Year: I had a good time when I was young

Chapter 862: Having an old man in the family is like having a treasure

After Chu Jingxing was born, Chu Xiangqian, as his nephew, had to tell his second uncle about it no matter what.

After all, he is my uncle.

As for the third uncle, he is actually a brother of Chu Xiangqian’s father and second uncle, and they have the same grandfather.

But Chu Xiangqian's father doesn't have many brothers, and his third uncle is the closest to him besides his second uncle.

That's why I took my second uncle's family to the capital at the same time as my third uncle's family.

They lived in the forest farm for nearly ten years until Chu Xiangqian's biological father passed away. The three families were cousins, and they lived together in a foreign place called the Beijing Forest Farm for warmth.

The relationship is naturally much closer than that of ordinary brothers.

Chu Xiangqian could choose not to inform his third uncle, but he had to tell his second uncle that he had a second nephew, who was also the second son of the eldest wife of the Chu family.

Of course, when Chu Xiangqian informed his second uncle, he would naturally tell his third uncle as well, so as to avoid any estrangement because of this.

Now that Chu Jingxing is almost one month old, since his second and third uncles know about it, it would be reasonable for them to call and congratulate him.

If Chu Xiangqian doesn't think it's too much trouble, his second uncle and third uncle also plan to fly to London to attend the full moon banquet for the second son of the eldest son of the Chu family.

Of course, according to the old tradition, Margaret was not the eldest daughter-in-law of the eldest son, so there was no need for her second and third uncles to be so polite.

It would be enough to give gifts and blessings, but Margaret is a foreign princess.

My second uncle, second aunt, and third uncle didn't know about this before, and Aiyuan never mentioned it to them.

But who made Ailin come to Hong Kong Island to study, and no one specifically told him not to talk nonsense.

Second uncle, second aunt and third uncle didn't believe it at first. After all, Ailin was only in his teens. It was normal for them not to believe what he had heard, especially something so outrageous.

But Chu Xiangqian personally called back to the capital, and his second uncle found out. Chu Xiangqian also specifically mentioned it and told his third uncle as well.

The two of them finally believed it. However, the matter of Chu Xiangqian's second child was still hidden from his second uncle and third uncle even from his second aunt. Naturally, it was impossible for the Aiguo and Aimin couple to know about it.

Now that Chu Jingxing’s birth was almost one month old, he called Chu Xiangqian.

In order for my second uncle to make a phone call from Beijing to London, he had to go to the Qianmen courtyard house, use a special phone, and wait for half an hour before the call was connected.

After listening to this, Chu Xiangqian scratched his head, thought about it, and finally shook his head.

It is easy to arrange for my second and third uncles to leave the capital, and the means of transportation is not a problem. We can just arrange a private plane to go there.

But after returning to Beijing from London, if someone finds out, there might be serious consequences.

Moreover, when the second and third uncles met Margaret and the other Ying people in the manor, not only would they not be able to speak the language, but it would definitely be awkward and restrained for them to get along with them.

Decades later, Chinese people would just glance at foreigners on the street and not pay much attention.

But these days, when facing foreigners, there are filters to help.

I always feel that foreigners are better and more powerful than me. This has to do with knowledge, national strength, and self-confidence.

Margaret would also feel uncomfortable if she saw her second and third uncles looking nervous.

After Chu Xiangqian refused on the grounds that it would be troublesome to fly over, he hesitated for only two seconds and then said to his second uncle that when Chu Jingxing turned one year old, he would take him and Margaret to fly secretly to the capital.

The main purpose is to take the baby to the grave of the old man in the forest farm and say something. As for ancestor worship, it is no longer popular in China these days.

In a few years, anyone who dares to do this blatantly will be in big trouble.

Of course, Chu Xiangqian did not guarantee that he would bring Chu Jingxing back to the capital next year. It all depended on the timing.

Besides, Margaret's identity is very special. If this girl wasn't brought along, things would be countless times easier.

But if Margaret is not allowed to go with us, this girl will definitely feel that as a man, she is discriminating against her or does not regard her as a wife.

When the second and third uncles heard Chu Xiangqian say that there was no need to go through so much trouble, they were actually relieved.

The two brothers were reluctant to even go to Hong Kong Island, fearing that they would be despised in a strange place.

Not only will you be helpless and looked down upon, you will also most likely suffer from poor adaptability to the local climate.

It would be strange if they didn't feel a little worried and uneasy when they were asked to go to London now.

Since you don't have to go, you still have to send the gift.

Upon hearing that the gifts given by the two elders who were the second and third grandfathers were the same as those given when Chu Jingrong was one month old, they were all silver longevity locks and silver bracelets.

Chu Xiangqian couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It seemed that Margaret's identity as a mother really proved the saying "a son's status is determined by his mother".

After talking politely with his second and third uncles, Chu Xiangqian thought about it and decided to ask his second uncle to call Xue Jinglan over to answer the phone.

