Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 9 Similarity
  "But Brother Cong has rarely been naughty with us. If we invite him rashly, he may not accept our favor." As Jia Cong's biological sister, Yingchun is well aware that Jia Cong's temperament is somewhat remote and lonely, and she usually only spends time with Brother Huan. I hardly ever see them in person.

"So I have to ask Brother Huan to invite him. He and I have always been good friends, so we can definitely invite him." Tan Chun said, and then ordered people to find Jia Huan.

After a while, Jia Huan was found by the girl. When he saw all the sisters waiting for him, he thought he had done something wrong again, so he felt a little nervous and slowly came in to see him.

"Greetings to Sister Bao, Sister Lin, Second Sister, Third Sister, Second Brother Bao, hello Fourth Sister."

Xichun stood up and returned the gift.

"Brother Huan is here. Sit down and tell Ying'er to pour some tea." Baochai said with a smile.

Jia Huan thanked her, slipped on her feet, and slid to the edge to sit down, her eyebrows drooping, and she glanced at him from time to time.

Tanchun became angry when he saw him shrugging his shoulders, shrinking his neck, and squinting his eyebrows. He scolded him, "What does it look like when you're sitting or not, or when you're standing?"

When she shouted at him, Jia Huan shrank further into his chair, not daring to raise his head or speak, like a monkey.

Everyone shook their heads and smiled bitterly. Tan Chunliu raised his eyebrows and was about to teach him a lesson. When Baochai winked at her, they had to hold back and said, "Have you met Brother Cong just now?"

"No, I chased after him, but he ignored me and ran away. I just acted on my own." Jia Huan glanced at Tanchun and said cautiously.

"Brother Huan, I heard that you and Brother Cong have always been close, okay?" Baochai said softly.

"That's right, every time he went out on the street and had no money, I would ask him to host him, so Brother Cong loves to be naughty with me." Jia Huan is a little proud, after all, our third master is also a decent person.

Everyone felt sour in their hearts, knowing that Jia Cong was a child without a mother since he was a child, and he was not loved by his eldest father. All his monthly money was taken care of by his eldest wife. Naturally, he had very little money on weekdays, but he never asked his sisters and brothers for help. One can imagine his withdrawn and cold temperament.

When Lin Daiyu thought about her own life experience, she felt quite the same and couldn't help but blush.

Tan Chun sighed: "I didn't know Brother Cong was in such a difficult situation on weekdays."

Yingchun nodded silently, feeling a little guilty in her heart because she had paid too little attention to this brother.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Baochai hurriedly laughed and said: "It is said that a blessing in disguise is a blessing in disguise. Brother Cong, isn't it time that his fortune turned out to be good? Maybe the Duke of Xianrong came down to earth to enlighten him because he liked his tough temperament. Let’s get down to business.”

Tanchun nodded, looked at Jia Huan and said, "I asked you to come here on an errand. We plan to treat Brother Cong as our host in the evening. Go and invite him."

Jia Huan rolled his eyes, made a grimace, and said: "Third sister, you know Brother Cong's temperament. How many times have you been served by others? Besides, he's not familiar with you. I'll invite him." He may not come." After saying that, he gave everyone a meaningful look.

"Huan'er, you are acting like a traitor again! Watch carefully." Tan Chun couldn't help but get angry when he saw his expression. Jia Huan looked at her innocently.

Everyone was puzzled by the secret words of the two siblings and hurriedly asked why.

Tanchun held his forehead and smiled bitterly: "Huan'er is asking us for money for running errands."

Everyone laughed. Jia Huan turned his head away in embarrassment, but he still had to pay for the errands.

Baochai smiled and took out a few silver locks, stuffed them into Jia Huan's hands, and said, "Brother Huan, please run away and lie down. You must invite Brother Cong here."

"Sister Bao, please treat me well." Jia Huan quickly stuffed the silver into his sleeve and walked away.

