After Jia Yuanchun heard Jia Baoyu's request, he sighed in his heart.

He knew better than anyone what this ornament meant. Although the thing itself is not valuable except for the rarity of the craft, this thing comes out of the palace. Now that it is obtained by Jia Jiu, it is equivalent to saying that Her Royal Highness the princess values Jia Jiu very much. For Jia Baoyu, this ornament is just a rare thing, but if it is placed in Jia Jiu's house, it is to tell the world that there is a girl in their family who is recognized by the royal princess. Especially today, when Mrs. Xing is lying down, there is only one female elder above Jia Jiu, Jia Jiu is recognized by Her Royal Highness the Princess, which is equivalent to saying that Jia's mother's level of raising children is the best, so Jia Yuanchun, who has been raised in front of Jia's mother since childhood, can also be stained.

Jia Yuanchun, who is already in a very bad situation and tries to seize an opportunity every day, certainly does not want to see the life-saving straw in his hand snatched away, even if this person is his own brother.

Of course, Jia Yuanchun will not really be angry with Jia Baoyu, but he will definitely be angry with Shi Xiangyun.

Jia Yuanchun spoke before Jia's mother: "Besides, last time, I took a fancy to the pastel vase here of the old lady, and I rubbed the old lady to ask for it, but I fell one within two days." And last time, I took a fancy to the old lady's Duozi Duofu agate ornament, but I was playing football in the house before, and suddenly knocked the ornament to the ground, knocking off a leaf alive. Now I like this again. There is nothing wrong with this jadeite, but such a thin leaf, where can it withstand your tossing. Although it is said that jadeite is not worth anything, it is also from the palace, if there is something missing. Your second sister will suffer for you. Do you want something to happen to your second sister? ”

Jia Baoyu has grown so big, he has never been so heavy. I was immediately stunned.

Aunt Xue saw it and said, "Everyone in the world is heavy jade." No one likes gorgeous jadeite, but I didn't expect the brother in the house to love him. Baoyu, if you like jade ornaments, I have several more there. There are such big jade cabbages, and there are also such big green bamboos, which one do you like, just pick. ”

Jia Baoyu was stunned, lying in Jia's mother's arms and not speaking.

Jia Mu said: "Baoyu, you like to bully your second sister very much. ”

Jia Baoyu said: "I don't. ”

Jia Mu said: "You have." ”

"I don't." Jia Baoyu's eyes turned red as he spoke.

Jia Mu said: "I know. You've always been smooth-sailing, and you'll give whatever you want. But think about it, your second sister is older than you, how many times has the ancestor given him things? It's just the jewelry from the last time, and that's because your second sister's jewelry is the least among the sisters, so it's given. This kind of decoration, when did the ancestor not leave it to you, and why did he give it to your second sister? ”

"But none of them are prettier than this."

Jia Mu laughed. Yes, the one Jia Jiu brought home is indeed beautiful, but it is not valuable. Where can it be compared to Jia's mother's private room, each of them is rare. It's just such a thing, even if it is said, Jia Baoyu will not pay attention to it. He was a child. It only cares if something looks good or not, and as for whether it's worth the money, it doesn't matter at all. And people like the Jia family. The value of the thing itself is secondary. The meaning behind him is the capital that these inner house ladies show off. From this point of view, Jia Jiu's ornament is much more meaningful than Jia Mu's private collection.

Jia Mu said: "Let's go." Since you like jadeite, the old lady asked her to take you to the glass factory to pick it up. Take whatever you like, how? I'll leave this to your second sister. This is a good thing that your second sister got when she went out for the first time, and it is of great significance. You have always cherished your sisters and sisters at home, why did you rob your second sister of things today? ”

Jia Baoyu got up and came over to apologize to Jia Jiu. Jia Jiu hurriedly replied with a half-salute.

