Because of the coat and leather shoes incident, Chen Xuan didn't get a good look from Old Lady Wei before the New Year.
Fortunately, Chen Xuan had experience from her previous life after all. No matter what Mrs. Wei's expression was, she could just ignore it.
The New Year is coming soon. Before the New Year, the shop also has to take a few days off. After the shop was on holiday, the Wei family, as the owner, invited the shopkeepers of the two shops to come to their home for a drink. The wives of the two shopkeepers also came with them, which was also a sign of closeness. Therefore, two tables were set up, one for men and one for women. This time, it was not Li and Axuan who arranged the meal. After all, the two of them were good at cooking some home-cooked meals. Old Master Wei asked them to order the banquet from Zhengyang Tower.
Because there was a banquet at home today, the women of the Wei family all changed into new clothes, so Wei Yin put on a newly made woolen coat with a shawl. Wei Yin saw that Chen Xuan was wearing the same watermelon red cheongsam that she wore when she got married, which was faded and a little worn, so she quietly asked Chen Xuan, "Second sister-in-law, why don't you wear the new coat?"
Chen Xuan asked, "Isn't this kind of coat something you wear when you go out?"
Wei Yin said, "Why can we go out? We either go to the grocery store to buy vegetables or to the snack store to buy snacks. If we don't wear them when guests come, when will we wear them? Take them out and wear them, sister-in-law. You see, I will wear them too. If you don't wear new clothes, they will be out of fashion in two years."
Chen Xuan thought about it and went back to put on her new coat.
Mrs. Wei originally snorted when she saw Wei Yin wearing a new coat, but when it came to Chen Xuan, Mrs. Wei was even more contemptuous. She looked Chen Xuan up and down and curled her lips, "You look weird, it's not our family's nature."
If in the previous life, the mother-in-law didn't like it, Chen Xuan would have to change it quickly. Today, although she was scolded by Mrs. Wei, Chen Xuan was thick-skinned and didn't move. Although her face was a little spicy from her mother-in-law's words, she felt it was good. This dress was very warm to wear. Moreover, she had an ordinary appearance and was a bit stout. A beautiful girl like Wei Yin would look good even in the most ordinary clothes. For someone like her, who was born ugly and looked ordinary, wearing a good dress would make her look a little better. Wei Yin said that there were guests coming today.
Even if Chen Xuan was a bit dumb, she knew that on such a dinner party, she couldn't be too shabby. Although her mother-in-law and her aunt always said that simplicity was beautiful, Chen Xuan knew how people looked when they saw servants wearing coarse cloth coats, and how they looked when they saw people wearing fancy clothes. She didn't know whether her mother-in-law and her aunt were wrong, or whether many people just liked to tell such lies.
Chen Xuan met the wives of Shopkeepers Li and Zhao despite the critical and disdainful gaze of Old Lady Wei.
The wives of the two families were also quite familiar with the Wei family. Before Chen Xuan got married, she came to Beijing and lived in the home of Manager Li. Mrs. Zhao had also met her on the wedding day. In addition to greeting Mrs. Wei, the two wives greeted each other and praised the clothes of Wei Yin and Chen Xuan.
Wei Yin was very smart. He asked the two ladies to sit down and said with a smile, "This is newly made by my second brother and my second sister-in-law.
Mrs. Li pulled Wei Yin to look at her coat, touched it, and asked, "Yin, is this one from England? It's really warm."
Wei Yin pointed at Chen Xuan and said, "Mine is not made of domestic woolen material. My second sister-in-law's is made in England. You can go and take a look. It's very good."
Mrs. Li and Mrs. Zhao went to look at Chen Xuan's coat, and kept praising her for her good looks, saying that she looked very talented when she wore it, which made Chen Xuan feel embarrassed. Thinking that these two shopkeepers' wives were not so friendly in their previous lives, Chen Xuan was puzzled at first, but when Mrs. Zhao said, "It shows how friendly our second young master and the second young lady are. I just saw that the second young master is also wearing a black woolen material, the same as the second young lady's, right?"
Chen Xuan suddenly understood why the two shopkeepers' wives were so cordial. It turned out that it was because the dress she was wearing was made of the same material as Wei Nian's.
