Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting with winning over Daiyu's favorability

"How hateful! What were you thinking?"

Lin Daiyu shook her head, clearly troubled by this matter for some time, but she felt that she could not continue to rely on others for everything like an innocent young girl, otherwise how could her mother be at ease?

After considering it for a moment, Lin Daiyu spoke again in a low voice:

"I have already written to Father about this matter, and his letter should arrive in a couple of days. I plan to wait for Father's reply before making any decisions. As a junior, I am not acting rashly, especially since I am staying at someone else's house without any reason."

Deng Zechen decided to add fuel to the fire, encouraging Lin Daiyu to become even bolder:

"No need for that trouble. Your father definitely loves you too. Find an opportunity to find out the situation of the shops and replace the people in the key positions with people you value."

If anyone asks, just say you didn't want your elders to be burdened by such trivial matters, and that the people below were deceiving their superiors and lining their own pockets, so you took charge of dealing with these parasites.

That way you'll have some spare money to buy things for the house; tell them these are all your father's instructions. After you've done all this, write a letter to your father informing him of what you've done.

He also said you were short of money and couldn't fully relax after rewarding the servants at home. Your father surely understands this and will only feel sorry for you, not undermine you.

Lin Daiyu's eyes flickered slightly upon hearing this, as if she had thought of something else:

"It might take me a lot of effort to handle these things by myself..."

Upon hearing Daiyu's words, Deng Zechen felt that this was a good opportunity:

"In that case, just find a few people you trust to go with you. It'll make things more impressive. That kid who came to the capital with you back then was pretty good."

More opportunities for contact are needed for further development.

Even though her thoughts were exposed, Lin Daiyu still pretended not to understand and agreed.

"Understood, I'll post about it and explain it to him tomorrow."

Deng Zechen winked slyly and drawled out his words:

"Oh~ I haven't even said which child it is yet, and you already know who to look for? It seems you already had a plan in mind, just waiting for me to give you this opportunity."

Lin Daiyu was also taken aback, clearly preoccupied with something, and for a moment failed to notice the hidden trap in those words, thus falling into their trap.

He immediately raised his hands to cover his face and turned his body to the other side, unwilling to let others see his current expression.

Deng Zechen looked at Lin Daiyu with satisfaction, who had regained some vitality, and then went up to coax her for a long time. The two chatted about everyday things in the Land of Illusion, just like always.

As Lin Daiyu's figure dissipated from the Land of Illusion, the rooster crowed, indicating that it was already past midnight.

Deng Zechen turned over in bed, cleared his mind, and fell into a deep sleep.

On the other side, Daiyu woke up from her dream, quietly took out a box, and took out a land deed to look at.

This is a land deed located at the border of North and South China. Upon closer inspection, it is clearly the house next to Deng Zechen's!

Lin Daiyu gently stroked the land deed, her feelings indescribable. She only heard from Xiangling that Deng Zechen had bought the house and registered it under Xiangling's name.

After returning, I don't know what I was thinking at the time, but I took some spare money that I didn't need for the time being and bought the house next to Deng Zechen's, and carefully told the people in the neighborhood not to know.

……

It was another busy day. Deng Zechen finished his studies and returned home from the Li residence early. He specifically asked Xiangling:

"Have you received any letters or posts today?"

Xiangling put down the clothes she was washing, which were only half-finished, and asked in confusion:

"No, Brother Deng, did you make an appointment with anyone?"

Deng Zechen didn't want to fabricate a reason to explain how he knew about Lin Daiyu's letter beforehand, so he just gave a few vague answers and changed the subject:

"It's nothing. It's getting cold again. Let's bring back a few servants. How can a little girl do such rough work every day? Her hands will get chapped from the cold."

"Okay, I'll go see them in the next few days." Xiangling didn't refuse Deng Zechen's suggestion. After all, she had all the money in the family and knew exactly how much they had. Hiring a few servants wouldn't cost much.

With someone else taking over these tasks, she can have more time to serve Deng Zechen...

Seeing that Xiangling had agreed, Deng Zechen didn't say anything more and returned to his room, where he began to write down the first volume of "The Tale of the Demon Slayer" from memory.

Three more days passed in the blink of an eye. Even after Deng Zechen had completed the first volume and handed it over to Guo Wenmo with the blessing of the Land of Illusion, he still hadn't received a letter from Lin Daiyu.

Just as Deng Zechen was about to enter the Land of Illusion tonight to find out the truth, Lin Daiyu's letter finally arrived.

The letter was simple: it asked Deng Zechen to go to the location mentioned in the letter first, and then, as Lin Daiyu's junior, to cooperate with her once she arrived.

I'll take care of the coarse words that girls shouldn't say.

Deng Zechen shook the letter and chuckled to himself:

"So they want me to be the bad cop. It seems that after spending this time together, my position with Lin Daiyu has improved. I'm no longer a stranger or someone who's only slightly familiar; I'm a friend she can truly trust."

Deng Zechen carefully put the letter away and placed it in his pocket. After giving Xiangling a few instructions, he headed towards the address on the letter.

"So what if I'm a gigolo? I'm not some real gigolo anyway."

Looking at the bustling shop in front of him, Deng Zechen became even more certain of his guess.

The people from the Rongguo Mansion must have embezzled the money here! Lin Ruhai isn't even dead yet, and he's already testing Lin Daiyu openly and secretly—it's truly despicable!

Although it didn't snow today, the cold wind still made people shiver.

Even though a group of people had arrived, Lin Daiyu was still the first person to catch Deng Zechen's eye:

She wore red sheepskin boots with gold trim, a bright red feather cloak, and a jacket with a white fox fur collar.

The belt cinched at her waist was exquisitely patterned, its lapis lazuli base subtly reflecting sunlight, creating a shimmering effect. The snow hat she wore, matching her crane cloak, further accentuated her resemblance to a figure from a painting.

"I've kept Brother Zechen waiting."

After living in the capital for almost a year, Lin Ruhai learned from Lin Daiyu's letter that Deng Zechen had not entered the academy through his recommendation, and therefore had not received the money he had entrusted to the academy.

However, his attitude towards Lin Daiyu remained unchanged, which made Lin Ruhai feel quite guilty, and he also began corresponding with Deng Zechen.

He mentioned several times that he treated Deng Zechen as a nephew, and wrote letters on Deng Zechen's behalf to his colleagues, allowing Deng Zechen to enter a higher circle through Lin Ruhai. In the eyes of outsiders, he was almost considered a disciple of the Lin family.

"Let's go. Why are there so many people here? Are they all here to give you courage?"

Lin Daiyu had become much more familiar with Deng Zechen by now, and she only gave him a reproachful look when he joked, but still offered a few words of explanation:

"Besides Xueyan, whom you know, and Zijuan, whom I've mentioned to you, these are all people my father gave me. They were all transferred from the estate, and I'm preparing to have them take over the shop."

Deng Zechen nodded and said no more. The group of people walked into the shop in a grand manner.

The customers in the shop were initially worried that they might be caught in the crossfire when they saw the sudden appearance of a group of people. However, upon seeing the two leaders, they realized that the two women spoke with great refinement and must be from a wealthy family.

The urge to watch the spectacle instantly took over, and though he held a book in his hand, he pricked up his ears and listened intently.

The shopkeeper saw a group of people enter, led by Lin Daiyu, who had visited some time ago, and thought to himself:

"So what if she's an unmarried girl, even if she's the only daughter of the eldest young lady? I'm an old man of the Rongguo Mansion, and I'm practically her elder."