The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 530: Spring Day Fun
It was a warm March, and the Grand View Garden was full of pink peach blossoms and green willows, full of life. The third day of March was Jia Tanchun's birthday, and Grandmother Jia did not show favoritism. She ordered a birthday banquet for Jia Tanchun as usual, and invited a troupe to perform in the mansion, which made the whole mansion lively for the whole morning.

In the afternoon, everyone returned to the garden. Jia Huan had asked Ping'er to arrange several tables of fruit wine in Hongxiangpu to celebrate Jia Tanchun's birthday privately. He also invited Li Wan, Daiyu, Baochai, Baoqin, Xiangyun, Yingchun, Xichun and other girls, and also sent an invitation to Jia Baoyu.

Just as Shi Xiangyun had expected, Big Face Bao worked hard for a few days but then became lazy again, always finding excuses not to go to school. Today was Tanchun's birthday, and he had asked for leave from the teacher long ago. He was so happy that he had played for the whole morning but still felt unsatisfied. Although he was unhappy with Jia Huan, he still hurried to Hongxiangpu, because all the sisters were participating and he couldn't miss it.

Hongxiang Garden is located beside Qinfang Pond. It has three small open halls and is surrounded by various flowers. It is a great place to enjoy flowers. At this time of year, peonies and herbaceous peonies are in full bloom. The flowers are in clusters and bees and butterflies are swarming around. It is a beautiful sight. The rich fragrance of flowers is refreshing.

The banquet was set up in three small open halls, with a total of three seats. The masters occupied one seat, and the other two were occupied by maids. There was a lot of chatter and noise, and it was very lively. Everyone came forward to toast Jia Tanchun.

Let’s talk about Jia Tanchun. She was naturally very happy that Jia Huan had specially prepared a birthday banquet for her. She dressed up carefully and looked even more lively and elegant, which made people forget the mundane world. She accepted all the toasts from everyone and soon her face was flushed as if she was drunk.

Seeing this, Jia Huan quickly blocked the drink for her and said with a smile, "It's boring to just drink. Why don't we play some drinking games?"

This proposal immediately received a positive response from everyone. Jia Baoyu regretted not bringing it up first, and rushed to say, "Then let's write a couplet."

"We've already done it last time. It's boring. Let's do something else." Shi Xiangyun said.

Everyone was talking at once, some saying this order, some saying that order. Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Don't argue. Drawing lots is the fairest way. The order you draw will be the one you choose."

Jia Baoyu clapped his hands and said, "Sister Lin, what you said makes sense. Let's draw lots!"

Jia Huan then told Qingwen to get some paper and pen. Not long after, Qingwen brought some ink and some flowery paper and gave them to Jia Huan. Seeing Qingwen obeying Jia Huan's orders, Jia Baoyu felt very uncomfortable. Unfortunately, Qingwen didn't even look at him. The big-faced Bao could only feel sad.

"Sister Lin, you write it." Jia Huan handed the pen to Lin Daiyu, who smiled and said, "You can't write it yourself, but you have to use my hand."

Xiangling immediately rushed to say: "Miss Lin doesn't want to write, let me write it!"

Xue Baochai laughed and said, "She has just learned how to write poetry, and has been practicing calligraphy every day recently. She can't wait to show off in front of others."

Upon hearing this, Jia Huan quickly handed the pen and flowery paper to Xiangling, and said with a smile, "You should be bold and show off. That's how you make progress quickly."

Xiangling didn't dare to reply after hearing this. Xue Baochai said with a smile, "That's it. I shouldn't have said that just now."

Lin Daiyu encouraged her, "Silly girl, just write if I ask you to. What are you afraid of? Just listen to what I say, no matter if it's good or bad. You are a very smart person and you learn poetry quickly. Why are you afraid of not being able to write a few words?"

"I don't write well, you are not allowed to laugh!" Xiangling said.

"Just don't laugh." Everyone said in unison, and then everyone laughed.

Xiangling gritted her teeth and started writing. Her handwriting was beautiful. Although it couldn't be called beautiful, it was certainly not ugly.

