Practical Life in the Red Mansion

Not to mention that some members of the Jia family tossed and turned, unable to sleep, but the Lin family took a long time to rest after Wang Xifeng left.

Lin Yun and Daiyu came to the north for the first time. Lin Yun looked left and right curiously, and excitedly said to Jia Min: "Mother, there is still a room in the house." The rooms are separated." The Bisha cabinet is similar to today's indoor wooden doors, which divide a room into two rooms and are connected by multiple partition doors, but they are not usually opened, leaving only the two in the middle to open and close. , A curtain frame is installed on the surface of the switch door leaf, and the curtain can be hung when the door leaf is opened.Most of the Lin family's houses are small and exquisite, either without partitions, or with Duobao Pavilion or flower covers as partitions.

Lin Yun said curiously: "Mother, it's so warm here." Lin Yun raised his face and said to Jia Min.Jia Min carried him to the kang and said, "The kang is burning in the house, can it not be warm?"

"The kang, is this the one I'm sitting on?" Lin Yun touched it curiously with his little hand, "There is also one in my grandmother's room, and it feels warm to the touch." Daiyu also put her hand on the blue brick curiously: "Mom, brick Why is it hot?"

"The firewood was burned outside, and heat and smoke came out through the gap inside the kang, and the green bricks outside became hot." Jia Min explained, but her explanation obviously couldn't satisfy the curious baby, even Lin Yang was a little curious, He had never seen a kang in his previous life, and most of the ones he had seen were connected to the stove. When he visited the Forbidden City in his previous life, he found that there was a kang in the house, but there was no chimney.

"Mother, where to burn firewood, and why didn't I see any place where there was smoke?" Lin Yun asked curiously.

Apparently Jia Min didn't know, she said vaguely: "It's all outside." Lin Yun's eyes were bright and he naturally wanted to go out to have a look, but of course Jia Min refused.

In the morning of the second day, the curiosity of Lin Yun and others was satisfied. The stove doors of the heated kang and fire place are usually set outside, and the firewood is burned outdoors.There is an approximately square ash pit under each stove door, which is usually covered with a piece of wood to keep the room clean and hygienic.This kind of heated kang and fire ground generally do not have a chimney, but a convoluted flue to emit smoke. After adding firewood from the outdoor stove door, the burning smoke first passes through the fire ground, then rises into the kang road, and then circles away. It is commonly known as "two dragons spitting beards". From the outside, it looks like smoke coming out of the wood inlet.

"Mother, do we have a kang at our home in the capital?"

"Yes, there are not only heated kangs, but also fire places."

"What is the fire ground? Is the fire in the ground?" Lin Yun asked again.

"Yes, yes, well, go to sleep." Jia Min felt that he could not satisfy Lin Yun's curiosity, so he could only let him go to sleep domineeringly.

Lin Yun rolled his eyes a few times and said, "I want to sleep on this kang."

Jia Min smiled when she heard the words: "Are you really not going to sleep in the bed in the Bisha closet? Then it's settled, you can't yell not to sleep here in the middle of the night." Light the candles, silly boy, the kang is so hard, you can sleep comfortably, and the heat makes you thirsty.

Lin Yun nodded excitedly: "I'm going to sleep on the kang, I haven't slept yet." Jia Min and Daiyu covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and laughed secretly.Lin Yang really wanted to help his forehead, silly brother, you are going to be cheated.

Jia Min smiled and asked Lin Yang and Daiyu to go back to the wing room to rest, and he went to the Dongshao Room, leaving Lin Yun to sleep on the kang in the West Room. Sure enough, Lin Yun couldn't stand it after sleeping until midnight. The little pillow went to sleep in the green yarn cabinet.When Daiyu arrived, she was still sound asleep.

Jia Min had already tidied up. Seeing her daughter coming so early, she felt distressed and said, "Why did you get up so early? Didn't you tell Yao Huang to let you sleep more?"

Daiyu smiled and said: "On the first day, I must get up and go to say hello to my grandmother." She covered her face with a handkerchief and yawned.Mother Jia is getting older, so she wakes up earlier, at the beginning of Mao, while Daiyu and Lin Yun get up at Maozheng in summer and Chenchu ​​in winter, and they have to get up an hour earlier when they come to Jia's house.

Jia Min asked Chunyi to bring a small bowl of red bean and yam porridge for Daiyu to drink: "Drink it first to warm your body, and when we go back to our own home, we don't have to get up so early."

