The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 25 Everything is ready, just waiting for midsummer

Lai Da's remarks seemed to be an admission to Jia Huan, but in fact he was reminding Jia Huan that he, Lai Da, would plead guilty to Jia's mother on his own, and you, Jia Huan, are not qualified to bully Jia Huan in front of me.

The reason why Lai Da is so pushy is that he has to mention his old mother, Nanny Lai.This Nanny Lai has a high seniority and has served masters who are older than Mother Jia, so she is very respectable. Even Mother Jia respects her a little bit, and Nanny Lai has two sons, one Lai Da, who is the chief manager in Rongguo Mansion, and the other Lai Er, who is the chief manager in Ningguo Mansion. The two brothers control the daily affairs and money of the two mansions. Jia Rong, the young master of the mansion, even addressed Lai Da as Grandpa Lai when she saw Lai Da, which shows that the status of the Lai family in Jia's mansion has surpassed the level of slaves.

In addition, the brothers of the Lai family also made money well. They took advantage of their positions to poach the corners of Jia’s house, at the expense of the public and private interests, and accumulated a lot of money. Not only did they build a mansion, but Lai Da also bought his son Lai Shangrong a county magistrate.

The most impressive thing is that after the completion of the Lai family's mansion, even Jia's mother came to participate in the banquet, and some nobles who usually have a close relationship with Jia's family also sent people to congratulate them. Tsk tsk, being a slave is a winner in life.

Closer to home, Jia Huan smiled at Lai Da indifferently and said, "Housekeeper Lai is serious. It is all thanks to you that the whole house is in order. But as the saying goes, there are dead branches in the trees, beggars in the family, and hundreds of servants in Jia's house. It is inevitable that there are a few black apples. Just find them and clean them up."

"The third master is right. The servant will pay attention to it in the future and clean up the black sheep in time." Lai Da nodded in agreement, but the coldness in his eyes became even colder.

With the title of master and servant, Jia Huan is naturally not afraid of him. No matter how powerful Lai Da is, he is nothing more than a slave, and he doesn't rely on him for food, and he is afraid of being a bird, so he waved his hand and said: "That's it, Lai Butler, go on your own, I have something to do."

Although Lai Da was annoyed, there was nothing he could do, and Shi Li withdrew.Lin Zhixiao's eyes were a bit complicated, he had only learned how good Jia Huan is today, tsk tsk, it's not a fuel-efficient lamp!

"If the third master has no other orders, the servant will leave!" Lin Zhixiao stepped forward respectfully.

Jia Huan smiled and said, "Go, I'm going to trouble Steward Lin this time!"

Lin Zhixiao didn't even dare to speak, and then retreated.

Jia Huan ordered Qian Huai to bring the food and wine into the mansion to Hong Ling, while he greeted Brother Tieniu aside and asked, "Brother Tieniu came to see me today, but the ice cellar has been remodeled?"

Tieniu nodded and said, "It's been remodeled, and I wanted to ask the third master to check and accept it today."

Jia Huan said happily, "It's been built so quickly. Big brother Tieniu is really efficient. Come on, let's go out of the city to have a look."

Tie Hu proudly said: "My brother and I worked together day and night to get out. I was worried that my elder brother would be fooled."

Jia Huan laughed and said, "Fart, why don't you give me a deposit of ten taels of silver to try to fool me?"

Tie Hu scratched his head and laughed, feeling more and more that Jia Huan was in a bad temper. It seems that the elder brother was lucky this time and met a nobleman.

At that moment, Jia Huan hired a carriage and bought a lot of wine and meat. The three of them rode out of Dongzhimen together in the carriage and went straight to the village where Brother Tieniu lived.Dajin, the capital city, has a permanent population of over one million. Of course, it does not only refer to the city, but also includes the villages and towns gathered around the city. Otherwise, how can we live in the city?

"Mother, we're back!" Tie Hu jumped out of the carriage first, and rushed into the house carrying wine and meat, as excited as a child eager to present a treasure to an adult.

Tieniu was about to become more stable. After getting out of the car, he stretched out his arms to hug Jia Huan, and said a little awkwardly: "My house is dilapidated, and my mother has bad eyesight. Please bear with me."

Jia Huan smiled and said: "If the mountain is not high, it will be famous if there are immortals. If the water is not deep, there will be spirit if there are dragons. This is a humble room, only my virtue." After finishing speaking, he went straight into the yard.

Tie Niu seemed to understand but half understood, so he could only smile foolishly, and followed in step by step.

Jia Huan looked around and found that Tieniu's house was not only not dilapidated, but also quite new. It seemed that it had not been built for a long time, and the yard was tidy.

"It hasn't been long since the house was built?" Jia Huan asked with a smile.

Tieniu scratched his head embarrassingly and said with a smile: "My mother has been talking about marrying me a wife for several years, and this year I finally saved enough money, and started construction at the beginning of the year, and moved in in October."

Jia Huan said with a smile: "Then congratulations to Big Brother Tieniu, I have to prepare a congratulatory gift later."

Tieniu blushed and grinned and said, "It's still early, and the girl might not be willing to marry me."

While talking, Tie Hu helped a woman out. The woman looked like she was 60 or [-] years old, with gray hair and wrinkled face, holding a crutch in her right hand to explore the way. Although her eyes were open, they were morbidly blind.

