The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 371 A perfect match?

Jia Huan had slept for nearly four hours and felt very energetic at the moment. As the setting sun was a little dazzling, he put his hands over the pergola and realized that Baochai and Baoqin were standing in the yard. The former was smiling slightly and the latter was smiling brightly. Under the setting sun, they looked like two flowers blooming together, as if they had walked out of a painting.

"Did you get enough sleep, Brother Huan?" Xue Baochai asked with a smile, and walked towards him gracefully, as dignified and gentle as ever.

Jia Huan came back to his senses and smiled, "It's good. When did Sister Bao and Sister Qin come?"

Xue Baoqin smiled and said, "I just arrived for a while and Brother Huan woke up. Could it be that the sound of us walking and talking woke you up?"

"Not really." Jia Huan waved his hand.

At this time, the setting sun had already set behind the distant buildings, and the light in the yard suddenly dimmed. Jia Huan said self-deprecatingly: "Look, the sun has set. Another decadent day has passed. I have to go back."

Baochai and Baoqin couldn't help but smile, and the latter laughed even more, "I'm afraid Brother Huan can't leave. The kitchen is already preparing wine and food. Auntie won't let you go."

"Brother Huan, is there anything urgent?" Baochai looked at Jia Huan with concern in her almond-shaped eyes.

Jia Huan felt a little warm in his heart and shook his head, "No, I was just worried that I would miss the time and the gate would be locked."

Xue Baoqin smiled and said, "It's fine to lock the door, after all, it's just one night. Now that the provincial examination is over, there's no need to review for the time being. Even if you stay one more night, it won't delay your exam for the top scholar next spring, Brother Huan. By the way, is it because we didn't treat you well enough that Brother Huan is in a hurry to leave?"

Jia Huan laughed dumbly and said, "Sister Qin's mouth can rival a million strong troops. Well, I dare not argue. I will just stay and eat and drink well."

Xue Baoqin chuckled: "You just found out!"

Baochai couldn't help but smile, and said softly, "If Brother Huan has something urgent to do, I won't keep you here. If not, you can stay for dinner before leaving. This is what mother has repeatedly instructed."

Jia Huan nodded and said with a smile: "It's up to Sister Bao to arrange it."

Baochai was delighted and ordered Xiangling to light the lamp. After chatting for a while, a servant came to report, "Misses, the mistress has served dinner. Please invite the third master to the table."

So, Jia Huan, Chai Qin and the other two set off for Aunt Xue's room. At this time, a sumptuous meal and wine had been prepared in the dining room. In addition to Aunt Xue, Xue Ke was also present.

"Brother Huan, come and sit here with your aunt." Aunt Xue enthusiastically called Jia Huan to sit next to her, and there was no avoiding another round of politeness and words of thanks.

After a few drinks, Aunt Xue looked at Jia Huan, who was handsome and well-behaved. She felt happy but conflicted. She thought of her own son's shortcomings and couldn't help but sigh, "Brother Huan, if your useless cousin was even a little bit better than you, I wouldn't have to worry so much every day."

"Uh... Auntie, you are too kind." Jia Huan didn't know how to comfort her for a moment, so he could only say casually: "In fact, cousin Pan is not completely useless. He is generous and loyal, but he has a bit of a bad temper. If he can calm down and read more, he may be able to calm down."

Although Aunt Xue knew that Jia Huan's words were meant to comfort him, she was also happy to hear them, and took the opportunity to say, "It would be great if that were the case. But your uncle died early, and Pan'er has been without a father to discipline him since he was a child. I am a woman, and I can't read a single word, so I don't know how to educate him. I have always spoiled him, and as a result, your cousin has developed an arrogant and domineering character. He doesn't like to read, and all he does all day is walk his dog, hawk, and sleep with prostitutes. Unfortunately, this evil creature is not afraid of anyone, and no one can discipline him.

Although Huan Ge'er is five or six years younger than your cousin Pan, he is a man of real ability and can control him. I would like to trouble you to give your cousin Pan some advice and advice on a daily basis. If he can make some progress and learn a little from you, your aunt will be very grateful. "

Jia Huan was sweating secretly, and seeing Baochai looking at him with almond-shaped eyes, which seemed to be begging, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said, "Aunt, you are too kind, cousin Pan... Huan'er will do his best."

Aunt Xue was overjoyed and raised her glass to toast Jia Huan: "Brother Huan, thank you. Auntie toasts you a glass."

Jia Huan quickly stood up and said in greeting, "I dare not. It is Huan'er who is toasting you."

Aunt Xue was delighted and said with a smile, "Precious girl, you should also toast Huan Ge'er."

