Chapter 78 — Protecting One’s Offspring
Xie Jing spent the night at Lord Bai Jiu’s residence.
Having not seen each other for a year, Xie Jing gave Lord Bai Jiu a pleasant surprise upon their first meeting.
The boy he raised has indeed grown up, and he is quite different from before. His temperament and personality seem unchanged, and he still speaks very little, but he doesn’t seem like someone to be trifled with.
Lord Bai Jiu doted on him, only thinking that Xie Jing and Bai Mingyu had had a hard time in Nanfang over the past year, completely forgetting that he had thrown them over here for training.
In the master bedroom on the second floor of the villa, the bed was soft and fluffy, and the bathroom was already filled with hot water. Steam rose from the gilded bronze bathtub, making it the perfect place to soak and relax.
Xie Jing served Lord Bai Jiu a bath. He took off his own clothes and put them aside, changed into a bathrobe, knelt on one side of the bathtub and washed Lord Bai Jiu’s hair while whispering to him about what had happened in Nanfang this year.
Lord Bai Jiu casually placed his hands on either side of the bathtub and listened with his eyes closed.
Xie Jing almost thought he was falling asleep, and asked softly, “Master?”
Lord Bai Jiu chuckled and said, “Here, I’m listening. Go on.”
Xie Jing thought for a moment and said, “There’s not much to say. There’s only so much to do in Nanfang. Apart from the few taverns we just took over that haven’t opened yet, there’s nothing else to worry about.”
Lord Bai Jiu said, “That’s not all. Hong’er’s letter didn’t say that.”
Xie Jing spoke up for her, saying, “Miss Bai is straightforward, but she and the Second Young Master don’t get along. They always bicker when they meet, but they’re on the same page when it comes to business. Those taverns by the railway last month were found by Miss Bai. She’s sharp-tongued but kind-hearted, and she’s helped us a lot this year. She’s been very good to us.” He paused slightly, then added, “The Second Young Master actually likes her quite a bit… He’s mentioned her business acumen to me a couple of times in private, saying he wants to get to know her better and learn from her.”
Lord Bai Jiu: “Learn what?”
Xie Jing racked his brains and tentatively suggested, “Let’s learn a little bit of everything, like, ‘one is influenced by one’s company’?”
Lord Bai Jiu chuckled, “I think they’re a case of ‘evil people being tempered by other evil people.’ Letting them be together and temper each other’s temperaments is good. Hong’er has been in Nanfang for many years and has learned such an old-fashioned manner. Bai Er is quite bold, daring to take you to the gambling den to make money…” A pair of warm, wet hands landed on his temples, gently massaging them, immediately suppressing the small fire that had just risen in his heart. Lord Bai Jiu’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and the harsh words that were about to come out of his mouth disappeared. He only warned, “Next time, don’t go to those shady places again. Winning money isn’t hard, but once the gambling addiction takes hold, it’s not easy to quit.”
Xie Jing agreed, calmed the man down, and then whispered to him about Li Yuan.
Li Yuan was skilled in arithmetic. Going to a gambling den wasn’t really gambling at all; saying “gambling for money” would be considered bullying the gambling den.
Xie Jing was already lucky, and with Li Yuan by his side, one a skilled actor and the other silently calculating the cards on the table, it was no different from going to a gambling den and getting money directly.
Xie Jing was very sensitive to Lord Bai Jiu’s emotions. As soon as Lord Bai Jiu’s aura subsided, Xie Jing immediately picked up on it, as if he had radar installed, and the gambling den incident was dropped and never mentioned again.
Xie Jing got up and rinsed Lord Bai Jiu’s hair with clean water. He then gathered his hair behind his head with his fingers and asked close to his ear, “Northern women are straightforward. What about Russian women, sir?”
Lord Bai Jiu didn’t speak, but pressed down on the hand that was resting on his shoulder and said in a hoarse voice, “Behave yourself, we have other things to do today.”
Xie Jing applied slight pressure with his fingertips, slowly lowering them into the water, and whispered, “What else does Master want to do?”
