Chen Xuan was reminded by her elder sister-in-law, as if she suddenly had a spiritual awakening. She did not even mention who would pay for the meat, but pulled Wei Yin to discuss the reception for tomorrow's guests. Yes, although it was Wei Jin's words that gave Chen Xuan inspiration, Wei Jin always looked down on her. Chen Xuan did not want to ask Wei Jin for advice, but it was the same to ask Wei Yin, who was kind-hearted.
Chen Xuan invited Wei Yin and her eldest sister-in-law Li to her room, asked them to sit on the kang, poured them some water, and pulled a chair to sit beside them. Then she said sincerely, "In the past, when people came to our house in the countryside, we would just pour a glass of water and chat. If we invited people to dinner, we would just cook two more dishes. In our family, when we invited the two shopkeepers to dinner, we would still order a table outside. I really don't know how to entertain guests, Ah Yin, eldest sister-in-law, you have to give me more guidance."
Li had always been on good terms with Chen Xuan, and smiled gently when she heard this, "It's all the same, when someone comes to our house, just prepare some tea, a plate of snacks, or fruit. We still have Xinjiang honeydew melons in our yard, cut one tomorrow. It's hot today, so just have some fruit, and save on snacks." Li said this out of consideration for Chen Xuan. Because the old lady said it wouldn't cost a penny, Li wanted to save some money for Chen Xuan, so she let her use honeydew melons to entertain the guests.
Wei Yin also said, "That's it, don't worry, second sister-in-law, it's not difficult at all. There is just one thing, foreigners eat with knives and forks. We eat dumplings with chopsticks. I have to ask my second brother, how can we prepare the tableware?"
"Knife and fork?" Chen Xuan was incredulous. "How can you eat with a knife? What kind of fork is that?"
Wei Yin talked to Chen Xuan about Western tableware. Chen Xuan felt that her eyes had been opened and she nodded continuously. "This is true. If Ah Yin hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known about this."
Li also said, "These foreigners are also strange. Chopsticks are so skillful, but knives and forks sound clumsy."
Wei Yin had eaten Western food before, and said to his two sisters-in-law, "The food they eat is different from ours. I don't see any of them cooking. When my second brother took me to eat Western food before, the main dish was a big piece of fried steak, which you had to cut yourself, otherwise, you wouldn't need a knife and fork. There were also bread, soup, salad, etc. I don't think they were as delicious as our food."
Chen Xuan and Li both felt that these foreigners not only had strange looks, but also ate strange food.
However, if Wei Nian wants to invite foreigners to his home, he can't say that they are weird.
Chen Xuan went to Mrs. Wei's room to borrow a set of tea sets in advance to make tea tomorrow. She went to the front of the house to look at the plump green honeydew melons and was very satisfied. The melons were just ripe and could be picked to entertain guests. Then, she cleaned the house carefully because there were guests coming.
After doing all this, Chen Xuan took a copper tray to the old lady's room and asked for some white fungus and lotus seeds. The old lady asked, "What do you want this for?"
Chen Xuan said hurriedly, "I saw that Brother Anian was a little tired these two days, so I wanted to take advantage of this free time to cook some Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup in advance and let it dry when Brother Anian comes back. Don't worry, old lady, I don't eat this."
Old Lady Wei thought to herself, you have good eyesight. Because Chen Xuan said she cooked for Wei Nian, who was her beloved youngest son, Old Lady Wei took out the key from her waist, opened the box herself, and filled two blue and white porcelain bowls on the copper tray with half a bowl of white fungus and lotus seeds for Chen Xuan. She looked Chen Xuan up and down and said, "Cook a few more bowls. Their men will go out for a day and have to have a bowl when they come back. You only cook one bowl. Who will it be enough for?" She scolded Chen Xuan casually.
Chen Xuan said nothing and went to the kitchen with the white fungus and lotus seeds.
Wei Jin said to Li, "Sister-in-law, go to the butcher's shop and buy two pounds of mutton, chop some green onions from the vegetable garden, and make mutton patties for dinner."
Li responded softly.
When Wei Nian came back in the evening, Chen Xuan first brought Wei Nian the Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup that she had specially cooked in the afternoon, asked Wei Nian about his health, and told him about making two kinds of dumplings tomorrow. Wei Nian thought Chen Xuan's arrangement was good, and Chen Xuan said to Wei Nian, "Don't worry, I will go buy meat early tomorrow morning, and make sure the dumplings are ready by noon. I won't delay your work at all."
Wei Nian smiled, "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard, not hard." Chen Xuan asked again about how to prepare tableware for the foreigners. Wei Nian said, "It's OK. It's not convenient to eat dumplings with a knife and fork. We have spoons at home. We can just prepare a pair of chopsticks and a spoon for Smith."
Chen Xuan took note of it carefully, and seeing that Wei Nian was in a good mood, she said to him what she had prepared all afternoon, "Brother Anian, this is the second time in my life that I have seen foreigners from afar, except for the last time when I went to the East Vegetable Market with my sister-in-law and sister Yin. I thought, they came all the way to our house for dinner, how can we greet them if we meet them face to face."
The mutton pie was a bit salty, so Wei Nian drank the lotus seed soup in two gulps and said casually, "Just say hello."
"Brother Nian, you can speak these foreign words, but I don't understand a single word. How about, Brother Nian, can you teach me a few foreign words? It doesn't have to be too complicated. Even if we learn a hello, it will show that we are polite, right? Otherwise, when I meet people, I won't be able to speak a word and appear a bit stupid. If people misunderstand me, they will say that I don't know etiquette, right?" Chen Xuan took over the empty bowl that Wei Nian had used after drinking the Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup and discussed with Wei Nian.
Wei Nian just taught her how to say hello. Chen Xuan felt that this foreign language was a bit difficult to pronounce. Fortunately, Wei Nian learned it every night, so Chen Xuan was used to it and felt it was okay. Chen Xuan silently repeated it thirty or fifty times in her heart, and said it to Wei Nian several times. Wei Nian nodded, "That's it."
"I'm about to say hello, and Mr. Shi also says hello to me, so do I have to say to you again, Mr. Shi, you're here, welcome to my home. That's the only way to make it seem nice, right?"
Wei Nian is not stupid, on the contrary, he has always been smart. Besides, Chen Xuan is a person who loves to study and recites every night. Wei Nian knows Chen Xuan. In the past, Chen Xuan would start reciting at this time. But today, she was very abnormal. She even prepared Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup for herself and treated her with special hospitality. This kind of courtesy must be for something.
Wei Nian remained calm and said, "This is also true." He taught Chen Xuan another sentence.
Chen Xuan quickly learned how to do it, and then she continued, "When I say welcome Mr. Shi to our house to eat dumplings, if you know how to be polite, you will definitely say that our house is too polite. So I have to say, you're welcome, right? How do you say you're welcome?"
Wei Nian taught her another sentence, and Chen Xuan said, "This is a few polite words. After all, Mr. Shi is the guest, and we are the host. We have to say to him, try our dumplings and see if they suit your taste. How do you say this?"
Wei Nian didn't know when he fell asleep during Chen Xuan's questioning all night long, "How do you say this? How do you say that?" As a result, when Wei Nian got up in the morning, Chen Xuan diligently brought him water to wash his face, mixing it at just the right temperature, and served him with a towel. Wei Nian had just washed his face when he heard Chen Xuan ask, "I just remembered that Mr. Shi is coming over at noon. How do you say good afternoon, Brother Nian?"
Brother Anian almost fell into the basin again.