"Wait a minute, go check Brother Cong's desk to see if there are any new poems or articles written by him, and bring them to us quietly, you know?" Tan Chun warned.

The crowd nodded yes.

Jia Huan frowned, and looked bitter and resentful again, and said: "Third sister, taking something without telling me is called stealing. You asked me to steal brother Cong's article. If he finds out, we brothers will How will we get along with each other in the future?"

"Bah, now you are pretending to be a gentleman again. Have you done enough things like stealing in the old lady's room?" Tan Chun scolded, "How can we, sisters, be considered stealing when we read each other's texts?"

Jia Huan felt a little embarrassed when she exposed her background. Fortunately, he was very shameless and just smiled.

Everyone laughed when they saw Jia Huan's living treasure. Xue Baochai understood what he meant and said with a smile: "Brother Huan, if you can bring them, I'll give you a few more. How about that?"

"Dele, Sister Bao, don't worry. If there is any, I will definitely get it for you. I, Jia Huan, am also a scholar after all. How can the things of a scholar be considered stealing?"

Everyone chuckled and shook their heads when they saw Jia Huan disappear.

Tan Chun hated the fact that iron could not become steel, and said: "You little bastard, I don't know where you learned the temperament that makes you blind after money."

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Didn't you realize that he and Brother Cong have the same chemistry?"

Thinking of Jia Cong asking for Qingwen with a poem, everyone nodded in unison.
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  Jia Cong gritted his teeth and ran seven or eight times all morning. It was not until noon that he dragged his hungry and exhausted body back to Sister Feng's yard. He secretly thought that if he still had that kind of fucked up meal at noon, he would go all the way to the old lady's place. I won't let Sister Feng have an easy time. Now is the time when he needs a lot of calories and protein. Back in the house, Qingwen helped him wash up and change out of his sweaty clothes before he felt more comfortable.

After a while, several girls brought rice. Seven or eight dishes of chicken, duck, fish and meat were placed on the table, as well as a large basin of japonica rice. Jia Cong asked curiously: "Has the status changed today?"

The little girl said: "Sister Ping said that Master San had a hard time practicing, so she specially added extra vegetables."

Jia Cong looked at Qingwen.

Qingwen smiled and said: "You went out in the morning, and Sister Ping'er came to greet you. I said everything was fine, but the food was not big enough. But I don't want Sister Ping'er to take it to heart."

Jia Cong nodded, thinking of Ping'er's charming, pretty and amiable appearance, smiled slightly, and started chewing.

After eating and drinking, Jia Cong walked to the desk and sat down. He pondered for a moment, took a piece of Chengxintang paper, picked up a pen and tried to write a family recipe for strengthening bones and muscles, replenishing energy, and revitalizing qi and blood.

Fortunately, calligraphy was a basic skill for ancient scholars. He practiced it regularly and almost formed a muscle memory. Jia Cong followed the feeling in his memory and wrote it, and it seemed to be similar. Although it was not very pretty, it was correct and correct. I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If you can't write, it will be difficult.

After finishing writing, I put down my pen and picked up a book called "Records of Emperor Wu Taizu Gao" on the bookshelf and opened it. I couldn't help but frown. I wanted to see the current history, but I didn't expect that the ancient books were printed vertically from right to left, and they were printed vertically from right to left. It was in traditional Chinese characters, and there was no punctuation, which immediately made him feel dizzy.

I reluctantly read it, and with the memory I inherited, I could understand it, but in the end I was too tired, so I dropped the book after reading half a page.

I don’t know how the protagonist in the online article traveled to the past and took the imperial examination. I don’t know how long it would take just to correct his original knowledge system and reading habits. How can he compete with the indigenous people in the imperial examination? Jia Cong shook his head, picked up the prescription on the table, said hello to Qingwen, and went out.

