Chen Xuan decided to ignore Wei Jin and took the grapes back to the house. Chen Xuan went to the kitchen to work. Although it was July and the heat had dissipated a little, the weather was still hot. It was still early to make dinner, so Chen Xuan soaked the mung beans first. She was going to make a pot of mung bean soup, and after it was cooked, she would slowly let it dry and eat it as a midnight snack. Wei Nian loved to drink this when the weather got hot.
Then, Chen Xuan went to the front yard and picked a few eggplants and cucumbers, washed them with well water, and put them aside for later use.
After having meat dumplings for lunch, Wei Nian would definitely want to eat something lighter in the evening, so Chen Xuan simply made fried noodles with soybean paste.
After rolling out the noodles and putting them in a clay pot to wake up, Chen Xuan looked at the sky, went back to the house to get some change, and waited at the entrance of the alley. The Wei family usually buys meat from the East Vegetable Market or the Dong'an Market. This year, because Chen Xuan planted a vegetable garden, she basically didn't buy vegetables all summer. However, there are usually vegetable vendors carrying vegetable baskets in the alleys to sell vegetables in the morning and evening. This fried bean noodle is not delicious without bean sprouts. Chen Xuan came out to wait for the vegetable vendor to come. At some point, the vegetable vendor came. Chen Xuan felt that God was helping her, because there were actually bean sprouts in the vegetable vendor's basket. Chen Xuan bought a pound.
In the evening, Chen Xuan made noodles with soybean paste. She rolled the noodles thin and chewy, blanched bean sprouts, cut cucumber and carrot into shreds, and fried eggplant into cubes. Then, she fried a bowl of eggplant paste. This eggplant paste is simple to say, but it is actually very particular. If it is fried too thin, it will be too watery and inedible. If it is fried too thick, it will be full of sauce and too salty. Therefore, there is a rule for how much eggplant and sauce to put.
Li helped out a bit, but the main work was done by Chen Xuan.
Wei Nian came back in the evening, and praised the noodles for being so good. Seeing that Wei Nian liked it, Chen Xuan immediately said with a smile, "Brother Nian, if you like it, I will make it again tomorrow."
Everyone couldn't help laughing when they heard what Chen Xuan said. Old Mrs. Wei couldn't do anything with Chen Xuan. She said that the second daughter-in-law was also serving her son. The key point was that Old Mrs. Wei always thought that Chen Xuan was stupid and might not understand even if she said it. Moreover, it had been more than half a year since they got married, and Chen Xuan had not made any move. Old Mrs. Wei thought that if the two of them got along well, they could have a grandson as soon as possible.
Wei Nian was in a good mood today, and said to Chen Xuan, "Let's make some fried dough sticks tomorrow morning. I haven't had it for a long time."
Chen Xuan agreed immediately, "Okay!"
After dinner, Chen Xuan and Li cleaned up the kitchen. Old Mrs. Wei didn't want them to serve her anymore and asked them to go back to their rooms.
In the past, Mr. Jiao would have come by this time, but today he didn't. Chen Xuan returned to the room and saw Wei Nian leaning against the quilt in a trance, putting the mung bean soup on the small kang table, and saying, "Don't you have to learn foreign language from Mr. Jiao today?"
Wei Nian said, "I've told Mr. Jiao that I've learned almost everything. I'll pay him this month's salary and he won't have to come here anymore."
Chen Xuan felt a little regretful. Although she didn't have the money to learn English from Mr. Jiao, it was quite interesting to listen to Mr. Jiao and Wei Nian speaking English every night. Chen Xuan was used to being frugal. She said, "It's still more than half a month away from the end of the month. Why are you giving him all the money for the month?"
Wei Nian smiled, "Mr. Jiao taught me very carefully. I didn't think he was wealthy, so I gave him all my wages for this month."