In the evening, Jia's mother had dinner here and dispersed early. It's Jia Cong, who hasn't seen her sister all day, and now when she arrives in her sister's arms, it's like a wronged child who has found support, and she won't come down if she sticks to her sister. He wants to be fed by his sister when he eats, and he wants to be hugged by his sister when he walks, even if he returns home, he refuses to get off his sister, even if it is his favorite rattle before.

Jia Jiu hugged him around the room and let him climb on the couch. At the beginning, Jia Cong said that he would not let go of his sister's clothes, but Jia Jiu coaxed and coaxed, and he saw his sister always standing in front of him, so he hesitated to let go of his hand. It's just that no matter where Jia Jiu puts him on the lacquered couch, he will crawl over in the shortest possible time, and then lie on Jia Jiu's chest, refusing to leave.

Jia Jiu said: "Cong'er is getting bigger and bigger, and the strength in his hands and feet is not small. There was not enough room for him to climb. When the weather cooled down, we took him to the back garden and spread a thick blanket on the grass so that he could play well. Children need to move a lot to grow strong. Xiaohong, you tell the following to prepare a few more blankets. ”

Xiaohong replied and said, "Girl, if you want your brother to play boldly in the garden, the light felt is useless." The dew on this grass is heavy, if you only lay felt, you are afraid that it will be wet after a while, you should spread a few layers of fine and soft straw mats at the bottom, and you can't make the bamboo mat hibiscus and the like, it is easy to break, and the thin bamboo silk that cannot be broken will pierce the felt and hurt the brother. Then there are coarse felts and fine felts. The texture of the felt is rough and thick, which is not only easy to rub the delicate skin of the brother, but also easy to get prickly heat after long-term contact. If the girl wants her brother to move more, the maid thinks that it is better to wait for a few days and wait for the Mid-Autumn Festival to pass. ”

Jia Jiu said: "Is there no other way? ”

Jinxiu listened and said, "Girl, the maid remembers that there is a bamboo stalker in our backstreet, and he will make a kind of mat made of bamboo pieces strung together. Each piece is half an inch long and a finger wide piece, soaked in concentrated salt water, and then dried in the sun, and so on many times, and then processed little by little. This kind of bamboo mat has no burrs, and it will not pinch people after polishing and grinding. It's just that the price is very expensive, and it costs five taels of silver for a square foot. If you want it right away, you have to add an additional fee. ”

Jia Jiu said: "One foot costs one tael of silver? How can it be so expensive? The high-grade hibiscus sent from the south was only a few silver dollars. ”

Jinxiu said: "Girl, bamboo for more than 30 years is not easy. This salt is even more valuable. The girl didn't know that the salt outside was expensive. The words of the official salt. At least two taels of silver a catty, even a tael of private salt. It is also common to have one or two or five pieces of silver. There is not enough salt for idlers to eat, where is there so much salt to serve the bamboo? Last time, the girl thought that the mat sent from outside was expensive, but where could she save money on this salt as a mat? One foot square and five taels of silver is already a conscience price. ”

Jia Jiu said: "If it's one or twenty taels of silver, I can call the shots, but if I want to make Cong'er climb happily, how can one or twenty taels of silver solve the problem?" Well, I'd better wait until I've asked my father. If not, it's just a matter of hard work. ”

As he spoke. Jia Cong was babbling in Jia Jiu's arms again. He felt that his sister was patronizing and talking to the girls and snubbed him.

