Logically, Wei Nian should not have acquired private property before the family division. This is not a family rule of the Wei family. The Wei family is not a wealthy family and there is no such requirement. But most people nowadays do this. When their parents are still alive, they live together.
This is the custom.
Customs have never been a constraint for Wei Nian, but he could not tell his family about the house he bought privately, otherwise, if the old man and old lady knew about it, they would definitely confiscate it from him. Wei Nian had discussed it with Chen Xuan earlier and bought it in Chen Xuan's name. When the two returned home, Wei Nian only told his family that he rented a yard for Chen Xuan to grow strawberries next year.
Old Mrs. Wei asked where the yard was rented and how much the rent was. Although Wei Nian bought a private house, he didn't make money from the family, and he quoted a price lower than the market price. Old Mrs. Wei nodded, "The rent is not expensive. Fuchengmen is also in the inner city, and the rent is rising sharply now. It's just that there are no strawberries now, and they haven't been planted yet. When the strawberries are planted in the future, someone needs to look after them."
"I was thinking about this as well. Since we've rented the house, we need someone to look after it." Wei Nian didn't tell the old lady about this, but discussed it with the old grandfather instead. "Dad, do we have any relatives in our hometown? Just ask them to look after the house. When the strawberries are ripe, I'll take my wife over to live there for a month. At other times, someone needs to live there, too. One is to look after the house, and the other is to have someone in the house, so we can feel at ease."
Old Master Wei really didn't have many close relatives. Old Master Wei himself was adopted as the eldest uncle of the clan. In his original family, all the promising and reliable people were recruited by Old Master Wei. As for the house job, the money would not be too much, and the house would have to grow those precious strawberries. So, it didn't matter if the people were stupid, but the important thing was that they were reliable. Old Master Wei thought for a while, and thought of one person, and asked Li, "How is your third uncle from your mother's side, Old Wang, doing now?"
Li said softly, "My eldest uncle came over last year and said that Third Uncle was living with my eldest uncle's family and he was in good health."
Li grew up in her uncle's house and was very close to them. Even Li's marriage was arranged by her uncle's family. Li was gentle in nature. When she heard what the old man said, she wanted her third uncle to come to Beijing to look after the house. Li was willing in her heart. Her third uncle had a hard life. The two wives he married died before her. He had no children. Now he lived with his eldest uncle, which was like living with his nephew. Li's uncle's family was not bad, but that was only in the countryside, and it was still a long way from the Wei family.
Old Master Wei discussed with his eldest son and daughter-in-law, "Let's write to my eldest uncle and ask if he and the third uncle are willing to come. You can tell us the situation. Just look at the house, and the food, clothing and other expenses are all paid by our family. Just come over, and the daily work is just cleaning the yard. Although we are relatives, we can't ask the third uncle to work for free. What do you think of twenty dollars a year?" This twenty dollars shows that Old Master Wei is kind. In the countryside, five or six dollars can marry a wife. In Beijing, although working in a factory can earn ten dollars a month, the working hours in the factory are long and the work is not easy. Besides, the factory pays wages, but you eat and drink by yourself, and the factory doesn't care at all.
Li obviously understood this, but she felt a little embarrassed. "We are relatives, so I asked my third uncle to come over, and he is willing to do so. It doesn't matter whether it's money or not."
Old Master Wei smiled and said, "Let's put it this way. You can write a letter and ask."
During the Wei Dynasty, the Li family agreed to all the proposals.
This is why Chen Xuan doesn't have a good family. If the Chen family's uncle and aunt were honest, the house was bought by Wei Nian, and the strawberries were planted by Chen Xuan, even if someone was hired to look after the house, Chen Xuan's family would have to be mentioned first. Well, let's not talk about Chen Xuan's uncle and aunt. It is estimated that all the good deeds of the Chen family fell on Chen Xuan, and as for the Chen family's uncle and aunt, they are not good enough.
Fortunately, Chen Xuan didn’t care who she asked to look after the house, as long as the person was reliable.
The New Year is here in a blink of an eye.
Wei Nian pretended not to care but actually reminded Chen Xuan several times about the New Year gift. Chen Xuan found it funny, thinking that Brother Anian was really looking forward to her giving him a New Year gift. Chen Xuan was also a little curious about what kind of New Year gift Brother Anian would give her.
All the work during the year is related to the New Year, mainly preparing food for the New Year. Chen Xuan and Li are both good at work and cook neatly. The men are busy with the business in the shop and the exchange of New Year gifts between relatives and friends. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the shopkeepers were invited to a banquet at home and New Year money was given. On the night of New Year's Eve, there was a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner as usual. Old Mrs. Wei felt that Chen Xuan was not as honest as before. When eating, her chopsticks always stretched towards the meat and vegetables. However, thinking that it was New Year's Day, it was not good to complain that the daughter-in-law ate too much. Besides, the youngest son had just rented a house and planned to plant more strawberries next year. Chen Xuan was the most experienced in planting strawberries. Since Chen Xuan would have to plant strawberries to make money next year, Old Mrs. Wei turned a blind eye.
