Gourmet Red Chamber: A Chronicle of Baochai's Rebirth

Chapter 24

Lin Daiyu pursed her lips and laughed. Mrs. Xue cursed with a smile and asked Lin Daiyu, "Are the three girls from the Jia family also studying with you?"

Lin Daiyu replied, "My father asked my elder sister-in-law to invite the gentlemen for me. The old lady said that I was bored by myself, so she asked some sisters to come with me.

Only Sister Yingchun doesn’t like reading very much, Sister Xichun is young, so she only comes to study occasionally, and Sister Tanchun is with me almost every day.”

Lin Daiyu looked at Xue Baobao and Zhen Yinglian again as she spoke, "If Sister Zhen and Sister Bao are bored at home in the future, they will also come with us."

Xue Baobao, "..."

Sister, don't bring such a trick!
Mrs. Xue was delighted, "That's great! We also invited Mr. Zhen, your sister Zhen is hardworking, but your sister Bao is lazy, fishing for three days and drying the net for two days, it's just right to be with you, and we have mutual encouragement."

Xue Baobao, "..."

All right, I keep a polite smile.

Mrs. Xue asked again, "Who is your cousin Baoyu studying with now, and what have you learned?"

Because of the quarrel during the day, Lin Daiyu didn't want to talk about Jia Baoyu, but said, "Second brother lives with the old lady.

In addition to learning the rules of studying at home, I only go to my elder sister-in-law's yard to sit, but I don't know how my second brother is doing in studying."

Mrs. Xue just let it go, and talked for a while, seeing her late, urged Lin Daiyu to go back and rest earlier.

……

……

The next day, Xue Baobao got up early, instructed the cook to make another big plum blossom soup cake, and still sent one to Lin Daiyu and sister Qiao.

He also ordered a large soup bowl to be served in the flower hall, served with some snacks and side dishes, and had breakfast with Xue Pan.

Xue Pan was in a hurry to leave after breakfast. Xue Baobao chased him and shouted, "Brother, after leaving the office today, remember to pick up my wife and I at my uncle's house. I just want to say hello to my aunt."

Xue Pan nodded in agreement, and ran away with great strides, fearing that he would be late the next day.

At the beginning, he didn't even look up to the fifth-rank Jinyiwei Qianhu and Hubu Langzhong, but now he is a seventh-rank official who patrols the streets, and he has a lot of fun doing it.

Xue Baobao sent Xue Pan away, and heard that Mrs. Xue just got up, went back to the house and read the book for a while, and when Mrs. Xue and Zhen Yinglian were almost cleaned up, the mother and daughter went to Rongxi Hall together.

Today they were going to the palace to meet Wang Ziteng's wife, and Mrs. Wang and Wang Xifeng also accompanied them.

It was very troublesome for the female family members to go out at this time. The maids and mothers were shouting at each other, and they had to go to say goodbye to Jia Mu and inform her of the itinerary. It took nearly half an hour to finally get out of the gate of Rongguo Mansion.

The Wang Mansion is not too close to the Rongguo Mansion, and the carriage drove straight for more than half an hour before arriving. Wang Ziteng's wife brought her daughter Wang Xiluan to welcome them outside the second gate.

The two sides met, and Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xue each gave them a meeting gift. Mrs. Wang said, "In order to congratulate my sister on coming to Beijing and my nephew getting an official, I specially invited a theater troupe and set up a stage in the yard. Our mothers Wouldn’t it be nice to just watch a show and laugh in the waterside pavilion?”

Mrs. Xue quickly thanked them, and the group went to the garden again.

Mrs. Wang took the script and asked Mrs. Xue to order it first.

Mrs. Xue couldn't push it, so she ordered two lively dramas, and then Mrs. Wang and others ordered each.

Soon, sonorous singing began on the stage. Several ladies were chatting while listening to the play, while Wang Xifeng waited on them.

At first, Xue Baobao was very curious about how ancient operas were sung, but after listening for a while, she felt bored. Fortunately, the fried melon seeds in Wangfu tasted good, so she ate the melon seeds intently.

She just started to smoke, and Mrs. Let’s restrain together”.

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang hurriedly responded, "Exactly, the little girl's family is afraid that she will be impatient to accompany us to the opera."

Xue Baobao happened to also want to see the wealth and magnanimity of the Wang family, "There is a shortage of white jade beds in the East China Sea, so the Dragon King came to invite the King of Jinling", so he and Zhen Yinglian stood up and bowed and thanked them.

Everyone agreed, but here comes the problem - Wang Xiluan is gone!
Mrs. Wang said with a smile, "I'm afraid this girl has gone to change clothes. Sister Bao, wait for a while."

Xue Baobao nodded indifferently, but first waited for Wang Xiluan not to come back, and secondly waited for Wang Xiluan to not come back.

Mrs. Wang couldn't sit still anymore, she gave the maid a wink, and the maid took orders and left.

After a while, the maid came back and whispered a few words to Mrs. Wang.

Mrs. Wang laughed and said, "Brother Feng, you are walking around with your cousin. Sister Luan said that she just felt a little uncomfortable because of the wind blowing."

Wang Xifeng smiled and went to help Xue Baobao, "That made me beg Qiao Zonger, and I just don't bother to listen to this babbling show, I'm tired, why don't I go out and blow the cold wind!"

Mrs. Wang laughed and cursed, but Mrs. Xue looked a little bad.

Wang Xiluan was lively and active just now, but now he feels uncomfortable. He obviously doesn't want to accompany the guests!

Even if this guest is her cousin, the cousin who came to the door for the first time in 20 years!

