When Old Lady Wei woke up in the evening, Chen Xuan had already arranged dinner. Li and Wei Shi's family came earlier. Li and Chen Xuan cooked in the kitchen, and Liu's wife Wang Damei helped. When a table of home-cooked dishes was served, Old Lady Wei saw that her children and grandchildren were all in front of her. Although she didn't say anything, she was very happy in her heart. Wei Jin couldn't wait to pull her mother to ask about the situation in her hometown. Old Lady Wei had a nap and was energetic. She talked to her eldest daughter with great joy. Because Wei Jin also grew up in her hometown when she was a child and followed Old Lady Wei to Beijing when she was about ten years old, she had a very deep impression of her hometown. Wei Jin said, "At that time, our family was very lively every day, but the wife of Mr. Li was not popular. She always came when we had breakfast and wanted to eat breakfast. Later, she was not wanted to play cards. Mom, did you see the wife of Mr. Li this time?"
"See you now, she's still so unwelcome! I finally went back to my hometown, and the other sisters all brought gifts to see me, but she came empty-handed, and even invited her whole family to our house to eat pork stewed with vermicelli three times a day." Old Mrs. Wei pouted, disliking this sister very much, "She's been unwelcome all her life!"
Wei Nian said, "Maybe their family is not well off, so don't say that, Mom." There were indeed quite a few families going to eat, not even Mrs. Li's family.
"What's the difference? Do you know why her family is called Mr. Li? They are a wealthy family in the surrounding area. They have more than a thousand acres of land and plenty of money, but they just don't like to eat or drink, and just save it!" said Mrs. Wei. "When the work is busy, her family hires farmhands and feeds them free meals. She eats sorghum flour at home, and she doesn't even like to eat corn flour. She is just born stingy!"
Wei Nian clicked his tongue and said, "That means she is better at living than my elder sister." This earned Wei Jin a laugh and a scolding.
Old Madam Wei smiled and said to her eldest daughter, "The old He family in the backyard, your aunt He still cares about you. When you were a child, you liked to eat apricots from her yard. She dried a lot of apricots and asked me to bring them to you to eat."
"Aunt He is really a good person. When I was a child, every time apricots were about to ripen, I would go to her house every day. If there was a red one, Aunt He would pick one for me. If I didn't go there on a certain day, she would bring it to me to eat." Wei Jin smiled, "Aunt He is like me, she only knows how to give birth to boys. She has five boys in her family and no girls, so she really wants to see me."
As everyone was talking, Chen Xuan, Li, Liu's wife, and Wang Damei finished setting up dinner. Old Mrs. Wei took her children to the table. Old Mrs. Wei smiled and said, "We have to have a drink today."
Wei Nian said, "My eldest brother and his wife and I are drinking Lao Fen wine. Mom, you women and children are drinking wine, right?"
"Okay!" Old Mrs. Wei was very happy.
It was Wei Jie who said, "Second Uncle, I am older now, I also drink Fenjiu."
Wei Mingfeng's brother and Yu'er immediately said that they had grown up too.
"No, no, you're still young, and Ajie is the eldest brother, so it's okay for him to drink one glass." Wei Shi smiled, "This way, when you reach Ajie's age, you can also drink, okay?"
The children stopped making noise.
Chen Xuan said, "This wine is good too, it has a low alcohol content. You can practice with the low alcohol content first, so that you won't feel uncomfortable drinking the high alcohol content later." She poured a glass of grape juice for the little girl, who got a little angry and pouted, "Why do you have wine to drink but ask me to drink grape juice?"
Wei Nian hurriedly said, "Oh, my dear girl, your sister Yun is only allowed to drink wine when she is twelve, so you can drink it when you are twelve. Your sister Yun also drank grape juice when she was a child."
The little girl thought about it and still didn't quite believe what her father said, so she asked Sister Yun, "Sister, is that true?"
Sister Yun said, "Yes."
The little girl stopped making trouble and sighed sadly, "When will I grow up to be twelve?" This made everyone laugh.
After everyone had poured the wine, Wei Nian smiled, "Mom, everyone is here today, you can say a few words!"
Old Mrs. Wei was quite shy, "I can't tell you, you two brothers tell me."
Wei Shi also advised, "Mom, just say a few words?"
The little girl sat next to her father, with her grandmother separated by her father. She was outnumbered and gave her grandmother advice in a low voice, "Grandma, just say, I wish everyone good health."
