Survive in the world of Red Mansions

On the first day of the new year, after waking up early in the morning, Lin Rui thought that he had to go to someone else's house to pay New Year's greetings today, so it was necessary to dress festively, and under the caring eyes of Sister Lin, he automatically cooperated and asked Bai Zhi to carry the purse , sachet, jade pendant and so on, and a gold collar inlaid with gemstones, the whole dress is to approach the lucky boy.

The clothes of Lin Hai and his son are now taken care of by Lin Daiyu. Lin Daiyu always puts Lin Hai's will first in Lin Hai's clothes, but Lin Rui is not so lucky. He still cares about Lin Rui's preferences in his daily clothes, but After becoming a filial piety, Lin Daiyu decided on Lin Rui's clothes during the New Year's Eve, basically using some very festive colors, and her own wishes were completely ignored.

Lin Rui doesn't know if girls have had a dream of owning a Barbie doll since ancient times. Although Lin Daiyu didn't know this at all, it didn't prevent Lin Daiyu from dressing up her younger brother according to her own preferences. Fortunately, it wasn't like this at ordinary times. It's only during the New Year's Eve. In order not to spoil Lin Daiyu's happiness, Lin Rui had to swallow it bitterly.

After Lin Rui dressed up as a lucky boy, he first came to the main courtyard, kowtowed to Lin Hai to pay New Year's greetings according to the current ceremony, and received a purse containing gold and silver zippers from Lin Hai.In Lin Rui's two lifetimes, he had never experienced the feeling of being short of money, but he was very happy to get the New Year's money given by his father.

Soon, Lin Xu, Lin Daiyu, and several aunts also came over. After greeting Lin Hai respectively, the Lin family still used a little glutinous rice balls as they used to do in Yangzhou.

Lin Hai had just arrived in the capital, and although the official position of Zuo Shiying of the household department had been confirmed, he hadn't formally assumed the post after all, so there were no subordinates who came to pay New Year's greetings. As for the two relatives, Lin Hai wanted to visit in person to pay New Year's greetings.

It snowed heavily for several consecutive days, and it was rare to have a good weather on the first day of the new year.Lin Hai took Lin Rui and his brother out to celebrate the New Year together, because the Yao family was closer, so the Yao family was the first to arrive.When I came to Yao Mansion, I saw that there were quite a few people in front of the mansion, and at Yao Hanlin's age, there must be many students under his command.After entering Yao's mansion, Lin Hai took Lin Rui directly to the front yard, and Lin Daiyu followed Mrs. Yao's nanny to the back yard to pay New Year's greetings to Mrs. Yao.

Lin Rui paid New Year's greetings to Cousin Yao in the front yard, and after greeting a group of cousins ​​and nephews, he was then led to the backyard to kowtow to Mrs. Yao and receive a set of the Four Treasures of the Study, several After paying a purse, I will say goodbye.On the first day of the Lunar New Year, visiting New Year's greetings is just a cup of tea, and it's about the same as sitting around for a while. I won't hold a banquet today.

After walking for a quarter of an hour, we arrived at Rongguo Mansion. Lin Rui first followed Lin Hai to see Jia She, Jia Zheng, and Lin Daiyu went to Jiamu's yard. Jiamu's yard was bustling with activity, not only the daughters-in-law of Jia's family The mother and daughter of Aunt Xue, Sanchun, and Aunt Xue who lived in Rongfu, and the two nieces and daughters-in-law of Mother Jia's family also came to visit the New Year with a few girls from the Shi family.Among the women in the house, there is a little red among the green bushes. Jia Baoyu, a teenage son-in-law, did not go to the front yard to meet guests, but nestled in Jia's mother's room, mixing with a group of female relatives.

Lin Daiyu followed the little maid into the room, and first knelt down and kowtowed to Jiamu to pay New Year's greetings. Jiamu was very happy to see this granddaughter. A pair of red agate bracelets was presented as a gift that had been prepared long ago.Lin Daiyu took the gift from the mandarin duck and handed it to Xuehe who was standing behind. After seeing the gift to the other elders in the room, she went to Sanchun to greet them, and took a seat next to Yingchun.

Jia Baoyu was originally sitting on the other side of Jia Mu, and was playing with Shi Xiangyun, who came to pay New Year's greetings. When he saw this cousin from the Lin family coming in, he stared at her, and when he saw Lin Daiyu sitting down, he moved away. Go to her side and say hello if you like: "Sister Lin, you are here!"

"I've seen my cousin." Lin Daiyu looked at the women in red and green all over the room. Didn't he feel uncomfortable just staying here with this cousin Baoyu?

Lin Daiyu looked at Yingchun who was sitting on the other side of her, looked at the purse hanging around her waist, and said with a smile: "Cousin Yingchun, the orchid on this purse is really rusty, I have to take a good look," followed Yingchun started talking about the purse.

When the people in the room were talking lively, a little maid came in to announce that Uncle Lin and the young master Biao waited to come in to greet the old lady. When Lin Hai and his son came in, other people retreated behind the screen When we went, Jia Baoyu was the only one sitting next to Lin Daiyu except for the old lady.