Xue Baochai's face was slightly hot, and she stood up and toasted Jia Huan. She was always gentle and generous, but now she was a little embarrassed. Then Xue Ke and Baoqin also toasted Jia Huan, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

When everyone finished the banquet, it was already very late. In addition, they had been drinking a lot. Aunt Xue tried her best to keep Jia Huan, so he had to stay overnight. He also sent Mu Ye home to tell Mandalin and Xiao Yuanyuan that he would stay the night at Xue's house.

The next day, Jia Huan did not get up until the sun was high in the sky. The maid Wen Xing brought him water and helped him wash his face and rinse his mouth.

Jia Huan naturally knew that Wen Xing was one of the maids who served Bao Chai, so he said quickly, "I will do it myself. How dare I trouble Miss Wen Xing to serve me?"

Wen Xing chuckled and said, "Master Huan San, you are too polite. I am not a girl at all. I am just a servant serving the master." She wrung out the towel and handed it over.

Jia Huan could only smile, took the towel and wiped his face, and asked, "What is Sister Bao doing now?"

"I don't know about that, but our girl came here half an hour ago, and went back when she saw that the Third Master hadn't gotten up yet." Wen Xing replied.

After Jia Huan finished washing and having breakfast, he went to Aunt Xue's room to pay his respects and take his leave. Aunt Xue said reluctantly, "My son, now that the provincial examination is over, we are just waiting for the results to be announced. Why don't you stay a few more days? First, you can chat with your aunt to relieve her boredom. Second, wouldn't it be better for you cousins ​​to play together?"

Jia Huan smiled and said, "I have finished the provincial examination, but I still have to prepare for the spring examination next year. It's a good opportunity to review it while I'm still hot. Don't worry, aunt. Whenever I have time, I will come to pay my respects to you and visit Sister Bao and the others."

Aunt Xue sighed when she heard this, "No wonder Huan'er was able to win the first place in the imperial examination. With such energy, there is nothing he can't do. In this case, I won't delay your studies. Just remember to say hello to your sister Bao before you go back."

Jia Huan agreed and turned to go to Baochai's residence. As a result, he met Xue Ke who had just returned from outside in a corridor. Xue Ke was holding a wooden box and was very excited. He almost bumped into Jia Huan.

Jia Huan asked curiously, "What treasure did Master Ke bring back so early in the morning?"

Xue Ke said a little embarrassedly: "It is a treasure, but I didn't buy it. I just redeemed it."

"Ransom?" Jia Huan looked at Xue Ke in surprise.

Xue Ke smiled bitterly and said, "It's a bit embarrassing to say this. Yesterday, I asked a doctor to see my elder brother, but the mansion couldn't even afford the consultation fee. I almost made a fool of myself. In the end, my elder sister had to pawn her longevity gold locket for me, and I got two hundred and fifty taels of silver to barely cover up my shame." Jia Huan frowned and said in surprise, "Now the mansion can't even afford a few hundred taels of silver?"

Xue Ke said awkwardly: "Let alone hundreds of taels, I can't even come up with a few taels. In order to redeem my eldest brother, we emptied the treasury of our family, and finally embezzled hundreds of taels from the pawnshop to make up for it.

Who knew that the Lei man took 80,000 taels of silver, and not only did he not release the people, but he also sealed up all the properties under the name of the Xue family, and we couldn't use a penny anymore. Fortunately, the Jinyiwei finally unsealed all the properties under the name of the Xue family yesterday afternoon. It's all thanks to you, brother Huan, otherwise we would have been unable to live. Look, early this morning, I went to the rice shop's account to transfer the silver and redeem the longevity gold lock of my elder sister, and I'm sending it to her now."

Jia Huan naturally knew the origin of the golden locket that Baochai wore. The so-called golden jade marriage refers to Jia Baoyu's spiritual jade and the golden locket that Baochai wore, implying that the two will eventually become husband and wife. But now that he, a time traveler, has suddenly appeared in the world of the Red Mansion, can this golden jade marriage described by Mr. Cao still come true?
Thinking of this, Jia Huan couldn't help but have a strange look on his face, and said, "I'm just about to go find Sister Bao, why don't you give this golden lock to her?"

Xue Ke, out of trust and respect for Jia Huan, did not think twice and handed the box to Jia Huan, saying, "Thank you, brother Huan. I have other things to do."

Jia Huan took the box and said, "Brother Tad, go and do your work. I will take it to Sister Bao."

Xue Ke thanked him and turned to leave.

Jia Huan held the wooden box and pondered for a moment, then walked towards Baochai's residence, but found nothing. Only Xiangling was in the room.

Jia Huan didn't know why Xiangling was always indifferent to him, as if there was an invisible barrier between them, so he didn't stay long, handed the box to Xiangling, and left.