“Injury examination.”
After saying this, he couldn’t resist the restless little hands on his shoulders, so he simply grabbed them and pulled him into the bathtub. Xie Jing was caught off guard, and his bathrobe was soaked through, feeling particularly heavy in the water. The bathtub was large, but it was a bit cramped to accommodate two men at once. Lord Bai Jiu was extremely tall, and his long legs bent, enveloping Xie Jing completely. His fingers traced along Xie Jing’s eyebrows, cheeks, and chin, lifting Xie Jing’s already wet bathrobe, and he looked down at him, saying, “Weren’t you so smug when you were fighting just now? If you got hurt, you’ll be punished by not being allowed to leave the house for a month, copying books every day.”
Xie Jing’s clothes were wet, and large areas of his fair skin were exposed to the cool air, causing him to shiver slightly.
Lord Bai Jiu examined it carefully, slowly and meticulously looking through it once.
Xie Jing was soaking in the water, holding onto his shoulder, and did not pull away.
Lord Bai Jiu stroked his waist for a moment, then said in a hoarse voice, “There seems to be a bruise here. Come closer, let me take a look.”
A flush rose to Xie Jing’s face, and he bit his lip as he stood up.
…
Lord Bai Jiu relieved his longing in the bathroom.
Xie Jing’s bathrobe was completely soaked, and his legs were trembling.
Even so, Xie Jing still want to persevere to the end.
Lord Bai Jiu put his arm around his slender waist and coaxed, “Jing’er, stop making a fuss.”
He kept his hands on Lord Bai Jiu’s shoulders, his eyes filled with stubbornness, and asked in a trembling voice, “Master, I’ve heard that White Russian women are very fierce?”
Lord Bai Jiu chuckled softly, his voice hoarse, carrying a captivating magnetism he rarely displayed: “Not as good as you.”
Xie Jing relaxed, he had been forcing himself to stay upright, he felt that he had just exhausted all the energy of the year, his fingers and toes were sluggish. He pressed against Lord Bai Jiu’s chest for a moment to feel the other’s heartbeat, the corners of his lips lifted slightly, he turned his face to the side and gently bit him, leaving a tooth mark.
Lord Bai Jiu scratched his chin, as if teasing a little cub, and chuckled in a low voice, “Are you a puppy? Love to bite so much?”
After fooling around for a while, the water in the bathtub had cooled down to lukewarm.
Xie Jing licked the small teeth mark he had left earlier, raised his hand to hook around Lord Bai Jiu’s neck, and whispered, “It’s cold, Master, carry me out.”
Lord Bai Jiu teased him, “Didn’t you still have the energy to act crazy just now?”
Xie Jing mumbled, “That’s all. I came here against my will.”
Lord Bai Jiu was in a good mood and readily agreed to pick him up, wipe him clean, and take him to the master bedroom.
The guest rooms were right next door, but Lord Bai Jiu had no intention of letting the person go and kept him by his side.
It’s been a year since we last met, and there’s so much I want to say.
Lord Bai Jiu was worried that Xie Jing might be a little distant after not seeing him for so long, but after seeing him, he realized that he had been overthinking it. The child he raised had only had him in his heart and eyes from the moment he saw him.
Xie Jing nestled in Lord Bai Jiu’s arms, resting his head on his arm as he spoke to him. Before long, his voice became nasal as he grew sleepy and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Lord Bai Jiu kissed his cheek, looked at him for a long time, and then closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The next morning.
Lord Bai Jiu was used to getting up early. He got up and asked the kitchen to make breakfast. He also took today’s newspaper to read. It was only a little past seven o’clock when he finished reading.
The clocks used in Nanfang are all Western-style, exquisitely made, and much more convenient to tell the time.
The people serving him were all Lord Bai Jiu’s confidants, and they didn’t mention a word about what happened last night. They only asked after Lord Bai Jiu had breakfast, “Sir, would you like another serving?”
Lord Bai Jiu said, “I’ll have another one like this, and I’ll bring it to your room later.”
