撕扇子作千金一笑
Aroma persuades
Baoyu not to send for help immediately; the next day he consults a doctor who
offers perfunctory service on discovering the cause was a blow.
Lady Wang gives a
party for the double fifth festival, but it breaks up quickly due to various
tensions. Daiyu, unlike the others, was unaffected by this due to her own
disposition, while Baoyu was particularly gloomy, lashing out at Skybright who
shouts back at him. Aroma enters, inflaming Skybright’s jealousy and
exacerbating the scene. Baoyu concludes that Skybright is agitating to leave,
and determines to see Lady Wang – Aroma begs him not to, and all weep. Daiyu
enters and makes a joke, and they laugh. Daiyu leaves after a quick chat,
during which she and Aroma bond as sisters and Baoyu declares for the second
time that he would grieve for her by becoming a monk. Baoyu is invited out to
drink with Xue Pan, and returns later drunk. He finds Skybright and teases her
about the earlier incident before proposing that they bathe together. Instead,
he asks for some fruit, and declares that things exist for our use, but the
manner of usage is down to personal taste. As a result, he gives her his fan to
tear, and they laugh; they take Musk’s fan and tear it, and are scolded.
Shi Xiangyun arrives,
and the girls are all affectionate. After she disrobes due to the heat, the
girls discuss Xiangyun’s tomboyishness with Grandmother Jia, leading to gossip
that someone had been round to discuss a marriage proposal. Baoyu enters;
Xiangyun shows him a present for Aroma of agate rings, the same that she had
sent to the girls by messenger earlier. She explains her reasons, leading to
Daiyu sarcastically referring to the gold qilin – only Baochai hears. She
visits other married cousins before heading to see Aroma with Kingfisher. They
discuss nature, and yin-yang. Kingfisher asks why yin-yang exists in nature but
not humans, before making Xiangyun laugh by saying that she is yang. Xiangyun
spots a glittering object and tells Kingfisher to fetch – it is a qilin, like
hers. Her reverie is interrupted by Baoyu, who accompanies them to Green
Delights. When there, Baoyu declares that he has a present for her, then can’t
find it. He says it’s a qilin, then Xiangyun reveals what she picked up.
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