Chapter 89: Moved

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Moved

Zhao Lan chimed in, "My hand will be better soon. What Doctor Lu said was just a bluff for the Bai Family. How else would they have agreed to let us separate from them?"

Those words shouldn’t have been said at that moment, but Zhao Lan had already blurted them out. Bai Zhi had no choice but to say, "Uncle Village Chief, please keep this a secret for us. If the Bai Family finds out, they’re sure to cause a scene again. We don’t mind for ourselves, but we’re afraid they might blame Doctor Lu and use this as an excuse to renege on his bill. That would be terrible."

The village chief nodded emphatically. "I understand. Don’t you worry, my lips are sealed. I won’t tell a soul." He chuckled, and the last shred of concern in his heart vanished completely.

After the village chief left, Zhao Lan and Bai Zhi carried their small bundles back to the little wooden hut. The moment they opened the door, the scene inside left them dumbfounded.

The hut was no longer the one they had left. All the junk that had been piled inside was gone. In its place stood a bed covered with brand-new bedding. Two embroidered pillows sat neatly at its head. A small window had been newly carved into the wall, a simple cloth curtain hanging over it.

A two-tiered wooden shelf stood in the corner, holding two new wooden basins. There was also a small vanity, upon which sat a bronze mirror. It wasn’t elaborate, but the sight of it made Zhao Lan cry out in excitement.

After all, when she had married Bai Sanzhu, she had never received such treatment. Forget a bronze mirror—she hadn’t even been given a new set of bedding.

To say nothing of the ten years since Sanzhu’s death, during which she and Zhi’er had never once looked in a mirror.

They were just simple furnishings, but they moved Zhao Lan to tears.

’Living in a place like this, you can finally feel like a human being!’

Hu Feng walked into the hut carrying a bucket of water. He saw Zhao Lan secretly wiping away tears, though a smile graced her lips, while Bai Zhi calmly comforted her. He set the bucket down with a thud and said to Bai Zhi, "You’re making dinner. The pheasant is already chopped."

Bai Zhi turned to look at him. His tall frame was silhouetted in the doorway, and she couldn’t make out his expression. Still, she could clearly sense his good intentions.

"Hu Feng, thank you."

Hu Feng glanced at the new things filling the room. ’He had gotten every single one of them.’

Thinking of their previous living conditions, he could certainly understand how they were feeling now.

"It was all paid for with the money you earned. You don’t have to thank me. I just put in some of the labor, that’s all," Hu Feng said matter-of-factly.

"I still have to thank you. Not everyone would be willing to go to such lengths for a mother and daughter like us."

’Many villagers sympathized with them, but that sympathy never went further than paying lip service or quietly condemning the Bai Family. Who would actually spend their own money and effort to help them escape?’

Hu Feng gazed at her face. In her delicate features, her eyes shone as brightly as stars in the night sky. "If you really want to thank me, then cook a good dinner tonight. We’ll call that your repayment."

She suddenly smiled, a smile as pure and lovely as a blossoming flower, revealing her neat, pearly teeth. "Alright. I promise I won’t disappoint you."

After Hu Feng had gone, Bai Zhi fetched a basin of water for her mother to wash her face. "Mother, look at the state you’re in. If anyone else saw you like this, they’d surely tease you."

Zhao Lan chuckled, covering her mouth as a blush crept up her cheeks. "I lost my composure. Hu Feng already saw me... I wonder what he must think of me. How embarrassing."

After helping her mother wash her face, Bai Zhi wiped her own. She smiled and said, "It’s fine that Hu Feng saw. He’s not the type to gossip, and he won’t think anything of it. You can rest easy."