue agreed. She tore off a piece of a soft, white steamed bun and popped it into her mouth, her eyes still fixed on Bai Lihua.

Mr. Bai turned to Bai Lihua. "Well? What’s the story? Wu Xiaowen attempts suicide, some insignificant adopted daughter gives you a call, and you come rushing back in a panic? Are you worried she isn’t causing a big enough scene? How promising of you! I have warned you countless times to stay away from that Wu Xiaowen. She is the Tang family’s daughter-in-law now, and she has two children. Tang Renqian is a nightmare to deal with when he gets petty. I still want Junfan to marry the Tang family’s eldest granddaughter. If you ruin my plans, I will not spare you!"

Bai Lihua picked up a shrimp dumpling with his chopsticks and placed it on Mr. Bai’s plate. "Father," he said with a smile, "don’t you think Wu Xiaowen is actually quite remarkable? Look at the two children she had for Tang Qingyun. One is a genius, and the other has abnormal Qi Circulation and learned a secret technique from a famous master... If I had married Wu Xiaowen back then, do you think I might have had children like that, too?"

Mr. Bai’s mustache bristled as he glared at his son. "Are you blaming your old man? You’ve gotten bold! Have you forgotten what things were like back then? Our family was on the verge of collapse. How could we dare get involved with a family of the Wu’s standing? If I hadn’t arranged for you to marry Meng Jiajia, we would have met a much faster and more miserable end! It’s just a shame that Boss Meng died so young and ultimately couldn’t protect us. But his backing bought us some time, allowing us to make other arrangements. Otherwise, we would have lost everything!"

Bai Lihua nodded and sighed. "I wasn’t a child back then; of course I understood your difficult position, Father. I was just speaking my mind is all. I didn’t mean anything by it."

"Hmph! You refused to listen to me and insisted on running to the hospital to see that woman, and now you come back with ’reflections’?"

"More than reflections—a surprise!" Bai Lihua said with a grin. He stood and walked over to the coffee table to retrieve his bag. "Father, Junfan is still abroad. When he gets back, he’ll have to fight tooth and nail with that Gu family boy if he wants to marry Tang Manman. It will be a long time before we can expect Tang Manman to be wholly dedicated to the Bai Family. However, if I were to rekindle my old friendship with Wu Xiaowen, we could actually gain some tangible benefits by leveraging her relationship with her children."

"Oh?" Mr. Bai’s interest was piqued. Bai Qingyue also quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks. She glanced at Bai Lihua’s bulging bag, then silently cleared a space on the table, wiping it clean with a cloth. As father and daughter watched with anticipation, Bai Lihua took a packet of herbs out of his bag and carefully placed it on the table.

"I stopped by Tai Shi Pharmacy on my way here to see Doctor Jia. He wasn’t in, but I left a message. He should be arriving shortly. Father, smell these herbs. Do you feel anything?"

Bai Lihua handed a packet of herbs to Mr. Bai.

Mr. Bai first sniffed it gently. Then, he pressed the entire packet to his nose and mouth, greedily taking several deep breaths. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they shone with a stunning intensity. His expression was one of pure elation.

"Spiritual Energy! These herbs actually contain Spiritual Energy!"