[Red House Chai Dai] Salted Pork Knuckle, Crab Rice Wine

At this moment, Aunt Xue hurried over supporting Xiangling, and said to Baochai, "You have received the letter. Since your brother sent the letter, you should help him."

Baochai wondered: "The people coming and going in the shop are different from those at home. If it's just to check the accounts, it's fine to ask a few people from the family to help. How can I go to those places when I'm a daughter? Got it, is that okay?"

Aunt Xue said: "You don't know your brother's temperament. He never takes money seriously. He never changes his face when he loses thousands of dollars. Now he is willing to send the news back, presumably I don’t know the very important accounts. Although there are a few elderly people in the family to help look at them, firstly they are inevitably old and dim, and secondly, they are separated by a floor, so they may not be willing to do their best. If you are afraid that people will find out, it is easy. First ask Well, they are not allowed to leak the wind, or that’s it.”

When Baochai saw what Aunt Xue said, she had to bow her head and think hard about the best solution, but she had never thought about it before, and now that the matter was in a hurry, she hesitated a bit.

Aunt Xue saw that Baochai could not make up her mind, and she was afraid that Xue Pan would wait for her, so she urged: "What's the trouble? Although it's an outside shop, it's still ours, and it's not like going to the market to show your face. Let the news spread. , everyone can only praise you for being smarter than a man, so you won't gossip."

Baochai has worked hard on virtue since she was a child, and she is very concerned about the etiquette of the ladies of this family. Although Xue Pan sent a letter and Aunt Xue urged her, she always felt that things were not appropriate.

Seeing that Baochai was in a dilemma, Ying'er also frowned and thought of an idea, and suddenly shouted: "Yes! That day when I was in Jinling during the Lantern Festival, the master once took the girl out to watch the lanterns, because the girl hated sitting in the sedan chair and held her breath, so she didn't move." Unable to help herself, she asked someone to find the old man's clothes, and pretended to be a boy, and no one outside knew about it. Since the girl is afraid of being known, it would be cheaper if she still dressed as a man."

Since Aunt Xue heard that Xue Pan had sent someone back to invite Baochai, she knew that something serious must have happened. She was already in disarray, and she wished she could go to the shop to see what happened. The next day was set early to go out with Mrs. Wang to have a gathering with the noble ladies in Beijing. There are still many affairs that have not been taken care of in time.Now when she heard Yinger's suggestion to teach Baochai to change clothes, she was overjoyed and said, "Sure enough, it's a good idea! To the outside world, it can be said that the family has hired a gentleman who knows accounts very well. It won't hurt your brother's name." It won't hurt your boudoir name."

Baochai said: "When I was young, I was naughty and ignorant. I used to pretend to be a boy to go out with my father and elder brother. It was a boy. When I couldn't tell the difference between men and women, outsiders didn't pay attention to it. Now I want to pretend to be a man. I'm afraid it's a lot harder."

Aunt Xue said with a smile: "Even so, with your talents and knowledge, you must have a way to do it properly."

Baochai had no choice but to agree, and Aunt Xue hurriedly asked again: "If you want to pretend to be a man, should you ride a horse or a car? I remember that day your father once praised you for being good at riding. I'm afraid your brother will wait for you." Come on, don’t delay any longer. The road from here to our shop on Gulou Street is very smooth, I’ll find some proper people to follow you, I think there won’t be any mistakes.”

Baochai hurriedly said: "It's better to take the car. Pretend to be the gentleman invited by the writer, even if you can deceive people for a while, after all, there are so many flaws. Sitting in the car, there is less right and wrong. In addition, I asked someone to make an agreement with my brother in advance. Although I If you go to check the accounts for him, you need to prepare a very clean room, otherwise what's the point of people coming and going? Besides, you need Yinger and Mammy Liu to accompany you so that you can pass on the message."

Aunt Xue was in a hurry to respond, and temporarily assigned a few capable servants to guard her, and rushed to call Madam Liu again.Nanny Liu is Baochai's wet nurse, and she walks very neatly on weekdays, but this day she said that she had lost her waist and could not go far, so Aunt Xue was so angry that she almost cursed.In desperation, he called Yinger's mother, Huang, and ordered her to go out with her.

The mother and daughter discussed it properly, so Baochai combed her hair again, ordered someone to find a new set of clothes made for Xue Pan in the next year, and put them on, and put on a hat again. The young man, with red lips and white teeth, took a picture in front of the diorama and sighed: "The clothes are too big, not to mention too bright, not like the clothes of the accountant. It's just that I can't take care of them in a hurry."

Aunt Xue urged: "This is very good. If you look at it from a distance, you won't see any flaws." Baochai didn't answer, and ordered Yinger to open the big box to find the paint used for fan painting in previous years. The yellow one was smoothed out, carefully painted on the face and hands, and thickened the eyebrows with a thrush charcoal pencil, then took out a delicate box, opened the drawer, pulled out a thin layer of beard and stuck it on, sighed : "It was originally a naughty thing when I was a child, but I didn't expect it to come in handy today."

With Baochai's attire, she transformed from a young girl into a handsome young man in an instant. Aunt Xue and Ying'er were all amazed when they saw it, and said, "If you didn't see it with your own eyes, you wouldn't dare to recognize it outside." Baochai Only then did she feel relieved, and quietly took Yinger and Yingerniang into the car, and several servants escorted them to Hengshudian on Gulou West Street.

Xue Pan was standing at the door, and when he entered the back room, he found out that the accounts to be checked were not from Hengshudian, but from a nearby silk and satin shop, because Hengshudian had a large storefront and the yard behind it was clean. , Baochai was welcomed here.

