The Red Mansions

Chapter 88 The Rules of the Xue Family
In the evening, Jia Yun left Jia's mansion contentedly and walked home.

Walking to the door of the house, Laipi Gou, who guards the door, whispered to Jia Yun: "We have a visitor today."

Jia Yun smiled and said, "I have guests. I have invited a few clan elders and brothers over for a reunion dinner."

Laipi Gou shook his head and said, "I'm not talking about them, but two girls, I haven't seen them before."

"Oh? Two girls?" Jia Yun was a little surprised. After thinking for a while, she thought to herself, "Could it be that they are beautiful and lovely?"

As for why it's not Ping'er, Yuanyang and others, the reason is very simple. After watching the play at Ningguo Mansion in the afternoon, there will be a banquet in the evening, so Ping'er and the others naturally cannot leave.

After recovering, Jia Yun asked Lai Pigou, "Have the clan elders and brothers arrived yet?"

"Just arrived for a while, now I'm sitting in the main room drinking tea and chatting." Laipi Gou replied.

Jia Yun nodded, and said: "Okay then, close the door, you don't have to guard, and come in with me for a reunion dinner."

Laipi Gou looked happy, quickly closed the door, and followed Jia Yun to the courtyard.

In the living room, Jia Yun greeted several clan elders first, and then stepped back to change clothes after bathing.

After all, after wandering outside all day today, not to mention the smell of alcohol, and the smell of Li Wan's rouge, it was really uncomfortable for Jia Yun, who loves cleanliness.

After leaving the living room, Jia Yun met Xiren who came out of the backyard with a plate in the corridor.

Seeing Jia Yun's return, Xiren's face brightened, and he said happily, "There are so many people here today, and I'm going to let Gouzi go to Ningguo Mansion to look for you. Fortunately, you're back."

Jia Yun said with a smile: "Today is New Year's Eve, no matter what I do, I will never play outside and forget to come back for reunion. I still know how to measure this."

Xiren smiled and said, "It looks like you want to take a bath and change clothes. Wait a minute. I'll go and prepare hot water for you."

While taking a bath, Jia Yun soaked in the bathtub and asked Xiren, "I heard Gouzi say that two strange girls came to the house?"

"It's Liren and Keren." Xiren nodded and said, "Their house was crushed by snow this morning. It's so cold that there's nowhere to go. They have no choice but to come to our house for help."

After a pause, she added: "By the way, the two sisters said they have something to do with you. After you take a shower, go to the backyard and meet them!"

"Did you say anything specific?" Jia Yun asked.

Xiren shook his head and said: "They didn't say anything, I think they lost their homes today, they were in a bad mood, they looked pitiful, so they didn't ask much."

Jia Yun nodded and said, "Okay, whatever it is, I'll meet them later."

Soon, after taking a shower, Xiren wiped off the water droplets on Jia Yun's body with a dry towel, then helped him get dressed, and then the two walked to the backyard.

"How do you arrange the dinner at home today?" Jia Yun asked.

Xiren said with a smile: "There are two tables, you men have one table, and we female relatives have one table."

Jia Yun pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: "That's fine, but when there are more people in the family, the rules will have to be established."

"Well, you don't need to tell me this, I know it too." Xiren replied:
"Isn't today's situation special? Besides, there are indeed fewer people in the family. If it's too much trouble, it's just asking for trouble. I also asked the old lady for instructions on how to divide the table today."

Jia Yun smiled, didn't say much, and stopped in front of a wing.

Xiren stepped forward to knock on the door, and soon, the door opened from the inside, revealing the figures of two sisters, Liren and Keren.

Both of them were wearing the same pink cotton jacket, the same hairstyle, and the same shoes. Besides, they looked almost the same. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't be able to tell which one was beautiful and which one was lovely.

But Jia Yun had a good memory, and she remembered that there was a mole on Liren's left earlobe, but Ren didn't.

"You are a beautiful girl." Without waiting for the two to speak, he pointed to the left and then pointed to the right: "You are a lovely girl, am I wrong?"

After the two stepped forward to salute, the beauty smiled and said, "Brother Yun has a really good memory. After so long, he can still tell who is older and who is younger."

"It's not difficult, it's easy to remember." Jia Yun said with a smile, and then walked into the room.

When she came to the room, Jia Yun took the lead and sat down on the chair, without talking nonsense, she asked directly: "I heard Xiren said that you have something to do with me?"

