Chapter 59 - 59 48 Nostalgia

Words : 1383 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

59: Chapter 48: Nostalgia 59: Chapter 48: Nostalgia Old Master Bai also felt pain for Bai Erlang, initially thinking that his two sons had been beaten by someone again. While ordering servants to take him away for a bath and a body inspection, he inquired about the incident from the servant who had brought the child back. The other two classmates who had returned with Bai Erlang were also taken away to bathe and change clothes. The servant knelt on the ground, with his head bowed, and relayed everything he had witnessed in full detail. Old Master Bai’s face grew colder and more livid by the minute, leaving both the arriving Mrs. Bai and Mrs. Bai at a loss for how to face Ms. Liu. Fortunately, Ms. Liu kept her composure. She turned to console Old Master Bai and his mother, saying, “What child doesn’t act up? The two of them are close in age; this is all normal.” What was normal about that? If it had been just a typical fight or quarrel, that would have been one thing, but this child was trying to put him in a sack! Old Master Bai was fuming and stormed off to his second son’s courtyard. Mrs. Bai, seeing him in such a state, was terrified and hastily supported the old lady. The old lady, too, could no longer comfort Ms. Liu and hurried after her son while calling out from behind, “Just a light pat or two will do; don’t beat the child into a bad state...” Ms. Liu rushed after them without hesitation, overtaking the old lady while shouting, “Bai Li, if you harm the child, we won’t be able to face staying here!” Old Master Bai, who had been smacking his son’s bottom, stopped abruptly. He threw the crying and screaming child to the ground and pointed angrily, “You cry! If you don’t cry yourself to death today, it’ll be your father who dies of anger!” Ms. Liu quickly grabbed a quilt from the bed to wrap the child, who had been dragged out by Old Master Bai while bathing, which made the handprints on his bottom all the more apparent and likely the most severe of his injuries. Ms. Liu held the sobbing Bai Erlang and cried, scolding Old Master Bai, “At seven or eight years old, children can be as disliked as cats and dogs; weren’t you mischievous at that age? Did your mother and I beat you like this? A child should be taught properly. With the way you beat him, any good child could be ruined by you!” “Let him be beaten!” the old lady finally arrived with the support of her daughter-in-law, gasping for air as she leaned on the door frame and angrily said, “Let him be beaten! If the child dies, that’s the end of it, and he can live in this manor by himself. Sister-in-law, I’ll leave with you; we won’t stay here to bother his eyes.” Ms. Liu scolded in anger, “My sister, if he doesn’t know how to teach the child, then teach him. What’s the point of getting so angry with him?” Ms. Liu checked Bai Erlang and saw that his bottom was swollen but the problem wasn’t serious. She was more concerned that the fright might cause a high fever at night, which could be life-threatening. She then instructed Mrs. Bai, “Stop crying already. Your mother-in-law is old; you should take charge. Go and find some clothes for the child, get him changed, and then prepare a calming herbal soup. Don’t let the fright affect him.” The old lady, having raised two children, knew this all too well and quickly had her daughter-in-law follow Ms. Liu’s orders. Not only at their end, but Bai Shanbao and the other two children were also given calming herbal soup before being considerately sent back home. The once chaotic Bai Manor finally quietened down. Ms. Liu, exhausted, then said to Old Master Bai, “We also need to send an apology to the Zhou Family; I heard their young miss was also seriously injured.” Old Master Bai nodded repeatedly and turned to instruct the steward. The two children were brought together; Bai Erlang, having just been beaten, still had red around his eyes, while Bai Shanbao knew he had been beaten and pretended to be behaving, looking down, but his gaze kept stealing glances at the other and snickered when the adults weren’t looking. Bai Erlang, seething with anger, glared back at him when the adults weren’t paying attention. But how could the adults never pay attention? Seeing that the two children still hadn’t learned to get along with love and friendship, all the adults fell into a silence. Ms. Liu thought that she needed to speed up the construction of her house and preferably move out before the new year. With distance, maybe affection would grow, and possibly, the relationship between the two children would no longer be so strained. The old lady also sighed and waited until Ms. Liu and her daughter-in-law had taken Bai Shanbao to rest before saying to her son, “You and Qi’er used to get along so well, like brothers closer than blood relatives. How come it has come to this with this generation, where they can’t get along at all like fighting cocks?” “When Dalang comes back, let him spend some time with Shanbao.” Mrs. Bai couldn’t help saying, “Dalang is so much older than Shanbao. The two children won’t quarrel, but he’s also not suited to stay in the school any longer, isn’t that so? Didn’t you say you wanted to find a way to get the child into the County School?” “He has to pass the examination to get in. Mr. Zhuang is from the Prefectural School; I was hoping Mr. Zhuang could give some guidance to Dalang,” Old Master Bai retorted. Mrs. Bai did not quite understand why her mother-in-law and husband were so insistent on the children in the family befriending Bai Shan. Seeing her daughter-in-law with downcast eyes and silent, the old lady guessed her thoughts. In fact, ever since Ms. Liu and her daughter-in-law moved in with Bai Shan, her daughter-in-law was not very happy. The old lady sighed and said to Old Master Bai, “Your uncle passed away, leaving your aunt and their son with no support. They’ve been bullied by the clan, and now they’ve nobody to rely on but you. Our families naturally have a different bond,” The old lady didn’t speak these words solely for Old Master Bai’s ears but also for Mrs. Bai, “When your father entered the clan school, he was just a country bumpkin. Despite being from the Bai Family, his direct lineage had long become distant. If it hadn’t been for your grandfather’s competence in managing the family business well and donating substantial amounts to the school, your father wouldn’t have been able to study in Longzhou.” Patting her grandson on the head, the old lady continued to talk to Old Master Bai, “Even so, he was often bullied. It was your Fifth Granduncle who took care of him then.” Old Master Bai’s face flushed as he knelt and said, “Mother, rest assured, I will definitely take good care of my aunt and raise Shanbao as if he were my own son.” The old lady pulled him up, saying, “That’s not what I mean.” Then what do you mean? The old lady, still looking at him, said, “You know the bond between our two families, but the children might not. If you don’t speak up, they’ll think your aunt’s family is just here to take advantage.” Finally, the old lady turned to Mrs. Bai and her grandson, explaining, “Back then, your grandfather was close to Fifth Granduncle; it’s just unfortunate that your grandfather wasn’t as good at studies as your Fifth Granduncle. He ended up becoming just a county magistrate and had a foul temper to boot. After being scolded by a superior, he quit his post and returned to farming.” Mrs. Bai: ...She knew about this too; people in the county city still called her grandfather a man of character.

Chapter 59 - 59 48 Nostalgia

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