In order to eat, I signed a contract with the system

It was Xue Baochai's birthday, and in order to elevate Xue Baochai's status, the Second Wife specifically said that she would hold a birthday banquet for Xue Baochai. She also found Grandmother Jia, who had no choice but to take out twenty taels of silver and said that she would hold a banquet for Xue Baochai.

After the Second Madam and the others left, Grandmother Jia frowned and silently thought about the marriage of Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu. Ever since Daiyu came back from Suzhou, she and Baoyu had become estranged from each other. Even though Grandmother Jia wanted to bring them together, she always felt that something was missing.

It is obvious that Daiyu and Baoyu were in love with each other before, but perhaps because her father died and she was left alone, Daiyu matured a lot. Now we rarely see Daiyu being jealous of Baoyu. Daiyu has grown up, but Baoyu is still like a child, calling her sister all the time, being nice to everyone and caring about everyone, which makes people unsure of his thoughts.

Well, why not ask Daiyu to come over and ask clearly.

Grandmother Jia sighed. If Lin Daiyu couldn't marry Baoyu, she could only marry Jia Lang. Anyway, she could only choose a man from the Jia family, otherwise Daiyu would only face death.

The Grand View Garden, which had swallowed up the Lin family's wealth, just sat there, shining brightly but also with a hint of desolation in its final days. The living evidence of the crime could only be kept in the Jia family to cover up the truth. Grandmother Jia thought about stopping it, but it was obvious that she was too old, so old that she gradually lost her say.

Perhaps there were some hidden ideas. In order to satisfy the royal family, some money or some evidence must be left behind. If it was cleared up too thoroughly, it would block the way out. In Jia's mother's mind, she wanted to use these obvious evidences to reassure the royal family and leave Jia Lang with the opportunity to take the imperial examinations.

When Lin Daiyu came over, even Sister Yuanyang, who usually served Lady Jia, was not there. Lin Daiyu looked at the figures inside through the candlelight, and suddenly she felt a panic that she would be completely swallowed up as soon as she stepped in.

"Is that Daiyu? Why don't you come in?"

Grandmother Jia inside felt the breath of Lin Daiyu outside, and she shouted, which made the stunned Lin Daiyu break free from her illusory panic. She took a deep breath, stepped over the threshold and walked in.

"Grandma, Daiyu is here."

Zijuan, Xueyan and others who were serving were left outside the door by Lin Daiyu. The two maids looked at each other and finally stood obediently at the door.

After walking through the door curtain and entering, the light suddenly became brighter. Lin Daiyu suddenly felt a little warm. She calmed down a lot and smiled.

"Grandma, why is Sister Yuanyang missing? You are the only one left here?"

Grandmother Jia carefully observed Lin Daiyu's expression and confirmed that she was not feeling aggrieved because Yuanchun gave Baoyu and Xue Baochai the same reward, and she felt relieved immediately.

Grandmother Jia embraced Lin Daiyu with pity and gently stroked her head with her old hands, again and again. This warm feeling made Lin Daiyu feel sad and she couldn't help crying.

It has been a long time since I was hugged like this since my mother died.

The two of them just quietly enjoyed the warmth, neither of them spoke a word, until the door of Jia's mother's inner room suddenly opened, and Yuanyang came out holding a box.

"Ma'am, I got the things for you."

Lin Daiyu looked up at Yuanyang, sat up a little embarrassedly, turned her head to the side and wiped her tears with a handkerchief. Grandmother Jia smiled and tapped Lin Daiyu's forehead, "What a crying girl!"

Grandmother Jia looked up at Yuanyang and motioned for her to bring the box over. Yuanyang nodded in understanding. Grandmother Jia took the box and handed it to Lin Daiyu.

"Grandma, is this for me?"

"Yes, it's for you." Grandmother Jia didn't explain, but stopped Lin Daiyu when she wanted to open it, "Don't open it yet, open it when you go back and are alone."

"Yuanyang, go and pour us some tea."

Grandmother Jia sent Yuanyang away, and she and Lin Daiyu were the only ones left in the room. Then Grandmother Jia asked Lin Daiyu seriously, "Daiyu, tell me the truth. What do you think of Baoyu?"

If Lin Daiyu really must be with Jia Baoyu, she would still join them even if she was hated by the second brother's family.

At this time, Jia's mother's thoughts were completely different from those in her previous life. In her previous life, Jia's mother didn't know that Jia Yuanchun was going to die, nor did she know that the Jia family was on the verge of collapse. She only thought that the second house was in its heyday, and she couldn't protect Lin Daiyu, so she had to give her up.

Now that she knows the ending, it is natural for Jia's grandmother to save as many as possible while there is still time. If she compares Lin Daiyu with the entire Jia family, then Jia's grandmother can only choose to abandon Lin Daiyu. But if she compares the innocent Lin Daiyu with the Jia family that is completely beyond saving, then she will naturally choose Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu was a little shy at first. As a woman in ancient times, it was really inconvenient to talk about such things. But seeing that Grandmother Jia's expression was really serious, Lin Daiyu finally realized that the answer to this question was very crucial. Lin Daiyu was very smart and easily determined that Grandmother Jia wanted a true answer.

"Grandma, I don't know."

Yes, Lin Daiyu didn't know. She originally thought that she liked Jia Baoyu, but now she knew that she was engaged. She didn't want to disappoint her father's wishes, but she couldn't get the same feedback from Jia Baoyu. Listening to the saying of "golden marriage" circulating in the Jia Mansion, Lin Daiyu felt unhappy but relieved because of Jia Baoyu's slow or indifferent reaction.

Lin Daiyu did not hide anything and confided all of her mental journey during this period to Lady Jia. Lady Jia did not rush to speak after listening, but looked at it from the perspective of her own decades of life experience.

After getting rid of the filter of expectation that Jia Baoyu was born with a jade in his body and would become a great man, Jia Baoyu in this life was just a good-looking, sweet-mouthed and likable grandson in Jia Mu's eyes. Without the filter, she could see things clearly.

Baoyu is sincere but very weak. With his personality, he can only be a rich man and live a rich life. He is simply unable to shoulder the responsibilities of a man. If they were still alive and nothing happened to the Jia family, Daiyu could indeed live happily if she married Baoyu. However, even in this case, Daiyu still had to endure the grievances brought about by Baoyu's love.

"Daiyu, your father arranged a marriage for you before he died."

Now it seems that Daiyu has mixed feelings towards Baoyu. It would be safer to leave Daiyu to Lang'er.

When Lady Jia said this, Lin Daiyu's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that this was what her grandmother wanted to talk about when she called her over today.

"It's just that I didn't intend to tell you this at first. Grandmother can see that you and Baoyu grew up together as childhood sweethearts and have feelings for each other. If you can get together, it will be a good story."

"So, grandma originally planned to let Baoyu take over this engagement."

Grandmother Jia did not give Lin Daiyu a chance to think, and told her all her thoughts during this period in one breath. At this point, it was meaningless to keep some things hidden.

"Has grandma changed her mind now?" Lin Daiyu knew it when she heard Grandmother Jia say that she had originally planned to do so. Now she must have changed her mind, but why? Was it because there was something wrong with her previous answer? Lin Daiyu couldn't figure it out, and she wanted to ask but couldn't open her mouth to ask.