Chapter 43 Cats and Ginseng
The morning sun shone brightly over the courtyard. Taking a deep breath, my chest felt refreshed. In the birdcage hanging under the eaves, the birds chirped merrily, their voices clear and melodious.
Daiyu felt very comfortable, as if something was about to burst out, and she couldn't help but smile.
Then laughter was heard coming from outside the courtyard.
"I knew my sister was much better now, and sure enough, she was right."
Today, Baoyu did not come from the bluestone bridge, but instead took the path on the other side, passed through the vine-covered wall, and circled around to Rongyue Courtyard.
"Second brother is here!"
“Sister, I’m off today, so I came to see you. Let’s go to Grandma’s place together. I heard that Master found Grandma a Persian cat. It’s all white except for its blue eyes. It’s so cute.” Baoyu had come all this way just to take Daiyu to see the cat.
Children are naturally drawn to these small animals, and when Daiyu heard this, she immediately looked at Yuan Hongqu.
"Granny, we've made cat biscuits before, and the cats really love them. Shall we make some more together later?"
“Alright, I’ll get things ready. You guys go check on the cat first, and I’ll wait for you to come back so we can work together.” Yuan Hongqu never refused such small requests from Daiyu.
Who says a lady from a wealthy family can't make cookies for her cat?
Who says that young ladies from wealthy families can only play chess, write poetry, paint, and read books?
Can't I just play with the cat?
Daiyu loved cats very much, but because she was frail since childhood, Jia Min was afraid that she would spend too much time and energy on these small animals, so she forbade her to keep cats.
Yuan Hongqu once saw Daiyu secretly feeding the stray cats that had run into the Lin family garden, interacting and playing with the kittens, her expression very lively.
It was from this point on that Yuan Hongqu gradually discovered Daiyu's lively side.
The two cared for the kitten together, and through the kitten, they gradually developed a deep bond.
Unfortunately, when they arrived in the capital, they couldn't find the cat anywhere.
Upon hearing Baoyu mention that the old lady had a cat, Daiyu's first thought was that her little cat had returned.
With this kitten now in the Rongguo Mansion, it seems Daiyu will have many more things to do in the future.
The two walked ahead, with the maids and servants following at a distance.
The two walked and talked.
"Little sister, can cats eat cookies?"
Baoyu was very curious. Don't kittens all eat catfish?
"Second Brother, cats can eat more than just biscuits. They can also eat cat grass, chicken breast, cat candy... and many other things!" Little Daiyu's eyes sparkled as she explained to Baoyu as if listing a treasure trove of knowledge.
"My sister knows so much," Baoyu said with admiration.
“We had a cat at home, but it ran away when we came to the capital. I made a lot of cat toys with my nanny, and it loved them!” Daiyu still feels very regretful.
"Don't be sad, little sister. I'll go and ask Grandma to give you that Persian cat, okay? Grandma loves us both the most. If I ask her, she'll definitely agree." Jia Baoyu couldn't bear to see his fairy sister's brows furrowed.
Lin Daiyu's slightly melancholy appearance inexplicably made Jia Baoyu, who was still a child, feel a tightness in his heart. He felt that he shouldn't let his sister be so sad and that he must try his best to make her happy.
"Second brother, please don't say that anymore. Since it was specially found for the old lady by our eldest uncle, it must be something she likes. We can just visit it often, but we shouldn't take what others love."
Although she was momentarily moved by Baoyu's words, Granny Yuan had taught her that even if you like something a lot, it's still just something. It's not worth letting others look down on you for those things or getting caught up in obsession. Otherwise, you'd be letting yourself down.
Baoyu thought this made sense, but he also felt that whatever he wanted, his family would satisfy him, and he would always be the first to choose the best things. This made him feel that he was the most precious person in the family, so what was wrong with that?
However, he also knew that Lin Daiyu probably wouldn't agree with his point of view.
If I were to voice this idea, my sister would definitely argue with me, and might even get angry with me, so it's better not to say anything.
If my younger sister likes that cat, she can secretly ask the old lady for it and say that the old lady gave it to her. Then she can give it to Lin Daiyu. That way, my younger sister should be happy, right?
Jia Baoyu made up his mind that as long as Lin Daiyu took a fancy to the cat, he would pester the old lady to give him the cat, no matter how hard he had to!
