Chapter 13 Thirteen

The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching.In Gao's house, four new pots of gardenias were added to the stone aisle in front of the main room.White flowers bloom from oval-shaped green leaves, exuding a strong fragrance.The same flowers are also worn on the temples of young girls or inserted on their skirts.A pomegranate tree in the wall next to the gate also bloomed red flowers as bright as fire. The people in the mansion also seemed busier than usual.Keming called Juexin to his room for two consecutive nights to arrange things for the festival.Kemming was much older than he had been in the previous year.Recently, he doesn't go to the law firm very often, sometimes every two or three days.There are not many things in the office this year, and it is enough to have Ke'an's help and care (Ke'an is also happy to spend time in the office, he and Chen Ke's family have gotten along very well).Keming gave Juexin the care of many things at home.Juexin silently obeyed Keming's words without complaining.

Juexin took care of sending out the festival gifts for relatives everywhere, and also got all the things that should be prepared (especially the various styles of zongzi).He dragged Shuhua to help, and copied the list of money that should be saved by young masters and ladies in each house, and copied the list of rewards that should be paid to male and female servants in each house.In addition to rewards, servants can also get some zongzi. There are more than one kind of rewards for servants: there are rewards in the public account, and there are rewards in various houses.In addition to managing him, Juexin

In addition to the bounty of this house, the bounty of that house must be found on behalf of Fa Keming. After copying the list and calculating the rewards, Juexin sent Qixia to call Yuan Cheng and Su Fu into the room, handed the list to Yuan Cheng, and at the same time pointed to him the stacked money plates on the square table, and ordered them to him. Check the number (there are all big copper coins worth one hundred and two hundred coins).Su Fu also got the zongzi and the list, and he should distribute the zongzi according to the list. Juexin waited until Yuan Cheng took away the money trays that were supposed to be removed (one can't take them all), and then sent someone to call Cuihuan.He assigned her and Qixia the job of distributing money and rice dumplings among the maids.

This happened the morning before the Dragon Boat Festival.In the concierge, Chao Cheng and Su Fu gathered all the servants and bearers in the mansion, handed over the reward money to everyone according to the amount stipulated on the list in front of everyone, and distributed the rice dumplings.At last they went to the garden and the kitchen, and handed over the gardener and the cook and the firemen their dues. In the inner courtyard, Cuihuan and Qixia happily held the money and carried the rice dumplings to each room to distribute.They distributed one room by one room, and returned to Juexin's room to get another room after sending out one room.Juexin handed over this matter to Shuhua.

When Cuihuan and Qixia came back for the last time, Shuhua was still waiting for them in Juexin's room (Juexin went to give away the savings to his younger siblings).They came in empty-handed and brought Qian'er along.Seeing Shuhua, Cuihuan and Qixia said in unison: "Miss San, it's glowing. They all told the masters and wives to thank you." Qian'er said: "Miss San, thank you." "Don't thank me, I didn't give it to you," Shuhua smiled when she saw Qian'er paying her respects.She said to Cuihuan and Qixia again: "There is no light. There is another one here, have you forgotten?"

"Anything else? Where is it?" Cuihuan asked in surprise. Shuhua unhurriedly took out two red paper bags from her pocket, handed them to them, and said with a smile: "There are your own, did you forget?" They said thanks and took it.Cuihuan looked at the paper bag and asked suspiciously: "Miss San, why is it wrapped in red paper?" Shuhua smiled kindly, and replied: "I wrapped it for you. Also, you two have worked hard this time, so I added a little for you." "Miss San, you are too polite. Do you need a reward for doing such a thing? Qixia, do you think so?" Cuihuan quickly declined, she wanted to open the paper bag.

"Don't open it. Even if I invite you to buy some snacks, won't you still accept it?" Shuhua said anxiously.She took out another red paper bag and handed it to Qian'er: "This is what I gave you." As soon as Qian'er took the red paper bag, she heard Qixia say: "We'd better listen to Miss San. Then give Miss San a reward." Qixia greeted Shuhua.Cuihuan didn't open the paper bag anymore, she also greeted Shuhua.Qian'er asked Ann again. "Oh! Why are you all so polite today!" Shuhua laughed, and she quickly returned the gift. "Miss San, just now I discussed with Qixia and Qian'er, how about we order some food and invite you to have a 'night snack' with Miss Fourth?" Cuihuan walked up to Shuhua and said in a low voice.

