A Dream of Red Mansions Unexpected Visitors

But he said that last time Qingxuan went out to take care of the family affairs outside, but brought back the account book of Rouge Shop.Since then, Daiyu has set aside an hour every day to look at the account books.

In the afternoon of this day, Sister Sanchun and Baochai came to Daiyu's room and saw the ledger spread out on the table.Tanchun smiled and said: "Our sister Lin also has to look at the account book now, no wonder she doesn't have time to look for us!" Although Tanchun said this with a smile, he actually had mixed feelings in his heart. t

Daiyu heard this, and said, "It's just a small rouge shop. The business is not good now. There are no good raw materials, precious powder and rouge. Ordinary ones are either dull in color or not clean. It's just like our usual rouge shop." Who would use the rouge handed out like that? How about this, the second sister, the third sister, the fourth sister, and the fourth sister Bao, help me think of an idea, the business is getting better, and I will count you as investors."

Tanchun said: "We don't dare to do that, it's just an idea. If the business gets better, you can ask Sister Qingxuan to go outside and buy some simple and unsophisticated things for us, and give us some good rouge. .”

Qingxuan continued: "It's just a small shop. What's the use of the two taels of silver that you sisters spend on weekdays? This shop is just for the ladies to practice their hands. If you all join in, even if you lose money, you won't lose much. , I am the master, and I will take care of what you ladies do."

When Tanchun, Yingchun and the others saw Daiyu just nodding and smiling, they knew that it was Daiyu's kindness, but it was just that she didn't sound good when she said it.Since I came to this garden, it is inconvenient to eat with the old lady every day.You have to pay for everything you want in the yard. Even the girls' makeup and hair oils brought in from outside are unusable, and you have to buy them again with your own money. Except for Baoyu, everyone's life is tight.

Tanchun was originally a concubine, and there was such a mother, Mrs. Wang treated her just out of face, even so, in order to have a good marriage in the future, I still had to flatter Mrs. Wang, and never greeted and cherished the spring together on weekdays. He would come to play with Daiyu by himself, but he didn't expect Daiyu to still miss him.I was very moved, but Baochai was beside me, so I couldn't say anything, I just kept this friendship in my heart silently.

As for Yingchun, her father does not love her mother, even if she is wronged, she has nowhere to tell her. In fact, Yingchun is good at chess, and she has a gap in her chest, but even if she knows the way forward, so can she.Even the nanny in the house has nowhere to redress her for taking her things. After hearing this, Mrs. Xing will only say that she is not as good as Tanchun, and that she can't even suppress the slave woman.Jiamu just treats her like a cat and dog on weekdays, just having fun and joking, but only reprimanding her. In the future, she will suffer more in places where others can't see.Although Jia Lian is his own elder brother, no one knows that his mother died of dystocia, so he usually ignores him.Apart from swallowing the bitterness, what else can I do.

Daiyu's help is like a clear spring in the desert. Yingchun thought: "Sister Lin's parents have both died, and she is still so strong. Even if no one loves me, I still have the reputation of being a princess. In terms of dignity, my My father inherited the title, and I have the highest status as a girl in the mansion. In terms of seniority, after Sister Yuanchun entered the palace, I will be the eldest, so why should I be so self-pitying, people don’t respect themselves, how can they expect respect from others!" Presumably , Yingchun stood up and bowed deeply to Daiyu.

Daiyu was startled, and even Tanchun and the others were startled, but before they could stop her, Qingxuan quickly helped her up.

As for Xichun, the fact that the West Mansion sent her to Mother Jia for upbringing showed that treating her was nothing but a relative.Now that Xichun is still young, because no one loves her, she has a withdrawn personality. Seeing Daiyu treat her affectionately, she happily accepts it.

Baochai has been worrying for a few days since she came to the capital, not only has her family's shop not benefited, but it has posted a lot.Even though I and my mother are frugal on weekdays, my elder brother is used to spending money slowly and spends money lavishly.Many old folks saw that there were only orphans and widows left in their families, and the only young master was a no-brainer, who walked halfway intermittently.Up to now, I am actually lighting a lamp at home to read the account book, but I don't know the market outside, just looking at the general idea.Seeing the ledger on Daiyu's desk now, she couldn't bear to go forward to get it, flipping through the pages one by one.I don't know if you don't see it, but sister Lin's shop is not as big as her own shop. Now that the business is not good, there are hundreds of taels of silver a year. In the past, when the business was good, there were two to three thousand taels of silver a year, which is quite a lot. up.

Baochai couldn't help raising her head, but seeing Yingchun saluting Daiyu, she hurriedly put down the account book and said, "What's the matter? Is Yu'er going to be a teacher? Let the second sister make such a big gift." Among them Only then did the tense atmosphere subside.

