Edge of the Red Chamber

It was late May when Lin Hai received Jia Mu's letter.At that time, there was a Qing guest surnamed Liu who wanted to go to Beijing, so Lin Hai entrusted him.

It's too much for Jia's mother to think that she is not cautious enough, so she didn't write until the beginning of July.Mr. Liu walked steadily all the way. When he came across famous mountains and ancient temples, he must stop to enjoy it. His land is planted well, and when he is interested, he should stop and ask him for advice.This inevitably delayed the trip. When we arrived in Beijing, it was already the beginning of September, and the first snow was falling in Shenjing.

Jia's mother didn't like it very much, and she expected that it would not be a good match for Mr. Liu to make a big deal of Qiao.Jia Zheng was fine, because of what Lin Hai had said in his letter earlier: Every rich and noble family must take power, and the young master is spoiled and spoiled, I don't want it anymore.For Lin Hai's sake, he just nodded.Jia Zheng thought in his heart that such educated people are a little arrogant, not to mention that his brother-in-law personally invited him, so he had to be a little bit thin.The concierge came in with Lin Hai's recommendation letter, and knew that Mr. Liu had arrived.At that time, Jia Zheng was seeing Jia Yucun.Seeing that Jia Zheng had something to do here, Jia Yucun hurriedly got up and said goodbye. Jia Zheng agreed and ordered someone to meet him in the study.

It is unavoidable to take a school examination and see that Mr. Liu is not only good at writing articles, but also better than the people around him in terms of poetry and songs. He is also very good at chess. They don't even eat rice, and they have a long talk.The boy came in and said that Mr. Liu's things were all set up. Jia Zheng just remembered that Mr. Liu had never rested a single stone during his journey. Looking at the time, it was about time for lunch, so he said: "My son. Born with some visions, born with weak bones, his grandmother loves him the most, so it is inevitable that he will indulge him more. He has not read a few books until now, and he is really not in good shape. "

"My lord, you're being polite." Mr. Liu didn't say much, and Jia Zheng only thought that he was full of success, so he didn't take offense, but was delighted.

"The house has been tidied up, sir go to rest for a while, and clean up the dust for him at noon." Jia Zheng got up and saw him off.

Mr. Liu was not polite either, he stopped in front of the door, turned around, cupped his hands slightly, and said: "My lord, stop there, there will be a long time to bother you in the future. If your lord is so polite, you will be heretics."

Jia Zheng was even more satisfied with his knowledge and knowing how to advance and retreat. He smiled and said hello, and then told the boy who led the way, "I'm so kind to serve you, sir. Don't neglect me." The boy hurriedly agreed.

Jia Baoyu still doesn't know what's going on outside. Last night, he told Jia Mu that he didn't have to go to school today. He and Sanchun sisters were playing in Jia Mu's house all morning. Please Baoyu go to the study to see Mr.

When Jia Baoyu heard the word "Master", it was like Sun Dasheng heard the curse, all four limbs and five internal organs felt uncomfortable.Looking up and seeing Jiamu, it was like a long drought and dew, a smile appeared on his face, and he immediately fell into Jiamu's arms, refusing to get up like a twisted candy.

Mother Jia didn't know what he was thinking, she was just afraid that Jia Zheng would test his knowledge, so she hugged him and comforted him: "My son, don't be afraid, there is an old lady here." You go back to your master and say that I left Baoyu to talk, and Mr. Liu is probably tired from the journey, so let's rest for a day and see you tomorrow." The maid agreed and went to the second gate to send a message.

It has been more than a month since Lin Hai's letter arrived, and Jia's mother was naturally unhappy when this person arrived, besides, she did not intend to invite this gentleman to teach Jia Baoyu.There is another class of people who came from poor backgrounds and have some knowledge, but they didn't get there, they were never allowed to be an official, and they were forced by life to go to the rich and noble family to sit in the court. reputation.Such a person must be extremely strict in teaching students, and she couldn't bear to let her precious jade suffer like that.Seeing that Mr. Liu was acting like this, he decided that he was such a person, and he had to give him a good reputation so that he would not dare to be too complacent.

Speaking of Mr. Liu, Jia's mother hated and felt helpless.The reason she wrote to Lin Hai was simply to ask Lin Hai to recommend Lin Juan and Lin Yan's mentor, because Mr. Na was a relative of the Lin family who lived far away, and it happened to connect the friendship between the two families. In three to five years, she spent some money to donate to him as an official, and let that man accept the love, and also let Lin Hai accept the family's affection, which is a good thing that can be achieved in one fell swoop.

