Old things in the Red Chamber

When Jia Gu heard about stewed mutton, he immediately lost interest. "Who has never eaten mutton? In the past, in the north, the barbarians raised cattle and sheep. When there was no war, some people drove cattle and sheep to exchange food and salt. When the war came At that time, apart from pancakes, dry food was dried meat, so it is not uncommon for Wangjianglou to make mutton into beef flavor."

Jia She's joy suddenly turned into depression, and his mental head sank immediately.

Seeing his appearance, Jia Gu suggested, "Go out and walk around. I heard that there are good books in Shuyuan Street, and there is a shop in Qipan Street that sells good incense. After lighting it, it makes people peaceful. If not, let's go to the temple outside the city to worship. There are so many places to go.”

It was too cold outside the city, and it was already high in the sun, fearing that it would be too late to enter the city gate, the two brothers went to Qipan Street in Jia Amnesty's carriage.

Qipan Street is actually not a street, it is a street with seven or eight criss-crossing streets together like a chessboard. There are stories about talented scholars and beauties, and all kinds of eclectic unofficial histories are indispensable.

The two got out of the carriage, took their servants with them, and wandered around the street.

Jia Amnesty's eyesight is very good in the field of cultural relics and antiques, and he is still somewhat famous in Qipan Street. He hadn't walked a few steps when he came just now, and a guy came to invite him.

"Master Jia, help me, my shopkeeper, I beg you, there was a man who came to sell things yesterday. Our shopkeeper was not there, but the young master was there. He sold a pair of calligraphy and paintings. Today our shopkeeper saw it and said it was fake, but The old priest invited by the master said it was true, and now the old master and the master are here, please show me."

Jia Amnesty straightened his back in an instant, posing with the master's score, "Wait."

Turning around to discuss with Jia Gu, "Why don't we go and have a look together."

Jia Gu wasn't interested, "I'll wait for elder brother outside the door, and take a look at the odds and ends on the stall outside."

Jia Amnesty wobbled and went to the shop.One of his two servants stayed outside to accompany Jia Gu. Jia Gu took a look into the store and signaled for a regular follower to follow in, "If there is a fight, just get the old man out."

Then he picked up an incense burner from the stall, which had copper rust on it, and looked at it again and again. The stall owner saw that he was dressed in wealth, so he praised the incense burner as rare in the sky and unique in the earth, and made up a story about immortals and mortals. Blessing mortals through the gods, and talking about keeping the house safe, the most important thing is: this thing keeps parents safe.

Jia Gu listened to his eloquent tongue, but he didn't say whether to buy or not to buy, and kept looking at it with the incense burner. The stall owner who sold fake antiques was also very dedicated. For the matter of telling stories to him, you should buy something to comfort him.After looking at it, there is a small clay stove on the stall, which is small and unique.

Pointing to the stove and asking him "how much?"

"This is made by a famous artist, and it uses red clay. How about the phrase 'the small red clay stove, the sky is like snow in the evening, can you have a drink'?" again……"

"how much is it?"

"This thing is not bad..."

"Two hundred Wen, will you sell it or not?"

"Master, I got this with 20 taels of silver."

Jia Gu stood up, and the stall owner quickly changed his words, "15 taels of silver, you pay for it, it's yours, the weather is cold, and the little one has to go back to his hometown for the New Year, if you lose it, you will lose it, and you will take care of the little one next time." business."

"Don't don't, you can keep it for 20 taels. The master will point you to someone. Did you see that? That person's surname is Xue. You tell him that it sells for 50 taels. Yes, you didn’t sell it after 80 taels, because Mr. Jia is a vulgar person, not worthy of such an elegant thing, go, hurry up, for the sake of so many jokes you told him just now, this benefit falls to you body."

"But the elders of Rongguo Mansion are not young enough to arrange. Besides, there are many people who have heard of Master Jia's reputation on the street here..."

"Have you seen the Grand Master?"

The stall owner shook his head, "Grandpa Jia doesn't come here often, and even if he does, the little ones don't know the true Buddha."

"Look at the face of the master. If you point to me, the surname Xue, he will definitely buy it. Hurry up, you won't be able to sell it for a penny if it's too late."

The stall owner immediately asked the neighbors to help watch the stall, and held the small stove to block Xue Pan's way. Jia Gu asked Jia She's servant to show his face, and he only showed his side, pretending to be from other stalls. The appearance of the selection, sure enough, the stall owner ran back after only a few breaths.

"Thank you, my lord, you are truly a living Bodhisattva, you old man is really worth seeing once, you..."

Jia Gu stopped the stall owner and asked him, "Who is that next to him?"

The stall owner was also shrewd, and he answered neatly, "I see that the man is a manager, with a Jiangnan accent. The owner's surname should be Zhen or Zheng. I can't understand his accent. I think he is a businessman on weekdays. Eyes, I think it should be a steward who came to buy new year's goods. By the way, the officials in Jiangnan specially sent the stewards to the capital to give New Year gifts to the families of the officials and lords. They usually buy some gifts in Jiangnan and go to the capital Buy some more presents, that's what the steward does."

