Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 369
On New Year's Eve, the Lai family's new house.

"How big of a business is this, yet your father won't be allowed to come back for the New Year?"

On New Year's Eve, Mrs. Xu still couldn't help complaining about her son.

"How dare my son not let him come back for the New Year? He can't leave him alone."

Although the matter of adopting orphans is still going on, it coincides with the new year. As a son, Lai Shangrong cannot ask Lai Da to stay home.

However, he sent someone to urge Lai Da to find two stable orphans to take charge of the matter, and just threw in some money to help them maintain their lives.

However, the adopted orphans were no better than servants in the family and had the restraints of runaway slaves. Lai Da was worried that people's hearts were unpredictable and the time they spent together was short. If he met someone who was unkind or unjust and ran away with the money, it would be a big deal. , exposing the seriousness of the adoption of orphans by one’s own family.

Therefore, he didn't dare to stay away. Firstly, he stayed there to take care of her. Secondly, because of the cold weather and the fact that it was difficult for her family to survive, he took them in as well.

Lai Da's worry was not unreasonable, and Lai Shangrong did not force it. He only told him to eat well and take good care of these people first.

By modern standards, the ancients, even if they were from a modestly wealthy family, could not keep up with nutrition, let alone suffer from hunger after a disaster, which could not be replenished in a short time.

Therefore, Lai Shangrong sent someone to send his father some exercise patterns and asked him to build them locally so that he could do some physical exercise.

Although this year there was a pair of children in the family, they are still young after all. The son can barely crawl, and the daughter is still in her infancy, so naturally it is impossible for them to serve on the table.

On the contrary, Lai Da is not at home, so Grandma Lai and Mrs. Xu are inevitably worried about her, and the atmosphere of the New Year is missing.

Lai Shangrong presided over a series of activities such as ancestor worship at home.

After completing a set of procedures, the family moved to the large flower hall.

It is worth mentioning that this year, Youshi, Qin Keqing and You Sanjie all raised concubines, and Lai Shangrong thought that it would be difficult to arrange the tables.

I rushed to buy two large round tables that can seat 20 people a year ago, and installed rotating glass discs.

One table served as the main table, and Lai Shangrong and others took their seats. Xichun was no longer shy this year and sat directly next to Xu.The other one arranged for a group of maidservants to sit down.

Third Sister You couldn't stop playing. She kept fiddling with the glass disc on the table. She found it very interesting, which saved others from doing it.

However, Qin Keqing remembered that Qin Zhong was still at the table during the Spring Festival last year, and now that he was thousands of miles away, he felt sad.

"Uncle! Did Zhong'er receive a letter from you two years ago?"

Qin Zhong has been there for more than half a year. The Suez Canal has not yet been built, and it takes three or four months to go back and forth.

Therefore, except for a letter reporting safety when he arrived in Xiyi, there has been no news.

"It's inconvenient to come and go, how can it be so frequent."

Lai Shangrong paused and said, "But when I replied to him last time, I already told him that I was going to be my uncle. I think his reply will be on the way by now!"

The State-owned Department has foreign trade transactions, so it is not difficult to ask the Western merchants to carry the letter. However, in order to keep it confidential, they only talked about their family affairs and did not say more or ask more questions in the letter.

Speaking of the child in their belly, Qin Keqing and Youshi next to them both showed maternal brilliance and unconsciously touched their bellies.

The two of them were acting like this, and Sanjie You on the side suddenly felt a little depressed.

As the mother-in-law, Ms. Xu said: "The third sister must work harder and emulate your two sisters as soon as possible!"

Third Sister You nodded seriously and said calmly: "Since Madam has given you all the instructions, I still don't believe that the master will be mine tonight!"

After saying this, she saw people at both tables looking sideways at her. Even though she usually acted boldly, she still couldn't help but blush.In ancient times, there was nothing bad to say about continuing the incense. Aunt Lai, Mrs. Xu and the three members of Lai Sheng's family were elders. Except for Xichun, the others were all Lai Shangrong's concubines and wives, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

Xing Xiuyan covered her mouth with a smile and said, "Sister You, don't worry, even if you don't say it, no one will be able to snatch the uncle. I have to go back to look at Cheng Zhi later, and Yun Qing has to follow Sister You tonight."

Lai Shangrong was also very interested when he thought about the New Year's Eve in his previous life and the joke about working hard for a year.

However, Mrs. Xu glanced at Xichun, who was beside her with a red face and was busy eating, and said: "My wife and Qin girl have their own reasons, and they haven't gotten married yet. Some of them have babies, some are pregnant, and the other four are pregnant." Girls can't always be so aggrieved. If you ask me to choose a day, it's better to hit the sun. Taking advantage of the Chinese New Year will just give the fourth girl a title, and you will have more people to take care of you."

This was not the first time Xu had mentioned this, or he had hinted it twice in front of Xichun.

In the past, she hinted privately that although Xichun was also shy, she could barely cope.

At this time, in front of a room full of people, the matter was brought to the table again, and he suddenly blushed and felt thick-necked with embarrassment.

The people at the other table were waiting with joy and eagerness for Lai Shangrong's decision.

Although one should do as the Romans do, in this era, not to mention that Xichun is still a slave, even a young lady from a wealthy family is completely qualified to talk about marriage, but Lai Shangrong still has a bottom line after all.

He said in his heart that there were only a few people serving him at home, but there were two wives, two grandmothers and a bunch of maids next door!

He said: "My son has reached the point where he needs no one to take care of him. Besides, I don't want to wrong sister Xichun. I have to wait until she reaches the age of hairpin!"

Although people got married earlier in ancient times, they usually got married after they had hair extensions. This was also a sign of respect for the woman.

Similar to a child bride, in some ways, she is not much different from a maid.

When Xichun saw Lai Shangrong treating her so kindly, she quietly raised her head and looked at him lovingly with two pairs of crystal moist eyes.

The person at the other table entered the painting. Although they were a little disappointed, they could not hide their excitement.

This is the first time that Lai Shangrong reveals his true feelings. Although he still has to wait two years, he no longer has to worry about the future.

Compared to Xichun's master and servant, Youshi knew Lai Shangrong's privacy very well.

I deeply agree with the saying that there is always a shortage of people to serve you.

A while ago, Lai Shangrong held a banquet at Doufengxuan and entertained Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xing. She ate a meal for more than an hour. She knew the purpose of Doufengxuan and was in charge of the back house, so she naturally understood the connection.

Therefore, in her knowledge, there is an extra Aunt Xue in Rong Mansion, who is always on call.

Since Lai Da was not at home, Lai Shangrong also had a taste of it. The New Year's Eve dinner, which was more than warm but not lively enough, was not slow to eat.

This was exactly what Sister You wanted. After dinner, she stepped forward and took Lai Shangrong back to her house.

After closing the door, he jumped up, his legs were wrapped around Lai Shangrong's waist, and his figure was firmly fixed.

Lying on Lai Shangrong's shoulder, he leaned into his ear and cursed: "It's all my fault that my brother-in-law ignored people before and made them fall behind!"

Since entering the house, Third Sister You complained more than once, and she asked Second Sister You to make peace with her.

Lai Shangrong finally knew what he had missed.

However, it was inconvenient for him to explain, and he covered it up every time. At this time, he also laughed and said: "This time, brother-in-law has worked hard on you for a year, and everything has been made up for. Don't complain in the future. I treated you well in the past two years." Ignore it!"

…………

(End of this chapter)