Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 349 Looking at each other
Xing Xiuyan had her own thoughts, and Daiyu saw it but didn't dare to ask any more questions. After the two girls walked for a while, Xing Xiuyan went to the kitchen and said that she had thought of a new dish and wanted Daiyu to taste it after she cooked it.

After a while, the kitchen brought some stuffed rice noodles. Mixed with sesame paste and chili oil, Daiyu ate with great appetite. As it was still early for dinner, Daiyu tasted a few bites and then put down her chopsticks.

After a brief thought, he called Xixue and said, "The Rongguo Mansion's standard dishes have not changed for many years. Even if they are all delicacies, people may get tired of them after eating them for a long time. These rice noodle rolls, stuffed rice noodle rolls, and cold noodles are all very refreshing. Ask the kitchen to make a few more and send them to various places in the Rongguo Mansion. I have been married for so long, and I should show my filial piety to my grandmother."

Qianxue agreed.

Daiyu instructed again, "In addition, Brother Bao will be coming south soon, you should also check to see if there is anything missing or lacking." Seeing Qianxue frowning, Daiyu said, "Just ask grandmother and sister Feng."

Qianxue then agreed and said with a smile, "Thank you Madam for your concern. After all, we are master and servant. I used to think that Master Bao was kind to others. But now the situation has changed. I have been with Master Bao for so long that I can't help but compare myself with him. Now when you ask me to talk to Master Bao again, I don't know whether I should complain more or be polite more."

Daiyu knew that Xixue was driven out of Rongguo Mansion because of the maple dew tea. If Wu Haiping had seen her, she would have followed the same fate as Bihen. So she sighed and didn't say much out of consideration for their kinship.

The kitchen staff had just gotten the recipe, and after following it a few times, they became very proficient at it. They packed the food into food boxes before the end of the day, and then Qianxue led four maids into the Grand View Garden to deliver it to various places in the Rongguo Mansion.

As luck would have it, as soon as I entered the east corner gate, I ran into Ping'er who was delivering watermelons.

Xixue and Ping'er greeted each other, and Ping'er smiled and said, "Mr. Xue sent a cart of peaches and melons this morning, and half a cart of watermelons arrived from the farm in the afternoon, so Madam asked me to send some for the Fourth Master and Madam to taste."

Qianxue also smiled and said, "Our mistress is also concerned about the relatives in Rong Mansion. Just now, she got some food and thought it was very refreshing, so she quickly sent me to deliver it to the old lady, the second mistress and the girls."

The two girls exchanged a few words and then passed each other. Ping'er went into Huifang Garden and asked the steward. When she heard that Li Weijian had not returned yet, she was relieved, but also a little resentful. I went to Liaodong with the Fourth Master Jian to check the farms, but something unexpected happened halfway. Now the Fourth Master Jian is going to the north with the emperor.

Girls' thoughts are the hardest to guess. Ping'er had been reluctant to agree to the proposal after Feng Jieer's repeated urging, but she always felt something was wrong. She was also concerned about what people would say and how to be a woman, so she tossed and turned for some time. Now that the matter had been delayed, it seemed that Fourth Master Jian didn't know about it either, and Fourth Master Jian was an extremely outstanding figure, so Ping'er couldn't help but feel a little resentful.

As the resentment within the girl accumulated, and thinking of Li Weijian's good qualities, she unconsciously became more concerned about him.

After delivering the watermelons to the storehouse, Ping'er went to the main room of the east courtyard and talked with Daiyu for a while. During the brief chat, Ping'er mentioned that she had just sent half a cart of watermelons to the Xue family as a way of returning a favor. The maid who had delivered the gift came back and told her about the Xue family's situation.

Because of the frame-up at Dicui Pavilion, Daiyu had already harbored a prejudice against Baochai. Although Baochai tried to turn things around afterwards, Daiyu was not made of clay. She only kept the matter in her heart and maintained their superficial relationship. How could she really reveal it?
Hearing this, Daiyu could not express herself, and only said: "Every family has its own difficulties when they live behind closed doors. I have only been married for more than a month, and it is dark everywhere. I don't know who is in charge of the affairs properly. I can only watch and deal with it as it happens."

