Survive in the world of Red Mansions

The Lin family had officially settled down in the capital, and on the second day, they sent a greeting card to the Yao family, stating that they would visit the Yao family the next day.

The response from the Yao family was quick. Last time when Lin Hai and his son visited the Yao mansion, the steward Yao who was waiting to greet them in front of the mansion came over to greet Lin Hai in person, because he knew that the Lin family had just arrived in the capital and asked if there was anything he needed to help. , and sent some seasonal vegetables and New Year's goods.

After Lin Rui found out later, he knew that Yao's family would be good people. In fact, these things were not worth any money, and they were sold outside, but considering that the Lin family had just arrived in the capital, they sent these things here, which really felt very considerate.

The next day, after breakfast, Lin Hai took Lin Daiyu and his brother to the Yao Mansion by car.

Lin Hai, Lin Rui, and his son were directly welcomed to the front yard. Lin Daiyu changed into a small sedan chair at the front door. When they reached the hanging flower gate in the backyard, several women put down the sedan chair and raised the curtain of the sedan chair. Xueyan hurriedly stepped forward to help My own girl got off the sedan chair.

Just after entering the Hanging Flower Gate, I walked along the veranda for a while, and when I was about to reach the main courtyard, I saw a middle-aged beautiful woman in a cloak leading a group of people waiting in front.Seeing Lin Daiyu's arrival, the two young women quickened their pace a little, stepped forward to greet her, walked to Lin Daiyu's side and held her hand, laughing and saying:

"My cousin is here. My mother-in-law was waiting in the house early this morning. Look, I can't wait any longer. Now I have come outside to wait. Oh, look at me, I didn't remember to introduce myself, I should call It's time to call, I'm your first cousin, and this standing next to you is your second cousin."

Lin Daiyu hurriedly blessed her body, "Daiyu has seen the first and second cousins."

Arriving in front of this middle-aged beautiful woman, she hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Daiyu has seen Aunt Biao, please greet Aunt Biao!"

"Good boy, it's time to arrive. It's cold outside, come in quickly!"

When Jia Min passed away last time, Yao Chen came back after going to pay respects and said that the little cousin of the Lin family was slender and pleasant. She is also physically delicate, and she is a weak beauty.

But now when I see this cousin, although she is still relatively slender, she has a ruddy complexion and is in good health.The Lin family just came to Beijing. After such a long journey from Yangzhou to the capital, they rested for one night and came to visit the next day. They didn't see any fatigue on their faces. It seemed that their health was completely fine.

"It's freezing cold, and Aunt Laobiao, an elder, is waiting for Daiyu, a junior. It's really wrong!"

The eldest daughter-in-law of Yao's parents next to her said with a smile: "Mother-in-law and cousin, don't be too polite. The cold wind is blowing, so don't suffer from the cold. Let's go in first and talk about it!"

Lin Daiyu helped Yao Zeng into the upper room in the main courtyard. There were a few fire pans in the room, and it warmed up as soon as she walked in.

Lin Daiyu and the little maid next to her took the cloak she had taken off and put it aside, and kowtowed to Yao Zeng again.Yao Zeng also asked the nurse next to her to present the gift she was going to give to Daiyu. It was a set of golden noodles inlaid with rubies. Seeing that the workmanship was very good, Lin Daiyu stood up again and thanked Yao Zeng.

This time, although it's not a New Year's Eve, it's the first time for Lin Daiyu to come to her grandmother's natal home, and she also prepared gifts for everyone in the Yao family.Except Yao Zeng's is a red sandalwood Guanyin statue, the other female relatives prepared jewelry and clothing materials, and the cousins ​​prepared calligraphy and paintings of the Four Treasures of the Study, plus some special items from Jiangnan.The younger ones are mostly collars, bracelets, etc., and some toys are more or less the same.

Before coming to Beijing this time, I had considered the issue of giving gifts when visiting relatives. I prepared a lot of clothing, jewelry, and Jiangnan specialties.Although these things are also available in the capital, the price is [-] to [-]% more expensive than that in the south of the Yangtze River. If you prepare early, you don't have to spend that much money.

Then Yao Zeng introduced the other people in the room to Daiyu, and after paying homage to them, all the female relatives finally sat down.Yao Zeng asked Daiyu if the trip from Yangzhou was smooth, what she did at home on weekdays, and so on.

Older women in the big market are like this. For a beautiful and capable girl's house, they wish they belonged to their own house. Now they can't enter their house, and the matchmaker has come up again.

The eldest cousin sat with Daiyu for a while, and then she left, saying that she wanted to arrange a banquet at noon.

