Love of Friends in the Red Chamber

September 23rd was the day when the rankings were released. Before dawn, Jia Cong sent his servant, Cai An, to watch the rankings, and walked around the room like a mill.Afraid that he would get sick, Mother Cai persuaded him to walk around in the garden. Jia Cong was afraid of losing his face and shame, so he just slipped around on the hillside in front of the Aujing Pavilion and looked at the sweet-scented osmanthus outside the Changcui Temple for a while. , but couldn't even distinguish the scent, and was stunned for a while, which aroused the curiosity of the little nuns in the Changcui nunnery, pointing at him through the cracks in the low wall, Jia Cong was afraid of causing gossip, Had to go back again.

When it was almost noon, Mrs. Xing's companion, Wang Shanbao's family, came over and sent a message: "Third Master, Madam said that Mrs. Lin and the uncle are here, and they are serving wine at the old lady's side, and ask you to go over to accompany the Lin family to the table." Jia Cong was Distraught, I wanted to excuse myself, but when I heard that it was from the Lin family, I had to agree, changed my clothes, and came to the big flower hall on Jiamu's side.

Lin Jiarui is not yet 40 years old, he is in his prime, and he is shrewd and capable, and is highly valued by today's leaders.This time, Jiamu's banquet is for Helin Jiarui who has been newly promoted to be the governor of the river, in charge of the embankment and dredging of the Yellow River, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and the Yongding River.At this time, the female relatives in the inner hall were surrounded by beautiful flowers and sat around Jiamu, and Aunt Lin was sitting at the head of the table, with Jiamu and Daiyu on both sides; Lin Jiarui in the outer hall was accompanied by Jia Zheng and Jia She While chatting, Jia Cong hurriedly took a few steps to greet his father and uncle, and say hello to Uncle Lin.Na Jiarui didn't take it seriously, and said with a modest smile: "I heard that Brother Shi will end this autumn. He is really a young man who is talented and will win the Toad Palace. We know that your family has a long history of learning." Jia She stroked his beard and smiled. Jia Zheng hurriedly said: "Nephew, please don't praise him. He just has a penetrating eye. He only knows what he knows. He doesn't know the heights of the sky and the earth. My brother ordered him to try his hand. It's just to see the world in the scientific field. How dare he look forward to it?" Hit it in one fell swoop?"

But Lin Jiarui laughed and said: "I have read the examination paper of Shixiong Bakung. It is fair and calm, and it has a mature and prudent taste. It is really not like the handwriting of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy. It can be seen that the young phoenix is ​​as clear as the old phoenix, and the political elder is also Don't be too modest." After talking like this for a while, the butler Lin Zhixiao came over with the playlist to invite the distinguished guests to order a play, Jia Cong retreated to sit at the table between Jia Zhen and Jia Lian, wiped his sweat quietly, and Jia Lian pursed his lips and watched with a smile He said softly: "How is it? Uncle Lin has a lot of official authority?" Jia Cong laughed and said: "I'm afraid of my father..." He didn't continue, and at this time the sound of gongs and drums on the stage became one.

When the "Mirror of Fortune and Longevity" was being sung chaotically on the stage, suddenly a few family members came to the second door to announce the good news.Several little maids ran in, and before they could tell the big maid, they scrambled in and said, "Old lady, madam, and gentlemen are overjoyed." Jia Mu didn't know what happened, Jia Cong's heart was already beating When they got up, the others said: "Brother Cong has won." Everyone was overjoyed, Jia Lian hurriedly got up and went out to receive the application form and report back. Come in and present the report to Jiamu.

Jia Mu was overjoyed and ordered people to open the ancestral hall immediately. Jia Zhen led Jia Cong to the ancestral hall to kowtow, and placed the report respectfully on the divine case, and then everyone congratulated Jia Mu, Jia She and Mrs. Jia Zheng couldn't help but also beam with joy - the ancestors of the Jia family won the ranks with military merits, and they never had children who were born in the imperial examination.However, when he turned his head to look at Baoyu, he only knew that he was playing in the group of sisters, so he couldn't help but sighed sadly.Mrs. Wang could see clearly, worried and frightened in her heart, and hated Mrs. Xing's frivolous face, she felt a little palpitations, but when Jia's mother was happy, she didn't dare to lose her temper, she had to force a smile and take the words of Ji Qing Come and praise Jia Cong in a set way.

After that, Jia Cong had a small banquet on three days and a big banquet on five days, and he had no time to spare for food and drink. After more than a month of quarrel, his smug father gradually calmed down.This is Jia Cong reminding him that he still has to prepare to take the next year's Chunwei exam, and he wants to be a Jinshi to make him more beautiful as an old man.Although Jia Amnesty didn't expect Jia Cong to be a Jinshi at a young age, but after all he wanted his son to become a dragon, so he stopped pulling Jia Cong to show off to others.

