Dream of the Red Chamber: Daiyu and I swapped clothes

Chapter 14 Don't repay kindness, repay me instead.

By offering advice to his father and incidentally getting rid of the tutor, Li Chen finally no longer had to pretend to be sick in bed and enjoyed several peaceful days.

A thick stack of books lay on the table, all of which were homework assignments that Xing Bingcheng had left for him.

It contains debates on the Four Books and Five Classics, essays on the most frequently tested topics in county examinations, and a recollection of past county examination questions from Wanping County and Daxing County, obtained from an unknown source.

This really feels familiar, like preparing for an exam.

However, Li Chen didn't move a single word.

"Once Lin Daiyu returns tomorrow, we can just leave everything to her to do."

As Li Chen was thinking this, he held a charcoal pencil in his hand and wrote down the information he needed to leave for Lin Daiyu over the next ten days in her booklet, so that Lin Daiyu could better portray him.

The two are now inseparable partners and should be cooperating more harmoniously. However, given that she discarded the manuscript of the masterpiece "Water Margin" without his permission, causing Li Chen's three months of hard work to go to waste, he couldn't help but want to dig a pit for Lin Daiyu.

"My teacher is away on official business and his return date is uncertain. However, the test questions on the table are all for teaching purposes. My teacher will check them when he returns and we must complete them all. In the room, there is also a pair of stone locks weighing twenty-five catties. My father ordered us to use them to exercise our bodies, lifting them twenty times each morning and evening, supervised by Sister Chuntao."

Li Chen twirled the charcoal pencil, pondered for a moment, and then, mimicking Lin Daiyu's tone, added below:
"I don't know if I'm just imagining things, but I feel like I've lost a lot of weight, and I feel weak in every way. If Miss Lin has any free time, I hope that, for the sake of our shared struggle, you will take care of me a little."

"If the body-swapping continues, we will share both glory and ruin. I hope Miss Lin can set aside her prejudices, join hands and row together to weather this storm."

Others' "golden fingers" are special abilities or systems without flesh and blood, but Li Chen's is a living, breathing Lin Daiyu. He still needs to maintain good communication with her, coax her a bit, and treat her well as his tool.

After putting down the charcoal pencil, Li Chen stretched and felt incredibly refreshed.

All the difficult matters here will be left to Lin Daiyu, and tomorrow he will be going to the Rongguo Mansion to enjoy a life of luxury.

"Second Young Master, someone outside has invited you. They say it's the young master of the Xue family in Jinling."

A maidservant knocked on the door to deliver a message, and Li Chen frowned secretly.

"Xue Pan is looking for me? I've never been close to him. He's probably trying to build a relationship for the Xue family and the business of the manor. But staying in the manor is really boring. Going out to eat and drink is exactly what a young master of a marquis's manor should be doing!"

"What did Mother say?" Li Chen suppressed his excitement and asked calmly first.

"Madam said that the young master should make the decision himself."

"Okay! Go and deliver the message, I'm coming right now."

I took out a decent set of clothes from the wardrobe; they had a faint fragrance about them.

"Why does Lin Daiyu put perfume in her laundry? Have they really forgotten that she was a man?"

Despite muttering a curse to himself, Li Chen still put it on, fastened the belt, and put on black-faced, blue-soled court boots before striding out the door.

Upon arriving at the gate of the mansion, one could see several horses standing by the street, with a portly young master sitting on the lead horse.

This must be Xue Pan.

Xue Pan's features were actually quite good, after all, Aunt Xue was quite beautiful, and Xue Baochai was a true beauty.

Xue Pan's problem is his figure management; the belt he wears seems to divide his stomach into two parts, and when you look into his round-necked clothes, there are several layers of wrinkles around his neck.

"Brother Chen, I am Xue Pan of the Xue family. I am hosting a dinner at Zuixianlou today. Would you do me the honor of joining me?"

Li Chen returned the greeting and said, "Brother Xue, you are too kind. Our families have just exchanged visiting cards, how could I refuse you? Please, Brother Xue."

Xue Pan immediately beamed with joy.

He had heard when he arrived in the capital that the second young master of the Zhenyuan Marquis's mansion was a first-rate playboy, but no one had ever introduced him to anyone.

Now that he has met such a bold and unrestrained character, he is exactly to his liking and immediately considers him a good brother to befriend.

"Alright, brother, please."

Li Chen took the reins from the groom, mounted his horse, and rode alongside Xue Pan towards Zuixianlou.

Zuixianlou was the most luxurious restaurant in the capital.

Located in the middle of Zhuque Avenue, where carriages and horses are most densely packed, it rises three stories high, and from the top of the pavilion one can overlook half of the inner city.

The Drunken Immortal Pavilion has everything imaginable: you can drink wine, listen to music in the brothel, or even stay overnight to savor the beauty of a woman's lips.

Rumor has it that the owner of Zuixianlou is a prince, making it a top choice for playboys, with expenses starting at a hundred taels of silver.

The fact that they were able to secure a private room here speaks volumes about the Xue family's financial strength.

While chatting and laughing with Xue Pan, they arrived at the second floor, pushed open the door, and saw that three people were already sitting inside.

Two of them were acquaintances of Li Chen, Wei Ruolan and Feng Ziying, who also came from the same lineage of the Four Kings, Eight Dukes and Twelve Marquises.

Wei Ruolan, from the Sui'an Marquis's family, shared a similar background with Feng Ziying, and they interacted more frequently. Feng Ziying's father was General Feng Tang, a valiant general who, though not a marquis, was still a respected and formidable figure.

