After years of separation, the two brothers' ambitions have become different.
Wei Nian always puts family first. Wei Shi's vision has been set on the ideal of peace and prosperity for the country. Wei Shi wants to stay in China, and Wei Nian has been mentally prepared for this. However, Wei Nian was a little surprised that his elder brother did not allow his nephews to study abroad. Wei Shi said, "It's not that I don't want them to study abroad. I also want them to study further, but the hospital is in need of people right now. Ajie and Aming are both doctors and work every day. I think they should first gain experience in practice for a few years, and then go abroad when the country is peaceful. When the time comes, my second brother will definitely help."
"You don't need to tell me, I can do it too." Wei Nian obviously had a different opinion. "While the children are young, they can practice their skills now so that they can serve more patients in the future. It's the same thing. Besides, the friction between the two parties is constant. Brother, it's better to let the children go abroad with me. First, the medical skills can be more sophisticated, and second, it is safer than staying in China."
Wei Shi is also a father after all, and Wei Nian's words are sincere, and besides, this is the truth. Wei Shi thought about it and said, "Even if the country is not peaceful, as Chinese people, it is their honor to be able to do their part for the country at this time."
Wei Nian's persuasion was ineffective, so he simply asked his wife to talk to his eldest sister-in-law about the matter.
Chen Xuan also didn't understand why her uncle was so stubborn and didn't want the children to go abroad to continue their studies. However, her uncle was more than ten years older than her husband, so Chen Xuan couldn't say anything wrong about him. After all, everyone has their own aspirations. But in Chen Xuan's opinion, Wei Ming studied Chinese medicine, not to mention that Wei Jie's major was Western clinical medicine, but he should study abroad for a few more years. Moreover, Wei Yin said that Wei Yun also wanted to study abroad. For the children who were in their prime years, and the children all graduated from prestigious universities, Chen Xuan had a good relationship with the Li family, so she was very willing to do her part, so she said, "I'll talk to my sister-in-law when I'm free in the evening."
Wei Nian nodded and said nothing more.
It was interesting to go to Chunhualou for dinner in the evening, because the Zhao family invited the Wei family to dinner. The two families were originally relatives, and they were the closest relatives now. There were quite a few people in the two families, so four tables were set up and they were full. Chunhualou was also a very famous restaurant in Beijing. The food was delicious. Mrs. Zhao warmly invited her mother-in-law, Mrs. Wei, to take the seat. Mrs. Wei was polite twice, but she couldn't be more polite than the old lady in-law, so she took the seat. Because she was going to have a dinner in the evening, she specially added a white thin knitted cardigan to her fashionable silver-gray silk dress with small floral patterns. She still had a pearl necklace around her neck and a round-frame reading glasses with gold thread and thin edges on her nose to help her see people.
Mrs. Zhao thought to herself, I haven't seen this old woman for ten years, how come she is so fancy. She is really a frivolous old widow, but she dresses more fancy than a young girl. However, she said warmly, "Oh, if I saw this outside, I wouldn't even dare to recognize my mother-in-law."
Old Mrs. Wei smiled and said, "Why are you afraid to recognize me? My dear mother-in-law, your eyesight is so bad. You should get a mirror."
"This foreign stuff is so expensive, several dollars a piece. How can I compare with my mother-in-law? I can't bear to spend it." Mrs. Zhao said this with a sour tone. She didn't know why. She lived a hundred times more frugally than this woman, but she was always one step behind her. Thinking about this made her angry. However, Mrs. Zhao had other plans today, so she treated Mrs. Wei with extra courtesy, but there was inevitably a bit of sourness in her words.
Old Mrs. Wei loved to see people being jealous. She chuckled and said, "Mother-in-law, you are just being thrifty. I heard that your family is still reluctant to use electricity. Your house is full of gold and silver, but you are reluctant to spend it. If you ask me, your eyesight is damaged by the oil lamp. I am not like that. I will spend the money when I have it. Anyway, I have a son, so what am I afraid of? You say, if you don't spend all the money in your house, can you take it with you to your coffin in the future? That's what you can't understand."
