The twelfth lunar month of winter, when the new year is approaching, is relatively leisurely for most people.

Common people, merchants and hawkers also save some time to wait for the New Year. The scholar-bureaucrats also began to arrange things that could be left until the end of the year, counting the days and waiting for the longest break of the year.

But for a manager from a wealthy family like Wang Xifeng, it is completely the opposite. The house rent and land collection in various places are recorded in the treasury, preparations are made for the New Year's Eve festival, New Year's gifts and other matters.

It’s easy to get through the New Year, and it’s a more lively New Year. As for Jia Mu, Mrs. Wang and others, they were just happy, and she took care of all the arrangements for welcoming and sending off the guests. There was no need to elaborate on the hard work and trouble involved.

It wasn’t until the New Year, after the eighteenth or ninth day of the first lunar month, that I felt free for the first time.

Early that morning, after Wang Xifeng paid his respects to Jia Mu and others, he secretly planned everything without forgetting or neglecting anything, and then went home to rest.

Leaning on the soft couch in the Nishiji Room, she hugged the big cat she had raised for many years and stroked its soft and thick hair, while letting the little maid massage it.

Speaking of which, Wang Xifeng is actually a person with relatively little love, and doesn’t really like kittens, puppies, or small animals. The civet cat was just a temporary whim at the time, but over the years, it could barely be regarded as a beloved thing of hers.

Seeing her like this, Ping'er said: "It's rare for Second Grandma to be so free. No wonder Second Master often says that Second Grandma can't sit idle. Thinking about it these days, Second Grandma doesn't have to do many things herself. , just leave it to the people below, how can you be so happy without taking any time off?"

When Wang Xifeng heard this, she didn't even open her eyelids, and just snorted slightly from her nose.

Ping'er didn't care at all, and turned around to continue wiping the tea sets on the table. Before wiping one of them, Wang Xifeng said: "Your Marquis is a man who doesn't know how to make money. He is the head of the family and a marquis, so he has his own power. Others see that he is reasonable but weak. When he gives an order, the people below him rush to do it. How can I have a fate like him.

It’s not like you don’t know how difficult those people down there are. Whenever I’m a little careless, someone will take advantage of the loopholes to find the fault. Those with bad intentions will naturally get the old lady and the wife. As I said in front of you, even the timid one can chew three miles on his back!"

Ping'er sighed slightly when she heard the words. She felt that what their second mistress said was quite right. . As a woman, their second grandmother's ability to be highly valued and wield great power in the founding government was inseparable from her conscientious spirit.

"Also, you have the nerve to mention your Marquis, for whom do I take care of the family affairs so wholeheartedly? Is it because I am afraid that he will be worried outside, and I don’t want the family to worry about it?The little things in life divide his spirit. Fortunately for him, he came back once when he was worshiping his ancestors, and he left after less than two days. Moreover, he didn't even send a letter from home after such a long time. He is also a stinky man with no conscience. "

Hearing Wang Xifeng's resentful words, Ping'er smiled inwardly, but restrained himself from showing it. He only said: "Second Master is a person who does big things. He must have too many things in his hands that he has forgotten. . If the second grandma misses the second master, why not write a letter herself and ask the boys at home to deliver it to the second master? If the second master sees the letter from the second grandma, he will definitely understand the second grandma’s intention and he will reply to the second grandma’s letter. "

"Who missed him? I won't write..."

While the master and servant were chatting, suddenly a confidant and servant woman came over and said with a smile: "Second Grandma. , Xing'er is back..."

Before she finished speaking, Wang Xifeng sat up suddenly. The cat in her arms was frightened, and jumped off the bed with a "meow~" and ran away. Not caring, he opened his eyes and said, "Let him come in quickly and answer! "

After a series of actions and words, she just regretted showing her face, but she had no time to care. She waved the little girl who was doing the massage to go down, and she put on her cotton-padded jacket again and went out to the outer living room to meet Xing'er in person.

There are now thirty or forty servants and senior attendants around Jia Lian. However, Jia Lian does not like to show off when he is out unless necessary, and he has his own soldiers. Therefore, when he went to Tianjin Guards this time, in addition to Apart from the group of old boatmen, they did not bring many servants with them.