Ping'er echoed, "Madam is right. Isn't it the same with our grandmother? In the past few years, when Madam was in charge of the household, she mostly used Madam's maid. Now that we have checked, it is found that some have embezzled a few thousand taels, while others have embezzled tens of thousands of taels. Our grandmother is in her advanced stage of pregnancy, so it is not easy to punish all of them. We can only punish them one by one...which is also difficult." After a pause, Ping'er smiled and said, "At least Madam will be more at ease without a mother-in-law."

Daiyu immediately laughed, but said, "You can't say that. With the guidance of a proper elder, I can take fewer detours when managing a household."

Ping Erh said a few words and hurriedly got up to go back. Meanwhile, Xixue had already delivered the food boxes to various places and told Second Mistress Wang Xifeng about Daiyu's instructions in Yihong Courtyard.

Feng Jieer was intolerant of the heat at the moment, but she couldn't use an ice basin. The little maid beside her was waving a palm-leaf fan, and Feng Jieer was also waving a round fan in her hand, but even so, beads of sweat appeared on her face.

Feng Jieer heard this and said, "Don't worry, Sister Lin. The people we sent are all experienced people, and they are the most appropriate. The official ship has also been booked, and the letter has been sent to the post office long ago. The master will receive it in a few days."

Xixue replied, "I'll send some snacks and cakes later as a token of our madam's appreciation."

Feng Jieer agreed with a smile, and Xixue then stood up and left.

When Ping Er returned to Yihong Courtyard, Sister Feng sighed, "It goes without saying that Xixue was a considerate person when she followed the old lady earlier. Sister Lin is only this young, but she also seems to be a considerate person now. It's really not easy."

Ping Er nodded and smiled, "Madam is right. I see that the wife of the Bo family is doing a good job now, and the servants have not come out to compete for favor."

Sister Feng snorted and said, "That's because Brother Jian is so protective of me. That's why the concubines and the housekeepers don't dare to do anything to me. The reason why people outside favor concubines over wives and abolish the legitimate wife and establish a concubine as the heir is all because of the men. When the men have bad intentions, the atmosphere in the family will also be corrupted."

Ping Er knew that Jia Lian had married a mistress outside. She thought that Jia She, Jia Zhen, and Jia Lian were all as bad as each other. Wouldn't this corrupt the atmosphere of Rongguo Mansion? If you think about what Baoyu did, wouldn't it be a case of his superiors following his example? In comparison, although Baoyu occasionally got crazy, he was better than those guys.

Feng Jieer had never seen Ping Er's expression, but she could vaguely smell the aroma from the food box. She swallowed her saliva and ordered, "Open it and see what's the food."

Ping Er quickly spread it out, and inside it were stuffed skin, cold noodles, and rice noodle rolls. The sauces were all placed in small bowls, and they smelled delicious.

Wang Xifeng's appetite suddenly increased. She said with a smile, "I'm in a craving for food now. I can't stand the smell. Mix it up and try it. I can't wait any longer. Put less chili!"

Ping Er first poured the sauce into the rice noodle rolls, and Feng Jieer took a chopstick and ate it with satisfaction. Then she tasted the cold noodles and stuffed skin, and her appetite was greatly aroused. What was particularly strange was that she could not eat spicy food before, but now she wanted to eat it very much, and she even added a spoonful of chili while eating.

Feng Jieer was very puzzled and said, "Strange, I didn't like this before."

Ping Erh said, "Maybe the young master wants to have a bite of this."

Feng Jieer thought about it and gently stroked her belly, saying angrily, "You are also a picky person. I'm afraid it will be difficult to fool you in the future."

Qiu Shuang Zhai.

Tanchun had just finished her work and returned home sweating. She had just washed herself and Xichun came looking for her. Now that there were fewer people in the Grand View Garden, the two sisters got along even closer.

Two food boxes were spread out and the maids prepared the food. Tanchun and Xichun sat opposite each other and tasted the food, which they found very delicious.

Xichun smiled and said, "I think it's time to change our family's regular dishes. They have remained the same for more than ten years, and we are tired of eating all kinds of delicacies."

Tanchun said, "I have to ask Sister Feng about this, but you can't tell me."

Xichun nodded and said, "It seems that Sister Xing came again in the afternoon. Maybe this is Sister Xing's craft."

Tanchun thought of Xing Xiuyan's pain and frowned, saying, "She has a hard time too. I heard that the eldest mistress came to urge her yesterday. Maybe she will be married off tomorrow. I just hope she can marry into a good family."