Old Lady Wei laughed at Old Lady Zhao. How could Old Lady Zhao admit that she had so much money? She insisted that she was extremely poor. After a verbal battle between the two old ladies, Old Lady Zhao introduced the children of her second son to Old Lady Wei. Old Lady Wei had already planned that the second branch of the Zhao family had also married a daughter-in-law and had a grandson. The young daughter-in-law came to greet her with the child. Old Lady Wei took a look and saw that she was not as good-looking or impressive as her two granddaughters-in-law. She secretly boasted in her heart and took out a small red cloth bag from her silver handbag and gave it to the young daughter-in-law, saying it was a meeting gift, and gave one to the child.
This was as it should be. Since the Wei and Zhao families were in-laws, the younger generation had to pay their respects to the elders for the first time. However, the Wei family did not suffer any loss in this regard, because the second branch of the Zhao family only had one son who married and had children. Wei Nian and Wei Yin were young, and their children were also young. But except for Wei Xin, Wei Yu, Wei Hong, Xue Huai, Xue Jia, and Si Baoer who was held in her mother's arms, they were all meeting the elders of the Zhao family for the first time, so they all came to see the old lady and grandfather of the Zhao family. This was also the first time they had seen them, so each of them had a share. Old Mrs. Wei gave out two shares and got five shares in return, so she made a net profit of three shares.
This was one of the few times when Mrs. Wei made a profit in her gift-giving career. Her proud old face smiled like a chrysanthemum as she said to Mrs. Zhao, "The feng shui of our house abroad is good. You don't know that our second daughter gave birth to Yu the first year after arriving in the United States, and then had another child every five years. Now A-Nian has two sons and two daughters, so we can be considered to have a large number of descendants." She didn't even need anyone to praise her; she was so happy herself.
Old Mrs. Zhao agreed, "That's right. Mother-in-law, you won't leave this time, right?"
"If you ask me, there's nowhere better than old Beijing, and I don't want to leave. But the children have to go back to school, and besides, they've got some properties overseas, and I have to go and see them." Old Mrs. Wei pretended that she had to go abroad. The waiters started serving cold dishes, and Old Mrs. Wei picked up the sweet-scented osmanthus lotus root with chopsticks and ate it slowly, praising the taste of the dish and sighing, "We elders are like this, we worry about everything."
"Who said it wasn't true?" Mrs. Zhao poured rice wine for her mother-in-law attentively. "I heard that Ah Nian made a fortune abroad."
"It's not a fortune, but it's OK." Old Madam Wei was definitely not the type to complain about being poor, but she knew the temperament of this old woman, so she was very reserved in her words and said, "It's just enough for food and drink."
Old Mrs. Zhao rolled her eyes and flattered Old Mrs. Wei even more.
The other younger generations, such as the Wei brothers and the Zhao brothers, were just chatting casually, but Zhao Laoer was very interested in asking Wei Nian about many things abroad, and Zhao's brother-in-law would occasionally bring the topic back to the ancestor worship that Wei Nian and his family would be doing in a few days. Wei Nian and Wei Shi were both very smart people, and even though they didn't understand something before, they now had a clear idea in their minds.
It was fine for the older generation to talk about making a living abroad, after all, the Wei Nian and Wei Yin families looked pretty good, especially Mrs. Wei, who was very fashionable, so it was normal for relatives and old friends to want to know more. But it was not a good idea for the daughter-in-law of the Zhao Laoer family to go and find out what the children were thinking. Seeing that Wei Hong was young, she actually asked about what the house and car looked like.
This lady really doesn't understand the children of the Wei family, otherwise, she would rather ask the older Wei Yu. There is no other reason. Although the children of the Wei family are all smart in study, the most outstanding one is Wei Hong. Although the child is young, he is only six years old now, but when he returns to China and starts school, he will be a child prodigy in the third grade. In particular, Wei the child prodigy has a somewhat cold temperament, probably because these stupid mortals are too noisy in the eyes of the child prodigy. Wei the child prodigy's delicate little face looked at the woman who had been whispering in her ear, and said to the woman with a stern face, "It's impolite to ask about other people's work, savings, houses, and cars. Don't talk to me anymore."