Seeing that no one laughed, Dai Xiangling's confidence grew. The more she wrote, the more natural she became. Soon she had written all the orders on flowery paper, crumpled them up and threw them into a bottle, then asked, "Okay, who's going to pick it?"

"It's Tan's birthday today. She is the oldest, so naturally she will be the one to draw." Xue Baochai smiled.

Jia Tanchun took the lead without hesitation. She grabbed a pair of chopsticks, reached into the bottle, picked up a piece of flowery paper, opened it, and saw the words "Shefu" written on it.

Baochai laughed and said, "This is incredible. You have picked out the ancestor of this drinking game. It is more difficult than any other game. I am afraid that half of us cannot play it. It is better to destroy it and pick another one that is appreciated by both the refined and the popular."

Shefu is actually a guessing game. The Fu player asks the question first, and the Shooter guesses. If the Shooter cannot guess or guesses wrong, he will be fined to drink. At the same time, if the Fu player misjudges the Shooter's guess, he will also be fined to drink. It is indeed difficult to play. It is really difficult to play without a certain level of cultural education. Most of those girls can't even read a single word, so they definitely can't play it.

Jia Tanchun laughed and said, "Since you have already picked it out, why ruin it? You must play this game. Now pick another one. If it is something that both the refined and the popular can enjoy, let the maids play with it. We will just play this game of guessing the cover."

As Jia Tanchun spoke, she asked the maid to pick up a piece of flowery paper with chopsticks. When she opened it, she found it was a game of "thumb war", or finger-guessing.

Shi Xiangyun said happily: "This is simple and refreshing, which suits my temperament. I am not good at this "shooting cover", so I will just play finger-guessing."

Jia Tanchun said with a smile, "I am the commander, and everyone obeys me. You are the only one who makes disorderly orders. Sister Bao, please punish him with one hour's punishment."

"The master has ordered that Yun'er, you can't escape." Xue Baochai smiled and poured Shi Xiangyun a glass of wine.

Jia Tanchun was indeed quite heroic. She drank a cup herself and then said, "I am the commander. I will drink a cup first. You just listen to my orders."

At the same time, he asked someone to bring the dice and basin, and said, "Sister Qin will start throwing the dice, and then it will be our turn. The two people with the same points will shoot the cover."

"Then I'll roll!" Baoqin picked up the dice with a smile, threw it into the basin, and rolled out a "three".

Then everyone took turns to throw the dice, and finally Xiangling threw a "three", which matched Baoqin's number, so the two of them played a guessing game.

Xue Baoqin's almond-shaped eyes rolled around and she asked a question: "Old!" Xiangling was not good at this kind of drinking game. She looked around but couldn't find anything in the hall that was related to the word "old".

At this time, Jia Huan and Shi Xiangyun's eyes fell on the three words "Hongxiangpu" pasted on the door. They realized that Baoqin had covered the word "pu" in "I am not as good as Laopu", and they couldn't help but smile at each other.

At this time, Xiangling was obviously a little anxious. Xiangyun was good friends with Xiangling, so she secretly grabbed her hand and wrote on her palm. Unfortunately, Lin Daiyu found out and reported it, "Quickly punish her, Yun'er is cheating!"

So Xiangling and Xiangyun were both fined one cup. The latter was so angry that she wanted to knock Daiyu's hand with chopsticks, but was stopped by Jia Huan with a smile. Xiangyun rolled her eyes at Jia Huan angrily and said, "You protect her for now. You will know how powerful I am when she gets angry."

As a result, in the next round, Shi Xiangyun and Jia Huan matched in points, and Xiangyun asked a question.

Xiangyun was so happy now that she rolled up her sleeves and said with a smile, "God is merciful."

Jia Huan bowed and said with a smile: "Sister Yun, please show some mercy. I am not very talented or well-educated."

Everyone was laughing and watching the fun.

Xiangyun deliberately said proudly: "Then I will give an easy one, just the word 'person'."

Jia Huan couldn't help but frown. He examined the items around him and searched for the allusions in his mind. Everyone also showed a thoughtful expression.

