The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 473 Boudoir Business
Hengwu Garden is located in the northeast corner of the Grand View Garden, not far from Yuewei Residence. Jia Huan and Xue Baochai walked and chatted as they entered the gate of Hengwu Garden. They immediately smelled a strange fragrance. The vines and strange plants became greener as the weather got colder, and they all had fruits that looked like coral beans, hanging down and lovely.

When Xue Baochai reached the door of the house, she saw Jia Huan still looking at the scenery around the courtyard, so she said gently, "Brother Huan, please come inside. Don't stand outside in the cold wind. There's nothing to see."

Jia Huan smiled and nodded, and followed Xue Baochai into the house. Although he had been prepared, the simplicity and plainness of the house still exceeded his expectations. It was really like a snow cave. There was no plaything at all. On the table was only a clay vase with a few wintersweets, two books, and a tea box and teacups. There was only a green gauze curtain hanging on the bed, and the quilts and blankets were also very simple.

Just as Aunt Xue said, Baochai has never liked flowers and powders since she was a child, and she doesn't dress up much. She never wears perfume and always wears simple and elegant clothes. However, it is surprising that the furnishings in her boudoir are so simple. After all, she is only a girl of fifteen or sixteen years old, and this is a bit too plain.

Grandmother Jia has always liked festivities and auspiciousness. Just look at Jia Baoyu's room, which is decorated with flowers and is even more exquisite and fragrant than a girl's boudoir. So when Grandmother Jia visited Xue Baochai's room for the first time, she was shocked and very unhappy. She said that it was unlucky for a girl to live in a room that was too plain. She also ordered people to bring stone bonsai, a gauze table and screen, and an ink-smoke frozen stone tripod to be placed in the room. The green gauze curtains were also replaced with white silk curtains with ink paintings.

Seeing Jia Huan looking around her boudoir, Xue Baochai felt a little embarrassed and said, "Brother Huan, please sit down for a moment. Ying'er will go and make some tea."

Jia Huan sat down on a chair beside the desk and sighed, "Sister Bao's room is a little too plain and empty. Why don't you put some decorations in it?"

Ying'er was fiddling with a honeycomb coal stove. Hearing this, she smiled and said, "My daughter is just like that. She never puts these things up even at home. It's not that she can't afford them, but she thinks they get in the way. When we first moved into Hengwu Garden a few years ago, Second Madam Lian sent some antiques, calligraphy and paintings to us, but she returned them all."

"You are the only one who talks too much." Xue Baochai said with a slight frown.

Jia Huan smiled and said, "Sister Bao originally likes plainness, but too much plainness is not good. For example, the old lady likes festive and auspicious things the most. If she saw the scene in Sister Bao's boudoir, I'm afraid she would be unhappy and might even blame the lady for treating the relatives poorly."

Xue Baochai was slightly embarrassed, and nodded, saying, "Thanks to Brother Huan for reminding me. I was not thoughtful enough."

Suddenly, he smiled again and said, "I told you long ago that my place is just a humble and shabby one, not as good as Pin'er's. Look, Brother Huan despised me as soon as he entered the room."

Jia Huan said with a smile: "It's not that I dislike her, but I just feel that Sister Bao is in the prime of her youth. If she lives a simple and cold life like a hermit in the mountains, wouldn't it be a waste of her great glory? Huan'er still remembers the scene when Sister Bao was catching butterflies in the Dicui Pavilion. That was really wonderful."

Xue Baochai's pretty face felt a little hot. It had been several years since this happened, but she didn't expect that Jia Huan still remembered it and even talked about it in public.

Sure enough, Ying'er immediately asked curiously after hearing this: "When did Mr. Huan San see the girl chasing butterflies? My girl never does such childish things."

Xue Baochai's personality was calm and elegant, even a little cold, just like the Lengxiang Pills she took, with a faint, cool and fragrant smell, or like the orchid in the valley, beautiful and quiet. She seldom even joked, so naturally she lacked some of her girlish nature. She had only done things like catching butterflies a few times in her life, but her childish behavior was seen by Jia Huan.

"What does this have to do with you, little idiot? The proper thing to do is to boil the water and make tea." Xue Baochai said to Ying'er with a frown.

Ying'er said with a smile, "It will be ready soon. This new type of stove has an advantage, that is, it does not require ignition, and the honeycomb coal is cheap and durable, and it does not produce smoke. I don't know who came up with this idea, it's really a living Bodhisattva. Even ordinary people can afford it at this price."

