The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 758 Teasing
Baoqin and Qiaojie climbed the steps and soon reached the top, arriving at the front of Tubi Villa. There they saw Jia Huan, dressed in a green robe, sitting on a stone bench playing the flute. His tall and slender figure, with his robes fluttering in the wind, made his already refined and gentle temperament even more elegant.

"It really is Uncle Huan! Aunt Qin, you win!" Qiao Jie'er said in a low voice, a little annoyed.

Xue Baoqin watched Jia Huan's retreating figure, her bright eyes flashing with a strange light. Suddenly, she leaned close to Qiao Jie'er's ear and whispered a few words. After listening, the latter hesitated and said, "No, Uncle Huan will be angry."

Baoqin urged, "What are you afraid of? Your Uncle Huan has always been very fond of you, hasn't he? Can't you even take a joke? Besides, you lost the bet, but you promised to do something for Aunt Qin. Do you want to be a shameless, ungrateful little dog?"

Qiao Jie said with difficulty, "Madam said that Uncle Huan is now a Marquis, and we can't be presumptuous in front of him. I... I dare not tease him."

Baoqin provoked her, saying, "I think you're just a coward. Fine, the kaleidoscope is gone, from now on I'll call you 'Mangy Dog Qiaojie'."

Qiao Jie'er immediately became anxious and hurriedly said, "I'll go, I'll go."

Baoqin smiled smugly. "Little brat, I can't handle you." She pointed at Jia Huan, who was still engrossed in playing the flute, and whispered, "Be quiet, and don't let him find out."

So, the two of them crept up behind Jia Huan, and Xue Baoqin covered Jia Huan's eyes with both hands, trying not to laugh, while playfully winking at Qiao Jie'er.

"Uncle Huan, guess who I am?" Qiao Jie'er said with a giggle.

Jia Huan was engrossed in his playing when his eyes were suddenly covered. He was startled at first, but then he heard Qiao Jie'er's slightly childish voice calling him Uncle Huan. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Silly girl, you've already called me Uncle Huan, and you still want me to guess!"

Qiao Jie'er giggled happily: "Then Uncle Huan, guess quickly!"

Jia Huan pulled the person behind him to the front with a backhand grab, pinning her to his lap. He then slapped her protruding buttocks and laughed, "Qiao Jie'er, you naughty girl..."

Snapped……

The crisp slap not only stunned Xue Baoqin, but also bewildered Jia Huanhuan. This elasticity... (subconsciously rubbed it) This feels wrong!

Jia Huan stared intently, then froze, exclaiming, "Sister Qin!"

At this moment, Xue Baoqin's face was flushed red with shame and anger. She quickly escaped from Jia Huan's embrace. Qiao Jie'er, being young and naive, saw that Uncle Huan had hit the wrong person and clapped her hands and giggled incessantly: "You guessed wrong, Uncle Huan guessed wrong!"

Xue Baoqin was both amused and exasperated. She had only intended to tease Jia Huan, but unexpectedly, she had walked right into his trap. She was both ashamed and angry, and stared at Jia Huan with her large, watery almond-shaped eyes as if she were about to cry.

Jia Huan panicked a bit. Baoqin was different from the others; she was clever and mischievous. If she started shouting, it would be hard to control the situation. Moreover, there was a naughty girl named Qiaojie next to her. He quickly apologized, "Sister Qin, I'm sorry. I thought it was Qiaojie. It was a misunderstanding!"

Seeing Jia Huan's flustered appearance, Xue Baoqin felt both embarrassed and amused. She never expected that her usually composed brother Huan could be flustered. Her eyes darted around mischievously, and she turned around, squatted down, covered her face, and began to sob.

"This..." Jia Huan was at a loss. Qiao Jie'er, who was standing next to him, looked completely confused and asked innocently, "Uncle Huan, did you hurt Aunt Qin?"

Jia Huan said awkwardly, "Maybe!"

"Uncle Huan, hurry up and coax her!" Qiao Jie'er nudged Jia Huan and said.

