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

Not to mention how uneasy You Shi was when he got the news that Sister Feng was the assistant manager of Ningguo Mansion, but on the surface he pretended nothing happened, but said that Wang Xifeng is the number one person in the world who likes to show off his talents. , I was so busy every day that my feet didn't touch the ground, and it was really neat and tidy, and the orders were respected.

She herself is quite proud of herself, she sits up in the pagoda every day, and doesn't get along with her sisters-in-law.Everyone knows that she is a noble person and has a lot of affairs, so they dare not disturb each other.

Du Jia Baoyu, relying on Jia's mother's love, is the number one treasure in the Rongguo Mansion, but he acts differently from others.It was the fifth day of May [-]th, and there were many guests in the house. Baoyu thought about fearing that Qin Zhong would be wronged, so he discussed with him to sit with Sister Feng for a while.

After the Qin family hanged herself, the attitude of the people in Jia's house towards Qin Zhong was not as warm as before. Even Jia's mother, who used to love Qin Zhong as much as Baoyu, was only indifferent when she saw her.Although Qin Zhong was young, he was slightly aware of it, he was only hesitating for fear of being coldly received by Sister Feng.

But Baoyu didn't take it seriously, and forced Qin Zhong to Sister Feng's place.Sister Feng has been busy since the beginning of the morning, and has been busy until now, relying only on the milk, sugar, and japonica rice porridge she got up in the morning. Needless to say, she was hungry, and she managed to find a gap, and the meal was just served. Then Baoyu took Qin Zhong's hand and Shi Shiran came in.

When Sister Feng saw that it was Baoyu, it was not easy for her to have a fit. She had to show a smiling face and greet him with a few words.Fortunately, Baoyu is only a child at heart, but he can be coaxed into a smile with a few words.After eating for a while, a daughter-in-law from Ningguo's mansion came to collect the pair of incense lamps. Qin Zhong had never seen such a game before, and couldn't help being curious, and asked with a smile: "If someone else secretly played the right card in the mansion?" card, and ran away after receiving the money, so what?”

Sister Feng knew that this was a question asked by a child from a poor official's family who had never seen the world, so she didn't want to answer it, and it was not easy to embarrass him for Baoyu's sake, so she answered with a faint smile, and then turned her head to talk to Baoyu. About tidying up the study room and reading night books, he laughed and laughed and said that even Jia Dairu had gone to the south for a stroll and came back. If you don't believe me, just quarrel with Sister Feng.

Just as they were making a scene, someone outside suddenly said that Zhao Er, who had followed Jia Lian to send Sister Lin to Suzhou, had returned.Sister Feng couldn't think of anything else for a while, and hurriedly ordered someone to come in, but she heard Zhao'er say that Daiyu's father Lin Ruhai passed away on the third day of September.That Baoyu frowned and sighed, worried about Lin Daiyu, but Sister Feng just kept on asking about Jia Lian's affairs, but in front of outsiders, she didn't want to interrogate Jia Lian carefully. It was a joke, so I had to be patient.

Here Baochai lives in seclusion every day, busy with some palace selection and schoolwork, and even the Sanchun sisters seldom move around.Aunt Xue accompanied Mrs. Wang to the Ningguo Mansion a few times, and when she came back, she said to her daughter: "Many families have come here. On such occasions, you should also go out to see and know more families. It's good too."

Baochai didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and wondered to herself, how could there be any reason for ladies in the boudoir to socialize at other people's funerals?Although she doesn't shy away from this, it doesn't sound good on the surface.Then after thinking about it, I remembered that after Aunt Xue's husband left, it was not easy to show up on many wedding and festive occasions, so I cherished this opportunity to see, I couldn't help feeling pity in my heart, and I didn't say what I wanted to say before, just smiled He said: "In this case, mother will spend more time with my second aunt, so as not to be bored at home every day."

While the mother and daughter were talking, Qianxue came over from the outside. Seeing Baochai, she hurriedly said: "Young lady asked me to inquire about Miss Lin at first. Today I heard in the mansion that she followed Master Lian to Suzhou. Zhao'er came back alone."

Before Baochai could speak, Aunt Xue had already glanced at Baochai and said, "Good girl, I blamed you for my mother's sake. I didn't expect you to be so caring. After she left, it's time to inquire about the news and deal with it as soon as possible." But she thought that Baochai ordered to inquire about Daiyu's news in order to please Baoyu and guard against her rivals.

What Aunt Xue said was neither fish nor fowl, but Baochai naturally didn't want to argue with her, so it was easy to evade it. When there was no one around, Baochai called Qianxue and said to her first: "I didn't have such a heart, you Don't be confused." Then slowly asked her when Wang Er arrived home, who she met and what she said.

Qianxue's house was originally an old man brought by Jia's mother. It has been operating in Rongguo Mansion for many years, so the news is well-informed.Originally, Qianxue heard Jin Yuzhi's words, and only thought that the Xue family was going to fight against the old lady, and she was quite wary of Baochai. Now that she has been with Baochai for so many days, seeing Baochai acting like this, she has put aside her previous defenses. The heart is gone, and every day, I go to the front of the saddle to inquire about the news for Baochai, and to report the news, and I am very dedicated.

