Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 64 Giving Gifts and Soap

The next day!

Lai Shangrong took a nap.

Last night, the truth was held by my sister-in-law, but this little girl could only do it, and Lai Shangrong was not allowed to fight back. She rode behind her with a pair of knees and pressed Lai Shangrong's hands firmly, making him unable to move.

In the end, she couldn't bear it anymore and tried again and again, and finally let her succeed.

The younger sister had to pay her debts, and when she saw that she couldn't eat, she could only vent her anger on the obedient Second Sister You.

The Spring Festival holiday in the Great Xia Dynasty was very short, lasting four days from New Year's Eve to the third day of the lunar month.

Lai Shangrong had never been aware of the blessings of [-] and [-]. He had not used the one day off per month after joining the job, so he seized the opportunity to ask for Xiu Mu.

I also took this opportunity to go to the fish pond and take a look at it, and by the way, I sent the soap to brush up my favorability.

Yes, since traveling to the world of Red Mansions, he has always regarded the Second Mansion as his own fish pond.

Lai Shangrong is a wolf in sheep's clothing. In the past, he was careful to hide himself, but now he can properly show his true colors as a thief.

Although this era pays attention to the orders of parents and matchmakers, and marriage and concubinage are only based on family and status, after all, he was born with deficiencies and had to spend more energy.

When Lai Shangrong rushed to Rong Mansion.

Jiamu's courtyard, the west suite where Baoyu lives, is also very lively.

It's the New Year's Eve, so Baochai accompanied Aunt Xue here today. After lunch, the sisters gathered in Baoyu's room.

Compared with the people sitting around the table chatting, Tanchun was immersed in the newspaper on the table that had been discarded by Baoyu.

In this era where men are superior to women and women are inferior, and seniors and children are clearly distinguished, even if she thinks highly of herself, she can only have the opportunity to get in touch with the current affairs of the court through the residence newspaper in the Baoyu room.

After a while, I stared at the newspaper and muttered to myself: "There is no fragrance, and I have hired Ting!"

Baoyu laughed and said, "What the third sister said is right! Sister Bao has a delicate fragrance on her body, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is fragrant. It's just that the use of the word "Zao Bingting" is not good. The word "Zao" is too vulgar. The word "Dai" is on it."

In ancient times, the word "zao" was mostly used to describe black, and the clothes worn by government officials were also called "zao clothes". Baoyu could only be used to describe black. In addition, in his mind, the only person who could be compared with Baochai was Daiyu, so he said this.

Baochai blushed at what he said and hurriedly covered it up: "Three girls are talking about that soap, right? I heard that all the ladies in the palace now use this to bathe."

Tanchun nodded and pushed the newspaper onto the table, pointing and said, "Sister Bao is the one who is well-informed! How come the expenses of the ladies are published in the mansion newspaper?"

Baochai smiled and said: "I heard that this is the property of the Queen's family!"

Baoyu also became interested and stepped forward.

He exclaimed: "Hey! If it is as mentioned above, wouldn't everyone be able to have the fragrance of Sister Bao after bathing? I wonder which elegant person who cares about fragrance can actually make such a thing!"

Then he shouted loudly: "Quick! Let's go find Sister Feng and ask her to send someone to buy some for us!"

Daiyu pursed her lips and shouted, "Calm down quickly! Believe what people say!"

Baochai shook his head and smiled: "Brother heard about this soap earlier and wanted to buy me a few pieces, but it's a pity that it's not sold in the market."

Baoyu said with a smile: "It doesn't matter if it's not available on the market. If others don't have it, the Prince of Beijing will definitely have it. I'll go to the Prince of Beijing's palace to get some from him and wish him a happy New Year."

Just as he was talking, Yuanyang walked in.

"Uncle Lai is here and has brought some gifts for the girls! He is in the old lady's house now. The old lady asked me to come over and invite you over!"

Baoyu's heart was full of soap at this time, and he said hurriedly: "I will go to Beijing Prince's Mansion right away, and I will bring a few pieces to you!"

After finishing speaking, he ignored everyone and rushed out.