Jia Cong now lives in the Grand View Garden, and he sees the fairy-like sister Lin every now and then. Naturally, his longing heart becomes more and more intense, but he has self-knowledge and knows that he is completely unable to compete with Baoyu, let alone Daiyu. Since he is only in Jia's house, he is only assigned to carry shoes for Baoyu, so he made up his mind to make a way through the imperial examination, in case there will be the "in case" that Aunt Lin said in the future.Therefore, he was not eager for fame at first, but now he actually puts it into practice. Not only is he proficient in stereotyped essays, but he also deliberately practices calligraphy in order to get extra points in the examination room, because he knows that a good handwriting is very important for the examiners. Impressions are extremely important.In addition to consulting Jia She and the Qingke gentlemen raised by Jia Zheng, he often went to Tanchun for advice, because although Tanchun's poems were not as good as Xue Lin's, they were written by the sisters. the best.

Firstly, Tanchun regards Jia Cong as no different from Baoyu, and secondly, she has always adhered to the principle of "whoever is good to me among sisters and brothers, I will be good to whoever is good, and I don't know what is right or wrong", so for Jia Cong did not dislike Jia Cong's detailed advice, on the contrary, he gave advice enthusiastically. Jia Cong felt that he benefited a lot, so he became a regular visitor at Xiaocui Hall. Sometimes Tanchun was busy with garden affairs and had no leisure time. The maids let him wait in the side hall.

One day, Jia Cong came across a piece of "Cold Food Post" written by Wang Youjun. He felt that there was a three-point resemblance, and he was quite proud of it, so he used it to comment on Tanchun. the sound of.Jia Cong knew that ever since his father could not marry Yuanyang, Yuanyang had had a deep grudge with Dafang. Normally, even in front of Jia Mu, Yuanyang would ignore Mrs. Xing. As for the people on Dafang's side , even without looking straight at her, so he keeps a distance from her, now he hears that she is in the Tanchun room, so he doesn't go in, but waits in the side hall, where he has his own brush and ink, so he continues to practice handwriting proficiently , Cui Mo poured him a cup of tea and ignored him.

Jia Cong casually picked up a copy of "Shou Chun Tang" from the bookshelf, and read it interestingly, but the voices of Tan Chun and Yuanyang came to his ears.I only heard Tanchun say: "Accordingly, my wife asked me to take care of the affairs of the garden, and I can't shirk my laziness, but there are some things that I can't tell a girl like me. The eldest sister-in-law is an honest person, so the second sister-in-law Lian Don't let it go—I just don't know what happened to her recently, she always describes her as lazy, and she is not as concise and neat as usual, the people in this garden are very slack."

Yuanyang sighed, and said: "Miss San, you are a sensible person, so I told you—do you still remember the old lady's birthday? Over there, the eldest lady shamed the second grandmother in front of everyone because of a small matter about her son. But the wife did not support her, and everyone stood on the dry shore, watching the excitement—on the one hand, the second grandmother was discouraged, and on the other hand, her body was really weak. I heard Ping'er tell me that she might have grown up. I have a serious symptom..." Then the voice dropped, only to hear Tanchun gasp, sighed for a long time, and said nothing more.

The mandarin duck then urged: "The old lady asked me to come here because she told the girl that she must pay attention these days and don't let the garden get into big folds. The second mistress used to be tough, and those mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law didn't dare to do anything. Now grandma is being honest, and you are a girl’s family. Some things can only be pretended not to be seen or heard, for fear that someone will jump out to play tricks-you haven’t seen the last time you saw a guest, the old lady only called Miss Lin, Miss Smith, and Miss Xue Going out with you, I didn't call Second Miss, the eldest wife has an ugly face—the eldest wife has been working very hard when she comes into the garden recently."

Tanchun only agreed, but his voice was filled with infinite worries: "I just want people like us, who look like a raging fire to cook oil, I don't know how happy they are, but who knows that it is an unspeakable trouble, it's better to be born." In that small family, the whole family is intimate and intimate, how comfortable..." As she said that, she choked up tears, Yuanyang was trying to comfort her, but a little girl came outside, saying that the old lady told Yuanyang to go back, and Yuanyang hurried away.Here Jia Cong knew it was not the time, so he also left quietly, not to disturb Tanchun.Afterwards, Tanchun sent someone to deliver Wang Xizhi's refined rubbings of "Lanting Collection Preface", and Jia Cong knew that this was also the place where she was thoughtful.

It's October in a blink of an eye, and because Jia Cong is thinking about the spring of the coming year, he is full of thoughts of winning the first place, so he works hard every day, but he doesn't realize that autumn is passing and winter is coming, and the sun and the moon are flying like a shuttle.When the first snow fell, he had already thoroughly reviewed the Four Books and Five Classics three times. The ability comes from innate, at this time, he will study the stereotyped essays one by one. Compared with the calculus in the past, he thinks it is easier to get started with Ziyue Shiyun.

