By Jia Xiuzhen

Besides, when everyone dispersed, Daiyu went back to Jiamu's place, and Yingchun was going to pay her respects to Mrs. Xing. Xichun got a big bag of snacks and let Ruhua rush back to her room with her in her arms. Baochai asked Tanchun to go to Lixiangyuan.The two chatted and laughed all the way, first talking about the anecdotes in the book they just read, and then talking about the source of the allusions beside them, with great interest.

Mentioning the matter of studying at home, Tan Chun smiled and said: "Speaking of it, Baoyu and Lan'er are easy to talk about together, because they both like to learn from others. Last time when we talked about a bath of bean recipes, the two People talked for a long time, I really don't know where all the talk comes from."

Baochai wondered: "Baoyu is all right. How can such an idea, Brother Lan, know all these things?"

Tanchun said: "It's not about your age. In order to enlighten Lang Geer, my sister-in-law specially found someone to match pictures with allusions and stories, and made them into picture books. There are hundreds of them."

Baochai sighed after hearing this, "It's really pitiful for the parents of the world."

Tanchun then talked about many mischievous and interesting things about Jia Lan, saying: "For example, today, I can come back in muddy water without wearing a good shirt. It's really weird."

Baochai said: "Luan shirts? I just said that oil and water do not invade. I think it is feather yarn and feather satin."

Tanchun shook his head and said: "How do you dress in this weather? I've only seen this blouse at my sister-in-law's. It looks like silk and satin. It's just that it's impervious to oil and water. It's really rare." It's not a pity for my sister-in-law, I use it to make shoes for Brother Lang." Baochai was even more surprised when she heard this, but it was difficult to ask further questions, so she looked for something else.

After Tanchun left, Baochai called Ying'er and said, "Have you heard of the elder sister-in-law in the mansion?" Ying'er said, "It's just that the uncle failed the exam and died of a serious illness. Only the eldest grandma is left. Mother and son."

Baochai shook her head and said, "That's not it. I went to see it today, and it was different from what I heard earlier. The furnishings in the room were all extraordinary, and there were many ancient books that we had never seen at home. Before When I heard from my aunt, I thought she was just a widowed sister-in-law from a down-and-out official family, which is totally different."

After hearing this, Ying'er said, "I haven't heard much about it. I'll chat with the girls and women in the yard tomorrow."

Baochai opened the box on the shelf, took a sling of money and said to Ying'er, "You don't have to wait until tomorrow. Anyway, there's nothing to do right now. You might as well go ask them about it." Ying'er smiled. He took it and went out.

This Yinger asked someone to inquire, and Li Wan's room was also talking about Baochai and others.Mother Chang said: "It turned out that the three girls in our house were rare talents. Later, when I met Miss Lin, they were really top-notch. I didn't expect that there is another girl, Bao, who is on the same level."

Yan Momo nodded and said: "Even you said the same. Now that the house comes back and forth to compare these two, Miss Bao is more satisfactory, and the little girls love to play with her."

Mother Chang smiled and said: "How can we trust the mouths of the people in our house? It's nothing more than good and can get good, naturally the first class; good but rare good, we have to say a few words; It’s not there anywhere, and it’s already showing mercy if you don’t step on it a few times.”

Li Wan laughed and said, "Mommy is a bit more funny."

Bi Yue blinked her eyes and thought for a while, then said, "Mama's words are hard to understand at first, but the more you think about it, the more you will understand."

Nanny Chang continued: "If you say that Miss Lin is different from Miss Bao, that's for sure. They are both rare characters, and I heard that they all followed their father as sons to support them when they were young. This is a big difference At the same time, Xue's family is several generations of imperial merchants, and they pay attention to making money through harmony. The Lin family has several generations of princes, and Mrs. Lin was born in Tanhualang. He is a leader among scholars. Proud to be clean."

After hearing this, Bi Yue asked, "Then they all follow father?"

Mother Chang said: "What a person looks like is seven points of birth and three points of education. Naturally, one cannot say that one follows father and mother, but most of them cannot escape this circle. Good bamboo shoots out of bad bamboos, phoenixes out of old ravens' nests, It’s all one-of-a-kind.”

Bi Yue said in a low voice: "But the third girl is too far away from the third master, they are real siblings."

Mother Chang said: "You just talked about it in our room, and someone heard it and gave you a good fruit to eat! Brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters also have daughters who follow their fathers and sons follow their mothers!"

Yan Nanny laughed out loud, and said: "You are not afraid that you will have a fruit too!" Everyone laughed when they heard this.

In a few days, Madam Xu sent a letter saying that she really couldn't get along with Ji Liang, once she got in touch with Ji Liang, it would be a big deal.As soon as the socks from last time were delivered, she turned around and gave Xu Nanny an order of [-] pairs, as long as the simplest kind was in order.

