Chapter 487 Granny Liu Visits the Grand View Garden (Part 2)
Without mentioning how Jia Yingchun used money to bribe Jia She and his wife, it is said that Sun Shaozong entered the Rongguo Mansion from the southwest corner gate. Before he took a few steps, he watched a "face-changing" drama.
It was Jia Baoyu who came forward with a beaming face. He first bowed and called her "Second Brother Sun". However, before he could utter the word "brother", he suddenly saw Qingwen standing beside him. He was overjoyed and changed his words to "Qingwen", ready to come forward for some physical intimacy.
After taking only two steps forward, he suddenly stopped hesitantly, turned back and looked around furtively, and saw a few servants standing not far away. Suddenly, he became like a deflated ball, looking at Qingwen listlessly, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.
This series of small actions, not only Qingwen's heart sank , even Sun Shaozong was speechless, he could not help but stepped forward and punched Jia Baoyu lightly on the shoulder, and scolded him unhappily: "After the uncle went south, you are also considered the man who supports the family in Rongguo Mansion. Who are you pretending to be for?"
His strange strength, even if it was just a light circle, made Jia Baoyu grimace in pain. He rubbed his shoulder and smiled bitterly, "Second brother, please be merciful. My small shoulders can't bear as much as yours."
As he spoke with a double meaning, Jia Baoyu glanced at Qingwen again. Although she had no expression on her face, her eyes looking at him were full of concern. He pretended nothing had happened, swung his arms twice, and then grinned at Qingwen.
Qingwen breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately lowered her head and no longer met his gaze.
Jia Baoyu's smile fell, and he wanted to ask about Qingwen's recent situation, but when he remembered what he said in front of his mother, he didn't dare to reveal his thoughts in front of others. He was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks.
Having just finished the face-changing show, are you planning to perform a pantomime?
Sun Shaozong couldn't bear to see this, so he asked loudly: "Your niece is about to turn one month old. Why can't you come to my house to talk about something? Why do you have to send invitations again and again?"
“This…haha!”
Jia Baoyu laughed and said, "Second brother, let me keep you in suspense for now - let's go, this is not the place to talk, let's go to my Yihong first..."
At this point, his smile suddenly froze again, and he awkwardly changed the subject, "Let's go to the Ou Xiangxie first and have a few cups of hot tea."
What the hell is this weirdo doing?
Sun Shaozong was suspicious and remembered how he almost fell into Lai Da's trap. He became more alert unconsciously.
But he was too suspicious this time. In fact, Baoyu was so confused because of Qingwen.
The three of them were traveling along the way, and when they saw the Ouxiang Pavilion, they were about to step onto the winding bamboo bridge when they suddenly saw a cute and innocent girl swaying from the pavilion, holding up her handkerchief and shouting, "Second brother, you are so ignorant. We sisters are just hanging out here, why did you bring Lord Sun here?"
Seeing that it was Shi Xiangyun coming out, Jia Baoyu stopped in his tracks. He then saw a few familiar figures standing behind the pearl curtain. He bowed to them from a distance, turned around and said with a wry smile, "Brother, I'm afraid this Ouxiang Pavilion is no longer available. Why don't we go to Hongxiang Garden instead?"
Sun Shaozong looked at him strangely for a few seconds, frowned and said, "What the hell are you doing? You've posted two invitations in a row, but you haven't even prepared a place to entertain guests?"
"this……"
Seeing Sun Shaozong speaking frankly, Jia Baoyu suddenly became troubled and subconsciously glanced at Qingwen.
Qingwen had been with him for all these years, and even if they couldn't be said to have a sympathetic relationship, at least she could tell from Jia Baoyu's looks. As soon as she saw Jia Baoyu's expression, she knew that he was avoiding her presence, so he didn't say it out loud.
I felt sad at that moment, and when I thought about how much I had been looking forward to this day, I almost burst into tears.
But she has always been a strong-willed person, so how could she cry in front of Jia Baoyu?
She quickly lowered her head to hide the sadness on her face, and bowed to Sun Shaozong and said, "Second Master, please allow me to go over and greet the girls."
After saying this, he walked onto the bamboo bridge without even looking at Baoyu.
When she called him Second Master, she was actually calling someone else!
Jia Baoyu stared at her in a daze until Qingwen was welcomed into the Ouxiang Pavilion by Shi Xiangyun. Then he withdrew his gaze with a sense of loss. He felt as if a piece of his heart was taken out, and he felt empty and uncomfortable.
"Can you tell me now?"
Sun Shaozong was not interested in sighing with him, so he asked again, "What on earth are you doing?"
Jia Baoyu had a sad face and shook his head as he said, "It's really hard to explain. I was so anxious that I just..."
In fact, Jia Baoyu had already prepared a banquet in the Yihong Courtyard. The temporary change of venue was not for any other reason but because of a nonsense he said in front of his mother.
It turned out that after sending Jia Zheng away from Beijing a month ago, Jia Baoyu came back to report to his mother that Wang was thinking of the vicious Aunt Zhao who accompanied her husband to the south to live a happy life, while she was left alone in the empty room. She couldn't help but feel sad and cried in front of her son.
Jia Baoyu couldn't bear to see other people's tears, let alone his own mother crying?
He was so flustered that he stepped forward and made all the promises he should and shouldn't say to his mother, including that he would never let Qingwen set foot in the Yihong Courtyard again .
