The eldest brother of the Lin family in the Red Chamber

Shui Rong stayed in Jingyuanhou's mansion for a few more days before going back.A few days later, news came that King Beijing Jing survived the smallpox and recovered well, not even red beans were left on his face.Lin Mo asked someone to send a gift, but did not visit in person.He's a little busy.

This year the old sage had his birthday, and today, in order to pray for the emperor, he specially opened Enke.The Lin family didn't have any children, but the aunt's nephew won the exam and came to Beijing to rush for the exam.

The child's surname is Rong Jia, he is twelve years old, he is intelligent, he is the second son of Rong Mingqian, the prefect of Jinan, he often came to play with Lin's family when he was young, and his father was promoted to Governor of Shandong , I haven't seen it much, I didn't expect that in just a few years, the little meat dumpling has already won the Juren.According to Rong Mingqian's thoughts, his son is still young, so it's better to wait another three years, but Rong Jia felt that it would be good to try his hand at the end, since he was still young anyway, even if he failed the ranking, he would not be ashamed.Only then did Rong Mingqian agree, he packed up a boat full of things and asked Rong Jia to go to Beijing, and then remembered that Lin Mo was in Beijing, and asked Lin Bai to write a letter to call Ying Ying.

Lin Mo always respected his mistress, so he didn't dare to be negligent, so he asked Daiyu what she meant, and invited Rong Jia to come to his house, intending to give him personal advice on the scientific examination.

Daiyu was quite nervous when she heard that her elder brother's hometown had come. She herself watched the servants tidy up the courtyard before she felt relieved.Lin Mo smiled and said, "Why are you nervous, that meatball...Rong Jia is just a child, what does he care about? I was tired from playing when I was a child, and I can sleep on the haystacks in other people's farms, so that I can feed myself Very good." Daiyu said: "Even so, he is also my brother's cousin, and my brother's cousin is my cousin, how dare I neglect it."

If there was any dissatisfaction with Lin Mo in the Lin family, it was probably because Lin Qing refused to call him his father, but Lin Mo regarded him as his father. His wife's nephew was naturally his cousin.

Seeing what Daiyu said, Lin Mo naturally had nothing to say, he just said: "The child's family is very rich, I don't know how many good things to bring, we don't need his big wool clothes, eleven or two I'm not sure how tall he is at the moment, I don't know how tall he is now, do you still have the leather reward from last time, save some for him, and measure his figure later."

"There are still some more." Daiyu hurriedly asked someone to prepare them.

"That child was born in the same year and month as you, and is only a few days older than you. The rules in our family are different from those in Rongguo Mansion. Although he is your cousin, he should not see him. His family also controls this very strictly. He is a Zhili's child, but when you walk in the garden in the future, you should bring a few more women to guard the entrance of the garden. I will also tell him not to go to the inner courtyard."

Daiyu said: "He is here for the exam, so he must study the books every day, and there must be few people who come to the inner courtyard."

"He dares to go." Lin Mo said, "I won't beat him to death."

Daiyu has lived in her own home for nearly a year now, and she knows that the Jia family started with martial arts, and the rules are loose. Like Jia Baoyu, who hangs around in the inner circle, it is a great shame in other people's homes. Which family's children are like this, it is almost It is to raise a daughter, and the future is worrying.Although Rong Jia was younger than Baoyu, she sounded sensible.

The son of the governor of Shandong came to Beijing, which attracted many people's attention. Later, he found out that he was a 12-year-old milk baby, and people couldn't help but be disappointed.And when this little son came, he didn't visit his father's old friend, and directly hid in Wenshu, his cousin's mansion.Lin Mo is not used to seeing visitors, and he didn't even walk around his grandmother's house very easily, let alone them who were not relatives or friends?

On the day Rong Jia arrived, Lin Mo sent the chief manager, Lin Ke, to pick him up at the pier.