Lin Daiyu and Yao's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were gossiping, and one can see that Yao Zeng should be old now, and only cares about having grandchildren, not too much about the affairs of the house.Now the director of the family should be the elder cousin Yao Fang who has retired. The second cousin has a gentle and quiet personality, a little soft, and doesn't talk much. She probably did this deliberately for the sake of harmony between brothers when she was picking a daughter-in-law.

The noon banquet is divided into two tables in the main hall, because they are all close relatives, but the male and female tables are separated by a screen.The two daughters-in-law each served a dish for the mother-in-law, and Yao Zeng asked them to sit down, and let the maid next to her take over.

When Lin Daiyu was at home, if she ate with her father and younger brother, because Lin Hai didn't like people standing by and waiting on her, she would come by herself; but if she ate alone, because Nanny Li was watching, she was also a maid. They waited on me, so when I was a guest at someone else's house, I didn't feel anything unaccustomed to being served by others.

Because the New Year is coming soon, and the Lin family just arrived in the capital, there are many things at home, and they have to wait for Lin Daiyu to arrange, so they didn't stay long after the banquet, so they left and went back.

Mrs. Yao Zeng was very reluctant to part with this little girl, Daiyu, but she also knew that she was going to host Zhongfu at a young age. There was nothing she could do. When Lin Daiyu left, Mrs. Zeng kept holding her hand and told her again and again that she would be free in the next year Be sure to come and move around more.

In the evening, when Yao Pei and Yao Zeng were going to rest, they joked that it was a pity that their youngest son and sister Dai were too different in age, and they were already married. If not, sister Dai would be a good candidate for a wife.

"Master, brother Hao and sister Dai of the second uncle's family are about the same age. If the two families agree, this is a close relationship. It would be better to talk about it early. Master, what do you think?"

"The ages match, but Ruhai doesn't necessarily like Brother Hao, the second eldest son. If he is the eldest son, it is possible. Not to mention marrying a daughter and marrying a high-ranking son, Sister Dai is only 10 years old now, it's still early Very well, Ruhai has made a decision so quickly, don't worry about it, wait until the two children are older!"

"Don't I like my niece, sister Dai? Oh, wait a minute!"

The two couples said a few more words, and felt that this matter was not reliable, so let's look at the opinions of both parties.

The next day, after breakfast, Lin Daiyu directed the servant girl to check the gift prepared earlier, and after confirming that there was no problem, she prepared to go to grandma's house with Lin Hai and the others.

Although Lin Rui had already told Lin Daiyu's maidservants Xue Que and Xue Yan that there was a young cousin in Jia's mansion who, unlike others, told them to take good care of their girls and not let him get close to their sister.

"Sister, my grandmother's family name is Cousin Baoyu. When I see people, I like to ask if they have jade. I seem to have seen you before. I also like to give people characters and so on. Just ignore him. If there is something wrong It’s easy to talk, let the servant girl who follows you help you, don’t save him any face!”

"This cousin Baoyu is older than me, how could he stay in the backyard? Besides, those words just now are so frivolous, how can they be said by a master? What are you thinking at a young age? You are a guest at home, don't worry!"

"Okay, Ruier, don't worry, so many people follow your sister, are you afraid of being bullied? Let's go." Lin Hai looked at his son like an old woman, and talked for a long time, Jia Baoyu had such a big damage power?My younger sister Lin didn't have the same relationship with Jia Baoyu as in the original drama. Jia Baoyu is just a cousin, just stay away.

After the group entered the Rongguo Mansion, Lin Hai and his son were welcomed by Jia She and his nephews to the study outside the front yard without mentioning it.

Here, after Lin Daiyu entered the Rongguo Mansion, she changed to a small sedan, and sat in the sedan for a while before stopping. The snow geese next to her stepped forward to open the curtain of the sedan, and Lin Daiyu saw the small sedan stopped in front of a hanging flower door.Lin Daiyu helped Xueyan get out of the sedan chair, and followed the maidservants of the Rong Mansion into the Chuihua Gate, and walked along the Chaoshou corridor to Jiamu's yard.

Walking along the way, the whole courtyard is decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, and the decoration is very gorgeous. On both sides of the corridors and rooms, there are various kinds of parrots, thrushes and other birds.There were a few maidservants dressed in red and green sitting on the steps. When they saw them coming, they hurriedly smiled and greeted them: "The old lady was talking about it just now, so it can be regarded as coming."