Jia Gu smiled slightly, "It's your luck today, it has nothing to do with me, master, do you know that?"

"I know, I know, thank you, master, by the way, this little incense burner has honored you..."

When Jia Amnesty came out, he saw the stall owner holding the incense burner towards Jia Gu, and took a look at it, "My brother, this is a fake. It is so crudely made, how dare you put it up for sale."

The stall owner took a look at their brothers, they were almost identical, the master just now was a fake, and the one who came out later was the real master Jia, the stall owner shrank back and didn't dare to speak, seeing the two brothers They took each other and left.

Seeing that Jia Gu was in a good mood, Jia She asked, "What's wrong with my old brother? Something good happened."

"The businessman just now had less than two hundred taels. Through my brother, I asked him to sell it for 80 taels."

Jia Gu turned to look at the stall owner, "Who did you sell it to?"

"Xue Pan."

"He..." Jia She couldn't help being a little unhappy, "There are members of his Xue family everywhere."

"What's the matter, isn't Xue Pan happy for you?"

Jia She pointed to a young man behind him, "Come here, and learn from your old master, what kind of pills the girl ate, how many ingredients were used in that seed, how rare it is, let your old master hear something new today. "

The servant nodded, "12 taels of white plum blossoms in winter, 12 taels of white lotus stamens in summer, 12 taels of white crabapple stamens in autumn, and 12 taels of chrysanthemum stamens... Master, the other servants can't remember."

"You bastard, you can't even learn to speak."

Jia Gu stopped him and scolded the servant, "Forget it, I heard it, she is Baihua Fairy who came down to earth, and took medicine to make troubles."

"It's nothing," Jia Amnesty said as he walked, "I won't be angry with a little girl from every family. What I want to discuss with you is that you bring the girl from Min's family to you."

"How do you say this? If you really say that, be careful, your old lady beats you with a cane." Finally, thinking of that scene, Shi Taijun chased Jia She and beat him with a cane, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Last night, there was an evil wind in the mansion, saying that the girl from the Xue family had a golden lock. The monks said that it must be a matching jade. The precious jade in the family was born with jade. They all said that it was a pair made in heaven. There are few in the world. a predestined person."

"What does it have to do with my niece? It's the Xue family's business what kind of evil they want to blow up. Jia Cunzhou's son can at most have a reputation as a romantic, and someone has stepped on the Lin family with this matter?"

"No, it's just that the old lady meant to ration Miss Lin to Baoyu so that the two children could live together. Now, I think Wang's meaning is to let her niece marry her son. The old lady also meant that she If you don't listen, I'm afraid Lin girl..."

Jia Gu looked at Jia She, and felt that he was busy in the wrong place, "Let's not talk about the Lin family's child, she will be married in ten years. I heard from Tong Shi that the second girl's nanny bullied her every day, and put Her clothes and jewelry were taken out for gambling, do you know about this?"

"I know, I have already ordered Mrs. Xing."

"If I were you, I would immediately tie up that nanny's whole family and smoke it for sale."

"The old lady said that there are only buyers in our family, and there are no sellers. Later, I will ask Mrs. Xing to drive his family out and not let them come in to serve."

"Finally, I know who the second girl's soft temper is from. The roots are in you. You yourself...Your girl is my girl. Don't worry, I will be the one to choose the dowry when I find my husband's family. Anyway, I have raised it for half a year now. Well, even a cat or dog would be reluctant to throw it away."

When Mrs. Tong went to the room, Lin Daiyu and Jia Yingchun changed their clothes and came out, and turned around a few times for Mrs. Tong to watch.

"I just said, the little girls still wear this bright color. The size is just right, take it off first, and wear it after going to the princess mansion in a few days. I will also bring the jewelry back later, and tidy it up when the time comes." .By the way, bring more clothes and shoes this time, if someone accidentally spills wine on the clothes, you can change them too."

Just as he was talking, a girl came in, "Ma'am, the second and third uncles from the north have arrived, and the housekeeper invited the two uncles to live in the front yard, saying that they will welcome them at night."

Madam Tong's two elder brothers came. Her elder brother and second brother were concubines, and the third brother and Mrs. Tong's mother were concubines. The fort was on the north side, and was attacked by barbarians for two out of three years, so there were not many internal conflicts, and the brothers and sisters agreed with each other to the outside world, and the relationship became deeper.

Madam Tong's happy eyes were filled with tears, "Where is the master? Let the master hurry up to treat the guests."

"Master and Master Jia went to Qipan Street."

"Tell him to come back quickly, and if it's true, send someone to tell the uncle to tell him not to drink with people outside after he got off the Yamen. When he came back, his uncle came to the door. Both of them can't be alone."

Gathering up happily, Jia Yingchun and Lin Daiyu looked at her with endless joy, worrying about whether their brothers were used to eating in the capital... The two sisters hurriedly said goodbye and went back to the yard.