After that, Tanchun fell silent. She was only less than a year younger than Daiyu, and she would be married in a few years. But at this moment, Tanchun was extremely confused. Her family's reputation was ruined, and its influence was not as good as before. She didn't know what kind of family she could marry into.

Xichun was a person who could think things through. She just said, "I don't want to think too much. Once my sister gets married, I will ask the old lady to let me become a nun myself."

"Nonsense again! It's not nice to say these things casually."

Tanchun scolded him for a while, but Xichun didn't take it seriously. The day before yesterday, she saw with her own eyes that Brother Lian entered Youshi's courtyard, which made the little girl feel very sick. Stealing his sister-in-law and committing adultery in broad daylight, it turned out that what people said was true. Except for the two stone lions at the gate, there was no cleanliness in Ningguo Mansion.

Although Xichun was a clean person, she could not bear the fact that her family background was a handle. The little girl thought that it would be better to become a nun to save trouble rather than being looked down upon when she was discussing marriage in the future.

Daoxiang Village.

The head maid Glass served Li Wan and Jia Lan. The mother and son ate the food that was brought to them. Jia Lan ate with gusto. After he finished eating, Li Wan said, "You must be polite when you are at the teacher's house. You must also try your best to complete the homework that the teacher has given you."

Jia Lan smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. The teacher is the most approachable."

More than just friendly? The second son of the Yan family is simply amazing! He just became a disciple yesterday, and today he took Jia Lan to Shichahai to play with stones. After a crazy day of fun, he assigned homework at the end and asked Jia Lan to explain the principle of playing with stones.

Jia Lan was at a loss and was thinking about going to Li Weijian for advice.

Rongqing Hall.

After all, Jia's mother was old, and now she could not stand the cold, but could stand the heat. An ice basin was placed in the back room, and a maid was gently waving a palm leaf fan, and a cool breeze blew.

Because Grandmother Jia only tasted a few bites and then stopped, she smiled and said to Yuanyang: "At least my love for Yu'er was not in vain. Now she knows how to be filial."

Yuanyang laughed and said, "What the old lady said is biased. When has the wife of the Bo family been unfilial? She just didn't have the opportunity in the past. Now, isn't she thinking about the old lady all the time?"

Grandmother Jia laughed and said, "Forget it, forget it. I can't argue with you. It's my fault." After a pause, she continued, "This food tastes good, but I'm afraid it's not good for your stomach. Go to the back and tell Lan Ge'er not to be greedy."

After Yuanyang agreed, Jia's mother instructed, "Are there any palace flowers from last year in the box? I can't wear them at my age. Please choose a few and give them to Yu'er."

Yuanyang smiled and said, "The old lady loves her granddaughter, and the wife of the Bofu is filial to the old lady. It is really commendable to talk about it."

After a few words of flattery, Yuanyang went down to do his job.

As Grandmother Jia looked at the food in the food box, she felt more and more relieved. She had given birth to a child, and had received help from her daughter in the early years, and now she had received help from her granddaughter, but her children and grandchildren only knew how to make her angry.

At this time, a maid came in and said, "Madam, Master Bao is clamoring to come and say goodbye to you."

Grandmother Jia's face suddenly turned cold, and she frowned and said, "There's no need to say goodbye. Tell Baoyu to study hard when he goes to the master's place. No one will protect him in the future. If he causes trouble again, he will be punished."

The maid repeated it and wrote it down, then turned around and passed the message. Grandmother Jia's brows were still furrowed, thinking of Baoyu, and she thought that her previous favor had been wasted.

Aunt Zhao’s courtyard.

Aunt Zhao lost her appetite immediately after seeing the set meal in front of her. She raised her eyebrows and scolded, "What does she mean? I am the elder after all, how come all the girls below her have one, even Ping'er has one, but I am the only one missing? Well, she is climbing up the social ladder and looking down on her relatives!"

Xiao Que and Xiao Jixiang were speechless. They could not help but complain in their hearts, she was just a concubine, how could she be an elder? Besides, the wife of the Bo family had never had any past with Aunt Zhao when she lived in the Jia family before, so why should she have any past with her after she got married?
The more Aunt Zhao thought about it, the angrier she became. She simply put down her chopsticks, stood up and walked out.

Xiao Que was startled and hurriedly chased after her and asked, "Where are you going, Auntie?"

"I'll go talk to the third girl!"