The subordinate agreed and went to prepare.
After waiting for a while, Lord Bai Jiu went upstairs to the bedroom. He didn’t see anyone when he entered the room. When he went to the bedside, he saw that the child only had a tuft of black hair sticking out. The child was buried in the quilt and wrapped up quite tightly.
Lord Bai Jiu chuckled and sat down beside him, coaxing, “Why are you only feeling ashamed now? Where did all that energy you had last night go? Jing’er, let go. You were already feeling unwell in the car yesterday. What will you do if you cover yourself with the blanket again?”
The quilt was pulled off, but Lord Bai Jiu didn’t expect that Xie Jing was wearing another garment underneath.
It was a shirt from Lord Bai Jiu’s wardrobe, a bit too big. Xie Jing wore it and it looked loose. He lay there, looking down at the embroidery on the pillow, his fingers clasped around it, his Adam’s apple bobbing twice, but he didn’t say anything.
Lord Bai Jiu looked at him for a moment, then couldn’t resist leaning in and kissing him. Xie Jing pushed his shoulder away, not cooperating much, and whispered, “Master, be careful with your clothes… I, I forgot my clothes from yesterday in the bathroom, they got wet and I can’t wear them, don’t wear this one too…”
For the first time, Lord Bai Jiu had no patience to listen to him finish. He pressed down on his wrist with one hand and shut up the disobedient mouth.
—
Breakfast was way too late.
Xie Jing received his new clothes around noon, just as Lord Bai Jiu had guests visiting.
Hearing the car noise downstairs, Xie Jing hurriedly changed his clothes, but didn’t have time to open the window for ventilation. Luckily, he still had a few bottles of cosmetics that Shang Yulou had given him yesterday in his pocket. Xie Jing didn’t care about anything else and, like a burying his head in the sand, poured some out and haphazardly applied it. After he finished, he suddenly realized that this was Lord Bai Jiu’s bedroom, not his study, and no one would dare to come in for a while—he used to serve in the study more often, and just now, in a daze, he had habitually started doing things.
Xie Jing was tidying up in the bedroom.
Downstairs, Bai Mingyu and Bai Hongqi came to visit Lord Bai Jiu side by side.
If Bai Mingyu and Bai Hongqi could sit together without arguing and even chat and laugh, then it could only be seen in front of Lord Bai Jiu. Although the two of them appeared to be on good terms, they were actually competing with each other in their conversations.
When Bai Mingyu boasted about his contribution, Bai Hongqi immediately chimed in, offering a few words of encouragement without undermining him, but also unwilling to give Bai Mingyu any credit for her own contribution.
After listening for a while, Lord Bai Jiu got a headache from the noise and put his teacup on the table.
The two people opposite fell silent.
Lord Bai Jiu’s gaze swept over the two of them. When he looked at Bai Mingyu, the Second Young Master immediately straightened his back. When he looked at Bai Hongqi, the young lady had a look of seeking praise in her eyes. Both of them looked at each other expectantly, just waiting for Lord Bai Jiu to speak.
Lord Bai Jiu said, “Yesterday’s banquet was inappropriate.”
Bai Hongqi’s face flushed red, and he sat there somewhat uneasy.
Lord Bai Jiu looked at her and said calmly, “I know the difficulties you and your aunt have faced. You have been running Nanfang for many years and have your own rules. But from today onwards, you only need to remember that the Bai family only asks Heaven and Earth and their own conscience when doing business, and we don’t need to care about other people’s opinions anymore.”
Bai Hongqi was stunned for a moment, then her eyes reddened. She sighed and quickly bowed to Lord Bai Jiu: “Hong’er remembers, thank you Lord Bai Jiu for protecting me and my grandmother!” Their branch was a female household. Her grandmother was strong-willed, and she never showed weakness in front of others. But in this world, it was not easy for women to do business. If it weren’t for the circumstances, who would want to be so shrewd? Lord Bai Jiu’s words today were a definite promise to protect them.
