The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 278 The Wind Rises

After such a commotion, Jia Lian was no longer in the mood to eat. He left with Jia Baoyu and Wang Ren, who was half dead.

In line with the principle of not wasting food, Li Hu packed up the food and took it home.

"Second Master is back. Why are there so many food boxes?"

Hearing that Li Hu had returned, Li San hurried out to greet him. He was stunned at first when he saw the food boxes, and then he asked the servant for help.

Li Hu handed a food box to Li San and said with a smile, "Here is a herring, a bowl of stewed pork elbow with ham, a plate of steamed vegetarian meatballs, a plate of stir-fried bean sprouts, and a pot of Huiquan wine that the Jia family brought from the south. You should try it."

"Hey!" Li San was as happy as a child.

Wang Daniu came over and said, "Uncle San, let me have a drink with you."

"Go away." Li San pushed him away. "As soon as you stick your butt out, I know what you fart and shit. If you want to eat shad, go buy it yourself."

Everyone laughed.

Wang Daniu smacked his lips and said, "Now is the right time to catch fish. The lecithin of the shad is very rich." At this point, his eyes rolled around and he said to Li San, "Let me pick out the fish bones for you."

Everyone laughed even more.

Li San said unhappily: "How shameless! Carry it." Then he handed the lunch box to Wang Daniu.

Wang Daniu winked at the others, making everyone laugh again.

Li Hu smiled. After the shad was caught, it was immediately put into ice cubes sprinkled with lard and sent to Beijing at full speed day and night. It was a journey of two to three thousand miles and it was required to be delivered within three days. Fresh shad was not something that ordinary people could eat.

The shad had just been delivered by the admiral of the Yangtze River Navy. He took two from his soldiers, but was worried that they would die on the way, so he asked the chef at Taihe Tower to cook them and bring them back.

Li San: "Second Master, those little actors have been arranged and are led and managed by a few old maids."

Li Hu nodded: "Have you seen the girl?"

Li San: "No. Miss Shi is here, she should be eating now."

Li Hu's eyes flashed, he must be here to deliver a letter for Baoling Hou Shi Nai.

Li San: "Second Master, you haven't eaten yet, I'll go to the kitchen."

Li Hu: "No need, I'll go eat with them." After saying that, he walked in carrying another food box.

Li San watched Li Hu disappear through the door, then looked at the soldiers carrying food boxes: "It's only noon, the Second Master may go out at any time, no drinking!"

All the soldiers answered in unison: "Understood."

Seeing Wang Daniu staring at the gate in a daze, Li San raised his hand and waved it in front of his eyes: "What are you staring at?"

Wang Daniu came back to his senses: "Yeah." Then, he smiled awkwardly: "I suddenly remembered something and got distracted. Come on, I'll go have dinner with you."

Li San looked at him suspiciously, then glanced at the gate, and then said, "Let's go."

On the other side, Li Hu walked into Lin Daiyu's yard carrying a food box.

When they saw Li Hu coming, several little maids rushed to open the curtains and reported to the inside of the house, "The Second Master is back."

Li Hu walked into the main hall and saw Lin Daiyu coming towards him from the small dining room, and Shi Xiangyun also stood up.

Lin Daiyu was surprised: "Didn't you say you wouldn't come back for dinner?"

Li Hu smiled and said, "We just watched a joke, let's talk about it while we eat."

Lin Daiyu said "hmm" and accompanied Li Hu to the small dining room.

After a few pleasantries, Li Hu sat down in the main seat.

Zijuan placed the dishes in the food box on the table one by one.

Lin Daiyu: "Where did the shad come from?"

Li Hu: "The admiral of the Yangtze River Navy presented shad as a tribute to the palace. He also sent some over as he had something to ask the Ministry of War. I took two of them and gave the other one to my third uncle to go with his wine." He then said to Shi Xiangyun, "There are a lot of bones in it, so eat slowly." As he said that, he picked up a piece of fish meat with chopsticks.

Shi Xiangyun was not polite either. She took a small piece of fish with chopsticks, took a look at it, and then said with a smile: "Grilled shad with sprout ginger and purple vinegar, the snow bowl is more than two feet long, and there is still peach blossoms and spring breeze. The flavor is better than water shield and sea bass." As she spoke, she carefully picked out the fish bones, then put it into her mouth, chewed it carefully, and then her eyes lit up, "It is indeed fat, tender and delicious. Sister Lin..."

Shi Xiangyun suddenly felt that the plump and delicious shad was not so delicious. She saw Li Hu put the fish meat with the bones removed into Lin Daiyu's bowl, and Lin Daiyu looked at Li Hu with a smile.

Li Hu: “Try it.”

Lin Daiyu hummed, picked up the shad meat without bones, and started eating it in small bites.

Li Hu looked at her and smiled: "Is it delicious?"

Lin Daiyu gave him a faint smile and said, "You eat too."

