Enemies in the Red Chamber

Time flies, and Daiyu has been helping Mrs. Yang's housekeeper in the Yang family for some time. During this time, Daiyu seems to have opened the door to a new world, and finally began to re-understand the lives of the women in the mansion.In the past, whether it was the Lin family or the Ning family in the previous life, plus the Huai'an Palace, they were all different from ordinary mansions, so Daiyu had no chance to see what kind of life the local clan women lived.Perhaps it was also Jia Min who considered this point. When he heard that Yang Shili was the second son, he didn't care about the disadvantages of separating the family.

In addition to helping husband and raising children, keeping housekeeping accounts, welcoming and sending off, another important task of clan wives is to mediate disputes in the clan and take care of the lives of the clan members.Since Daiyu followed Mrs. Yang, she understood the tediousness of it. Naturally, things like Yang Si and He's would not always happen on weekdays.

At first Daiyu was really annoyed, she couldn't figure out why some people would make trouble every day for a few taels of silver and a dish, and why would a daughter-in-law talk back to her mother-in-law, would it be useful? !After returning to the room, his temper grew, and Yang Shili was the first to be affected.Fortunately, Yang Shili was patient enough not to argue with Daiyu, but instead comforted her, otherwise the two would inevitably quarrel.Later Daiyu felt ashamed when she thought about it.

Yang Shili felt that if he didn't think of a way, his daughter-in-law who was a good like-minded and extraordinary woman would be forced to be vulgar, which is impossible.So I thought of a way to persuade Daiyu tactfully: "The so-called all kinds of life are not all turbulent waves. The more ordinary the Chinese, the true flavor will be revealed. Other people's anecdotes are just ghost stories and strange novels. You can completely reflect on them." Do it the way you want, if you just record the ordinary things of ordinary people, show the good and evil of human nature, and write new ideas. The so-called strange and strange are not limited to the understanding of ordinary people, but the strangeness of the human heart. Don't they have more meaning?"

Daiyu listened to what he said, and thought about it for the same reason. It is precisely because there are few unusual things that they are rare and eye-catching. Ordinary people may not encounter them a few times in a lifetime, and these trivial things are more often seen.Writing a book by myself is neither for fame nor profit, but just to realize that life is not a waste of time. Individuals have their own way of living, and ordinary people's lives may have great wisdom.You can naturally see anecdotes when you go out to travel, and it's not necessarily a waste of time when you can't go out.

After figuring it out, she no longer regards these things as a burden, but is willing to carefully observe their behavior from the perspective of a bystander, how they talk and do things, and it will give her some fun after a long time.Seeing that she was enjoying herself, Mrs. Yang was also happy to let her take care of it. Both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were satisfied with this.

No, "troublesome" came again.Xueyan knew that her second grandmother was no longer the same as before, and she felt impetuous when she heard these things, so she didn't try to refuse as before, after all, if she pushed too much, it would inevitably spread arrogance and contempt for others. Something like that would give her a bad reputation. "Second Grandma, Grandma Xiaoqi from the west is here. If you can't do it alone, everyone will step on you and look down on you. Obedient head is here to complain, but I don't know why."

The "Xiaoqi Grandma in the west" that Xueyan said was well-known among the clan's daughters-in-law who had graduated from the fifth service, and once caused Mrs. Yang and Mrs. Tian a lot of headaches.Her mother-in-law is weak and doesn't take care of her father-in-law. Her father-in-law is paralyzed on the bed, and there is no brother to help a single child. Although there are two elderly people in the clan who help the two elderly people spend a lot of money on medical consultation and medicine, the burden is still heavy. Not so rich.Grandma Xiaoqi is the name that goes down their big rankings. She knows how to live and can spend a penny in half. She has the most narrow-minded and calculating temper. At most, Zhanguang would nagged Mrs. Yang or Mrs. Tian, ​​and his favorite thing to say was that others looked down on him.Daiyu learned from her what true filial piety is and what strength is, and she has also seen what a real gossip woman is, so it is hard to comment on her character.

After Grandma Xiaoqi came in, Daiyu hurriedly ordered people to serve tea, and the maids were already used to her temperament, if you treat her like you treat others, she will feel that you look down on her, and you have to be more attentive than others to be satisfied, They all moved to sweep the chairs, sweep the fruit plate on the chair, and the fruit plate on the chair.Daiyu felt amused when she saw that scene.

Grandma Xiaoqi was very satisfied when she saw it, she took a sip of tea and said to Daiyu with a smile: "Good tea! I think this kind of tea was always prepared when my mother's family was rich, but now, it's no good. Ah. After all, she is a girl from the Hanlin family. She knows etiquette and treats everyone equally. There is no one in the clan who does not say hello to you. It is not like some people who hate the poor and love the rich. Old Gao, squint at people."

What else could Daiyu say besides laughing, she wondered who was among the squinting people she mentioned.

Grandma Xiaoqi said again: "Second brother and sister, it's not that I'm narrow-minded and insist on caressing, some people are just too much. You talk about the same closeness, and they are all brothers who give birth to children. Why should I give my natal family a light gift? Fifth sister-in-law's natal family's gift is a bit heavier. Don't you just look at my natal family's lack of power and power? Don't you just look at my family's financial difficulties? But even if my natal family is poor, even if my family is poor, I am no better than others I have given less gift money, and they are all just random. Some people I specially bring more things with them. It is my heart that they are not expensive. I am a strong person. I have no money to eat meat, even if I put oil on my lips. It will be looked down upon by others, except for the help from the master’s family, who have I borrowed money from other people’s families? Isn’t it bullying people to treat them differently like this?”

Sure enough, it was the same thing again, and it was still the same thing, Daiyu only had one thought in her mind at this moment. "Maybe I didn't pay attention, maybe it wasn't intentional."

After saying a word, Daiyu regretted it. It's over, and she shouldn't answer.Sure enough, Grandma Xiaoqi then sneered and said: "It's not intentional, and it's not once or twice. It's clear that we look down on our family and feel that we are not as good as others. Isn't that the case with my natal family's funeral last time, and my mother-in-law's last time?" There is something wrong with my natal family, and everyone looks down on people with dog eyes, two knives and a few steamed buns are enough to get in the way, why don't you go back and look through the gift book to see what my family gave them?"

Daiyu sneered and dared not answer any more.When she had said enough and sent her away, Daiyu shook her head and sighed, maybe such a person could live a more real life.The nanny that Mrs. Yang sent to Daiyu felt sorry for her, "Grandma Xiaoqi is not easy." Daiyu recalled what Aunt Fifth said last time when Grandma Xiaoqi came over. He asked Xueyan to pick two good ginseng and send them to him.

Unexpectedly, after two days, Grandma Xiaoqi came to thank them again because of the two ginseng.Daiyu was also surprised, why she came to talk about it for a while and then didn't continue. Only then did she know that her father-in-law's illness had worsened again, and she wanted to take care of him at home at any time.When she came to thank her, Daiyu thought she was going to talk about the hard work of serving her in-laws, but she didn't mention it, she just kept thanking her for the two ginsengs.

Later, Daiyu wrote it down in the manuscript, specially named it "Little Woman", and counted it as a piece.Daiyu made a special note at the bottom: respectable, pathetic and pitiful.After reading it, Yang Shili added another sentence, "Inferiority, pride, self-respect, self-love and self-pity".

At this time, none of them thought that after hundreds of years, Grandma Xiaoqi would become the representative of the little women of their time, and the title of Grandma Xiaoqi would become a special term to describe people like her. noun.

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