Chen Xuan and Wei Nian's personalities are opposite from the outside. Chen Xuan is introverted and low-key, while Wei Nian is warm and delicate. But in fact, Chen Xuan is more outgoing, while Wei Nian's temperament is more cold. For example, when Chen Xuan heard about Wei Shi and Li renting a house, she whispered to Li, "Brother Jie and Brother Ming are grown up, and my sister-in-law has some money now, so why not buy two houses? Whether you live in them or collect rent, it's cost-effective, and they will be useful in the future."
Li was always docile. She just said, "I gave all the money given by the old man to Jie's father. Let him do whatever he wants. After all, if you marry a man, you will have clothes and food."
Chen Xuan felt that Wei Shi had not behaved properly since he came back from the border, so she advised Li Shi like this. However, Li Shi gave all the money to Wei Shi. Chen Xuan was stunned and didn't know what to say. Li Shi had something to ask Chen Xuan. Li Shi said, "In the past few years, I have also saved some private money. In the past, I listened to my second brother's wife and saved dozens of dollars to exchange for a small goldfish. In the past few years, I have saved some. Second uncle has many connections. Use this money to help me buy a small courtyard. You and second uncle only need to know about this matter. Don't tell anyone else."
Chen Xuan and Li had been sisters-in-law for many years and had always had a good relationship. Naturally, she agreed to Li's request, but she was still a little worried. After accepting Li's money, she didn't know what to say, mainly because Chen Xuan didn't know what the problem was between Li and Wei Shi. Li comforted Chen Xuan, "It's okay, I know what's going on."
Chen Xuan turned around and told Wei Nian about this. Wei Nian said, "Since sister-in-law said so, let's not interfere. I will help sister-in-law to buy a house."
Chen Xuan said, "What happened? You said earlier that big brother had something to do outside, and he comes back so late every night. Tell me the truth, does big brother have someone else outside?" Chen Xuan was not stupid, she had guessed it long ago.
"She can't be considered a concubine." Wei Nian didn't want to say anything bad about his elder brother, so he said vaguely, "She's just a woman from a brothel, and my elder brother didn't take her seriously."
"How can you keep going there if you don't take it seriously?" Chen Xuan frowned, "Big brother seems to be a serious person, why is he like this?"
"How should I know? I have advised him several times, but you said, we are brothers, and my elder brother is ten years older than me, so I can't always talk about this." Wei Nian waved his hand, "My elder sister-in-law is really so hot-tempered. She even gave all the cash to my elder brother. Now that it's done, they will all have to work in a brothel. How are they going to live in the future?"
"I think sister-in-law knows what's going on." Chen Xuan thought that although Li had a good temper, she had managed the affairs of the lace factory and the technical school properly over the past few years, and there had never been any mistakes. Chen Xuan thought of Li. Li was the eldest daughter-in-law. When Chen Xuan first came into the family, everyone looked down on her, but Li treated her peacefully and guided her in everything in the kitchen. Li really had a very good temper. Chen Xuan said to Wei Nian, "Even if sister-in-law buys a house now, it will probably be rented out to collect rent. Choose a courtyard with a better location, preferably a small courtyard with a good location so it is easier to rent. If sister-in-law doesn't have much money, we can add a little more and buy it for her."
"I know." Wei Nian thought that one of the good things about Chen Xuan was that she was not a stingy person. Many wives were afraid that their husbands would use money to subsidize other brothers, but Chen Xuan didn't care much about this. Not to mention that she had always been very good with Li, even when Wei Jin liked to take advantage of her from time to time, Chen Xuan didn't say anything.
In fact, according to Wei Nian, Chen Xuan is naturally smart enough to grasp the big picture and ignore the small details. For example, when she was learning to read, Chen Xuan borrowed books from the Xu sisters in order to curry favor with them. She was under the double pressure of Mrs. Wei and Wei Jin. She took advantage of the fact that Mrs. Wei was not at home to watch a play and took the snacks from Mrs. Wei's snack box to feed the Xu sisters. Later, Mrs. Wei's snack box was locked because of this incident. At that time, Chen Xuan was single-minded. As long as she could borrow books from the Xu family, she was not afraid of being scolded. Later, in order to learn foreign languages from Wei Nian, Chen Xuan tried her best to flatter Wei Nian. She used her convenience in the kitchen to cook Wei Nian's favorite dishes in different ways. She was not afraid of being accused of favoring Wei Nian. At that time, Chen Xuan was not afraid of anything as long as she could learn foreign languages. Now Wei Jin is taking advantage of this, as long as he can live happily and does not affect Chen Xuan's business and study, it's fine to take advantage of Wei Jin. Anyway, Wei Jin is needed to help take care of the children from time to time, so Wei Nian said that Chen Xuan has her own wisdom in life.
Smart women all have a way to live a comfortable life.
