Chapter Thirty Father and Daughter

  "Hey!" Zhang Nai Chun waved goodbye as he got off the carriage with the help of Fourth Son, and everyone furrowed their brows.

  "What a coincidence! Mr. Bai! Mrs. Bai! Young Master Bai! Miss Bai!" Zhang Nai-chun nodded and bowed, greeting each of them with a smile that could light up the room.

  Bai Yun felt warmth in her heart, but a chill ran down her spine. She knew instinctively that this was no coincidence, and that Zhang Nai Chun must have followed the Bai family's carriage after running into them on the street earlier.

  Father, mother, brother and Wen Lu Ming all greeted Zhang Nai Chun with courtesy. Zhang Nai Chun said warmly: "During the Lantern Festival, Old Man Bai invited me to visit him on a chosen day, but I didn't dare to go and disturb him. Who would have thought that we'd meet here? What's that saying...?" Zhang Nai Chun suddenly became speechless, and Fourth Son chimed in: "Where there's fate, people will meet, Young Master."

  Zhang Nai Chun smiled slyly, with a rather shameless and cunning look on his face. "Exactly, exactly, it's this sentence - 'have fate why not meet', since we're so lucky to run into each other, why don't we just do it together, Uncle Shi?"

  Zhang Nai Chun had already become familiar with Bai Yu Shu and changed his tone, after all, Bai Yu Shu was an elder and had the temperament to be more tolerant of others, so he smiled and said: "Good!"

  Zhang Nai Chun, upon hearing the sound of the horse carriage, hastily ordered his fourth son to move the food onto the carriage. Earlier, he had coincidentally encountered the White family's horse carriage in the market, and subsequently instructed his attendants to split into three groups: one group swiftly brought over a red-canopied horse carriage for him to ride in; another group went to investigate what people and goods were on board the White family's horse carriage, discovering that they were mostly equipped for an outing to the suburbs for spring sightseeing and a picnic; while the third group rapidly arranged for various food ingredients to be loaded onto the red-canopied horse carriage.

  This kid, everyone saw the fourth son busily unloading big bags and small bags of ingredients from the car, shocked to be stunned, even Bai Yunnuan had to wonder if he was mistaken about Zhang Nai Chun, maybe he really just happened to be with them.

  "Miss, you said that Mr. Zhang really met us by chance?" Xīn Yuè whispered in Bai Yun's ear.

  White clouds warm and shrug shoulders, no room for yes or no.

  Bai Zhenxuan, because of Zhang Nai Chun and Qin Guan's good relationship, let Song Ta help Si Er with his work. In a short while, the servants came and went, setting up a frame on the grass by the lake, with pots for cooking and tools for roasting. Bai Jiangshi asked Zhen Niang to direct the slaves to carefully prepare lunch, while she stood beside Bai Yu Shu, beckoning to Bai Yun Nuan.

  Bai Yun walked away. After paying respects to his father and mother, he asked Bai Yushu in confusion: "Why did Father ask Qin Ai to prepare a horse-drawn carriage of the same color?"

  Bai Yushu and Bai Jiangshi exchanged a glance, smiling: "Because Father is a perfectionist!"

  "Pffft!" Bai Yun Nuan couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, never expecting her father to have such a pure and innocent side. She looked up at him with deep eyes and asked: "Was this trip specially arranged by Father for me?"

  "Don't let your brother hear that, it's said that boys are more important than girls is the tradition." Bai Yushu pinched his daughter's small nose and smiled brightly like a spring sun.

  Is it fair to show off that I love my daughter more than my son just because I arranged a spring outing? You should know that Qiang Jin Ge is the benchmark, and one day when Father lets her reach Qiang Jin Ge too, that's truly being impartial.

  Bai Jiang saw her daughter standing obediently, as gentle as a lamb, allowing Bai Yu Shu to pinch her nose. She took out her handkerchief and covered her mouth, laughing, "Alright, alright, I'll leave you two alone, don't disturb your father-daughter intimacy. They say daughters are their fathers' little cotton-padded jackets, and sons are their mothers' little cotton-padded jackets. I'll go find my own cotton-padded jacket."

  As he spoke, Bai Zhenxuan walked towards the lake, turning his head to shout at Bai Yunnuan: "Nuan, you have your father doting on you, and your mother doting on your brother! Nuan, don't be jealous!"

  Bai Yunnuo couldn't help but laugh at her mother's humorous appearance, and when she glanced sideways, she saw that her father was also smiling happily as he watched her mother walk away. The smile on her face gradually faded.

  Dad, you love mom, don't you?

  "Anu, let's go for a walk, Father has something to ask you."

  "Alright, daughter also has something to ask father."

  The father and daughter walked side by side, away from the crowd.

  By the lake, fragrant grass is as green as a carpet.

  Golden forsythia and multicolored marigolds dot the grass, highlighting the vibrant and bright breath of spring.

  The girl loves flowers. Seeing the February spring flowers blooming with a smile in the scissor-like spring breeze, Baiyun also couldn't help but reveal a hint of a smile on her lips.

  The white jade book is in sight, but it pains the heart.

  His daughter used to be lively and innocent, but now she's become too quiet and sensible, especially after the incident at Lingyun Temple, which made him look at her in a new light.

  Such a warm scene made him feel surprised and delighted as a father, yet also filled with compassion, love, and a sense of unfamiliarity.

  "Ah Nuan, do you like the Winter Jasmine or the Chrysanthemum?" Bai Yuxu stopped in front of a clump of chrysanthemums and asked Bai Yunnuan.

  Father stopped beside the chrysanthemum, which already showed his subconscious choice between the two flowers. The warm white cloud's counter psychological effect on Father made her instinctively choose another flower.

