The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 410 Departure back to Beijing
In the living room, Jia Huan was drinking tea and thinking. As the saying goes, there is no gain without pain. Capital merchants like Luo Er who traveled thousands of miles across the ocean to do business in the East, their eager pursuit of profits is undoubtedly extraordinary. After all, with the current navigation technology, the risk of crossing the ocean is extremely high. If there is no considerable profit attraction, how can these people be willing to risk being buried at sea and come here to do business?
So, what interests would drive a businessman like Luo Er to pay a high price to redeem Mandarin from him? Was it really just to give it to another important person?

I'm afraid that's not the case!

You have to know that in order to sell Mandarin for a high price, Roll could not help but refrain from touching such a beautiful woman in front of him, so Mandarin was able to remain intact.

It can be seen that in medieval European countries, although the upper circles lived a decadent life, the male virgin complex was no different from that in other places. So would the "big men" mentioned by Rawl not care about Mandarin who was no longer a virgin?

So, Luo Er was most likely lying. He obviously had other purposes in redeeming Mandarin from me? Maybe he discovered other values ​​of Mandarin, such as Mandarin's ability to make guns?
To be honest, even until now, Jia Huan still doesn't know the specific identity of Mandarin. He only knows that she is from the Kingdom of Portugal, is a serving soldier, is interested in drawing blueprints, is an engineering girl, and can make guns. As for Mandarin's specific family background and how she became a slave, Jia Huan is not clear about these and has not asked. Mandarin has never mentioned it on her own initiative, and seems reluctant to bring it up.

Of course, if Mandarin herself didn't want to say it, Jia Huan wouldn't force her to confess, and he would not do that now, after all, this foreign maid was already his householder.

Just as Jia Huan was lost in thought, Shitou came in from outside and reported angrily, "Third Master, when those two red-haired guys left, they chatted for a long time at the door. I hid behind a pillar and listened all the way, but unfortunately I didn't understand a word. Damn, what kind of bird language is that!"

Jia Huan said with a smile: "They are speaking Dutch. It's normal that you don't understand it. Even I don't understand it."

"Why don't we arrest them and interrogate them so that everything will be clear. This way, Master San won't have to guess all the time," Shitou suggested.

Jia Huan shook his head and said, "It's not worth it. Let them go."

"Shi Tou, who are you going to catch now?" Tiehu strode in from outside, holding something covered with coarse cloth in his hand, and no one knew what it was.

Shitou teased, "Brother Tiger, have you managed to coax your tigress?"

Tiehu snorted coldly, "Calling me sister-in-law is disrespectful. You are not a child anymore. I think the ugly slave next to Hong'er is not bad. How about I help you two get in touch?"

"No, don't hurt me!" Shi Tou rolled his eyes.

Jia Huan asked with amusement: "What's that thing in your hand?"

Tiehu lifted the coarse cloth cover, revealing a birdcage underneath. Inside was a red and green bird. It was colorful and very beautiful, with a beak that was curved like a sickle.

Shitou's eyes lit up and he blurted out, "Hey, what a majestic bird! What kind of bird is this? I don't think I've seen one before!"

Jia Huan was also very surprised and asked, "Huzi, where did you get this macaw? Neither our Great Jin nor the neighboring countries have it. Is it an imported product?"

"Hey, Third Master, you actually know this bird? You are really knowledgeable. This thing was indeed bought from foreigners, and it cost me ten taels of silver." Tiehu said with a little pain.

Shitou frowned and said, "Ten taels of silver to buy a bird, Brother Tiger, are you okay?"

Tiehu pouted and said, "You know shit. My bird... cough, this bird... is not only beautiful, but also very smart. It can peel melon seeds and speak human language!"

"Is it true? You are not exaggerating, right?" Shi Tou was a little unconvinced.

Tiehu took out a pumpkin seed from his pocket and threw it into the cage. The macaw grabbed it with its claws, peeled the shell of the pumpkin seed with a few clicks of its curved beak, and spit it out, then swallowed the kernel. After eating, it tilted its head and looked at Tiehu, as if asking for more.

Shitou was shocked and said, "It's really more clever than a human. Let it speak a few human words."

Tiehu scratched his head and said, "Let me think about it... A ghost touched you, tell me, a ghost touched you!"

The macaw didn't make a sound, just lowered its head to comb its feathers. Tiehu frowned and said, "Maybe I didn't pronounce it correctly. When the foreigner said it, the bird followed suit. It's a ghost, it's a ghost!"

The macaw raised its head and looked at Tiehu like he was an idiot. Shitou burst out laughing: "Brother Tiger, stop touching me. I'm touching you and then you're touching me. What the hell is that?"

Jia Huan couldn't help laughing. Tiehu touched his chin awkwardly and scolded with a smile: "That foreigner taught me that it means to say hello in the morning. It's strange that the bird was speaking well at that time, why is it silent now?"

Jia Huan said with a smile: "Is it good morning?"

As soon as Jia Huan finished speaking, the macaw stretched its neck and kept calling "good morning, good morning". Tiehu laughed and said, "Yes, yes, it means good morning. See, I didn't lie to you, this thing can really talk."