Now that these sisters have been ordered to buy shares in the shop, they all give Daiyu advice.After hearing this, Daiyu said sadly: "I've thought about these methods too, but either it takes too much time or the raw materials used are too precious. Where can I get musk borneol and other precious spices in the shop now? It’s the Dragon Boat Festival, all the prefectures are buying, and the price has increased several times, it’s not worth the loss.”

The sisters had no choice but to think of a way after hearing this, but they couldn't think of such a good idea for a while.Unexpectedly, Baoyu rushed in like a gust of wind and said, "If you have something good to do, don't call me. What are you doing here!"

Tanchun, Daiyu and others laughed when they saw him, and Tanchun said: "We are worried, so a person who solves the problem came. It all depends on Baoyu."

Baoyu was at a loss, Daiyu and others smiled and explained to him, and said they wanted to keep him a part, Baochai had always thought carefully, and said: "What are you doing for him? I'm not afraid of being angry if the master finds out. We are all here. Sister Yun is the only one left, so I think it would be better to give Baoyu's elements to Sister Yun."

Baoyu was overjoyed when he heard this, and he didn't mind giving Xiangyun his silver. On the contrary, he was even happier. He was originally a rich and idle man, and he didn't know how many ways to make rouge and face powder from ancient recipes during these days.Daiyu and the girls around him used the powder made by him.He knew Daiyu's problem, and said with a smile: "It's on me. Natural things are more valuable, so why do we have to use those precious spices? Aren't the flowers in this garden a hundred times better than those artificial ones?" I think we pick all the flowers, separate them by category, wring out the juice, wash and steam the rough rouge nine times, mix it with the juice, and steam it nine times with mountain spring water from outside the city. When it is completely blended together, it is the best rouge powder."

Tanchun and the others listened with great interest, this is what you said and I added.

This one said, "We don't want to have that tacky name, so we named it after Hundred Flowers."

That one said, "That's right, peach blossoms, pear blossoms, and apricot blossoms are all good. Even the scentless crabapple flowers have their own benefits. In summer, there are lotus blossoms, in autumn there are chrysanthemums, and in winter there are plum blossoms." , the seasons are continuous."

On the second day, Qingxuan really went out again, and told Lin Zhong what Daiyu and the others were thinking, and Lin Zhong was greatly impressed.He ordered his servants to go outside the city to buy petals. The best flower outside the city was Osmanthus Xia's family. Although her family's osmanthus was the most famous, other flowers were also very good and large in scale.Sure enough, a lot of them were bought back, and the rouge produced was quite popular.

In a month's work, Lin Zhong sent someone to enter the account book, and he had already earned more than 300 taels after deducting the capital. After calculating, each person can share 60 taels of silver. On weekdays, their monthly bills for a year are only more than 20 taels. Startled.It is Baochai who has been in contact with these merchants on weekdays, and knows that those big merchants in the south of the Yangtze River can do business worth 10 taels at a time, but such a rouge shop can earn so much, which is indeed very much.

Everyone was embarrassed to ask for money, and wanted to return it, but Daiyu's temper naturally didn't want it.Only Baochai saw that he had made so much money, so he wanted to do a good job in this business, so he said: "Sisters, you don't have to refuse, and we dare not surpass the elders, just take 20 taels, and we will invest the rest Go back to this shop and call it a large scale."

Everyone nodded, but Daiyu didn't want to agree, saying that it was to expand the scale, but in fact, she didn't want it. She looked at Qingxuan.Qingxuan smiled and nodded to her, meaning it was up to her to deal with it.Daiyu said quickly: "That's fine, it's just that we agreed on this guy, we can't just give up because there are too many, and I will add makeup when you go out in the future." The shy sisters all stood up and chased and fought, but This is how it is settled.

In fact, Sanchun also knew that the dowry given to him by the mansion was just as a rule, and it could not be more. Now that he can make up for it, it will look good when he arrives at her husband's house, and it will not be shabby.

And Xiangyun was very grateful when he received the money sent by the maids. The Shifu was not very rich, and there were accidents in the past, and everyone was very low-key.Xiangyun's cousins ​​all have their own mothers to make up for it secretly, but Xiangyun's parents are both deceased. Now that they have this money, they are very relaxed.

Therefore, in the future, no matter what happened to the elders, these little sisters will have a good relationship with each other, which is also the fate of their youth.When they all lived their own happy lives in the future, they remembered Daiyu's help at this time and were still very grateful in their hearts.

But Daiyu's life became very leisurely, and she got along well with her sisters. Every day, she would send a copy of any good things in the small kitchen to Jiamu, and occasionally send Sanchun and Baoyu, which made Jiamu angry again. Everyone praised Daiyu's filial piety and friendship with her brothers and sisters.So far, Daiyu's reputation in the mansion is full of applause.