But I haven't seen him for a few years, the little meat dumpling has almost changed its appearance, its stature has grown a lot, its fat face has also lost weight, its edges and corners have first appeared, and it looks like a handsome young man.Lin Mo sighed, "I've grown up."

Rong Jia smiled, showing a tooth that was missing a deciduous tooth: "I still treat myself like a cousin and forget about me."

"How can it be." Lin Mo looked at him, "It's just that at your age, it's too early to come to the end, even if the essay is not bad, the examiner said you were young and ignorant and kicked you out, no one would say he did it No. At my age, some people say that I can't do things well without hair on my mouth, but your teeth seem unreliable."

Rong Jia said: "It's just a matter of giving it a try. Whether it succeeds depends on the sky and not on people. My father will retire in a few years. The Rong family is not like the Lin family. Our foundation is shallow. We started our business by relying on our father. Someone must stay in the court. Support the front in the hall. My brother wants to keep his wife filial, so I'll try my luck first."

Lin Mo asked in surprise, "Uncle wants to retire? Why?"

"As a local official, who can achieve my father's promotion speed? If we are outsiders, we are based in Jinan. Why don't we call it a taboo in Beijing? Only by retreating bravely can the river flow forever." Rong Jia smiled, "Father resigned." Officer, leave me a child with a yellow mouth in Beijing, so our Rong family will not collapse."

Lin Mo smiled and said, "Sounds so nice, how is the article doing? Come to my study after dinner."

"There is one more thing to trouble my cousin, please buy me a house in Beijing."

"It's as if you've already passed the exam." Lin Mo said, "It's only been a few days. You've just broken the questions in the past few days and hugged your feet temporarily. When the exam is over, no matter whether you pass it or not, I will take you to the capital Let's take a look around inside, let's take a look together." Lin Mo said so, but he was clear in his heart, Rong Mingqian's official actions were a bit ostentatious, a few years ago he built water conservancy, dug canals and repaired roads, built academies, He also opened the granary privately during the snowstorm—although he was a good official, he was a little eye-catching after all.The reason why Rong Mingqian is reused today is because the Rong family behind him is doing things smoothly, and he will not be an official like Zhen Yingjia and become the emperor of the earth. Will you pass up this opportunity?

Even though he was sure, Rong Jia had to have some real talents.

Daiyu stayed in her room for a few days, and Zijuan persuaded, "Young lady should also go out to bask in the sun. Didn't the uncle say that it is good for the young lady to see more sunshine."

Daiyu smiled and said, "It's inconvenient to have guests at home." She lived in Jia's house for several years, and she felt embarrassed by Jia's absurd behavior, and now she is even more cautious in every step, and dare not have such a thing again, brother You are right, I can be regarded as representing the upbringing of the girls of the Lin family. If others know that the prostitute daughter of the Lin family often meets outside men, what would it look like.

"What's the matter?" Wen Ge hugged the outer robe and put it on her, "Second Master Rong lives in front with our uncle, I asked Wen Yin yesterday, Second Master Rong only went to his room other than his own room. I've been to the uncle's study. Let's bring a few more women to guard the gate of the garden, and don't ask him to come in, can't we?"

Only then did Daiyu agree, and said: "Cousin Rong reads hard, so let's cook some warm food for him. Although we don't have elders in our family, we can't lose the etiquette of hospitality."

"Yes, I will tell the kitchen to prepare."

Daiyu said again: "Open my storeroom, you don't have to bother brother with these trivial matters." She heard a few words about Lin Mo's raising people in the room because of Yayi's muttering, but she didn't care, she just called Yayi Don't talk nonsense, she was sent by Lin Mo, and Daiyu didn't dare to punish her lightly, so Wen Ge scolded her a few words.It's just that although I listened, it was true that there were a lot of medicinal materials missing in Lin Mo's warehouse. Daiyu saw that Lin Mo was busy with Rong Jia's study these days, and never asked anyone to buy them, and there was nothing wrong with this season. Good medicine, so I plan to move some from my warehouse.