Shitou laughed and said, "After all this time, it turns out that I can only speak a foreign dialect."

"The foreigner said that as long as you teach it slowly, it can learn any words. So I thought, it would be perfect for the Third Master to give it to Miss Lin to entertain her!" Tiehu grinned.

Jia Huan's heart moved. In the original version of the Dream of the Red Chamber, it seemed that Lin Daiyu really had a parrot that could mimic human speech. So he said, "Huzi, you are so thoughtful. I will accept it on behalf of Sister Lin. But when did you learn the ways of the world? This will not happen again. If you still do this between brothers, you are asking for trouble!"

"Okay!" Tiehu grinned awkwardly, but he felt warm in his heart.

"Wait a moment, I'll go get the silver." Jia Huan turned back to the backyard and asked Ping'er to take out 1,000 taels of silver for Tiehu, and said, "This is the advance payment for three months' wages to Dulong Island, no more, no less. The money for buying the parrot should be considered as mine. You can take back 10 taels of silver, and you don't need to write a promissory note. I trust Mr. Qin."

Tiehu said gratefully: "I would like to thank the Third Master on behalf of Honger."

Jia Huan waved his hand and said, "We are all family, why thank me? Go quickly. I am afraid they are still waiting for you on the boat. We will not keep you for dinner this time."

Tiehu nodded, picked up the silver and left.

After Tiehu left, Jia Huan teased the macaw, picked up the birdcage and went to Lin Daiyu's residence. When the latter saw the macaw, she liked it very much. However, she was not very satisfied with the birdcage. She asked the servants to replace it with an antique one and made a warm nest with cotton cloth and straw scraps.

Without further ado, several days passed in the blink of an eye. It was October 18th and everything was ready. Jia Huan took Daiyu, Ping'er and Mandarin to board a ship at Yangzhou Pier and headed north along the canal to Beijing. Before leaving, he wrote a letter and sent it to the Xue family in Jinling to say goodbye to Aunt Xue and Baochai.

…………

At the Xue family in Jinling, Xue Baochai felt lost after reading the farewell letter written by Jia Huan. Her heart felt empty, as if an indescribable sadness lingered in her heart.

Aunt Xue couldn't help but sigh when she saw her daughter was in dismay. As the saying goes, no one knows a child better than his father. As Baochai's mother, how could she not understand her daughter's thoughts at all?

However, although Huan'er is a good person, he still doesn't get along with his own sister, Mrs. Wang. The key is that his second brother Wang Ziteng also doesn't like Huan'er. Even if he agrees, he is afraid that the Wang family will oppose Huan'er and Bao'er being together.

Although the Xue family has some money now, they have no power or influence, and there is no reliable man in the family to take the lead. They can only rely on the Wang family and the Jia family as their backers. Therefore, it is impossible for Bao Yatou to get married without considering the opinions of Wang Ziteng and Mrs. Wang.

In addition, it is said that Lin Ruhai entrusted Yu Yatou to Huan Ge'er before his death. Although he did not say it explicitly, it is estimated that he had that intention. Wouldn't Bao Yatou have some thoughts after hearing this? Coupled with her brother's previous fuss, it is no wonder that she had been avoiding Huan Ge'er when she was in Yangzhou.

"Alas, Bao girl has been sensible and obedient since she was young, so she shouldn't get stuck in a dead end. Now that Huan'er has returned to Beijing, it's good. The two of them are separated by two places and haven't seen each other for several years. Everything will gradually fade away. Then I will find a good husband for Bao girl and live a good life. I hope Pan'er's illness will gradually get better."

Aunt Xue thought about this while taking a sip of warm rice wine. The weather had been getting colder since the beginning of winter.

At this time, Xue Baochai also came back to her senses and resumed her demure and calm demeanor. She folded the letter and put it back into the envelope, saying softly, "Brother Huan said in the letter that he wants to buy our boatyard."

Aunt Xue asked curiously, "Huan-ge wants to do the shipping business?"

"That should be the case!" Xue Baochai said, pursing her bright red lips.

Aunt Xue frowned and said, "This child is not concentrating on preparing for the exam, but is instead keen on the pursuit of profit by businessmen. This is simply putting the cart before the horse. No, I have to write a letter to talk to him. Oh, Bao girl, please help me write it. I can't write."

Xue Baochai said with a smile: "Our family is originally engaged in business, mother, do you look down on businessmen?"

Aunt Xue said, "It is better to be powerful than to be rich. If your brother was willing to study, I would have sent him to school long ago. But he is not a good student. Huan Ge'er is a rare student. How can he waste his time on doing business to make money? Of course, I have to warn him not to make mistakes. If he is short of money, I can help him a little."

Xue Baochai felt a little strange when she heard this. She looked at her mother and said, "Don't worry about it, mother. Brother Huan is very smart. He must have his reasons for buying a boatyard. Don't interfere. Besides, before the provincial examination, Brother Huan solved cases and suppressed bandits, but he still won the first place. Now he is just building a boatyard. How much impact can it have on him!"

Aunt Xue sighed and said, "That's true. It seems I was worrying for nothing!"

(End of this chapter)