Jia Hu, a fan of wealth in the Red Chamber

On the [-]th day of the first lunar month, early in the morning, Jia Hu brought gifts, took his younger brother, and got into the carriage to the palace of Zhongyong County.

It has been more than three months since he returned to the capital, and he hasn't paid a formal visit to Prince Zhongyong's mansion, so it's really rude to say that.

It snowed heavily last night. Last year's winter was really cold, and it didn't get much warmer in the spring. The carriage was walking on the street, pressed against the thick layer of snow, making a creaking sound.

There were almost no pedestrians on the road. Today was the first day of the court meeting after the new year, and those who should go out had already gone out.

Driving all the way was difficult, it took twice as long as usual to reach Prince Zhongyong's mansion, and after handing in the post, the door was released directly, presumably it was explained by someone.

The butler led Jia Hu and Jia Lian into the mansion, and before they had gone far, Wei Jiang, who was dressed in fine Chinese clothes, came out to welcome him, "You are here, I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Jia Hu laughed at him, revealing two small white canine teeth, "Isn't the road difficult to walk? There is no snow sweeper on the street, and some people sweep the snow in front of their own doors, which is too inconvenient."

"That's true." Looking down at Jia Hu's little follower who followed Jia Hu step by step, he joked, "Brother Lian is willing to go out for a walk today? I haven't seen you for a few days."

When Jia Lian was mentioned, Jia Hu looked guilty. After he returned to Beijing, he gave Jia Lian a Rubik's Cube. As a result, the child has recently become obsessed with playing with Rubik's Cube in various ways, and even dismantled several Rubik's Cubes. When it was reassembled, it had reached the point of forgetting to eat and sleep, and becoming obsessed.

Their beauties are starting to worry, this child has not been out of the house for more than ten days, he is even more home than in his previous life, why not, his mother confessed yesterday, let him take his brother with him when he goes out, just In this way, he has a little tail.

"Brother Wei asked you something, why have you forgotten the etiquette for many years? If you keep doing this, I will collect all the things in your house when you go back, and I will not give you any good things in the future. is you."

This threat was a bit ruthless, Jia Lian immediately grabbed Jia Hu's clothes with tears in his eyes and begged him, "Good brother, don't, I won't dare again in the future, please don't accept my things."

The sound of "good brother" made Jia Hu's goose bumps all over his body.

Jia Hu thought he was very reasonable, "You have to do what you say, and don't miss your homework. Even if my Jia Hu's younger brother doesn't take the imperial examination, he can't be a blind man!"

Jia Lian couldn't help nodding.

Today is just an ordinary birthday, and the Zhongyong Palace didn't have a major event, it just invited a few clan relatives, people with many contacts, and juniors who are about the same age as Wei Jiang to come over for a gathering.The only two outsiders here are Jia Hu and Jia Lian.

Jia Hu took the three small bags carried by Qingfeng and Qingyue, and followed Wei Jiang into the Yaoguang Courtyard where Princess Jiahui lived.

Pulling Wei Jiang who was leading the way ahead, hesitantly asked, "Where is this going?"

"My mother has heard your name a lot, and has always wanted to see you. It is rare that you are here today. Her old man has wanted to see you for a long time." Wei Jiang said with a smile.

Jia Hu: ...

Suddenly want to turn around and leave, how can it be broken?

Having already arrived here, it was impossible for Jia Hu to turn around and leave, so he could only follow Wei Jiang into the Yaoguang Courtyard.

Wei Jiang looked at the small package in his hand curiously, "What is that?"

Jia Hu was slightly proud, "This is a birthday present I personally made for you."

The two walked while talking, and they had already entered the hall of Yaoguang Academy. The voice of Princess Jiahui continued: "Haha, no wonder Brother Jiang said you are his best friend, this kind of heart alone is enough gone."

Jia Hu blushed. Can he say that it was because of those famous calligraphy and paintings that he was reluctant to collect, that he made such a bad move?

