Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Jia Lian rode a horse, and A Qi drove the carriage, slowly making their way back to the hillside.

The sisters, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately surrounded her.

"I heard that Sister Yu Huan fell and hurt herself?"

"How are you? Is she alright?"

Faced with everyone's concern, Jia Lian said, "I've already had a doctor examine me. He said it's just a sprained ankle, and I'll be fine after a few days of rest."

Worried that her sisters would rush into the carriage to see her, Zhen Yuhuan lifted the carriage curtain after Jia Lian finished speaking and explained to the women, "I'm fine, thank you for your concern."

Perhaps seeing Zhen Yuhuan's natural demeanor and rosy complexion, the others were less worried. Once they realized that Zhen Yuhuan's maid had already boarded the carriage to take care of her, they felt it inappropriate to squeeze in as well.

"Since Sister Zhen is injured, will she still participate in the upcoming activities? We had agreed to have a picnic and then a poetry club meeting!"

Jia Lian said, "Let her rest in the carriage. It won't interfere with the poetry club activities. We can give her some paper and pen so she can write in the carriage."

As for her lunch, I'll have to trouble you two younger sisters to prepare a little extra and bring it to her later.

Upon hearing this, Xiangyun and Tanchun immediately nodded in agreement.

Xiangyun had confirmed that Zhen Yuhuan was indeed alright, and she even laughed and said, "I'd be happy to cook something for her. Hehe, she usually refuses to eat this or that, she's so fussy. I'll definitely make her some of the things she doesn't like later and see if she'll eat them."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Zhen Yuhuan's voice came from inside the carriage: "Then I don't want yours, I only want what my third sister makes for me. Hmph, what my third sister makes is much better than what you make."

Everyone burst into laughter. Jia Lian had organized several picnics in the Grand View Garden before, and Xiangyun was always the most enthusiastic.

Moreover, she has a carefree and easygoing personality, and she's willing to try all sorts of wild vegetables, fruits, and meats. However, the food she cooks is often disappointing in both appearance and taste, and is frequently disliked by others.

Seeing that Zhen Yuhuan still had the mind to banter with Xiangyun, everyone felt relieved and dispersed.

Jia Lian breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Baochai and Daiyu disperse with the others without showing any suspicion. Just then, Xiangyun and the others surrounded him and asked, "Second Brother Lian, when are we going to start cooking?"

Jia Lian looked up at the sun, which had already passed its zenith, and then at their slightly bitter faces, guessing that some of them must be hungry.

So he asked Ping'er to get some snacks for the hungry people to eat first, and then asked, "Have you gathered all the ingredients?"

"No. Everyone was worried about Sister Zhen before, so my third sister and I picked some mushrooms in the mountains over there."

Jia Lian nodded and said, "Alright, now I'll assign the tasks."

"First of all, the sun is getting stronger and stronger. You are all delicate, and it won't do if you get sunburned. So we need to find a shady place to set up the stove and set up the cutting board and kitchen utensils."

Tan Chun immediately said, "There's no need to look elsewhere, let's just look over there. There are a few old poplar trees there that can provide shade, and the ground is flat, which is just right for us to work out."

Following Tan Chun's directions, Jia Lian looked over and indeed saw a row of old poplar trees beside the road in front of the carriage, providing a shady spot. There was also a row of small stools under the trees, indicating that Tan Chun and the others had been waiting for them there.

"In that case, let's work together to move everything over there."

As he spoke, Jia Lian took the lead, along with Ping'er, Qingwen, and others, to unload the items from the carriage. Seeing this, the maids spontaneously rushed forward to help.

Aside from the mistress and young lady, there were only a dozen or so maids on this trip. There were no servants, wives, servants, or young men to attend to them; the main thing was to do everything themselves.

Seeing that Jia Lian was personally doing the work, Baochai, Yingchun, Tanchun, Xiangyun, Xiuyan, and Baoqin immediately stretched out their delicate hands to try doing physical labor as well.

With everyone else moving, Jia Baoyu and Daiyu stood out from the crowd.

Daiyu glanced at Jia Baoyu, who was stealing glances at her again, her brows furrowed slightly, and then walked over, symbolically picking up a clean chopping board and heading towards the camp.

Jia Baoyu was heartbroken to see the girls scrambling to move their belongings.

I felt that Jia Lian really didn't know how to cherish women, making these delicate girls do such rough work!

But at the same time, he had to admit that it was also quite interesting for everyone to work together.

Therefore, after only a moment's hesitation, he immediately went up and took over the task of carrying the table from the maids.

This table looks quite heavy; what if it crushes the delicate flowers?

With most of the things moved, Ping'er was directing the maids to set up or build stoves when Jia Lian stood in front of the main table and said to everyone, "While we're setting things up, I'll assign the other tasks."

The tasks are gathering ingredients, collecting firewood, and fetching water. Anyone want to volunteer?

Shi Xiangyun was always the most enthusiastic: "Let's go gather ingredients together! We saw lots of melons and vegetables in the fields at the foot of the mountain!"

Jia Lian glanced at her and shook his head, saying, "The two of you probably don't even recognize many kinds of fruits and vegetables. If I send you two, I don't know what you'll bring back."

If you really want to go, go with Xiuyan, and bring two maids with you.

"Alright then..."

Although Xiangyun felt that she had been looked down upon by Jia Lian, she did not refute him and pulled Xiuyan along to prepare to send out the troops.

