The Wei family was completely unaware of Chen Xuan's concerns.
Even the "creditor" Wei Nian probably didn't know that Chen Xuan was worried about paying him back again.
On the other hand, the eldest sister-in-law Wei Jinnian went back to her parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year and said to her mother in private, "It seems to me that my second brother's wife seems to be worried about something."
"What could she be worried about? She has food and drink. It's New Year's Day. What could she be worried about?" Old Mrs. Wei broke off a piece of Western dessert that her eldest daughter brought back. She found it soft and a little sour, so she said, "Why is it a little sour? Is it because the dough didn't rise well?"
Wei Jin smiled, "Mom, this is the taste of bread. If it's not sour, it's not authentic."
"You said these foreigners look weird, and their food is even weirder. For example, the steamed buns, dumplings, flatbreads, and cornbread we eat are really not as good as the ones we eat. The dough is leavened and the texture is chewy. I think these foreigners don't know how to eat them." Old Mrs. Wei commented while sitting cross-legged. "These foreign steamed buns are not as delicious as the ones we make at home."
"This is called bread, not some foreign steamed bun."
"It's almost the same. Xuan Teng is quite nice and looks big, but it's not economical. The steamed buns we make are better. They are economical and filling." Old Mrs. Wei said to her daughter, "Don't do these foreign things for me in the future. It's better to go to Daoxiang Village and buy me two kilograms of butter and jujube paste cakes. That's economical."
"Well, I agree. I also think it tastes a bit strange. It's your son-in-law who said that everyone in Beijing eats this now. Thinking that you have never eaten Western snacks, I rushed to buy some early in the morning. They were freshly baked." Wei Jin talked about her husband's filial piety.
Wei Yin pointed at a custard bun and said, "This custard bun is pretty good."
Old Mrs. Wei thought the food the foreigners ate tasted strange, so she stopped eating and handed the remaining bread to her daughter, "You like it, so you can eat this."
"I've eaten custard buns before." Wei Yin refused to eat them.
Old Mrs. Wei handed it to Yun Jieer, and Yun Jieer said, "I want to eat the custard buns that my aunt eats."
"You're just being picky." Old Mrs. Wei said, and she chose a custard bun for her. She gave most of the bread to Li and said to Chen Xuan, "Xuan is from the country, she will definitely not be able to get used to this strange taste."
Chen Xuan didn’t really want to eat these Western snacks, she just smiled and said nothing.
However, Li was a kind-hearted person. The bread was not small, and Mrs. Wei only broke off a piece to taste. There was still most of it left, so Li only tore off half of it and quietly left the rest to Chen Xuan. Chen Xuan tasted it and felt that she might have the same taste as Mrs. Wei. She felt that this kind of bun called bread was not as delicious as the steamed cabbage and meat buns at home.
During the New Year, people were not allowed to sew, so Chen Xuan and Li's job was to prepare three meals a day for the family. Moreover, since Wei Jin returned to her parents' home, Mrs. Wei no longer required her daughters-in-law to serve her after dinner, and sent them back to their own rooms.
Chen Xuan knew why. The most delicious food was available during the New Year. For example, at the Wei family, chicken, fish, and pork elbows were all stewed before the New Year. For example, at night, whenever Wei Jin came to her parents' home, she would have a midnight snack. If both daughters-in-law were there, should she ask them to eat together or not? Old Mrs. Wei was reluctant to give up the food, so she sent Chen Xuan and Li back to her own room.
Chen Xuan was full of things on her mind, and when she returned to her room she was thinking about how to make money to pay off her debts.
Chen Xuan was just worrying about how to "repay the debt" when Wei Yin came over. Chen Xuan was still asking, "Why are you here?"
Wei Yin smiled, "Why can't I come? My second brother hasn't come back yet."
Chen Xuan could hear the joke in Wei Yin's words, but she and Wei Nian would be separated sooner or later anyway, so she just pretended not to understand. It was cold outside, so Chen Xuan pulled Wei Yin into the house, touched her cotton cheongsam, and said, "You should wear a big coat." She also said, "I thought you had to eat the stewed meat in the old lady's room." It wasn't that she didn't want Wei Yin to come over.
"Mom is so stingy. Whenever there's something delicious, she sends the eldest and second sisters-in-law out. Second sister-in-law, do you want to eat? I'll go get you half a bowl!"
Chen Xuan quickly shook her head, "I ate a lot at night, I'm not hungry at all."
"Me too." Wei Yin followed his second sister-in-law and sat on the kang. He took the hot water poured by his second sister-in-law, held it in his palm to warm his hands, and said, "Look at how fat our eldest sister has become. She goes back to her parents' home all day long and does nothing but eat. Even Afeng and Ayu have become little fatties because of all the eating."
Chen Xuan has a very popular aesthetic for children, "A big fat boy is a blessing."
"People look stupid when they are fat." Wei Yin told Chen Xuan about her elder sister Wei Jin, "My elder sister always complains that she is fat. I always tell her that she keeps eating even though she knows she is fat. Every night, it's either chicken or duck. If she isn't fat, who is fat?"
Wei Yin said this, and he and Chen Xuan both laughed.