At this moment, Baoqin cried even more sadly. At first, she was just pretending to cry, but after Jia Huan squatted down beside her and gently comforted her for a while, Baoqin's nose tingled and she started to cry for real. Tears streamed down her face, and she looked like a pear blossom in the rain. Tsk tsk, this girl's acting skills are truly self-taught.

Seeing this, Jia Huan panicked even more. In the end, he could only helplessly lean close to Baoqin's ear and plead, "Good sister, little aunt, my goodness, please stop crying! If others see this, it will be terrible, and I will have no way to explain myself!"

Xue Baoqin burst out laughing through her tears, her pretty face flushed as she spat, "What great-grandmother? I'm not that old!"

Jia Huan breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "As long as Sister Qin stops crying, I'll call her whatever I want."

"Then call me 'Good Sister' twice more." Xue Baoqin blinked her long eyelashes, still glistening with tears, looking just like a cunning little fox, both adorable and infuriating. Jia Huan hesitated for a moment, but the girl immediately put on a tearful act, so he had no choice but to call her "Good Sister" twice.

Xue Baoqin then grabbed Jia Huan's sleeve triumphantly, wiped her face haphazardly to remove her tears, and pouted, saying, "This isn't over yet. I'll settle the score with you later."

After Xue Baoqin finished speaking, she took Qiao Jie'er's little hand and said, "Qiao Jie'er, let's go." Then she picked up Qiao Jie'er and walked down the mountain.

Jia Huan looked utterly dejected; this was truly an undeserved disaster!

Then Baoqin carried Qiaojie to the bend in the stone steps, where Jia Huan couldn't see her, and put Qiaojie down. She whispered slyly, "Qiaojie, don't tell anyone what happened just now, understand?"

Qiao Jie asked, puzzled, "Why can't I tell you?"

"Anyway, you can't tell anyone. If you do, the kaleidoscope will be gone, and Aunt Qin won't let you play with it anymore. Think it through."

The last threat was incredibly powerful, and Qiao Jie'er nodded hurriedly, saying, "I won't tell anyone, Aunt Qin, please don't ignore me!"

Baoqin then beamed and said, "That's right. Aunt Qin will buy you a kaleidoscope and a shaved ice cream tomorrow, um, jasmine tea flavored."

Qiao Jie licked her little lips and said happily, "It's a deal, Aunt Qin can't go back on her word this time."

"Absolutely not!" Baoqin assured her as she led Qiaojie down the mountain, where two maids were waiting.

At this moment, Qiao Jie suddenly looked up and asked, "Does Aunt Qin also like my Uncle Huan?"

Baoqin blushed and scolded, "That's nonsense, it's not true."

Qiao Jie'er said with a grin, "Aunt Qin is blushing, and she still says no."

Baoqin's face flushed, and she lightly slapped Qiaojie, saying, "You little brat, you're so precocious! What do you know?"

Qiao Jie stuck out her tongue, let go of Bao Qin's hand, and ran away giggling, turning back to say, "Don't worry, Aunt Qin, I won't tell anyone!"

Baoqin stamped her foot and hurriedly chased after him, reminding him, "Slow down, be careful not to roll down the mountain, or you'll have a lot to cry about."

Baoqin and Qiaojie returned to the Aojing Pavilion at the foot of the mountain and saw Qingwen there as well. Baoqin asked somewhat guiltily, "Sister Qingwen, when did you arrive?"

Qingwen smiled and said, "Hearing the sound of the flute, I came this way to find our master. By the way, did Miss Qin see our master on the mountain?"

“Uncle Huan is up on the mountain!” Qiao Jie’er said first.

Baoqin was clearly worried that the little girl would talk nonsense, so she quickly said, "Brother Huan is indeed playing the flute on the mountain. We just met him. What does Sister Qingwen want with him?"

Qingwen said, "Just now someone sent word that a Second Master Liu has come to visit, claiming to be an old friend of our Third Master, and insists on meeting him."

"Oh, Huan-gege is upstairs, go find him."

Qingwen curtsied and gracefully ascended the steps.

(End of this chapter)