"You don't have much pocket money, I'm embarrassed to spend it on you," Shuhua declined. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't cost much. We don't spend any money on weekdays," Qian'er and Qixia said at the same time. "Miss San doesn't agree, she just looks down on us and refuses to show us face," Cuihuan deliberately turned around and looked unhappy to provoke Shuhua. "If you say that, I have no choice but to agree. You also said that I look down on you, I am really wronged. I was ignorant a few years ago, and I liked to play with the young lady's temper. For example, if I am right, Mingfeng is fine. Now I regret it too late ,” Shuhua said frankly.When she mentioned Mingfeng, she seemed to have a stone in her heart, but she soon shook the stone away.There was no expression of pain on her face.

The name Mingfeng silences Qian'er, Cuihuan and Qixia.It was as if a wind had blown a cloud into their faces.Qian'er's tears also fell.Mingfeng is her friend.She had seen Mingfeng's dripping corpse.But after a while, the dark clouds on the faces of these girls were blown away by the warm May (old calendar) morning wind.Cuihuan said: "Then on the night of the Dragon Boat Festival, Miss Qin will come back with my aunt. We will also invite her." "You have a good idea. You know that I like to be lively and play with people I like. It's a pity that the second sister is not here. It's great to have her!" Shuhua said with satisfaction.But when she finished speaking, she accidentally mentioned her cousin in Shanghai, and only after she said the words did she understand the meaning behind the words, so she felt dissatisfied again.

"Speaking of Second Miss, we all miss her. It's great to have her here," Cuihuan said full of nostalgia.At this time, Shuhua was sitting on Juexin's movable chair, Cuihuan was standing in front of the desk, Qian'er was standing beside Cuihuan, and Qixia was standing behind Shuhua.Cuihuan raised her eyes and looked out of the window, as if she wasn't looking at those common shadows, her eyes seemed to reach the side of her old master across the distant space.She seemed to see Shuying's smiling face.But the footsteps and figures outside the window interrupted her thoughts, and she couldn't see anything except the scene in front of her.A lonely smile appeared on her face, and she said reluctantly: "It's strange to say, when Second Miss is here, we really hope that she will leave; when she leaves, we miss her again."