After Lin Hai gave the old lady a happy birthday, he bid farewell to the old lady, pretending not to see Jia Baoyu staring at his daughter.

Lin Daiyu came to the capital by herself, because she had to move and settle down and celebrate the New Year, so she basically didn't spend much time. It was rare that she had time today, so she wondered if she would take Daiyu for a stroll, but waited until they came from Rongfu. When I came out and went to the market, those shops were basically closed.

"It's not like modern times here. Few of these shops are open in the first day of junior high school. If you want to go shopping, you can't find a place." Sitting in the car, Lin Hai and Lin Rui complained.

"Even if the shops are open, there's nothing to shop around."

Lin Hai patted the back of his head, "It's convenient for you to come out if you have the opportunity. Of course, it can be said that Daiyu is a little girl, and it's not convenient to go out alone. It's rare to have time today, so I want to take her for a stroll. See See if there's anything you're interested in."

"It's not too late now, why don't you go to a temple in the suburbs to offer incense?"

"Forget it, after so many days of heavy snowfall, the road outside the city must be difficult to walk, next time!"

Lin Hai hasn't gone out since the first day of the new year, because it's wet everywhere after snowing, and it's inconvenient to go out, and second, he doesn't want the emperor to think that he has contact with too many officials, so he has been with him for a few days. The entire Lin family stayed in the mansion obediently.

On the sixth day of the lunar new year, people were arranged to wait in front of the house early on. As soon as they saw the Yao family's sedan chair coming, the middle door immediately opened, and Lin Hai, Lin Rui and his son came to welcome the Yao family and his party.

Mrs. Yao and the women of the Yao family went to the backyard, while Yao Pei and a group of nephews were welcomed to the side hall by Lin Hai and the others.Both Lin Hai and Yao Pei are court officials, and they are both followers of the new emperor. They both came from the imperial examinations, and they are both literati. Whether it is to discuss the affairs of the court together, or to enjoy antique gold and stone calligraphy and paintings, there is no worry about each other. There is no topic.

On the whole, the banquet on the sixth day was quite satisfactory.When Lin Daiyu arranged the banquet, she took care of the Yao family's taste.Lin Daiyu has been to Yao's house once by herself, so she can roughly know something, and after asking Lin Hai, she almost knows the eating habits of Yao's house. The banquet took this into account very well, which made the Yao family quite satisfied.

On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, the entire Rongguo Mansion was invited for a banquet. The person who was most happy about going to the Lin Mansion for the banquet, except Jia Baoyu who was very happy to see the cousin of the Lin family, might be the happiest Jia Sanchun. Jia Sanchun was basically staying in the backyard of Rongguo Mansion, and had no chance to go out on weekdays.

The men in Jia's family tended to be house-like. The grand master Jia She stayed at home every day, except for admiring some antiques, and messing around with some concubines and maidservants.The second master, a sixth-rank official, has not been promoted by half a rank in 20 years. He has changed from a real job as a director in the Ministry of Industry to a virtual job as a Yuanwailang. The Qing Keling poems are against each other.Jia Baoyu indeed had some contacts with some sons and brothers who were also from honorable families, but there were more opportunities to stay in Jiamu's yard.As the eldest grandson of the second bedroom, Jia Lan would not be bullied openly with Li Wan as a widowed mother, but the rest was just like that.As for the two concubines Jia Huan and Jia Cong, they were basically invisible people in that mansion, so although the whole family went to the Lin Mansion for a banquet this time, no one thought of these two concubine sons or grandsons.

As an aristocratic family, the daughters in the family are pampered, but the difference between the concubine and the concubines is still obvious. Generally, when they are about ten years old, the female elders in the family will lead them out to socialize a lot, and it is also for the corresponding family. The meaning of looking at each other.But for the three girls of the Jia family, Xichun is still young, let alone Tanchun is only 10 years old this year, but Yingchun is 14 years old this year, the big and small masters in the family seem to be completely unconscious In the year of Yingchun, she was about to get married, but she hadn't seen anyone yet, not to mention that she should prepare a dowry at her age.

However, if the elders in the family don't mention these things, even if Yingchun is anxious, they are too embarrassed to show it. There is another Yingchun who has always been gentle and calm, and his temper is too weak. Jia She basically ignores this concubine. The sons and daughters are not respected by Jia She, and other respectable maids in the mansion dare to ignore her. Besides, although she is the wife of the heir of the Rongguo Mansion, the second room has always been in charge of the Rong Mansion's external communication, so it's nothing to do with her. It is even more impossible to take Yingchun out as a guest.As for Jia's mother, except for Jia Baoyu, the darling of the grandchildren, the other grandsons and granddaughters are basically invisible.