Liren and Keren looked at each other, then knelt down at the same time, Liren said with red eyes: "Brother Yun, please take our sisters in!"

"Hey, get up and talk, don't just kneel down!" Jia Yun hurriedly stood up and gave her support.

The two of them didn't get up, and the beauty said with tears in her eyes, "Brother Yun, our sisters have nothing to do, so I came to trouble you."

"Our home is gone now. To put it bluntly, if Brother Yun doesn't take us in, with our looks, it will be difficult for us to move forward in the world. Someone will definitely give us wrong ideas."

Jia Yun frowned and said, "I'm a little strange, but Miss Ren's monthly income in Jia's house was not low, so she didn't save any savings in these years? Besides, you can't be idle all these years, are you penniless?"

"Although housing prices in Beijing are indeed a bit expensive now, there are houses that can be bought for 20 taels. Why do you join us?"

"One more thing, you said that other people will give you crooked ideas. Why did you stay at home alone, girl beauty, and no one didn't have eyes and came to trouble you?"

The beauty bit her lip and replied: "The reason why no one thought of me before was because the neighbors in the neighborhood knew each other, and I seldom went out. Even when I bought vegetables and rice, I asked someone to bring them back from the street. Dare to come and bully me."

"As for savings, I have not been idle all these years. With my decent sewing skills, I don't have to worry about food and clothing, and my sister has indeed saved a lot of savings."

Jia Yun nodded and said, "Since you have savings, you can live in my house for a while, and then buy a house after the Chinese New Year."

The beauty shook her head and said, "I have used up my savings."

"Use it?" Jia Yun glanced at her and asked doubtfully: "Didn't you just say that you can support yourself? But people don't use their own food and clothing in Jia's mansion, right? Is it possible that all their savings are used for Ke? Is the girl sick?"

The beauty still shook her head, she said: "Our sisters have saved a lot of silver over the years, but it's not for my sister's medical treatment, but for buying land."

As she spoke, she took out a piece of paper from her sleeve and handed it to Jia Yun.

Jia Yun took it and unfolded it, and found that it was a land deed that was changed at the beginning of the year, and the head of the household on it was written as a beauty.

What surprised Jia Yun was that the number of acres of land written on the title deed was quite a lot, a full six hundred acres.

With the current price of land outside the capital, 2000 mu of land would cost at least [-] taels of silver. No wonder the beauties said that they had no savings, and they probably spent some time thinking about buying so many fields.

Seeing Jia Yun's surprise, Liren explained: "We have been afraid of being poor since we were young, so we save money as soon as we have money. After I have saved enough ten taels of silver, I will drag my father's old friends to help me buy land."

"Over the years, we have bought land and rented it out. The chicken lays eggs, and the egg lays chickens. We never thought that we would accumulate [-] acres of land at the beginning of the year. This is what my sister and I did not expect."

Jia Yun nodded and said: "Since you have your own land, you don't need me to take it in. Isn't it good to be the master of your own family?"

The beauty sighed, and replied: "Don't dare, the world is too chaotic, we are afraid that we won't be able to keep this wealth."

Jia Yun returned the title deed to Li Ren, spread her hands and said, "But I'm a commoner now, and I don't even have any land at home, so I'm worse than you guys!"

"I think you should seek refuge with someone who can cover you. Of course, before that, I promise you that you can live in my house temporarily, how about it?"

The beauty burst into tears, and cried, "But we can only trust Brother Yun, we can't believe anyone else, Brother Yun, just promise to take us in, we can endure hardship and work, we won't Eat idle food."

The person on the side was also crying, his handsome face was covered with tears, which made me feel pity even more.

Jia Yun disturbed her head, and said helplessly: "What's the matter, I am a grassroots person myself, how can I have the right to take you in?"

Seeing Liren and Keren crying miserably, Xiren on the side couldn't bear it, pulled Rajayun, and whispered:
"Brother Yun, why don't you just promise to take them in for the time being. Sister Liren and Sister Keren know everything, so it's okay to stay at home. If they don't feel comfortable in our house, it doesn't matter if they leave in the future."

Jia Yun sighed, thought for a while, and nodded.

Xiren was overjoyed, and hurried forward to help Liren and Keren up, and said:
"Brother Yun has already agreed to take you in for the time being. From now on, you can live here with peace of mind. Don't cry now. It's New Year's Eve, and it's always unlucky to cry."