Li Hu smiled and said, "I'm not in a hurry, you eat first." As he said that, he picked up another piece of fish meat with chopsticks and began to pick out the fish bones.

Lin Daiyu ate in small bites while looking at Li Hu, the tenderness in her eyes almost overflowing.

"Oh my~ You guys are so annoying!" Shi Xiangyun really couldn't bear it anymore, so she put down her chopsticks and looked at Li Hu and Lin Daiyu angrily.

Lin Daiyu finally reacted and her face turned red.

Li Hu smiled and put the shad meat with the bones removed into Lin Daiyu's bowl. Then he said to Shi Xiangyun, "Are you envious? Then find one too." Lin Daiyu interrupted him quickly, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Although he didn't finish his words, everyone understood his meaning.

Shi Xiangyun blushed and lowered her head in silence.

Lin Daiyu glared at Li Hu, stood up, walked to Shi Xiangyun and sat down, picked up a piece of fish with chopsticks, removed the fish bones, and then handed it to Shi Xiangyun's bowl, saying softly: "He is like this, talking nonsense all day long. Don't take it to heart. Come, try it." Then she picked up the chopsticks and handed them to Shi Xiangyun.

Shi Xiangyun said "hmm", took the chopsticks and started eating in small bites.

Lin Daiyu asked with a smile: "How is it? Is it delicious?"

Shi Xiangyun: "It's delicious."

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "If it tastes good, eat more. I'll remove the fish bones for you."

Shi Xiangyun smiled again, put down her chopsticks, and hugged Lin Daiyu's arm: "Sister Lin, you are so kind." As she spoke, her eyes turned red, "I wish you were my real sister."

Lin Daiyu held Shi Xiangyun's hand with one hand and touched her face with the other hand, and asked with a smile: "Are you blaming me for not being good enough to you?"

Shi Xiangyun was stunned at first, then hurriedly explained, "No, that's not what I meant. I, I..." She was so anxious that she was sweating.

Lin Daiyu quickly took out her handkerchief and wiped her sweat while saying, "Don't worry, I said something wrong."

Then, the two of them hugged each other and whispered for a while, and then they made up as before.

Li Hu was confused and didn't dare to ask, so he could only eat.

"Brother-in-law Lin"

Li Hu raised his head and saw Shi Xiangyun handing him a letter.

Shi Xiangyun: "A letter from my second uncle."

Li Hu took the letter, tore it open and read it, then smiled. As expected, he had guessed it right. Wang Ziteng wanted his relatives to take the lead in paying taxes. What a good plan!
Lin Daiyu suddenly remembered: "What joke did you see? Tell us and laugh too."

Li Hu folded the letter and told them the farce in Taihe Building.

After hearing this, Lin Daiyu couldn't help but sigh.

Shi Xiangyun was angry: "How could Baoyu be like this? And Lian'er's sister-in-law and brothers are too, too bad."

Li Hu asked with a smile: "You want to say it's not a thing, right?"

Shi Xiangyun blushed, then hugged Lin Daiyu's arm and said coquettishly: "Sister Lin, please take care of Brother-in-law Lin, he slandered me!"

Lin Daiyu nodded at her with a smile, then glared at Li Hu.

Shi Xiangyun looked at Li Hu proudly.

Li Hu smiled, what a child.

At this time, Nanny Wang came in and reported to Li Hu: "Second Master, someone from the Ministry of Rites has come. Please go to the government office."

Li Hu understood, and things started as expected.

Lin Daiyu spoke up: "Go and do your business."

Li Hu stood up and said to Shi Xiangyun, "Go back and tell your uncle that I know. Also, the Li family only has the Lin family as a relative, well, the Jia family counts as half." As he was about to walk out, he suddenly remembered, "The little actor has been brought back, you can take some time to see him."

Lin Daiyu has stood up: "Well, go and get busy."

Li Hu strode out.

As soon as he walked out of the Chuihua Gate, Li Hu saw Wang Yaozu standing outside the Yue Gate.

Li Hu walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

Wang Yaozu looked around and whispered, "Zhang Cheng has been acting strangely lately. It seems like he's afraid of something!"

Li Hu: “Oh?”

Wang Yaozu: "Zhang Cheng's guards also left from the sentry camp. The sentries didn't dare to follow him too closely. He met a lot of people in the past few days, all of whom were strangers. According to the sentries, Zhang Cheng didn't seem to want to see these people."

Li Hu: "Who are they?"

Wang Yaozu: "Those people know the military's tracking methods, and they haven't been found yet."

Li Hu thought for a moment and said, "Investigate slowly and don't alarm him for now. Also, ask Chen Qiang to go into the city and wait for me at Taihe Tower. Don't let anyone find out."

Wang Yaozu: “Yes.”

Li Hu: "Don't let anyone else know about this, including Wang Daniu and others."

"Yes." Wang Yaozu was secretly shocked.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and the corners of the robes of Li Hu and the other man were blown up.

Li Hu raised his head and looked into the distance: "The wind is blowing."

(End of this chapter)