"What's the rush? Let me finish making the arrangements first."

Jia Lian looked at Ping'er: "Give them some money."

Ping'er, who was busy, immediately gave Xiangling an instruction, so Xiangling ran to the carriage and brought back a bag of copper coins.

Jia Lian instructed Xiangling to give the item to Xiuyan, then said, "Although I am the owner of this estate, all the agricultural products here are grown by the tenants through hard work, and we cannot take them for free. Therefore, every time you take something here, remember to leave some money on the ground in a conspicuous place. When we leave, the tenants will naturally be able to collect it."

Although Jia Lian could compensate the farmers in the manor afterward, and these farmers who had benefited from Jia Lian's kindness should have been very willing to have their things patronized by nobles, Jia Lian still wanted Yingchun and others to develop the concept of "fair exchange".

They were just teenagers, at the age when their values ​​were forming. Jia Lian didn't want to spoil these girls into spoiled, arrogant princesses.

Seeing Xiuyan nod in agreement, Jia Lian added, "Don't go too far. No matter how much you gather, you must be back within half an hour."

After explaining things to Xiangyun and Xiuyan, Jia Lian looked at Baochai and Daiyu, his expression unconsciously softening considerably.

"You two, you'll be in charge of fishing. You still have half an hour, so catch as much as you can."

Baochai and Daiyu exchanged a glance, neither of them having any objections. They took their maids and tools and went off.

Upon seeing this, Tan Chun instinctively wanted to accuse Jia Lian of favoritism for assigning such an easy task to Daiyu and Baochai.

However, recalling the words Daiyu had said to her yesterday, she was afraid that people would misunderstand her as being jealous, so she had no choice but to give up.

"Second Sister, and Baoqin, you two are responsible for gathering some firewood nearby."

"Baoyu, Sanya, you two will have to do a little work and go to the stream to fetch some clean water. You need to fetch a lot."

When she saw that Jia Lian had indeed assigned her the most tiring work, Tan Chun finally snapped.

"Second brother, you've assigned tasks to all of us, so what about you? What will you do?"

Jia Lian glanced at his sister who dared to question him and said naturally, "Me? Of course, I'm here to oversee the overall situation."

"I think you're just slacking off, second brother."

Tan Chun said indignantly. In reality, since almost everyone had left, she took the opportunity to act coquettishly towards Jia Lian.

Unfortunately, Jia Baoyu couldn't see through it and thought Tan Chun was really angry. He quickly said, "Third Sister, don't worry about it. It's just fetching water. You can rest later. I can fetch it by myself."

"Brother Bao is still the best. Come on, Brother Bao, let's not talk to this biased person anymore."

Tan Chun pretended to be angry and dragged Jia Baoyu off to do a task.

Seeing this, Jia Lian shook his head. After everyone had left, he beckoned to Aqi and Aqi, who were acting as guards, and asked them to follow and keep an eye on the young masters and ladies who were not good at taking care of themselves, so that nothing could happen to them.

Inside the carriage, Zhen Yuhuan was bored, being alone by herself. Seeing that everyone had left except for Jia Lian and a few maids at the camp, she thought for a moment, then, despite feeling unwell, dismounted and walked towards the camp.

Jia Lian, who was setting up the grill, saw this and said, "Why aren't you resting in the carriage? What are you doing down here?"

"It's quite stuffy staying in the car, so I wanted to get out and walk around. What about everyone else?"

"They went to complete their respective tasks."

Jia Lian casually replied, then said, "Since it's stuffy in the carriage, why don't you sit here and rest for a while? Don't wander around."

Zhen Yuhuan obediently hummed in agreement and sat down on a small stool next to him, then quietly watched Jia Lian make his move.

Ping'er stole a few glances at her, a hint of doubt and speculation flashing in her eyes.

……

In the Rongguo Mansion, Sister Feng walked back to her own courtyard with a fan in hand and found that an old woman from the outer courtyard was paying her respects. So she asked the maid who was left behind.

The maid said, "These are seasonal fruits that the gentlemen outside are giving to Master and Madam as a tribute. There are so many, two large baskets full."

Sister Feng was feeling the sweltering heat when she heard this, and immediately ordered her maids to wash some of the food so she could taste it.

After changing into her inner clothes, Feng Jie lay on the cool couch in the outer room, having her maid fan her while petting the cat and eating seasonal fruits. It was an extremely pleasant experience, but Feng Jie felt uneasy thinking that Jia Lian was taking all the young ladies out to play, leaving her all alone at home.

Seeing that Sister Feng picked up a fruit, pondered for a long time, and then put it back, Xiao Hong asked, "Is it because these fruits don't suit Second Mistress's taste? I'll have the maids wash some others."

"No need."

Sister Feng sat up and ordered, "Take it away. Also, wash some of each kind of fruit and put them in the water vat to chill, so your second master can eat them when he comes back."

"Wait a minute."

Suddenly, Sister Feng called out to the maids, "I remember, your second master dug an ice cellar in the garden, didn't he?"

Xiao Hong nodded and said, "Second Master dug an ice cellar in the garden, right behind the Empress's palace."

The first year, Second Master wasn't home, so it wasn't used. Last December, Second Master had my father bring people to transport a lot of ice from the north, and it's all been stored there. Now it's probably ready to use.

Xiao Hong knew Feng Jie'er's habits very well, so she spoke up as she pleased.

As expected, Sister Feng nodded and ordered, "Go and call your mother here."