Lin Hai didn't seem to understand, so he recommended the current husband, and what he said in his heart was in line with Jia's mother's wishes. She couldn't even say bad things before seeing the person, let alone push him back.

After lunch and drinking, Jia Zheng was talking with Mr. Liu, and when he was talking about Baoyu, "I don't blame the old lady for favoring him. This villain is also somewhat clever. Although he is a bit stubborn, he still knows a thing or two about etiquette." ..." The boy came in and answered Jia Mu's words, Jia Zheng was so ashamed that his face was flushed, and he wished he could immediately call Jia Baoyu into the study and beat him to death.

"This evil..." Jia Zheng was so angry that he couldn't speak.It's hard to tell my mother, so I scold my son.

Earlier, Lin Hai had talked about Jia Baoyu's temperament and how the members of the Jia family treated Jia Baoyu.However, after a short pause, I realized that the root cause may still lie in myself, and I sighed that Jia Mu really doted on her grandson.He didn't show it on the face, smiled lightly, and said: "Children of my age are mostly naughty and don't like to study. You have to learn it slowly and teach it slowly. When they are older, they will be fine."

Mr. Liu gave the steps, and Jia Zheng went down naturally.I was really ashamed to talk to Mr. Liu again, and the waiter outside was also clever, and came in after a while to say that there was someone in the department. Mr. Liu knew the reason, but he got up to leave quickly. Jia Zheng felt sorry and sent him off personally. To the gate of the courtyard.

After seeing off Mr. Liu, Jia Zheng hesitated in front of the door for a while, his mood gradually calmed down, and he went back to the house just now. After all, he dared not disobey Jia Mu.

On the second day, before breakfast was served, Jia Baoyu still remembered going to see her husband, so she got up early, making trouble for Jia's mother to get up too.

"Why do you get up so early today?" Guessing that Jia Baoyu woke up so early to see Mr. Liu, Jia's mother was very happy, thinking that her grandson didn't hurt in vain. This etiquette is not for others The children at home are comparable.Looking at Jia Baoyu's clothes again, he became more and more satisfied the more he looked at them, "The clothes are well chosen."

Jia Baoyu is dressed in bright red and two-color golden white butterfly arrow sleeves, tied with multicolored silk and knotted with long spikes, the outer cover is azurite and flowered eight groups of Japanese forged fringe gowns, wearing blue satin powder-soled small court boots, and gold dragonflies on his neck. Yingluo also has a five-color silk sash tied with a beautiful jade.He was already good-looking, but in this way, his face was even more powdered and his eyebrows were picturesque. It's no wonder that Jia's mother only liked him.

Jia Baoyu smiled and went up to greet Mr. Liu, saying: "I should have gone to see Mr. Liu earlier, but I should have gone to the school to resign first. I just remembered last night that everything has been locked, so it is not easy to go. Sun I think I should go to school today, after school, I will explain the situation to my husband, and then I will go to see Mr Liu in the afternoon, it seems solemn."

When Jia Mu heard it, she liked it even more, and hurriedly responded, saying, "My son, it really has benefited." She also ordered the mandarin ducks who waited on her to dress, "Remember to find out the pair of agate plates and give them to Baoyu later. Send it over." Jia Baoyu quickly thanked her with joy, said all kinds of good things, and coaxed Jia Mu to the point where she couldn't stop screaming.

After washing for a while, Jia Baoyu personally helped Jia's mother to go outside. The two wives of King Xing, Li Wan, Wang Xifeng and sister Sanchun had also arrived. The three sisters were sitting and drinking tea. The two wives of King Xing and Li Wan, Wang Xifeng Several people were busy mediating, and when they saw Jia's mother coming out, the three of them came forward to say hello, Wang Xifeng Tanchun said with a smile, "I heard the laughter of my ancestors outside, and I said, it must be Baoyu inside, and nothing else. "

Seeing that Jia Baoyu was wearing the clothes he was going out, he said, "It can be seen that I am in a hurry to see Mr.

Jia Baoyu refused to study, and Jia Zheng was not pleased. Mrs. Wang was most worried.When I heard Jia Zheng's words yesterday, I knew that Mr. Liu was very knowledgeable, so I was very happy.Hearing the words, he was even more happy, and said: "Why are you in such a hurry? It's not too late to change clothes after breakfast."