Old Mrs. Wei was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. "Then let's say a few words. Like our little girl said, no matter when, whether we are rich or poor, it doesn't matter. We must live a healthy and peaceful life. It is better to live a good life than a bad life. As long as we live with our hearts, there will be no stupid people in our Wei family, and no one will live a bad life. Ah Shi and Ah Nian, you are all grown up and become fathers. It depends on you how our family will be in the future. Ah Jin, you and your son-in-law should also live a good life. Feng and Yu are both promising children. You will enjoy the blessings of your children in the future. There is nothing else to say. I just hope that Ah Yin can find a good husband soon, and then my lifelong worries will be gone. Come on! Let's have a drink!"
Everyone had a reunion dinner together and was very happy. After all, the family was reunited.
The next day, Chen Xuan was going to Li's place, and Old Lady Wei and Wei Yin followed her. Old Lady Wei and Wei Yin came here for the second time except for a quick look yesterday. The yard is not big, just a quadrangle, including the main house facing north and south, the east and west auxiliary rooms, the south room, the gatehouse, and the gatehouse, a total of fifteen rooms, which is enough for living.
When Old Lady Wei came over and didn't see her grandson, she asked, "Where are Ajie and Aming?"
Li smiled and said, "Their father took them to school. They had applied for a leave of absence from school. They have been studying on their own in their hometown for the past six months. Now that they are back, I have discussed with Grandpa and decided to let them continue their studies."
Old Mrs. Wei nodded, "Studying is the right thing to do."
Li asked everyone to sit down, served tea, and asked, "Why didn't the little girl come?"
"Don't mention it. I haven't seen our little girl for more than half a month. I was just thinking about kissing her, but your eldest sister took her to Wangfu Cang Hutong to play early in the morning. I told her not to let me, but she was not happy. She said that I wouldn't see her for several years. Now she has been occupying my little girl all day long."
Li smiled and said, "What the elder sister-in-law said makes sense."
"Forget it, I won't bother with her." Old Mrs. Wei waved her hand and took a sip of her cold tea. She came here to see if the old lady had settled down. Is there anything missing? Li smiled, "Nothing is missing. When we came yesterday, everything was cleaned up. There is a mat on the kang and the quilt is in the cabinet. Whether it is furniture or pots and pans, everything is there. My grandfather and I almost cried at that time, but we held back because of the children. If we were not brothers and relatives, who would be so thoughtful and meticulous?" Li was very grateful. Even though her mother-in-law was always a bit mean, Li felt that the old lady was just tough on the outside but soft on the inside.
Old Mrs. Wei said, "This is all as it should be."
"Yes. I heard from Brother Anian that as soon as they arrived at our hometown, my sister-in-law had prepared everything." Chen Xuan smiled, "Sister-in-law, we have been together for these years. Although we are sisters-in-law, we are also like sisters."
Everyone sat together and talked. Li mentioned Yun Jie'er's matter. Li said, "My uncle and I thought that Yun Jie'er is still young and we are back in Beijing, so we should let Yun Jie stay with us in Beijing. After she finishes high school, if she wants to study abroad, we will let her go abroad. By then, you two will still need help."
Chen Xuan thought about it. The eldest son had two sons and one daughter. Yun Jie'er was still the youngest daughter, so it was inevitable that she would favor her a little more. Chen Xuan looked at Old Madam Wei. Old Madam Wei thought for a while and said, "That's fine."
Mrs. Wei had her own considerations. "We'll go and try it out first this time. If it doesn't work, we'll come back."
At noon, Li and Chen Xuan arranged the work, Wei Yin helped a little, and Mrs. Wei carefully looked at each room to see how it was. Li quietly told Chen Xuan and Wei Yin that she wanted to learn some foreign languages. Li said, "If there are any foreign orders from the lace factory in the future, I can at least take a look."
Chen Xuan has always been warm-hearted and loves reading. She said, "I have the textbooks and dictionaries that I used to learn foreign languages. I'll bring them to you and tell you how to learn. It's not that difficult."
Li smiled, "I'll take my time."
Wei Yin said, "Ajie and Aming have been learning foreign languages since they were in school. If you don't understand something in the future, just ask them. They also know a little bit of French and German."
“Hey!”
As the three sisters-in-law were talking, Chen Xuan discussed with Li that they wanted to take the eldest sister with them this time, so they decided to send Sister Liu. Li was a little hesitant about whether to hire someone, and Wei Yin advised, "Sister-in-law will have to take care of the Dongdan Old Shop and the Lace Factory in the future. It will be too tiring if she has to prepare three meals a day. It would be nice to let Sister Liu help clean and cook."
"Okay, let's try it first." Li agreed.
