Chapter 2

"Mom... Mother, what is my sister's name?"

Jia Huan looked at the woman who was gritting her teeth in anger and asked cautiously.

The woman gave Jia Huan a withering glance, seemingly displeased that her son couldn't even remember his sister's name. Then she remembered that her son had a case of soul loss, and her heart ached. Her expression softened as she said, "Of course your sister has the same surname as you, both surnamed Jia. You are Jia Huan, the younger brother. She is Jia Tanchun, the elder sister. She is the... in the family..."

Jia Huan didn't hear the rest of what the woman said because his ears were filled with a deafening roar.

Jia Tanchun! Jia Huan!

Jia Huan! Jia Tanchun!!

Oh, my dear mother, this is the world of *Dream of the Red Chamber*!

During his college years, Jia Huan had studied hard to get closer to the girls, one of which was to read *Dream of the Red Chamber* thoroughly and pretend to be a literary youth.

Unfortunately, after he endured the dizziness and read *Dream of the Red Chamber* several times, he suddenly realized that the girls at that time no longer read *Dream of the Red Chamber*. They were reading stories about women stranded on deserted islands...

Let's not digress. What made Jia Huan feel incredibly frustrated at the moment was that although *Dream of the Red Chamber* was indeed profound, it was written from the perspective of an extremely narcissistic shut-in.

Why extremely narcissistic?

In the third chapter of *Dream of the Red Chamber*, when Lin Daiyu first meets Jia Baoyu in the capital and enters the Rongguo Mansion, it is mentioned that Jia Baoyu's face is like the moon in mid-autumn.

What is the moon in mid-autumn? It's a round, silver food tray!

To put it more vividly, it's like Xiangjie from Hunan TV. Everyone knows Xiangjie, right?

That's the most standard "face like the moon in mid-autumn."

In other words, Jia Baoyu's face looks like Xiangjie. Tsk tsk.

And yet, he describes himself as "naturally graceful, with all his charm in his eyebrows, and all his emotions in his eyes"...

This narcissism was one thing, and Jia Huan could treat it as self-entertainment, after all, this wasn't an era where looks were everything.

The problem was that most of the story in *Dream of the Red Chamber* takes place in the Grand View Garden.

As for the outside world, whether politics or economics, they are rarely mentioned, and even the dynasty is not specified.

This made Jia Huan extremely depressed. Was he supposed to be trapped in the Grand View Garden waiting for the family to be ruined?

Fortunately, Jia Huan was certain that the era in *Dream of the Red Chamber* was not the Qing Dynasty.

Because his forehead wasn't bald, he didn't have the so-called moon gate, and he didn't have a pigtail-like queue.

"Ring? Ring..."

The woman called softly, waking Jia Huan from his thoughts.

Jia Huan looked up at the woman, and a flash of inspiration struck him. He blurted out, "Lady Zhao?"

The woman's tear-swollen phoenix eyes widened instantly, and her hand shot out like lightning, accurately grabbing Jia Huan's ear and twisting it hard.

"Ah!"

...

"Mother, didn't I say I have amnesia? I just remembered a little bit, and it slipped out without thinking."

Jia Huan, rubbing his red and swollen ear, complained and explained.

It really hurt!

While explaining, he looked around and was surprised to find that the place wasn't bad at all.

He didn't know much about wealth, but the furniture and decorations around him looked very high-end, ancient and elegant, and didn't seem cheap at all.

"What are you looking around for with those shifty eyes? No wonder everyone dislikes you. Look at Baoyu, he looks just like his mother, and he is quite handsome, but look at his demeanor, he has the air of a noble young master. Now look at you, tsk tsk, although you look like your mother, your eyes look shifty, and your manners are rough. You are as coarse as a peasant, and who would like you?"

Lady Zhao, seeing Jia Huan looking around with a crooked expression, and remembering the jokes people made about her and her son, scolded him.

However, Jia Huan wasn't angry. He looked at Lady Zhao and found that this "cheap mother" was really quite beautiful.

She had naturally slender willow-like eyebrows, paired with beautiful almond eyes, and her charm was natural.

Her small mouth was like it had been painted with lipstick, and her teeth were white and neat.

She was truly a beauty.

But it made sense. Otherwise, how could a lowly concubine, a "servant," have given birth to Tanchun and Jia Huan?

In ancient times, they said, "Marry a wife for her virtue, take a concubine for her beauty," so Lady Zhao's good looks were understandable.

However, in *Dream of the Red Chamber*, Jia Huan was described as a clown, hated by everyone.

How could Lady Zhao say he looked like her?

Jia Huan looked at Lady Zhao again, seeing the contempt and resentment in her eyes, and suddenly realized.

In *Dream of the Red Chamber*, not only was he hated, but Lady Zhao was the true pioneer.

Yes, popularity and appearance are not necessarily proportional.

Jia Huan recalled the descriptions of "Jia Huan" in *Dream of the Red Chamber* and realized that there was no detailed description of his appearance, only "shifty and rough."

