Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 375 Wang Xifeng’s scheming
Beijing,

Rongguo Mansion,
Everything in the house was as usual today, as if the news of Jia Min's death a few days ago had never happened before. Only the old lady muttered a few words from time to time and shed a few tears.

But with the three girls Baoyu and Miharu surrounding him and coaxing him, he forgot his sadness and became happy.

As for the others, Jia Zheng and Jia She were just sad for one day, and they behaved like normal people for the next few days.
In addition to running the affairs of the ministry, Jia Zheng also convened guests from the house to talk about articles and drink tea to relax.

Jia She, on the other hand, seemed to be obsessed with Qiu Tong. Every time he fooled around in the study, Mrs. Xing was so upset that she gnashed her teeth in hatred.

Even Jia Zheng's second wife, Mrs. Jia Zheng, eats fasts and prays to Buddha every day, and Jia She's wife, Mrs. Xing, visits the garden every day, but there is no change.

On the other hand, Wang Xifeng was the only one who was always worried about Jia Lian, not only for his safety, but also for whether Jia Lian went to the land of fireworks again while he was in Jiangnan.

Wang Xifeng, who was the kiln sister of Qinhuai River, didn't know that Yangzhou was a thin horse. She grew up in Jinling and had heard the name of the thin horse for a long time. She missed her several times a day, and she didn't think about food and drinks, so she lost weight.

Ping'er walked in with the food. Seeing the second grandma dazed again, he went over and patted the second grandma on the shoulder and reminded her,

"Grandma, this can't be done. You've only been away for a few days and you're already like this. You've lost a lot of weight. The people outside are waiting for Second Grandma to arrange for help.
Recently, all the goods have been prepared. Over at the Hou Mansion, the Chamber of Commerce Chairman said that they can leave at any time, but the number of people traveling with the caravan will need to be close to 400, and the second mistress needs to arrange for 300 people to follow, and the Chamber of Commerce over there has also At least 300 people should stay behind to help carry and unload the goods, and the accompanying stewards will buy various fodder and grain from the village below. "

As soon as Wang Xifeng heard that the caravan was ready and was about to set off, she felt excited, looking forward to the stars and the moon, but she was waiting.

This time, I spent more than 2 taels of silver from my bank account and the 5 taels borrowed from the Hou Mansion. I spent too much money on recruiting Jia family members and settling in, 500 people, back and forth. In the past six months, including food and drink expenses, the 1 taels of silver were almost gone, all of which were covered by my own dowry. Now I am just looking forward to the caravan's departure.

"We still need so many people. Didn't we say that 500 people are enough? What's going on? The people from the Jia family here went to work first. Auntie and I paid for it myself. I really can't get the money now. Shang There isn't much money over there. It's said that the head of the Hou Mansion is away and he doesn't dare to withdraw money from the house. What do you mean by that? If my aunt is here, he will be so arrogant."

Speaking of this, Wang Xifeng became very angry. Apart from the money given to the two employees, he didn’t give anything else. He said that he was sharing some expenses as a shareholder. I don’t know if I, the second mistress, have no money. I’m not short-sighted. s things.

Ping'er took out the bowl and chopsticks and turned it into a bowl of rice.

"Why should the second grandma be angry? She has no silver in her hand, but they didn't say she wouldn't give them one tael. This time Ping'er went to ask for it and gave 1000 taels for the crew's shipping costs. Two taels of silver per person. What did grandma say?"

After speaking, he took out a 1000 tael of silver notes and placed it on the table. Wang Xifeng's eyes lit up, then dimmed again, and said;
"What's the use? One person only gets two taels of silver. A maid in the Rongguo Mansion already gets two taels of silver every month. What's the difference?"

"Then, grandma doesn't want it anymore, I'll share it with the people below,"

Ping'er didn't seem to wink, he stretched out his hand to take it, but was instantly slapped on the buttocks by Wang Xifeng, and said brokenly;

"You little hooves, you are so outrageous. Can you take this? I don't know that I am not even willing to buy rouge and gouache. With these 1000 taels of silver, I can save a little and still be able to last a lot of time until the caravan comes back." Enough."

Ping'er touched his buttocks, his face flushed with embarrassment. It hurt even if he tried so hard, but there was a strange feeling hidden in his heart.

"Grandma is so unreasonable now. You don't want it, and you come to beat her. Besides, why doesn't Grandma move because of the money in the house? Borrowing some money can help ease the situation."

"Humph, do I dare? Everyone's eyes are watching. Besides, this business is my Wang Xifeng's business, and the Jia family's business is the Jia family's, so it's better to separate. When the time comes, the money will be collected and it will be in my hands. Here, if other people want to get money, it’s impossible.

Even if you want to give it, it depends on whether I am in a good mood or not. I can still be the same as before. When you have no money, you come to me. You can prepare a copy of the accounts of the house. When the time comes, the second wife, my good aunt, I really can’t do it in private anymore, housekeeper. Return the power to her, no matter how she wants to make money from me. "

Wang Xifeng's eyes sparkled, "Jia Lian and I have a share in the Rongguo Mansion. Even if the families are divided, we don't live in our own way. With the income, we really don't have to worry about it."

"By the way, didn't your second master transport a lot of game from the military camp? How is the bacon being made?"

"Back to my second grandma, it's all done. It's different this time. It's not the air-dried kind before. It's baked and smoked over fire. It has a unique taste. It was hung in the air vent just a few days after it was delivered. !”

Of course Ping'er remembered that this was the second master who led his troops to the Pingshan hunting ground in the northwest. They hunted a lot of game. He also heard that another way to make it was delicious, so he brought it back specially for others to bake and explained it.

