Chen Xuan knew that the Japanese would cause trouble later, but she was not aware of the September 18th Incident. She knew that Wei Shi went to the border area and then returned to Beijing, but she knew nothing else. She rarely stepped out of the black lacquered door of the Wei family in her previous life, so she didn't know if there were so many ragged refugees and beggars with pale, hungry, and silent eyes on the streets in her previous life. All the colors were black, gray, and white. The late autumn wind blew away all the joy of the Mid-Autumn Festival this year. It was a blessing in disguise for someone like Wei Shi to return home safely. And for those who had relatives outside the border, how worried and concerned their relatives must be. The Wei family knew these emotions very well.
Therefore, even though the shops outside the Great Wall were closed, Old Master Wei still spent a peaceful and restful Mid-Autumn Festival with his family.
That is, with the skyrocketing prices, Mrs. Wei suggested that they should all steam buns made of two-grain flour in the future, saving rice and flour to make life easier. As for the milk, Mrs. Wei also told Wei Nian to stop ordering it for the time being. Because everything is rising in price, the same is true for milk. Now the price of milk has risen by 50%, and Mrs. Wei feels sorry for the money. However, Wei Nian rejected this idea, but it was not a big deal. The family had enough rice and flour to eat for three years, and it didn't cost much to order milk.
Old Mrs. Wei always listened to her son and husband. When she saw Wei Nian saying this, her husband did not object, and she did not insist. Chen Xuan was a little surprised. She remembered that in her previous life, the women of the Wei family changed to eating steamed buns mixed with white flour and corn flour. Now she thought about it, it was probably during this period that they changed back to white flour. But this time, the family had enough rice and flour, so Old Mrs. Wei's suggestion did not work.
Chen Xuan still ran back and forth between the store and the old house as usual, and everyone in the family did the same, some doing business and some going to school. Due to the soaring prices, the business in the store was not as good as before. The hot-selling products now were food. The grain prices in the market were rising steadily, almost doubling compared to before, so it was no wonder that Mrs. Wei had to eat two-cow noodles to save rice. The rice and noodles now were really too expensive. However, in Chen Xuan's memory, there were still several years of peace. Chen Xuan believed that as long as the days were peaceful, the grain prices should slowly come down.
Families like the Wei family who have a little wealth don't have to worry about not having enough to eat, but those families with less wealth, such as the landlord Xu family, now eat cornmeal mixed with sorghum flour. Chen Xuan knew about the Xu family's food, not because she had seen it in the past. Life was not easy these days, and few people would go to other people's homes when they were eating. Otherwise, if you go, will they leave food for you? People who are particular will not do such things.
Chen Xuan knew because she smelled it. The smell of steamed bread made of corn flour and sorghum flour, Chen Xuan had smelled this smell for many years in both her lives. She had eaten such steamed bread at her second uncle's house since she was a child. Chen Xuan was a little puzzled. She had reminded Mrs. Xu to save some rice and flour before. Now Chen Xuan was busy and went to Xu's house less often, but she would not fail to remind the Xu family about such a thing. Besides, the Xu and Wei families have always been good friends. Old Master Wei informed all his good relatives and friends about the storage of rice and flour at home, so he could not leave out the Xu family. Why did the Xu family have such a hard time
After feeding the child in the evening, Chen Xuan thought that the Xu family should have had dinner by then, so she went over.
Mrs. Xu has always liked Chen Xuan, but she has been busy lately and moved to Wangfucang Hutong, so she has been coming less often. The early cabbage planted in the Xu family's vegetable garden this year has been harvested, and the late cabbage and radish are growing very well. After looking at the vegetable garden, Chen Xuan asked Mrs. Xu privately. Mrs. Xu smiled, "Our master was talking about it the other day, and you reminded me. We don't have to worry about food at home now, but we don't know when the trouble will end. Beijing is like this, once it's not peaceful, the price of food will rise. Although there is enough food now, we have to prepare more."