Daiyu used a small spoon one bite at a time, and asked, "Is my brother still up?" Jia Min smiled, "It's midnight, I went to bed in the Bisha cabinet."

Daiyu touched her face and said, "Don't say my younger brother can't stand it, I can't stand the weather either, it's so cold outside and the wind blowing on my face feels like a knife cut, and I feel my throat is dry when I sleep in the room. I drank water several times."

Jia Min fondled Daiyu's head and said, "It's cold and dry like this in Beijing. Don't forget to use the balm I sent you."

When Jia Min led Lin Yang and Daiyu to Jia's mother's house, Sanchun, Baoyu and others hadn't come yet, and Lin Yang was ready to go back to study after asking Ann.Mother Jia felt distressed: "When you study in the cold, the ink won't melt. Why don't you stay and have a good talk with grandma."

"Mother, learning is like sailing against the current, and you can't relax for a moment." Jia Min persuaded, insisting that Lin Yang go back to study.

"Hey, your brother, what can you say if you don't feel sorry for others." Jia Mu sighed, and Jia Min smiled and said, "I love him."

"By the way, there is one more thing I want to tell my mother." Jia Min said with a smile: "My master asked a friend in Beijing to guide Brother Yang. That friend was a teacher for the younger brother of the Mu family at Princess Puyang's mansion. The young master of the Mu family found out and invited Brother Yang to live with him in the Princess Mansion."

Mother Jia thought for a while: "Princess Puyang's grandson, the son of the Mu family." Mother Jia thought for a while, and then she was a little excited and said: "But the son of the king of Dongping County, Brother Yang is really a good fortune." Seeing Daiyu smiling again Sitting on the side listening to them talking, he smiled and said, "You left in a hurry last night, and I was thinking of letting my granddaughter live with me."

"Baoyu is still living in your house. If Yu'er wants to live in, Baoyu has to move out, disturbing your cleanliness." Jia Min declined with a smile, and Jia's mother was a little disappointed: "I just want to let you go. The two jade children are just in love with me."

Jia Min's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't show it on her face: "Mother only thinks about my granddaughter, why doesn't she think about me a little bit, I still want to live with my mother, and be filial to her." Then she took Jia Mu's arm and said coquettishly.

"Okay, okay," Jia Mu smiled and nodded Jia Min's forehead: "You are all mothers, and you are still acting like a baby with me, so I am not afraid that Yu'er will laugh at you."

Daiyu smiled when she heard the words: "Even if my mother is gray-haired and is your daughter, she can still act like a baby to you."

After speaking, Sanchun came over to greet Mother Jia, and Jia Min took a closer look at her three nieces. Among the three, Yingchun was the most beautiful, but she was too gentle, so she was quiet after greeting her. Sitting quietly, without saying a word, it is not bad to be meek, but if meek to the point of dullness, it would be too much.Tanchun is very lively and smart, the most eye-catching of the three sisters, she can be seen from the corners of her brows and eyes, but unfortunately for Tanchun's background, having this kind of spirit is not a good thing.Even though Xichun was young, she could tell that her eyebrows and eyes were delicate, but her lips were always tightly pressed, revealing a bit of stubbornness.

Jia Min looked away and let Daiyu chat with the three sisters.Jia Min glanced at the chiming clock, and couldn't help asking: "Is Baoyu still awake at this hour, will he be late for school?"

Jia Mu waved her hand and said, "It's cold and he's weak. I was afraid he'd freeze, so I didn't let him go to school." Baoyu came rushing, greeted Jia Mu and Jia Min first, then saw Daiyu, his eyes lit up, and he said with a smile: "Why did my sister come here so early? My sister slept well last night. I was thinking of getting up early to see you."

When Daiyu saw Baoyu coming in, she snuggled into Jia Min's arms and said with a smile, "That cousin got up really early today." First cousins ​​should be so close."

The smile on Jia Min's face could hardly hold back: "Yu'er is a girl, I'm afraid I won't get along with Baoyu, but I should get closer to Brother Yun. I heard that Baoyu is very smart, so it's better for Brother Yun to get along with her." Zhan Baoyu's dexterity." As he spoke, he asked Chunyu, "Go back and have a look, brother Yun is up yet?" Chunyu was sent to fetch Lin Yun.

After everyone had breakfast, Jia Min led Daiyu and Lin Yun to leave. Tanchun glanced at Baoyu and said with a smile, "Auntie, I heard from Sister Lin that the plum blossoms in your yard are blooming. It's very quiet. Can we sisters come over?" have a look."