Therefore, it is true that the economic base determines the superstructure.
Although Chen Xuan still didn't understand this, she lived a more open life. She worked hard and served Mrs. Wei wholeheartedly. If there was not enough meat and vegetables, she would not touch them. After all, in Chen Xuan's mind, the best food should be given to the elderly and children first. But there was such a big table of delicious food during the New Year, so Chen Xuan ate it to her heart's content. As for Mrs. Wei's mood, she had already eaten it, so she could think whatever she wanted.
We stayed in the old lady and grandfather's room to celebrate the New Year. At twelve o'clock, everyone went to the yard to set off firecrackers and fireworks. The smell of firecrackers spread throughout the city of Beijing, and everyone went back to their rooms.
As soon as he returned to the house, Wei Nian gave Chen Xuan the gift, which was a library card of Peking University Library.
Chen Xuan didn't know what the library card was. When Wei Nian told her that with this card she could go to the university library and borrow books for free, she was shocked. She looked at the library card with a big red seal on it over and over again. Her eyes were so fiery that Wei Nian was worried that she would melt the card. Chen Xuan rubbed the card in her hand and said, "Oh, oh, I'm really enlightened. Brother Nian, I didn't know there are such good things in the world. I don't need to spend money to read books in the future, and I don't have to buy them. This is great!" Chen Xuan was so happy that she was incoherent. She stared at the card with her eyes wide open.
Wei Nian smiled, "Okay, keep it for now. After the Lantern Festival, I will take you to the Peking University Library."
"Okay! That's a deal!" Chen Xuan carefully locked the library card in her small drawer, then nervously dusted off her cotton cheongsam, "I'll get some water for Brother Anian, you can wash up first."
"No hurry to wash up, where is the New Year gift you prepared for me?" Wei Nian was a person who cared about his reputation. If someone didn't give him a New Year gift, he wouldn't ask for it. However, Chen Xuan was not someone else, and Chen Xuan made the New Year gift very mysterious, which whetted Wei Nian's appetite. This time he couldn't help but ask.
Chen Xuan said honestly, "I originally thought that the New Year gift I prepared was pretty good, but when I compared it with Brother Nian, I lost all confidence."
"As long as you prepare it sincerely, I like anything."
Chen Xuan took out her green silk purse from the box, and then took out her small account book from the drawer, flipping through the books to look at the debts, and then said to Wei Nian, "Brother Anian, this year, I owe you a total of 16.78 yuan. I earned 10 yuan by knitting wool sweaters. However, I can't pay you back all the 10 yuan. I have to keep 1.5 yuan for the children to give them New Year's money tomorrow, so I will pay you back 8.5 yuan first, and I still owe you 8.28 yuan, right?"
Chen Xuan seriously calculated the debt between them with Wei Nian. Wei Nian's face turned dark, and he looked like a firecracker that was about to explode. Wei Nian still had a trace of rationality to not strangle this girl for the time being, and asked Chen Xuan with gritted teeth, "The New Year's gift you gave me is eight dollars and fifty cents!"
"No, let me talk about the debt first." After saying that, Chen Xuan took out a red envelope from the small account book, on which was written a line of Chen Xuan's standard Chinese characters: Happy New Year, Brother Anian. Chen Xuan shyly handed the letter over, "I have never given New Year gifts to friends before, and I was worried that you wouldn't appreciate the gifts I gave to others, and I didn't have money to buy expensive things, so I wrote a letter to Brother Anian."
Wei Nian was pulled back from the edge of being furious by these shy and soft words. His face instantly changed from winter to spring, his starry eyes smiled, and he took it with a blooming flower. "It doesn't matter whether it is expensive or not. The key is to see your intention." He also said to Chen Xuan, "Then I will open it."
Chen Xuan nodded shyly.
Wei Nian opened it and saw Chen Xuan wrote:
The beginning is -
Brother Anian:
Happy New Year.
The New Year is coming soon. Brother Anian said that he prepared a New Year gift for me and asked me to prepare one for you as well. In the past, no one ever gave me a New Year gift, and I rarely prepared gifts for others. Since I met you, Brother Anian, I have gained a lot of knowledge and met many talented people. With Brother Anian leading me and guiding me, I can also talk and chat with them, which has made me much better than before. These are all brought to me by Brother Anian, and I am very grateful to Brother Anian.
Compared to the help that An-nian has given me, there is very little I can do to help An-nian, almost nothing. I can only cook the meals that An-nian likes, do needlework for An-nian, and take care of An-nian. I really want to help An-nian, even if it is just a small favor. When I have the ability in the future, I can treat An-nian better and repay him. I also hope that An-nian can become more and more powerful, and be as powerful as Mr. Rong, so as not to disappoint your wisdom.
I have never written a letter, and I don't know how to write one, so I just write whatever comes to my mind. Finally, I wish Brother Anian a happy new year and a safe and happy life.
The signature is, you have a friend Chen Xuan.
The author has something to say: ps: "The First Wife" received its first long review yesterday. I was very happy when I saw it~~~~~~This chapter is a long review plus an update~~~~~~~