When Wang'er came back from Suzhou, the first person he saw was of course Mrs. Jia Mushi.Therefore, Qianxue here already knew the news of Lin Ruhai's death, and told Baochai immediately.Baochai guessed that Daiyu and Lin Ruhai were deeply in love with each other, so she must be weeping sadly at this moment, so she couldn't help worrying about her. Then she recalled the scene when her father died that day, and couldn't help shedding a few tears.

Suddenly, the voice in the golden lock said urgently: "You don't want to be sad only for the dead. The ready-made living people are still living in the country, waiting for you to take care of them."

Baochai knew that the voice must be worrying about Xiangling, so she urged her, but she only said lightly: "Everything must be understood. You take pity on Xiangling. I planned many things and tried my best to be blamed by my mother and brother, but I finally got along. I understand what you mean. But now I just want to ask a few words, but you are evasive, forcing me to bother Qianxue. You only bother me to do things, have you ever thought of helping me?"

Hearing her long and short in that voice, one knew that she must be angry.At that moment, I felt that I was wronged, and said dryly: "I really don't know about Master Lin. I think I was just an ordinary woman, and I don't go out of the gate every day. How do I know this?"

Seeing that the coercion was fruitless, Baochai had no choice but to give up.The next day, Aunt Xue accompanied Mrs. Wang to the Ningguo Mansion. Xue Pan was only with his bastard and friend, and disappeared early in the morning.She managed the cotton shop by herself. Compared with the silk and satin shop, it is much easier to conceal people's eyes and ears.

Xiangling got the news a few days ago, and was waiting in the store early in the morning.The master and servant have not seen each other for several months, and they have some feelings of parting to tell.

Baochai looked Xiangling up and down first, and saw that she was wearing a kerchief on her head, and there was no hairpin on her temples. She felt pity in her heart. When she took her hand, she felt that she had more flesh than before, and smiled. Said: "It seems to be a little richer than before. I think that grandma didn't treat you harshly."

Xiangling said with a smile: "Grandma treats me like a young lady from a rich family. I take the lead in delivering soup and water every day, eating and dressing. During the day, I said that I would like to talk to her daughter. Learning to spin and weave, she scolded her daughter when she found out, saying she couldn’t do it.”

Seeing that her face was full of leisure and complacency, Baochai felt relieved, and seeing Grandma Liu left and right, she hurriedly asked Xiangling, who smiled and told Xiangling: "Grandma said that seeing that winter is coming, the cotton-padded quilts at home must be prepared. Said that the new cotton is too expensive, so I have to go to the pawnshop to find the dead pawns that other people's homes don't use, so that they can be refurbished."

Qian Xueying'er and the two of them could not help frowning when they heard this.Qianxue smiled and said: "Grandma Liu is too frugal. The girl gave her dozens of taels of silver back and forth, let alone new cotton-padded quilts, even silk jackets and satin quilts are enough. .”

Xiangling hurriedly waved her hands and said: "You are blaming her wrongly. All she was looking for were good-quality cotton-padded quilts there. A few days ago, she got a quilt and re-took the quilt cover. People who saw it said yes. Now I am covering this quilt to keep it warm. Other people said they want it, but my grandma said that I should buy more, buy a car, go home and renovate it so that I can sell it to make money.”

Qian Xueying'er is both maidservants of the family, and they were raised in a wealthy household since they were young. They were stunned when they had never heard of such ways to make money.Qianxue blurted out: "Since that's the case, I remember that our family also has this pawnshop business. Why not do the same, firstly to make money, secondly, the price of old clothes and quilts is cheaper after all, and it is also for the sake of the poor, right to be a pawnbroker." Good deeds have been done.”

Ying'er hurriedly said: "No way! Have you forgotten that the business of the pawnshop has always been taken care of by the uncle. You can only enter the business of the uncle, but you can't leave it. I don't know how much goods I took for nothing from the silk and satin shop in those days A few days ago, I just borrowed a batch of silks and satins from a trading company for emergency. My wife complained for a long time after she knew about it, saying that the girl is not her own business. I don’t feel bad. According to me, if I really want to do this business, I will get it from another pawn shop. That's it. It saves my wife from complaining, and saves future quarrels over the interest."

Ying'er's words are like a knife, which makes Baochai feel uncomfortable.But Yinger's words are all true, and she can't refute them for a while.Baochai smiled and said, "Are you two confused? How can there be any reason in the world to make all the money? I haven't seen anyone doing business, but when I see a good business, I rush to grab it." What's more, our Xue family is an imperial merchant, which is different from ordinary merchants. How can we compete with the peasants in the countryside? If we open a weaving workshop, we will earn much more money than this, and we will produce by ourselves It’s cheaper to sell yourself.”

Then he said to Xiangling: "Since Grandma Liu intends to buy more and resell to make money, I'm afraid her capital is not enough. You also have a private house now, why don't you tell her that you can simply make it bigger, and you are also entitled to earn a bonus. "

Xiang Ling said: "Mr. Yao told me the same thing. I was skeptical before, but now the girl says the same thing, I think I can't be wrong." While talking, her face turned slightly red.