When Xue Baochai came, he saw Jia Jiu holding his younger brother all over the room, and couldn't help laughing: "Today at the old lady's place, Cong'er has lost her sister, crying so pitifully, it's useless for anyone to coax him, even the old lady is also tortured by him." Later, he was tired of crying and fell asleep in a daze. I'm afraid that my sister will have something to do in the future. He refused to let go even more. ”

Jia Jiu shook his head and said, "He's a boy, he always has to leave this inner house." It's just that he's too young now, and I can protect him a little bit. But my sister is right. I can't spoil him all the time. ”

Xue Baochai said: "I think the second sister has done a very good job." By the way, what is my sister talking to the girls just now? Why is my sister's face still worried? ”

Jia Jiu shook his head and said, "It's okay." It's just an occasional talk about the hardships of the people outside. Sister Bao, is the day outside so sad? I vaguely heard the elders say it. This official salt is only a few dozen dollars a catty, right? How did it become two taels of silver a pound? ”

Xue Baochai was stunned for a moment and looked at Jia Jiu. said: "Why did the second sister ask this?" Without waiting for Jia Jiu to answer, he said: "It's also my sister who is a young lady, so I don't understand this thing." That's right, the official salt is tens of wen a catty, and even the highest price of salt reported in the official document is not more than 50 wen. However, this kind of salt can only be bought by the official eunuchs, and if ordinary people do not buy private salt, they can only buy official salt for two taels of silver. ”

"What? How so? ”

Xue Baochai sighed, sat down beside Jia Jiu, and said, "Sister, do you know how much most of the officials are?" It's like the second master, a member of the Ministry of Labor of the fifth grade, a serious Yulu for a year is only eighty taels of silver plus eighty Hulu rice, and it is not new rice. What is enough for eighty taels of silver? It's not enough to buy a snack for a child once in a while, and how can you afford the family's expenses. ”

Jia Jiu said: "No, it's not as good as the second wife's monthly money for half a year." ”

Xue Baochai said: "There is little money, and life has to go on, that is, no matter how diligent and thrifty and virtuous people are, they have to find a way to hold silver for the sake of the children in the family." This official salt is one of the ways for everyone to get money. Although there are dozens of pounds of salt listed in the salt shop, the salt jar is always empty, and the people want to buy it, and they can only buy salt with two taels of silver hanging on the side. On the other hand, the salt in the official salt warehouse has long been divided by the people below, distributed to the salt merchants, sold by the salt merchants, and then folded into silver for the officials who handle it, and the officials below rely on this silver to improve the lives of their families. Therefore, even if the imperial court wants to clean up the salt policy, it will also be resisted by officials at all levels. The price of salt will only go up, but there has never been a day when it will fall. My sister knows that the people can buy a tael of silver for private salt, which is already thankful. ”

Jia Jiu couldn't believe what he heard. It suddenly occurred to him in his heart that his uncle, whom he had never met, was afraid that he would fall into that quagmire from now on. Even if he overcharges one or two percent of the salt tax every year, for the sake of his own treasury, the emperor who is short of money is afraid that he will continue to stay in that position, and let him continue to fight with the salt merchants and officials at all levels. And how could the salt merchants and the officials at all levels let go of those who took food from their mouths? I'm afraid that Lin Ruhai will consume his remaining longevity in that position.

Xue Baochai saw that Jia Jiu was silent, so he said, "Sister, what's wrong?" ”

Jia Jiu shook his head and said, "My aunt is now leaving a daughter as old as the third sister. Now that my aunt is in salt politics again, it is no wonder that the old lady is worried and bent on taking her cousin over. ”

Xue Baochai said: "Everyone has their own life. Maybe the aunt did a good job. What about changing positions a year later? My sister shouldn't worry too much. By the way, such a thing should not have been spread to the inner house. Why did my sister suddenly ask about the price of salt? ”

Jia Jiu was stunned for a moment, and then blushed. After thinking about it, I still told the whole story.

Xue Baochai smiled: "So that's the case. Brother Cong is also blessed, with a sister who plans for him everywhere. He added, "My sister didn't know this." If you buy this kind of thing with cash, the price will naturally be expensive. However, if you use salt instead of money to settle the bill, you can save a lot of money. After all, the salt that those ordinary people can buy is at least one or two pieces of silver, and a family like ours only needs a few dozen yuan. There can be a twenty times more out of it. It just so happens that there is one in our shop. Why don't I have someone say it and ask them to send one over. ”

Jia Jiu said: "Oops." That sister is here, thank my sister first. Splendid went to get the silver. ”

Xue Baochai waved his hand and said, "But for such a small thing, my sister still counts silver with me, which is actually too foreign." My sister should not tell me about the money, or I will be angry. ”

The two of them pushed and conceded, but the matter of the silver money was still over.

