"..."
Baoyu had just been chewed out by his third younger sister, Tanchun, and his face turned awkward. He knew he was in the wrong, after all, so for a moment he couldn't think of what to say.
But knowing that didn't stop him. He was used to arguing irrationally, Grandmother Jia had spoiled him, and he already held some prejudice against girls studying and cultivating. So when his third younger sister criticized him like that, it only stirred up a rebellious streak.
And so!
He actually puffed out his chest and retorted in a tone that mixed disappointment, embarrassment, sophistry, and a scolding air:
"Third Sister!"
"What you're saying makes no sense!"
"You girls are pure and unsullied, gifted by nature with a quick and clever spirit. You ought to admire the breeze and moon, appreciate music, and live freely at home. That's what makes sense!"
"Why have you started acting like those muddy menfolk outside, thinking all day about meditation and refining your qi, obsessing over cultivation and advancement?"
"Could it be..."
"Could it be that you want to be like those fame-seekers and curry favor, hoping one day to join the ranks of those 'traitors to the country and parasites of the state'?!"
That was right!
Baoyu had taken the very words Jia Zheng used to scold him for neglecting his proper pursuits and refusing to improve himself—the lectures about chasing fame and fortune and scheming for official posts—and turned them around, dumping them all on Tanchun and Daiyu.
He simply thought that anyone who, like his father Jia Zheng, spent all day thinking about fame, fortune, and cultivation must be a fame-seeking "traitor to the country and parasite of the state"!
"!!"
The moment Tanchun heard that, she felt her anger flare.
Tanchun had always regretted