How much money did Wang Xifeng give to Grandma Liu? Why is she so grateful to Wang Xifeng?

Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Mansion for the second time and became very popular because she fell in love with Jia Mu. She brought laughter to everyone in the Jia family and received generous rewards. She left with a full load. A large part of the items in the entire cart were gifts from private individuals. Jia Mu gave Grandma Liu clothes, purses, noodles, fruits, medicines and other items. Yuanyang and Ping'er gave clothes, skirts and other items as gifts. Jia Baoyu also gave a small kiln clock as a gift. They all gave gifts, and only Mrs. Wang and Wang Xifeng gave money. Mrs. Wang was generous and gave Grandma Liu one hundred taels, while Wang Xifeng gave eight taels of silver.

Logically, it would be more appropriate for Jia Mu and others to give gifts to each other, because Grandma Liu came mainly to repay her kindness this time, not to ask for help like last time. This year, Grandma Liu’s son-in-law’s family had a bumper harvest, so he brought some fruits and vegetables to honor the Jia family. If someone from the Jia family gave money, it would make people think that Grandma Liu came to ask for a reward. There was a reason why Mrs. Wang gave her the money. Grandma Liu had nothing to do with Jia Mu, Wang Xifeng and others before, and only had a casual relationship with Mrs. Wang. She first went to Rongguo Mansion solely for Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang saw that Grandma Liu was so popular with Jia Mu, so she simply gave her family one hundred taels of silver to buy some property or do some business, so that they would not have to ask for help later.

Wang Xifeng originally only needed to give some silks, fabrics and other items. The other eight taels of silver she gave were her own personal money. It could be more or less. It's not like this money was given to Grandma Liu to hire a car to go home. It only takes one or two coins to hire a car. Wang Xifeng was good at dealing with people. When Grandma Liu didn't ask for help, she gave her money, but she was suspected of sending away poor relatives. So, when Wang Xifeng gave Grandma Liu eight taels of silver, was it her reward or a thank you fee? I personally feel that Wang Xifeng’s move was out of kindness to help, and more out of gratitude. She wanted to thank Grandma Liu in three main ways:

First, Wang Xifeng thanked Grandma Liu for helping her make Jia Mu and others happy.

Wang Xifeng is able to control the housekeeping power not only because of her own talents and the support of Mrs. Wang, but also because of the favor and appreciation of Jia Mu. In order to stabilize her position, Wang Xifeng wanted to flatter Jia Mu while taking care of her family affairs. For this reason, she did not hesitate to imitate Banyi's play and make Jia Mu smile. Seeing that Jia Mu and Grandma Liu were chatting very well, she asked Grandma Liu to tell everyone interesting stories about the countryside. Grandma Liu was very talkative and good at making up stories casually. She told several interesting stories such as the girl drawing firewood in the snow and the old woman worshiping Buddha's Sun. She spoke more beautifully than the storyteller, and Jia Mu and others listened with great interest.

While Jia Mu was visiting the Grand View Garden with everyone, Wang Xifeng and Yuanyang secretly told Grandma Liu to do it. Grandma Liu was very knowledgeable and actively cooperated with Sister Feng. She played tricks several times at the banquet and deliberately made a fool of herself, making Jia Mu and others laugh. This was the happiest day for Jia Mu and the girls. Usually Jia Mu would get sleepy after visiting one or two places in the garden, but this day she actually visited most of the garden. This is of course because Grandma Liu mentioned Jia Mu's pleasure in a humorous manner, and Sister Feng should also be credited with her contribution. If Sister Feng hadn't encouraged Grandma Liu to do this behind her back, the whole activity would not have been so lively and interesting. Wang Xifeng knew that Grandma Liu was very knowledgeable and could not fail to see that she was teasing her intentionally. Afterwards, perhaps out of apology or to thank Grandma Liu for helping her to please Jia Mu, she gave him eight taels of silver as a token of appreciation.

Secondly, Wang Xifeng thanked Grandma Liu for telling her a way to ward off evil spirits so that her daughter could sleep peacefully.

Wang Xifeng’s daughter, the eldest sister, went to the Grand View Garden for a walk and was struck by the cold wind, causing her whole body to become hot. Grandma Liu said that the eldest sister was too delicate and could not withstand the slightest bit of wind and rain. She suddenly fell ill. She might have met the flower god in the garden. She suggested that Sister Feng check the book of Chong Shu. After Caiming read "The Story of the Jade Box", she ordered people to send five-color paper money to send ghosts away, and sure enough, the eldest sister fell asleep peacefully. Zhi Yanzhai commented: "Is it really safe to give it away? All women have this intention. Even if you don't give it away, why don't you sleep all night?"

Although the method mentioned by Grandma Liu is not bad. The scientific basis is not a good medicine, but at least it has a psychological effect on Wang Xifeng and makes her feel a lot more relieved. Just like when Wang Xifeng and Jia Baoyu were under the spell of Ma Taopo, seeking medical treatment was ineffective. Jia Zheng and others invited monks and Taoists to perform magic to exorcise the evil spirits, just for peace of mind. Regardless of whether the monks and Taoist priests played a substantial role in eliminating the disease, the Jia family had to pay the cost. The eldest sister is sick, and Wang Xifeng has to pay for medical treatment.

Grandma Liu told Sister Feng a method commonly used in rural areas, and it was reasonable for Wang Xifeng to give her some money as a reward.

Third, Wang Xifeng thanked Grandma Liu for giving her daughter a good name, and eight taels of silver was the naming fee.

There are talented and beauties like Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu in the Jia family, who are very talented in literature. If they were given names, they would be able to choose a good name that is both poetic and connotative. However, Wang Xifeng did not ask Baodai and others to name her daughter, but instead asked Grandma Liu, who did not know a few Chinese characters, for advice. This is because Wang Xifeng felt that the eldest sister was too delicate to support, so naming her daughter after the poor Grandma Liu might make her daughter's life tougher, and she could also borrow Grandma Liu's longevity. Grandma Liu heard that her eldest sister was born on the seventh day of July, so she named her "Qiao Jie'er", saying that if you fight poison with poison, you will be lucky in the future and live a long life. For this auspicious remark, Wang Xifeng should give a red envelope to seek good luck.

There is a folk custom that after a child is born, adults usually ask a fortune teller to arrange the horoscopes and name the child. Even if the fortune teller is a relative of the child's parents, the fortune telling fee and the naming fee must be paid, and it would be bad not to pay. I think the main reason why Wang Xifeng gave Grandma Liu money was to pay for the naming fee. The amount she gave was not one tael or ten taels, but exactly eight taels. She just felt that "eight" was an auspicious number and meant to be "sent". .