Sure enough, Ying'er went for a while, and then came back with two mothers-in-law carrying a boss's box. Xue Baochai asked someone to open it on the spot, only to see that there was indeed a big mat inside. It was three feet long and one foot five feet wide.

Xue Baochai said: "It's not this. The ones sent below are all so big, but the ones sold in the shop are all cut-out. If you want me to say, it's not good to cut it at all. These domino-like bamboo blocks are strung together with fishing line. If you cut it, wouldn't it be easy to fall apart? My sister probably doesn't know. There are two materials for this domino mat, one is made of purple bamboo, and the other is made of green bamboo. This green bamboo is also good. Purple bamboo is also good, after dozens of processes. will become this withered yellow color. However, this is true for bamboo. Over time, the color will gradually darken. I've seen a domino seat in the south, and it's all reddish-purple, it's really rare. ”

Jia Jiu hugged Jia Cong and said, "It turns out that bamboo will change color?" ”

Xue Baochai said: "Not really. After three to five years, the color will gradually darken and turn brown, and after ten years, it will slowly turn red, but it will turn purple, and it will take at least a jiazi. And the maintenance of bamboo is also very important. Every year when the weather turns cooler and it is time to put it away, it must be cleaned and soaked in salt water, and then dried, washed and dried. Otherwise, it is easy to be eaten by insects. ”

Jia Jiu hadn't answered yet, but heard someone outside say, "Sister Bao is really knowledgeable, and she knows it again." ”

Jia Jiu came out with Jia Cong and Xue Baochai, and sure enough, Jia Yuanchun came with Shi Xiangyun to explore spring.

The sisters saw each other, and sat down with dignity and humility, and then they heard Jia Yuanchun say: "Second sister, it's so decent." What do you want such a big mat for? ”

Jia Jiu pointed at Jia Cong, who was hanging on his body, and said with a smile: "It's not for him." I thought that when the weather was a little cooler, I would let him crawl more in the back garden and move his muscles. It's just that there are a lot of insects on the grass in the back garden, and the moisture is also heavy, and if he only uses straw mats and felts or something, he is afraid of wearing out his skin. The girls recommended this domino seat to me, but it was really not easy to buy a good one. Coincidentally, Sister Bao came, and after knowing the reason, she told me that there was this in their shop, and it was not worth anything, so she gave my sister a seat. ”

Shi Xiangyun looked at the mat and said, "The second sister really has nothing to say to Cong'er. At this moment, Cong'er doesn't want to talk about rolling on it, even fighting is enough. ”

"Fight?"

Tanchun saw that Jia Jiu didn't understand, and said, "Second sister, Cong'er made a lot of trouble today. The four younger sisters were all bullied and cried by him. In the past, in front of his sister, he let his fourth sister go. ”

When Jia Jiu heard this, he lowered his head and said to Jia Cong: "Okay, you skin boy, you actually bullied your fourth sister." You are a boy, and you will be a man who stands up to the sky in the future, but you can't do anything to women and children, especially your own family. Got it? ”

I saw Jia Cong pouting, falling into her sister's arms, hiding her little face in her sister's shoulder socket, and refusing to pay attention to people.

