Red Mansion: Holding Space and Marrying Like the Sea

Jia Min was secretly delighted to finally be living in the Lin residence, and she wasn't paying any attention to the road. She didn't know how long she had been walking when the servant leading the way suddenly stopped and said, "Miss Jia has arrived." Upon hearing this, Jia Min subconsciously looked up. The sight was truly shocking, and she was instantly overwhelmed. She saw a dilapidated, dusty house, two small rooms next to a stable. She was trembling with anger, and was about to explode when the servant leading the way spoke first, "The old lady said, if you want to stay, you can stay, but if you don't, you can get out of the Lin residence immediately!" Upon hearing this, Jia Min felt like a deflated ball, her temper gone. She could only shake her head helplessly and walked into the room with Lai Ma, cursing.

With a creak, the door slowly opened, sending up a cloud of dust. The room was filled with the smell of dust, as if time had stood still for an eternity. Looking up, the ceiling was covered in spider webs, so dense and numerous that one could only imagine they could be used to knit a thick sweater.

Jia Min watched helplessly, knowing she couldn't handle the situation alone. So, she turned to Lai Ma, the maid who stood by, hoping for help. However, Lai Ma wasn't particularly skilled at this, having not worked in years. At home, she had always enjoyed the care and pampering of the other daughters-in-law. Within the Jia family, she held an even more respected position, even the younger masters of the household would greet her with a formal greeting. After all, the servants of the Jia family elders held a higher status than even some of the younger masters.

Nanny Lai was in a dilemma. She wanted to pass the message back to the inn to ask for help, but she found that the message could not be passed on at all. As for the servants of the Lin family, as long as they got benefits, they would readily agree to do things, but in fact, there was no movement. In desperation, Nanny Lai had to hum and groan and start to clean up. After a lot of hard work, until night fell, she finally managed to make the bed. Exhausted, she walked out of the room and reported to Jia Min: "Miss, the bed has been made, you can rest." Jia Min responded gratefully: "Nanny, thank you for your hard work. Please go to the kitchen to find something to eat. I haven't eaten all day." Nanny Lai, who had thought that she could have a good rest, sighed helplessly and turned to the kitchen. After arriving at the kitchen, she found that there were only a few people left there. Nanny Lai stepped forward and politely said to one of them, "Young man, I serve Miss Jia. I'm here to get some food." The man replied, "The old lady has instructed that you should come every morning to get the day's food. This is for today." After saying that, he prepared to turn off the lights and leave to rest nearby.

Lai Ma Ma picked up the food and hurried back to her residence. She carefully placed the lunch box on the table, and then gently opened the lid under Jia Min's gaze. When Jia Min saw the food in the lunch box, she was so angry that she almost waved her hand to throw it away, but was hurriedly stopped by Lai Ma Ma. Lai Ma Ma advised: "Ancestor, if we smash these things, we will have nothing to eat. Now we are under someone else's eaves, we have to bow our heads." Jia Min picked up a steamed bun and tried to take a bite, but as a spoiled young lady, she really couldn't accept such rough food and soon spit it out. However, she was very hungry, so she had to try to eat the bowl of lard rice. Unexpectedly, the lard rice became more and more fragrant as she ate, which made her feel a little surprised and satisfied.

After eating the rice mixed with lard, Jia Min climbed onto the bed contentedly and fell asleep immediately without showing any concern for Lai Ma. She didn't even ask Lai Ma how she was going to rest.

Almost a month passed like this, and Xifeng was about to give birth. The family decided to guide Jia Min to give birth quickly.