The remaining person wore a headband, had a face like a silver basin, wore a five-colored thread around his neck, and hid a precious jade in his bosom.

Who else could it be but Jia Baoyu? The Jia family boasts two dukes, holding a prominent position among the Four Kings, Eight Dukes, and Twelve Marquises.

When the patriarchs of the Rong and Ning mansions were still alive, even the four princes would regard the Jia family as their backbone. Now that they still enjoy the legacy of their ancestors, Jia Baoyu naturally took the seat of honor at the banquet.

When Li Chen entered, Feng Ziying and Wei Ruolan were both smiling obsequiously.

Li Chen naturally looked down on Jia Baoyu's character, so he deliberately greeted Wei Ruolan and Feng Ziying first, saying, "Brother Wei, it's been a long time. You are even more charming than before."

"Brother Ziying, you look so dashing these past few days. I imagine your martial arts have improved as well?"

The two men whose names were called were visibly taken aback before clasping their hands in a fist and palm salute and replying with a smile, "Brother Li, you're too kind!"

After exchanging pleasantries, when Li Chen's gaze fell on Jia Baoyu, Jia Baoyu already showed a slight displeasure.

"Who is this dear friend?"

Li Chen asked the question knowing the answer already.

Xue Pan stepped forward and introduced him, saying, "Oh, Brother Chen, you don't know him? He's Baoyu from the Rongguo Mansion."

"Oh, so it is that boy who was born with a jade in his mouth. I have long heard of his great name. The Zhenyuan Marquis's mansion is at the bottom of the nobility and has little connection with the Jia family. I was mistaken."

Baoyu forced a smile and said, "It's alright, please take your seats. Today is Brother Xue's turn to host, how could I dare to overstep my bounds?"

Though his words were eloquent, the smile didn't reach his eyes.

The reason he could tolerate it was not only to save face for others, but also because Li Chen was quite good-looking and might not have meant to tease him.

Li Chen took in all the subtle expressions on Jia Baoyu's face. He had minored in psychology in his previous life, so he could guess the general idea of ​​Baoyu's little thoughts without even needing professional theory.

But Li Chen deliberately made him feel disgusted.

Upon seeing that Jia Baoyu was in the private room, Li Chen quickly devised a plan.

Now that the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence has become closer to the Xue family, it will inevitably visit the Rongguo Mansion in the future.

If Lin Daiyu were to go to the Rongguo Mansion with her own body and be made difficult by Jia Baoyu, wouldn't that be a great show?
In the context of the immortals and gods, Lin Daiyu, as the reincarnation of the Crimson Pearl Flower, came to repay a debt of gratitude with tears.

Her approach to Jia Baoyu was like a moth drawn to a flame; it would not end well.

Therefore, for Lin Daiyu's sake, and also to ensure his own safety, the first thing Li Chen did after switching into Lin Daiyu's body was to distance himself from Jia Baoyu.

Li Chen was worried that when Lin Daiyu returned to the mansion, she would become close to Jia Baoyu again, which would make all his efforts futile.

Therefore, it is necessary to make Lin Daiyu dislike Jia Baoyu.

"You're a gift from heaven, so you should repay my kindness in this lifetime. I will always remember your good deeds."

"To be honest, I really want to see Jia Baoyu make things difficult for Lin Daiyu inside my body in front of Grandmother Jia."

Secretly thinking to himself, Li Chen decided to make sure that today's banquet was a disaster zone for Jia Baoyu, so that he would completely hate him.

"Come on, brothers, let me toast you first. It was not easy for my mother to let me out of the manor today, and it wasn't easy to put together this gathering. Please eat and drink well, and don't say to outsiders that I'm stingy and have treated you unfairly."

Xue Pan chuckled and teased, and everyone joined in the laughter and toasts.

While drinking, Li Chen devoured the meat on the table like a whirlwind.

After all, it's Zuixianlou, and it has about 70-80% of the flavor of a royal banquet, making it truly delicious.

Seeing Li Chen eating meat with gusto, everyone couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Li Chen laughed heartily, "I caught a cold a while ago and was bedridden, eating only porridge all day. Now that Brother Xue is hosting, I can't pass up this delicious meal."

Xue Pan, who was sitting next to Li Chen, put his arm around Li Chen's shoulder and agreed, "That's right, we men just want to eat meat and drink wine in big bowls, that's what we want, to have a good time. It's you guys who are being a bit coy."

Jia Baoyu's eyelids twitched frequently.

After observing each other's expressions, Wei Ruolan and Feng Ziying exchanged a glance.

Wei Ruolan began by saying, "Just drinking like this isn't very enjoyable. Why don't we play a drinking game?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Baoyu's eyes lit up, and he was already interested.

Li Chen, gnawing on a pork knuckle, waved his hand to interrupt without even looking up, "Hey, what are you talking about, drinking games, composing poems and lyrics? Those are things only women do in their boudoirs, just pointless whining. We're all from military families, if you want to be punished with wine, why don't we have an arm-strength contest?"

Li Chen rolled up his sleeves, rested his arms on the table, and said, "How about an arm wrestling match?"

Xue Pan also said, "Playing drinking games? Aren't you making things difficult for your brother? I don't know many characters, how can I compete with you in choosing words and sentences? It would be more satisfying to just punish me by making me drink."

Jia Baoyu's face darkened.

Feng Ziying quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Never mind, let's call in some actors to sing a few songs to cheer us up."

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(End of this chapter)