Li Ren and Keren bowed to thank Jia Yun, and then saluted Xi Ren.

The beauty handed the land deed to Jia Yun, and said, "Brother Yun, leave this land deed to you for safekeeping. We have spent a lot of effort to connect the land of six hundred acres. It is only thirty miles away from the capital. It’s a good fertile land.”

Jia Yun waved her hand and said, "Don't, you hide the land deed yourself. This is your future property in the bottom of the box, and there will be a lot of harvest every year!"

The beauty stuck in a few times, but was blocked by Jia Yun, and finally gave up reluctantly, and carefully put away the land deed.

It was already dark when we walked out of the room.

Jia Yun asked Xiren if the meal was ready in the kitchen. If the meal was ready, the meal would be served earlier.

Xiren smiled and said: "It's been done long ago, I'll wait for you to come back!"

"Heh, if you didn't say it earlier, it doesn't matter if we eat later, the key is that it would be rude to keep a few clan elders waiting, that's all right, don't delay, let's start the meal!" Jia Yun said with a smile.

Xiren nodded, went to Pu's house and called Meiren out, and together they went to the kitchen to prepare the dishes.

Both Li Ren and Keren went to help, Jia Yun smiled and did not stop her.

Back in the middle courtyard, Jia Yun took a bunch of firecrackers from the storeroom and lit them at the door.

……

Jia Yun didn't go out on the first day of the lunar new year, and Jia Yun stayed at home, talking with Mrs. Bu, strolling around the garden, and passed away soon.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Jia Yun got up early in the morning.

When he was in Ningguo Mansion before, Xue Pan told him specifically that he must go to his house for lunch on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Although Jia Yun is not yet married to Xue Baochai, she is already engaged, so she also wants to bring some gifts to visit her mother-in-law during the Chinese New Year.

Now the family has an ox cart again.

The cattle were brought by Jia Lian from Zhuangzirang of Jia's Mansion years ago. There are four of them in total, two males and two females, none of which have been registered with the government, so they can be slaughtered privately.

Half a month later, after breeding, there are now nearly a hundred cows in the space. If it were not for Jia Yun's control, there would probably be more.

He selected a very strong cow from the herd and used it to pull the cart. Compared with sitting on the back of a donkey, the bullock cart was slow, but it was much more comfortable and stable.

There are quite a lot of things to bring to Xue's house, including food and food, such as ginseng, velvet antler, mink fur, sherbet oil, plant essential oil, tea, and liquor.

After all, this is the first time to go to the mother-in-law's house, Jia Yun still wants to give them a good impression.

Xiren, Meiren, Liren, Keren, Aunt Miao, and Laipigou all helped to load things on the car, and most of the car was loaded.

Jia Yun took the gift list and counted the number, and when she found out that it was correct, she said to Xi Ren and Mei Ren:

"You guys have been clamoring to go with me, so go back and wash up quickly, change into clean clothes, and remember to dress plainly, as Miss Xue won't like it if she's too gorgeous."

Xiren laughed and said, "I see, I wasn't nervous at first, but I became a little nervous when you told me."

Mei Ren smiled happily and said, "I'm not nervous, actually Miss Xue is quite kind."

The two chatted and laughed a few words before going back to change their clothes.

Laipi Gou will also go with him today. Before that, he practiced driving in the left courtyard, and he quickly became proficient.

His position in Jia Yun's house is that of a servant. It is said that someone should be responsible for driving, but now that there are few people in the family, he has to do everything at the same time.

Waiting for women to change clothes is the most troublesome and requires some patience. Even in ancient times, women seemed to have similar temperaments.

Nearly two quarters of an hour later, Xiren and Meicai came out happily. Jia Yun glanced at them and got into the bullock cart first.

Xi Ren and Mei Ren giggled, followed up, and sat beside Jia Yun on one left and one on the right.

Holding their hands, Jia Yun saw that both of them were wearing lavender flowered padded jackets, she nodded and said, "I just want this kind of simple and elegant ones. It looks fresh and natural, but still joyful. It's very good."

"You have told me, how dare we make you unhappy?" Xi Ren said with a smile.

Jia Yun chuckled, put down the curtain of the car, and said to the lazy dog ​​driving the car: "You can go, dog."