Only then did Chen Xuan feel relieved.
Mrs. Xu really felt that Chen Xuan was kind. Her daughter had only taught others a few words and borrowed a few books. Chen Xuan had always remembered her kindness. It was Chen Xuan who taught her to grow vegetables in the yard. It was also Chen Xuan who told her to stock up food in advance. Fortunately, she stocked up food, otherwise she would really be worried about the next ration.
As Chen Xuan and Mrs. Xu were talking, Mrs. Du, the daughter-in-law of the eldest son of the Xu family, who had just married last year, came over with a pair of freshly steamed hot sweet potatoes and said with a smile, "They are sandy. Mrs. Wei, try them. They are very sweet."
Chen Xuan thanked him immediately. Mrs. Du specially brought it to her, so she would be sorry if she didn't eat it. Chen Xuan broke off half a piece and said with a smile, "I will love the fragrance of this sweet potato for the rest of my life."
Mrs. Xu smiled, "If you like, eat more. I'll serve you a plate later. Don't be polite to me, that would be unorthodox."
Chen Xuan agreed with a smile and took a bite of the sweet potato. It was sweet and crunchy. Even though she had eaten it before, Chen Xuan still felt that she could never tire of eating this sweet potato. "I can be polite to anyone but not to my aunt."
Mrs. Du asked Chen Xuan, "Is Mrs. Wei's business doing well recently?"
"It's not bad, but not as good as before. Because of the trouble outside the Great Wall these days, the shops are not very prosperous. However, it is worse than before. After all, the Northeast is far away from Beijing, and the chaos is not as bad as here." Chen Xuan said, "As long as life is peaceful, we will be able to recover in a few days."
Mrs. Du wanted to ask Chen Xuan about crocheting. Chen Xuan said, "If you have time, just go to school and learn. I'll tell Ah Shu that we are not outsiders, so don't mention the tuition. I have an order from England right now. The order is not large, but they need the goods urgently. I'm short of manpower, so you can learn to weave that first. When the time comes, you can weave more, which means you can help me."
Mrs. Du smiled, "Then I won't be polite to my sister-in-law."
"Don't be polite, just speak to me as if I were your aunt. It would be ungentlemanly to be polite." Chen Xuan said seriously.
After knowing that the food stored by the Xu family was enough for daily life, Chen Xuan felt relieved. Mrs. Xu might think that she was just a little bit kind to Chen Xuan, but Chen Xuan would never forget that when she had to borrow books from the Xu sisters, they readily lent them to her. When she asked for help on words she didn't know, the Xu sisters would also tell her. Also, if it wasn't for Mrs. Xu's suggestion, Chen Xuan would not have taken the initiative to learn foreign languages from Wei Nian. In fact, learning foreign languages is nothing special. There are many well-educated people in Beijing who can speak foreign languages fluently. However, foreign languages broadened Chen Xuan's horizons and increased her confidence, and the first person who opened this door for Chen Xuan was Mrs. Xu.
A great favor.
Chen Xuan can never forget.
In fact, the Xu family was not the only one who benefited from the Wei family's reminder to stock up on food. Now that food prices have soared, all relatives and friends have to say thank you to Old Master Wei. Old Master Wei was very happy, and even Chen Xuan received thanks from several families. However, when he went out every day and saw refugees passing by on the road or people who could not make ends meet due to soaring prices, he didn't know what the joy was.
Chen Xuan's state of mind is definitely not the state of mind of "I wish I had thousands of mansions to shelter all the poor people in the world and make them happy". Chen Xuan is the kind of person who lives her life honestly and wants to live her life well. Logically, life is really good now; logically, these people who live in difficulties outside really have nothing to do with Chen Xuan, but when she sees these skinny people with dead eyes on the roadside, Chen Xuan still feels bad.
Chen Xuan couldn't tell what the reason was.