Wen Ge knew what she meant, smiled and nodded in agreement.

So I walked with Daiyu in the garden for a while, and asked Zijuan Xueyan to accompany her to open Daiyu's storehouse, and found some nourishing medicinal materials to make soup for Rongjia.He also asked the first second-class maid in the room, named Xin'er, to send it to Rong Jia.

Rong Jia was in the study room listening to Lin Mo's comments on articles, when suddenly he saw a girl bringing two bowls of soup, and asked, "What are these?"

"This is the soup that our girl made for Second Master Rong and the uncle. The girl said, Second Master Rong worked hard to study, and there are no elders in our family. If there is any negligence, please forgive Second Master Rong. This soup is from our garden. If Second Master Rong tastes the craftsmanship of the small kitchen well, he will send a little girl to our source to tell you." Xin Er put down the soup, and said to Lin Mo, "Young lady asks Master, you need to arrange someone to go to the storeroom. Are you buying?"

Lin Mo smiled and said, "Ask Lin Ke's family to arrange for some reliable boys to go. Jiaer has a try, the small kitchen at my sister's place is the Jiangnan cook she brought from her hometown, which is not quite the same as the one in Shandong. This soup is especially well made." You said, "I was negligent and forgot to get you some tonic soup, but luckily my sister still remembers, so she didn't lose her manners."

Rong Jia said: "I haven't congratulated my cousin for having a gentle and caring sister."

Lin Moqi said: "How do you know my sister is like this?"

"I praise every family's sister-in-law and aunt like this. You are the only cousin who agreed so generously. It seems that this cousin must be extraordinary."

After boasting, he just kept his mouth shut and didn't mention it anymore. He just asked Xin'er to thank him for him. After all, although they are relatives, it's really not a good thing for a girl's family to ask a foreigner to talk about it.

Lin Mo nodded in satisfaction and continued talking to him.

Xin'er went back to the garden, went back to Daiyu first, and said: "The soup has been delivered, and the second master Rong and the uncle agreed to drink it. The uncle liked the small ivory bowl and said that he would put it at his place. I will come back tomorrow." Tell me to take it back. Second Master Rong asked me to come and thank the girl."

Daiyu hurriedly said: "Since my brother likes that bowl, I will keep it. It is the same as any rare thing."

Xin'er said: "I also said the same to the uncle. The girl would definitely be happy to give it to the uncle, but the uncle said, what does it look like for him to be an older brother and fight with his sister?"

After returning to Daiyu, Xin'er was pulled aside by Wen Ge to ask Rong Jia's appearance and character, she wondered: "Why do you ask this?"

"Don't worry about it, just tell me how is Second Master Rong's character?"

"Of course it's good. It's not like everyone's master is the devil king of the world. Second Master Rong looks gentle and polite, not much worse than our uncle."

Wen Ge felt relieved and went to find Lin Mo.

"Madam, it's time to start talking about the girl's marriage. She is busy with the second and third masters in Jinan, and she can't get away from coming to Beijing. Since you have passed it to Mr. Lin, you should think about it for the girl." I think, if there is a good person to take a look at it earlier, she will be fine if she sees Second Master Rong."

Lin Mo almost spit out a sip of tea: "Rong Jia? That little meat dumpling? How old is he? Didn't Mistress see his chipped teeth?"

"It's a few days older than our girl." Wen Ge said, "Ma'am, that is to say, the uncle doesn't like the second master Rong. It's good to see the talents of other families. It's also good to see each other earlier. The relationship between the uncle and the girl The filial piety period is now more than half past, it's time to think about it."

"It's not urgent, my sister is still young." Lin Mo said, "I always have to wait for the grandma to come in and help the female relatives of the family. Do you think it is enough to get married and look after a child?"

Wen Ge said: "I'm just delivering a message for my wife."