Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 18 Spring Tour

He went to school during the day and went home to study late at night. He did not rest even on holidays and concentrated on his studies. The fact that Jia Lian studied hard has been known to everyone in the Jia family through Guixiang's mouth. The former Lian Erye who had fallen in love and was a lackey in the clan school seemed to have completely changed.

What followed was a sharp rise in Jia Lian's status in Rongguo Mansion!

Every holiday, Jia Lian deliberately went to Yingchun's place to stay for a while, and Yingchun's status also rose a lot.

These are not important things in Jia Lian's opinion. The most important thing right now is to gain fame.

Without any fame and fame, he is just a brat in the Rongguo Mansion. His current status has risen because he has shown potential. Since it is potential, it has not been realized yet. If it is not realized for one day, it will have no impact, but what about one year? What about three years? What about five years?

Think about Fan Jin, a scholar. Before he won the imperial examination, his father-in-law, the butcher, looked down on him.

Therefore, everything he has now is already there, brought to him by his background, not by his own efforts.

The most important thing is that everything now may be taken away by Jia She and Jia Mu at any time.

Your destiny is in your own hands! Especially in Rongguo Mansion, everything you have now will be lost in the future.

Of course, how others understand it is another matter. In the eyes of outsiders, Jia Lian was of noble birth and could turn back from a prodigal son and study hard. The huge gap made outsiders respect Jia Lian even more. No, several times someone posted invitations, but Jia Lian declined politely and asked Chang Sui to come to the door and bring a letter of explanation.

The reason for not going out to play is very strong, I want to study. Qingyun Academy is full of top students, and he has to work hard to keep up.

During this period, Jia Lian basically had no contact with the noble disciples who used to travel frequently. Even if it was Ningguo Mansion, which was separated by a wall, Jia Lian, as a frequent visitor, had never been there once after the New Year. Well, Ningguo Mansion, the memory of You's back is unexpectedly profound.

Time passed very quickly during the intense reading process, and March (lunar calendar) was almost here, and the spring flowers on the branches were in full bloom. On the second day of March, the college has a three-day holiday. This holiday is fixed. The reason is that in early March, young people in the capital have a custom of going on outings. At this time, many families will arrange for boys and girls to meet.

A young man like Jia Lian who has an oral engagement has to meet the other person in person. If he doesn't like it, he can go back on it. After all, it is an oral agreement and there is no formal process. From the delay after the Chinese New Year to now, it can be seen that the Wang family may not be ready to go to Jia Lian, but they still have to wait for Wang Xifeng to see it before they can decide whether to go through the process.

On the other hand, if Jia Lian doesn't like Wang Xifeng, he can also express tactfully, "I'm not worthy of your daughter!"

The spring is just right, the flowers are in full bloom, and the fields on both sides of the canal are full of green and vibrant.

Jia Lian on horseback swayed slightly, and the warm March sun shone on him, making him feel exhausted. In the incense car behind her, the curtains were opened. Yingchun's little face was full of joy, and she looked at everything around her with curious eyes. Si Qi beside her wanted to persuade her to put down the curtains, but she looked at Jia Lian in front of her and did not dare to speak.

Jia Lian's trip is not big. According to Jia Mu's wishes, he has to bring a dozen servants with him, right? There is also Yingchun, why are you going to cause trouble? Under Jia Lian's insistence, Jia Mu and Jia She didn't say anything, just let him do what he wanted. As for Mrs. Xing, no one cares what she thinks. The final team that formed the trip consisted of only two cars, four generals, two attendants, and two maids, Guixiang and Si Qi.

March every year is the favorite season for girls living in deep houses and courtyards, because they can get out of the cramped and oppressive backyards and go out of the city to play in the wilderness. At this time, no one said anything about immorality.

Since the rise of Neo-Confucianism, social trends have become increasingly conservative, and women's clothes have become less revealing. If you want to see the tube tops from the Tang Dynasty now, you can only go to a brothel to see them. It is still the kind of brothel that deals more directly. The popular girls in high-end brothels are trained according to the tune of everyone's dream lover.

Going out for a spring outing was something I didn't dare to hope for at first, but now it's come true. The liveliness in the little girl's nature is finally revealed bit by bit.

Looking at the handsome young man on horseback in front of him, Si Qi's girlish heart agitated slightly, and she dared to peek several times. Even if there was no response, it was still a wonderful feeling for Si Qi.

Compared with Jia Lian's light chariots and simple followers, Wang Xifeng's travels were much larger. Wang Ren served as his elder brother's escort, with more than ten followers, more than ten maids and servants, and four large and small vehicles.

When she got up early in the morning, Wang Xifeng tidied up very carefully, making sure to let Jia Lian see her best side.