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "I have to be fair. The word 'person' is too broad and a bit embarrassing."

Xiangyun said with a smile: "It is indeed difficult for others, but Huan'er is a five-yuan scholar. If you can't guess this, then it would be a bit unworthy of the reputation."

At this time, Lin Daiyu's eyes fell on the table, and she saw a dish of chicken. She couldn't help but feel moved, and secretly bumped into Jia Huan under the table. Jia Huan followed Lin Daiyu's gaze and suddenly had an idea, and smiled and said, "Yan."

Xiangyun was stunned for a moment, her eyes wide open, and she asked in disbelief, "How did you guess that?"

Jia Huan smiled and said, "It was a fluke. The word 'person' is too broad. There is chicken on the table, so I guessed that the allusion Sister Yun used was 'chicken person'. I didn't expect that I hit the mark."

Xiangling suddenly realized, "So Miss Shi's answer was the character 'chicken', but what's the allusion behind the character '埘' that Master Huan San shot?"

Baoqin said with a smile: "You have read too few books, so you naturally don't know the allusion of 'chickens roosting in the hut' used by Brother Huan."

Xiangling blushed and stuck out her tongue. Ying'er and the others also stuck out their tongues and said, "This drinking game is too difficult. Let's just play finger-guessing games."

Shi Xiangyun drank a cup of wine with a bit of annoyance and said, "Damn it, Huan Ge'er has shot me. I don't want to play anymore. I'll go play finger-guessing too." Then she ran to the maids' table to play finger-guessing, shouting in a mess.

Xue Baochai glanced at Lin Daiyu meaningfully and said with a smile, "Brother Huan, come here. I want to change seats with you."

When Jia Huan and Lin Daiyu heard this, they realized that Xue Baochai had discovered their secret affair, and their faces became red.

Jia Huan and Baochai switched places and everyone continued to play. This game of guessing covers was indeed too difficult and a bit boring, so everyone stopped playing after a round and started playing finger-guessing games instead.

When Xiangyun defeated Daiyu, she asked Daiyu to make a command based on the amount of wine. The amount of wine had to be a sentence from ancient Chinese, a poem, the name of a domino, a name of a tune, and a sentence from history books, all together to form a sentence, and the amount of wine had to be the names of fruits and vegetables related to human affairs.

This was obviously an attempt to make things difficult for Lin Daiyu. After a little thought, she came up with an answer, saying, "The setting sun and the lone wild goose fly together. The wind is strong and the wild geese are passing by the river and sky. It is a broken-legged goose, and its cry makes people feel heartbroken. It is a wild goose that has come to visit."

Jia Huan couldn't help but give a thumbs up. Lin Daiyu smiled, reached out and picked up a hazelnut from the fruit plate, and said from the bottom of the wine: "Hazelnuts are not from the anvils in the next yard, so why do thousands of households pound clothes?"

Seeing that she failed to stump Daiyu, Xiangyun had to give up and continued playing finger-guessing games, but this time she lost to Baoqin.

Baoqin said with a smile: "Then let's give him a taste of his own medicine. Just like Sister Lin, you should also say something under the guise of wine."

Xiangyun said confidently: "Qin girl, you are underestimating me by challenging me with my question. Listen, I will answer it right away: The river is surging and roaring, and the waves are surging like the sky. We need to tie up the boat with iron chains. Since we have encountered a strong wind, it is not suitable to go out."

Baochai couldn't help laughing and said, "What a heartbreaking lie! No wonder Yun girl made such a request, deliberately making people laugh. Now tell me the truth about the wine."

Shi Xiangyun reached out and took half a duck head from the plate and started to eat it. As she ate, she said, "This duck head is not that girl's. The one with the osmanthus oil on her head is asking for it."

Everyone burst into laughter. Ying'er, Cuilu, Qingwen and the others ran over and said, "Miss Shi is making fun of us girls. She deserves to be punished. Let's drink her wine."

Then the maids took turns to pour Shi Xiangyun so much that she begged for mercy. Only then did they leave with a smile on their faces.

(End of this chapter)