The next day, Jia Lian came over to tell Lin Ruhai about the Qin family's funeral, and resigned. Lin Ruhai didn't expect such a thing to happen, so he asked a few words, and sighed pitiful. Jia Lian was afraid of causing him to hurt his nerves, so he didn't dare to say more, so he diverted his words. When it came to returning to Beijing, Lin Ruhai had no reason to allow it, but said that he had just recovered from his illness and took pity on his daughter, so he left Daiyu at home. Jia Lian heard that this was right, and Lin Ruhai personally wrote a letter to bring it, so he could also give an errand to Jia's mother; Lin Ruhai asked him when he would leave, and when he heard that Jia Lian had decided to take a boat tomorrow, he hurriedly summoned the stewards, Aunt Chen, and Aunt Qian, and ordered him to prepare the soil and rituals as soon as possible, so that they could be brought back to the capital together.

Here, Lin Daiyu also heard that Qin Keqing had passed away, she was surprised and sad, and said: "Although she is a nephew and daughter-in-law, she has only had to stretch out one hand in the past few years, but every time she meets, it is very good-she is polite, amiable and smiling, and she is said to be a first-class character like a fairy scroll, and her grandmother also loves her the most among her great-granddaughters-in-law." My grandmother didn't know how to be sad. As he spoke, he burst into tears. Zijuan waited for the maids and servants from Rongfu to hurriedly consol. After persuading for a while, Dai Yufang stopped crying and instructed Zijuan: "There should be a plain light yarn bag in the box, which I made the year before last and never used it, you can bring it." After Zijuan brought the things, Daiyu changed into plain clothes, went to the small Buddha hall to copy a "Diamond Sutra" and a short "Mantra of Death", put it in the veil, melted in front of the Buddha, and talked about her heart.

Later, the housekeeper's daughter-in-law and Aunt Chen took the ritual list and asked Daiyu to take a look. Daiyu excused herself at a young age, but she couldn't push it out, so she had to take a look; she didn't make any changes, she just asked to attach another list, and added all the gifts and things she had prepared for the Jiafu sisters and Baoyu, Sister Feng, Baochai, etc. two days ago. The housekeeper's daughters-in-law took the list and showed it to Lin Ruhai, Lin Ruhai nodded, and prepared it according to the list, and sure enough, it was all ready in one day. There are also accompanying servants here, and the dozen or nearly twenty brought by Jia Lian are naturally brought back; those who came with Daiyu are afraid that Daiyu will immediately disappear from the people in Beijing, and they are worried that the Snow Goose King Mama was originally from the Lin family, and this time she stayed, and then Zijuan and a Jin Mama also stayed in Yangzhou temporarily. These Lin Ruhai were also written in the letter to Rongfu. Early the next morning, Lin Ruhai took Zhang Hui, took the steward of the Lin Mansion, Shen Ping, and others, and sent Jia Lian and his party to the dock. The two said a few words, and Jia Lian boarded the boat to return to the north. Zhang Hui and the others returned to the salt government. Not much to mention.

However, it was said that after Jia Lian returned to Beijing, although Daiyu was worried about her grandmother's death and missed the death of the Qin family, she was helpless. What's more, the old father here has just recovered from a serious illness, and his weak body is still weak, thinking about the fact that he has not been able to accept Huan's knees for several years, he feels guilty in his heart, and he is extraordinarily dedicated when he is in front of Lin Ruhai. Lin Ruhai is a good Danqing, but he has been busy with official affairs for many years, and he has little time to spare; although he is concerned about political affairs, Guan Mengke is staring at death, and the cadres and subordinates of the Yan government are also trying their best to share his worries for him, but they have earned him a rare free time. So after listening to the official affairs outside every day and giving some guidance and instructions, I was relieved to recuperate in the Boyue Hall, and entertained myself with calligraphy and painting. Daiyu waited for the foreign man to disperse, so she came to her father's side, drove away the little girl, and personally served tea and water, laid paper and grinded, and dipped in pens and handed things. Her eyes are clear, her heart is fine, and she has the natural spirit between father and daughter, every time Lin Ruhai doesn't need to speak, she only raises her hand and raises her eyebrows to know her father's intentions. Lin Ruhai has a woman like this, she is relieved, her mind is relaxed, and her body has also improved. Even after Guan Mengke checked his pulse every other day, he couldn't help but say: "Looking at this situation, I don't have to prescribe other nourishing and recuperation prescriptions with you in the future, just take a piece of paper and write the word 'daughter' on it!"

