Chen Xuan and Wei Nian originally wanted to start arranging the cram school during the Chinese New Year, but because there were many things to do during the Chinese New Year, such as visiting relatives and drinking, and because Wei Jin had a quarrel with her in-laws and had to go back to her mother's house, they didn't have time to do it. When they finally had time to do it, news came from Shanghai that Japan was going to occupy Shanghai and the war was about to start. Chen Xuan was very scared at the time. Miss Bai and Qi Sandu came to the store to discuss business matters in Shanghai. Chen Xuan immediately said, "It's a pity that you two haven't gone to Beijing yet. The newspaper said that there is a war. You two should stay in Beijing first and don't go to Shanghai for the time being."
Miss Bai said, "There are still a lot of goods in the store."
"It doesn't matter. Those goods are cheap, so even if they are all gone, we can still afford the compensation. People are more important. Let's wait for news in Beijing first. I'll send a telegram. If that doesn't work, I'll just call."
Chen Xuan was so anxious that she didn't even bother to call the phone. She ran to a store in Dongdan that had a phone and called Mr. Rong. Mr. Rong was not at home, and the housekeeper of the Rong Mansion answered the phone. Knowing that Mr. Rong was safe, Chen Xuan felt relieved. Chen Xuan had studied geography, and she knew that Nanjing was not far from Shanghai. She called the Wen family again. Mr. and Mrs. Wen were not at home either, and the housekeeper answered the phone. As long as they were safe over there, Chen Xuan would not worry about it. Qin Shu also called home, and he only regretted that he could not fly back to Shanghai. At this time, Mrs. Qin had to be thankful that Qin Shu was in Beijing. Qin Shu wanted his family to come to Beijing. Mrs. Qin said, "Shanghai is so close to the Nanjing government, and the government has already sent troops. Don't worry, your family is fine."
With the war going on in Shanghai, Chen Xuan had no heart to run a cram school. She was even a little worried that the shopkeeper Sun Yan and Xiao Li were going to Tianjin. Sun Yan advised Chen Xuan, "If we really want to die, we might be killed by a brick falling from the sky even in Beijing. Don't worry, boss, if the situation gets bad, we will come back."
Chen Xuan thought about it and realized that it made sense. Even if she did nothing, she would still be unable to avoid the chaos. Chen Xuan solemnly told the two of them, "If there is any change in Tianjin, return to Beijing immediately. The goods in the store don't matter. What matters is that you are safe."
Both agreed. Chen Xuan gritted her teeth and said to them, "I'll let the bank give you 700 yuan later. Go to Tianjin and install a telephone. We'll also install a telephone in our store." Installing a telephone is still very expensive now, but in such a turbulent era, having a telephone is really much more convenient. Sun Yan and Xiao Li were very happy. Sun Yan smiled and said, "The business in Tianjin is more prosperous than our Beijing city. There are many businesses that install telephones there. I was thinking of asking my boss about it in two years."
Chen Xuan said, "I have been thinking about this for the past two days."
Chen Xuan is not a person like Wei Jin who only spends money. Although she is frugal, she will spend money when she needs to. After seeing off the shopkeepers Sun Yan and Xiao Li, Chen Xuan had to receive Manager Lin from Jiqingfang who came to visit. Manager Lin also called Rong Yang, who told him to discuss something with Chen Xuan. Manager Lin didn't have anything to do when he came. He was mainly worried about the things in Shanghai. In addition, Mr. Rong trusted Mrs. Wei very much, so Manager Lin wanted to come and build a relationship and visit her first.
Speaking of Mr. Rong who was far away in Shanghai, Manager Lin was full of worry. Chen Xuan had no choice but to tell Manager Lin that "Shanghai is so close to Nanjing, and the Japanese devils are too ambitious. If they occupy Shanghai, the next step will be Nanjing. For the sake of their own safety, the Nanjing government cannot let anything happen in Shanghai."
Manager Lin expressed his concern for Mr. Rong, and thought that Chen Xuan's repetitive talk was not without reason. Manager Lin talked about some things in the store, and Chen Xuan also listened, but just asked Manager Lin to carry on as usual. Chen Xuan said, "Before the Japanese occupied the three northeastern provinces, our Beijing city was also in turmoil, and Mr. Rong asked us to stabilize it. This time, I don't think there will be any major problems."
After the two of them exchanged words, Manager Lin said goodbye and left.
Chen Xuan first discussed the installation of a telephone with Wei Yin, who did not object and said, "Our business is gradually growing, so it would be good to install a telephone, which will be much more convenient." Then, Chen Xuan told Wei Nian about this, and Wei Nian was quite surprised, "A telephone costs five or six hundred yuan, are you really willing to spend that money?"
"Brother Anian, you always tell me that money is meant to be spent. This decoration store will make it convenient to contact merchants in the future." Chen Xuan also told the truth. "I was worried about the incident in Shanghai this time. We are such good friends with Mr. Rong, and I am worried about his safety. And there is Madam. Nanjing is very close to Shanghai. Besides, Ayan and the others are in Tianjin. After all, Ayan and Xiao Li, the shopkeeper, are working for us. Now the country is in chaos because of the Japanese devils." Chen Xuan didn't understand national affairs, but she hated the Japanese devils the most. Chen Xuan said, "The Japanese devils are the most hateful."
When Wei Nian heard that Chen Xuan's store was going to install a telephone, he was interested and said to Chen Xuan, "I'll talk to my dad about installing a telephone at home as well."
Chen Xuan looked at Anian and didn't pour cold water on him. The old man was an open-minded person, but he was always very frugal. The old lady was also a person who only wanted to save money and not spend money. She would definitely not agree to install a telephone at home. Sure enough, Wei Nian went over and said that the old man Wei didn't agree. The old lady Wei didn't even want to install a telephone in Chen Xuan and Wei Yin's store. Knowing that the money had been paid and it would not be refunded, she had no choice but to install it. Even so, the old lady Wei often complained about the two sisters-in-law not knowing how to live and spending money recklessly.