Lin Daiyu thought about what she saw along the way. No wonder her mother would say that her grandfather's house was different from other houses. Not to mention other things, the clothes of the second and third-class women and maids she saw along the way were different from other houses. With silk and satin on the body, it looks extremely rich.

I remember when my mother said that my grandmother loved her very much. Now that my mother has gone, it is the first time for my granddaughter to come to the house. The master of my own generation came to welcome me, right?

Several little servant girls competed to open the curtain, saying, "Miss Lin is here!"

As soon as Lin Daiyu entered the room, she saw an old woman with silvery temples being supported by two people. Looking at the person, Daiyu knew that this was her grandmother. Just as she was about to bow down, she was embraced by Jiamu. "Heart and liver" cried and burst into tears.

Lin Daiyu couldn't help crying when she heard her grandmother calling her mother's name, and the person standing next to her also wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, for real or not.After everyone slowly persuaded her, Daiyu helped Jia Mu to sit down, and kowtowed to Jia Mu again.

When Mother Jia waited for Daiyu to get up, Fang pointed to everyone in the room and introduced to Daiyu, "This is your first aunt, this is your second aunt, and this is your former brother Zhu's daughter-in-law, sister-in-law Zhu." As soon as I met, I pointed to the girls next to me and introduced, "This is my grandniece Yun, this is Miss Xue, the child of your second aunt's sister's family, and this is Yingchun, your cousin Tanchun, who you call my cousin in our house. This is Xichun from the next door."

Lin Daiyu greeted each other one by one before sitting down.After Lin Daiyu sat down, she looked at the people in the room, so many people sitting, including Jia Mu herself, were all looking at her granddaughter.

No wonder the women who sent someone to pick up this granddaughter last year came back and said how capable and extraordinary this granddaughter is, and her performance in such a short period of time is really better than her own granddaughters.It seems that the two gentlemen and nuns invited really taught their granddaughter very well.

As for the others, Mrs. Xing was almost an invisible person in Rong Mansion, so let's not mention it.When Mrs. Wang saw the little girl Daiyu, she thought of her sister-in-law Jia Min back then. Although Jia Min didn't like her niece Lin Daiyu very much, she didn't dare to show it because Jia Min didn't like her niece.

The girls sitting here saw Lin Daiyu's outfits, and they couldn't help but envy them. The fur cloak she wore just now was pure white mink, and she didn't see a single hair. It was a pink jacket and skirt of fine cotton, with a fine wool beige on the outside.

She doesn't wear much jewelry, except for a pair of gemstone earrings, a longevity lock on her neck, and a pair of bracelets on her wrists, there is nothing else. These two circles of pearls are of the same size, all pink, delicate, smooth, and crystal clear. Uncle Lin is really willing to give such high-quality pearls as a headdress for a child!

After the maids served tea, Mother Jia asked about Daiyu's current situation at home, and when she heard that Daiyu had started housekeeping at a young age, she couldn't help feeling sad, "Among my children, I only love your mother. I left without seeing each other, leaving you siblings alone and helpless, I have always missed you very much, and sent people to pick you up several times, but it was a pity that they failed."

Lin Daiyu thought that she was taken care of by her father and accompanied by her younger brother, so it was a bit inappropriate to say that she was lonely and helpless, but what the old lady said, there was no need to say more, she just said with a smile,

"Grandmother, it's not that my granddaughter doesn't want to come to visit you. It's just that when my mother passed away, she had to observe filial piety. It's really inconvenient to go out as a guest. Besides, my father is busy with official duties. It's really not suitable for my father to take care of the trivial matters at home. There is only my granddaughter at home. , my younger brother also has to study and practice martial arts every day, so I couldn't make the trip. But now it's better, now that I'm in the capital, I can visit my grandmother often in the future!"

"You ghost girl, it's all the reason you said, okay, okay, this time I will stay here for a few days before going back."

*yun next to him thought of Lin Rui who he saw last time, and said that he would get up to practice martial arts at Yinshi, and then thought that Baoyu would not go to the charity school now that it was cold, so he couldn't help asking, "Sister Lin, Cousin Lin said last time that I want to get up early every day. Get up and practice martial arts, is it still like this now that the weather is cold?"

"Of course, this martial arts practice also has to be insisted on every day, with my father every day, but now the winter is a little later, but it is the beginning of Maoshi, and I get up to practice martial arts just as the sky is a little numb."

Upon hearing this, Tanchun next to him asked curiously, "Is Uncle Lin with your cousin?"

"Yes, my father always wakes up my brother early in the morning, and I often go for a walk with him."