Lin Ruhai laughed, patted Daiyu's hand and said, "Although it's a joke, it makes sense." This daughter of mine is the best. ”

Guan Mengke saw Daiyu shyly and lowered her head with a smile, although she was young, she was elegant and handsome, and she was moving, which made Lin Ruhai's proud face next to her more and more eyesore, so she smiled and said: "It's really the best, but it can only be good for so a year and a half, so you can't be in front of you, you have to serve someone else's house." ”

Before she could say a word, Daiyu's face turned red, and she retreated by checking the sound of the decoction, and ran away with a gauze skirt. Guan Mengke looked straight at it and laughed. When Lin Ruhai saw that his daughter had run away, he couldn't help glaring at him fiercely, but he also laughed: "When the woman is married, I already have an idea in my heart, so I don't wait for you to say it." ”

Guan Mengke also laughed when he heard this, looked at the Songmei picture he threw on the case first, and said, "I don't know what you think yet." It's just that since I have an idea, I still paint some cold pines, old plums, some peonies and lilies, and the red belly pomegranate to meet the occasion. Or let me come and draw a circle of vines in your yard, okay?"

Lin Ruhai and Guan Mengke Yueyu got along with each other, and they had a deep friendship, but they didn't know that he could also paint. But then he knew that he meant something else in his words, and he was immediately overjoyed, hurriedly straightened his clothes, bowed deeply to Guan Mengke, and said, "So it's all about Mr."

Guan Mengke didn't turn sideways to avoid it, and sure enough, he accepted his salute, but his face was still stiff, and he said seriously: "I'll say it first." I'm all looking at the faces of the Hong family girl and the Hui boy, I don't care if the others are good or bad!"

Lin Ruhai knew that he was more than a brother with Hong Gang, and the meaning of this was also clear, so he only smiled and said, "Don't worry." The two laughed a few more words, Lin Ruhai was a father in the end, it was easy to say, but he was afraid that he would turn his head and miss it, so he called himself Lin Ke and ordered: "Go find Miss and tell her to come to me." ”

This Lin Ke went to the small kitchen first. Seeing that in the medicine room that was opened out of the list, the big girl Qinghe, who was newly allocated to Daiyu, and the same little girl were looking at the stove for decocting medicine. Lin Ke said hello first, and then asked Daiyu. Qing He saw that it was him, and replied with a smile: "This medicine will always be half an hour younger, I am afraid that the smell will be heavy, and it will not be good to smoke the girl, so I asked Qingmiao and Xue Yan'er to accompany the girl to the garden for a temporary stroll." Where are you going?"

Lin Ke listened, hurriedly came out, and went to the garden. The two are also not far away. Lin Ke didn't walk twenty or thirty steps, but he saw from a distance that Lin Daiyu and Zhang Hui were walking over along the low wall of flowers and trees in the garden, and on the leisurely walkway made of flowers and stones.

It turned out that Daiyu came out of Boyue Hall before, although it was an excuse to pull it casually for a moment of shyness, and in the end, the first place went to the small kitchen. Then he turned around and went to the garden. You must know that this salt government garden is famous in Yangzhou, and there are Lin Hai and Jia Min and his wife who have carefully arranged it in the past few years, which is really exquisite and elegant. At this time, it was the middle of summer, and the garden was covered with thick shade and greenery, and the small pond with living water was fresh and fresh, accompanied by the aroma of grass, trees, flowers and leaves, which was refreshing and cool, and drove away the heat and dryness of those summer days. Daiyu was playing while reminiscing about her childhood, but she didn't think about time, or Qingmiao was afraid that she had been standing in the shadow of the water's edge for a long time and was attacked by the wet cold, so she only saw that she stayed for a while, so she persuaded her to play elsewhere. Daiyu also remembered her father's decoction, and although the secret hour had not yet arrived, she took Qingmiao, Snow Goose and others to the small kitchen here. This party just walked a few steps along the garden wall flower path, and suddenly heard a loud noise of flowers and trees in front of him, Daiyu and the others suddenly bluffed, and then heard a male voice coming from the wall - the first to speak was an eleven or two-year-old boy sent to Zhang Hui by the Lin Mansion, whose surname is Dou, and his nickname is Yue'er, who is full of shouting: "What a big magpie, but unfortunately I didn't catch it!"