"Niu'er, Hu'er said that a distinguished guest is coming, where is the distinguished guest?" the woman asked as she walked.

Jia Huan hurriedly went forward to salute, "Jia Huan has seen the old lady."

The old woman hurriedly waved her hands and shook her head, "Don't dare to be, don't dare to be, I'm such an old woman."

At this moment, Tieniu had already stepped forward to hold the other side of the old woman, and introduced: "Mother, this is the Third Master Huan of the Duke's Mansion that I mentioned to you."

"Oh, what a blessing it is for the young master to come to the humble house, Niu'er, Hu'er, you still don't kowtow to the young master." The woman wanted to bow after saying that.

"Old lady, you don't need to be too polite, I'm not a little prince!" Jia Huan rushed forward to help him, but she was weak and the woman was determined to worship, so she couldn't help her, so she finally let her kneel down.

Seeing his mother knelt down, Brother Tieniu knelt down and kowtowed, who dared not stand still, Jia Huan could only smile wryly and step aside to accept it.

After finishing the salute, the woman stood up and said: "The house is simple, if you don't mind my little father-in-law, you can come in and sit down."

"Madam, you're being polite, just call me Huan'er." Jia Huan said.

The woman laughed and said: "The old woman asked and yelled Brother Huan."

"The best, the best." Jia Huan followed the mother and son into the house, and sat down on a low bench. Tie Niu brought a bowl of tea in a thick bowl, and he didn't mind it, so he took it up and drank it.

Seeing this, Tiehu was even more fond of him, and grinned and asked, "The third master must be a scholar when he looks so gentle, don't you think drinking tea from a bowl is vulgar?"

Jia Huan shook his head and said, "It's enough to quench your thirst, what's more vulgar or not."

Tie Hu slapped his thigh: "No, I hate those poor and fastidious people the most. To play the piano, you have to burn incense and bathe, to drink wine, you have to compose poems. Bah, who doesn't shit and fart with farts, what are you pretending to do!"

Jia Huan couldn't help laughing, this kid is still an angry youth.

Mrs. He immediately scolded: "Hu'er, you're talking nonsense here again, and you haven't prepared food for the third master yet."

This Tiehu was filial, he immediately went down to cook the food brought by Jia Huan without farting as if he had obeyed the imperial edict.

Mrs. He accompanied the ceremony with a little embarrassment: "I have no education, and my husband has been dead for more than ten years. The children have no one to discipline them, and they are rude and rude. Brother Huan, please forgive me."

Jia Huan hurriedly said: "It's okay, I like Brother Huzi's sincerity, and Brother Tieniu's honesty and stability. It's really a blessing for my aunt to have such a pair of good sons."

When He heard the words, his face showed joy, and he said cheerfully: "Brother Huan can really talk. The children of rich families are really unusual. They are not like my cattle, who are clumsy. If they can be smarter, they won't be able to find a wife when they grow up."

Tie Niu couldn't help lowering his head in embarrassment, Jia Huan said with a smile: "Brother Tie Niu is not very old, he is only in his twenties, and I heard that he has already settled down with someone else."

He shook his head and smiled wryly: "It's settled there, it's just a little eyebrow. That girl was sold as a maid in a wealthy family. Now that she is old, her family plans to spend some money to redeem her. Find an honest man to marry and live a good life. I heard that she looks good and has a good temperament, that is..."

When He said this, he paused, obviously a little embarrassed to speak, Jia Huan immediately understood, He probably worried that the girl was not innocent, but it's no wonder, she sold herself as a maidservant in a rich family, and she looked more upright, fearing that she would be picked up by the male master before she reached the age.For example, Jia She, the elder of the Rongguo Mansion, and Jia Zhen, the uncle of the East Mansion, are all lustful people. Even the pretty maids in the family can't escape their clutches. Jia Zhen even messed with his daughter-in-law Qin Keqing.

As the saying goes, one can see everything at a glance. Since the Jia family is like this, other wealthy and powerful families are of course not as good.

Talking about this topic, the atmosphere fell into embarrassment. After all, Jia Huan was also a son of a wealthy family, and he also had a maid who served him personally.At this time, Tieniu had a rare moment of wit, and changed the topic: "Third Lord, let me take you to see the remodeled ice cellar."

Jia Huan nodded, and followed Tie Niu to the yard. The latter moved a wooden board beside the firewood pile, and a hole appeared in the ground, with a ladder leading directly to the ground.

Jia Huan climbed down the ladder to check the cellar, and found that although the cellar was not big, it was dug very deep. The ground was covered with a layer of pebbles, and then covered with a thick layer of hay. The walls were nailed with planks, and then also covered with a layer of hay.

After coming out of the ice cellar, Jia Huan was naturally very satisfied, praised Brother Tieniu, and ordered them to fill the ice cellar with ice cubes before the new year.

After arranging everything, Jia Huan had a meal at Tie's house, and then went back to the city by carriage.Now that everything is ready, it is just waiting for summer. Jia Huan has a strong premonition that once it is launched, it will definitely be popular in the whole capital. The poor may not be able to afford it, but the most important thing in a prosperous place like the capital is the rich.

　It hit the list on Monday and continued to vigorously seek votes and collections.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)