Jia's mother thought the same way in her heart. She could say this, but she didn't allow others to say it.As soon as Mrs. Wang finished speaking, she smiled and said: "In the past, his old man always said that he would not read. He didn't read or read. Didn't he also read so many books and memorized thousands of words in his heart? I said that the grandfather in the academy was old. When I grow up, there are many children in the family, and there are many relatives who come to the attached school. I only have two eyes, and when I can't take care of them, I ask my aunt to recommend one. I chose this one after thousands of choices. Mr. Liu, Baoyu really wants to go to school wholeheartedly, but you blame him for being too impatient? You have all the good things in this world, how can there be such a reason?"

Although you love him because he was raised in front of your old man, but Baoyu crawled out of my stomach. If you love him, don't I?Mrs. Wang was full of sadness, but she had nothing to say, and she accepted the punishment with a smile.He also listened to Jia's mother's left and right words of aunt and aunt, but it reminded me to remember her daughter and son-in-law's love, and even thought of Jia's mother's proposal of marriage with the Lin family. point.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Wang Xifeng stepped forward with a smile and joked: "I am an illiterate person, I don't know the rules for those who are not apprentices, but this apprentice, you must not go hungry, sir. The ancestors should hurry to the table, and the food will be served now."

Jia Mu laughed and scolded the monkey. As she was talking and laughing, a maid serving on the second door came in and told Jia Zheng that she was asking Baoyu to go to the study after breakfast.

Baoyu immediately looked at Jiamu, and Jiamu patted his hand with a smile, raised her head and said to Mrs. Wang: "Your master is also impatient. You didn't say anything after urging you yesterday. You don't even need to eat today, so just eat it." It's coming again. The adults in our room are not as thoughtful as this kid Baoyu." After finishing speaking, he learned what Baoyu said in the morning, and then said: "If you want to tell me, there is no need to be in such a hurry. Mr. Liu has just arrived, and there are cars and boats all the way, so he should take a rest for a few days, recover his energy, and then ask Baoyu to visit him. He is a guest, and he has come from a long way, so these words are naturally hard to say , I’m afraid we still think we’re not polite.”

After finishing speaking, he said to the waiting maid: "Pass on my words, please take a rest for a few days, and I will invite you to dinner and teach Baoyu to kowtow."

Baoyu wanted to watch it all night last night, and was thinking of this reason. He originally thought that he could push it for a while, but he never expected such a good thing, so he was very happy, but he dared not speak, but his face was full of smiles.

Jia Zheng accepted Jia's mother's words, but in desperation, he had to order someone to speak some kind words to Mr. Liu, and then apologized, saying, "Before, I was thinking about my son's studies, but I forgot that my husband was tired from the journey and hadn't had a good rest yet." , "Please take a rest for a few days, sir, and meet again in a few days" and other words.

In the past five or six days, Jia Zheng saw that there was no news from Jiamu's side. He expected that Jia Baoyu would not go to school, so he asked Jiamu to drag him on, so he came to Jiamu's room to ask.

At that time, Jia's mother was breaking up here, leaving Baoyu alone to talk.Jia Mu leaned on the couch, Yuanyang sat on the footrest and beat Jia Mu's legs with a beauty hammer. Baoyu leaned beside Jia Mu and chatted for a while, then got up to get the beauty hammer in Yuanyang's hand, saying : "I'll beat the old lady's legs."

Before saying a word, the maid at the door said that the master had come, and Baoyu was so frightened that she immediately dropped the beauty hammer and stood aside, daring not to speak.

Jia's mother already knew Jia Zheng's intentions. Seeing Baoyu like this, she was both funny and angry. She ordered the servant girl to ask the master to come in, and at the same time she took Baoyu by her side and said, "What are you afraid of? The old ancestor is here." Then she said: "Don't worry, I've already agreed when I wrote to your uncle, sir, I won't embarrass you."

While talking, the door curtain rang, and Jia Zheng had come in. Jia's mother stopped talking and pushed Baoyu to salute Jia Zheng.

Jia Zheng saluted Jia Mu first, and then Jia Baoyu saluted Jia Zheng. Jia Mu ordered Jia Zheng to sit down, and said, "You came just in time. I told Feng girl at noon. Tomorrow is a good day. Let's see if there is a table. Please." Sir, come over to talk. It has been agreed in the school, and Baoyu has also written a few words in the past few days, and I just want to show it to my husband."

Seeing Baoyu's frightened look, Jia Zheng couldn't be happy.Knowing that Jia's mother said this to defend Baoyu, she couldn't point it out clearly. She smiled and said that the old lady's arrangement must be good.After the mother and son exchanged a few words, Jia Zheng went.

As soon as Jia Zheng left, Jia Baoyu, as if he had died and came back to life, immediately rubbed into Jia Mu's arms, asking Jia Mu what to write in the letter to Lin Hai.