Concubine daughter of the Lin family in the Red Chamber

Aunt Shen said: "In a woman's life, the most important thing is to find a good husband and son-in-law, to marry a man, to dress and eat, Ruiwen is a noble person, you must be rich and well-fed if you follow him, the rare thing is that he behaves well. Excellent, if there is only an empty shelf, I will not talk about it, such a person who has the best of both worlds, you must not miss it."

Lin Wanru recalled that in her previous life, she insisted on marrying Wan Lin despite her parents' opposition, so what happened?Once reborn, although I have no intention of marrying, but since my aunt has taken a fancy to him and is a good candidate, it doesn't matter if I obey once. Abide by women's morals, respect parents-in-law, do everything impeccably, and live up to my aunt's kindness.

She said: "I listened to my aunt, but does my cousin know about this?"

Aunt Shen smiled and said, "Of course I know." Then she went to get the mandarin duck pair, and showed it to Lin Wanru: "This is the jade pendant that your aunt and I promised as a token, one piece is at Ruiwen's place, and you keep this one away." gone."

Lin Wanru didn't hesitate, and hung it around her neck.

Aunt Shen was now satisfied, Daiyu's marriage was hopeful, and Wanru's marriage was settled, even if she closed her eyes immediately, she could feel at ease.

The other side of Jia's family had settled the deal, and only waited for the beginning of spring to discuss carefully, so Shen Ze felt relieved and concentrated on urging his nephews to study, because it was the end of the year, and everyone was busy with the New Year, Shen Ze thought Coming to the door now is also causing people to be in a hurry, so it's better to visit one by one after the first month.

There are a few more guests from the Shen family in the mansion, and the Shen family is getting busier, trying her best to make this year's celebration lively.

Chen Ruiwen is also free now, and he refuses all invitations for drinks. He concentrates on staying at home and helping his father with the general affairs, and sometimes goes to Ningxiangzhai to talk to Lin Wanru.

Although Lin Wanru knew about her engagement to Chen Ruiwen, she had been a human being for two lifetimes, and she really couldn't show a coy attitude, so she simply pretended she didn't know, talking and laughing as before, and she felt at ease.

On New Year's Eve dinner, four tables were set up in Chen's family. Chen Yi took three sons and Shen Ze sat at one table. Shen and two sisters-in-law accompanied Aunt Shen at one table. Chen Ruiwen brought his younger brother and five teenagers from Shen's family. It's a table, the sisters of the Chen family and the sisters of the Lin family are sitting at the same table.

They are all in the spacious flower hall, separated by screens full of gold and jade or splendid flowers, and decorated with many bonsai such as wintersweet and narcissus. There are also seven or eight large carved palace lanterns hanging on the top of the flower hall. It shines like daylight.

There is a large enamel-colored stove burning in each of the four corners of the flower hall, and embroidered curtains are hung on the windows and doors. The whole flower hall is as warm as spring. Neat, there is an endless flow of girls passing dishes and serving dishes, busy but not chaotic.

Under Chen Yi's leadership, everyone first drank three cups of wine together to celebrate, and then sat down and had fun.

Chen Yibin and his son, Shen Ze, were talking about major national affairs, when and what decrees were promulgated, whether they were effective in improving people's livelihood, and who was responsible for implementing them.

The four female family members of the Shen family talked about the in-laws of the sons and daughters of the various families in the capital. Rebuking, drinking orders and punching, it was very noisy and lively.

In contrast, although the girls at this table were also joking, they were a little quieter.

Chen Ruixue folded a wintersweet and wanted to play drumming to pass flowers. Chen Ruiyu clapped his hands and applauded, but said: "It's not fun if there are fewer people, so I might as well ask my brothers to join us."

Chen Ruixue was a little hesitant, it would be fine if there were only brothers from the Chen family, but there was also the young master from the Shen family, after all he was a foreigner.

Chen Ruishuang was the youngest, and had already run to the third grandma, Zhou Shi, pulling her sleeves and begging: "Mother, we want to play drumming and passing flowers with our brothers."

Mrs. Zhou looked at Mrs. Chen with a smile. Mrs. Shen understood, and said with a smile: "After dinner, go to the Nuan Pavilion and ask your brother to play with you."

Chen Ruishuang couldn't help but agree.

Chen Yi naturally heard it too, thought it was funny, raised his voice and called his little granddaughter over, Chen Ruishuang was timid to the always strict Chen Yi, Chen Yi smiled and hugged Chen Ruishuang to his lap, and asked her: "Haven't you played enough? I don’t forget to play even after eating a New Year’s Eve dinner.”

Chen Ruishuang blinked her eyes and said nothing to her fingers. Chen Yi was amused by her small appearance, and shouted to Chen Ruiwen: "Drink less wine, and play with your sisters after dinner." Chen Ruiwen responded, and called again People first went to the warm pavilion to clean up.

Young people always eat fast. When a group of teenagers and girls were surrounded by girls and women and went to Nuan Pavilion, Chen Yi's table and Shen's table were still there, and they just gathered together to gossip. Shen was worried. Standing at the door, he gave orders for a while, asking someone to take good care of him.

After tidying up the Nuan Pavilion, the space is quite large. On the kang, there is a large pear wood table carved with five blessings and clouds, surrounded by thick pillows, and all the food has been prepared.

