The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 421 The Frustrated Master Bao
Jia Baoyu was so excited that he almost didn't sleep all night. The next morning, he went out excitedly without even washing his face. Xiren just came back from the kitchen with breakfast and hurriedly called out, "Where are you going, Master?"

Jia Baoyu ran away without even turning his head. Xiren had no choice but to carry the food box into the room. She nudged Qingwen, who was still sleeping on the couch, and asked, "My dear girl, it's already so late, why haven't you gotten up yet? When I went to the kitchen, the second master hurried out without washing his face, combing his hair, or having breakfast yet."

Qingwen sat up and said sleepily, "Need I ask? He must have gone to Miss Shanglin's place. I rolled around in bed for a long time last night and couldn't fall asleep. Fortunately, he got up so early. I'm so sleepy. I'll sleep for a while." After saying that, she fell back on the couch.

At this time, Qiu Wen and She Yue were probably out fetching water and were not in the house. Xiren had no choice but to put down the food box, take a cloak and go to Xiaoxiang Pavilion to find them.

It is said that Yihong Courtyard and Xiaoxiang Pavilion are adjacent to each other and not far from each other. Jia Baoyu has been waiting day and night for nearly a year, and finally Lin Daiyu comes back. He just wishes he could stay with her day and night, so the first thing he does when he gets up is to go see his sister Lin.

"Oh, Second Master, you come really early, without even a cloak on. Be careful not to catch a cold. It's not my fault. Go back quickly. Miss Lin may not have gotten up yet." Two old women who were sweeping up fallen leaves saw Jia Baoyu walking hurriedly, and they both smiled and bowed to greet him.

Jia Baoyu waved his hand and said, "You guys just go about your business, why bother me so much!" Then he walked straight over.

The two old women felt embarrassed and looked at each other awkwardly, then continued to sweep up the fallen bamboo leaves.

Jia Baoyu entered the courtyard of Xiaoxiang Pavilion with great speed and saw two maids carrying water to water the flowers, while Xueyan was tending to a colorful bird. He hurriedly approached and said, "What a beautiful bird! What kind is it? I have never seen it before."

Xueyan laughed and said, "You scared me. It turned out to be Master Bao. This is a macaw. Master Huan gave it to you. Master Huan said that this kind of macaw is unique to America. It is very smart and can speak human language!"

When Jia Baoyu heard that it was actually Jia Huan who gave it to Lin Daiyu, he immediately lost interest and said indifferently: "It's nothing rare. It's not as good as a cockatoo. Besides, there are many birds that can be trained to speak human language. The mynah birds in our Jin Dynasty can also imitate human speech."

When Xueyan heard Jia Bao belittling the macaw, she was immediately displeased and retorted, "How can a dumb mynah bird compare to a macaw? Besides, most of them are pitch black and are not nearly as pretty as a macaw."

Jia Baoyu thought to himself, why should I argue with a little maid? I might as well go in and see what Sister Lin is doing. So he left Xueyan behind and went straight into the house as usual.

"Hey, Second Master, what are you doing? Our girl hasn't gotten up yet!" Xueyan hurriedly ran up to stop him.

Jia Baoyu was stunned for a moment, and asked curiously: "Sister Lin hasn't gotten up yet, so I can't come in? I've never seen you stop me before!"

"The past is the past, and the present is the present. Master Bao and Miss are both grown up now. It is not appropriate for men and women to touch each other. How can we be so careless as we were when we were little?"

Jia Baoyu's handsome face flushed with embarrassment, and he was looking embarrassed. Just when he was not sure whether to advance or retreat, Xiren came over with a cloak in her hand and asked the maid who was watering the flowers in the garden, "Have you seen Master Bao?"

Jia Baoyu took the opportunity to withdraw, saying with a sullen face: "I am here, I am not a three-year-old child. If you make a scene when I am not around for a while, you will forget me!"

Xiren said embarrassedly, "It's cold and windy this morning, and you didn't even wear your cloak, Master. I was afraid you'd catch a cold." After saying that, she tied the cloak for Jia Baoyu.

"It's cold there, why bother with this troublesome thing." Jia Baoyu pulled off his cloak and walked out of the yard angrily.

Xiren looked embarrassed. She smiled awkwardly at Xueyan and the two maids and said, "Second Master is in a bad mood when he wakes up... Oh, you guys are busy." After that, she picked up the cloak on the ground and chased after him.

Xueyan secretly stuck out her tongue, feeling a little uneasy. It seemed that Master Bao was mad at her. At this time, a tall maid came out from the inner room. She was wearing a light black silk cotton jacket and a blue satin vest. She looked pretty. It was Zijuan.

"Was that Master Bao just now? I seemed to hear his voice." Zijuan asked.

Xueyan nodded and said, "It was Master Bao. He just got up and his hair was not combed yet. He was called back by Sister Xiren who came with a cloak as soon as he entered the room."

"Oh!" Zijuan looked at Xueyan meaningfully and said, "The girl is awake, go get some hot water."

Xiren caught up with Jia Baoyu and asked with a smile in her voice, "My dear ancestor, why are you so angry for no reason so early in the morning? Even if you want to execute me in the autumn, you have to read out the charges first. How did I offend you?"

Big Face Treasure was quite kind to women. He just had a slap in the face at Xueyan's place, so he couldn't help but turn his face away from Xiren. Now he calmed down and said apologetically, "It's none of your business, Sister Xiren. Why do you think this man is so fickle?"

"What's wrong now?" Xiren asked with a smile.

