Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 107 The third day of May

While Sister Feng welcomed Qiu Tong into the main hall, Lai Shangrong also came to Lixiangyuan with congratulatory gifts.

"Brother Lai!"

As soon as they arrived at Lixiangyuan, they were welcomed into the hall by Xue Pan and saw that Feng Ziying and Wei Ruolan had already arrived.

Everyone greeted each other, and Feng Ziying smiled and asked, "Why aren't Brother Zhen, Brother Lian, and Baoyu here?"

Jia Zhen's matter is not a secret in the second house, but Feng Ziying and others don't know that they come to celebrate the birthday mainly because of the Jia family's face, so they can't wait to ask.

The Xue family lived in Lixiangyuan. Aunt Xue and Baochai had good ears and eyes, so they naturally got wind of it and knew that Lai Shangrong and Jia Zhen were not on good terms, so they did not invite Jia Zhen this time.

Xue Pan didn't know what was going on and said, "I guess I haven't gotten up yet!"

Lai Shangrong knew that Jia Lian had concubines, but he didn't expose it, and the four of them started fighting.

Without saying a few words, Jia Lian was led in by his servants.

Lai Shangrong just thought that something happened to his concubine, and asked quickly: "Huh? Why are brothers Lian here?"

Everyone here knew the truth, and Jia Lian was not afraid of embarrassment, so he told the whole story and how it was left to the side.

Xue Panming said unfairly: "Second brother Lian, don't spoil her, cousin is too much, how can we men throw face like this when we are concubines!"

There were many people talking, so Lai Shangrong pretended to make peace and said: "I should tell my sister-in-law about this matter. The elders are grateful! If you don't say it, it will embarrass my sister-in-law!"

Then he changed the subject and said with a smile: "But now that I have entered the door, my sister-in-law can still stop me from letting him have the wedding!"

After all, Feng Ziying and Wei Ruolan were outsiders. After a few words of persuasion, they changed the topic and said to Jia Lian: "I heard that the newly appointed Yin of Shuntian Prefecture is a fellow clan member of your house. Is this true?"

Jia Lian smiled and said: "You are talking about Jia Yu Village on Xinglong Street, right? He is indeed from the same clan as ours. He came to Beijing on our boat!"

Feng Ziying said with a smile: "It's strange that he has become a third-rank official just a few years after his resurrection. It turns out that he is related to the family!"

After hearing this, Jia Lian was confused by Yourong, waved his hands and said with a smile: "Since we are from the same sect, we have to help, but I am just a third-grade person!"

Lai Shangrong sneered. The Jia family had a lot of say in the military, but they didn't have that much power in the civil service system.

If the Jia family really had such resources, they would have used them on Jia Zheng long ago.

In the eyes of outsiders, he was also in the favor of the Jia family, so it was impossible for him to say anything disobeying and ruin the Jia family's face.

Jia Lian suffered from the feeling of being a coward at home, but here he was praised by everyone, but he was very high-spirited, and soon he forgot his previous unhappiness.

While they were chatting and laughing, they suddenly heard a noise coming from outside.

Then a young man came in and said, "Uncle Lai! Someone from your yamen is looking for you!"

Lai Shangrong hurriedly got up and went out, Jia Lian, Xue Pan and others also hurriedly got up to follow.

As soon as I arrived in the courtyard, I saw a man in eighth-rank official uniform, bowing to Lai Shangrong and shouting: "My lord! Great joy!"

Then he turned around and lifted up a board covered with satin carried by two followers.

I saw a bright object on top.

Everyone was stunned.

"This...is this glass?"

Jia Lian was the first to shout. He was very familiar with this. He had a glass kang screen at home, and Wang Xifeng would show it off from time to time. The reason why he had questions was because the one he saw at this time was better than Wang Xifeng's. Pure, translucent and smoother.

"Sir! This was produced by the glass workshop last night. Because the city gate was closed last night, it was brought in early this morning! Master Huang and Master Zhang have already rushed to the workshop. I know that you are not taking a bath today, so I came here to report it. !”

Lai Shangrong nodded approvingly towards Yuan Chengtao, and at the same time wrote down a note for Huang Xin and Zhang Bingchen in the small notebook.

Lai Shangrong said half-truthfully: "You just came here to report it. Why are you still carrying this? I'm not afraid of it getting damaged!"

Yuan Chengtao said hurriedly: "My lord, you developed this. I humbly propose to several lords that I bring this sample to you as a souvenir!" With such a high-sounding reason, there is no need to refuse. For this head The purpose of a batch has already been determined, and all of them were cut and sent to the palace to be used as windows for the emperor. This piece looks small, and the corners are not neat, so it should be leftovers.

This thing will depreciate sooner or later, so he pretended to be generous and said: "It just so happens that the gift I originally prepared is too ordinary, so let's use this as a gift!"