Daiyu waited until then to know the reason for the movement. Then I heard Zhang Hui laugh and scold: "Little monkey, I said what are you doing with your ghosts, it turns out to be this! But that magpie is something you can catch empty-handed? I don't want to think about how old you are, so I tiptoed my hands and feet, and the sound is still here, how can it not be heard? Besides, what are you doing with it? It is inconvenient to raise, it is not delicious, and the feathers are not good for making shuttlecock darts, and it is the most useless thing. You still get it. ”

Daiyu listened to it inside the wall and couldn't help but laugh, but she was surprised that Zhang Hui casually belittled this magpie to uselessness. The leap was stunned, and even opened his mouth to ask: "Xianggong, is that magpie meat really not delicious?"

One sentence immediately amused the maids in the wall to cover their mouths. However, I listened to Zhang Hui and laughed: "It's not delicious." Not to mention the rough meat, the most important thing is that the earthy atmosphere is heavy, and the thick sauce and peppercorns in the thick soup can't cover it. Far inferior to pigeons and quails are fragrant and tender, delicate and delicious. ”

Yue'er suddenly realized and said, "So that's the case." Then he asked, "What about the feathers?" I think they are the same as the pigeon's feathers." Brothers play, can get bird feathers to make darts, so it's not bad. ”

Zhang Hui smiled: "I can't tell you anything about this alone, or do you seriously find a few roots, and you can understand it when you put it in one place and compare it." It's okay if this magpie's hair is on a kite, and it's not suitable to be a dart. If you only match a suit and make a decoration, it is not bad to use any of them. But if you want to pay attention to the weight, as well as the speed, distance, and route of the throwaway, chicken feathers, goose feathers, pigeon feathers, and goose feathers...... The differences are huge. If you say this now, it can be seen that you still can't play. Otherwise, next time I go to Xie Tong's Judgment Mansion, I will also take you there, and you can find a Fu next to Xiao Xie Xianggong, let him teach you, and come back to show off with your brothers, how about it?"

When Yue'er heard this, she was really happy, nodded again and again, and said, "Young Master Cousin is not allowed to coax people casually!"

Seeing this, Zhang Hui laughed. Here, Daiyu and the others couldn't help but laugh. Daiyu secretly claimed to be surprised, and she couldn't imagine that Zhang Hui, a person like Zhang Hui, who was a scholar and a public person, would still know these children's things, and it was the first thing to say. It's just that this time I didn't pay attention, the women's voices were a little louder, and the wind stopped for a while, so Zhang Hui heard it. Zhang Hui was stunned for a moment, and then asked in a loud voice: "Is it Cousin Lin in the garden?" ”

As soon as he spoke up, Daiyu had no reason to ignore it. I was so panicked that I looked left and right, but fortunately, ten steps ahead was the exit of the corner gate, and I hurriedly brought the maids out, and I blessed Zhang Hui at the door, and then approached and saluted, saying: "Good day, cousin." ”

Zhang Hui was busy saying a lot of courtesies and bowing back. On the other hand, he said: "I didn't know that my cousin was in the garden, and the children were messing around just now, but I was frightened?"

Daiyu shook her head and said no, raised her eyes to look at Zhang Hui, suddenly pursed her lips and smiled, and said: "I heard my cousin Gao argue, saying that magpie meat is not edible, and the feathers are not useful, and they can't even be raised for fun, but it's the most useless thing?"

Zhang Hui was stunned, and suddenly thought that Daiyu gave a pair of hand-embroidered fan sleeve pencil cases to thank him for saving Lin Ruhai's kindness, which was the auspicious pattern of "Xidenke"; Thinking of this, Zhang Hui couldn't help laughing and said: "It is precisely because it is not beneficial to ordinary people's mouths, competitions, blasphemy, and other vulgar uses, that you can freely report the good news on the branches." It's like the big canopy is useless, covering the vast desert and covering one side. My cousin said but?"

