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

When Lin Daiyu learned that Lady Wang had suddenly fallen seriously ill, she had no choice but to go with the Rongguo Mansion to visit her out of politeness.

Upon arriving at the Rongguo Mansion, he learned that Lady Wang was suffering from prickly heat. Although he was somewhat reluctant to face the white-haired Grandmother Jia, he thought of the relationship between the two families and how well Grandmother Jia had treated him in the past, so he quietly stayed by Grandmother Jia's side for a few days to show his filial piety.

During this time, Lin Daiyu also visited Madam Wang, who was bedridden, several times and found that Madam Wang was paralyzed and unable to speak at all.

Madam Wang's only feature was her eyes, which kept darting around. Whenever someone approached, she would show a look of fear.

It was wailing and moaning, drool dripping from its wide-open mouth, soaking the pillowcase.

Seeing Madam Wang's miserable state, Lin Daiyu initially felt some sympathy, but then she remembered that Madam Wang had spread rumors first and then hired someone to kill her.

The pity in my heart gradually dissipated, and I only felt that good and evil are rewarded accordingly, which is why Lady Wang lived the rest of her life in such a humiliating way.

Only after Lin Daiyu finally escaped from the Rongguo Mansion did she learn that Deng Zechen had already set off for Yangzhou to participate in the prefectural examination.

Although I had known about this for several days, I was stuck in the Rongguo Mansion when the day came and couldn't see him off, which made me feel a little regretful.

However, Lin Daiyu did not expect that Deng Zechen's departure would last for a month and a half. During this time, her initial regret gradually changed and eventually turned into a faint longing.

With Deng Zechen gone from the neighboring courtyard, Lin Daiyu felt that the once familiar courtyard had changed and looked much stranger.

The weather was fine today, so Lin Daiyu invited Xiangling and a few others to her estate to taste venison.

The villagers said that a hunter had brought over a deer, so Lin Daiyu took the opportunity to relax and clear her head.

"Sister Lin!" Xiangling saw Lin Daiyu waiting by the carriage and skipped over to greet her.

Today, Xiangling is wearing a light pink stand-up collar jacket and a lotus root-colored lotus patterned skirt, looking elegant and charming.

Qin Keqing's attire was much brighter; she wore an orange-yellow, narrow-sleeved, high-necked, front-buttoned short-sleeved shirt embroidered with peonies, paired with a dark green long skirt.

She has a completely different style from Xiangling, and looks very charming.

Through years of recuperation, Lin Daiyu became physically stronger, but she was still somewhat frail than ordinary women and needed to wear thicker clothes.

The white, round-necked, short-sleeved shawl was embroidered with red roses in a staggered pattern, adding a lot of brightness to Lin Daiyu.

Faced with Xiangling's enthusiastic greeting, Lin Daiyu finally showed her first genuine smile in a long time.

"You're a grown woman now, why are you still as reckless as before?"

Xiangling didn't reply, but just chuckled twice and then, in a coquettish manner, took Lin Daiyu's arm and stood to the side.

In contrast, Qin Keqing and Lin Daiyu were not as close:

"Miss Lin, thank you for your trouble."

"I didn't put in much effort. We had nothing better to do anyway, so we decided to go try something new today."

The three of them chatted and laughed as they boarded the same carriage and headed out of the city.

Just as she brushed past Deng Zechen, who had only just entered the capital city gates and hadn't gone far, Lin Daiyu frowned slightly, somewhat uncertain:

"Did you hear Brother Shi's voice just now?"

Upon hearing this, Xiangling, who had been talking non-stop inside the carriage, immediately shut her mouth and began to listen attentively to the sounds outside.

But he spoke after a moment:

"No, Sister Lin, you must have misheard."

Lin Daiyu didn't speak. Had she misheard?

Seeing Lin Daiyu's serious expression, Xiangling revealed a knowing look:

"Oh, I see. It must be that Sister Lin hasn't seen Brother Deng for too long and is so lovesick that she's even hallucinating."

Lin Daiyu's attention was immediately diverted. "Well, you've got some nerve, daring to joke about me now."

"It's not that I'm being bold; whether it is or not, Sister Lin knows the answer in her heart."

Qin Keqing watched the two bickering quietly, a serene smile on her face, and the image of Deng Zechen gradually appeared in her mind.

I wonder if his trip went smoothly, and what the results of the prefectural examination were.

"I was wrong, I was wrong, Sister Lin, please forgive me!"

They said it would be at most a month, but half of the second month has already passed and they still haven't come back.

That's why Sister Lin is angry with me. It's all his fault. When Brother Deng comes back, Sister Lin must teach him a lesson!

Upon hearing Xiangling's words, Lin Daiyu became even more aggressive, tickling Xiangling's armpits incessantly while pinching her cheeks.

"You still dare to talk back! Just wait till I get my hands on you today!"

Amidst the playful commotion, the carriage gradually arrived at the village.

The three women disembarked from the carriage one after another. Xiangling, whose clothes were a little disheveled from being disciplined by Lin Daiyu, was tidying herself up.

Lin Daiyu was also slightly out of breath, but her complexion looked a bit rosier.

Only Qin Keqing remained the same as when she got into the carriage.

Since there was nothing important to do on this trip, Lin Daiyu let Zijuan continue learning household management from Rong Mama, leaving only Xueyan by her side.

Xueyan got off another carriage. Although she was supporting Lin Daiyu, her mind was already wandering to the manor.

A woman who had been waiting outside the manor saw Lin Daiyu and greeted her with a smile:

"You've finally arrived, young lady! The venison is all prepared and we've been waiting for you."

When facing outsiders, Lin Daiyu reverted to her aloof and polite demeanor.

"Yes, you've all worked hard. Pass the word that after today's business is done, everyone in the village should go to Lin Mao to collect their two strings of cash."

Upon hearing this, the woman's smile widened, and she warmly led Lin Daiyu and her entourage into the estate.

After receiving Lin Daiyu's approval, the woman, in order to take care of Qin Keqing who was visiting for the first time, introduced the layout of the estate and the most unique scenery at different times and places.

"Besides raising livestock and growing many fruits, vegetables and grains, our estate also has a hot spring. When the master and mistress used to come to the estate, they would always spend some time at the hot spring."

The doctor said this hot spring was very beneficial to health, so from then on, it was fenced off and reserved exclusively for the master and mistress.

Lin Daiyu, who was standing to the side, clearly already knew about these past events. After all, not long after she arrived in the capital, Lin Ruhai had mentioned this matter in a letter, telling her that if she was interested, she could go to the hot springs more often, which could alleviate her symptoms of cold hands and feet.

Lin Daiyu had no interest in hot springs, but when she heard the woman bring it up again, mentioning that her parents had also visited hot springs, she was quite moved.

For some reason, I started thinking about myself and Deng Zechen, and what would happen after we got married...

As she pondered this, Lin Daiyu felt her heart begin to race again.

Xueyan and Xiangling looked around with curious eyes, finding everything new and interesting, and did not notice the changes in Lin Daiyu.

Qin Keqing, for some unknown reason, also felt a little flushed.

Deng Zechen, who had just returned home, was looking at a message that had just popped up on his phone, completely unaware of what had happened:

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 80/100

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 82/100

Lin Daiyu's favorability rating: 83/100

……

What happened? Everything was fine before I left.