Then he cupped his hands and said, "I can't stay long now if something happens at the Yamen. Let's get together another day when we have time!"

After saying that, he led Yuan Chengtao away, leaving a few people behind who looked at each other.

At this time, there was also news in the backyard hall, and someone was sent to ask.

Feng Ziying and Wei Ruolan couldn't get in, so Xue Pan and Jia Lian carried the piece of glass into the backyard flower hall.

The two of them talked to each other and told Mrs. Wang and Aunt Xue who were sitting at the top about the origin of this piece of glass.

"Brother Lai is so interesting that he gave this to his son as a congratulatory gift!"

Although Mrs. Wang was also amazed, she was only amazed at the purity of this piece of glass, while Aunt Xue was overwhelmed with emotion, secretly thinking that if her shop used this as a facade, why worry about business not being prosperous.

Thinking of Lai Shangrong, he couldn't help but think of his sister's instructions. He took Baochai and Sanchun to admire the piece of glass.

He quickly winked at Mrs. Wang, and the two of them left the flower hall and went to Aunt Xue's room. They told Lai Shangrong that he had discovered that Xiang Ling was learning to make cheongsam and came to ask for help.

I thought Mrs. Wang would at least complain a few words, but instead of complaining, she said nervously: "He doesn't know he did it for the empress, right?"

Aunt Xue nodded blankly and saw Mrs. Wang patting her chest and sighing: "Then don't worry about it. If he doesn't let me do it, it's better not to do it!"

Seeing the frightened look on her sister's face, Aunt Xue couldn't help but become suspicious. Even if the cheongsam was hard to describe, after all, Lai's family was originally a slave of the Jia family. Are they still afraid that he would dare to gossip?
Xue Pan and Jia Lian returned to the front yard. After such a fuss, Feng Ziying and Wei Ruolan forgot to mention Jia Zhen and Baoyu again. The topic also focused on speculating on the equity distribution of the state-owned glass workshop.

After lunch, they watched two more plays, and it was not until dinner was finished that the three of them left in a hurry.

Jia Lian returned home and went straight to the west wing. He found that it was still in a mess and went to the main room.

I saw Sister Feng and Qiu Tong sitting on the edge of the bed chatting like sisters.

"Why hasn't the west wing been packed yet?"

Seeing that he smelled of alcohol, Sister Feng raised her eyebrows and pretended to be angry: "Today is the second master's happy day. Instead of staying at home, you went out to have a drink. Now you are blaming me!"

Jia Lian thought to himself that it was not all your fault, and said, "It's Brother Xue's birthday today, and my aunt sent someone to invite him. Wouldn't it be disrespectful for our family not to go?"

Sister Feng said hypocritically: "Ah!~ I was so happy when my sister came in that I forgot about it! The second master was so thoughtful!"

Then he said: "You can't wrong my sister when she is here for the first time. Of course, the new house must be well decorated. Second Master should go to sleep in the outer study! Tonight, my sister and I will hold a candlelight night talk!"

Qiu Tong and Jia Lian have been flirting with each other for a long time, but Jia She has never been able to achieve anything good. They are a pair of passionate lovers, and they are not willing to delay. Besides, they have always known Sister Feng.

So he deliberately behaved and said: "I am from a humble background, how can I have nothing to complain about? Since the wing room has not been tidied up, I will follow the second master to the outer study. Besides, it is not a problem for the second master that there is no one around to serve him!"

When Jia Lian didn't enter the house, Qiu Tong was very obedient to her. She thought she had the person under control, but she didn't expect her face to change as soon as she saw Jia Lian.

With a straight face, he said, "Does my sister want the whole family to watch my jokes?"

Qiu Tong was not to be outdone and said: "My master had already ordered me before I came here to serve the second master well. Now that the second master is alone in the study, what will happen if I let the master know? Please show mercy to the slave family!"

Jia Lian knew that she was deliberately obstructing it, so he couldn't help but joked: "I think if your glass kang screen can be sold, I'd better sell it as soon as possible, so as not to rot in my hands later!"

Sister Feng said disdainfully: "Haha! I brought the glass kang screen with me as my dowry, and I don't know how much it has added to the appearance of the house over the years! How many people have I never seen in my life, and it is rotting in my hands? You are not afraid of the wind blowing your tongue. !”

"Hmph! You are the only one who thinks of that thing as a treasure. Don't blame me for not reminding you. I saw the glass made by Brother Lai's state-owned company today. It is much better than yours!"

Sister Feng was immediately startled, her eyes widened, two rays of light shot out, and she exclaimed: "Ah! Can this thing be made?"

During this interruption, Jia Lian took Qiu Tong and walked away!

(End of this chapter)