Therefore, when he saw Sun Shaozong bringing Qingwen to the banquet, he immediately panicked and had to temporarily change the venue to host Sun Shaozong at Ouxiangxie. Who would have thought that he would run into the sisters having a party there again.
After listening to Jia Baoyu's recounting of the truth, Sun Shaozong didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Seeing Jia Baoyu's remorseful look, he couldn't help but sneer, "Why worry about this? Since you can't let her return to your Yihong Courtyard, why not just buy another house to keep her. When you move out of the garden one day, it won't be too late to bring her back."
When Jia Baoyu heard this, his face immediately turned red, and he shook his head like a rattle, saying, "No, no! I haven't even got married yet, but I'm keeping a concubine. What will it look like if this gets out? Besides, if my mother finds out, wouldn't it be another sin?"
As he spoke, he bowed once more and said, "Please, second brother, take care of her first, and let me take my time here!"
Isn't it just taking a maid? Why do you take it slow?
Besides, because of the incident involving Jiang Yuhan , rumors had already spread outside that Jia Baoyu was a top-and-bottom couple, so what "appearance" could he have?
Sun Shaozong sighed and said helplessly: "You are surrounded by beautiful women, and a full man does not know the hunger of a hungry man. But she only has you to think about and look forward to. How can it be so easy? If you delay for too long, I am afraid that no matter how good the relationship is, it will be wasted."
Jia Baoyu was silent for a while, then smiled bitterly and said, "It is true that I have let her down. Let's not talk about this for now. How about you accompany me to Yihong Courtyard for a few drinks?"
Sun Shaozong brought Qingwen to the house, originally wanting to get rid of this burden at the same time, but now seeing Baoyu's discouraged look, he knew that there was no hope, so he had to put the matter aside for the time being and went to Yihong Courtyard with Baoyu to drink to drown their sorrows.
Let me explain this on two sides.
But Qingwen was welcomed by Shi Xiangyun into the Ouxiang Pavilion, where she saw Li Wan, Baochai, Daiyu, Tanchun, Xichun and others waiting inside. She quickly perked up and bowed to all the girls.
"Get up, get up."
Li Wan stepped forward to help her up, looked her up and down, and sighed, "This poor girl has become thinner than before."
Just with this one sentence, Qingwen almost burst into tears.
She hurriedly lowered her head and said perfunctorily, "This is my first time serving the young master. I was afraid that I would not do a good job. My heart was always tense and I did not sleep well at night, so I looked a little thinner."
Every one of the women present was smart and clear-headed. How could they not know why she had lost weight?
Shi Xiangyun was the warmest-hearted person. She couldn't help but step forward and hold Qingwen's arm, saying with a smile, "Just bear with it for a few days. Second brother has always treated you and Xiren as his dearest loved ones. How can he let you suffer in the Sun family? I'm afraid he will have to carry you back to Yihong in a few days..."
“Ahem!”
At this moment, Lin Daiyu suddenly coughed and interrupted Shi Xiangyun's words.
Because she favored Xue Baochai and was annoyed by Lin Daiyu's sharp tongue, Shi Xiangyun always loved to oppose Lin Daiyu. Seeing that she was trying to stop her from talking, she pouted and asked, "Why? Sister Lin, don't you want Qingwen to go back and take away Second Brother's attention?"
Lin Daiyu's pretty face turned cold, and she sneered, "I just coughed, and you made me so suspicious. If I had caught a cold by accident that day, wouldn't I have been wrongly accused to death by you immediately?"
"What do you mean by coughing? You are clearly..."
While the two of them were bickering, Qingwen gradually became suspicious as she looked at Lin Daiyu. She thought to herself that among all the sisters in the courtyard, Miss Lin had the greatest influence on Jia Baoyu, and she had offended her in the past because of her temper...
Could it be that Jia Baoyu's attitude just now was all caused by her?
To be sure, she was suspicious because she was in a panic. If it were in the past, she would never have doubted Lin Daiyu's intentions because of this small suspicion.
And Lin Daiyu is so perceptive, how could she not see the suspicion on her face?
She stamped her feet in anger and said angrily, "Forget it, forget it, just think of it as me being intolerant and not letting you come back!"
Having said this, he flicked his handkerchief and was about to leave.
Li Wan, who was standing by, hurriedly stopped them and said, "What are you doing? We agreed to have a good reunion with Second Sister, but Second Sister hasn't arrived yet, so why are you guys starting a fight?"
Daiyu didn't say anything and insisted on leaving.
Just as the quarrel was getting out of hand, Xue Baochai sighed and said, "Yun girl, this time it's your fault. You misunderstood Sister Lin's good intentions."
As he spoke, he stepped forward and took Qingwen's hand, saying softly, "There are some things that we can't interfere with, but Sister Lin has no intention of rejecting you, I can guarantee that."
Although these words were not clearly stated, Qingwen could still hear that things between her and Baoyu had indeed encountered new twists and turns, and that most likely it was Mrs. Wang's fault - otherwise Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai would not have to be so taboo.
So she bowed to Lin Daiyu and Shi Xiangyun respectively, and said bitterly: "I am a servant with little luck, but I have caused the two girls to fight. It is really a sin."
Shi Xiangyun hurriedly helped her up, while Lin Daiyu showed reluctance. After hesitating for a while, she could not help but persuade her: "If it is impossible, you might as well think of other ways out."
Qingwen smiled sadly but did not respond.