The marriage between the two was initially controversial in the Wang family. Did Wang Zisheng like Jia Lian, a libertine with a reputation for not being able to study well? Later, Wang Ziteng expressed his support because he needed the support of the Jia family to get more help in his official career. Only then did Wang Zisheng make concessions and reach a preliminary agreement verbally, but the matter was delayed and did not advance much.

The development of the matter was that Jia Lian changed. He began to study hard and was admitted to Qingyun Academy. This time the initiative in the matter changed. If Jia Lian was admitted to Qingyun Academy based on his true ability, his reputation as a scholar would be stable. With this premise in mind, isn't it clear who will be in charge of the Jia family in the future? Jia's mother is not young anymore. When that day comes, who can stop Jia Lian, the direct heir with a great reputation?

Since then, the Wang family has become the party that promotes development. No, the two of them met during the spring outing in early March. Wang Zisheng is quite confident about his daughter's appearance.

Going out early in the morning, Jia Lian arrived at Zhuangzi outside the city first. The steward was waiting by the roadside early. When Jia Lian asked him to come in, Jia Lian refused to enter Zhuangzi, so he found a wild place outside to prepare for his spring outing.

There were no crops planted on this large piece of land. Jia Lian was somewhat curious and called the steward to ask, only to find out that this land of hundreds of acres was the so-called saline-alkali land. In the early days, crops could be grown here, but then it gradually stopped working. Now if you look carefully, you can still see alkali flowers on the ground. If you want to use this land to grow crops, you have to wash it with water. The problem is that it is far away from the river, so manpower and material resources are invested in washing the land. This is a long-term project, but the benefits are not high.

There is no way to grow crops in this land, but weeds grow extremely luxuriantly.

Jia Lian, a southerner, is still impressed by this phenomenon. After all, he has received systematic education and knows the principles behind it.

When I was a kid in my last life, I saw production teams pouring ammonia into the ground to neutralize the alkalinity in the ground.

While they were in the car, Wang Xifeng saw someone in the field on the roadside. He looked like he was a noble man, but he didn't think about Jia Lian. When the motorcade approached and Jia Lian stood up and came over, Wang Xifeng saw clearly that it was really a handsome young man.

Wang Rence, who was in the lead, immediately came forward to say hello: "Wang Ren, this is Brother Jia!"

"It's Jia Lian! I've met Brother Wang!" Jia Lian stood on the side of the road with his arms folded in greeting. Although Wang Ren was "forgetful of benevolence", he had a good appearance. Turning over and dismounting, he hugged his hands and returned the greeting. Jia Lian greeted him with a smile and did not look at the fragrant carriage behind him.

After some greetings, Wang Ren led Jia Lian to the carriage, rushed to the carriage and said, "Sister, come down, Brother Jia is waiting for you."

When Jia Lian heard such a blunt self-esteem, he couldn't help but feel funny, but he didn't care. Wang Xifeng was very grand, and he had more than twenty servants. The curtain of the car was opened by a woman, and a maid held a small stool and placed it in front of the car shaft. Wang Xifeng poked her head out of the car, took a quick and detailed look, and couldn't help but feel a little bit in her heart, what a handsome young man. A maid helped Wang Xifeng out of the car and said, "Xifeng wishes blessings to brother Jia."

Well, actually Wang Xifeng is one year older than Jia Lian!
  If Wang Xifeng didn't get out of the car and just responded in the car, the marriage would be considered dirty. Now he not only got out of the car, but also took the initiative to speak, indicating that he was extremely satisfied. This was probably how blind dates took place during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Men and women rarely had the chance to meet. When young ladies in a boudoir were on blind dates, they would mostly hide behind a screen and let a maid watch over them.

There is no doubt that the Great Zhou Dynasty should be more humane. At least there will be a chance for a spring outing in March to see what the blind date looks like.

Wang Xifeng had heard countless stories about Jia Lian before. She didn't like studying at that time earlier, and she would always say things that didn't live up to expectations, and she always praised her appearance. In Dream of Red Mansions, the handsome boys of the Jia family, Jia Lian, Jia Rong, Jia Qiang, and Jia Baoyu are all close.

When I really saw Jia Lian, his temperament did not match the previous legends. In Wang Xifeng's opinion, the Jia Lian in front of me was more like a calm and polite scholar.

Even though he was well prepared, Jia Lian was still slightly distracted when he saw Wang Xifeng.

What's going on? Am I in the 87 version of the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions"? He looks a bit too similar to the actor in the TV series. Well, he's not tall either. Beautiful is beautiful, not amazing, and I will worry about the height of my children in the future.

In terms of the aesthetics of this era, being tall is not really an advantage for women.

All in all, Wang Xifeng meets the aesthetics of marrying home as a wife in this era!
  Girls develop early, and Wang Xifeng's head probably doesn't have much room for development.

A face-to-face meeting, a few words, that's enough, don't get too entangled.