Moreover, Lord Bai Jiu’s power in the North is now three times greater than before.
Lord Bai Jiu looked at Bai Mingyu again, his brows furrowed slightly, and asked, “What’s the story behind the tavern near the railway you mentioned earlier?”
Bai Mingyu was looking at Bai Hongqi when he heard Lord Bai Jiu’s question and then he stammered, “Oh, it’s like this, sir. Those Russians are so unreasonable. That railway director, what’s his name, Horvag, keeps using the prohibition on alcohol. Last month, he even issued a document saying, ‘The manufacture and sale of alcohol are strictly prohibited within 50 versts along the railway line in the eastern province.’ This guy has been driving away alcohol merchants along the line. At the end of last month, he confiscated two carriages of alcohol. Although it wasn’t from our family, it was all sold here! Those merchants saw that things weren’t going well, so they didn’t dare to buy much, afraid of being caught.” He became angry again as he spoke, “Those Russians only drive away our merchants, they don’t care about Russian merchants at all!”
Lord Bai Jiu asked, “Can the Russian merchants continue to sell alcohol?”
Bai Mingyu said, “More than that, they run their own breweries in Nanfang. The Ulubrevsky Brewery and the East Bavaria Brewery are theirs. Despite several prohibition orders, they neither closed down nor moved away. I think those Russian prohibition orders only ban Chinese alcohol, they don’t ban foreign alcohol at all!”
Lord Bai Jiu lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then said, “Bring me a copy of the document he wrote, let me take a look.”
Bai Mingyu agreed and got up to go back and get it, but Bai Hongqi was already prepared. He took a neat stack of documents from his briefcase and placed them in front of Lord Bai Jiu. “Lord Bai Jiu, I guessed you came here to keep an eye on things, so I brought them.”
Lord Bai Jiu glanced through the documents and nodded, saying, “I’ll take a look today. Bai Er, go keep an eye on things at the tavern. Hong’er, go to Boss Shang’s place for me. A few people from the opera troupe were injured last night. Send them some medicine and some money to appease them.”
Both of them agreed, and Bai Hongqi then asked, “Uncle Jiu, is Little Xie alright?”
Lord Bai Jiu looked up at her. “Do you need to see him?”
Bai Hongqi instinctively shook her head, her posture becoming more reserved. “No, no, I was just asking casually. After all, he’s someone close to Uncle Jiu. I heard that a lot of tables and chairs were damaged at the theater last night, and I was just worried about the safety of our people.”
Lord Bai Jiu said, “He’s fine.”
Bai Hongqi didn’t dare to ask any more questions, and got up to go out with Bai Mingyu.
Upon reaching the door, Bai Mingyu vaguely remembered that Xie Jing had returned with Lord Bai Jiu last night, but she hadn’t seen him come out today—a strange occurrence. She felt a nagging feeling that something was about to be discovered, but it slipped through her fingers. Unable to resist, she whispered to Bai Mingyu beside her, “Did you see Xie Jing yesterday? Is he badly injured? I don’t think I saw him come out today…”
Bai Mingyu stopped and looked at her, his face displeased: “You only ask about Little Xie, why don’t you ask about me?”
Bai Hongqi asked in surprise, “What’s wrong with you?”
“I was at the theater yesterday too! You didn’t go, so you didn’t see how fierce I was last night. Those guys swarmed around me, and I punched them all—” Bai Mingyu was getting into his spiel when the audience turned to leave. He said unhappily, “Hey, you’re so boring. Don’t you ever listen to what others have to say?”
Bai Hongqi replied dismissively, “Uncle Jiu gave me important instructions, and I’m in a hurry to take care of them. I’ll listen to you next time.”
Bai Mingyu suddenly remembered something, took a few steps to catch up with her, and squeezed into her car: “Are you going to see Shang Yulou? What a coincidence, I also need to see him. I’ll hitch a ride with him, it’s on my way.”
Bai Hongqi: “What do you want with him?”