"That's true." Chen Xuan thought, Wei Nian did learn new skills from Mr. Jiao in the Wei family's business, Chen Xuan said, "Then I'll collect all the books used in your west room?" Now, Chen Xuan is very active in learning foreign languages. She knows that Wei Nian has several foreign books to learn foreign languages. Chen Xuan doesn't know any foreign words, except for the Chinese characters on the top. However, she goes over to wipe Wei Nian's books whenever she is free, for fear that they will be covered with dust. Seeing that Wei Nian is no longer learning from Mr. Jiao, although Chen Xuan still doesn't recognize those foreign words, she thinks that even if she doesn't recognize them, it's good to be closer.
Wei Nian would not object, "Okay."
Chen Xuan immediately went to move the books. After she brought them over, she said to Wei Nian, "Take out the book you want to read and put it outside. I'll put the ones I don't want to read in the drawer."
Wei Nian rested his head on the rolled-up quilt, motionless, and said, "I've seen all of these, you can put them in the drawer."
Chen Xuan's eyes widened in disbelief and she asked Wei Nian, "Have you memorized all of them?"
"Except the English dictionary, I know everything else."
Chen Xuan didn't know what a dictionary was, but when she heard Wei Nian say that he had memorized everything, she was impressed by him. Chen Xuan wiped the book first, and carefully put it in the drawer. Then, Chen Xuan pushed the mung bean soup to Wei Nian and said, "It's still a little hot now, drink a bowl to cool down."
Wei Nian smiled, "Not thirsty yet."
"Then I'll put it aside for you first." Chen Xuan used a small tea tray to cover the bowl upside down to prevent it from getting dusty, and then asked attentively, "I saved some grapes for you, do you want to eat them?"
"Well, some grapes please."
Chen Xuan took out the washed grapes from the tea cabinet's gauze drawer and placed them on the small kang table. Seeing that Wei Nian was still in a lazy state, she said, "Sit up straight. You look like you have a spine sprain. If you are tired, lie down and sleep early. If you are not tired, be energetic."
Wei Nian had no choice but to sit down at the small table on the kang, and continued, "There are children at home, I thought the grapes had to be eaten up, why are there still some left?"
"I saw that my elder sister-in-law was still eating, so I cut half of it and brought it back." Chen Xuan did not hide this.
"Oh, she'll scold you for that."
"Don't worry about her. No matter what she says, we can't let her eat alone." Chen Xuan regained her attentive look and asked, "Is it delicious?"
Wei Nian handed her one. Chen Xuan waved her hand with a smile and said to Wei Nian in a friendly manner, "You eat it. I won't. Eat more if you like."
You know, Chen Xuan is an introvert, so she doesn't smile very often. Today, when he suddenly saw Chen Xuan smiling brightly, Wei Nian knew what was going on and asked her, "Do you have something to tell me?"
"It's okay, it's okay." Chen Xuan didn't want to directly ask Wei Nian to teach her foreign language, so she said first, "Didn't you say you wanted to eat huotazi for breakfast tomorrow? There are still a few tender zucchini on the vine. I'll get up early tomorrow morning, pick them and grate them, then beat eggs and mix them with batter. It will be delicious when it's ready."
Wei Nian was very satisfied with Chen Xuan's cooking skills, especially after having just eaten noodles with soybean paste in the evening. After hearing what Chen Xuan said, Wei Nian felt that the meal tomorrow morning would definitely be good. Chen Xuan continued to say to Wei Nian very attentively, "Brother Nian, in the future, if you have foreigners to invite home for dinner, just tell me. If they want to try our home-cooked meals, I can handle it."
"Today's dumplings are really good. Especially the pork and green onion ones, so delicious!"
"It's absolutely delicious. I went to the Dongcai Market early in the morning and picked out the pork that was just slaughtered this morning. It's all top-quality pork belly. If it doesn't smell good, it would be unfair." Chen Xuan was very happy. "Brother Nian, this is the first time you invited foreigners to our house to eat dumplings. Although others can't help you, I can still do these housework things." She asked again, "This is the first time I talked to a foreigner today. Did I embarrass you, Brother Nian?"
"That's not right. Smith praised you a lot, saying that you look good, make good dumplings, and especially your skill in rolling the dumpling wrappers, which amazed him. He also said that he would treat you to a meal when he has time." Wei Nian was also very happy today. Especially Chen Xuan did a good job in everything he asked her to do. Moreover, she was not petty at all. Although Chen Xuan could not speak foreign languages well, he could translate and Chen Xuan could chat with her. This was not to ask Chen Xuan to help him do business and accompany guests, but when guests came, they could chat casually to show their intimacy.
