Mrs. Zhao didn't understand the meaning of "oil lamp fate" for a while, so the little girl explained it to her very considerately, "Your family uses oil lamps, so this is the oil lamp fate. My family uses electric lights, so I have the electric light fate!"
When Mrs. Zhao saw the little girl bragging and showing off in front of her, she was choked up and said to the little girl, "How can you be so snobbish at such a young age?"
"What is snobbish?" asked the little girl.
Old Mrs. Zhao said sourly, "Your family is well-off and uses electric lights, but you look down on us who use oil lamps. You are just being snobbish."
The little girl was unhappy, "I'm not looking down on you, my aunt also uses an oil lamp!" Then, she probably felt that Old Lady Zhao insulted her personality, so she stopped watching Old Lady Zhao eat candy and went to the kitchen to find her aunt.
Wei Jin called the little girl, "Come here, the chicken is freshly stewed and very soft. I'll serve you two pieces."
Wei Jin's sister-in-law had already filled a small bowl and placed it in front of the little girl. She handed her chopsticks and said with a smile, "Eat it while it's hot, girl."
"She is so old, she can't eat so much, don't fill herself up." Wei Jin picked up a few pieces from the pot, and picked up a big steaming bun from the steamed bun pot, broke off half of it and gave it to the little girl, asking her to eat it with the bun. The old lady was afraid to eat it, because she finally had some chicken, duck, fish and meat during the New Year, but they were all very salty, and she was worried that her little girl would choke with the bun. The little girl was quite thoughtful. After her aunt finished her work, she had lunch and afternoon tea at Zhao's house. When her aunt and her two cousins sent her home in the evening, she told her aunt, "Grandma Oil Lamp said I was snobbish."
"Who is the Oil Lamp Grandma?"
"It's Brother Feng's grandmother. She said I use electric lights and look down on her for using oil lamps. That's called snobbery." The five-year-old girl was very good at parroting. Wei Jin laughed out loud, and the little girl emphasized, "I said I didn't look down on people who use oil lamps. You, aunt, also use oil lamps!"
The little girl was a smart kid, and she summed it up in one sentence, "Grandma Oil Lamp is not good."
Wei Jinxian said to his niece with a smile, "Don't talk to that old woman in the future, play with your aunt instead."
The little girl doesn't like Grandma Oil Lamp either.
Originally, the little girl was young and didn't know what it meant to be a wife or not. She had forgotten about it and didn't tell her family. That day, the little girl wore the red flowered silk skirt made by her aunt. She was very happy and showed off when she got home. She was not satisfied until everyone praised her. If you didn't praise her, she would keep asking you, "What's the new skirt that my aunt made for me!" Then, she would spin around, kick her legs, and dance in front of you to show off her little skirt to attract your attention. Everyone was willing to praise the little girl, but Wei Nian was naughty and refused to praise her. As a result, the little girl jumped in front of her father all night to show off her little skirt, and she was almost exhausted.
Wei Nian was trying hard to hold back his laughter. Chen Xuan glared at him several times before Wei Nian said sincerely, "It looks good. Our little girl looks good in anything she wears."
The little girl wiped the sweat from her forehead and panted, "But I am exhausted!"
Wei Nian laughed when he heard her adult words. Old Mrs. Wei scolded her son, "You only know how to tease our little girl! Come here, girl, grandma will give you a bath." Since living in the villa and using hot water, the Wei family has to take a bath every day. The little girl has always liked to take charge. At first, Old Mrs. Wei was not willing to take a bath every day for fear of wasting water and electricity. The little girl accepted the task assigned by her father and supervised her grandmother to take a bath every day. Over time, Old Mrs. Wei developed a habit of taking a bath every day and would also wash the little girl, so Chen Xuan and Wei Nian didn't have to worry about it.
"Grandma, I will be six years old next year, and I will bathe myself next year!" The little girl assigned the few remaining bathing tasks for herself at the end of the year. "Grandma will bathe me today, Dad will bathe me tomorrow, then Mom will wash me, the day after tomorrow my eldest aunt will wash me, and the day after the day after that my second aunt will wash me. After the New Year, you won't have this opportunity!" She still thought that bathing her was a good job.