“Mind your own business, I have things to do anyway.” Bai Mingyu said sternly, glancing at her until his ears turned red before turning away and urging the driver to start the car. Shang Yulou was handsome and had captivated many girls in the provincial capital; some even threw strings of pearls and gold rings onto the stage to win his favor!
Bai Mingyu thought to himself that the Bai family didn’t earn money easily, so he had to keep an eye on things to prevent this “aunt” from being irresponsible and spending money recklessly on men outside the family.
Yes, that’s it.
Bai Mingyu repeated it to himself, his expression becoming resolute, having accepted this principle.
*
Lord Bai Jiu took the documents and went upstairs.
A study has been set up here according to Lord Bai Jiu’s usual habits. The writing implements are placed on the table, and some books are placed on the bookshelf on one side. The preparation was hasty, and although there are not as many as in the East Courtyard, it is enough to pass the time.
The study was bright and empty. After putting down the documents, Lord Bai Jiu went to the bedroom.
The bedroom window was half-open, but it was still filled with the rich fragrance of gardenias.
On a small coffee table to the side, there was a plate of food that had not been touched.
Lord Bai Jiu glanced around, heard a slight noise from the bathroom, followed the sound, and sure enough, he saw Xie Jing.
Xie Jing was barefoot, bending over to wipe the bathtub. He had a slender waist and long legs, and his half-bent-over posture showed his focus and seriousness.
Lord Bai Jiu walked over and patted him. Xie Jing was startled, covered his backside, turned around, and was taken aback when he saw it was Lord Bai Jiu. He asked, “Master, are you done with your work?”
Lord Bai Jiu said, “Hmm, Bai Er and the others came by, but nothing serious happened. Why aren’t you going to eat? What’s so special about cleaning this bathtub?”
Xie Jing’s face flushed, and he stammered.
Lord Bai Jiu liked him like this, teased him a few times, and coaxed, “There’s still a long way to go, are you going to get up every day to wipe these things?”
Xie Jing’s face turned bright red, and his eyes became slightly moist, his long, thick eyelashes trembling slightly.
Lord Bai Jiu chuckled softly and lowered his head to kiss his lips: “Silly boy.”
Xie Jing kissed him, then chased after him for a while, their foreheads touching, his eyes filled with affection.
Lord Bai Jiu sighed inwardly.
He never imagined that one day he would find the pungent fragrance of gardenias pleasant.
It was as if he had never imagined that he would one day fall so deeply into this predicament.
—
Shang Yulou was given a new place to live, and the Bai family invited a doctor to examine the opera troupe members and gave them a lot of expensive medicinal herbs. Shang Yulou declined repeatedly, but finally had to accept them.
They had only stayed for less than two days when men dressed in black came knocking on their door again.
Only two of the black-clad thugs arrived, delivering a message. Apparently, the gang had already ascertained who the new Lord Bai Jiu was and dared not provoke the younger generation of the Bai family, but for the sake of their reputation, they were stubbornly coming to the opera troupe to seek revenge.
One of the thugs called Shang Yulou out and said to him, “Our boss said that he was blind to your greatness the other day and offended Lord Bai Jiu and Boss Shang. He wasn’t targeting you two; it was just his men behaving improperly, causing a misunderstanding. But since we injured someone, we need an explanation. Our boss said that discussing money will damage our relationship; just hand over the martial arts performer who did the beating, and he’ll give him a few words of reprimand, and this matter will be considered closed, all grudges wiped clean.”
Shang Yulou asked with a strange expression, “Which martial arts performer does your boss want?”
The thug in black said, “Naturally, it’s the one who beat people the most fiercely that day, the one dressed up like a celestial being!”
Shang Yulou shook his head: “I can’t give it to you.”
Black-clad thug: “…”
The thug in black said, “Boss Shang, we’ve already given you plenty of face. But we’re just calling you in for a few words of reprimand. Our boss has a bad temper. If you keep being stubborn, I can’t guarantee that ‘Immortal Lord’ will be sent back unharmed!”