Mother Xu said helplessly: "I used to ask people to cook later, but I just wanted to take care of the meal, but now it's good, I really have to make it to the evening." Speaking of the inconveniences of lighting, Li Wan decided to leave from the Pearl Realm. Take some moonstone night pearls from the house to use, but just think about it, just let more lamps and candles be taken care of, and don't care about money.These dozens of people have to take care of two meals a day. According to the agreement with Li Wan, they will have to build houses, chicken coops, sheep pens, etc., and dozens more people will eat, which will become a problem in the kitchen.

However, Madam Xu was just talking to Li Wan to relieve her boredom, how could she be expected to say anything.Li Wan just said: Don't cherish money.It seems that money is too much for her.

After receiving Li Wan's reply, Mother Xu read it and handed it to Yun Qiu. Yun Qiu looked at it a few times and then laughed, and said, "Grandma always does things like this, and it was the same when she was selling fungus. With that kind of management, I'm afraid that grandma will pay hundreds or thousands of taels and feel sorry for their hard work."

Madam Xu smiled wryly and said, "That's not the case, so it's a good thing grandma doesn't care about the house."

Yunqiu asked: "Grandma doesn't care about money, how to do this, do you have any plans?"

Madam Xu said: "For building a house, you have to choose the land and prepare the materials. You still have to watch the sky. It should be done before winter. There is also the farming work of harvesting buckwheat and planting wheat. You need to calculate the days." The selection of the land, the land is ours, and we don’t need to tell anyone, it’s simple. The size of the house is also clear, so it’s not a lot of trouble. Find someone to draw the blueprints, and then we can prepare the materials and start construction. It’s easier to prepare the materials, and you can directly send them to us after you open the list. Even if they don’t have the Four Seas Trading Company, it’s easier for us to find people. It’s troublesome to cook, and there are so many people to eat, what should we do?”

Yunqiu said: "It's not troublesome. There used to be a large kitchen in the village when the farm is busy, and it can manage the meals of a hundred people. One is the manpower of the kitchen. I want to come. When we don't have enough people, let the farmers cook. It’s okay for someone to come and help with the cooking. There’s a table in this village where the neighbors go to help wash and cook. We just pay wages on a daily basis.

The next thing is how many people eat every day. It is better to start tomorrow. Before going back, the people in the workshop will tell the front whether they will come the next day or not, or come back in a few days.At that time, the same is true for those who build houses and work, and ask the foreman to report the number of people who eat.In this way, the kitchen can be prepared according to the number of people every day, and there can always be a general idea. "After hearing this, Nanny Xu repeatedly said it was a good idea.

The two discussed and memorized, and finally figured out a clue, the specifics have to be discussed with Yan Jun, Peng Qiao and others.Yunqiu remembered, and then remembered something again, and said to Madam Xu: "Grandma is in the mansion, thinking how pitiful they are all peasants, wishing to give money to support them for nothing. We face these people every day, and some But it really makes people angry. Let’s talk about the half-grown children’s work. It’s really a kindness from the master to give them a bite to eat. It’s just to prevent people from being greedy for cheap and bad rules. They set up a special rule that only one pair of socks can be finished every day. One meal, if you can finish two pairs, you can take care of both meals.

It's a good day, and guess what?For a few, they let their children come to show their face in the morning, do nothing, and use the socks they wove to make up for it, and only eat two meals.The wages for the left and right socks are all their own, and it is not a loss.The mind is used in these places, it makes people angry to watch. "

Mother Xu nodded and said: "It's just for making a profit, and they will cry when the time comes." Then she said, "I think Mrs. Qiao's family is very relieved, and those two little bean dings are also working hard every day. They came to help in the kitchen, and Mrs. Chen in the kitchen is quite happy to bring these two."

Yun Qiu said: "This Qiao lady's original name is not this, it is because she, a poor family, gave birth to seven children and all of them stood still, and each child was more obedient and well-behaved than the other, so she got the name Qiao lady I heard from the wives that Mrs. Qiao is really clever. She uses mixed beans and black noodles to make sauce, pickled small fish and shrimps, and makes jar dishes... I have used all the available land in the fields at home, and I have come up with some I planted beans in the sorghum field. To support this family, I really exhausted everything. But there is one thing, I never make money for nothing. Therefore, although this family is poor, they are very rich. Ambitious." Madam Xu sighed: "There are really capable people in the village. I told grandma last time, and grandma still felt emotional, how many of us serve Brother Lan and feel that he is no more wronged than Baoyu. It's really rare that seven children can be raised in this way, and they are all sensible and caring."

Yun Qiu also sighed: "It's really not easy. The two who work with Qiao Niangzi in the workshop are not yet ten years old, and now they can knit three or four pairs of socks a day. It's really difficult for such an idea."