Mrs. Li didn't know that Chen Xuan's thoughts were changing rapidly. Seeing that she was about to have a sudden enlightenment, Mrs. Li said, "It's hard to find British clothes nowadays. The owner of the Western pastry shop next door who sells Western bread heard that he was going on a business trip to Shanghai, so he specially made a three-piece suit made of British wool. Oh, old lady, you can't guess how expensive that suit is?"
"How much?" Old Mrs. Wei has always been sensitive about money.
Mrs. Li's eyes widened in exaggeration, and she gestured up and down with her hands to show how serious this matter was. "It cost a tael of gold! My God, I just heard our head of the family tell me about this, and I can't believe it! It's just a piece of clothing, but it cost a tael of gold!"
Mrs. Zhao grabbed a handful of rose-flavored melon seeds, cracked them in her mouth, and continued, "It depends on the clothes and the material. I heard that the tailor shops in Shanghai have some foreign fabrics, and when they buy the fabrics, they buy the fabrics for one set of clothes. In the whole of Shanghai, there is only this set of fabrics that this person is wearing. You want to find a duplicate, but there is none. How can it not be expensive?"
Chen Xuan was stunned. One ounce of gold! One ounce of gold! When she thought that the coat she was wearing might be worth one ounce of gold! Chen Xuan's heart began to pound, as if she had done something terribly wrong. For a moment, she didn't know where to put her hands and feet! It was not until Mrs. Wei banged the porcelain cup on the edge of the table that Chen Xuan came back to her senses. Mrs. Wei stared at Chen Xuan, or to be exact, at the clothes on Chen Xuan. Her eyes were already unfriendly, but she handed the porcelain cup for tea to Chen Xuan and muttered, "Why are you so stupid? Go pour some tea."
Chen Xuan took the teacup, filled it with tea, and placed it next to Old Lady Wei. Old Lady Wei snorted and asked Chen Xuan, "How does it feel to wear a tael of gold on your body? You are so lucky! Among all the people in our family, you are the only one who is so lucky!"
Chen Xuan knew that it would be wrong to say anything at this point. She wanted to keep silent, but felt aggrieved, so she quickly said, "You know, the material is so expensive, I dare not make it again. Besides, I heard from Sister Li that only clothes from Shanghai are so expensive. The one I'm wearing is the material that Brother Anian brought back. He said he didn't spend any money on it, it was given to him by a friend. It only costs some money for the workmanship."
Old Madam Wei snorted, thinking that what Chen Xuan said made sense. Although Old Madam Wei thought it was annoying that her son had such good material but didn't present it to her first, after all, the material was given by others, which was better than spending two taels of gold. Old Madam Wei calmed down a little, and Madam Li and Madam Zhao persuaded her, "Hey, we just heard it from others, who knows if it's true or not? Don't be angry, old madam, we said the wrong thing."
Old Mrs. Wei said to the two ladies, "What are you saying? If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that these foreign materials were so expensive. We won't make them in the future. It's not our family tradition."
The two ladies quickly changed the topic and started talking about the New Year with Old Mrs. Wei.
At noon, the food at Zhengyanglou was more elegant than the mutton patties and meat buns baked by the Wei family. Chen Xuan sat down with her, being careful not to displease Mrs. Wei. However, that night, Mrs. Wei asked her second son about the coat in detail. Wei Nian said to his mother, "It's nothing good. The one you gave my sister is a real British brand. The one you gave my eldest sister is worth at least five taels of gold. The one I got later is far inferior to that tweed."
When Mrs. Wei heard that the material her eldest daughter had looted was so valuable, she felt a little uneasy.
Old Master Wei tapped the copper-mouthed mahogany pipe in his hand twice on the edge of the kang, handed it to Old Lady Wei to fill with tobacco, and straightened his hunched body to ask his second son, "Where did you get such good material?"
Wei Nian said, "There are a few British guys who are looking for things to exchange, and I helped to connect them. This is just a small thank you gift. Dad, it's a pity that we don't have any connections, otherwise, if we get some British materials to sell now, we can make a fortune. I think these imported goods are becoming more and more popular."
Old Master Wei said, "Beijing is not as good as Shanghai after all."