Anyway, no matter what, Chen Xuan asked the shopkeeper Li Er to pay the money. The telephone company was very proactive and sent someone to install the phone the next day.
After the phone was installed, Chen Xuan generously asked Qin Shu to call her home again, and asked Qin Shu to tell her family the phone number of the store. If there was anything in the future, they could just call the store. In addition, Chen Xuan called Shanghai and Nanjing in the evening. This time, Mr. Rong was still not at home, so Chen Xuan left the phone number with the housekeeper. Mrs. Wen was at home, and she was very happy to know that Chen Xuan had installed a phone. Mrs. Wen said, "Nanjing is fine, and the war in Shanghai will be resolved. It's good to install a phone, so it will be convenient for us to talk in the future." She also asked about Chen Xuan's recent situation. Because it was evening, the sons were all at home. Mrs. Wen asked the three sons to talk to their sister. Chen Xuan was quite nervous. Besides, long-distance charges were very expensive. In fact, it cost 25 yuan to talk for five minutes. After hanging up the phone, Chen Xuan decided that unless it was urgent, she would write letters in the future.
Originally, she had lost money by making a phone call today. When she got home, she heard her elder sister-in-law asking her when the cram school would start. Chen Xuan had been so busy these days that she had forgotten about the cram school. Moreover, she had just installed two phones and had only opened this year. Shanghai was still at war and the situation was unstable. Chen Xuan calculated the cash flow and thought that she should put the cram school aside for now. When they first opened the technical school, there was no business. Therefore, Chen Xuan thought that she had to take her time with the cram school.
When asked by her elder sister-in-law, Chen Xuan told the truth, "There's no rush for this."
"Why not? Feng'er and Yu'er's homework is urgent! Otherwise, let Anian teach them some foreign language lessons!" Wei Jin decided from Wei Nian that he must learn foreign language well in order to do big business and make big money. Wei Jin decided that Wei Nian would not have the time. It's not that he doesn't want to teach his nephew, but he just doesn't have the time and energy. He has to take care of the Dongdan shop, and he has to go to the cosmetics factory from time to time. Add to that the business of the lace factory, and Wei Nian has been busy with business matters. In addition, he met a terrible mother-in-law last year, and Wei Nian has planned to learn German this year, so how can he have the time to teach his nephew.
Wei Nian said to Wei Jin, "Just find a tutor. I don't have the time."
Wei Jin took it for granted, "Tutors must cost money!" Her brother didn't have to pay for tutoring.
Wei Nian was really impressed by his sister's attitude. Wei Nian didn't want to give Wei Jin an advantage. "Write me an IOU and I'll pay for tutors for Feng Ge'er and Yu Ge'er."
Wei Jin agreed to the IOU immediately. Brother Zhao felt that it was too unfair to his brother-in-law, adding a new debt to the old one. Wei Jin said to her husband, "Give me your salary as soon as you get it this month. We can't just keep owing money and not paying it back. It's not good for us to be like this even though we're siblings." But she didn't think about paying back the money at all. Why should she pay back her brother? As soon as her husband's salary came in, Wei Jin would save it to buy a house and marry a daughter-in-law for her sons.
Wei Nian would rather pay for Wei Jin's tuition than listen to her nagging, so he gave the IOU to Chen Xuan. Chen Xuan said, "My sister-in-law won't pay me back, so why write me an IOU?"
"This is to make her more restrained." Wei Nian thought of his elder sister's temperament, "Hurry up and hire a tutor, so that she won't complain all the time. We have too many serious things to do and don't have time to mess with her."
"It's easy to find a tutor. Just ask Ning to introduce a good student. Brother An, I'll ask Professor Chu about your German teacher. He knows a lot of people." Chen Xuan took care of this matter. Chen Xuan also looked at the grades of Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu in the year-end exams. She was thinking about which teacher to hire for them. Even Chen Xuan wanted to invite the French teacher that Wei Nian hired last year back home to teach her French.
Chen Xuan also asked about the homework of Wei Jie and Wei Mingyun. They all did very well in their studies and were among the top students in the class. They didn't need any tutoring. Although Chen Xuan was shy, she was actually a warm-hearted person. She wanted to learn French and Wei Nian wanted to learn German. Chen Xuan privately told Li, "The children all go to church elementary schools and have been learning English. Now we have to hire a French teacher, Ms. De La. Sister-in-law, if the children are willing to learn, it's fine whether they study with me or with Brother Nian."
Mrs. Li was very willing and smiled, "Then I won't be polite to my second brother and sister-in-law. I'll ask the children what they want to learn."
Chen Xuan also called Sun Yan's younger brother and sister. The two children were also very studious, so Chen Xuan took them with her. Wei Jin privately said that Chen Xuan was stupid. What did the Sun family's children have to do with her family? Chen Xuan said, "They are all children of their prime years. Yan is in Tianjin, and what she cares about most is family matters. We are just helping out." In addition to having enough food, Chen Xuan pays the most attention to education. Not only her own studies, but also the children who are in school, Chen Xuan will not stand idly by if she can help. Otherwise, Chen Xuan actually doesn't like her elder sister-in-law very much, but Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu are not annoying children, so Chen Xuan is willing to help them with their studies. Of course, Chen Xuan is biased towards Wei Jie, Wei Ming and Yun Jie'er.
By the beginning of March in the Gregorian calendar, news of a ceasefire in Shanghai arrived, and the shadow of the war in Shanghai, which had lasted for more than a month, finally began to dissipate.
The author has something to say: ps: The second update is here, good afternoon everyone!!