Xue Baochai and Shi *yun's fathers are gone so I won't mention it. Jia Sanchun finds it inconceivable that their respective fathers, no matter Jia Zheng, Jia She or Jia Jing, are ten times different from the father they know now like Uncle Lin. Thousands of miles away, if you look at Jia Lian, Jia Baoyu, Jia Huan and others, seeing the fathers of Jia She and Jia Zheng, they are all like a mouse seeing a cat. How can there be such a close father-son relationship like the Lin family? Girls, whether they have fathers or not, are envious.

At this moment, a little maid came in outside to announce that Uncle Lin brought Master Biao to pay his respects.Mother Jia feels that they are all relatives of the whole family, so there is no need to avoid it, just come in directly.

The day before yesterday, Mother Jia heard Jia Lian say that the entire Lin family had moved to Beijing, so she wanted to send someone over to find out what happened, but she kept holding herself back so that no one would ask. Now that Lin Hai finally came over, she hurriedly asked after they finished greeting them. Said, "son-in-law, have you been transferred to the capital? I don't know what position you will take in the future?"

"Back to mother-in-law, she is the left servant of the household department, and will take office after the next year."

When Jia Mu heard it, the Zuo Shilang of the household department of the third rank was not as lucrative as the former patrolling salt censor, but the servant of the household department also had real power, and this third rank was quite good among the Beijing officials.

Mrs. Wang couldn't help tightening the handkerchief when she heard this. This brother-in-law is younger than Jia Zheng, and his official position is getting higher and higher. The man in his family knows to hang out with those cleanups every day. I have been doing it for 20 years without any promotion, but when I think of my precious jade, I feel a little better.

Lin Rui saw that this kid Jia Baoyu was not here today, very good, very good, at least he would be less disgusted.

Lin Hai greeted Jia's mother, sat down and said a few words, and returned to the front yard with Jia Amnesty.If Lin Rui knew that Jia Baoyu would come back just after they had left for a while, then Lin Rui would never wait to see this cousin again, and would stay a little longer for the sake of sister Lin.

While everyone was talking, a little maid outside came in to announce: "Baoyu is here."

Although Lin Daiyu had heard about this cousin of her grandmother's family for a long time, because she was afraid that it would be difficult to support her when she was young, so her grandmother asked everyone in the family to call her by his name, but now she still feels a little inappropriate.

Lin Daiyu looked at a young gentleman who came in, wearing a purple gold inlaid hair tie on his head, with two dragons and pearls on his forehead, wearing a bright red robe, he was born with a good appearance, It just feels a little frivolous.

After Lin Daiyu glanced at Jia Baoyu, she felt a little strange, as if she had seen this person somewhere, but then she remembered that her younger brother once said that this cousin of her grandmother's family looked like her uncle, and her mother and second uncle were brothers and sisters. Maybe, probably that's how I felt where I met this person.

After Jia Baoyu came in, he greeted Jia Mu first, and when the little maid took the cloak from Baoyu's hand, she pulled Jia Baoyu to sit beside her, rubbed it for a while, and then said, "I'm not going to see your sister yet."

When Jia Baoyu came in, he saw a curvaceous and Tingting daughter, who was supposed to be Aunt Min's daughter. Now that she had heard from Jia's mother, she hurried over to greet her.

After some greetings, Jia Baoyu looked at it and said with a smile, "I've seen this younger sister before."

As soon as Lin Daiyu heard this, she thought of what her younger brother said. This cousin is too frivolous. How could she say such things to a girl whom she met for the first time? !

But Jia's mother smiled and said: "Nonsense again, your cousin is here for the first time, how have you ever seen her?"

Baoyu said with a smile, "Although I haven't seen it before, but looking at Mian Shan, I feel as if we meet again after a long separation."

Lin Daiyu heard Jia Baoyu say this, and looked at her grandmother. The old lady didn't say reprimand, but smiled even more happily. She didn't know what to say. Is this too much? !

After Jia Baoyu finished speaking, he walked up to Daiyu and sat down. Daiyu looked at this and had no choice but to lean against Xichun who was sitting next to her, and talked to Xichun, not wanting to talk to this cousin anymore .

Jia Baoyu looked at the new sister and ignored him, stretched out his hand and pulled La Daiyu's sleeve, pretending to be pitiful and said, "Sister, you also pay attention to me!"

Lin Daiyu hastily pulled out the sleeves in Jia Baoyu's hands, her face was flushed with anger, this cousin was too much, but seeing the other people sitting in the room, they all looked like they were used to it, and wondered if she was making too much of a fuss, but He even leaned closer to Xichun.

