The formation of the meaning world in A Dream of Red Mansions is closely related to the narration of economic activities. As a necessary component of family and social life, economic activities naturally and implicitly forms a narrative system in the world novels, implanting special significance into the text. Looking at the narration of A Dream of Red Mansions from the perspective of economy, not only the characters’ behaviors related to economy, such as income, distribution, financial management and consumption, are worthy of in-depth study and scrutiny within the text, but also gold and silver, as a symbol of wealth, become a symbol of meaning. Abnormal income and expenditure, extravagant and decadent life are the main reasons for the decline of the four big families with the Jia family as the core, reflecting the inevitable collapse of the aristocratic landlord class. The distribution narrative of monthly money and annual things often appear in the novel, but it is not an insignificant “idle writing”. In fact, it hides the relationship between the characters and the internal contradictions of the family under various desires. The different strategies of Wang Xifeng and Jia Tanchun in household finance reflect their different life pursuits and highlight the tragic significance of destroying all values in “the end of the Dynasty”. The relationship between people and things, desire and disillusionment is not only the deepest metaphor of the text, but also the most important implication of the economic narration in A Dream of Red Mansions.