Shang Yulou looked at him with sympathy and sighed, “You should repeat what Master Bai Jiu said again. Those are Master Bai Jiu’s people, not my opera troupe’s.”
The members of the Azure Dragon Society were stunned.
—
When Lord Bai Jiu heard this, he was so angry that he laughed: “Also, please pass on a message to that big boss: my people have their own rules, and I don’t need others to do anything.”
That evening, five more black cars soon arrived outside the mansion. Bai Hongqi owned a car dealership, and these cars, worth a fortune, were all intended for use by the people around Lord Bai Jiu. She knew about Lord Bai Jiu’s danger in Heihe, so she was very concerned about his safety, providing him with cars and guards, and giving him whatever he wanted.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Azure Dragon Society was puffing away in an opium den.
The gang has grown rapidly in the past two years, with a large number of members. However, the vast majority of them are people who do the lowest-level manual labor, such as dockworkers and rickshaw pullers.
The reason these people join is simple: they want to have some support and won’t be isolated or bullied too badly. They pay a small amount of copper coins every month to buy themselves some peace.
The upper echelons of the Azure Dragon Gang are not many. They are ranked by seniority and have seven leaders. These people are used to bullying others in Nanfang District. When they heard that Lord Bai Jiu of the Bai family had come in person, they treated it as just idle gossip and never thought that they could have any connection with the Bai family.
It wasn’t that inexperienced young girl Bai Hongqi from Nanfang; that was the head of the Bai family in the provincial capital.
When the outsider stumbled into the opium den to report, the head of the gang exhaled a long puff of smoke. It took him a while to vaguely make out some of the words before he asked again, “What did you say? What Bai family?”
The man below trembled in his voice: “Yes, it’s the Bai family from the provincial government, Lord Bai Jiu of the Bai family… He brought a lot of soldiers and asked you to come downstairs for a talk.”
The gang leader lost his grip on his pipe, and it clattered onto the table. His mistress, who was lighting his pipe, was startled, but the gang leader, oblivious to the danger, pressed on, “That Lord Bai Jiu, looking for me? You’re not mistaken?!”
“It’s absolutely true. Lord Bai Jiu of the Bai family is looking for you. I’m afraid he doesn’t have good intentions, Boss. Perhaps I should go find the Second Master and have them bring more men—”
Before the man could finish speaking, the chief swung his pipe at him, getting up from the couch and cursing, “Who are you looking for? Going head-on with that guy? You must have a death wish!” He circled around twice and asked, “Why is Lord Bai Jiu causing us trouble? Is there something wrong with our hospitality?”
“This, this…”
“What is this? Tell me quickly!”
“A few days ago, the seventh leader had a conflict with them and they fought at the theater. The second leader didn’t dare to seek justice from the Bai family. He just used your name to ask them for the martial arts actor who fought that day. I heard that the martial arts actor was taken in and raised by Lord Bai Jiu of the Bai family. The second leader found out late and is probably here to seek revenge now.”
“Foolish! Foolish indeed! These past two years, those two brothers have been manipulated by those foreign devils and have lost all sense of their own worth. Now they’re even more outrageous; they probably don’t even know their own surnames anymore!” The leader shuffled around in his slippers, furious. “The Bai family of the North—are they the kind of people we can mess with?! You sneak out the back door and hurry up and find those two brothers for me!”
“But the seventh leader was seriously injured by that martial arts actor from the opera troupe and is still bedridden.”
The head of the gang glared at him and cursed, “I don’t care if he’s dead or alive. Even if he’s lying in bed coughing up blood, bring him here with the bed!”
The man quickly agreed and hurried away.
The man who was severely injured by Xie Jing that day was named Li Defa. He was hit by Xie Jing’s blows several times, and when he returned, it started snowing. He was carried back and froze for half the night, which damaged his lungs and internal organs. He was unable to get out of bed at the moment and was carried over coughing up blood.
After the chief went downstairs, he saw a group of soldiers with grim faces escorting him to a teahouse not far away.
Lord Bai Jiu had booked the entire venue and was already sitting there waiting.