If it is said that children's families are self-willed for a while, Mrs. Wang sent someone to call, but she didn't say to let her daughter come out to play with her cousin, but instead let her daughter be self-willed and find excuses for her daughter. It can be seen that she didn't care about Baochai at all. Not to mention my sister-in-law!
Yuan Chun came to visit her uncle's house before entering the palace, how dare she treat her so slowly?
It's just that it doesn't matter if I see myself marrying into a merchant's family!
Mrs. Wang didn't notice that Mrs. Xue was unhappy at all, or she didn't care at all.

The relationship between the Wang family and the Xue family is that the Xue family relies on the Wang family. Now that Wang Ziteng is not at home, no matter how polite she is, who will she do it to?

After Wang Xifeng and Xue Baobao left, Mrs. Wang pretended not to care and said, "Sister, why did I hear that the last time I went to the bank to withdraw money, what did the shopkeeper of the bank say that the third master of the Xue family had ordered? If you want to withdraw money, you have to ask for the seal of the master, and you also said that you need to write a receipt?

Isn't this the usual rule?And when did the third master of your family take the call? "

The Xue family's business spread all over the country, covering all walks of life, and there are also rich houses in various places.

As far as agriculture, industry and commerce are concerned, no matter how big the Xue family's business is, it will be difficult for no one in the court to move forward.

This is why the ancestors of the Xue family put on an old face and worked hard to get Mrs. Xue to marry for the eldest son of the Xue family.

After the marriage between the Xue and Wang families, there was an unwritten tacit understanding. Wang Ziteng protected the Xue family's business from being exploited by corrupt officials and bandits.

The Xue family provided a certain amount of money to Wang Ziteng on a regular basis.

When Mr. Xue was here, the Xue and Wang families cooperated happily and everything went smoothly.

When Xue Pan takes over the Xue family, he has a temperament that money is not enough. He will give a lot of money to the servants around him, let alone his uncle's family?

The Wang family soon discovered this. In addition to the money provided by the Xue family to the Wang family, the Wang family began to continuously take money from the Xue family's bank.

Xue Pan only ordered them to be followed, and it has become a practice in the past few years.

Mrs. Wang said something about the usual rules at this time, but she was talking nonsense.

Mrs. Xue also heard Xue Pan mention that the Wang family came to ask for money. She had a deep affection for Wang Ziteng. Xue Pan is filial.

Whether the Xue family is rich or not, no one will comment on her subsidies to her natal family.

At this moment, when Mrs. Wang asked, she couldn't help frowning, "The Wang family envoys came to get the money, but they didn't even take my elder brother's seal, and didn't even write a receipt?"

Doesn't that mean that even the servants of the Wang family can take money from the Xue family?
Her good sister-in-law asked for money at will?
Mrs. Wang didn't expect that she didn't know. She choked and said, "This is what the master and Pan'er have agreed upon, but I don't know the details. I just heard someone say it the other day."

Mrs. Xue didn't say much, but she made up her mind to go back and ask.

In the past, she thought it didn't matter to subsidize her natal family, and she still thinks it doesn't matter to subsidize her natal family now, but she subsidizes her natal family to subsidize her brother, not to subsidize this sister-in-law who looks down on her Xue family!

Mrs. Wang added, "Why do I hear the shopkeeper actually saying that the third master of the Xue family is now in charge?"

A girl's family took the initiative to let the long house hand over the Xue family's power, and it was always bad news.

What's more, Mrs. Xue is now hating Mrs. Wang for treating Baobao Xue so poorly, so she is not willing to tell her the truth, she just perfunctorily said, "The Emperor Long En, gave back the title of Ziwei Sheren to the Xue family.

I thought that Pan'er won the official title, but also had a bad reputation as a businessman, so I handed over the business to his third uncle.

Before his father passed away, he left some farm money for our mothers, which is enough for our mothers to eat."

The rights of the Xue family changed, although Mrs. Wang didn't know the specific situation, she knew about it, so she used the painting to test Mrs. Xue, but she didn't expect Mrs. Xue to say this, frowned and scolded, "Why does the merchant have a bad reputation?

The ancestors of the Xue family were all officials and merchants!
Forget it if it's just a small amount of money. If the Xue family has such a big fortune, you can hand it over as you say. But do you know how much money you have to hand over?
At worst, you should discuss it with your brother before making a theory!
Pan'er is young, what does he know about business?In recent years, haven't you relied on your brother's power and the efforts of the old shopkeepers and old guys to survive?
It's the same thing with Pan'er now that he's an official. Why is he talking about his reputation? "

Mrs. Xue had a suspicion against her, and there was a previous record that the Wang family did not use Wang Ziteng's seal or write a receipt for the money. Now, after hearing what Mrs. Wang said, she always felt that every word of Mrs. Wang blamed herself for handing over Xue. The power of the family made her lose her biggest purse!
Although Mrs. Xue is not the most shrewd and capable person, she has learned a bit of Mr. Xue's businessman's tact over the years. Although she is suspicious of Mrs. Wang at this time, she is not willing to offend her easily.

Although she didn't care, Xue Pan had just entered the officialdom and Sister Bao still wanted to marry her. In the future, she would always have to rely on the Wang family and Mrs. Wang.

At the moment, he just said, "The old ancestor also agreed, and the left and right are family members. His third uncle has won our favor, and he will help Pan'er in the future."

However, Mrs. Wang talked for a long time without hesitation, and then said that she would write to Wang Ziteng.

Mrs. Wang also felt that Mrs. Xue was too gullible and hasty, so she could not help her sister-in-law to say a few words to Mrs. Xue.

Mrs. Xue felt unhappy, but she thought that her status was limited, and she would have to rely more on her sister-in-law and sister in the future. She did not dare to refute, so she could only listen.

When Xue Baobao and others came back, the opera had stopped singing. Mrs. Wang was still talking about this matter. She was so excited that her voice was louder, and Xue Baobao and others heard it from a distance.

(End of this chapter)