On the afternoon of the second day back in Jianxing County, the rain stopped, and the Xiang family finally calmed down the hustle and bustle of yesterday and the hurricity of the slaves. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The old lady's maiden family, the Guan family, came from Huaijing to visit.

The two who came over were Mr. and Mrs. Guan Er, Mr. and Mrs. Guan Si, Mr. Guan is still taking care of the industry in Shanghai, and the one-room people do not live in the old house.

After everyone saw each other, Aizhen and Huizhen led all the daughters to the small main hall in the inner courtyard to have tea.

Mrs. Guan Si smiled: "The last time I saw you was a year ago, and this time I look at it, I am a lot taller." "She is the successor of Master Guan Si, so she is very young, only twenty-five or sixteen years old. The person is like a jasmine, dressed plainly, with fashionable short ear-length hair, broken bangs, and naturally upturned corners of the mouth, which is very bookish. She doesn't have any jewelry on her, only a pair of rice bead earplugs on her earlobes, but a watery jade bracelet on her wrist is more conspicuous.

Compared with yesterday's simple fifth wife and today's unattractive fourth wife, Guan Er is very different, she wears a platinum necklace inlaid with large emeralds around her neck, four or five gemstone rings on her plump hands and feet, and her permed hair is pulled into a dignified bun at the back of her head. She was accustomed to squinting slightly at her very charming eyes in her early years, and there was a faint smile of reserve on her face.

"Aizhen, Huizhen, the second cousin wants to ask one thing - did Xiaoyin contact you a few days ago?" Mrs. Guan asked, her slightly anxious tone breaking a steady look.

Xiaoyin is the name of Guan Si's cousin.

"I'm busy with the recitation competition, and it seems that I haven't met my fourth cousin for a long time." Hui Zhen said first.

Ai really calculated and replied truthfully: "The last time my fourth cousin met me, it was last week." ”

Mrs. Guan Er sighed and said: "This child had an awkward quarrel with me half a month ago, and she hasn't called since then, and she hasn't returned to the Shanghai mansion on vacation, so I'm really anxious and can't help it." ”

"Second sister-in-law, I said it all, don't worry. Xiaoyin is young, Zuo is just not happy to go out for a while, maybe he went out to play with a few friends. Mrs. Guan Si persuaded, and asked Sister Aizhen, "Do you know where your fourth cousin is likely to go?" ”

Taking advantage of the unpreparedness, Hui Zhen quietly winked at Ai Zhen, she was puzzled, but saw Hui Zhen smile and said, "Second cousin, I should know." I have a girl I know well, surnamed Fei, her brother has a good relationship with Sister Xiaoyin, I heard a while ago that the eldest brother of the Fei family went to Hangzhou with a group of friends to play, maybe Sister Xiaoyin is among them. ”

"Surname fee?" Mrs. Guan Er furrowed her eyebrows, "I haven't heard Xiaoyin mention this person. Suddenly, she came to her senses and smiled, "Thank you, good boy." If you meet your fourth cousin in the future, you must inform me and tell her that I am very concerned at home. ”

Hye-jin smiled and agreed.

Mrs. Guan Si smiled: "Second sister-in-law, see if this is the case." Xiaoyin has money on her, and she is not stupid, didn't she leave a telegram. ”

"Telegram? Did the fourth cousin also send a telegram back? Hui Zhen asked.

At this time, Mrs. Guan Er's face was embarrassed, and she interrupted Mrs. Guan Si, who was about to answer, and said with a smile: "It's nothing, it's just some nonsense that your fourth cousin is very angry." ”

Chatting and chatting, Mrs. Guan Si talked about her studies with Aizhen: "...... How are you doing math? I liked this subject the most when I was in middle school. ”

She hurriedly waved her hand, "Don't mention it, my math is only at the middle level in the class, and Huizhen is much better than me, and she always ranks in the top few exams." ”

Mrs. Guan Er said with emotion: "The fourth brother and sister have finally gone to middle school, in the past, when we were young, we were at home, that is, we asked my husband to teach, just to ask a few sisters to be able to recognize the words, what is the arithmetic, foreign language, although the school outside has opened these classes, we are not allowed to read." ”

Mrs. Guan Si smiled: "What, is the second sister-in-law envious?" ”

"Envy is not envy, the more you understand the truth, the more people will think, whether it is good or bad. If you want to put it on hold, just talk about this family matter, the order of the parents, and the words of the matchmaker, and it will be decided, where can the children dare to say anything. Mrs. Guan said.

"Look at what you said, I'm not ashamed to recall your past in front of my niece." Mrs. Guan Si teased. Although she is nearly 20 years old from the second wife of Guan, it can be seen that the two get along and have a very harmonious relationship, and the second wife treats her like a junior.

Mrs. Guan Er smiled: "I'm not ashamed, isn't the current society paying attention to generous behavior-I think the women who used to bind their little feet were too generous." Aizhen fifteen, Huizhen fourteen, are also big girls, what dare not mention marriage. But he gradually changed the subject.