Xiao Que almost rolled her eyes and said quickly, "It's not the Third Miss's fault. You can't talk to her about it, right? How about going to the Bo's Mansion and talking to the lady there?"

Aunt Zhao was immediately deflated. She had always been a bully and coward, so how could she dare to tell Daiyu the truth? Li Weijian was a smiling man with a black heart. If he came back with a nasty complaint, she would definitely be in trouble!
Aunt Zhao stopped at the door and took a look at the main room. She saw two stout maids guarding the door. Inside, Madam Wang was sitting on a futon, slowly beating a wooden fish.

Aunt Zhao snorted coldly, and suddenly raised her voice and said, "The same is true for Miss Lin. I am an aunt, so I won't send her anything. But Madam is Miss Lin's aunt, so how can I forget Madam when sending my filial tribute? Tsk tsk, this is really wrong."

The maids who were watching looked at each other, and one of them said, "Auntie said that we must tell Second Madam later."

Aunt Zhao was choked for a moment and hurried into her own courtyard.

......................................................

At the end of the Shen period that day, Li Weijian returned to the Bo's Mansion by carriage.

When he entered, he saw some delicious food and immediately said with a smile: "These are the most refreshing, and it's just right to eat them now."

Zijuan helped Li Weijian wash his hands, then went inside to change her clothes. When she came out, Daiyu immediately held her forehead in her hands.

Li Weijian was wearing a short jacket with cut sleeves on his upper body, half-length pants that did not reach his knees, and linen sandals on his feet.

Daiyu frowned and said, "Fourth brother, what's wrong with you...it's really disrespectful."

Li Weijian said happily: "It's like a furnace outside, what kind of manners do I need to have?"

Summer came early this year and it was incredibly hot. Li Weijian has been thinking about using a steam engine to drive a compressor to make an air conditioner these days.

However, this is something we can only think about. Industrialization is still in its infancy and there are shortcomings in every aspect. It will probably take decades before we can produce air conditioners.

When the two maids, Zijuan and Xueyan, sat down, their faces turned red. Li Weijian was now seventeen or eighteen years old, with no extra weight on his body, tall, handsome, and kind to others, and he was also knowledgeable and interesting. Not to mention the maids, I'm afraid that all the girls outside would be obsessed with him.

In other words, my girl and the Fourth Master had already fallen in love early on, otherwise there would have been a lot of competition over the marriage.

Li Weijian ate a piece of iced watermelon, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and said, "I'll show my sister some summer vacation paintings from the early Song Dynasty. The characters in the paintings are not only men, but also women who are dressed very coolly. Of course, you have to behave properly when you are outside, but you can be as comfortable as you want behind closed doors."

Daiyu glared at him angrily, then said with relief: "Well, then I will change into silk clothes tomorrow?"

"Change, change, change. It will be cooler sooner."

The two of them ate the fermented rice noodle with relish. After the meal, they were served the barley tea that Li Weijian had specially ordered. The couple drank it and started chatting.

Daiyu first said that she had sent food to Rongguo Mansion, and Li Weijian said, "It is a matter of course... Let's not talk about others, the old lady, the second sister-in-law, the third lady, and the fourth lady have treated me very well, so shouldn't I return the favor?"

After a pause, he asked curiously, "Didn't Baoyu send it?"

Daiyu was immediately annoyed and said, "I haven't settled accounts with him for climbing over the wall to enter our house yet. I can just send someone to ask about it. Why should I rush to send him gifts? Instead, I will just give him some snacks and cakes from my home as a token of my kinship."

Li Weijian felt that Daiyu was a very cute little girl, and couldn't help but touch Daiyu's eyebrows with his hand, and said with a smile: "Sister, you have a very bad temper."

Daiyu snorted, "It was all right to act a little naughty when I was little, but now that I'm grown up, it's not right to act like this. People say I'm petty. If it was anything else, it would be fine, but if it's something like this that damages our family's reputation, I'm not that magnanimous, am I?"

Li Weijian looked happy on the outside, but was very proud on the inside.

Daiyu then turned to gossip about the Xue family. Li Weijian was stunned and asked, "How long has it been since Xia Jingui married into the family? She has already squeezed Bilian out?"

Daiyu laughed and said, "It's a good thing that Fourth Brother refused. If Xia Jingui had really married us, there would have been chaos at home."