When the two arrived at the old lady's place, before Daiyu could even bow, the old lady called her to her side, embraced her, looked her up and down, and murmured her name countless times.
"Thank God, my Lin-jie is finally all better!"
Because Lin Daiyu has been ill these days, she cannot come to Grandmother Jia's place.
Grandmother Jia visited Daiyu at Rongyue Courtyard several times, and also sent Yuanyang and Liuli to deliver delicious food and fun things to her several times a day. Fearing that Daiyu would be bored while recuperating, she also specially asked people to find books to cheer her up.
They were also worried that reading was too monotonous for her, so when Daiyu was feeling a little better, they hired a small opera troupe and set up a small stage on the other side of the stream outside Rongyue Courtyard to put on a shadow puppet show for her.
Daiyu sat on the swing in Rongyue Courtyard, watching with great interest through the sparse bamboo fence by the stream.
This experience left Yuan Hongqu with many feelings.
She had read many book reviews and movie reviews before, and the evaluations of Grandmother Jia were mixed, but without exception, they all had one thing in common: Grandmother Jia's love for Lin Daiyu was absolutely genuine.
Yuan Hongqu had some doubts at the time, but now it seems that she was naive. Grandmother Jia's love for her granddaughter was genuine.
"You look a bit thinner these past few days," said Grandmother Jia after observing for a while.
"Yuanyang, bring the ginseng that was sent from Changbai Mountain yesterday to Miss Lin, and have her nanny stew it for her. Also, prepare the snow frog and bird's nest, and send them over together."
Lady Wang, who was sitting next to Grandmother Jia, felt a sharp pain in her heart, but dared not speak up to stop her.
The ginseng was five hundred years old. After the master received it, he presented it to the old lady as if it were a treasure.
Even in the imperial palace, there weren't many of those kinds of things. Madam Wang was thinking of waiting a while and then asking the old lady for some ginseng to take to the palace to use to smooth things over with Yuan Chun.
Now, because the little girl has been coughing for a few days, I gave it to her.
The old lady's favoritism is truly boundless.
Madam Wang gave Wang Xifeng a wink, hoping she would speak up and stop it, but Wang Xifeng acted as if she didn't see it and instead went along with the old lady's words.
"Now that the old lady has Lin Daiyu, she no longer looks up to me or cares about me..."
She held a handkerchief, pretending to wipe away tears.
"How did I manage to make you, my fiery temper, shed tears? All I did was make you and Lian'er kneel for a while the other day, and now you're not going to be nice to me anymore?"
Wang Xifeng pouted, feigning grievance, and said...
“That was because we didn’t take good care of our younger siblings. We were wrong, and we deserved to be punished. There’s nothing to feel wronged about. I’m talking about something else.”
Wang Xifeng then used a handkerchief to dab the corner of her eye.
"I don't know what else it is. Tell me and I'll hear it."
Wang Xifeng pretended to hesitate and said,
"I begged for ages before they finally gave me a handful of ginseng rootlets... I wasn't doing it for myself, it's just that our guild is in a hurry to make medicine pills, and they just happen to be short of that one ingredient, ginseng. Alas, it turns out it wasn't that they didn't have it, it's that I wasn't qualified..."
Hearing this, and seeing Wang Xifeng's aggrieved and pitiful appearance, Grandmother Jia chuckled.
"You little punk, Feng, you've come here specifically to annoy me!"
"Let the mandarin ducks tell you."
“Second Madam, when you came the other day, you didn’t say you wanted to use ginseng yourself. If you wanted to use it yourself, we would have gone to buy it on the spot, and we wouldn’t have just given you ginseng rootlets.” Yuanyang knew all about these things clearly.
"What you said back then was that the pills needed outside the public treasury were missing ginseng... Even if they were for external use, there's never any reason to use whole ginseng roots in medicine. Our Renyi family even used real ginseng rootlets; no other family would be willing to do that!"
It was said to be for external use, but it was mostly for distant relatives and branches of the Jia family, such as Jia Dairu.
To demonstrate their benevolence and righteousness, the Jia family would distribute some supplies to them every year through the public treasury, and medicine pills were one of them.
These pills are made with genuine ingredients, but their effects are not as strong as those used in the inner court.
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