Chapter 95: The reborn of paranoid boss cannon fodder wife
Chapter 95: The Truth Revealed...
Back home, Xiao Cheng boiled some hot water, as usual, and poured it into the bucket, carrying it to the bathing area.
After mixing some cold water to the temperature commonly used by Bai Lu, he called her to take a bath.
Once Bai Lu finished bathing, Xiao Cheng took his turn.
After a visit to the hospital, the situation with the child was quite clear. When Bai Lu saw Xiao Cheng doing the laundry again, she felt a bit uncomfortable. He didn't need to do this for the sake of the child anymore.
"I'll do the laundry." Bai Lu walked to the well, in front of the washbasin, wanting to take over the task of washing clothes.
However, Xiao Cheng didn't even lift his head, continuing to scrub the clothes. He calmly said, "Go back and sleep."
His tone was flat, devoid of any emotion.
In the broken jar where ginger, onions, and garlic were planted, the cheerful chirping of crickets echoed. Fireflies fluttered their wings in the yard, as if trying to break the calmness of the night with joy.
The disappeared moon, at some point, reappeared, casting a silver glow on the tall and lonely figure of the man sitting on a small stool. He skillfully scrubbed the clothes, his voice cold and rhythmic, almost machine-like.
Bai Lu crouched down, reaching for the washbasin to wash her clothes, but was brushed away by the man.
In a cold tone, he said, "I told you to go back and sleep."
Xiao Cheng, accustomed to giving orders when collecting debts with his men, disliked anyone defying him, especially repeatedly.
What Bai Lu knew, she didn't insist on. Silently retracting her hand, she stood up and walked back to the main house through the courtyard.
In the room, she opened the rightmost drawer of the wooden table, taking out all the money she had earned during this time.
Counting carefully, she placed it on the table.
The original body was not favored in the original family, wearing only old clothes, and didn't bring much with her.
After Bai Lu came, she was too busy making money to bother buying new clothes, so she only had a cloth bag.
Adding the books and papers given by Lin Jinfan, the cloth bag swelled slightly, with nothing leaking out.
The bag was neither too big nor too small, with a long and thick cloth strap sewn at both ends, suitable for single-shoulder carrying.
The record book for the purchase and sale of sugar-coated chestnuts, Bai Lu also organized, placing it on the table on top of the money.
After packing everything, Bai Lu took the cloth bag to the bedside wooden chair and sat down, placing the bag at her feet.
Things needed to be clarified. There was no need for words like leaving without saying goodbye, not fitting into Bai Lu's ingrained family rules and principles.
The journey back was silent, and the incident in the courtyard just now... Bai Lu could sense that Xiao Cheng was angry. Angry that she and Li Xuelan used a false pregnancy to cheat him out of thirty thousand yuan. Angry that she knew the truth but never confessed.
She had prepared herself for the best and worst outcomes, for how Xiao Cheng would retaliate or let it go.
Bai Lu sat on the wooden chair, naturally returning to her accustomed upright posture. Her upper body was straight, shoulders squared, knees together, lower legs perpendicular to the ground, arms naturally bent, hands crossed and resting in the middle of her thighs.
Silently waiting.
Tonight, Xiao Cheng took a much longer time than usual to do the laundry before finally returning.
Upon his return, he saw Bai Lu sitting on the bedside chair with a faint smile, a posture he had never seen whether he went to the city or the wealthy households in the town to collect debts. The rough linen clothes couldn't conceal the unique charm that distinguished her from others, a quality he had never seen in anyone else.
Her smile was standard, not sweet.
Her sitting posture was dignified and elegant, something the previous Bai Lu had never possessed, not even once.
She stood up and walked towards the wooden table, her steps graceful and refined. The actions of holding the notebook and money were measured and composed.
Coming in front of him, she looked him in the eyes. Her clear and clean eyes showed no trace of fear or weakness.
Even her voice, when she spoke, lacked the usual lively intonation, it was calm and steady. "The money from selling sugar-coated chestnuts during this period is all here, a total of 6080 yuan. The hundred yuan you put on the table when I first sold chestnuts, it's also in there, on the top."
"Wang Cuihua, Yu Fugui, and Wen Xiuyun now settle the accounts for selling chestnuts every three days. The last settlement was the day before yesterday, and the accounts for yesterday and today are already recorded in the book. Everything about who took how many kilograms of chestnuts and sold for how much money is clear."
"The chestnuts you bought in Xiaojiacun yesterday, a total of 9,350 kilograms, cost 1870 yuan. The unrealized value of the chestnuts plus the net profit of 6080 yuan from the sold sugar-coated chestnuts amounts to a total value of 7950 yuan."
The notebook and money were presented in front of him by delicate and fair hands, but Xiao Cheng didn't take them, not even sparing a glance.
His deep and dark eyes fixed on Bai Lu.
Bai Lu remained calm and composed, continuing, "After the examination at the hospital just now, I'm sure you can connect the dots regarding what the female doctor told you. Pregnancy doesn't come with menstruation, and indeed, I am not pregnant."
Xiao Cheng's expression didn't change at all, still calm and indifferent. His deep gaze stared directly at Bai Lu, as if waiting for her to continue.
The memories of the drunken night were well preserved in the original body's mind. Bai Lu had gone through every moment, watched everything, and knew the truth clearly.
Calmly, she continued, "That night, I was drunk, my mind hazy. I originally wanted to go to the bathroom but entered the wrong room, your room. After coming out from the bathroom, I saw a bed in the room and decided to sleep on it."
Her tone was natural, open, as if she were talking about her own affairs, her own experiences.
Xiao Cheng's deep eyes slightly narrowed.
Fragmented scenes flashed through his mind.
That night, he and Luo Shiliu, Xiao Dashuang, Wang Hao went to a nightclub in the city to collect debts.
The nightclub's funds were not sufficient, and the owner, Hong Wanfu, requested an extension for a week, which he agreed to.
Hong Wanfu invited them to dine, sing, drink, and even provided them with a private room to sleep.
White wine, red wine, foreign liquor, whiskey... all the slightly upscale liquors in the nightclub were brought out by Hong Wanfu. After one round, another round followed... and he got drunk.
Supported by Luo Shiliu and Xiao Dashuang, he was taken to his room, shoes removed, and he lay on the bed, covered with a quilt.
Luo Shiliu and Xiao Dashuang went to their respective rooms.
Not long after, there was the sound of a door opening in the room. The lights were off, and there were stumbling footsteps coming in.
Thinking it was Luo Shiliu or Xiao Dashuang returning for something forgotten, he didn't pay much attention.
In the drunken haze, his mind was filled with a jumble of alcohol, and his heavy limbs on the bed couldn't be moved. Vaguely, the slightly dragging and disorderly footsteps approached the bedside.
Soon after, a dark shadow fell onto the bed.
He struggled to maintain the last bit of consciousness, calling out to Luo Shiliu. The shadow moved but didn't respond. He called out to Xiao Dashuang, and the shadow stirred but still remained silent.
He wanted to open his eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, his heavy eyelids wouldn't lift. There was a strong smell of alcohol in the air, whether from his side or the other side of the bed, it was the same.
No familiar scent could be detected.
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