We had dinner in Wei Shi's courtyard in the evening. The eldest son had just moved in, so they wanted to have a warm house wine. After returning home, the little girl said good night to her brother and went to bed with the old lady. Wei Nian originally wanted his daughter to sleep with her father for one night. The little girl said proudly, "Dad, if you want me to sleep with you, you have to tell me in advance. I have already told grandma that we will sleep together today. Dad, if you want me to sleep with you, you have to make an appointment in advance! Otherwise, my schedule is very full."
Wei Nian wanted to vomit blood. After the little girl came downstairs with her chest puffed out and looked very proud, Wei Nian muttered to Chen Xuan, "Who did this girl learn this from?"
Chen Xuan suppressed her laughter. "It's from a children's picture book. I just told her that a few days ago. It says that children should be organized, have plans, and schedule things. How come she took it so seriously?"
The little girl went to the bedroom downstairs and told her grandmother about this. "My dad wants me to sleep with him. I said, how can this be possible! You didn't make an appointment!"
Mrs. Wei tested the water temperature, undressed the little girl and put her in the bathtub, then asked her, "What's the appointment?"
"You have to say it in advance. I used to sleep with grandma, but my dad suddenly asked me to sleep with him. How sudden!" I don't know where she learned it from, but the little girl often speaks in words, which makes her look very knowledgeable.
Old Madam Wei imitated the little girl's tone and said, "It was quite sudden."
"So I didn't agree to it!" The little girl wiped herself with a small towel and said, "Grandma, you go and have a rest. I can wash it myself."
How could Mrs. Wei feel at ease? "You are still young, so let grandma wash you."
"No, I'm five years old, I can wash myself! Mom said five-year-olds are big kids!"
"I don't know what your mother taught you." Old Mrs. Wei was afraid of tiring her little girl. The little girl was talkative and had a bad temper. If she said she wanted to wash herself, you must not help her, otherwise she would get angry. But Old Mrs. Wei was worried about her granddaughter being alone in the bathtub, so she said, "Then I'll sit by the side and help you get hot water if it gets cold."
"I'll have finished washing by then. Grandma, go and take a rest!"
Old Mrs. Wei had no choice but to go out. The old lady was really relieved. She peeped through the crack of the door for a while, and then peeped through the crack again. When the little girl came out of the water, dried herself with a dry towel, and then put on a silk pajamas with red peony flowers, and came out with a head of half-dry fine hair, Old Mrs. Wei breathed a sigh of relief.
The old lady was wiping the little girl's hair with a fearful look on her face, thinking that her second daughter-in-law's way of educating children was wrong! This was too cruel! How could she let a child take a bath by himself so early
Old Mrs. Wei was very dissatisfied and she had a talk with her second son the next day. The topic of discussion was the little girl's education.
The matter had not yet been settled when the day of departure arrived.
Because Wei Shi's family had returned to Beijing, Wei Jin felt that he had his eldest brother's family as a backer, so he did not let Wei Nian invite the Zhao family to dinner. In Wei Jin's words, "Don't waste that money." The only thing that made Wei Jin more depressed was that Yun Jie'er had said that she would go abroad before, but now she is not going out. If she had known earlier, she would not have made so many sets of clothes for Yun Jie'er! Well, it was done, and Wei Jin didn't have a daughter, so he had to send them to Yun Jie'er to wear.
To be honest, Yun Jie'er's aesthetics are not the same as Wei Jin's. The little girl's aesthetics are the same as Wei Jin's. On the day before the trip, the little girl wore the little red jacket and skirt made by her aunt, which was so festive!
Wei Jin hugged the little girl and shed several tears. She couldn't bear to leave the little girl, nor could she bear to leave her mother!
Wei Nian booked a train ticket from Beijing to Nanjing. The journey would take at least four or five days. The reason why he had to go to Nanjing first was because of his mother-in-law's order. Mrs. Wen wanted everyone to get together in Nanjing. After all, Mrs. Wen had never met the little girl, and Chen Xuan had never met her three half-brothers. On the day when the Wei family set off, many relatives and friends came to see them off. Although Mrs. Wei felt sad about the departure, she was very pleased. When she got on the train, she said to her little girl, "Girl, see, you have to be like your father, and be sociable. Look at how many people came to see us off when we went on a long journey! The more people there are, the better we are!"
The little girl nodded, not quite understanding, "She's sociable and popular!"
"Yes!" Old Mrs. Wei touched her little girl's braids, waved to her children, relatives and friends outside the window, and the train rumbled south with its whistle blew.
The author has something to say: ps: The second update is here, good afternoon everyone!! Two updates today~~~~~~~