Baoyu could go to the Prince's Mansion in Beijing regardless, but the sisters were not as free as he was, so they followed Yuanyang to Rongqing Hall where Jia Mu was.

I saw Lai Shangrong holding a palm-sized wooden box, pointing inside to say something to Jiamu.

Lai Shangrong glanced at the women filing in, collecting the boxes and greeting everyone. "I brought some soap. My sisters will take it back together. If you are dissatisfied with it in any way, remember to tell me."

"Soap? But that soap from Binting that is fragrant and unadulterated in the newspaper?" Baochai asked hurriedly.

Lai Shangrong didn't expect Baochai to know. It seemed that the publicity work was not in vain, so he smiled and nodded.

Seeing that Lin Daiyu was absent-minded, she thought of the plot of sending palace flowers, and hurriedly said to Qingwen: "Take it and pick out a box for Miss Lin first!"

Then he turned to Daiyu and said: "Sister Lin, pay attention to the flowers on the box when choosing. The flower carved on the box will have the fragrance of the flower."

This is a gimmick that he and Tian Chang discussed, focusing on improving the style of the soap. The boxes containing the soap are all small carved wooden boxes, which are very exquisite.

Daiyu had no intention of picking it up, but Lai Shangrong asked her to pick first. She didn't want to hit the smiling person with her hand, and she didn't want to lose face because of his meritorious service in teaching Baoyu.

So I selected a piece and gave Lai Shangrong a slight blessing.

"Thank you, Brother Lai!"

"It's not worth it, it's just a trinket."

Tanchun said: "It is said that all the ladies in the palace have switched to this soap. Sister Bao also said that it is hard to find one soap on the market. I didn't expect that eldest brother Lai would have so many. It's hard for my second brother to go to the Prince's Palace in Beijing to look for it!"

Jia Mu smiled and said, "I just said why I didn't see Baoyu!"

Lai Shangrong smiled when he heard this, and Baoyu went to the King of Beijing to find soap. Could it be that he picked soap!

Baochai was looking at Lai Shangrong when he saw him suddenly laughing and asked, "Brother Lai, why are you laughing? Isn't it so tight?"

Lai Shangrong took a peek at Baochai, and said with a smile: "It is true that soap is hard to find, and I can only get this soap because I have something to do with it!"

Jia Mu said, "Isn't this something from the Yamen?"

She asked Jia Zheng about the follow-up progress of papermaking improvement, so she knew that the imperial court had set up a state-run department.

"That's not the case, it's just a small business run in partnership with the queen's family using prescriptions as shares."

The reason why Lai Shangrong said this was actually to show off his muscles to Jia Mu and others.

The purpose is to tell them that they are now the business partners of the real uncle, and your so-called uncle is just a fake (Jia) uncle.

When Sister Feng heard that the prescription was his, she said bitterly, "Since you have such a good business, why don't you think about our family?"

She said this not only to be jealous of the profit, but also to give Lai Shangrong some eye drops.

"Uncle Tian Guo's family is an imperial merchant, and they are familiar with the procurement of raw materials, sales and other matters. Besides, it is just a small business. I think the empress is also responsible for the minister of Fengzao Palace..."

Lai Shangrong had expected this and responded calmly. At the same time, he reminded Mrs. Jia's mother that Yuanchun was still under the Queen's jurisdiction.

Mrs. Jia and Mrs. Wang smiled and said, "It's really hard for you. You have to think carefully."

When Sister Feng saw the two leaders talking, she didn't dare to say more. She just wanted to calm down the matter, but Lai Shangrong turned to her instead.

He smiled and said: "If Second Grandma wants to do some business, we can discuss it in detail later."

As she spoke, a pair of evil eyes jumped up and down on Sister Feng.

Due to the angle, others did not know clearly, but Sister Feng saw him face to face, and she immediately gritted her teeth in hatred.

But after thinking about it, he couldn't find his reason without moving his head.

"Yo! That's a good relationship. When Brother Lai is free someday, come to my room and we'll discuss it in detail."

Others didn't take their conversation seriously, only Ping'er had a vague premonition.

(End of this chapter)