He stepped forward and respectfully gave Princess Jiahui a junior salute, causing Her Royal Highness to nod her head.

"Come on, let me take a good look at you." Pulling Jia Hu's hand to look up and down for a while, he nodded, "Not bad, not bad, he is good-looking." Looking back, he saw Jia Lian who was following Jia Hu, " This is your brother, right? Look at this clever look. It does have a bit of Brother Hu’s personality, unlike the three monkeys in our family who meet each other every day and feel like they’re making trouble in heaven.” Really. Like the two children, Princess Jiahui immediately asked someone to prepare a generous gift. Seeing the gift list, Jia Hu blushed even more.

Wei Jiang raised his forehead, "Mother, is it the second and third brothers who are making trouble in the Heavenly Palace?"

"When you were young, you were more noisy than your two younger brothers combined! Poor me, I just wanted a caring little girl, but in the end, I gave birth to three brats in a row. It's really hateful."

Wei Jiang couldn't refute, so he could only shrug his shoulders at the snickering Jia Hu.

Princess Jiahui lowered her head and talked to Jia Lian again, "You are about the same age as the third child in my family, come and play with him when you have free time, and I will also let him come to your house from time to time, so that he can be more refined, don't spend time all day long Jumping up and down at home, like a monkey. It's a pity that those two boys didn't know where they went so early in the morning, otherwise they must be called to meet you."

Jia Lian kept nodding while eating the delicious cakes.

Princess Jiahui was satisfied now, she raised her head and asked Jia Hu curiously: "What are the birthday gifts made by brother Hu himself? Can I show it to Bengong?"

Jia Hu's face turned even redder, "It's not something valuable." He opened the first small bag, and inside was a bamboo bear carved out of wood. It looked very similar to Jia Hu's bamboo bear, Gun Gun. .Under the bamboo bear is a round bottom seat.

"This is?" Everyone was curious, and Jia Lian's eyes widened even more, wishing he could take it over and take it apart to have a look.

"This is a music box. I made it by dismantling a few music boxes I got from a sea merchant." Accidentally, Jia Hu exposed his little secret.

Picking up the music box, he turned a few times on a small brass key.Then put the music box on the table, a burst of metallic music rang, and the bamboo bear on it spun around with the music, looking very naive.

Even Princess Jiahui, who claims to be well-informed, has never heard this music. It is the "Birthday Song" that has been sung enduringly in later generations.

Seeing this birthday gift, Wei Jiang didn't mind it, all the female creatures in the hall stared at each other, they were so cute.After the music stopped, everyone came back to their senses.

Princess Jiahui: "Not bad, not bad, I like this one. Just put it here, Qixiu, take it down and put it away."

Jia Hu: ...

Touching his nose, feeling that this is a gift for Princess Jiahui?

"Show me the remaining two items as well." Princess Jiahui became interested and immediately focused on the other two items.

Jia Hu stopped dawdling, opened the remaining two small packages, presented them to Princess Jiahui, and asked her to have a look.

Of the two that remained, one was a chocolate cake, about eight inches in size, and the other was a booklet.

Princess Jiahui first picked up the booklet, opened it and read it carefully.The booklet is very small, there are not many pages, and I finished it in a short time. There is nothing out of the ordinary in the content. The difficulty lies in the combination of pictures and words. Every four small pictures tell a small story. The story of Jia Hu and Wei Jiang's acquaintance till now.That's right, what Jia Hu drew was the red mansion version of the four-frame comics. Although it is crude and omissions, it is better than novelty. Princess Jiahui is very happy to see it.

"Oh, it turns out that you and Jiang Geer know each other so well... Haha, don't Yi people really like to take a bath..."

Jia Hu rubbed his face, can he temporarily change the birthday gift?

Wei Jiang looked at Jia Hu with resentment on his face, "What did you do in that booklet?" Seeing his mother's appearance, he should avoid hanging out in front of her during this time.

"It's nothing, I just drew some big and small things that happened since we met." It's just that the style of painting is a little different.