"Xueyan was not like this before. Sigh... Never mind. I won't say it anymore, so that Sister Lin won't get upset if she hears it." Jia Baoyu shook his head and walked towards the Yihong Courtyard. Xiren frowned, thinking, maybe Xueyan did something to displease this gentleman.

Jia Baoyu returned to the Yihong Courtyard, washed and dressed up handsomely, and had breakfast. He thought that Lin Daiyu should have woken up by now, so he went to the Xiaoxiang Pavilion again, as if nothing had happened.

At this time, Lin Daiyu had already gotten up and had breakfast, and was sorting books with Zijuan, Xueyan and the other two servants. The number of books Lin Daiyu brought back from Yangzhou was huge, and she had spent the whole afternoon sorting them out yesterday, but she still hadn't finished. The three bookshelves against the wall were almost full, so she had to climb up the ladder to put them on the upper floors.

Lin Daiyu was seen wearing a plain dress today with a white fur coat on the outside, which made her skin look even whiter than the snow. Her eyes were like autumn water, and her long black hair was tied up in a bun at the back of her head with a pearl hairpin inserted diagonally. She looked simple and elegant. She stood gracefully on the small wooden ladder, carefully arranging the books one by one. The whole scene was like a painting with books and ink.

Seeing this, Jia Baoyu felt itchy and stepped forward and said, "Sister Lin, be careful, you are standing so high, be careful not to fall, let me do it."

Lin Daiyu looked down and saw that it was Jia Baoyu who came, so she said, "Second Brother Bao is here. I'm sorry I can't greet him. Zijuan will pour tea for him."

Zijuan smiled and said, "Second Master, please sit down for a moment. The young lady is the only one who knows where to put these books. No one else can help. Xueyan and I are just helping out."

While pouring a cup of tea and handing it to him, Jia Baoyu had no choice but to take the tea and stand beside the ladder to chat with Lin Daiyu. However, most of the time, he was the only one talking and Lin Daiyu occasionally replied with a word or two.

However, Jia Baoyu was not discouraged. When it came to sweet-talking girls to make them happy, he was the best. He had no pressure to be humble and persistent. In his opinion, the reason why Lin Daiyu acted a little distant was only because they had been separated for too long, nearly a year, and they just needed to get along slowly.

At this time, Lin Daiyu had sorted out a row of books on a high place and was about to come down. Jia Baoyu hurriedly put down his teacup and reached out to help her, but Lin Daiyu politely said, "Please let me go for a moment, Second Master."

Jia Baoyu pulled his hand back awkwardly, and changed the subject to cover up: "Sister Lin, when do you think it's a good time to start a club?"

Lin Daiyu said, "Any time is fine. The most important thing is to invite Miss Yun. Sister Bao is far away in Jinling. It would be boring to start a poetry club without Miss Yun."

Jia Baoyu smiled and said, "What a coincidence! We have the same idea. I will ask the old ancestor to bring sister Yun to live in the mansion for a few days, and I will be the host then."

"That's not a rush. Gather everyone together first, set up the rules, and then start the club. If you don't want to start it, make it more formal. In my opinion, since we have started a poetry club, everyone will be a poet, so we have to choose our own nicknames first, and we can't just call each other sisters."

Seeing that Lin Daiyu seemed very interested in establishing a poetry club, Jia Baoyu said happily, "That's exactly what we should do. Let's all get excited."

Just at this moment, the macaw hanging under the eaves outside the door suddenly shouted at the top of its lungs: "Brother Huan is here, Xueyan, pour some tea. Brother Huan is here, Xueyan, pour some tea."

Xueyan burst out laughing, and Lin Daiyu also turned her head to look outside the door. Sure enough, she saw the door curtain lifted, and Jia Huan, dressed in shorts, walked in quickly. He was a handsome young man with red lips, white teeth and a straight body. Steam was rising from his head at this moment, like the male protagonist in the Hong Kong martial arts movies of the 1980s and 1990s practicing internal skills (5-cent special effects).

"It's incredible! The Third Master has become an immortal through cultivation!" Xueyan giggled.

When Jia Huan saw Da Lian Bao here, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Although he has not yet become an immortal, he has also achieved the Five Qis Converging to the Origin. In the future, it will be time for the Three Flowers to Converge to the Top of the Head."

Lin Daiyu said with a smile: "Brother Huan, you come to brag to me so early in the morning. Hurry up and wipe off your sweat. It's winter now. If you take in sweat, it will be very harmful."

"That would be like ascending to heaven in one step!" Jia Huan laughed as he took out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his face. It turned out that he had just done his morning exercise and ran around the garden. He happened to pass by Xiaoxiang Pavilion and came in to take a look.

Now Zijuan was amused by Jia Huan's witty remarks and said with a smile, "Amitabha, Third Master Huan shouldn't have said such unlucky words so early in the morning."

Lin Daiyu also squinted at Jia Huan in a reproachful manner. Jia Baoyu felt uncomfortable all over and felt a sense of loss and frustration. It was obvious that Lin Daiyu was much closer to Huan Lao San than to himself. Damn it, it must be because Huan Lao San spent too much time with Lin Daiyu during this year in Yangzhou.

"So Second Brother Bao is here too." Jia Huan then realized that Jia Baoyu was here and hurriedly greeted him.

Jia Baoyu nodded unnaturally!
At this time, Xueyan had already poured a cup of tea and handed it to him. Jia Huan thanked her and took it, then asked, "What were Sister Lin and Second Brother Bao talking about just now?"

Jia Baoyu naturally didn't want Jia Huan to get involved in the matter of the poetry club. Just as he was about to say that they didn't talk about anything, Xueyan said quickly, "Master Bao is talking to the young lady about the poetry club."

(End of this chapter)