There was also the description of his rudeness to Lady Zhao, "He never treated Lady Zhao as his mother. If she said a word to him or accidentally gave him the wrong thing, he would turn his head, bulge his eyes, and fly into a rage at her."

Such a person, even if he looked like Pan An, probably wouldn't be liked by anyone.

"Hey, you didn't get angry at your mother?"

Lady Zhao said in surprise, but there was still a hint of... caution on her face.

Jia Huan was speechless, "Mother, what do you mean?"

Lady Zhao huffed, "What do you mean? You've been manipulated by that black-hearted person since you were little, always bullying your mother. Everyone can scold you outside, but you can't get your face back, so you come back and take it out on your mother. If I say a word to you, you act like you want to fight me. How could I have given birth to such a black-hearted son? My life is so bitter! Sob sob..."

Listening to Lady Zhao's incessant complaints and her bitter expression, Jia Huan felt both amused and heartbroken.

This woman's fate was truly tragic.

Not only was she a concubine, but she had to bow to several powerful figures.

Everyone could bully her, even the servants looked down on her.

The most heartbreaking was that her son was unfilial, and her daughter didn't even want to recognize her.

In the end, when the Jia family was about to fall, she died a miserable and unclear death.

If Jia Huan had been reborn as someone else, he could have stayed out of it.

But now he was Jia Huan, Lady Zhao's biological son. How could he watch her suffer so much?

"Mother, don't worry. In the past, I was ignorant and didn't know what filial piety was, so I disrespected you. But now it's different. Now I have grown up and won't upset you anymore. From now on, I will protect you, and no one will bully you again."

Jia Huan held Lady Zhao's hand and said seriously.

Lady Zhao's eyes immediately moistened, and she sobbed, "Truly, the Buddha must have blessed me. Not only did my Ring not become a fool, but he also understands filial piety. Although he is still young and doesn't understand much, I am content. Sob sob..."

Jia Huan laughed, "Mother, how am I still young and don't understand much?"

Lady Zhao wiped her tears with a handkerchief and scolded, "You are just a son of a concubine, barely better than a servant's child. How can you protect me? The Old Lady, the Lady, and the Second Miss, how can you stop them from bullying me?"

Jia Huan was taken aback. He remembered that in *Dream of the Red Chamber*, filial piety was highly valued. Even the servants and wet nurses of the elders had to be respected by the younger generation, and even the elders' cats, dogs, flowers, and plants couldn't be disposed of casually, or it would be considered unfilial.

Even the most favored Jia Baoyu had to follow these rules, let alone Jia Huan, who was neither loved by his grandmother nor his uncle.

Jia Huan said stubbornly, "Mother, don't worry. I will make sure they can't touch us. If necessary, we can leave the family and live separately!"

"Phew!"

Lady Zhao spat and her face turned pale, "Ring, you must be out of your mind. How can you say such things? I really..."

To avoid being misunderstood as insane, Jia Huan quickly changed the subject, "Mother, you said the Old Lady and the Lady can bully you, what about Father?"

Lady Zhao's face turned a bit red, but her expression suddenly became haughty. She scolded Jia Huan, "You should call him Lord!" Then she said, "Fortunately, Lord has a conscience and cares for us. Otherwise, we would be bullied to death in the Jia family."

Hearing this, Jia Huan understood and smiled, "Mother, it seems the old man likes you?"

"Phew!"

Lady Zhao spat again and scolded angrily, "You little rascal, what do you know about liking! And if you dare to call him Lord again, watch out for your skin!"

Jia Huan finally felt a bit relieved. As long as he wasn't a drum beaten by everyone, he was fine. He laughed and responded to Lady Zhao's scolding, then tried to sit up, feeling that lying in bed was making him go bad.

However, his thin arms could only support him for a moment before the pain and soreness made his arms weak, and he fell back down.

"Oh, Ring, what are you doing? Are you trying to scare your mother to death?"

Jia Huan's current body was as weak as a chick. He estimated he was about seven or eight years old, but he was very thin.

Jia Huan was lifted and placed back in bed by Lady Zhao, who then covered him with the blanket.

"Mother, why is my body so weak?"

Jia Huan, disobeying, stretched his arm out of the blanket, looking at his shockingly thin arm and complained.

In his previous life, at seven or eight years old, he could already knock down a donkey...

Hearing Jia Huan's complaint, Lady Zhao was even more depressed, "Are you blaming me? When I ask you to eat more, you act like I'm forcing you to take poison, making us almost enemies. You just eat snacks all day, what good does that do? You've been sick in bed for days, not even drinking water. How could you not be thin? Ring, when you get better, you must eat well. How can you not take care of your health?"

Jia Huan looked at his thin arm with frustration and gritted his teeth, "Mother, don't worry. I will eat, I will eat a lot. I won't stop until I can knock down a donkey!"

"Phew!"

...