  "I like peach blossoms," she said.

  "Oh? Tell me the reason." Bai Yushu's smile was warm and jade-like, setting off his humble and self-effacing gentlemanly demeanor.

  Baiyun gently bent down and picked a wintersweet flower, twirling its sturdy branch while pondering: "Wintersweet flowers are not only elegant and beautiful in color, but also extraordinary in temperament. Moreover, they fear neither cold nor wind, adapt well to different environments, and are known as one of the 'Four Friends in Snow' along with plum blossoms, narcissus, and camellias. They bloom the earliest among spring flowers, ushering in a season where hundreds of flowers bloom together. They can be called the first among spring flowers, a pioneer, a trailblazer. That's why I like them."

  There are a thousand reasons for liking something and a thousand reasons for disliking it.

  Bai Yun Nuan made up a long list of reasons for liking peach blossoms in order to sing against her father.

  Bai Yushu nodded slightly and crouched down, his eyes fixed on the patch of calabaza leaves at his feet: "But Father likes calabaza."

  "Why?"

  Bai Yushu gently stroked the soft petals of the calibrachoa, saying: "The language of calibrachoa flowers is joy, happiness, prosperity and family reunion. For a parent, what could be more beautiful than a harmonious family?"

  Bai Yun's warm heart seemed to have been punched by someone, her body stumbled backward, and her father's eyes were filled with shock.

  Would such a loving father who yearns for a happy family poison his mother to death?

  She couldn't believe that such a gentlemanly face would do something so devoid of conscience.

  Perhaps she and her mother had misunderstood each other. Perhaps, the fate of this life and the previous one had deviated too much, such as in the previous life she lost her mother at the age of five, but in this life she was thirteen years old and both parents were still alive. In short, she couldn't view this life's father with the eyes of her past life. However, for the sake of her mother, to protect the mother she loved, she still couldn't help but be on guard against her father.

  Bai Yushu looked up and saw Bai Yun Nuan silently staring at him without making a sound, her eyes fixed on his. He couldn't help but smile and say: "Ah Nuan, didn't you say you had something to ask your father?"

  "Doesn't Father also have something to ask Anuan?"

  "Father let Anuan ask first." Bai Yushu smiled and said.

  Bai Yun smiled faintly, knowing they both wanted to ask each other the same question.

  "Actually, the White family isn't in decline, so why did Father have to ask Master Hui Ze to act as a matchmaker and curry favor with Prime Minister Tong?" Bai Yunnuan finally asked the question that had been puzzling her. After returning from Lingyun Temple to the White residence, she had walked all over Baofang Garden, Shuxiang Hall, and Zhi Lan Pavilion, except for not going up to Qiangjin Pavilion. She had almost thoroughly examined every nook and cranny of the White family's estate. "The White family is wealthy, and any piece of furniture taken out at random would be worth hundreds of taels of silver. If Father really wanted to rebuild Qiangjin Pavilion, how could he not come up with three million taels of silver? Why did he have to fawn all over Prime Minister Tong to get him to take our brother as his son-in-law? If you were using your daughter as a bargaining chip for benefits, I could understand it. But Brother...I really can't figure out why Father would do such a thing."

  The smile on Bai Yu's face was like a thin cloud in the sky blown away by the spring breeze. He stood up from the ground, looking at his daughter with a serious expression for a long time before finally saying: "Firstly, although the White family is not declining, it has already become superficially strong but internally weak, and is not as wealthy as Ah Nuan thinks. The harvest of the Zhuangzi estate is not good, and every year the expenses used to purchase good books and maintain the book tower and collection have made the White family's income insufficient to cover their outgoings. Flattering the Prime Minister is a last resort, and clinging to the powerful is not the father's intention or style, but as the head of the household, he must ensure that his wife and children live a comfortable life. As for Ah Nuan saying that even moving out one piece of furniture can exchange for several hundred taels of silver, this is only something the father would do if flattering the Prime Minister fails...

  Bai Yu Shu turned his back, casting his gaze towards the distant mountain slope, where the mountain tea was blooming like snow. His voice also seemed ethereal: "As for your brother, Father never expected that Lord Xiang had an unusual hobby. Not even Master Hui Ze anticipated it. Father only thought of using your brother's musical talents to win over Lord Xiang, because he heard Master Hui Ze say that Lord Xiang loved music... If Father knew about Lord Xiang's fondness for men, he would never have let your brother take such a risk. As for you, An Nuan, Father loves you and your brother equally, and he will never use you as a bargaining chip for any benefit, no matter the time or place!"

  Bai Yushu turned around and looked at her daughter with a calm expression.

  Bai Yun felt a little unsteady on her feet and her heart was racing, as if there were many buckets floating up and down in the lake of her heart.

  Looking at her father's bright and determined eyes, she sneered in her heart: Never? Not anytime or anywhere? Why did you do it in the past life? Why did you sell me, sell your daughter's lifelong happiness for 100,000 taels of silver? I was reborn with such bitter and painful memories, shouldn't I hate you properly? Why this time you would say these grandiose reasons, not even giving me a chance to hate you?

  A surge of grief and indignation swirled in her heart, refusing to dissipate. She felt as if her throat was on fire, almost as if she were about to spit out blood.

  At this time, Bai Yuxu's lips curled up slightly, and his solemn face broke into a gentle smile. He said lightly, "Now it's Father's turn to ask you, Anuan, how did a young lady like you know about Xiangye's... hobby? And also helped your brother avoid this calamity?"

  Bai Yun widened her eyes, hastily tidying up the tangled threads of her mind. There was no time to lament or indulge in wild thoughts now; what kind of excuse could she come up with to placate Father?