Fortunately, Wei Hong's voice was not loud. The woman felt a little embarrassed and stopped trying to find out what Wei Hong had to say. She was afraid that the child would cry out without knowing the severity of the situation, which would be bad.
But there were several wives sitting at the table with the child, especially Zhao Feng's wife Zhao Yu. Zhao Feng's wife said, "Third sister-in-law, why do you always tell the child this? Come, try this squirrel fish, don't you love it?"
Zhao Yu's wife also diverted the cousin's wife's words. Speaking of Zhao Feng's wife and Zhao Yu's wife, their marriages cannot be said to be bad. Their husbands are both top students of Yenching University. They were in love freely at the beginning, and the young couple both have jobs. The mother-in-law is busy growing strawberries to make money and help take care of the children. The father-in-law also has to go to his shop every day. There is no idle person in the family of six, so life is easy. Especially the mother-in-law is rich and powerful. Usually, they don't have to pay for food. They save the money they earn and encourage them to go out to work and earn money. It is rare to see such a generous mother-in-law in a new-style family.
The only thing that the two daughters-in-law were not used to was the place of the great-grandmother. Although the father-in-law and mother-in-law were the eldest sons, they did not live in the old house for the sake of the strawberry business, but lived in a rented house in Wangfu Cang Hutong. As daughters-in-law, they naturally lived with their mother-in-law. The great-grandmother was the second wife who served at her knees. As for the property of the old house, the eldest wife was not short of money, not to mention that the two sons of the eldest wife had proper jobs and did not care about the shop. Even if there were two daughters-in-law, no one would have the idea of taking advantage of the shop, it was not a big deal.
But I just can't get along with the first and second wives.
In fact, this is not surprising. Wei Jin saw his second brother (Wei Nian) learn several foreign languages and then do a thriving business a few years ago, so he was determined to let his sons study hard. As for studying, you may not see anything at first, but when Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu both finish college, it is really different. It is not that you become rich after graduating from college, but your whole perspective is different from before. The Wei family has been in Beijing for many years and has some connections. The two sons graduated from college, and they are decent graduates of Yenching University. Their diplomas are very impressive, so they have good jobs.
Sometimes, life is like this. The higher you go, the broader your horizons become and the more options you have.
For example, when Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu were young, their families probably wanted to marry them to a wife from a business family of equal status, just like their parents. But when the two children graduated from college and got good jobs, their families had to arrange marriages for them. Wei Jin and his wife suddenly realized that their son was quite promising, so of course they had to find a daughter who was worthy of him. In fact, it didn't take their family to tell them that their relationship matured not too late. The person they found, who is now their daughter-in-law, is also a college student and works in a newspaper.
Nowadays, boys can go to college from poor families, but girls can go to college from very few poor families. Because if a family has a little difficulty, the first thing that will be deprived is the girl’s right to education.
Therefore, the wives that Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu married were not only good in themselves, but also had decent family conditions, which were no worse than Zhao's family.
Compared with the eldest branch of the Zhao family, the second branch of the Zhao family is far inferior.
Although they were both raised by their parents, the children of the two families also studied in the same way when they were young. Brother-in-law Zhao married a daughter-in-law of equal status—Wei Jin, while the second brother Zhao married his cousin from his uncle's family. Wei Jin was not necessarily better than the second wife of Zhao, but Wei Jin's family was better. Although there were some minor frictions between the brothers and sisters in the past, she was lucky enough to meet a bookworm like Chen Xuan as her sister-in-law. At first, Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu were also at the bottom of the class when they were young. Chen Xuan felt that it was a pity for the two children, so she hired a tutor for them. As long as the children build confidence in learning, it is not difficult to learn well. So, they went straight to Yenching University.
If you take this step correctly, you will benefit a lot.
The second branch of the Zhao family did not have such good luck. The children of the second branch were also average in their studies. Old Mrs. Zhao always felt sorry for the tuition fees of the church school, so she stopped sending them to school after they graduated from elementary school. Of course, since the second branch did not study, the tuition fees of the first branch were also stopped. Fortunately, Wei Jin learned the skill of picking strawberries, and the business was booming in those years. She was determined to let the children learn a few more foreign languages so that they could make a fortune in the business in the future. In this way, she supported them until they graduated from college.
