Jia Lu through the Red Chamber

The sisters were busy with their work, and Baoyu went out out of boredom. Mingyan led the horse and asked,

"Father, where are you going?"

Baoyu didn't have any plans to go out, so he asked, "You are familiar with the city, what do you think is a good place for recreation?"

At this moment, Zi Mingyan regained his energy, and said, "Master, you are asking the right person. If you want to ask what is delicious and interesting in the capital city, just ask me Mingyan. One right!"

Baoyu laughed when he heard this, "Well, you are a tea smoker, and you are not afraid that the cowhide will be blown to pieces. Don't be poor soon. What good place can you go if you talk about it?"

"Hey, isn't this Baoyu? Are you planning to go out?" Xue Pan wobbled over with the bird cage in hand.

"Yes, I'm planning to go out to find a place to play. Just now I was asking Mingyan where there is something fun, and I ran into Brother Xue. Where did Brother Xue come from?"

Xue Pan teased the little bird with a tender bamboo willow drill, and said, "If you ask him, you might as well ask me. What can he know, Baoyu, how about you come and see me, little oriole?"

Mingyan was not convinced anymore, and said, "Uncle Xue, I don't like to hear what you say. I think that I, Mingyan, grew up in this capital city since I was a child. I haven't visited any of these things before." Ah, Uncle Xue, how many years have you only been in Beijing, how many places do you know!"

Xue Pan became interested when he heard this, and said to Baoyu, "You boy, you have two meanings. I don't care if he really knows, but his courage suits my appetite."

Immediately he asked Mingyan again, "Then you come and tell me, an outsider, what are the interesting places in this old capital, well said, see?"

Xue Pan pulled out the big wrench on top of his thumb, waved at Mingyan, and said, "The best emerald wrench is yours!"

Mingyan looked at the hot eyes and said, "Then listen up!

If you want to see the scenery, the maple leaves in Beihai are in red now, the Tangou Temple in Menligou is full of incense, the stone flower caves in Fangshan are strange, and the valleys in Miyun are beautiful with clear waters!

If you want to buy something, there are the most shops on the street in Xitiao Hutong, with everything you need for food and clothing, only what you can't think of, nothing you can't buy;

If you want to eat delicious food, the Baiyulou on Ximen Street is famous for its 1000 taels per meal. The Goubuli steamed stuffed buns from Tianjin in Dashilan are very fragrant, and the roast duck in our old capital is still delicious. The time-honored brand on Zhuangyuan Street is the most delicious!

If you feel bored, there are storytellers, performers, theater troupes, and jugglers in Dashilan, and you will never miss leaving!

......"

Xue Pan hammered Baoyu's small arm, looked at the smoke that was still going on, and whispered,

"You're a little boy. You can tell me better than the second boy in that store. When you, boy, can lend me a hand, I didn't know there are so many good places to go in Kyoto!"

Jia Baoyu said, "If you want it, as long as Mingyan is willing, just call it."

Hearing Baoyu's answer, Xue Pan patted his chest and said, "Good brother, it's grand!"

He said to Mingyan again, "Okay, okay, don't talk about it, I know your ability, this is for you!" As he said, he threw the wrench over, and Mingyan jumped up, caught it in his hand, and said with a smile ,

"Thank you, Uncle Xue, for your reward!"

"Just now your master agreed to let you introduce some good places to me when you are free. I don't know what you think?"

Xue Pan is famous for being a fool with a lot of money. Today alone, Mingyan has earned a finger-twist. He is stupid so he won't agree. He said quickly, "I will listen to Master Xue's orders!"

Xue Pan nodded, and said again, "I made an appointment with someone to go to the Yishui teahouse in Dashilan. I just heard you say that Dashilan is so good and so good. I go there often, but I don't take a closer look. It's just that you can accompany me. I'm going for a walk, Baoyu, do you want to come with me?"

Thinking about what Mingyan introduced just now, Baoyu was quite moved, and said, "It's all right, so I'll go with Big Brother Xue. I wonder who Brother Xue has invited?"

Xue Pan put the beloved little Huang Ying in his hand on the little servant behind him, turned over and rode on the horse, and Jia Baoyu also got on the horse.

Xue Pan replied, "There's no one there, just Lao Cheng and the others. By the way, your good friend Jiang Yuhan is also there!"

"He, he doesn't know what to do?" Jia Baoyu asked hesitantly.

Seeing him hesitate to meet a woman, Xue Pan said,

"What's wrong with him, Prince Zhongshun likes him so much, he's popular, he's a hot drinker, he's having a good time, to be honest, are you still going?"

"I'll go!" Jia Baoyu hesitated for a long time and said firmly.

A few people rode their horses for a while, and they came to Yishui Teahouse. The waiter saw the regular customer Xue Pan coming, and quickly flattered him with a flattering smile.

"Hey, Uncle Xue is here. Second Master Cheng and the others have come here a long time ago. They are waiting for you in the upstairs wing room. Please, Uncle Xue come upstairs!"

Xue Pan knew the way, threw a piece of broken silver to Xiao Er, and asked,

"Who is going to be on stage today?"

Xiaoer quietly hid the broken silver, bowed to curry favor and replied,

"Today is Mr. Zhang Dasan, a well-known storyteller in the capital. He doesn't come here often. Today, Uncle Xue is also lucky!"

"He, what's so good about Zhang San's ears, Miss Cuishan?"

"Unfortunately, Miss Cuishan was on stage yesterday, and she is resting today!"

Jia Baoyu listened behind him and asked, "Who is this three ears? Is there anyone else with three ears?"

Xiao Er turned around to look at this pink and jade-carved young master. He thought it was Uncle Xue's rabbit master, but now that he looked closely at his clothes, he didn't know what to call him.

"I don't know if this young master is..."

Xue Pan said, "He's my cousin, Jia Baoyu, Baoyu come up soon!"

Xiaoer's ears moved, Uncle Xue is a fool with a lot of money, such a person can be said to have been inquired clearly in the capital. Your Excellency's Wang family has two male families, and the Jia family, which just adopted the princess not long ago, also matches the surname Jia.

Xiaoer bent down a little more, Xuxu helped Jia Baoyu up the stairs, the smile on his face was even more flattering and he said,

"It's Mr. Jia! That Zhang San's ears are not open. He is the third eldest in his family, and his name is Zhang Dasan. He is different from ordinary storytellers. He doesn't like to talk about ancient times. Instead, he likes to talk about new things in the capital. He is alive and well-informed, so he has been praised by many people, people say that he has a third ear, otherwise how would he know so many things..."

"Uncle Xue, Second Master Bao is here!" In the wing room, Xue Pan and Baoyu had already been seen coming, Lao Cheng, Jiang Yuhan and others had already been waiting at the door, and when they saw the two coming up, they hurried up to greet them , Xue Pan, Lao Cheng and the others greeted each other. Jia Baoyu saw Jiang Yuhan who was looking at him with a smile on his face.

When there were still two or three steps to go, he stopped, hesitated and dared not go forward, and asked,

"Yuhan, how are you?"

Jiang Yuhan smiled, with an inexplicable sadness and helplessness in this smile, and said, "I'm fine, I heard that last time it involved you being beaten by Mr. Jia, are you okay?"