It was the New Year, and the adults were busy. Even Old Lady Wei, who used to wait for her daughter-in-law to serve her, had to help take care of the household affairs this year, and had no time to go to the theater to listen to operas. Only the little girl had nothing to do. She dressed up beautifully every day and waited for her parents to take her to visit relatives and friends. Wei Nian had no such awareness at the beginning. When they were young, they would go out with Old Lady Wei to give New Year gifts to relatives and friends. Later, when they grew up, even if the two brothers went out, they never took the sisters with them. Chen Xuan was different. Wei Nian might love the little girl more, but Chen Xuan had strict requirements for her daughter. Whether it was to cultivate her daughter's perseverance or to go out, as long as Chen Xuan could go to the occasion, she would take the little girl with her. Chen Xuan had suffered enough from the lack of knowledge. Although she was from a limited family and her studies were ongoing, she really tried her best to cultivate the little girl.
Therefore, when giving gifts to relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year, Chen Xuan would take her daughter with her as soon as she was old enough to go out. Chen Xuan is a frugal person, and because her daughter is young and it is cold in winter, if it were her and Wei Nian, Chen Xuan would prefer to dress warmly and take a rickshaw, but with her daughter, Chen Xuan could be ruthless and let Wei Nian rent a car. The family of three went out in a car, and then when visiting relatives and friends, what to pay attention to and how to be polite, Chen Xuan would patiently teach her daughter.
So, despite the little girl’s young age, she has seen more of the world than Old Lady Wei, not to mention the wishful thinking Old Lady Zhao.
Today, the little girl will follow her parents to the home of the neighbor, Director Zheng. Chen Xuan admires Wei Nian's cleverness. Take the rent of this house for example, it was 150 yuan a month. This is in Beijing, not Tianjin or Shanghai. Such a price is not cheap even in the concession. Chen Xuan thought it was too expensive, but after moving in, she found out that the neighbor on the left is Director Zheng of the Beijing Education Department, and the neighbor on the right is the house of the Secretary General of the City Hall.
The house that Wei Nian rented is of quite high standard.
Moreover, as for Wei Nian, even though he rented this house, it seems like he wants to develop into the political circle. Of course, this is impossible. Wei Nian is a businessman and has no interest in being an official. But if someone else rents this house, they have to rush to visit. Wei Nian is different. He rented the house here, but he didn't rush to visit. He just sent some strawberries grown by himself to his neighbor's house on the first day he moved in. After that, he was a businessman. Both families were government employees, and Wei Nian didn't come forward to curry favor with them. Even Director Zheng, who was considered a connection left by Qin Shu, didn't show much enthusiasm from Wei Nian.
Wei Nian put on an unshakable attitude. His socializing with Director Zheng's family started with the little girl and the old lady. The little girl loved to be lively. When she lived in Jinyu Hutong, she liked to go out to play with the children in the hutong. Now that they have moved to a small western-style building, Director Zheng's family is the only one who has a little granddaughter of similar age. Old Mrs. Wei also loves to visit neighbors, so she took her granddaughter to visit. At first, Madam Zheng was a little unhappy, thinking that the Wei family was a business after all. The main reason was that Old Mrs. Wei had the style of an old-fashioned old lady with bound feet from head to toe. Under the influence of Old Mrs. Wei's aesthetics, the little girl's red skirt and red jacket seemed a little rustic. But since the little girl has come to play, let the two children play together. After getting along for a long time, I felt that although the Wei family was in business, they were also honest people, especially their children were well educated. The little girl was so young, but she had memorized all 300 Tang poems. Now she has to recite the Book of Songs every day, and she can even utter a few words in foreign languages. When Mrs. Zheng asked, she found out that it was her parents who taught her.
Madam Zheng always said, "Miss Wei is still young, but she has learned a lot."
Mrs. Zheng smiled, "Although Mr. and Mrs. Wei are low-key in social circles, they have a very good reputation. They both speak several languages."
Madam Zheng thought about the Wei family, "Mr. Wei and Mrs. Wei are both Western-style people, and their daughter Xin is also likable. But the old lady in his family is still of the old-fashioned style." And there is little girl Wei, a very smart daughter. Mr. Wei and Mrs. Wei are very Western-styled, and they never dress their daughter up. Madam Zheng really wronged Wei Nian and Chen Xuan. Wei Nian is naturally Western-styled. Although Chen Xuan only learned how to dress up later, she now has a good sense of taste. The little girl doesn't like to wear the little white gauze Western dress and the little leather shoes with bows that she bought for the little girl. The little girl is born with her own aesthetic sense. She loves the red skirt and red coat. She loves it very much. Moreover, the little girl doesn't think she is unsophisticated. She thinks she is very Western-styled!