The teenagers followed the girls and sat on the kang first. Chen Ruixue sat on the side, next to them were Chen Ruiyu, Chen Ruishuang, Lin Daiyu, Lin Wanru, and the teenagers followed the order. Chen Ruiwu sat next to Chen Ruixue, followed by Chen Ruiyun, Chen Ruili, Shen Xun, Shen Jie, Shen Cheng, Shen Quan, Shen Yu were sitting, and Chen Ruiwen was sitting next to Lin Wanru.

Because they were strangers to each other, the girl was shy and reserved, but the boy didn't want to be seen as frivolous, so the scene was cold.

Chen Ruiwen saw it, smiled secretly, folded a red wintersweet flower and handed it to Lin Wanru: "This time I will give the order, starting with you, whoever gets the flower, whether it's a joke or Guess an anagram, it’s good to have fun, how about it?” Lin Wanru responded with a smile.

Someone had brought a small drum over earlier, Chen Ruiwen sat down with his back to the crowd and began to beat the drums. The beats of the drums could be slow or fast, and the sound of the drums could be loud or soft. At first, everyone was a little uncomfortable. It fell into Chen Ruiyun's hands, and Chen Ruixue couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Chen Ruiyun was also shy, a little embarrassed, everyone looked at him with smiles, although Chen Ruiyun was Chen Ruiwen's younger brother, but he was a concubine, and he was usually quiet and taciturn, it was really hard to imagine him telling jokes.

Chen Ruiwen laughed and said, "Quickly tell us a joke, if it's not funny, you'll be punished with a drink."

Chen Ruiyun thought for a while, then smiled and said, "I've been in the military camp all day, so I don't know what jokes are there, but I heard one or two funny stories from the brothers in the camp."

Chen Ruishuang was the first to applaud, and Chen Ruiyun smiled and said, "Erhuzi, who was with me, had a scholar in his hometown. Before he went to Beijing for the exam, everyone in the village came to see him off. When a gust of wind blew, the scholar's hat fell off, and the village head hurriedly picked it up." Get up, say, the hat fell off, the scholar was in a hurry, said, you can’t say that you have failed, but if you want to talk about getting the first place, the chief hurriedly fastened the hat on the scholar’s ​​head, heaved a sigh of relief, and said, this time he will never be in the same place again. It's time."

As soon as the words were finished, Chen Ruixue and Chen Ruishuang covered their mouths and started giggling, but Chen Ruiyu was more sensitive, wondering whether the young master of the Shen family would think too much after hearing this joke when he went to Beijing for the exam.

After Chen Ruiyun finished speaking, he also felt a little regretful, and looked at Chen Ruiwen anxiously. Shen Xun is a shrewd person, so he smiled and said: "The boss here is really a fool, he can't speak, I'm afraid that scholar will vomit to death."

Chen Ruiwen said with a smile: "Although it's funny, there are still people who don't laugh. Ruiyun has to punish himself with a drink." Chen Ruiyun smiled and drank a glass of wine.

The drum sounded, and the plum blossoms passed down again, but this time it was Lin Daiyu's turn. She was always reserved, and naturally she couldn't tell any jokes in front of people. Opposite and connected, there is a lonely peak in the blue sky."

The teenagers present are all scholars who know how to read and write, even the girls have been educated, so they are naturally more interested in anagrams than jokes, so they all think carefully.

Shen Xun guessed it first, and tentatively said: "But a word?"

Lin Daiyu nodded with a smile, Chen Ruishuang pulled Chen Ruiyu and asked in a low voice: "Why is it a word?"

Chen Ruiyu smiled and said: "It is the meaning of the shape of the characters. If you think about the shape of the characters, you will know it. The word riddle is interesting and not difficult."

Chen Ruishuang suddenly realized that she was young and didn't know much about it. She admired Lin Daiyu and Shen Xun very much at the moment. Both Shen Quan and Shen Yu turned their attention to Lin Daiyu. She looked like a delicate girl, but unexpectedly she was also talented. of.

Lin Wanru looked at Lin Daiyu proudly, and got off the kang with a smile: "Cousin, let's play too, I'll play the drums."

Chen Ruiwen smiled and said, "You are tired after careful study, and your arm hurts."

Lin Wanru pushed Chen Ruiwen to sit on the kang with a smirk, took the drumsticks and beat them up, with his back to the crowd, he could only hear the titters of the crowd, he could feel the tense atmosphere, but he couldn't see it.

Lin Wanru felt itchy in her heart, turned her head secretly, and saw Chen Ruishuang quietly pointing at Chen Ruiwen with her finger, she couldn't help secretly amused, squinted at Chen Ruiwen, saw the plum blossom in his hand, and stopped suddenly.

Chen Ruiwen looked at the plum blossom in his hand and touched his nose, Chen Ruixue clapped his hands and laughed: "It's the elder brother's turn, let the elder brother tell a joke."

Chen Ruiwen said: "I don't know how to tell jokes, and I don't know how to solve crossword puzzles, so I just drink."

Chen Ruiyu said with a smile: "This rule is still set by the elder brother. The elder brother actually violated the order. First, he will be punished with three glasses of wine, and then he will pick a joke and tell us."