Before Jia Mu could speak, Jia Min said, "We just came here and the yard was so chaotic that there was no place to set foot on it. When it's cleaned up, I'll ask Daiyu to invite you over, so that you sisters can have a good time, that's great." It's not that Jia Min hates her niece, but she thinks that when Sanchun is going, Baoyu will definitely follow. Although he is eight years old, he is ignorant of some rules and etiquette. Mother Jia was not happy.

Jia Min led Daiyu and Lin Yun back to the courtyard, first sent Lin Yang to Mu Zheng, then wrote a post and handed it to Lin Hai's cousin, Shi Jiang, the right deputy governor of the third rank of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Ann, and directed the little girl to take out the usual things.

That's when the little girl came to report that the second master Lian had come, and Jia Min signaled Daiyu to take Lin Yun to the Bisha closet.

Jia Lian bowed to Jia Min before sitting down and apologizing: "My son went to Ping'an Prefecture a while ago and knew that my aunt was coming, so I hurried but still couldn't meet my aunt. I didn't arrive until early today. Please forgive me, aunt." Thinking about it, he said with a smile: "You just came back, don't take a good rest, when can't you come to see me, I'm your aunt, so I can blame you for it."

Jia Lian said with a smile: "My aunt doesn't complain because my aunt loves the younger generation very much, but we can't break the rules because of this." Then he asked: "My aunt has been settled, what is missing, aunt tell me, I will go and give it to my aunt." Look for it. The girls and servants serve with all their heart? Why haven't you seen your cousins?"

Regarding Jia Lian's concern, Jia Min was very ironic: "It's just such a small matter, there is a man's family working here, isn't there your daughter-in-law, she is very well arranged. Brother Yang has gone out, Brother Yun and your cousin , I think they are noisy, let them play."

Jia Lian listened with a smile and said: "The praise of my aunt is also her blessing. If there is anything for my aunt, you can just send the little girl to tell her. Don't worry about your cousins, there are sisters in the house." Then So he told me the location of the yard where he lived.

Jia Min was a little puzzled: "Why do you live behind the Rongxi Hall? I remember that the yard is very small."

Jia Lian was a little embarrassed: "Originally, I lived with my father. Later, my second aunt let Feng girl be the housekeeper, and lived in the east courtyard. It was very inconvenient for people to come and go. The second aunt said that there are many things in the house, and I can't do without Feng girl. Cooking, let us move in."

Jia Min secretly lamented that Jia Lian and his wife were confused. They were obviously the sons and grandsons of the first wife, but they didn't know what it meant to be behind the second room. Mother is confused, Dafang is the heir.Thinking of this, Jia Min asked in a low voice: "You and your daughter-in-law have been married for several years. Why is there only a girl under your knees? Don't be confused. The first son is the most important thing. The concubine Ji is just a plaything. You can't marry her as the first wife." face."

Jia Min felt that Jia Lian had a favorite and would not be close to Wang Xifeng anymore, Jia Lian faltered and said: "It's not what my aunt thinks, there is only one person in my house."

Jia Min was a little astonished, thinking of her sad childlessness, said: "You should have a son as soon as possible." Jia Lian should be, but he felt a little bitter in his heart. After he married Wang Xifeng, he also conceived a boy. Because of the funeral, she had a miscarriage, and finally had a daughter.

Seeing Jia Lian's expression, Jia Min comforted her and said, "You have a big sister, you will bloom first and then bear fruit, just take care of it."

Just as they were talking, a woman came in to reply. It was Lin Ping who told Jia Min that the people arranged by Mu Zheng were already helping to repair the house, and asked Jia Min for some regulations.

Jia Lian listened on the side, and couldn't help admiring: "This son of the Mu family has become an official at the age of thirteen or fourteen. He is stronger than other adults. I have met him once from afar. Not to mention his grandeur, his demeanor Few people can match her looks."

It didn't sound like that, Jia Min coughed lightly, and Jia Lian came to his senses, his face turned red, and he excused himself to leave, but Jia Min didn't keep him, and asked him to take a ginseng back to Sister Feng to recuperate her body.

Jia Lian went back to the room, handed the ginseng to Wang Xifeng, and told Jia Min what he meant, but Wang Xifeng didn't care about it because he was strong.Jia Lian said again: "I heard that my aunt is repairing the house in Beijing. Go and ask my aunt if she can help you." Wang Xifeng was thinking about hearing from the young man this morning that Jia Min transported most of the luggage to the Lin family. , presumably it was arranged long ago, and they were not very enthusiastic, so they responded perfunctorily.