Daiyu is disturbed by Caltrop –
Nightingale is looking for her, as Xifeng has sent her a present. She returns
to the Naiad’s House.
Baoyu returns to find himself
summoned by Grandmother Jia to check on She’s illness; while changing he throws
himself on her maid Faithful 鸳鸯. He leaves, bumping into Jia Lian with Jia
Yun 贾芸, a relative who Lian has promised a job for. He
looks in on She, and then goes to see Lady Xing; she demonstrates her
preference for him over Huan and asks him to stay to eat with the girls.
Jia Yun learns from Lian that the
most recent job went to Jia Qin. He is irritated, and goes to his uncle’s
perfumery for help; he receives none as his uncle doesn’t trust his credit. A
local loan shark, Ni Er 倪二, known as the Drunken
Diamond 醉金,
offers him a generous deal. The next day he buys some camphor and musk and,
after an elaborate tale, gives it to a delighted Xifeng. She mentions a job,
but doesn’t say he has it. He goes to see Baoyu, who had half-heartedly invited
him; he isn’t in (he’s at the Prince of Beijing’s place). He bumps into Xifeng
again, who tells him with some malice that she’s worked out the reason for his
visit, but gives him the job. He is delighted, and pays Ni Er back with the
money he receives.
Baoyu calls his maids, but none
are around, only a girl who had been there when Yun was, who Baoyu has never
seen before; she turns out to be Crimson 小红,
who was assigned to his house and had lost her handkerchief. Ripple 秋纹 and Emerald 碧痕, fetching water, find
her and shout at her for opportunistically serving Baoyu. She is resentful. An
old woman arrives with notice that Yun is to start work there the next day; she
feels a flutter at his name. Later, Yun finds Crimson, having found her
handkerchief, leading to a physical misunderstanding between them.
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