The oil bottle of the Red Chamber

The second sister of the Zhao family covered her forehead and smiled shyly at Mrs. Chen.

It was night without words.

In the early morning of the next day, when the sky was about to brighten, Mrs. Chen took her two daughters to the main hall to greet her parents.

Old Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Chen looked at the elder daughter who took off her heavy filial piety and wore plain clothes but became more and more colorful, and her heart became more and more joyful.

After exchanging pleasantries and laughing for a while, Mrs. Chen said: "I heard that all the young ladies from the official families in Beijing have been studying since they were young. When they grow up to be sixteen or seventeen, they will become more sensible and righteous, and they will marry When I arrived at my husband's house, I could ask her to take a look at her. I thought, if I have nothing to do at home, I might as well hire a female teacher to teach Wan'er, eldest sister and second sister to read. What do my father and mother think? "

Hearing this, Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Chen hadn't spoken yet, but Mrs. Feng frowned in displeasure, and said, "Sister Hui, Mr. Shupin is not a trivial matter. You can't say that the wind is the rain."

"Oh, how troublesome can that be?" Hearing this, Mrs. Chen glanced lightly at Mrs. Feng, and said with a half-smile.

Mrs. Feng said: "Let's not talk about other things, just talk about the repairs for the husband, as well as the annual fees for books, pens and inks, it is not a small amount. Girls are different from my master. They can go to the county school outside to study. If a girl wants to study, she has to hire a female teacher to teach at home, which is even more costly. Not only that, but also to tidy up the room where the female teacher lives, and the room when she goes to school. Expensive and troublesome? Sister Hui doesn’t know how expensive firewood is if she’s not in charge of the family, so she doesn’t notice anything.”

The implication is that it is almost impossible to say that Mrs. Chen stayed at home with nothing to do, and something went wrong.

Chen sneered, stretched out her hand to pick the nails that were neatly trimmed, wiped off Dan Kou's increasingly transparent and pink nails, and said casually: "Look at my sister-in-law's long talk, I should spend more money and trouble. It turned out that it was just buying some books a year. Paper and ink, we need to clean up the two houses. My sister-in-law is complaining so much about being poor, I thought our poor Chen family would have no rice to cook."

Before Feng Shi could refute, Chen Shi sneered and said: "I have never read a book, so I don't know how hard it is to study. But when that dead ghost in our family was studying, I also thought about it coldly. No matter what Fei Yin, one or two hundred taels a year is enough. If my sister-in-law agrees, you don’t need to pay for the money, you just need to recruit someone to clean up the house, I hired a husband, and your Wan’er will also benefit.”

Everyone was stunned, and Mrs. Chen hurriedly asked: "What does Sister Hui mean by that?"

"Didn't I bring my half of the dowry with me when I went home?" Chen waved her hand and said disapprovingly, "Apart from the clothes and hairpins my mother gave me, there are also ten acres of Susukida and two shops in the dowry." , I can honor one or two hundred taels every year. I thought to myself, I am a widow and I live in my own home, what do I do with so much money. It is also my intention to make some money for the family. "

After finishing speaking, Mrs. Chen looked at Mrs. Feng with a smile that was not a smile, and said aggressively: "Don't let people think that the three of us are going back to our mother's house to eat for nothing."

Seeing that her sister-in-law's words were all directed at her sharply, Feng's heart suddenly became irritated.But since the parents-in-law are all sitting on the table, it's not easy to seriously care about it with Mrs. Chen.I had no choice but to suppress my dissatisfaction, and apologized with a smile: "You are a supercilious person, so it's natural to think so. We don't have that kind of heart anymore."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Chen responded with a sneer.

Seeing this, Mrs. Feng thought about what to say for a while, but felt so boring, so she pretended not to see her and kept silent.

Old Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Chen saw it and felt a headache.

Mrs. Chen pondered for a long time. After all, she was more concerned about her daughter.Yin said with a smile: "the eldest sister and the second sister are only old this year. One is seven years old and the other is four years old. The eldest sister has been engaged to Zhang's family at the head of Huangliang village early. The second sister wants to talk about marriage, and she has to wait It's been ten or so years. Sister Wan, on the other hand, will be ten years old after the new year. If a female teacher is hired to teach the three sisters to read and write, it will also benefit Sister Wan the most. The eldest sister and the second sister are just listening to the excitement. .Since this is the case, it is not good to ask Mrs. Hui to take care of the grooming. It is only going out from the business, and it is embarrassing for your sister-in-law. It is better to come out from the ladder of our old couple. Her sister-in-law thinks How about you?"

Listening to her mother-in-law's words, Mrs. Feng was very upset in her heart because she didn't blindly favor her sister-in-law and complained about her.Busy got up and explained with a smile: "Of course the old lady's meaning is very good. It's not that I'm stingy, I feel sorry for the money, and don't let the girls study. It's just that the uncle said earlier that women have talents without talent." Therefore, Wan'er is not allowed to study. I also follow the orders of the uncle. Otherwise, as parents, how can we not hope that our children will be happy. Since the old lady said so, I will do it."