Wei Yin was idle and couldn't sew clothes during the New Year. She didn't want to watch the four grandparents and grandchildren eat stewed meat in Mrs. Wei's room, so she came to talk to Chen Xuan and discussed making clothes in the spring. Chen Xuan heard that they were all wearing cheongsams, and thought that Wei Yin was beautiful, tall, and well-proportioned, so she would be perfect in a cheongsam, so she nodded, "You look good in a cheongsam."
Wei Yin urged Chen Xuan, "Second sister-in-law, you should do one too."
"I won't do it." Chen Xuan said, "I have clothes."
"Second sister-in-law, most of your clothes are long gowns, and you only have that one cheongsam. Besides, yours is made of thick cotton, so it will be warm in the spring."
When Wei Yin said this, Chen Xuan thought of another worry. It was winter when she got married, so both her clothes were made of cotton. As for clothes for all seasons, her aunt said that the family was in financial difficulty, and also said that the Wei family ran a clothing shop, so she wouldn't have to worry about not having clothes to wear after she got married. Thinking of this, Chen Xuan sighed in her heart. Even if the Wei family ran a bank, it actually had nothing to do with her.
But she still owes Wei Nian one dollar and fifty cents.
However, the issue of clothes was not a problem for Chen Xuan.
There is always a way.
Chen Xuan thought that when the weather got warmer, she would change her clothes to double-layered ones. When it got even hotter, she would change her double-layered clothes to single-layer ones.
With a solution, Chen Xuan felt relieved. She thought about how she had only known how to wear those two cotton-padded clothes in her previous life. She had worn them until the beginning of summer. Old Madam Wei couldn't bear it and gave her a piece of material from the warehouse to make clothes. Oh, I was so stupid back then.
Chen Xuan couldn't help but smile.
"Second sister-in-law, what are you laughing at?" Wei Yin asked.
Chen Xuan couldn't tell Wei Yin the truth. Thinking about her cowardly past life, Chen Xuan saw that Wei Yin was fine, so she asked first, "Ah Yin, you're not busy now, right?"
"Not busy, what's up?"
Chen Xuan asked tentatively, "If you are not busy, can you teach me to write my name?" She quickly explained again, "I was just thinking, look at me, I can't recognize a single word, to be honest, I can't even write my own name. Second sister, if you are free, can you teach me to recognize a few words?"
"There's nothing wrong with that. It's just that I don't know many. However, I can still recognize the simple ones." The first thing Wei Yin taught Chen Xuan was her name.
Wei Yin said that he didn't know many words, but in Chen Xuan's eyes, this was already very impressive. Wei Yin wanted to go back to the room to get a pen, but Chen Xuan waved her hand, got off the kang, took out a pen from a drawer in the tea cabinet, handed it to Wei Yin, and asked, "Can I use this?" This was a fountain pen that Wei Nian would occasionally use. This fountain pen was extremely beautiful, with a black background and gold patterns, and it had a noble aura that Chen Xuan was extremely awed by.
Wei Yin took off the pen cap and found that the nib was gold. Wei Yin admired the pen again and told Chen Xuan that it was a very famous brand. But where should he write? Although there were pens in the room, there was no paper. Chen Xuan was very eager to learn how to write her name. She didn't even let Wei Yin go back to the room to get a notebook. She glanced around and finally stretched out a hand and said seriously, "Write on my palm."
Hey, the writing with this pen is even more amazing. It is completely different from the way the village scholars used to grind ink and spread paper before writing. The tip of the fountain pen can write words just by casually stroking Chen Xuan's calloused palm. Wei Yin wrote two neat words: Chen Xuan.
Pointing at Chen Xuan, he explained, "Chen is my second sister-in-law's surname, and Xuan is her first name."
Chen Xuan looked at the two words very seriously, her heart pounding with joy. She felt even more joyful and nervous than when she married into the Wei family in her previous life. Chen Xuan couldn't help but murmur, "This is my name."
Wei Yin smiled, "Yes, this is my second sister-in-law's name, Chen Xuan."
"Chen Xuan." Chen Xuan looked at the two words in her palm. For a moment, she seemed fascinated and possessed. It was also like her soul was suddenly stirred. Something vaguely broke out from the bottom of her heart.
She thought, so this is how my name is written.
That night, Chen Xuan dipped her fingertips in water and wrote her name on the small table many times, and kept writing until Wei Nian came home. Chen Xuan hurriedly wiped the small table clean with a mop, and Wei Nian said to Chen Xuan, "Mr. Yangwen has been found."
Chen Xuan asked, "When are you coming to class? I'll clean up the west office again."
"Come after the 15th and teach for two hours every evening."
Chen Xuan wrote down the time, thinking that she had to clean the west side room before the 16th. That night, Chen Xuan had a nightmare. In the dream, she couldn't remember how to write her name. So, she thought about it again and again, and worried again and again, how do I write my name? How could I forget it? Oh, I wrote it on my palm! When she looked down, there were only thick calluses on her palm. Where was my name? !
Chen Xuan was completely awakened by herself. When she suddenly sat up from the kang, Wei Nian also turned on the light. Wei Nian rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at Chen Xuan dazedly, "What's wrong? You are shouting in your sleep."
Chen Xuan looked down at her palm and saw that the name was still there. She recalled it in her mind and remembered it no matter how it was written. Chen Xuan was relieved after a false alarm and said to Wei Nian with a serious face, "It's okay, I just had a dream, go to sleep."