The Hairpin of the Red Chamber

Bitter cold in the north.As soon as winter in central Beijing, ground dragons and kangs are lit everywhere, and even ordinary people's homes are often very warm.The south of the Yangtze River is humid and rainy, and there is no kang available in winter. Baoyu feared that Liu Xianglian would freeze, so he set up four or five braziers in the house. To avoid being discovered, he added and removed the charcoal fire himself. Using a brazier makes people suspicious for no reason, so during the day and night, I always stay here for a while, and only say to the outside world that I have a temper like a son and a brother, and I can't stand the cold, so the study needs to be kept warm with a brazier all the time.

Although Liu Xianglian was not false to Baoyu, she always thought about when he would come. Sometimes Baoyu's servant Mingyan came to deliver things, and she would always ask a few words about Baoyu's whereabouts.

At these times, Baoyu was either in the front office or on patrol. Liu Xianglian was very happy to hear that Baoyu was diligent in government, but unexpectedly Baoyu disappeared for a whole day on this day. Xiang Lian moved to the door and looked outside, the courtyard was quiet, she was suspicious.

In the evening, Mingyan came in to deliver snacks and soup, Liu Xianglian stopped him and asked, "Where did your master go?"

Mingyan smiled and said: "A water bandit has been making trouble for so long, and now it's easy to get an idea, so naturally I want to go out to relax."

Liu Xianglian raised her eyebrows and said, "Does the water bandit have any clues?"

Mingyan glanced at him, refused to say anything, but said with a smile: "The master said that he would go out for dinner today and come back later, if Master Liu is missing something, just tell me."

Liu Xianglian said: "The brazier is about to go out, you can stir the charcoal for me."

Who knows that Ming Yan cast a glance at the other end, said with a smile, "Isn't there still a little more? I'll come back later, little one." She actually put down her things and walked out in a big way.

Liu Xianglian is very familiar with this tactic of being respectful and arrogant. She knows that the servants in this team are used to meeting with wind and wind, and Mingyan is so indifferent to her suddenly. I am afraid that there is some change on Baoyu's side. He is a sojourner. The old man, now relying on Baoyu for daily necessities of life, could not help but have something on his mind. He tossed and turned all night, and after the third watch, he felt a little drowsy. It was just that the brazier was extinguished, and the house was slightly cool. The bed has been taken away, now I have to get up and find it, pile it on the bed, feel drowsy, work on my hands, my heart is still in a daze, but in a trance, I heard a slight knock on the door, turned my head slowly, and tried to open it. Suddenly, Baoyu came in with the smell of alcohol. When he saw him, he smiled and said, "I just asked you to sing at the banquet. You saw a lot of people. I'm sorry. Now there are only two of us. Can we sing?"

Liu Xianglian frowned tightly and said, "What song are you singing?"

But Baoyu seemed to come back to his senses, shivered, glanced at him, and said with a smile: "It's nothing——I'll come home to see you. After I've seen it, I'll go to bed first."

Liu Xianglian felt suspicious, stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, I have something to ask you."

Baoyu stopped to look at him, but he hesitated for a while, then said, "I've run out of charcoal here, please add some charcoal for me."

Baoyu took a look and said, "It's getting late, let's call Mingyan in the morning." Holding the door and staggering out, Liu Xianglian heard his clumsy footsteps, pursed her lips, and stayed up all night.

After dawn, Mingyan really came to add charcoal for him. Although the charcoal used this time was of the highest quality, it was not as smokeless as the silver charcoal. Liu Xianglian didn't say a word, and after Mingyan left, she got up and left He went to the book table and looked through the books that Baoyu usually read—he knew that Baoyu had a lot of novels written by talented scholars and beauties. He was bored when he was sick, and it was good to pass the time. Who knew that after flipping through it for a long time, the bookcase was not "Four Books Collected Notes" , that is "Tongkao", there are occasionally one or two miscellaneous books, which are also geography and local chronicles, and there is not even a playbook in such a large study.

After thinking about it, Liu Xianglian felt that this was not Baoyu's usual personality, so she went up and down and searched carefully again, and finally found the book basically labeled "The Collection of Ancient and Modern Books" from the small hidden compartment under the bookshelf.

The "Four Books" above have fine covers, but these few are quite rough, and there are many wrinkles in the joints. Liu Xianglian knew that the cover of this book did not match the book inside, she smiled slightly, and casually picked it up. Picking up a book, peeling off the first page, and looking at the bibliography - "Pin Hua Bao Jian".

Liu Xianglian's face suddenly darkened, and she slapped the book on the table.

Daiyu woke up early in the morning, thinking she was earlier than Baochai, but when she woke up, Baochai opened her eyes and smiled, "Why did you get up so early today?"

Daiyu wrinkled her nose and said, "It's so boring that you are pressing me down, I can't sleep."

Baochai said with a smile, "I've been in bed with you for three years instead of five years. Why didn't you see me oppressing you before, but now you think I'm oppressing you?"

Daiyu just lowered her head and was about to go down to the ground. Baochai caught a glimpse of her puffy eyes and knew that she was worried, so she got up too, took the handkerchief from Zijuan, and threw it to wipe Daiyu's face when it got wet. On the other hand, she reached out to wash her face, but Baochai swung her hand away. Baochai caressed her face with one hand, and wiped it carefully with the other. That's unnecessary, my mother and my brother are not cruel people, if I really refuse to leave, they can't do anything about it, besides, I still have some prestige at home, those people dare not do anything to me."

Daiyu said, "I didn't do it for this." Seeing that Baochai wiped her face, she took the towel from her hand and washed it with the basin in Zijuan's hand. He squatted down, raised his face slightly, closed his eyes, and prepared Daiyu to wipe her face.

Unexpectedly, Daiyu just stretched out his hand to rub her face repeatedly, Baochai suspected that Daiyu was about to cry again, opened his eyes and smiled and said: "The face is already thin, if you ask you to rub it like this, it will be broken."

Daiyu smiled slightly and said, "I haven't seen my mother for a month or two. You can ask someone to tell you later. I'll go out of the city to see her today. You can go with me too."