Chapter 552 - 475: Returning to Her Parents’ Home
Chapter 552: Chapter 475: Returning to Her Parents’ Home
The next morning, while Bai Junfan was busy with his Cultivation, Yang Liu’er waited on the street in front of the Bai Mansion. She saw Luo Chunxiang carrying a shopping basket, preparing to go to the market. The two of them walked and talked their way to the side of the road. Yang Liu’er hailed a taxi, pulled Luo Chunxiang in, and they went to find a place far from the Bai Mansion to speak.
The taxi stopped at a park entrance. At this hour, the park was nearly empty—deserted and quiet. The two went inside and found a pavilion to sit in.
Luo Chunxiang said, "Usually, I’m the one who comes to you. If you need something, you just have someone call me. Why did you suddenly come all this way yourself today? Is something wrong?"
"What else could it be? It’s about this illness of yours."
"My illness... Did Manman tell you about it? She said as long as I start treatment right away and take the medicine she prescribed, I’ll be fine."
"As a doctor, that’s all she can tell you. But there are some things that, as an outsider, she isn’t in a position to say."
Yang Liu’er looked at Luo Chunxiang and said, "Some illnesses are cultivated. If treatment is deliberately delayed and the root cause is never addressed, the only outcome is death! Aunt Chunxiang, I’m not trying to scare you. I’m talking about *your* illness! You’ve taken so many prescriptions from Doctor Jia, so why aren’t you getting better? It’s because the medicine he’s giving you does nothing to treat your condition. Meanwhile, Bai Qingyue and the others won’t let you go to a real hospital for a check-up and treatment. By dragging this out, what are they doing if not waiting for you to die?"
Luo Chunxiang’s face went pale. "Liu’er, you... what you’re saying is horrible. No matter what, I’m still a wife in the Bai Family, the mother of three children. Besides, Doctor Jia... he’s a doctor. He can’t just violate his conscience and harm someone."
Yang Liu’er scoffed. "That’s right, you’re a wife of the Bai Family. But think about it. Ever since you followed Bai Lihua into their home, who’s been running the household? Is it you, the wife? Fine, let’s say you don’t have to manage the house and that’s one less burden. But have you received the treatment you deserve? Wives in other families also do chores and care for the whole family, but at least they get some time to themselves. They have their own spending money to buy nice clothes and things they like. They can use the family’s shared property, like a bicycle, and freely ride it to go shopping. Can you do any of that? The Bai Family even has a car. Are you allowed to use it? Bai Qingyue and Bai Yifen can have the car take them shopping or to banquets. Would you dare to ask for it? Do you ever get to go to banquets or wedding receptions? To put it bluntly, with your unrefined country look, you’re nothing more than a nanny in their eyes. They would never dream of taking you out with them, much less admit in public that you’re a wife in the Bai Family! Are you getting the picture now? The Bai family can’t stand you. They want to replace you. But they need to maintain their image and good reputation. Bai Lihua wants to get promoted, so he can’t just abandon the wife who was with him through thick and thin; that would give people something to hold over him. So, they’re hoping your illness never gets better—that it drags on and gets worse until you die an early death! That Doctor Jia has been a physician for decades. How could he possibly fail to diagnose your condition? He’s just refusing to treat it. And what’s his relationship with the Bai Family and Bai Qingyue? You know it yourself. If Bai Qingyue told him to go east, he wouldn’t dare go west! If I hadn’t sent you to Manman, and your illness had dragged on into the summer, it would have become truly difficult to cure."
Luo Chunxiang stared blankly at Yang Liu’er, her gaze hollow. "Why? Why would they do this to me? Bai Lihua... Bai Lihua... Back on the farm, he was bullied and despised. His whole family was chased from pillar to post like dogs, with no place to call home. I was the one who helped him. I begged my father to let them live in our old family house and to claim them as our relatives. That way, they wouldn’t get beaten and bullied so much. Bai Lihua was always coming to me, asking me to cut his two daughters’ hair and tie it in braids. Then he started saying he liked me. I fell for his silver-tongued promises and raised hell with my father and brothers, insisting I had to marry him... Because I was so defiant, my dad lost his chance to become the farm director. My four older brothers and my sisters-in-law got into arguments and fights almost every day trying to defend me and Bai Lihua’s family. My family went through such a hard time during those two years, but they never once complained or turned their backs on us. So why? Why, after coming to the Bai Family, am I treated with such contempt? I could take it from the others, but Bai Lihua..."
Luo Chunxiang paused, then suddenly threw her head back, her mouth twisting into a bitter laugh. "Ha... ha ha..." Tears streamed down her face like rain. "Ha! How could I forget? Bai Lihua hasn’t looked at me, hasn’t touched me, for a long time. He has women on the side. You know it too, Liu’er. He has one in Beijing, and another where he works. Every time they call for him, he treats me like the maid and has me take a message! Those women... I imagine every single one is hundreds of times younger and more beautiful than me! Liu’er, you’re right. I’m afraid the person who wants me dead most of all... is Bai Lihua!"
Yang Liu’er reached out and patted Luo Chunxiang’s back comfortingly, letting out a sigh. "I don’t even know what to say. We’re both just women with bitter fates."
Once Luo Chunxiang had calmed down a little, Yang Liu’er brought up the matter of her treatment.
"Let’s not mince words. Bai Lihua’s mistress in Beijing is Manman’s divorced mother, Wu Xiaowen. Manman despises the Bai Family and Bai Lihua. She would never want the Bai family to see the prescription she wrote for you or the herbs she prepared. You know this—the Bai family is dying to get their hands on some of Manman’s herbs! And as for you, if you take the medicine at the Bai Mansion, you won’t get better either. That Doctor Jia could easily tamper with it, and its effects would be completely neutralized. It might even kill you faster. So, I suggest you take the herbs Manman prescribed and go back to your family’s home in the Northeast. Stay there and focus on your recovery. Once you finish the first stage of the medicine, you can come back to Beijing for the second stage. After the third stage, you’ll be completely cured."
Luo Chunxiang lowered her head, thinking for a moment. When she looked up again, her expression was one of grim determination. "I know what I have to do. My life is my own, and I have to be the one to cherish it. The sooner I take the medicine, the sooner I’ll get well. I’m not going to the market. Starting today, I’m not worrying about a single chore in the Bai Mansion. While Bai Lihua is still in Beijing, I’m going back right now to get money from him, and then I’m heading home to the Northeast!"
Yang Liu’er said, "If he won’t give it to you, come to me. I have money."
Luo Chunxiang nodded with a bitter smile. "You’re a good sister to me, but I already owe you far too much. Don’t worry. As long as Bai Lihua has any sense of shame left, I’ll be able to get the money from him this time. Both you and Manman are kind-hearted young women. You’ll be rewarded for it one day."
"Alright. Call me if anything happens."
"Okay. Please do me a favor and tell Manman I won’t be coming to the hospital today. She can just hold onto the medicine she prepared for me. I’ll come get it the day after tomorrow at the latest, then head straight for the station to go back to the Northeast."
"School is about to start for the three children. I’m afraid they won’t be able to go with you to their grandmother’s."
Luo Chunxiang froze. The grief on her face was quickly replaced by resolve. "They won’t let me take the children. For now, let them stay in Beijing. I have to get well first, to save my own life, so that I can be there to watch them grow up. That way, at least they’ll still have a mother."