The servant girl Xue Que who was standing behind was also the first time seeing a master like Jia Baoyu. Seeing the young master Biao kept leaning towards his girl, she couldn't help saying: "Master Biao, my girl is about to sit on the ground, you also let me Give it a go!"

Jia Baoyu heard her sister's maid say this, and now her sister ignored him, and only cared about talking to Tong Xichun and the others, scratching her ears and cheeks beside her, so she stopped sitting and stood up directly in front of Daiyu, "Sister, Do you have any jade?"

This time, Nanny Li felt a little uncomfortable after arriving in the capital because of the dissatisfaction of the sailors. She has been raised in the mansion for the past few days, so she didn't come with Lin Daiyu.The maids usually thought that Madam Li was too strict, but now they thought that it would be great if Madam Li was around. As a nunnery, what she said always carried more weight than the words of a little maid like them.Now seeing Young Master Biao standing in front of her daughter, Xue Yan hurriedly took two steps forward, standing sideways in front of the girl.

When Lin Daiyu heard him ask this question, she was really like what her younger brother said, thinking that he had that piece of broken jade, and she would ask every person she saw, and seeing that he was standing in front of her, after all, she was a guest, so she didn't want to ignore her master. Then he replied, "This jade is not a rare thing, what kind of jade pendant, jade lock, which one doesn't have a few such objects?"

Xichun next to him laughed mockingly, "Second brother always asks everyone if he has jade, what kind of rare thing, thinking that no one else has it?"

"Baoyu, don't get tired of standing there, it's also blocking your cousin, sit down quickly." Mrs. Wang saw her son, the first time she saw this daughter of the sister-in-law's family, she circled around her, feeling upset Shun.

Jia Baoyu couldn't help being a little at a loss when he heard the new sister talking about Youyu and Xichun's ridicule. He heard the second wife's words again for a while, so he had to sit down again and listen to the others.

(The author has something to say in the text)

The author has something to say: (continued)

"Sister Lin, I heard that Uncle Lin hired a female teacher for you. What do you mainly study on weekdays?" The youngest Xichun asked curiously while holding Daiyu's hand.

"The Four Books for Women, the Four Books and the Five Classics, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, etc. These are all covered, and Mr. Qiu will teach me other things that I am interested in."

Xue Baochai listened to it, and couldn't help saying, "Girls are still mainly female celebrities. If you read too many of these miscellaneous books, you may lose your temperament."

"Nvhong's father also hired a master for me, but people like us really want us to make a lot of clothes by ourselves, just know a little bit, make some small objects, and have a similar level."

Xichun listened to it and couldn't help laughing. This sister of the Xue family always likes to put on airs and teach others. After staying in this mansion for a long time, she doesn't know who she is. She didn't expect that cousin Lin Don't give her face.

As soon as Daiyu finished speaking, she heard a laughing voice from the backyard, "I'm late, I don't have to welcome the distant guests!" Hearing this voice, I thought of what my younger brother said last time when I went back. This should be Lian's second sister-in-law.

Thinking in my heart, I saw a group of daughters-in-law and maids walking in with a gorgeously dressed beauty, looking at the clothes of Lian's second sister-in-law, my younger brother was really right, blinding people's eyes.

Daiyu hurriedly stood up and bowed to Lian's second sister-in-law. Wang Xifeng took Daiyu's hand and praised, "There are people with such a symbol in this world! I can be regarded as seeing it today. Compared with my sister, I am the burnt The paper! This whole body is not like the granddaughter of the ancestor, but the granddaughter of the direct relative, so I can't blame the ancestor for being unable to let go of it every day."

Hearing what Sister Feng said again, Li Wan took a special look at this cousin of the Lin family, and found that she was indeed two siblings. Just like last time, when she heard that she was said to be like a granddaughter of a direct relative, her expression turned a little ugly , but maybe this cousin is a little older, not as obvious as Cousin Lin showed last time.

When Wang Xifeng came over, she also told Mother Jia that the banquet was ready, and asked if the banquet could be held.

After some excuses and sat down humbly, I saw the two aunts, Bing Lian, the second sister-in-law, and the eldest sister-in-law Zhu standing behind and waiting for her. It was really hard to swallow the two elders standing and waiting for her to eat, but look Seeing that everyone else behaved normally, which should be the case in daily life, Daiyu didn't make a sound.

Daiyu thought that these four people just meant to stand and wait for a while, but she didn't know that these four people stood behind and waited until the meal was over, and her grandmother didn't let them back until the dishes were removed.

After the meal, tea was served, and after a cup of tea, Daiyu asked the servant girl to distribute the gifts brought this time to everyone, and she was ready to leave.