This Xing'er, like Zhao'er, was a follower of Jia Lian since he was a general. Just because If he is not as clever and energetic as Zhao'er, he will not be as favored as Zhao'er.

"My servant Xing'er comes to see the second mistress, and she wishes her good fortune and good health. "

"How is it that your second master is out there? Why did he ask you to come back? "

"As far as I can tell you, Second Grandma, everything is fine with Second Master. The second master asked his slaves to come back. Firstly, he asked the slaves to come back with a letter. Secondly, because spring was about to begin, the second master asked the slaves to come back and get some lighter clothes. "


Wang Xifeng took the letter but was not in a hurry to open it. Instead, she looked at Xing'er and said coldly: "If you have anything else in your arms, take it out. "

She is so sharp-eyed, and Xing'er's sneaky movements will naturally not escape her notice.

"Hehe, it's nothing, I brought something for others..."

“Don’t be careless and tell the truth. Let me search and find out, the discipline legs are discounted for you. "

The only ones are two letters. The second master specially told him that one letter was for the second mistress and the other for Miss Lin. The slave did not dare to deceive the second mistress. ”

While talking, this boy very shamelessly took out another letter from his arms and presented it with his head buried in his hands.

Watching the maid present it. Wang Xifeng narrowed her eyes in another letter. Although she had a strong desire to open it and take a look, her reason told her not to cause trouble. So she snorted coldly: "I thought it was something shameful. Is there a letter still hidden? Why, this is also what your second master told you, can't you let me see it? "

"No, no, the second master did not explain. It's the slave who is meddling, the slave deserves to be beaten, the slave deserves to be beaten. "

Seeing Xing'er pretending to slap herself left and right, Wang Xifeng sneered and said to the maid next to her: "Since it was your second master who specially told Miss Lin, Xiaohong, just run away. Let’s go to Xiaoxiang Pavilion. Remember, be sure to hand it over to Miss Lin personally and don’t let others see it, otherwise... hum. "

Xing'er was very uneasy when he heard the master's grandma's obviously dissatisfied words with a gun and a stick.

Of course, Jia Lian didn't say anything that Wang Xifeng couldn't see, but he just heard People say that women are petty and jealous. If the Second Mistress knew that the Second Master had even made a special trip to write a letter to Miss Lin, she would inevitably be unhappy, so she just thought it would be better not to let the Second Mistress see it. Who knows it could be self-defeating.

Although Wang Xifeng was unhappy, she was happy after receiving Jia Lian's letter home. She didn't want to get angry with her servant. She asked a few questions about Jia Lian's current situation and said, "You go down first. I will pack up a few things for you two later." Just take my clothes back with you. "

After saying that, he waved his hand and let Xing'er go down.

After Xing'er left, Wang Xifeng opened Jia Lian's letter directly, waiting to see those familiar Junyi Mingyan's face showed a slight smile, and then she put aside her other thoughts and concentrated on reading the content of the letter.

Speaking of Wang Xifeng's low level of education. In fact, this is not her fault, just because the Wang family does not Unlike the Jia family, there is an atmosphere for her daughter to study and read since she was a child. Naturally, she has not read many books since she was a child. She has only briefly read books such as "Women's Rules" and "Internal Training". But look at her actions. , obviously she didn’t read too much.

But she is literate. At least she can recognize most of the commonly used words. This is also the basic requirement for all ladies. Otherwise, she will not even be able to marry into her husband’s family in the future. How do you manage the family business when you can’t even read the roster?

Even in the past few years, because the sisters-in-law in the family, including her husband, are all educated people, she, a person with a very low level of education, hangs out with them all day long. Together, she was often hit. Some people even teased her for being "a big girl who can't read a basket of words", which was obviously too much.

Knowing her shame and then being brave, she also secretly made up for some homework, at least she didn't have to do it like when she first entered the school. She had to have others read to her for anything longer. She didn't want people to see such a scene again.