"Okay, I'll eat first, and you can prepare it for your second master. Pack up the meat and see how to divide it. You can send the best to the old lady, and you can measure the rest yourself and distribute it everywhere, Baoyu. Don’t forget it over there too.”

Ping'er owed his lower body and agreed to do this.

On the second day,
Ping'er took the people to transport the smoked bacon back. Several carts of bacon could smell the aroma of meat from a long way away. After entering the courtyard, Wang Xifeng and Ping'er sent people to distribute them, making the entire Rongguo Mansion lively. Miss Shaoyantou sent someone to take a look.

In Rongxi Hall, while Mrs. Wang, the second wife, was greeting her, Jia Mu asked, "Why are you hearing so much noise outside today? What happened to that noise?"

The second wife smiled;
"Go back to mother, it's nothing serious. In the yard outside, there are game meats that Lian'er caught while hunting. They say they are smoked bacon. They are so delicious. Every family and the servants in the house can share some of it, even the slaves. They can have food today, how can they not be happy, it would be nice to be more lively."

"Lian'er has been gone for a long time, and I don't know what's going on in the south. I'm still worried. Hey, when did you hunt the game?"

"Before I left, I went to the Pingshan hunting ground before returning from the camp. I heard that this method is very popular in the major restaurants in the capital, and they all said it was delicious. As soon as Lian'er heard about it, he led his troops to hunt. Find someone to make bacon."

Mother Jia was full of smiles and wanted to say something, but she heard a commotion outside the door. It turned out that Wang Xifeng came over laughing and joking. At the door, she met Mrs. You from Dongfu. They greeted each other for a while. Joking and entering the door.

Jia Mu looked up and saw Wang Xifeng and said;

"I was talking about you just now. Your Lian Er got some good things, but why didn't you give some to my old lady? How could you care about the outside world first? Did Sister You come and take it away?"

After hearing this, Youshi could not admit it and said with a smile;
"Old lady, you have wronged me. When I first came here and smelled the fragrance, Feng Lazi saw me and took it away. I couldn't even catch up."

Wang Xifeng knew what Jia Mu was talking about as soon as she heard it, and even came to tease her, she immediately laughed and said;
"Hey, Sister-in-law You is also sarcastic in her words. Look at what the old lady said. What good things are there? Who dares not to honor you first, old lady? I'm afraid that all the Tumo stars in the house will drown me.

As soon as the things arrived in the morning, I asked Ping'er to pick out the good ones, wrap them in oil paper, and send them to each room. I also took a piece of hind leg meat and asked the kitchen to steam it. After it was steamed, Ping'er Bring it over and try it together. The smoked bacon is so delicious. "

"Look, I just said something to her. There are so many words waiting for me. How come I heard that there are also servants in the house? What's going on?"

Jia Mu was curious, how much was done.

"It's quite a lot, three big cars, Dongfu also had a share. After sending it over, there was still one car left. I thought that the house would also extend its kindness now, so if there was not enough left, I would send it to the kitchen. This If you eat it both days, what will it taste like?"

"So much."

Many people still don’t know that the bacon they make is just a cart, and the owner takes a little bit of it, but they never thought there would be so much and how much money would be needed.

While talking, Ping'er and the maids lined up outside and brought in more than a dozen trays. There were two small plates on each side. Inside were neatly sliced ​​bacon. The meat was sliced ​​thin and the fat leaked out. , after the bacon is steamed.

Only the meat quality of bacon can fill your mouth with fragrance, have a mellow flavor, be fat but not greasy, and be thin without clogging your teeth.

People in the room looked over unconsciously. Wang Xifeng laughed and cursed when he saw it;
"You said you cut it so thin, what if Baoyu and the others can't eat Zui Yin? Why did you cut it so much?"

"Second Grandma, I think my wife, grandma, and girls are all here, so I cut more. Second Master Bao is in a hurry to eat big pieces, so he eats less."

Seeing that Ping'er dared to talk too much, Wang Xifeng waved her hand,

"Come on, you are good after all and are more thoughtful than me."

Although Mrs. Jia's teeth were not very good, she looked at the good smoked bacon and the aroma went straight to her nose. She thought about Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian's thoughts, so she smiled on her face.

She asked the maid to bring over a plate and put it on the table on the kang. She took the chopsticks in the tray and picked out one to put into her mouth. Mother Jia secretly said it was delicious, fragrant and fragrant, fat but not greasy, thin but not stiff. Endless aftertaste.

"Sure enough, it's the signature restaurant in Beijing. It tastes really good."

Jia Mu gave a fair and satisfactory evaluation, and then said to Jia Baoyu and Sanchun Sanya;

"Come over and eat. Since it's your brother and sister-in-law's wish, have a good meal and don't eat too much. Although the food is good, eating too much will make you tired and not good for your health."

Jia Baoyu was sitting on a chair and had already started eating with chopsticks. Sanchun was slowly and gracefully gathering around a table, whispering while eating. Wang Xifeng picked up a big piece of meat with chopsticks and came over and stuffed it into Sister-in-law You. mouth,
"Sister-in-law, open your mouth. I thought this is the most delicious and want to give it to you to try."

Youshi ducked back, but she couldn't hide where she was sitting on the chair. She had no choice but to open her mouth and eat it, with a flattered look on her face.
"You're welcome, I can come by myself,"

After finishing speaking, he finally swallowed it and hit Wang Xifeng who was still laughing at his joke.

Baoyu sat opposite Youshi and ate for a while. He looked up at Youshi from time to time. When he saw that Youshi had less meat on his plate than himself, he suddenly walked over in confusion.
(End of this chapter)