After hearing Feng Shi's words, Mrs. Chen smiled faintly, took Feng Shi's hand and patted it, and said with a smile: "I knew it, you are the most considerate and virtuous. Unlike my sister Hui, The most capricious."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Chen rolled her eyes disapprovingly.She is straightforward and pungent by nature, and what she hates the most is Feng's pretending to be virtuous and docile.If you get a good deal, you have to be good-looking, and you have to make a tone of condescension.It seemed that the advantages she took were all forced by others.

Seeing Chen's frowning and domineering expression, Feng's heart felt a little tired.

The two aunts and sisters-in-law just looked at each other and hated each other, so they listened to Mrs. Chen's order to spend ten taels of silver from the monthly allowance to buy pens, inks, papers and inkstones and ask the female husband to help the three sisters study. Chen returned God came, and he quickly dissuaded him: "Mother, don't do this. I just said that I will pay for the repairs of the gentleman, and we will buy the pens, inks, papers and inkstones. If the mother does this, it will make people laugh at the daughter's words. And no letter?"

Seeing this, old Mrs. Chen put down the teacup in his hand, and slowly said: "You are also in your twenties this year. You have been married for many years and have a pair of daughters under your knees. Why are you still so self-willed and ignorant when you talk? What should be done, isn't it all for your own good. You are good to hear, but where do you say that? If you really think the dowry is too rich, you will save it for the eldest sister and the second sister. They will also go out in the future .Since you don't have a father, you mother should be more considerate."

"...Although our Chen family is not a rich and powerful family, the family is well-off. Adding a few pairs of chopsticks is enough to support the family, and it is not enough to live on the dowry of our daughter. If I hear you say that again You can pay attention to these insignificant words."

Mrs. Chen's words made Mrs. Chen fall silent.Feng Shi watched coldly from the side, although old Mrs. Chen's stern words finally prevented Chen from ruining his fortune, it can be seen that they are a family, and with a few words, they overturned Chen's previous words.

When Chen Shi heard his father's reprimand, he felt a little offended.It's just that she has always been afraid of the might of her strict father, and seeing that Mrs. Chen was seriously angry, she didn't dare to refute. She could only describe herself as sitting aside awkwardly, hugging her daughters in silence.

This is the end of the old lady Chen's words, and Feng's daughter-in-law is even more difficult to say.

Everyone sat in the main room, gossiped for a while, and after breakfast, they left without mentioning it.

In the evening, when Chen Gui came down to the yamen's house, Mrs. Feng helped Chen Gui undress and wash, and at the same time, she told her what she wanted her daughter to study when she woke up in the morning.Between the words, there was a vague intention of complaining that the Chen family had nothing to do.

Chen Gui straightened his arms, closed his eyes and listened to his wife Feng's complaint, frowned once, and said: "Sister Hui must have suffered from not studying, and now she is called Wan'er and Eldest Sister when she comes home. , and the second sister to study together. Didn’t you also want to ask Wan’er to study at the beginning? That being the case, you are now considered to have accepted sister Hui’s affection. Even if you are not very grateful, you shouldn’t complain so much. Tell others to listen , don’t you think you’re just being nice when you’re getting cheap? Besides, you’re the elder sister-in-law, and now that sister Hui is dead and her brother-in-law returns home, it’s so difficult for the mother and daughter. You don’t even talk about helping others, but you’re still trying to figure out her dowry. , let outsiders see it, and think that my Chen family can't afford it. Does this sound good?"

After hearing Chen Gui's words, Mrs. Feng turned upside down in anger. She couldn't help but raise her brows, and forced her to face Chen Gui and asked, "Who calculated her dowry? She was frivolous and frivolous, relying on how much money she had. As for the dowry of silver, she said that she should pay for her study expenses. She also laughed at me for being stingy, and ran on me for nothing. Seeing her such a big tone, I want to accept her. Qing'er, it's a pity that in the end it was just empty talk, and the matter was settled with just a word from the father-in-law. I didn't care about her, and now you are talking about me again? Why do you girls from the Chen family do everything? Okay, I just said something casually, but it turned out, didn't I?"

Chen Gui looked at Feng's face flushed with anger, sitting crookedly in front of the dressing table, wiping his eyes and tears.Under the radiance of the candlelight, she looked more and more pitiful, as if she was a daughter back then.Chen Gui's heart softened.He hurriedly stepped forward and coaxed softly: "Look at you, I only said a word, and you became so angry, as if I bullied you—"

Feng turned around and ignored Chen Gui.

Chen Gui choked for a moment, then turned to Feng Shi and said, "I just thought that sister Hui lost her husband at a young age, and it is not easy to live with her two daughters. You are a sister-in-law, and the elder sister-in-law is like a mother. Come home, you should treat her well. It will only be two or three years, when she gets married, she will also miss your kindness. In the future, I will help you a little bit, why don't you understand my heart. "

He also thought of how during the years Feng's marriage into the Chen family, he took care of his husband, taught his children, and was filial to his parents. His behavior was quite virtuous.Only when getting along with the Chen family, he is often stubborn.Not feeling a headache, he smiled and said: "Everyone says mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are natural enemies. Why is there a lot of respect between our mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but my sister-in-law fights like a black-eyed chicken. This time it's good, I don't have to worry about the lack of excitement at home." .”

Before he could finish a sentence, Feng couldn't help laughing.