Upon hearing this, Jia Huan couldn't help but curl his lips slightly. As the saying goes, science and technology are the primary productive forces, and the development of productivity still depends on scientific and technological innovation. However, he is not a living Bodhisattva. He just wants to make some money and trick Wang Xifeng at the same time. In addition, he still owes Sister Lin 10,000 taels of silver. If he doesn't make some extra money, he will never be able to pay it back. What's more, if the shipyards in Jinling and Dulong Island are to be built, a large amount of follow-up capital investment is needed.

Seeing Jia Huan's smile, Xue Baochai was moved and asked, "Brother Huan, what are you laughing at? You didn't invent this stove and honeycomb coal, did you?"

Jia Huan quickly denied it, "How is that possible? I don't have that ability. I just thought what Sister Ying'er said was interesting."

Xue Baochai was skeptical. After all, Jia Huan had a "criminal record". A few years ago, he made "ice cream" which suddenly became popular. This honeycomb briquettes also appeared suddenly. No one had ever heard of it before. It was just like the previous "ice cream".

Seeing Xue Baochai's bright eyes like apricots looking at him with half-belief and half-doubt, Jia Huan hurriedly changed the subject and asked, "I heard that Sister Bao has closed all the businesses in the south?"

Sister Xue Bao nodded and said softly, "Business is hard these days, and with my eldest brother being like that, I can't take care of everything. It would be better to get married and start a farm to collect rent."

"That's good too. Sister Bao won't have to work so hard and can live a peaceful life for a few years." Jia Huan smiled. At this time, Ying'er boiled the water, brewed a pot of tea, and poured a cup for each of them.

Xue Baochai suddenly remembered something and asked with a smile, "Brother Huan's 'The Heaven Sword and the Slaughterer' is quite interesting. Are you going to sell it this time?"

The so-called "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre" is actually "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre", but the word "dragon" is a bit taboo, after all, the emperor regarded himself as the true dragon emperor, so Jia Huan changed it a bit and changed the Dragon Slaying Sword to Wind Slaying Sword.

Jia Huan smiled and said, "Sister Bao must have seen it at Sister Lin's place. I just wrote it for fun in my spare time. If you want it, take it."

Xue Baochai shook her head and said seriously, "Business is business, and brothers should settle accounts clearly. How can we take it for free? So Brother Huan, please name a price."

Jia Huan nodded and said, "If that's the case, how about Huan'er cooperating with Sister Bao?"

"How to cooperate?" Xue Baochai asked with a smile.

"Sister Bao will take it to the bookstore to be printed in volumes. After deducting all expenses, the profits will be split 50-50. I have several new works to come, and we will all cooperate under this model. How do you think?"

Xue Baochai's eyes lit up and she nodded, "Okay!"

At this moment, a chuckle was heard outside the house, and then Xue Baoqin and Lin Daiyu lifted the curtain and walked in.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the two bosses while they were talking about business!" Lin Daiyu giggled, covering her mouth with her hands.

Jia Huan sweated secretly and asked, "How early or late did Sister Lin come?"

Xue Baoqin said with a smile: "I just came in for a while, and I wanted to come in, but Sister Lin wouldn't let me, so I hid outside and eavesdropped. Who knew you were talking about business seriously, and I couldn't help laughing."

Xue Baochai shook her head and smiled, "Pin'er is such a mischievous girl who loves to eavesdrop. What's so funny about talking about business? We have business people in our family."

Lin Daiyu laughed and said, "Sister Bao is a lady from a noble family, and this guy is a newly-appointed scholar, yet they get together and talk business seriously. How can it not be funny?"

Xue Baochai and Jia Huan couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Seeing Jia Huan smiling, Lin Daiyu squinted at him and said, "If I had known you were coming, I would not have come!"

Jia Huan asked curiously, "Why is that?"

Lin Daiyu's beautiful eyes turned and she said with a smile, "Brother Huan comes today, I'll come tomorrow, and then Brother Huan will come the day after tomorrow. This way, everyone will come at different times. Then Sister Bao's place will have people coming every day, so it won't be too busy, nor too quiet!"

Jia Huan couldn't help sweating secretly, he was really jealous!

Xue Baochai glanced at Jia Huan calmly and said with a smile, "It doesn't matter if Pin'er comes every day. I wish you came every day. Look at this little mouth. It's really hard to love or hate it. It's better to tear it apart." As she said that, she started to tear Lin Daiyu's little mouth.

The two girls started playing and laughing.

(End of this chapter)