Mrs. Zheng said, "Even in Beijing today, there are still many such old-fashioned people."
"Yes." The children of the two families interacted more and more, so the adults naturally became familiar with each other. The upbringing of a family can be seen from the upbringing of the child. The little girl's upbringing was very good. She interacted with the Zheng family more and they were neighbors. They would visit each other during the New Year and other festivals.
Everyone was also very interested, especially Qin Shu who was far away on the other side of the ocean. Director Zheng asked Wei Nian about his plan to apply to a foreign university, and Wei Nian said, "I originally wanted to apply this year. My father's anniversary is at the end of the year, and it just passed a few days ago. I thought that I should apply to a foreign university after my father's anniversary. After all, it will take at least three or four years to come back after going abroad."
Director Zheng said, "Yes, university is at least four years. If you go further, it will take even longer." He then asked Wei Nian which university he planned to apply to and what major he would study.
Director Zheng is a full-time educator and is very knowledgeable about this area. He gave Wei Nian a lot of advice.
Chen Xuan took the little girl to talk to Mrs. Zheng, mainly about the Chinese New Year. Chen Xuan talked about the family's preparations for the Chinese New Year. Chen Xuan said, "I was too busy this year and didn't take care of the family. It was our old lady who looked after the preparations."
Madam Zheng was quick to say, "Your family has prepared so many things, but they will last for years. Just prepare a few, and when guests come, you can order a good meal from the restaurant. It will save you trouble and worry."
Mrs. Zheng felt that her daughter-in-law's words were not very polite, but fortunately Chen Xuan was always kind-hearted, so she didn't think it was impolite, and instead asked Madam Zheng for advice. Madam Zheng said, "Just prepare some food for your family, and make arrangements with the restaurants you are familiar with before the New Year. Then, you can prepare which guests will come the next day, and call the restaurant in advance to have them ready, and send them to your home at noon. They will take care of the delivery and collection, and you don't even have to wash the dishes. You just need to pay some travel expenses. It's more expensive than eating in a restaurant, but it also saves time."
Chen Xuan felt that this method was a bit wasteful, but it could be used if she was particularly busy, so she said, "You said, my family used to order a meal from a restaurant, but I didn't think of this method when we were so busy during the Chinese New Year."
Madam Zheng smiled and said, "You are just too busy. The advertisements of Si Qing are everywhere on the street. I always tell people when I see them. The owner of Si Qing lives next door to us."
Chen Xuan quickly said, "We are just acting as an agent for Mr. Rong. The brand belongs to Mr. Rong."
"That's because Mr. Rong has a keen eye for talent. Who among all these agents can compare to you?" Madam Zheng admires Chen Xuan's business skills. Although she doesn't use these domestic products, she has visited Chen Xuan's store. Chen Xuan has a good temper, treats people kindly, and does business honestly. The store is full of customers every day. Now even Zhao Daya, who used to be a clerk, has been promoted to a small boss, and she manages two people.
After giving the New Year gifts to Director Zheng, the couple took the little girl home. Director Zheng's place was close, so he came first. He would go to Mr. Wen and Professor Chu's place tomorrow. The Wei family's schedule was very tight, so they were completely unaware of the fact that Mrs. Zhao was still harboring evil intentions. In fact, to be honest, the Wei family didn't know what Mrs. Zhao's "evil intentions" were.
Wei Jin didn't know about this either. It was Zhao's brother-in-law who told her about it. Wei Jin almost got angry when she heard it, but then she became happy again and said to her husband, "Do you think our old lady is sick?"
Brother-in-law Zhao asked, "What's wrong?"
Wei Jin blew out the kerosene lamp with a puff and said coldly, "You're crazy." Does this old woman, who refused to install electric lights and forced the whole family to rely on kerosene lamps, know her own worth
Brother-in-law Zhao thought about the momentum of his second brother-in-law and could not get angry at his wife's words. He saw two small sparks jump out of the wick of the kerosene lamp, and then a thick green smoke with a strong smell of oil smoke came out, and then it went completely dark. Brother-in-law Zhao lay down and slept without any temper.
The author has something to say: ps: The first update is here, good afternoon everyone!