A Dream of Red Mansions is almost observed through Baoyu's eyes. In the end, the Jia family was defeated, and Baoyu abandoned his dusty fate and became a monk. Jia Zheng has a famous saying: "I don't know if Baoyu came down to rob the old lady for 19 years." It can be seen that the actual writing time in the book is nineteen years, which is concentrated after Baoyu met Daiyu.

The thirteenth time in the book, Qin Keqing had a dream before he died, saying, "Now our family is thriving for a hundred years ..." He falsely wrote the story of Rong Ning's second house "entering the customs from the dragon" through the mouths of Jiao Da, Jia Mu and Wang Xifeng. It adds up to nearly 120 years.