However, when Qin Shu called on everyone to donate money to help refugees, although Chen Xuan felt a little sorry for the money, she did not object.
After a period of anger from all walks of life in Beijing over the Japanese occupation of the Northeast, the business community organized donations to help the Northeast refugees. The current business scale of several people is not even considered a member of the Beijing Business Association. As for Wei Nian, Wei Yin, Chen Xuan, and even Old Master Wei, they have no intention of donating at all. The world is difficult now, and it is not easy to live a good life. Qin Shu was the leader of the donation matter, and Qin Shu talked to the three of them. Qin Shu said, "Since the Qing Dynasty, the east has been fighting the west. Fortunately, it was our own civil war at that time. Now it is different. It is a foreign invasion. The situation in the Northeast can be seen by looking at the refugees in the city of Peking. It is said that there are more Northeast refugees in Shandong and Hebei. We should donate some money. This is our intention. Not only for the Northeast refugees, but also for the country. It is better to be a dog in peacetime than a man in troubled times. It is better to be a man in troubled times than a slave of a conquered country."
Qin Shu was very understanding of national justice. She wanted to donate 500 yuan. Chen Xuan advised her to donate 100 yuan, but Qin Shu insisted on donating 500 yuan. Wei Nian said, "Okay, let's not donate in the name of individuals, just donate 500 yuan in the name of the factory." Seeing that Qin Shu was about to speak, Wei Nian stopped her and said, "Don't worry, the Northeast Army retreated into the interior of the country, and now there are so many refugees. Are you afraid that the tax will not come? Taxes of various names are coming soon, and there are many places to spend money. Now everything outside is increasing in price, and our cosmetics must also increase in price."
Qin Shu donated money with great enthusiasm. It is said that the Beijing Business Association donated as much as 100,000 yuan. Of course, compared with 100,000 yuan, the 500 yuan donated by a few people is insignificant. However, after the donations from people from all walks of life, Qin Shu did not see any improvement in the refugee situation in Beijing. The streets are still full of refugees seeking a living and the people whose lives are getting harder and harder. The poor world breeds countless malice, thieves, robbers, gangsters, hooligans...
The inner city is relatively peaceful, but even Wang Damei would not go out to buy groceries alone. Instead, she would ask Sister An to go along to prevent her vegetable basket from being snatched away.
Qin Shu couldn't help but feel disappointed with the authorities.
At this time, Qin Shu received an invitation to a dance. This dance was a charity dance, and the purpose was still to raise money for the Northeast refugees in Beiping City. Qin Shu thought about it and asked Chen Xuan and Wei Yin to go together. Wei Nian would naturally accompany them. Qin Shu said, "You don't have to go to other dances, but if you can go to the charity dance, you have to go. Although we have to donate some money, we will do it within our means, after all, we have donated before." Qin Shu is not a petty person, but after the last donation, Qin Shu is cautious about the donation.
At the ball, several people donated some money, but the amount was not large. The star of the night was not any of them. The lights of the night belonged to Miss Wen and Ms. Chen, as well as the daughter of Mayor Han of Peking. I don’t know if the three of them had agreed to donate 10,000 yuan each. Ms. Chen even did not forget to promote Daxingsheng. Ms. Chen said, "Now that the country is in crisis, we at Daxingsheng have decided to respond to the government's call to stabilize prices. All cosmetics brands will launch patriotic models. As long as they are patriotic models, they will still be sold at the previous price and will never increase the price!"
Thinking of the price increase of "Siqing", Chen Xuan and Wei Yin were stunned!
Chen Xuan couldn't help but look up at Ms. Chen. Under the light, Ms. Chen was shining. I don't know if it was Chen Xuan's illusion, but Ms. Chen's eyes vaguely swept over their position. But Chen Xuan thought that she was probably overthinking it. Ms. Chen was among the crowd, being sought after by everyone, how could she know where they were standing
The author has something to say: ps: The second update is here, good night everyone! ! ! ! !