"I'm not yet! People are like this," Shuhua interjected, "But as long as she studies well outside, it doesn't matter, she can also vent for us in the future." "But I don't know if I will be able to see Second Miss again," Cuihuan was silent for a while, then suddenly whispered to herself. "I miss Second Miss very much too," Qian'er said to herself. "Why can't I see her? Don't say such depressing words! You see the sun is so bright and the weather is so good, my heart seems to fly," Shuhua said loudly optimistically. Juexin happened to come in from the outside.Hearing Shuhua's last words, he asked in surprise, "Sanmei, what made you so happy?" "The weather is fine," Shuhua simply replied with a smile. "The weather is fine, and it's not worth being so happy," Juexin said flatly, as if he wasn't interested in what Shuhua said. Qian'er, Cuihuan and Qixia saw Juexin coming in, and hurriedly left Shuhua, standing upright, but with a smile on their face, they didn't feel very restrained.Juexin noticed that they were still in the room, and asked casually, "Is everything finished?" "Yes, it's all gone. They all say to the third master and the eldest young master," Cuihuan and Qixia replied together.There is a smile on Qixia's face, but Cuihuan's eyes and brows reveal a little melancholy. "Okay," Juexin nodded slightly, and said with a kind smile, "You are tired too. Go back and rest for a while." The three maidservants all agreed "yes", but Cuihuan still looked at Juexin and asked respectfully: "Does the young master have any other orders?" "No, it's hard for you," Juexin replied, and he gave Cuihuan a favorable look. "Cuihuan, Qian'er and Qixia lifted the curtain and went out. Shuhua was still sitting on Juexin's movable chair. When she saw Juexin walking around in the room, she asked, "Brother, what are you going to do now?" ?I'll let you. " "I don't want to sit, you can sit," Juexin said still indifferently.He seems to be thinking about something. "Brother, where were you just now?" Seeing Juexin's actions, Shuhua knew that he must have something on his mind, so she asked with concern. "I'm at the third dad's place," Juexin replied simply. Shuhua asked inquisitively: "Did the third father talk to you about anything?" "It's not the Fifth Dad's business!" Juexin replied smoothly.He didn't want to hide it, and it was too late at this time, so he continued: "Five father sold a lot of the fields under his name." Shuhua was slightly disappointed.She said: "He sells his field, why should you worry! What has it to do with you?" "He still sells 50 mu or 80 mu of land, and the price is very cheap. He doesn't know that he has suffered from other people's losses. This is too wrong!" Juexin heard Shuhua say that he had "nothing to do with him", and saw Shuhua Belittling the matter, he instead grew anxious and argued angrily. "He is willing to sell it himself, and he is willing to suffer a loss. You are not worth worrying about him," Shuhua said strangely.She felt that Juexin had no reason to be angry, and she thought it was not a big deal. "If he sells like this, one day he will sell all the fields," Juexin said more anxiously. He didn't understand why Shuhua had such a strange opinion.Keding should not have sold his grandfather's estate: it was a matter of course. "It's his business to sell out. He spends his money, and you can't interfere with him!" Shuhua still didn't understand the truth of Juexin, and she wondered why Juexin was so stubborn.She didn't understand how the matter of Keding selling the fields could hurt her elder brother's feelings so much, she just spoke lightly. "This is the land left by my grandfather, only a prodigal son will 'get rid of' it. Fifth Dad is so sorry to my grandfather!" Juexin said with a heavy tone, as if he wanted to persuade Shuhua while venting his anger like. "Then Fifth Dad is a prodigal son," Shuhua suddenly became happy and said gloatingly. "Brother, you still mentioned the fifth father! Why do you bother with such nosy things. You said, the fifth father is sorry for grandpa, so can the fourth father be worthy of grandpa?" "You don't understand, you don't understand at all," Juexin said with added anger, "If we don't do anything about it, the Gao family will be wiped out. Everything will be wiped out." He seemed to have caught a glimpse of that terrible ominous omen . "It's all gone? I don't believe it! At least our room is still there—" Shuhua shook her head and retorted. "Our house is also unreliable. The trunk has been gnawed by moths, and every branch and leaf will not be preserved in the future," Juexin began to feel relieved and said dejectedly. "Brother, this is your idea again. I don't believe it. If you don't say anything else, you say that the second brother and the third brother will have no future in the future? People with ambition don't rely on their ancestors!" Shuhua retorted confidently .She may not know her two brothers, but she always believes that they are different from the other men in the family.She has an insistent (and almost stubborn) belief in their future. Juexin was encouraged by such firm words, and he seemed to have glimpsed a ray of light, which gave him a little courage.He cheered up and said, "I only hope that they will achieve something in the future. If they fail, our Gao family will be finished. Look, what else can they do?" "Don't mention the