Seeing this, Jia Jiu had no choice but to hug Jia Cong and said, "Why are the sisters so complete today?" ”

Jia Yuanchun said: "It's not Baoyu yet, because the old lady said that she wanted to give him jade ornaments, but he didn't see anything, so he panicked." The old lady nodded and told him that it would be okay to let people take him out to play early in the morning. In the end, the old lady moved out of her father, so that he stopped. At this moment, he was picking the old lady's private room. The old lady also picked out a few things for my sister, and a few of us were just about to come to my sister, so we came over together. ”

Jia Jiu saw Brother Parrot standing on the side: "Isn't this Sister Parrot?" Why did my sister come here in person? ”

Brother Parrot motioned to the mother-in-law behind him to bring up the things, but said with a smile: "The girl is too uplifting." The eldest girl, the cloud girl, the treasure girl, and the three girls, each of them are glamorous beauties, and in front of the girls, it is normal for the maid to be as inconspicuous as a firefly. Second girl, this is what the old lady picked for you. This is the fine white porcelain tea set of Ru kiln, or a rare ice crack, this is the celadon tea set of Longquan kiln. This is a tea pet. The old lady said that although tea pets only became popular during the reign of the emperor, they were very popular in the boudoir. If the girl doesn't have a tea pet, I'm afraid it will make people laugh. There are these two, one is a beeswax gemstone flower ornament, the girl puts it in the house to play, and this is the beeswax Pisces pendant. The old lady also said that the second girl just doesn't know how to dress up, and you need to know that the little girl's family should be dressed up beautifully. The old lady said that the girl was not allowed to be so unkempt again, and if the girl went out so plainly next time, the old lady would personally ask the second girl about her clothes and jewelry. ”

When Brother Parrot carried out Jia's mother, Jia Jiu stood up with his younger brother in his arms, Brother Parrot said a word, Jia Jiu responded yes, but Brother Parrot said in the end, Jia Jiu should still be. The room fell silent all of a sudden, and then the sisters all burst into laughter, even Xue Baochai couldn't help it.

Jia Yuanchun hurriedly pushed Jia Jiu and said, "The second sister is really happy and confused." ”

Xue Baochai also said: "I think the second sister is tired today, and her reaction is not as sensitive as before." ”

Jia Yuanchun said repeatedly: "It's not. It's all me, patronizing to avoid Baoyu, the demon king of the world, but forgetting that my sister has been tired for a day. ”

Jia Jiu shook his head and said, "I don't care. Is this the old lady's only one for me, or does the sisters have it? ”

Shi Xiangyun said: "Second sister, don't worry, the eldest sister and the third sister and the fourth sister have all got it, and I also got a piece and two pairs of bracelets." ”

Jia Jiu nodded at this time and asked Jinxiu and Xiutang to take the things.

At this time, there was a little girl who had just kept her head in the back and came up and saluted, indicating that he was ordered by Aunt Xue to send a few gadgets to Jia Jiu.

Shi Xiangyun's mouth was fast, and he hurriedly said: "Then this is only for the second sister, or does each of us have it?" ”

Xue Baochai smiled on the side: "Naturally, everyone has sisters." It's just that there are only a few people in our family who don't have enough manpower, so we can only deliver them one by one. ”

Shi Xiangyun was about to speak, but Jia Jiu spoke. Jia Jiu and Jia Yuanchun both knew Shi Xiangyun's heart knot. It's just that Jia Yuanchun is annoyed that Shi Xiangyun is pleading Jia Baoyu, this anger has not subsided, how can he protect Shi Xiangyun? And Xue Baochai is the party concerned, and he has always been unconcerned about himself, and it is impossible for Tanchun to offend his sister-in-law.

Therefore, Jia Jiu said: "This girl's face is so strange, what do you think, big sister?" ”

When Jia Yuanchun heard this, he immediately asked the girl to raise her head. I saw that there was a cleaned rouge mole in the center of the girl's eyebrows, and the two thin and curved willow eyebrows drooped down softly, which one is not Xiangling?

Jia Yuanchun stood up suddenly: "Bao girl, where did you come from?" ”

Xue Baochai was inexplicable and said, "This girl was bought on our way to Beijing." ”

"It's this girl that my cousin is fighting for?" (To be continued......)