Li Weijian said disdainfully: "Her? Those despicable means can only be used by holding Xue Pan in his hand. I am not stupid, how can I not see through such tricks? When the time comes, I might as well send her out of the mansion and let her fend for herself."

Daiyu believed what he said, and she chuckled, and then she talked about the idea of ​​making a living by selling food boxes. Li Weijian was not optimistic about it, because the food boxes had been colluded with various government offices long ago, so how could a newcomer get in? However, it was very rare for his wife to have such thoughts, so Li Weijian supported her wholeheartedly.

Daiyu said, "I've been thinking of asking Miss Xing to be my partner. I'll provide the capital and the shop, and Miss Xing will provide the menu. We can let the manager manage the business together with Miss Xing on a daily basis."

"My sister has thought it through, so let's do it."

Daiyu refused to give in, and gently pushed Li Weijian, saying, "Although this is a small business, Fourth Brother should help me with some advice. I don't want to lose money."

Li Weijian thought about it for a while and said with a smile, "How difficult is this? Sister, just let go and do it. Other places are fine. The Construction Department and the Kuaiji Department will guarantee to order fifty food boxes every day."

Daiyu blinked and said, "Isn't that collusion between officials and businessmen?"

Li Weijian said with a smile: "The price is fair and the taste is good, who dares to say that it is collusion between officials and businessmen?"

Daiyu always felt that something was not right, but she was not that stubborn. Thinking that it was always a backup, she agreed to Li Weijian's kindness.

The two of them talked about tomorrow's affairs and discussed them for a long time before they stopped.

The next day, Li Weijian took a day off.

At noon, Yan Fengzhen led several scholars to visit. The rest were fine, either they were not of the right age or they were already married, but Xu Xing and Tao Juntan were of the same age and had not yet been engaged.

Li Weijian entertained the group of people in the main room of the central courtyard. After a brief greeting, he talked about the application of steam engines. After a while, the widowed aunt Liu sent a maid to bring tea and snacks, and took the opportunity to look at the two people. Afterwards, Baoqin led the sisters Li Wen and Li Qi to secretly take a look at the two people through the screen.

Then the two cousins ​​blushed and quietly left. They went to Liu's courtyard at the back, where Daiyu was chatting with Liu. Seeing the two sisters coming back with blushing faces, Daiyu asked, "Are you satisfied, sisters?"

Li Wen said shyly: "It's all up to my mother and brother to decide."

Li Qi was more generous than her sister and also smiled and said, "I am good with everything, but you only like Xu Xing."

Li Wen was very embarrassed and was about to tear Li Qi's mouth. Li Qi covered herself with a round fan and dodged while smiling.

Liu scolded them, and the two girls finally calmed down. Then they smiled and said to Daiyu, "I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you and Jian'er."

Daiyu smiled and shook her head, saying, "Aunt, what you said is out of line. Fourth brother told me earlier that you took care of him a lot when he was a child. Now I am helping my two sisters to get married. On the one hand, it is my duty. On the other hand, if my two sisters find good marriage partners, who knows, they may help fourth brother in the future."

Liu pulled Daiyu's hand and said, "In the future, we will definitely help each other. If Wen'er and Qi'er can't make the decision, I will let them go home!"

"Auntie, you're joking. It's not that serious."

As noon approached, Daiyu sent a maid to bring food. Li Weijian and the scholars had their meal and discussed for a while until noon when he sent the carriage to take them away.

Yan Fengzhen stayed to drink tea with him. Li Weijian invited Daiyu to come and let her meet Yan Fengzhen. Then, after listening to what Daiyu said, he turned around and said to Yan Fengzhen: "Brother Jingwen, I'm afraid I have to entrust this matter to you."

Yan Fengzhen said happily, "That's new. I've become a matchmaker." After a pause, he continued, "Fusheng, have you heard that several manufacturers in Tongzhou are clamoring to close their factories and move to Leting?"

Li Weijian said sternly, "The local government is exploiting us too much. Every now and then, there are government officials coming to our door to ask for benefits. How can a business operate in such an environment? I think it's better to move away. Next year, the tax revenue in Tongzhou will be greatly reduced. Let's see how the people above and below will explain to the court."

Yan Fengzhen said happily: "I heard that this group of people even paid money to bribe the censor to impeach the officials of Tongzhou. Tsk, wait and see, there will be fun in the next few days."

(End of this chapter)