Daiyu saw what he was saying, but she lost her eyes and motioned to the naughty boy Yue'er, who was stunned to look for other birds on the tree, and understood in her heart, snorted, and clasped her palms together: "Amitabha, in this way, my cousin should also degrade the other birds and birds in the garden to cancel this catastrophe completely." ”

Zhang Hui raised his eyebrows, and also learned from her clasped hands: "Good and good, every drink and peck are in advance, save it now, I wish it happiness in the future." ”

After speaking, the two looked at each other and chuckled together. Zhang Hui smiled and asked, "Can I finish my cousin's garden?" ”

Daiyu said: "There is no disturbance. I was about to come out and go to the small kitchen to see if Daddy's soup was ready. Where is my cousin from?"

Zhang replied: "I came back from the bookstore outside. I changed some novelty books, and I was about to take them to my uncle. What kind of books does Cousin Lin like? There are just two travelogues here, and a cursory look at the text is refreshing, and it is quite readable. There is also a drawing of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I don't know which one is narrow, and the overprint is not an ordinary first-class drawing embroidery, but it looks like a window pattern in Shandong. I found it interesting, so I searched for a set, and when it was winter, I let the sisters at home play with the scissors. ”

Although Daiyu has always read most of the serious history, and has not read the vulgar novels on the market, she also watched a lot of plays with Jia's mother when she was in Rongfu, and Baoyu occasionally brought back some single illustrations, leaf boards and other playthings from outside, and you can also know the general embroidery appearance. At this moment, listening to Zhang Hui's description, I thought that the history was cold and sandwiched into a page and a half of red paper-cut patterns, which was really festive, and I couldn't help but purse my lips and smile. So he said, "It's also interesting." If my cousin has a chance, he might borrow it from me?"

Zhang Hui was happy to see her, and he was also happy. He had thought that he had been away from home for a few years and had not spent time with his sisters, but it was not too much to touch the girls' house, and it was naturally best to make them laugh. This Lin Daiyu in front of her, talking about relatives is a distant cousin, there are few contacts, and she is also a coquettish and shy when she first meets, lest she be frightened and abrupt when she raises her voice; Hearing her say this at this moment, Zhang Hui smiled and said: "If there is anything to be done, my cousin has a heart, and it will be over if I ask the little girl to send it to you immediately." Anyway, it's easy for me to go out, so I'll find another set, but it won't take me more time to make a trip. ”

Seeing that he was generous and simple, Daiyu also smiled and said, "In this way, I really gave birth to my cousin." Thank you so much!"

Zhang replied: "It's not worth anything." If my cousin has any other gadgets that he likes to play with, he just needs to call someone to sue me. If you see it outside, it's cheap to bring it back. ”

As they spoke, they continued along the path outside the garden towards the kitchenette. After Qingmiao, Snow Goose, and Yue'er took two steps, the last one was Zhou Wan, a scholar who returned to Zhanghui, holding a big bag, which contained the books he had just found. After a while, I saw Lin Ke coming from the other side of the road, and when he saw Zhang Hui and Daiyu, he hurriedly smiled and bowed, shouting, "It's good to return to the young master." Again: "Hello girl! The old man is looking for a girl, please come over." ”

Daiyu hurriedly asked, "What's the matter with Daddy?" While speeding up under his feet, he didn't go around the small kitchen, and went directly to Boyue Hall. Seeing Lin Ke's expression steady, there was no uneasiness in his heart, and he was only a little bigger at the moment because of Lin Daiyu's slow movement, and he didn't fall behind much, so he entered the Boyue Hall with Daiyu one after the other.

When he waited to see it, it turned out that Lin Ruhai asked Guan Mengke to take a look at Daiyu's peace pulse. Guan Mengke led Daiyu and the maid from the person to the quiet room next to him. Here Zhang Hui told Lin Ruhai that he had gone out before, but he was visiting Gu Chong and Xie Kai's uncle and nephew, and asked Gu Chong to guide him to meet Fan Taosheng and talk about the current issues from last winter to this spring. Lin Ruhai smiled and said: "The few articles you just said are very good, why don't you just use this as the topic, write two articles each according to the format, and then ask Master Fan to read them together." ”

Zhang replied: "That's exactly what my nephew thinks. When the evening is settled, they will write it all. ”

Lin Ruhai smiled and nodded, and said a few more words to him before letting him go back to Yangui Hall. Here, Guan Mengke also finished Lin Daiyu's diagnosis, sent them back to rest, and turned to talk to Lin Ruhai by himself. I want to know what Guan Mengke saw in the diagnosis, what happened next, and see the next decomposition.