For example, after Wei Nian bought the house, he specifically asked Chen Xuan to deliver the land deed to Li. Li knew a few words before, and later worked as a manager in the lace factory, so she knew more words. Li looked at the land deed, but did not want to take it. She asked Chen Xuan to keep it for her. She also asked Chen Xuan to rent out the new house in Dongsi, and exchanged the annual rent for small goldfish, and asked Chen Xuan to keep it for her.
Li is still the manager of the lace factory and the technical school. Since Qin Shu went to college, Li has been in charge of the affairs of these two places. This summer, Qin Shu will graduate from his senior year. According to Qin Shu, he can even be named an outstanding graduate. However, Qin Shu is undecided whether to start running the business after graduation or continue studying abroad.
The Qin family called Wei Nian. Yes, after the family split up, Wei Nian installed telephones in the Dongdan shop and the house. Wei Nian has always been good at dealing with people. When Grandpa Wei passed away, Qin Shu not only sent a wreath to the Qin family, but also helped to receive the cultural friends who came to pay their respects. The Qin family also asked Qin Shu to prepare an extra wreath, which was sent in the name of the Qin family. When Wei Nian talked to Director Qin, he called him Uncle Qin all the time on the phone, and was very affectionate. He also promised Director Qin to persuade Qin Shu to study abroad.
Wei Nian also wanted Qin Shu to go abroad. Wei Nian thought that Chen Xuan would be able to finish her senior year courses this year. The end of the year would be the anniversary of the old man's death. After the anniversary, Wei Nian planned to go with Chen Xuan next year. Oh, and bring Wei Yin with him to take the entrance exam for a foreign university. If they could get into a good university, Wei Nian planned to take Chen Xuan, Wei Nian, and the little girl with him to go abroad. If his mother was willing to go abroad, he would take her with him. Anyway, Wei Nian thought that he had accumulated a lot of wealth in the past few years, so he would not be unable to support his wife, children, and mother.
Therefore, Wei Nian thought that Qin Shu should go abroad first. On the one hand, he could go abroad to study and gain some experience for Wei Nian to learn. On the other hand, Qin Shu could take orders from nearby lace factories when he was abroad, which would save him from the foreign companies and bring him higher profits.
Based on these two considerations, Wei Nian's opinion coincided with Director Qin's.
Even Director Qin, although he had only met Wei Nian once, had a very good impression of him when they spoke on the phone. He felt that Wei Nian was a good young man. He thought that his daughter had made such great progress in Beijing, and that she had indeed made good friends.
Wei Nian told Chen Xuan these two reasons and asked Chen Xuan to persuade Qin Shu. Of course, Wei Nian sounded aggrieved. What Wei Nian meant was, "I originally planned to take the college entrance examination this year, but since my father passed away last year, my old lady is in poor health and the house is in a mess. This year is my father's anniversary, so we have to wait until the anniversary before leaving. It's not a bad thing for Miss Qin to go first. We will be abroad in the future and we can still work together."
Chen Xuan was very willing to learn more, and thought that what Anian said made a lot of sense. Chen Xuan and Wei Yin both advised Qin Shu to study abroad first, and Qin Shu agreed. Qin Shu started to be busy choosing a university, and after choosing a university and getting a double degree diploma from Peking University, Qin Shu packed her luggage and prepared to return to Shanghai. She was going to leave from Shanghai. Originally, Qin Shu was going to study in the UK, but Director Qin suggested that she go to the United States. Chen Xuan didn't know much about where to study abroad, so she called Mr. Rong and Mrs. Wen, and both of them suggested the United States. Qin Shu also consulted teachers at school, and finally decided on a university in the United States.
This time when Qin Shu returns home, he will take a cruise ship from Shanghai Port directly to the United States and will not return to Beijing. After spending these years together, the affection between them is almost the same as that of family members. Even Mrs. Wei, Wei Jin, heard that Qin Shu was going abroad and prepared a gift for her. The gift given by Mrs. Wei was quite down-to-earth. She gave Qin Shu a piece of stove core soil. Mrs. Wei said, "This is what I asked my eldest sister to knock down from the stove core when we moved our old house. You take this with you. It's easy to get water poisoning when you go out. If you feel unwell, break off a piece and boil a bowl of water to drink, and you'll be fine."
It has to be said that Mrs. Wei was really foresighted. When Qin Shu mentioned this in a letter sent from abroad at the end of the year, she felt incredible. Qin Shu always thought that she was as strong as a calf and rarely got sick, but on the ship, she didn't know what happened. She felt weak all over, couldn't eat or sleep well, and the medicine prescribed by the doctor didn't work. Finally, an old Chinese doctor on the ship took her pulse and said that she needed to have the stove core soil at home and drink a bowl of water boiled with the stove core soil to get better. According to Qin Shu's past, although she was not a spoiled person, she couldn't drink water boiled with soil. Maybe the disease was really uncomfortable, Qin Shu broke off a small piece and drank a bowl of water boiled with stove core soil. She still waited until it was clear before drinking it. But with this bowl of water, she felt much better the next day. Qin Shu drank it for three days and her illness was cured.
For this reason, Qin Shu praised Old Lady Wei highly in his letter.