Chen Xuan pinched a grape seed, wiped it with a towel, handed it to Wei Nian, and said with some regret, "Hey, I'm only a little better than when I first came to Beijing, but I'm still far behind Brother Anian. Especially since I can't speak foreign languages and can't understand you guys, this is not cheap. Brother Anian, will you still do business with foreigners in the future?"
Wei Nian had seen through Chen Xuan a long time ago, and was particularly attentive when she asked him for help. Wei Nian suppressed his laughter, and he already knew what was going on with Chen Xuan, so he asked her directly, "Do you want to learn foreign languages from me?"
Chen Xuan's eyes lit up. She wiped a grape seed off Wei Nian and handed it to him, saying, "I don't know how to put it, but I just feel that, Brother Nian, you are such a high-level person. I'm not as smart as you, and I certainly can't learn faster than you. But sometimes, when I hear you speaking foreign languages with Mr. Jiao in the west room, I think it sounds very nice. Today I saw Brother Nian again and you can talk business with foreigners in foreign languages. I think that's really amazing. Brother Nian, how many people are there like you who are good-looking, good at doing business, making money, and smart? What should I say to you?" After thinking about it, he looked around and happened to look out. Through the half-open glass, he saw the starry sky on the deep blue night sky. Chen Xuan clapped his hands, pointed to the night sky outside, and said, "To me, Brother Nian, you are like the stars in the sky. You can only see them by looking up. I can see that there is still such a long distance between us. I will never be as good as you, but you are so good that sometimes I really want to learn from you. If I could speak foreign languages, then when you, Brother Nian, invite people to our house for dinner in the future, you won’t have to translate my words into foreign languages for me and then speak to those foreigners. As long as I think about it, I feel that although I can’t be as good as you, Brother Nian, it’s good for me to recognize a few more foreign words. But, but I also think that you, Brother Nian, are so busy. You have to follow my grandfather to the shop during the day, and you have to take time out to do the business of plates and bowls with foreigners. Even if you, Brother Nian, want to teach me, I can’t bear to see you work so hard. Well, anyway, I am not as smart as you, Brother Nian, and I learn things slowly. I thought, how about, just like I learned our Chinese characters, Brother Nian, you teach me ten foreign characters every day, is that okay?"
Chen Xuan was almost flattering An Nian until he turned green. Wei Nian ate the grapes slowly. He ate one and Chen Xuan wiped one for him. Then, after eating the last grape, Wei Nian said, "It's just about learning foreign languages. Although I haven't mastered it yet, I can still teach you a few words occasionally."
Seeing Wei Nian agreed, Chen Xuan was so happy that she didn't know how to express it. She glanced at the empty plate and asked quickly, "Brother Anian, do you still want to eat grapes? I'll wash another plate for you."
"I'm not going to eat anymore. I'm already full." Seeing Chen Xuan looking at him with sparkling eyes, Wei Nian felt a little uncomfortable and said to Chen Xuan seriously, "A Xuan, Brother Nian has to tell you that even though Brother Nian is not a star in the sky, you can't like Brother Nian."
Chen Xuan nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice, and almost raised her hand to swear. She promised more seriously, "Brother Anian, don't worry, I will never like you. You are so good, I am not worthy of you, right! Don't worry, I will never like you in this life."
Wei Nian muttered, "Why does this sound so awkward?" He was about to say something else, but Chen Xuan had already happily taken the water out to sprinkle it. Then, she happily took out her hardcover notebook from the drawer, and also took out all of Wei Nian's foreign books, and asked eagerly, "Brother Nian, then which book do you think we should start with?" Then, her eyes became brighter and brighter.
Wei Nian thought, I misunderstood. It turns out that Chen Xuan’s sparkling eyes were not attracted to him, but she wanted to learn foreign languages from him! If she wants to learn foreign languages, then she should learn foreign languages. Why does she have to make her eyes so bright? Really! It caused misunderstandings!