fourth brother and the others. I'll be so angry when I see them. Fortunately, the fourth aunt still treats the fifth and sixth brothers as treasures," Shuhua said angrily. "The third father is also unlucky, and he just gave birth to a son like the fourth brother, who is not like him at all. I don't know what the future of the seventh brother will be." Juexin said regretfully. "Don't worry, the seventh brother will follow the example of the elder brother. In fact, it's no one's fault. Good people like the second sister are forced away by the third father! He should have a few more good sons like the fourth brother to anger him That's good," Shuhua said without the slightest sympathy, she even felt happy. Juexin sighed unhappily, frowned, and said, "Your thinking is wrong. Anyway, they are all from the Gao family." "I don't know how many people with the surname Gao in the world, and you can't even count them. How can you manage so many people?" Shuhua said mockingly. Juexin shook his head and said with a bored look: "You are arguing. Everyone is passed down from one grandfather and lives in one mansion. Don't you wish them well?" Shuhua didn't understand Juexin's psychology, she was a little upset, and said angrily: "Okay, you wish them well, what's the use of telling me more here! You should teach them a lesson." Feeling at a loss for words.He hadn't expected these words, but they came suddenly, like a slap in the head.Seeing his sad expression, Shuhua felt a burst of joy. "Fifth Young Master, if you do anything again, I will sue you!" Chunlan's childlike voice sounded outside the window.It was a cry of exasperation and alarm, and it came from the inner gate of the garden. "You go and sue, I'm not afraid! It's nothing to touch. If you don't shout, I'll let you go. If you shout, I don't want you to go!" This is Juequn's proud voice. "Brother, listen, what is fifth brother doing again!" Shuhua said coldly, as if deliberately trying to force him to feel new. Juexin remained silent, his face gradually turning blue. Jue Qun's voice sounded outside the window again.He called: "Fourth brother, come quickly and help me." As if the two were twisted together, Jue Qun couldn't hold it anymore, he saw Jue Ying approaching, and quickly asked Jue Ying to help. "Brother, aren't you going to teach Fifth Brother a lesson?" Shuhua refused to let go of Juexin, and forced her to ask again. Juexin sat on the rattan chair with a gloomy expression, without saying a word.Shuhua didn't know what he was thinking. "Fourth brother, come quickly! You grab her hand. Wait for me to clean her up!" - Jue Qun's voice. "Fifth Young Master, will you let me go? I'm going to tell my wife!" - Chunlan's voice. "Okay, hit me! I will not forgive you today!" - Jue Qun's voice. "Where did I ever hit you? You have wronged someone and deserved to die!" - Chunlan's voice. One hand hit the other on the face, and then Jueying cursed: "Who are you scolding? You dare to scold Fifth Young Master, you are too lawless! I will beat you to death today!" "Tie her up!" Jue Qun threatened. "You beat me, it doesn't matter if you beat me to death! The young master's family found a girl who made trouble, so shameless! I must tell the third master and the fourth master!" Chunlan cursed with tears. "Why don't you tell your fifth master? Your fifth master just likes to make trouble with girls. If he makes trouble, we can't?" Jueying laughed triumphantly.Obviously, Chunlan fell into the hands of these two children and gradually lost her resistance. She had no other choice but to cry and scold. "Brother, if you don't go, I'll go! This is too outrageous!" Shuhua said angrily, and was about to go out. "Third Sister, don't be a fuss, Fourth Aunt and the others have a lot of tricks. Second Brother got into trouble once last year. Don't go," Juexin suddenly stopped.His attitude is very sincere. "I'm not afraid of these! If I don't like it, I will take care of it!" Shuhua said confidently.She stopped hearing new words and strode out. Shuhua turned from the aisle to the outer door of the garden.She went inside and saw two brothers Jueying and Juequn entangled with Chunlan in the moon cave gate.Juequn grabbed Chunlan's braid with one hand, and made a fist with the other hand to beat Chunlan on the back.Jueying faced Chunlan, spitting on her face from time to time.He squeezed her hands and twisted them together, as if trying to take one out and hit her on the cheek.But the fifteen-year-old five was trying to defend himself, not to let him take his hand away.At the same time, she shook her body to dodge Juequn's fist.Juequn and Jueying had the upper hand, and they cursed with a smile.What came out of Chunlan's mouth was desperate crying and cursing. Seeing this situation, Shuhua became even more angry.She hurried over.There were still five or six steps away from them, so she shouted angrily: "Fourth brother, fifth brother, what are you doing!" When Juequn heard the angry cry, he immediately let go and stood aside.Jueying knew it was Shuhua, she didn't even hum, she still held Chunlan's hand and refused to let go. "Third Miss, look, Fourth Young Master and the others are pestering me for no reason, please pull them away," Chunlan cried, her hair was disheveled and her face was covered with tears.The left cheek is red and swollen. "Fourth brother, do you hear? Do you want to let go?" Shuhua