On this day, he got up early to practice calligraphy, studied stereotyped writing in the morning, wrote two articles, read them for a while shaking his head, and became extremely sleepy in the afternoon.Nanny Cai advised him not to stay in the room all the time, it would be better to go to the garden and relax for a while.Jia Cong thought about it, so he put on a gorilla felt cloak, without a hood, and only put on leather boots, and walked out of the concave crystal pavilion, walking in the snow, stepping on the snow to find plums, and came all the way without knowing it. To the outside of the wall of Changcui Temple.

It is the low wall behind the Changcui Nunnery. From a distance, there are some delicate yellow flowers on the few winding and strong bare branches. When you look closely, you find that it is actually the plain yellow wintersweet blooming in early winter. Like a wax sculpture, it is crystal clear. When you smell it closely, the faint fragrance is refreshing. Jia Cong was overjoyed, so he quickly chose two branches with good shape and held them in his hands. The gardening of flowers and trees is indeed more luxuriant than those in other places. Everyone praises their red plums for their beauty, but they don’t know that the few yellow wintersweets on the back wall are even more amazing and beautiful.” He wanted to take these two yellow wintersweets without warning. I took it back and placed it in a vase to enjoy it. At this time, I suddenly had an idea, thinking that I hadn't seen Daiyu for some days, so I made up my mind to give flowers to the beautiful woman, and came to Xiaoxiang Pavilion holding wintersweet flowers happily.

Since the beginning of winter, Baoyu has run away from Liu Xianglian because of the cold, killed younger sister You with a sword, killed her second sister You in gold, and died of Liu Wuer's illness. He put all of it in his heart, only made him crazy, often dazed, even in front of Daiyu, he often spoke in disorder, not as careful and considerate as before, and Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang tried their best to force him to study and improve. Every day in school, with heavy homework, and Jia Zheng's interrogation every other day, she seemed to be under a magic spell. Baoyu was miserable, and she couldn't even find time to go to the Xiaoxiang Hall for a chat. Daiyu felt a little lonely.

That day, Daiyu just woke up from a nap, and when she couldn't let go of her boredom, she washed up a bit, only staring at Chuxue outside the window in a daze, but she saw Jia Cong walking with two fresh wintersweet flowers in her arms, and suddenly felt refreshed. A few more smiles appeared on his face.Jia Cong came in and saw Daiyu wearing a homely and half-worn Japanese satin skirt embroidered with green calyx and plums, with a jade hairpin inserted obliquely on her temples. I ticked it off.He laughed quickly and said, "Hi sister Lin, this is the wintersweet I folded on the back mountain. I thought that the first branch in winter must be my sister's favorite, so I sent it here."

Daiyu thanked her and gave up her seat again. The maid on one side took the flower branch and put it in a Ru kiln azure fish crate bottle on the shelf beside her. Finely carved, dotted sparsely on the dead branches, just like a bird resting on a tree, it may fly into the air at any time.

Daiyu suddenly remembered how happy the sisters in the garden were admiring snow couplets and red plums, drinking wine and composing poems in the old days. I didn't feel sad and wept, but suddenly felt tasteless. I was afraid that Jia Cong would laugh, but I saw that Jia Cong had calmly walked to the desk, looking up at the calligraphy and painting hanging on the wall, as if he didn't notice Daiyu's gaffe, Daiyu Yu couldn't help feeling fond of her. Originally, Jia Cong and Jia Cong were only dealing with each other on the face of affection, and there was nothing to talk about. Today, when they talked about poetry and even stereotyped articles, Dai Yu realized that Jia Cong was not a rigid bookworm who only knew how to read books. Jia Cong Cong also found that Daiyu knew the Four Books, Five Classics, and even stereotyped articles by heart, and was quite insightful. He couldn't help but silently write out the articles he wrote, and asked Daiyu humbly for advice. "One's trouble is to be a teacher." All learned people are always upset when they keep their knowledge in their stomachs. Since someone sincerely asks for advice, Daiyu knows everything. There are many.

Unknowingly, Jia Cong stayed for more than an hour, and even ate afternoon tea at the Xiaoxiang Pavilion. Qingzhi made lily red bean and pumpkin soup, which was fine and sweet, because Aunt Lin had specially instructed Qingzhi and Biye to treat Jia Cong was different from other gentlemen, even more important than Baoyu, so he naturally served him wholeheartedly.Zijuan felt that something was wrong, and when she was discussing with Qing Zhi whether Jia Cong should stay for dinner in the corridor, the maid in Jia Cong's room came to report, and the elder Jia She called Jia Cong over.