Baochai laughed and said, "In that case, why don't you take these account books home so you can look through them slowly?"

Xue Pan's face turned red, and he said after a long while, "How can I wait so long!"

Baochai was slightly puzzled, and when the account book arrived, she suddenly realized that this silk and satin shop was only a small shop, and the accounts were limited. It was just a few thin booklets, which could be read in an hour by a skilled hand. The eldest and the younger took care of face and were embarrassed to take it home.

Not long after, Yinger next to him inquired about the reason, and quietly came to tell Baochai that the uncle went to the silk and satin shop on a whim.

Baochai also quietly asked, "Have you ever asked why?"

Ying'er was ordered to go, and Baochai looked through the accounts casually here. Although she picked out a few small mistakes, she expected that "there will be no one if people are careful." Tell each other.

Xue Pan waited anxiously, sometimes pouring a cup of tea for Baochai himself to show his hospitality, and sometimes saying to Baochai: "It's true that people are kind and deceived by others. I was looking at some jewelry in a jewelry store a few days ago, but It's a bracelet that weighs one or two weights. I said it weighed half a catty. The agate from the Northeast pretended to be a ruby ​​shipped from the West. It's fine if I suffer from these losses in other people's homes. If my family coaxes me, Didn't it go against the sky?"

Baochai heard this, and asked curiously, "Why did my brother buy jewelry in another jewelry shop?"

Xue Pan hesitated, as if it was inconvenient to say the reason.Baochai also laughed it off and stopped asking.After all, Xue Pan couldn't hold his breath anymore and became irritable, so he ran out again to teach the pawnbrokers a lesson.

Not long after, Ying'er had found out the ins and outs of the matter, and whispered to Baochai, "The uncle took Yun'er from Jinxiangyuan to wander outside, and went to the silk and satin shop to order a few bolts of fabric, and also to get the silver from the shop. At first he was chatting and laughing, but then he suddenly got into a conflict with the shopkeeper's son, and he got angry and said that he wanted to check the accounts. Because several old people who knew the accounts around him persuaded him, he couldn't do anything alone, so he invited the girl. "

Baochai was puzzled at first, wondering who this "Yun'er of Jinxiangyuan" was, and why he seemed to have a close relationship with his elder brother Xue Pan, but suddenly he realized that his face was slightly red, and his heart was overwhelmed. Secretly at home, he only knew that Xue Pan was incompetent, impetuous, and had the habit of being a dandy, but he didn't expect that he would openly go out with the women in the brothel and show his face. Then he thought of Aunt Xue's eagerness to hope that his son would become a dragon, and he couldn't help but feel a little angry.

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion outside, and when Baochai went to the door to look around, she saw a crowd of people in the yard, Xue Pan was standing in the middle, and a young man was kneeling at his feet, looking Be the color of pleading.

Baochai guessed that the young man must be the son of the shopkeeper of the silk and satin village that Yinger had mentioned before, and now that he was in a state of cowardice, he ran over to apologize to Xue Pan, so he was not in a hurry to look through the accounts. , just stood at the door and listened to how they ended.Suddenly I heard Xue Pan say: "As long as you follow your uncle Xue, today's affairs will be canceled. I still want your father to be the shopkeeper of the silk and satin shop. If you don't follow, we will talk in the yamen and sue you for embezzling money." , then you will know how powerful your Uncle Xue is!"

Hearing this, Baochai was curious about what it meant to be called "obedience". While thinking about it, he saw that the son of the shopkeeper of the silk and satin shop looked ashen, and although it was winter, his forehead seemed to be sweating continuously, as if Very scared.But Xue Pan's arrogance became more and more arrogant.

Baochai sighed secretly, hesitating whether to step forward to dissuade her, and she was afraid that her daughter's identity would be found out, which would cause the same trouble as Feng Yuan's incident back then. When Feng Yuan was mentioned, he remembered that he had always loved masculinity. The goodness of Long Yang and the habit of broken sleeves in the miscellaneous books I read at the time suddenly came to my mind, and I looked at Xue Pan in disbelief.

At this moment, the son of the shopkeeper of the silk and satin village closed his eyes heavily, but opened them again quickly, as if he had made up his mind, begging Xue Pan for mercy: "Don't dare again. As long as the master spares the villain this time, any by disposal."

Frightened by this, Baochai was in such a state of confusion that she no longer had the mood to look at those accounts.Fortunately, Xue Pan didn't have the heart to force her to watch it.Not long after Xue Pan entered the room, the two exchanged a few words in a hurry, and Baochai went home with an excuse.After returning home, Aunt Xue was still busy asking questions, Baochai did not dare to tell Aunt Xue what Xue Pan had done, lest she would get angry, and instead covered it up for him.Aunt Xue was relieved and concentrated on preparing to go out the next day.

Although this audit ended hastily and returned in vain, it was like an opening. From then on, Xue Pan asked Baochai for help more often.Sometimes it was outsiders who bullied him because he was young and ignorant of affairs, and deliberately prevaricated, so he invited Baochai out to suppress the scene;

Baochai acted on the opportunity and tried to persuade her from time to time, but she didn't dare to let Aunt Xue know.Although Xue Pan promised on the surface, he was obedient and contradictory, and he went his own way as soon as he turned around. He was still eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and accepting both men and women.

Baochai was also helpless. Although she knew all kinds of things were wrong and was worried, she couldn't speak to others.Piansheng didn't know why, but every time he went to visit the three sisters of the Jia family and Lin Daiyu to play, Lin Daiyu made more and more sarcastic remarks.Baochai was quite concerned, but could not find the reason.