In the past, if Old Lady Wei knew about this, she would be very proud. But now Old Lady Wei doesn't have this intention. Since Old Lady Wei moved into Wei Nian's villa, she has settled down here and lived in the same room with the little girl. The two of them are very good-tempered and live happily every day. When she gets old, she says she doesn't care about things, but in fact she likes to worry. Old Lady Wei is even more like this. She lives with her second son and takes care of the affairs of his family every day. That's right. Wei Nian and Chen Xuan go out after breakfast in the morning and come back in the evening. Isn't it Old Lady Wei who has to take care of the affairs of the family? In addition to her second son, Old Lady Wei also cares about her eldest son's family. When she was free, she took the little girl to watch Mei Lanfang's special performance in the morning, and sang Tan Fuying's "Dingjun Mountain" in the afternoon. In the evening, Old Lady Wei took the little girl to her eldest son's house. As a result, Old Lady Wei was almost angry to death. Mrs. Li was preparing dinner, but what was this dinner called? There was no white flour at all, and there was only half a liter of cornmeal in the bag. Mrs. Wei was stunned and asked Mrs. Li, "What kind of life are you living?"
After asking, she found out that the money that the old man gave to the two houses, the share that Li kept, had been taken away by Wei Shi. Wei Shi not only spent all the money, but also cheated Li of the gold hairpin, gold ring, and gold earrings that she had given as a bride, and never saw them again. Old Mrs. Wei asked, "Where is the money?"
Li shook his head, "I don't know."
Mrs. Wei felt unhappy when she saw the half liter of cornmeal. She asked Mrs. Li, "You guys are eating this tonight. What are you going to eat tomorrow morning?"
Li didn't say anything either.
Old Mrs. Wei was very angry.
Finally, Old Lady Wei asked Wei Nian to discuss the matter, and Wangfujing's Manager Li came over, only then did they know that Wei Shi had actually started smoking opium this year. This opium smoking, not to mention the Wangfujing shop and the family business that Old Lady Wei divided before his death, even if it was ten times more, it would be smoked out in a blink of an eye. Wei Shi had even resorted to cheating Li's dowry, which showed that he really had no money. Manager Li was also worried about the business on the counter, and kept discussing with Wei Nian that many payments for goods had not been settled. Old Lady Wei slapped her thigh and cried for the old man who died early. It was almost the anniversary of the death, and Wei Shi did this.
The anniversary memorial was a small matter, nothing more than burning some paper for Old Master Wei and the two families having a meal together.
It was a big deal for Wei Shi to smoke opium. How was he going to live in the future? Wei Nian was rich, but no matter how rich he was, he couldn't afford to let his elder brother smoke opium!
Wei Shi cried and beat his mother, his face was pale, and he had no idea what to do. Finally, it was Li who came up with the idea. Li said calmly, "The business in the city is not going well now, and Jie Ge'er's father still owes a lot of debts in the opium shop. The shop also has debts, please ask Manager Li to deal with the shop and pay off the debts. If there is any money left, the old lady owns half of this shop. We are unfilial, and the remaining money should belong to the old lady. If it is not enough, my second uncle will help to make up for it. Here I will ask Jie Ge'er's father to write an IOU to my second uncle, and we will pay the money back slowly in the future. Now we can't make a living in the city, let's go back to the countryside. There is no opium in the countryside, and Jie Ge'er's father can quit smoking."
Old Madam Wei was at a loss as to what to do. She was just worried about her grandchildren and asked, "What about Brother Jie, Brother Ming, and Sister Yun?"
Li said, "Of course, he will go back to the countryside with us."
Mrs. Wei said at the time, "Sister Yun can't go back with you. Brother Jie and Brother Ming are older and they are boys, so I am not too worried. Sister Yun has been in Beijing since she was born. She has never been to the countryside. I can't bear to let her go."
Wei Nian said, "Sister-in-law, why don't you let the three children live with me in Beijing? They still have to go to school next year."
Li thought for a moment, then said apologetically to Wei Nian and Chen Xuan, "I will leave Sister Yun to my second brother and his wife. Brother Jie and Brother Ming will go back to the countryside with me and their father to live. There are houses and land in the countryside, so they will be able to survive."
Chen Xuan didn't object to Wei Shi returning to the countryside, she just felt sorry for the three children. Chen Xuan said, "Sister-in-law, don't delay Jie and Ming'er's studies."
Li's face was calm and unperturbed. "Being a good person is more important than studying."
So, a few years ago, after the anniversary of the old man's death, Li took her husband who wanted to quit smoking and her son who was about to become an adult in two years, hired a flatbed truck, and went back to her hometown to live. If you say that smoking is hard to quit, Sun Yan's father had bankrupted the family and eventually died from smoking opium. But it depends on who you are. With Li around, Wei Shi quit smoking opium on the way back to his hometown, and he never smoked again in his life.
This is the method used by the always docile Li.
The author has something to say: ps: Here comes the first update. I’m very busy today and have to go out for something, so I’ll update it first and correct any mistakes on the way. The second update will be in the evening!!!