Lin Daiyu waited at the second door with her mother and maidservants. As soon as she saw the sedan chair walking in the front stop, the maidservant next to her opened the curtain of the sedan chair, and hurriedly stepped forward to help Jiamu get off the sedan chair. The sedan chairs behind also stopped one after another. When they got down, Lin Daiyu saw Xue Baochai among them. To be honest, she was a little surprised. She didn't expect that this girl from the Xue family had always played with Sanchun from Jia's family.

Lin Daiyu was relieved to see that there was no cousin Jia Baoyu among these people. She felt that this Jia Baoyu was not too outrageous after all. Knowing that she went to someone else's house, she could still know a little bit of propriety. , I want to come to the backyard to stay with all the female relatives.

Lin Daiyu didn't know what happened at the gate of the mansion. If she knew, she probably wouldn't say that. Jia Baoyu was going to follow Jia Mu to the backyard as before, and the old lady didn't think there was anything wrong at all.Seeing this, Lin Hai felt his head hurting, and gestured to Lin Rui with his eyes. Although Lin Rui didn't want to talk to Jia Baoyu, he didn't want Jia Baoyu to enter the backyard of Lin's house, so he stepped forward and said, "Cousin Baoyu, It's the first time you come to our house, why don't I take you and Lang Geer around, okay?"

Jia Baoyu is a person who controls appearance. Seeing good looks, no matter male or female, he is very easy to talk to. Now that this cousin of the Lin family is leading him, although it is a pity that he can't see the cousin of the Lin family immediately, but it is possible not to follow Jia Baoyu. Behind Zhengzheng, he was still very happy, so he quickly replied: "If it's very good, please help my cousin."

Lin Hai greeted his two uncles and Lian Er in the front yard. Although several people could not talk about the affairs of the court, Lin Hai has always dealt with people of all kinds. The topic is not difficult.

In the afternoon, after everyone in the Rongguo Mansion left, Lin Hai and the others felt a little relieved. Lin Daiyu ordered people to clean up the banquet cups, plates, tables and chairs, etc. before returning to the warehouse.

The three of Lin Hai drank tea and chatted with their son and daughter about the people in Jia's mansion today.

"Father,..., cousin Yingchun from my grandmother's house is going to be married next year, why haven't I heard that she is engaged?"

Lin Hai looked at Daiyu and asked this question with some entanglement. Originally, Lin Daiyu shouldn't ask such a thing, but Lin Hai would discuss similar issues with Daiyu's siblings at home on weekdays.The two siblings don't have a mother. Although they have a nanny by their side, as servants, the nanny always has their limitations when looking at problems. They must be different from Lin Hai, who is a father, so Lin Hai feels that the marriage issue, There is no need for them to be too shy, just be careful in front of outsiders.

Now when I hear Daiyu ask, I think of the tragic ending of being tortured to death in only one year after Yingchun married Sun Shaozu in the original play, "the golden boudoir flower and willow quality, but he is a big man" , or an outsider, it's really hard to ask these questions.

"Well, your grandmother should have her own arrangements, right?"

That's what he said, but Lin Hai also knew that there was no arrangement for Yingchun in the Rongguo Mansion, and no one cared about the concubine of Jia's big house. this person.

After Daiyu left, Lin Rui looked at his father and said, "I've only met this cousin Yingchun a few times, so I won't talk about anything else. She's too quiet when a group of people are together. She really doesn't exist. Feeling, I heard that she can't even control the nanny and maid in her own room. I think even if he doesn't marry Sun Shaozu, it's hard to say that he will have a good ending if he marries someone else. I feel very pitiful when I think of her ending. But when I think about her personality, I feel that no one else can help her if they want to help her."

"Why, do you want to help Yingchun? After the girl gets married, she will have children, husband and son, take care of the back house, and communicate with others. Do you think you, Yingchun cousin, can do well in these things?"

"I also know, I just feel that she was tortured to death by Sun Shaozu in the end, it's a bit pitiful. Father, if you meet a suitable family, it doesn't matter if the family is poor, just help if you can."

"I know, but it's better not to have any hopes."

"..."

In the first lunar month, the weather was still very cold, and the aunts of the Lin family were not in the mood to hang out in the garden, so the four of them gathered in Aunt Lan's room to wipe cards.

"It will be the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in two days. There should be a lantern festival in the capital, right?" Aunt Zhou asked while wiping the cards.

Aunt Zhao smiled and said, "What? Want to see it?"

Aunt Lan squinted at Aunt Zhao, "Don't you want to see it? There are a few of you, don't say you don't want to go, you came to the capital from Yangzhou, and after entering the mansion, you went out once to Shangxiang on the tenth day of the lunar new year , Is there such a chance to go out in a year, or find a chance to ask the master?"

"..."

After the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the yamen has already opened its seal, and Lin Hai, the left servant of the household department, has officially started to take up his post.In the Ministry of Household Affairs, from Master Shangshu down to Secretary Affairs Office, for this man who was able to stay in the position of Xunyan Yushi for more than ten years during the reign of the emperor, and can retire safely after the new emperor ascended the throne , transferred back to the capital, and Lin Hai, the left servant who will take over the position of the left servant of the household department, is waiting to see.