asked loudly. Jueying looked up at Shuhua, and proudly replied, "I won't let you go." Taking advantage of Chunlan's inattention, he suddenly pulled out a hand and slapped her heavily on the face. "You hit, you hit!" Chunlan rushed towards him crying and cursing, bumping her head against his body and wiping her face on his clothes. "I'm happy to beat you, I'm happy to beat you! So what if I beat you to death?" Jueying cursed back, clenched her hands into fists, and beat Chunlan on the head. Juequn watched with a sly smile. "Fourth brother, how dare you make such a fuss! It's outrageous! Third dad is reluctant to beat you. See if I dare to beat you! I If you don't believe me, I can't beat you! "Shuhua was so angry that she had no choice but to curse loudly. She grabbed Jueying's hand and told Chunlan, "Chunlan, hurry up!" " Chunlan didn't hear Shuhua's words clearly at first, she still grabbed Jueying's clothes and walked away.Jueying suddenly broke her hand out of Shuhua's hand, and went to pull Chunlan's arm.Shuhua went to separate them again.She pushed her body between them and squeezed Jueying's hand again after a lot of effort.Jueying cursed and struggled.He even wanted to bite Shuhua's hand with his mouth. Shuhua urged Chunlan to go away one after another.Chunlan knew that there would be no benefit if she didn't leave, so she stopped arguing with Jueying, just wiped her tears, muttered in her mouth that she was going to tell her fifth wife, and walked slowly under Juexin's window. went out. Seeing Chunlan leave, Shuhua felt that her mission was over.He let go of Jueying's hand and was about to go back to Juexin's room.Jueying grabbed her skirt to prevent her from leaving. "Fourth brother, let me go!" Shuhua yelled seriously. "Call Chunlan back, and I'll let you go!" Jueying replied with an ugly face. "Let me ask you, do you want to let go?" Shuhua asked again.She moved her body a little. Jueying was afraid that she would break free, so she held on tighter.He also yelled: "I won't let go if I say no!" Shuhua flushed with anger.She also stopped talking.She squeezed Jueying's hands and argued with him for a while.Later, with a strong shake, she broke free from her body, but threw Jueying down.There was only a sound of fluttering, and Jueying fell to the ground with her hands and feet stretched out.Jueying changed face and cried loudly.He just fell asleep on the ground, swearing at me. Shuhua didn't seem to hear it.She straightened her clothes, patted the skirt twice, and without looking at Jueying who was lying on the ground crying and scolding, she walked out of the outer gate of the garden indifferently (in fact, she was very excited, but she pretended not to care) . Jueying was still lying on the ground, cursing and crying.He didn't know where Shuhua was going at this time, but he hoped that Juexin would hear him curse.So he kept throwing them into Juexin's room. Juequn saw Shuhua walking away, and hurried to Jueying's side.He also sat on the ground and helped Jueying scold Shuhua.But his voice is not high, only Jueying can hear it. Shuhua walked into Juexin's room.Juexin sat quietly in front of the desk with a book spread out on the desk.But he rested his chin on his hands and gazed dreamily at the portrait of his dead wife which hung on the opposite wall.When he heard Shuhua's footsteps, he didn't turn his head to look at her. Jueying was still cursing extremely difficult words outside the window.Shuhua's blood boiled again.Juexin didn't say a word, which made her feel even more uncomfortable in the room.She scolded angrily: "This is too outrageous! The third father didn't teach the fourth brother a good lesson." Juexin turned his head and glanced at her, and said quietly: "You have caused trouble again." "Get into trouble? Hmph!" Shuhua sneered. "I'm not afraid of that! I'm not at all wrong." "I didn't say you were wrong," Juexin said pleadingly. "But it's always good to stay out of your own business. I'm afraid I'll be in trouble again after a while. I just hope that I can spend the Dragon Boat Festival in peace." "If there is any trouble, I will take care of it. Don't be afraid, I won't find you," Shuhua said angrily. Juexin smiled bitterly, and said gently, "Look, you're getting angry. I'm just saying something casually, to advise you to be more careful in the future. You listened to the scolding of the fourth brother so badly." "Let him scold. I don't believe he will sleep on the ground and scold all day," Shuhua said stubbornly. "Fourth brother has such a bad temper. You should be unlucky to meet him!" Juexin said anxiously. But silence began to fall outside the window, and the crying stopped suddenly.Jueying got up from the ground, and Juequn walked to the well along the stone path among the flowers, stood in front of the railing and talked in a low voice, then looked down into the well. "Brother, you see that the fourth brother is silent again. It's really not a good thing. If you are a little bit tough on him, he can't do anything about it," Shuhua said proudly. "Just be proud if you don't want to. If you like to meddle in his affairs, you will suffer in the future. I advise you to keep your meddling in mind," Juexin said worriedly. "When I encounter this kind of thing, I don't care if I don't care about it. I'm not like you, I can't keep anything in my heart," Shuhua replied indifferently.