Mother Xu said: "Why don't you say that the children of the poor should be in charge of the family early. In the future, if you can take care of them, you can take care of them more." Yun Qiu nodded aside.

It can be seen that the so-called fortune is nothing but God's help for those who help themselves.

It was raining again that day. Although Baochai came from the south, she really hated the wet weather, so she didn't go out.Ying'er made tea and came in. Baochai saw her and said, "I haven't seen you for a long time, and you've been mischievous again!"

Ying'er smiled and said, "Today is the birthday of Hu Po in the old lady's room, so I sent two-color needles and threads over there."

Baochai nodded and said, "That's all."

Ying'er said: "Last time for Yuanyang's birthday, even the Second Mistress sent someone to reward her. Now that it's Amber, only us go."

Baochai said, "How can it be the same?"

Ying'er said: "That's not the case." Putting Baochai on new tea, she said, "Last time, the girl asked me to inquire about Grandma. What the little girl in our courtyard said was too trivial. Today they just said Speaking of grandma, I have heard a lot."

Baochai remembered what Yinger had told her last time that she ate either mutton or fish, which made her angry and funny.He asked, "Is there anything new?"

Ying'er said seriously: "It's still the girl who is amazing. What I heard today is really amazing. This grandma is really rich. It was said that she is a girl from a down-and-out official family, but if you talk about it from the grandma's father, it is probably not bad. It's just that the eldest grandma's mother is very powerful. I heard that she is the daughter of a great aristocratic family in the previous dynasty, but she is the only one left in that clan until the eldest grandma's mother's generation. Her mother left it for her. Don’t say it’s not available in the market, even the wives and grandmas in the house have never seen it.”

Baochai said: "Haven't the wives and grandmas in this mansion seen it? It's a fool's talk. Can the wives and grandmas say what they have seen or not?"

Ying'er said: "I'm afraid I didn't just say it. Lang Ge'er had a serious illness when he was young, and the grandma fainted. Later, he made up his mind and took out a box of medicine to bathe Lang Geer. Lang Geer My son's body has become stronger as soon as I saw it, and even the imperial doctor was amazed. The wife wanted to grab a few plasters for Master Bao to use, but she couldn't get a prescription, so she took the medicine package for inspection. Miss, guess what? Tell me, Even the imperial physician couldn't recognize more than half of the medicine packs, but the ginseng and ganoderma lucidum that were more than a hundred years old were recognized. The hundred-year-old ginseng was used for bathing!"

Baochai nodded after hearing this, and said, "It's quite plausible. Mom also received a letter from my aunt that day, looking for some good medicinal materials."

Ying'er said: "That was the prescription that some imperial doctors thought about and prescribed. It was just for show, but it was not as good as the ones in Grandma's hands. They said that those medicine bags were boiled for several times. , it can be used as a sachet after drying.”

Baochai nodded slowly and remained silent.Ying'er went on to say: "Miss, don't laugh at the little girl in our yard. She has all remembered something to eat, but she is not the only one. The food in the big grandma's yard is the number one in the house. The old lady More than half of the newly added dishes in the past two years were introduced by the grandma. The light rice is rare, the small ones are like broken beads, the big ones can be as small as an inch, and the pink, green, purple, and red ones, they say Just boil porridge with clear water and it will be fragrant all over the yard.”

Baochai then asked, "Why didn't I see it at my wife's place? My sister-in-law has these, so she must be filial to her."

Ying'er said: "I gave it to my wife earlier, and she said she was not used to it. Now only the old lady's has some, and Miss Lin's has some." Baochai murmured: "My sister-in-law loves my sister Lin."

Ying'er hurriedly said: "That's not true! I heard from Hu Po that the tents and blankets that Grandma gave Miss Lin are cooler in summer than ice. There are also fragrances, shoes and socks suitable for winter. There are all of them. The names, they gurgled out a string, I couldn't remember them all, I only remembered one called Qingfengsha."

Baochai asked, "This sister-in-law really loves Sister Lin, so don't they care about the third and fourth sisters?"

Ying'er said: "It doesn't matter where, these girls got a lot of rare things from grandma. They even made some big clothes for beasts. It is said that even the old lady has never heard of or seen that leather, grandma I made a whole body for each of the girls. The old lady just said that the grandma loves the sister-in-law."

Baochai laughed and said, "This is far from what I heard before."

Ying'er said: "It's more than that. The people who serve in front of Grandma get more rewards a year than the monthly regulations in the mansion. The clothes are as many as one season, and new ones are made every year. Hu Po went to the Biyue House I've seen it, and said that Biyue's clothes are almost as good as those of the girls in the mansion, and there are quite a few of them who are young and handsome."

After hearing this, Baochai said, "I'm afraid this is not true. If so, it would be too much."

Ying'er shook her head and said, "I think they all say they have nose and eyes, but I don't know if that's true." Baochai thought to herself after hearing this, and remained silent.