A spring dream leaves no trace behind.
Before her consciousness fully awoke, Bai Lu was still struggling to see who that person was. After she woke up, she suddenly forgot it all completely.
The next day was the weekend. Bai Lu lazed in her room until ten o’clock before daring to open the door and walk out. The entire house was quiet; Lu Zhi wasn’t home.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Looking back on that touch from last night, her spirit perked right back up.
So what if she touched her a little!
It’s not like she lost a piece of flesh!
Who knows which one of them was worse off anyway!
Hmph!
Bai Lu hummed a little tune unconsciously, her steps becoming lighter. She wandered around the living room and even opened the Study she hadn’t visited yesterday to take a look inside.
The Study contained many things, with several easels and painting supplies, plus an entire wall of bookshelves. Curious, Bai Lu flipped through a few books. Literary appreciation, suspense/sci-fi, history/archaeology…
Such a random mix of hobbies. Could she even finish reading them all?
Bai Lu curled her lip but still nestled into the soft, giant beanbag sofa in the Study. She hugged the half-read book left on the table, leisurely crossed her legs, and tapped her foot in the air.
She stayed until noon. Only when she was starving did she make plans with Zhao Fei’er to leave.
A few days later, it was the Spring Festival. On New Year’s Eve, Lu Zhi drove to the Bai Family Old Residence.
Unlike the Bai Family Residence in the city center, the Bai Family Old Residence was situated a bit to the north of the city. This area used to be the city center, but after years of planning and construction by the municipal government, the city had gradually shifted its focus southward. This old city district had thus fallen slightly into decay.
The Bai Family Old Residence occupied a considerable area. Normally, the Eldest Uncle’s family and the elders of the family lived there. Fewer young people returned; everyone only gathered during holidays.
By the time Lu Zhi arrived, most of the people in the main hall had already gathered. She first went to pay her respects to the family elders. People in a large clan still paid attention to appearances. Although they resented her for being a mere widow who held so many company shares, they still managed to keep a semblance of a smile on their faces.
Lu Zhi completely ignored the awkward performances of those people and went to the back courtyard after greeting them.
Unlike the heavy, barely suppressed atmosphere of the front courtyard, the back courtyard was bustling with noise.
The younger generation was in the living room, talking loudly. The non-working bunch was playing mahjong in a smaller hall. Children were running wild in the courtyard, and another group was huddled together playing video games.
The clattering sounds mixed with voices, lively and noisy, full of the New Year’s atmosphere.
At this moment, the Bai family still appeared to be united. Pity, in the original storyline, within the next two years, external debts exceeding ten billion would easily dismantle the alliance of this great clan.
Lu Zhi changed her shoes under the eaves. Although the snow in the courtyard had been swept clean, some damp mud was still being tracked in on people’s soles.
“Shen Qing, Shen Qing, over here!”
As soon as she entered, she heard Bai Lu’s voice. Following the sound, she saw the young girl had just stood up from next to the mahjong table, waving at her enthusiastically. The heater inside was on full blast, making her face a little red from the warmth.
Lu Zhi smiled, taking off her Down Jacket and hanging it on the coat rack.
“Shen Qing, come quickly and help me crush them.” Bai Lu pulled Lu Zhi quite righteously into her seat, regardless of whether she could play well or not. Pointing at the other three, she said, “They’ve been ganging up on me all day. You have to get revenge for me!”
“Lulu, saying that is just being a sore loser. Clearly, your luck is just bad!”
“Exactly, don’t think about running away. It’s New Year’s. Whoever tries to weasel out today is a dog.”
“Settle the accounts first before switching players. Otherwise, who’s going to cover your losses?”
Teased relentlessly by the chorus of voices, Bai Lu’s eyes went wide with indignation. She slapped the table. “Who’s weaseling out? Put the previous losses on a tab. We’ll settle it together with Shen Qing’s round later. Win or lose, it’s all on me!”
“Fine! Bai Lu, don’t think you can act wild just because you found outside help. Just wait. I won’t leave today until I’ve won even the pants off you!”
The one throwing out the fighting words was the young girl sitting opposite her, the Fourth Uncle’s daughter, Bai Ji. She was around the same age as Bai Lu and had been studying abroad for the last few years, learning law just like her father. But her personality wasn’t at all like her father’s old-fashioned ways. She was more like Bai Lu – spoiled and domineering. The two had been at each other’s throats since they were kids.
Bai Lu pulled up a chair and sat behind Lu Zhi. Lifting her chin, she felt an inexplicable smugness. “Just you wait.”
She then tugged on Lu Zhi’s sleeve and whispered, “Shen Qing, get revenge for me.”
Unlike the bluster she showed outsiders, her voice in front of Lu Zhi was soft and sweet, carrying a natural, spoiled air, like a piece of sticky white rice cake.
Lu Zhi didn’t get stage fright and agreed with a smile.
However, Bai Lu clearly didn’t know the saying about wise spectators keeping quiet. Before even one round was over, she couldn’t help but give instructions twice.
The third time, just as Bai Lu was about to stand up, Lu Zhi grabbed her fingers and placed them lightly on her knee. Turning her head slightly, she stopped her with a look. “Be good, don’t talk.”
Bai Lu felt like her fingertip had been stung. Even after Lu Zhi let go, her hand rested on the other woman’s knee, not daring to move.
For the rest of the time, the young girl stayed meekly by Lu Zhi’s side. She only got smug when collecting winnings; the rest of the time, she was as quiet as a gourd with its stopper in. This caused Bai Ji, sitting opposite, to exclaim in great surprise.
Lu Zhi had a pretty good time playing with these youngsters. She didn’t deliberately let them win either. First, she won back everything Bai Lu had lost, and then she won about two thousand from each person, making Bai Lu so happy her eyes practically rolled to the back of her head.
Bai Ji couldn’t take it anymore. She ran to the living room and dragged over her second brother, who was drinking tea and chatting, to play for her. Before an hour was up, the people who had been chatting in the living room all came over one by one to join the fun.
All afternoon, Bai Lu collected nearly a hundred thousand in gambling funds. She was getting a bit uneasy about it.
It was originally just everyone messing around. Now that Lu Zhi was dominating, it made the others seem to lose a lot of face.
Lu Zhi comforted Bai Lu. “It’s fine. Just put it in red envelopes later as New Year’s money for the other kids.”
Around five o’clock, everyone paid respects to the ancestors together. Father Bai also found out about what had happened in the back courtyard. He didn’t really say anything, just told Bai Lu to listen to Lu Zhi in everything.
Only then did Bai Lu breathe a sigh of relief and happily went to find the Butler to pack the red envelopes he’d brought over.
Lu Zhi also calmly faced the gazes of the other Bai family members. On the surface, she seemed even more poised and at ease than when Bai Hao was around.
She knew clearly that because of Bai Hao’s accidental death, many elders in this large clan had their eyes on the company’s next heir. One could even say they had their eyes on Father Bai.
But Father Bai now only had Bai Lu as his daughter. To outsiders, it practically looked like he had no successor, a time of decline.
Therefore, at such gatherings, it didn’t matter if they acted somewhat out of line. What they feared most was being pushed down by others.
