[Dream of the Red Chamber] Building a New Jia Mansion, One-on-One

[The story is complete. There are new upcoming stories in my collection, so come take a look, everyone!] After three years of sweating it out on the front lines of poverty alleviation, young Secretary Jia finally gets his reward! One moment he's at a villager's home checking on a piglet's growth. The next, he opens his eyes and finds himself in the luxurious Rongguo Mansion as Second Master Lian! Jia: ...So I didn't even get a month's salary after my probation before I started collecting a stipend from the Rongguo Mansion? Well, since I'm here, a job's a job. Building a new Jia household can't be all that different from building up a new village... probably. Later: Fengjie: I don't know how to read more than a few characters. Jia: No problem. We'll start a literacy night school. All the servants with important duties in the household will attend and learn proper conduct from Second Mistress. There'll be weekly, monthly, and final exams. The top three get an extra month's stipend, and everyone accumulates points. Do well enough, and you'll be promoted at the end of the year. Granny Jia frets: Your aunt has been away from home for more than ten years. I've never even met her children. Jia: No problem. I'll pack my things and head to Yangzhou at once. I'll also talk to my uncle-in-law about setting up a salt merchants' production cooperative. Baoyu: If I don't want to study, then I won't! I want to make rouge! Jia: Then don't study. Let's set up an agricultural skincare brand for you. How about we call it Dabao? Daiyu: I was born weak and sickly. I'll never recover in this lifetime. Jia: I don't believe that. Let's get Daiyu a martial arts instructor and see how it goes! Yuanchun: Life in the palace is so hard. I want to go home... Jia: Leave the palace! Get out at once! Tanchun: If only I'd been born a boy... Jia: What's wrong with being a girl? Come on! Learn to do business from your sister-in-law, Fengjie! At last, the Twelve Beauties are no longer twelve gravestones. Each of them has found a different path in life. But why does our Second Master Lian seem to be nothing but a tool? Jia Lian, smiling serenely: It's fine. What matters is that everyone is doing well. ---A Reader's Guide--- In the early chapters, he takes on Granny Jia, Jia Zheng, and Lady Wang, and breaks up Baoyu and Daiyu, and Baoyu and Baochai. The goal is to break up every couple that needs breaking up. Girls should get to live their own lives! Young Jia is naturally a busybody, always helping out here and there. He has a golden finger, but he doesn't use it much. It's mainly there to serve the plot. [Slow and Steady]: There are warm everyday moments, as well as character development and changes in outlook. I'll do my best to flesh out every character. The events in the blurb take place much later in the story. The story begins in the fifth year of the Honglou timeline, when Baoyu is five and Daiyu is four. [Character ages: Jia Lian is 17, Fengjie is 14, Baochai is 10, and Xue Pan is 12.] The main plot follows the people of the Red Mansion and how their fates change, while still following the original story. This is an ensemble cast featuring all the women of the Twelve Beauties, but it isn't focused on romantic pairings. The girls are setting off toward new lives instead of being confined to the same old domestic routine. Jia Lian's romantic storyline is still with Fengjie. Some details and the timeline are based on the original work, while others are my own. I hope you enjoy it! [Reading all the premium chapters of this book should cost less than a cup of bubble tea. Please support the official release for fun skits and an ad-free reading experience. Every bit of support is a huge encouragement to a new author! (Bows repeatedly!)] [There are so many new ideas in my collection! Your interest in my upcoming stories is my biggest motivation to start writing!] Theme: Put people first, stand on your own, and live your own life.