Wei Nian said, "Dad, next year I want to hire a teacher to learn some foreign languages."
"What's the point of learning that?" Taking the pipe, Old Master Wei struck a match, lit it, took a puff, exhaled a thin layer of smoke, and asked with squinted eyes.
Wei Nian sat on the edge of the kang and said to his father, "As for my previous matchmaking for the British, what I got was just what they left. I don't think it's that great to work for the British, it's nothing more than knowing a few words of foreign language. Besides, don't you see that there are more and more foreigners and foreign goods in Beijing now? Knowing some foreign language is not a bad thing, at least you don't have to ask others for help when you need it."
Old Master Wei took another puff of his pipe and slowly exhaled a strong smell of pipe tobacco. He said, "Well, after the New Year, I'll invite a teacher to come and teach you."
Seeing that his father had no other instructions, Wei Nian went back to his room and went to sleep.
After Wei Nian left, Old Master Wei said to Old Madam Wei, "Don't give everything to the eldest girl. She is already married, and the Zhao family has everything."
Old Mrs. Wei covered her chest with her hands, sobbing with heartache, "If I had known that the material was so valuable, I would have locked it up long ago. You, A Nian, didn't tell me in advance." Old Mrs. Wei spent the entire New Year feeling sorry for the material.
Unlike Old Lady Wei who was distressed about the fabric and gold, Wei Nian was very satisfied with what Chen Xuan was wearing today. He thought that although Chen Xuan looked a little rustic, it wouldn't be obvious with the nice clothes. And because his father had approved him to learn foreign languages, Wei Nian was in a good mood when he returned to the room, and said to Chen Xuan, "Isn't that coat a good look?"
"Not only is it good, I heard from Mrs. Li that a set of clothes made of this kind of British material costs one or two ounces of gold. Is it so expensive?" Chen Xuan had never worn such expensive clothes in her entire life, let alone seen one or two ounces of gold.
"Listen to Mrs. Li's nonsense. She is like a cannon. She has no control over what she says."
Chen Xuan was relieved when she heard that it was not that expensive, and poured a glass of water for Wei Nian. Wei Nian said to Chen Xuan, "After the New Year, clean up the west side room when you have time."
"But is it useful?"
Wei Nian told Chen Xuan about learning foreign languages. Chen Xuan knew that Wei Nian had also learned foreign languages in his previous life, but he had not explained the reason for learning foreign languages to her in such detail in his previous life. Chen Xuan herself could not read, but she knew that learning to read was a very good thing. Chen Xuan immediately said, "I'll clean it up tomorrow."
Wei Nian smiled, "There's no need to be so anxious. It will take until after the New Year to invite Mr. Yangwen."
Chen Xuan said sincerely, "Learning foreign languages will make you more capable in doing things."
"Hey, you don't know, now there are many students who have returned from studying abroad, they are knowledgeable and educated. In business, if you don't make progress, you will regress. Look at those foreign goods shops in the city, they are so popular. My family just doesn't have overseas connections, and our business is okay now, but it's hard to say about the future. Now that I have learned foreign languages, it will be easier for me to find some British and American guys to explore the road." As Wei Nian said this, the excitement between his brows made Chen Xuan stare at him in fascination.
Wei Nian saw Chen Xuan staring at him, so he quickly restrained his expression, coughed twice, and said seriously, "Don't fall in love with me."
Seeing him seriously making such a request, Chen Xuan felt lucky that she had lived a lifetime. She did not feel sad at this moment, but just laughed. Chen Xuan said, "Didn't we agree on this? I know I am not worthy of you. Don't worry, I was just thinking," Chen Xuan suddenly had an idea, "I was thinking, you said there are those knowledgeable overseas students in the city who can speak foreign languages. If you want to deal with foreigners, can't you pay them for help?"
Wei Nian said, "It's easy for you to say that. People who are really capable have done it themselves. Some of them have been abroad for a few years and can't even speak fluent foreign languages. What else can others expect from them? Besides, doing business is not as easy as you think. It's not easy to find a reliable person, but it's easy to find someone who does bad things. If you don't understand, you will be easily fooled. When my father did business, he had to try his hand in this industry before he knew what it was like."
Chen Xuan nodded, "That's right."