Jia Lian's letter is quite long. Although it seems that he is caring for her and the whole text is very popular, there are still a few places where she does not read it smoothly. I wanted to ask Ping'er next to me, but I thought Ping'er was worse than her, so I gave up.

Ping'er saw that Wang Xifeng had not spoken since reading the letter, but there was a smile on his face, and he sneered from time to time. It was obvious that the second master had written something in the letter to make the second grandma happy, so he waited. When Sister Feng saw the end, she asked with a smile: "What did the second master say to the second grandma? See how happy the second grandma is."

"What can I do? I just asked about the situation at home. , and..."

Wang Xifeng put the letter away and prepared to read it carefully when he had free time.

"And your second master said that today is Bao Yatou's birthday. Their family came all the way to Beijing. They trust and value us so they let Bao Yatou live in our house. Please don't be rude. Man, why did Lin Yatou’s birthdays in the past years still have to be like this today? Humph, he still has to explain these things to me?

He also asked me to say hello to Bao Yatou on his behalf..."

Wang Xifeng spoke in a lower voice. From this incident, she heard that Jia Lian would not return to Beijing in a short time. Otherwise, given his temperament, he would probably rush back to celebrate Baochai's birthday today.

He has always loved these sisters.

Ping'er obviously heard the meaning and didn't know what to say. After all, Wang Xifeng was not a worried person, so she quickly smiled and said: "Now that it's all said and done, you should go to the kitchen and have a look first, so that they can be more prepared today. The old lady said, she I want to celebrate Bao Yatou’s birthday in person.”

After sending Ping’er away, Wang Xifeng thought for a while and sent someone to the west wing to call Xiang Ling and asked her to ghostwrite a reply to Jia Lian. The parents are short-lived, but they read as loving letters.

　……

　Xue family.

Baochai returned home early in the morning. She is a very filial person. It is said that a child's birthday is a day of suffering for the mother, so although today is her birthday, the first thing she does is go home to visit Aunt Xue.

The mother and daughter sat in the room and talked for a while, when they heard the noise in the yard outside - Xue Pan was about to go out.

"Today is your sister's birthday. If you don't say you are at peace at home, what are you going to do?"

Xue Pan came to say hello to Aunt Xue before going out. , he was scolded by Aunt Xue as soon as he entered the door. He was always unhappy.Got it.

"Mom, are you still being unreasonable? It's my sister's birthday and you are going to that house to have wine and watch a movie. Do you have to stay at home alone?"

Aunt Xue was speechless for a while. Regardless of whether the Jia family did it out of face or love for Baochai, since they proposed to celebrate Baochai's birthday, they had no reason to refuse.

They all know that Xue Pan has always been disliked by the Jia family because of his vulgar behavior and evil deeds, so naturally they will not bring Xue Pan to the Jia family.

Calculated in this way, Xue Pan’s words are not unreasonable.

Seeing that Aunt Xue knew that she was wrong, Xue Pan became even more aggressive: "It's my sister's birthday, and I, as the brother, am already very unhappy that I can't toast her a glass of wine in person. Isn't it that I'm not allowed to have sex outside? Lego Lego? I have invited Feng Ziying, Sun Shaozu and others to have a drink in Jinxiangyuan today. It would be okay if my mother doesn't stop me, but if she does, I have to talk to you!"

Aunt Xue had already compromised, but when she heard this, she suddenly became angry again, "Asshole, how can you just tell someone else's birthday about your sister? Why don't you wait there, you bastard... Who is this Sun Shaozu?" ”

Xue Pan spends all day hanging out at home, and Aunt Xue is a little worried, fearing that he will cause trouble by becoming acquainted with bandits. She knew Feng Ziying and others, but now that a strange name suddenly came out of her son's mouth, she was naturally more concerned.

Xue Pan didn’t pay attention to Aunt Xue’s scolding: “Oh, don’t worry, the people I invite today are all my good brothers, no outsiders.”

After saying that, Xue Pan didn't bother to explain to Aunt Xue. He bowed casually and ran away with a twist of his butt.

Aunt Xue couldn’t call her, so she beat her chest and stamped her feet in vain.