Jia Lian said with a smile: "I prepared some ingredients and made barbecue by myself today, eating and playing at the same time."

Not to mention Wang Xifeng, Wang Ren was stunned when he heard this. What does this mean?
  After finishing speaking, Jia Lian turned around and walked away. Several followers at home were already moving shelves. Jia Lian drew pictures and prepared them in advance. He also prepared some good charcoal, pickled beef and mutton fat, and peeled bamboo skewers. .

Jia Lian didn't really care about his marriage to Wang Xifeng. In fact, even if Jia Lian objected, Jia Mu and Jia She would probably suppress it forcefully. They will eventually come together. In this case, it is better not to resist. It is best for Wang Xifeng to oppose it.

Barbeque food is definitely not in line with the style of wealthy people. But Jia Lian didn't care, thinking that he would have some time to eat this barbecue. No, leave the Wang brothers and sisters behind, roll up your sleeves and go into battle yourself.

Yingchun beside me is also helping, just to look around and drool by the way.

Wang Ren couldn't help his curiosity and came over to take a look. Wang Xifeng didn't have the nerve to get closer and stood far away. A felt was spread on the field beside him, and a small table was set up. The melons, fruits, drinks, and various snacks were quickly placed. A full table.

Wang Xifeng had heard that the Jia family had no rules, but she didn't expect that this lack of rules would be reflected in Jia Lian's body, but it would be interesting in its own way. The attendants were helping, and the master cooked the food himself.

When the fragrance hit, Wang Ren also started to swallow his saliva. It was a bit too fragrant. It had been an hour and a half since he woke up in the morning, and he was already hungry.

Jia Lian had grilled a handful of mutton skewers, and when he saw Yingchun's thumb sticking out of his mouth, Si Qi beside him was also staring at the barbecue. He couldn't help but laugh: "Take it and eat it, be careful it's hot."

Facing the mutton skewers handed over by Jia Lian, Yingchun quickly waved his hand: "Brother, eat first."

Jia Lian put it into Si Qi's hand: "Take Yingchun girl to sit on the felt and eat slowly."

Upon seeing this, Wang Ren turned back decisively and rummaged around in the car. When Wang Xifeng saw it, he hurried over and asked, "Brother, what are you doing?" Wang Ren had no time to pay attention to her, so he took a jar of wine and shook it, strode to Jia Lian's side, raised the jar of wine in his hand, and said with a pretentious smile: "Haha, Brother Jia, I have wine here, which is just as delicious as yours."

Jia Lian smiled at him and said nothing. Not everyone is qualified to eat the meat I roasted myself.

Sizzling, the steak on the iron plate next to it is almost ready. Sprinkle sesame seeds and pepper, take it out with tongs, put it on the plate, ignore Wang Ren's eager eyes, take a knife to cut it, and hold it in your hand. Walk towards Wang Xifeng.

During this process, Wang Ren's eyes kept following him, but Jia Lian pretended not to notice. When Wang Xifeng saw him coming, she quickly stood up from the felt. Jia Lian put down the plate and said, "Try the steak I made. It has a unique flavor."

When Wang Xifeng saw Wang Ren's face, she felt sweet in her heart and her face became hot. She lowered her head and responded, "Thank you, Brother Lian!"

Tsk tsk tsk, this title is becoming more and more affectionate.

Wang Ren looked angrily at Jia Lian's return and couldn't help but mutter: "I value sex over friends!"

Jia Lian said calmly: "We are not friends yet! From now on we will be relatives at most. We are still some way off from becoming friends. If you want to eat, you can do it yourself. The ingredients are all in the basin."

Do I still want to do it myself? Wang Ren was dumbfounded. It was impossible to do it himself. He quickly turned around and asked his entourage for help.

Jia Lian was well prepared and brought three barbecue racks, so he was not afraid that there would be too many people to grill.

Wang Ren had no choice but to adopt a pleading tone: "Here, I still want to try Brother Jia's craftsmanship."

Wang Xifeng picked up the chopsticks, glanced quickly at Jia Lian who was busy not far away, picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. After entering the meat, he couldn't help but squint his eyes at the taste, the strength, and the juice. Unable to resist, she took off her chopsticks again and after eating three pieces in a row, Wang Xifeng remembered the situation and quickly looked around. No one was paying attention to her. Jia Lian was still busy.

Looking at the pretty maid next to her, Wang Xifeng said to her: "Ping'er, you should try it too."

In fact, Ping'er has been paying attention to Jia Lian, and she wants to marry him as a bride. How can I describe this? After the young lady and the old master finished their work, their roommate came to clean it up on site. Not surprisingly, Ping'er is destined to be the one in Jia Lian's bed. For example, if Wang Xifeng is pregnant, Ping'er will have to support her to prevent other vixens from taking advantage of her.

(End of this chapter)