"This one is good, I will help Jiang Geer put it away first, huh? What is that?" He asked, pointing to the brown, round, sweet-smelling thing on the table.

"This is cocoa cake, um, it was imported from overseas."

Princess Jiahui took a look, and saw that "Happy Birthday to Wei Jiang" was written on the cake with something, "Huh? This is very fresh. Not bad, it smells sweet, is it a dessert?"

"Exactly." Jia Hu put down the cake, took out a sterilized dagger, cut the cake into eight equal pieces, took the plate handed by the maid and put it on, and found a few forks from somewhere.Pick up the first piece and hand it to Princess Jiahui first.

In the hall of Yaoguang Courtyard, there were exactly four people, each of whom shared one piece, and Princess Jiahui ordered the maid to send the maid to the front yard to give to King Zhongyong, the second child, the third child, and the fourth nephew Shen Tuqian. Children, women, and men don't like sweets very much, just try something new.

Someone who got a portion of the cake took a bite and savored it carefully. Before the others could even open their mouths, Jia Lian exclaimed, "Wow, it's delicious." No time to clean up.When his mouth was free, he complained to his elder brother, "Brother is so damned, why didn't he make such a delicious cake earlier? If I didn't come with me today, wouldn't I be able to eat it?"

Jia Hu rubbed his nose, feeling a little guilty. Could he say that if Wei Jiang hadn't celebrated his birthday, he wouldn't even have remembered that there was such a thing as a birthday cake?

"Okay, this matter is my brother's fault. When your birthday comes, I will make you a bigger one."

"really?"

"really!"

Satisfied, Jia Lian nodded and sat back in her original seat.

Master Jiahui smiled happily, "Oh, you two brothers are really fun, I like it. Brother Hu, is there a place to buy this cake?" This is the most important thing.

Jia Hu moved her fingers, "Well, this cake is good to eat once in a while, but you will get tired of it if you eat it often. It's also a dessert. Brother Wei, why don't we open another dessert shop, specializing in these cakes? be careful."

Wei Jiang nodded, "I think it's feasible, but I have to work on Hu'er again."

"What's the point, it's just writing a few recipes. One of the maids beside me has a lot of experience in making these dim sum. When the time comes, she will naturally teach others by hand, so I won't be tired."

After leaving the Yaoguang Courtyard, Wei Jiang immediately said to him dissatisfied: "Are you here to give me a birthday present today, or to my mother? Well, you brought so many things, but I ended up with the same thing. Didn't catch it either!"

Jia Hu rolled his eyes at him, and said confidently: "How did I know that you would take me to show your mother first! She likes things, blame me!"

Wei Jiang stopped talking, it was true that he was too excited and rushed to take Hu'er to show his mother, but he didn't expect this, so he has to pay attention to it in the future.

Few people came today, and only three tables were set up. As Wei Shizi's only recognized friend, Jia Hu was naturally arranged at the table where Wei Jiang was sitting.

"Hi, you're Jia Hu?" A little fat man stepped forward.

When Jia Hu saw this little fat man, the corners of Jia Hu's mouth twitched, "Back to the third son, I'm right here."

Wei Yan waved his hand, "What's up and down, it's so polite, it gave me a headache. I asked you, did you make that cake?"

Look at the way this guy's eyes are shining, needless to say, he is the kind of guy who likes sweets.

Jia Hu: "Yes, I came up with the idea, I gave the recipe, but my maid made it."

Wei Yan's smile grew wider, "Brother Hu, can we discuss it, I'll pay, and you give me that maid, okay?"

Jia Hu: ...

Why are they all playing tricks on the people around him?But this money...

Of course it is good to keep flowing!

"That's no good, people can't give it to you, but when you want to eat, you can go to my house and I'll let them make it for you! Well, the price is based on the market price."

"Okay, it's done." The little fatty Wei Yan was satisfied, and retreated to the table he was hosting.

Jia Hu raised his forehead, these guys.

……