Earlier, another car of the Guan family broke down, and only the elders came, but the juniors did not follow. After having lunch together, the Guan family returned to Huaijing.

In the afternoon, when she stayed in the room, a cluster of misty petunias outside the window in front of the desk was in excellent bloom, and she liked it when the sun shone on it. It just so happened that she didn't take a nap today, so Yu Gui went to the courtyard and called: "Third Miss, Fourth Miss, the old lady feels better, and I will call you to see her." ”

Ai Zhen stood up, stood in the window and looked into the courtyard, and saw that Yu Gui had two thick braids today, so he nodded at her with a smile. Cinnamon still looked like a sneer, and gave her a shy smile back.

Since they want to see their grandmothers who have not seen them for a long time, they deliberately dress up according to the old lady's admiration, wearing delicate colors, but they are not beautiful, and the old lady dislikes the decadence of girls in their youth the most.

To tell the truth, Mrs. Xiang lost her husband at the age of thirty-five, and she supported a large part of the family business by herself, and her young son and widowed mother were in a difficult situation. When people get older, Mrs. Xiang's temper can't be said to be gentle.

When Mrs. Xiang was alive, Guy was also from a wealthy family, and he was always strong, so he was often in a dark mood when he got along with his mother-in-law.

The old lady Xiang has been sick for a long time, but the real aggravation was a month ago, when the old lady got up early to listen to the old mother tell a country joke, and she was so excited that she couldn't breathe and fell over.

In front of Aizhen, the old lady was half-sitting and half-leaning on a chaise longuese, which was covered with a layer of gray mink, which was very soft. She freshened up, wore well-maintained jewelry, looked much better than yesterday, and said to her two granddaughters: "I didn't expect that I would end up falling to the ground after listening to a joke." But it's also a good thing, I don't have any major worries at this point. ”

Although they are not close to the old lady, my grandmother used to remember to give the juniors a generous pocket money alone every New Year's holiday, what local specialties they had on weekdays, and also pay attention to the preferences of their grandchildren.

Mrs. Xiang treats her grandchildren like this, she is a person who has experienced strong winds and waves, and she has also been arbitrary. In the face of the grandchildren separated by blood, she doesn't have to deliberately make any intimate actions, she will be happy and angry, and she will be alive, but she is not like the grandmother of the clay sculpture Bodhisattva of others.

Ai Zhen and Hui Zhen sat on the footstool next to Mrs. Xiang's couch on the left and right, and they were naturally touched by this scene, and they had a lot to say but didn't dare to say.

Old Mrs. Xiang always looked relieved.

Talking to the old lady about interesting things in school, the old lady said lightly: "You are more than ten years old, although you are a middle school, but your family has never restricted you from socializing." The world has changed dramatically, but the situation of women is different from that of men, especially girls from families like ours, and I used to think that your father knew how to discipline him, and I didn't say anything about it. ”

"Grandmother, speak slowly, and we'll all listen." She and Hui Zhen were busy.

"I don't know how much bitterness it took to preserve the family business that was passed down after your grandfather's death. Back then, I was just to buy a batch of looms and eat with people from the factory, and I was accused of showing up and not abiding by women's morals, but there is no need to mention these things. I just want to teach you that when a woman is alive, she has to rely on herself, and this is not a man. In the future, your reliance will be on the fame of the daughter of the Xiang family, this family business, and you will have to fight for yourself. Mrs. Xiang didn't know how many times she stumbled at these words, but the two granddaughters still leaned over slightly and listened carefully.

It's easy to say, and Mrs. Xiang smiled bitterly: "In your ears, these words are just clichés. It is useless to say this, for you need to experience all the things in the world. ”

Longan jujube tea was made on the stove, and Mother Xu presented it, and she would serve the old lady to drink it spoonful.

The old lady nodded her and Hui Zhen's chin slightly, and the two stood up and whispered in unison, "Granddaughter retires." ”

Before parting, Ai Zhen took another look and said, "Grandmother's illness will definitely get better soon." ”

"In fact, it's all heart disease, and the heart disease is gone, so there's nothing that can't be let go." Old Lady Xiang whispered, more like she was muttering to herself, whether she heard it clearly or not.

Mrs. Guan, who returned to Huaijing, first got together with the concubine and the servant woman to wipe the cards, and after dinner, two more relatives came to the female dependents of the relatives, and then went to the cool water pavilion to play for two hours, and then stopped.

She didn't play small, she lost one hundred and sixty yuan, but she still didn't blink an eye. Our second room is not short of this money, she shook the fan, and thought, after all, she was a little distressed.

The Guan family has been operating in Huaijing for a long time, and it is one of the most prestigious families around Wudi. The Guan family now has one, two, four, and five people, a total of four rooms, and men and women are ranked separately. The reason why three is missing is because the third son of the old lady Guan died young, so he simply vacated.

The four-room people live in a large house, but the layout of the house is wide, warm in winter and cool in summer, so it is not actually crowded.

The second Mrs. Guan returned to the bedroom, called the girl to help press her shoulder, and when she heard the humane "the second master is back", she pushed the girl away.