The place where the Xue family lives is not far away, only three blocks away from the back street. Gouzi had been there a few times with the matchmaker to deliver things, so he knew the way.

The ox cart moved forward slowly, and the charming woman suddenly asked in a low voice: "Brother Yun, do you think you have a chance to see Miss Xue today?"

Jia Yun pondered for a moment, and said, "You guys can see her as soon as you want. I want to see her, and it may not be easy."

It is estimated that Xue Baochai got into his arms that day, and her reputation was damaged. Xue Baochai was also stimulated by this, and she paid special attention to her words and deeds, for fear of causing trouble before they got married.

Therefore, she always hides and hides, not giving Jia Yun the slightest chance to spy.

"Do you want to see her?" Xi Ren asked curiously.

Jia Yun rolled her eyes at her, and said angrily: "Who doesn't want to see his wife? But I think about it, I can't force it?"

Charming thought about it: "We can think of a way."

Jia Yun smiled and said: "Okay, don't feel uncomfortable when it's Chinese New Year. After she comes to our house, I can fuck her as much as I want. Don't worry about this moment!"

If he really wanted to see Xue Baochai, Xue Baochai would not be able to hide anyway.

But Jia Yun didn't want to make her unhappy, after all, if a person who was stimulated did something bad, it would be too late to regret it.

About 10 minutes later, the carriage stopped in front of a house.

At this moment, the gate of the house was opened, and Xue Pan was standing beamingly waiting at the gate, surrounded by a large group of servants.

Jia Yun got out of the ox cart first, looked up at the majestic Xue Mansion, jumped off the ox cart with a smile, but was not in a hurry to greet Xue Pan, but waited for Xi Ren and Mei Ren to get off the car before going forward He cupped his hands to Xue Pan and said:
"I met Brother Xue, I kept you waiting!"

Xue Pan laughed loudly, stepped forward and took Jia Yun's arm, and said, "Don't talk about so many red tapes, go, follow me into the mansion."

Jia Yun nodded and handed the gift list to Xue Pan, and said with a smile, "It's a little bit of a gift, I hope Brother Xue won't hold it against you."

As for the presents, as well as the rambunctious dogs and ox carts, they are arranged by Xue's servants, so he doesn't need to worry about them.

"Hehe, it's a gift, just make sense." Xue Pan took the gift list, unfolded it, looked at Jia Yun in surprise, and said:
"Good guy, Brother Yun, you are so kind. The things above are not cheap. Don't buy such expensive things in the future. My house has everything, so you don't need to spend too much."

Jia Yun smiled and said, "It's the first time to visit the house during the festival. It's too shabby!"

Xue Pan closed the gift list with a snap, nodded and said with a smile: "Okay, I will accept the present this time, if you give such a valuable gift again next time, I will just throw it on the street, remember? "

The two entered the house talking and laughing.

The house has three entrances, and the area is about the same as that of Jia Yun's house. The courtyard and garden add up to nearly [-] mu.

According to Xue Pan, this house is not the largest among their houses in the capital, let alone their ancestral house in Jinling.

The reason why they live here is that they want to be closer to Jia Yun's house, so that the two families can travel easily.

Of course, Xue Wang also has the idea of ​​continuing to associate with the Jia family. Although the marriage failed, the relationship has continued, and they often move around, so it is convenient for them to talk about anything.

When they came to the middle courtyard, Mrs. Xue Wang was already waiting in the living room. There were a few maids standing behind her. Jia Yun only recognized Xiang Ling.

Xue Wangshi sat upright with a smile on her face, and when Jia Yun stepped into the living room, she nodded slightly.

Jia Yun stepped forward to salute, Xue Wang stood up and took his hand and said, "Son, come to our house to play more often when you are free. We are a family now, so don't be too estranged!"

After talking for a while, she ordered Xue Pan to talk to Jia Yun first. The food in the kitchen was ready soon, but she went back to the back house.

When dinner was about to be served, Mrs. Xue Wang pulled out the shy and ruddy Xue Baochai, and they ate together, which made Jia Yun overjoyed, but also a little puzzled.

According to the rules, although he and Xue Baochai were engaged, they were not yet married and could not meet each other, but Xue Wang's actions made Jia Yun puzzled.

After thinking about it, Jia Yun remembered that in the original book, Xue Baochai often met with Jia Baoyu before they got married.

It seems... the members of the Xue family are not very polite.

(End of this chapter)