However, just as he walked out of the house, Xiangling chased out with the box in her hand and said, "The young lady did not go out today. I think she went to the garden to relax. I will take Master Huan to the garden to look for her. Maybe we can find her."

Jia Huan wanted to leave the house and go home directly, but he said, "Then I will trouble Miss Xiangling."

Xiangling said shyly: "Master Huan San, just call me Xiangling." After saying that, she hurriedly led the way.

The two of them came to the back garden one after the other, and as expected, they met Baochai and Ying'er, master and servant, who were taking a walk in the pavilion beside the pond.

When Xue Baochai saw Jia Huan, her face immediately lit up with joy, and she said with a smile, "Brother Huan, you may have breakfast now."

Jia Huan smiled and said, "I have. I was going to say goodbye to Bao-jie, but she wasn't in the room. Xiangling said she might be in the garden, so I came here to see her. Sure enough, she was still here."

When Xue Baochai heard that Jia Huan was here to say goodbye, she suddenly felt a little depressed. She said softly, "Brother Huan, won't you stay a few more days?"

Jia Huan shook his head and said, "No, I have things to do. I'll come back to see Sister Bao and Auntie another day."

Xue Baochai nodded and said, "Okay, but Brother Huan is leaving, please tell mother."

"I just came from my aunt's place." Jia Huan replied.

"Then I'll take you out of the house, Brother Huan." Just as Xue Baochai was about to turn around, she suddenly saw Xiangling holding a wooden box. She asked curiously, "What's that?"

Xiangling smiled and said, "Young lady's golden longevity locket was just given to me by Third Master Huan. I forgot to put it down for a while."

Xue Baochai looked at Jia Huan in surprise.

Jia Huan explained, "I met cousin Ta on the way here, and I happened to be coming to say goodbye to Sister Bao, so I brought him here."

Xue Baochai knew that Jia Huan must have heard about her pawning the golden lock when she heard this, and said with a little embarrassment, "Thank you, brother Huan. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you."

After Baochai finished speaking, she told Xiangling to take the box back to the room first. Jia Huan suddenly said, "Wait a minute, I've heard of Baojie's golden locket for longevity before, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes. Can you show it to me?"

"It's just a gold ornament, what's so good about it?" Baochai smiled, but still opened the box and took out the gold lock inside. In an instant, it was filled with jewels and precious stones. There was a necklace made of crystal jewels and shining gold, with a gold locket hanging below it without any embellishment. It was almost the same as what was shown in TV dramas.

When Jia Huan took the necklace, he felt it was very heavy, probably one or two kilograms. The workmanship was very exquisite. Together with the jewels, it was probably worth a thousand taels of silver. However, the pawnshop only gave it two hundred and fifty taels of silver. It was really a rip-off.

Jia Huan picked up the golden lock hanging under the necklace and looked at it carefully. He saw that there were indeed eight words engraved on the lock: "Never leave, never abandon, and youth will last forever."

Baochai felt a little uncomfortable when she saw Jia Huan studying the eight characters. However, Jia Huan asked, "Sister Bao, is there anything particular about the characters engraved on it?"

Ying'er was quick to answer, "Of course there is a reason. This was a bald monk back then..."

Baochai interrupted with a smile, "It's just a lucky saying made up by a wandering monk. What's the point of it? Brother Huan, don't listen to Ying'er's nonsense. It's only because of your parents' orders that you have to wear it. Otherwise, it's so heavy and what's the point!"

Ying'er stuck out her tongue, and suddenly remembered what the bald monk had said that the girl's gold needed a man with jade to match it. If someone had jade, it would naturally be Master Bao, but Master Huan didn't have jade, so didn't that mean that Master Bao was the girl's destined lover? But the girl's favorite was obviously Master Huan.

Thinking of this, Ying'er couldn't help but feel puzzled. In fact, she hoped that her daughter's destined lover was Jia Huan.

Jia Huan did not ask any more questions. After reading it, he returned the golden locket to Baochai. Baochai did not put it on, but put it back into the box and asked Xiangling to put it away.

Seeing this, Jia Huan smiled knowingly. What a bullshit perfect match! He didn't really care about it. And judging from Bao Sister's appearance, she didn't take it seriously either, otherwise why would she have pawned it for silver?

At that moment, everyone chatted for a while, and Baochai silently sent Jia Huan out of the house. Compared with Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai was a reserved person. Although she was reluctant in her heart, she did not show it at all.

Jia Huan had just left the Xue family. Coincidentally, as he passed the Miaozifu area, he saw a group of Jinyiwei passing by with flags. It turned out that Yi Hong, the leader of the Jinyiwei, had come to Jinling from Yangzhou.

(End of this chapter)