As soon as he left the second door, a young boy came up to say hello, claiming to be the long-term attendant arranged by Jia Mu for him, named Wangcai. Jia Cong was happy to see that he looked smart at seventeen or eighteen years old, so he nodded and said, "I have to go out now. Is there a big pharmacy nearby?"

Wangcai said: "Why not? After leaving Ningrong Street, walk a few hundred steps eastward and there is a big pharmacy called Ji'antang. The doctor who is doing the consultation is named Liu. Because he is good at silver needles, he is known as 'Magic Needle Liu'." ’. Many wealthy families in the capital seek medical treatment there.”

Seeing that he was familiar with the way, Jia Cong nodded with satisfaction and said, "Lead the way."

"Dele, sir, please mount the horse." Wangcai pulled a horse from the stable and helped Jia Cong get on the horse.

Jia Cong sighed in his heart. In his previous life, after the college entrance examination, he went to a classmate's house in Inner Mongolia for two months. He rode a horse happily on the grassland for two months, and he became familiar with the riding skills. This time, he rode a horse again, but he failed. Already passed away.

When we arrived at Ji'antang, we saw that it was packed with people and the business was very good.

"Old Liu Tou, let's show our Mr. Cong first." Wang Cai looked like a slave to a wealthy family and jumped in line blatantly. This caused a burst of dissatisfaction, but seeing that Jia Cong was richly dressed and rich, no one dared to cause trouble.

Jia Cong hurriedly took Wangcai's hand and said, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I'm not a doctor. I'm just talking to the shopkeeper."

Everyone saw that he was polite and returned the favor with a smile.

The shopkeeper had seen Jia Cong and knew where he was, so he hurriedly came out to invite him to serve tea in the inner room.

Jia Cong took a sip of tea, took out the prescription he had written, and said, "Please take a look at the shopkeeper, how much money does a medicine cost according to this prescription?"

The shopkeeper took it with both hands, looked at it carefully, and said, "Master Cong's prescription is not cheap. A pair of medicine costs at least 20 taels of silver."

"So expensive?" Jia Cong lost his voice. Although he knew it was not cheap, he didn't expect it to be so expensive. This medicine can only be taken for ten days, which costs 60 taels of silver a month. In this era, an average family's 20 taels of silver is enough to live on for a whole year. Even in the Jia family, the old lady, the eldest lady, and the madam only had 20 taels of silver per month, and he had to eat up the three of them every month. Just thinking about it, Jia Cong didn't dare to talk to Jia Mu about this, lest he feel uncomfortable.

The shopkeeper hurriedly said: "Master Cong, please take a look. The main ingredients in this recipe are tiger bones, tiger tendons, purple river carts, cordyceps, bear bile and other rare things. Which one is not expensive? There are also more than ten supplementary ingredients. Medicines, such as ginseng, deer antler, turtle glue, fleece-flower root, etc., are not cheap either. Even if the store is a century-old brand and has some savings, it can barely get it together, but if you change to another pharmacy, there is a high probability that it won’t even be able to supply it.”

Jia Cong waved his hands feebly and said goodbye.

I secretly regret that I didn't learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well back then. How about burning glass, making some soaps, cosmetics or preparing some explosives? Which one can't make a lot of money?

Seeing his depressed expression, Wangcai asked, "Why are you worried?"

"No money."

"Why don't you ask Mr. Lian to help?"

Jia Cong's eyes lit up and he realized that he had fallen into a misunderstanding. Why should he earn it by himself if he didn't have money? Wouldn't it be enough to get some from rich people?
  However, he was not thinking of Jia Lian. Firstly, he was not familiar with Jia Lian, and secondly, he knew that he did not have much private money. But there happens to be someone in the house who is a ready-made rich man.

The world is too difficult, and it is impossible to work part-time. The only way to live is by being with a rich woman. Jia Cong laughed and hurried home, "Sister Bao, here I come."

Why not Pang Xue Pan? Because Jia Cong doesn't want to sell his butt yet.

(End of this chapter)