All of a sudden, the gap between the two rooms became apparent.
Wei Jin's life was going smoothly, especially her two sons were promising, which made her as a mother very proud. In addition, although she was not a smart person, when Chen Xuan and Wei Yin opened a shop, they also earned money outside. It was a family tradition that her mother never asked Chen Xuan for money at that time, so she followed suit. Although her two daughters-in-law also earned money, Wei Jin did not ask for money from them. She was mainly busy with her business, and her two daughters-in-law's families were all good. Wei Jin was also quite satisfied with herself, so she didn't care about her daughters-in-law's little money. For this reason, both mothers-in-law respected Wei Jin very much.
The eldest branch of the Zhao family lived a prosperous life, which made the second branch feel even more unhappy.
This was not a big deal. For example, Wei Shi and Wei Nian of the Wei family were brothers, but their situations were different. However, the brothers of the Wei family had always been harmonious. The relationship of the Zhao family was more delicate. Old Lady Zhao favored her youngest son, especially since the eldest son had lived away from home. Old Lady Zhao had her heart set on her youngest son. When she heard that Wei Nian's family had returned to China, Old Lady Zhao's heart suddenly became active.
After dinner, the two families said goodbye to each other and went home.
In the evening, Chen Xuan and Li had some private conversation. They chatted in the study room, talking about the business in Beijing over the years. Chen Xuan mentioned that she wanted the eldest wife to go abroad. Chen Xuan said, "I heard from Brother Anian that the eldest brother seems to want to stay in China. He thinks that the children have all graduated from college, so why not take advantage of their youth to get a doctorate degree, so that they can have a better position in the future whether they work or do research."
Mrs. Li didn't know about this yet, so she said hurriedly, "I haven't heard about this from Ajie's father yet." Now, Mrs. Li is no longer the woman who only obeys her husband's orders. After a little thought, she knew that her brother-in-law's family was well-intentioned. Mrs. Li said, "If it were up to me, I would want them to study for a few more years. Well, it was only because of the Japanese invasion a few years ago, otherwise I would have let them go abroad. Especially since Ajie is studying clinical Western medicine, I heard that the technology abroad is better. I will ask the children what they think. If the children are willing to go abroad, let them go abroad with you to study for a few years. It doesn't matter if they work for a few years. If they learn the technology well, they will work for most of their lives in the future."
"Yes, Sister Yun also wants to study design abroad. She is like Ah Yin, she looks very intelligent at first glance."
Mrs. Li couldn't help but smile when she thought of her daughter. "She has been talking about you all these years, saying that life has become lonely since you left. I know she wants to study more like Ah Yin. She is the only daughter in the family, and there are several marriage proposals. I don't think she is happy about it. The world is in chaos now, so it's better for her to study more. Besides, I think the society now is very different from when we were young. As long as a girl has ability, she will not have trouble finding a husband."
"Yes, I see that the current social trend encourages women to work independently."
The two sisters-in-law talked for a while, and as it was getting late, they went back to their rooms to rest.
When Chen Xuan returned to the house, Bage.Xin. Wei had already told her father, eldest aunt, grandmother, and second aunt about the matter of the third granddaughter-in-law of Grandma Youdeng and Wei Hong asking about the family property. When she saw her mother coming back, Bage. Wei hurriedly told her mother again.
Chen Xuan looked at the gossipy eyes of her eldest daughter and thought that it must be the bloodline of the old lady's eldest sister-in-law. She didn't know where this girl got such gossipy temper. Especially since Wei Xin kept chasing her mother and said, "Mom, you have to be mentally prepared."
"What are you mentally prepared for? Read more books when you have nothing to do. You're going to take the college entrance exam soon." Chen Xuan didn't take the Zhao family's pettiness to heart. No matter how much the Zhao family planned, she had no relationship with the second branch of the Zhao family, so it was useless. Instead of planning for others, it would be better to let the child make progress. Otherwise, if the child didn't make it, no matter how much she planned, it would be in vain.
Chen Xuan didn't want to have any opinion on this behavior of missing the point.
The author has something to say: ps: Good night everyone~