Although he was in London during this time, he would still call back to Beijing every now and then to chat with Xue Jinglan and Chu Jingrong for a while.

Moreover, Chu Jingxing was born at 5:15 pm on May 11th. The next morning, on the 16th, Chu Xiangqian called Beijing and told Xue Jinglan.

At that time, the girl behaved normally and even congratulated Margaret, but Chu Xiangqian could still hear that his wife was unhappy.

This is actually very normal. If you are happy and don’t mind at all, that would be abnormal.

Fortunately, I made three or four phone calls back home during these days, and besides chatting with Xue Jinglan and making her laugh.

He even deliberately showed that he missed her and his eldest son Chu Jingrong very much.

When talking on the phone with Xiao Rong'er, who can already speak, the kid would just call "Dad" a few times and then want to throw the phone away to play.

But Chu Xiangqian promised to bring him some fun gifts when he returned, and only then did the boy feel like chatting with his biological father for a while longer.

Chu Xiangqian's attitude towards his eldest son did make Xue Jinglan feel more at ease.

Chu Xiangqian also took the initiative to tell the still somewhat confused Chu Jingrong that he had a little brother.

The little guy was stunned at first, and then, as expected, he started to ask Chu Xiangqian to bring his brother back to the capital to play with him.

Xue Jinglan was actually a little worried about Chu Xiangqian telling Chu Jingrong about his younger brother so early.

But the girl thought about it carefully afterwards and felt that if Chu Xiangqian hadn't mentioned it, the trouble in the future might have been even greater.

Moreover, Chu Xiangqian knew that Margaret and Xue Jinglan had actually had many phone calls in the past few years since Xue Jinglan started learning Cantonese and English.

Margaret has also been learning Cantonese and Mandarin, but her progress is far slower than Xue Jinglan who is learning English.

Firstly, Chinese is indeed much more difficult to learn than English, and secondly, it has to do with your mentality.

In order to integrate into the life in Hong Kong Island, Xue Jinglan is indeed more motivated to learn the local dialect and English.

Secondly, she is more eager to understand the outside world than Margaret.

However, although Margaret was a princess, she was more worried that Xue Jinglan, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Chu family in both legal and de facto sense, would be on guard against and make things difficult for her.

But after the two of them had many phone calls, Margaret slowly felt that Xue Jinglan was still very kind.

From being strangers and wary of each other at the beginning, they gradually began to understand and respect each other.

But it is impossible to say that the two of them are as close as sisters. Fortunately, Margaret had given in beforehand and had made an agreement with Xue Jinglan a long time ago.

She would not go to Hong Kong Island to disturb Xue Jinglan's life, and Xue Jinglan was really shocked by her man's wealth in Hong Kong Island.

I don't care so much about Chu Xiangqian's wealth in Europe and the United States.

So he proposed to Margaret that in the future, one of their children would inherit Hong Kong Island, the Celestial Empire and Southeast Asia.

A suggestion to inherit Europe and the United States was agreed to without even thinking about it.

Margaret has been following this suggestion for the past few years, even during her pregnancy, when she missed Chu Xiangqian so much.

She didn't fly to Hong Kong Island, but kept calling Chu Xiangqian to urge him to go to London to accompany her as soon as possible.

Xue Jinglan was a kind person after all, because she had also been a pregnant mother herself. Although she was not happy about Margaret's frequent phone calls, she also understood that Margaret's mentality at that time was different from that of ordinary people.

So Chu Xiangqian asked his second uncle to call Xue Jinglan over to answer the phone. The girl just complained that she had to take care of Chu Jingrong who was throwing a tantrum, but she didn't say anything to complain about Margaret and Chu Jingxing.

Chu Xiangqian saw that his eldest daughter-in-law was in a good mood, and knew that the several phone calls he had made with Xue Jinglan these days were quite effective.

After talking about family matters for a while, they started talking about Chu Jingrong, and then they tried to ask Xue Jinglan to collect the full-month gifts that the second and third uncles had given to Chu Jingxing.

This actually hinted to Xue Jinglan that it would be best to take the initiative to bring a gift as well.

It's a bit unfair to the daughter-in-law, but if Xue Jinglan really did this, Margaret would definitely be very touched.

If she returns the gift, it would be equivalent to acknowledging Xue Jinglan as the eldest daughter of the Chu family.

Chu Xiangqian didn’t know whether Xue Jinglan could understand the hint, so he could only hope that she would talk about this matter to her mother-in-law or the old lady of the Xue family.

With the wisdom of the old lady, or the old man of the Xue family, they will most likely understand it.

As for whether the old man of the Xue family knew about the relationship between him and Margaret, Chu Xiangqian believed that there was no need to worry about it at all, as the higher-ups had definitely known about it a long time ago.

This matter is no longer a big secret among the top white people circles and local prominent families in Hong Kong Island, so it is impossible that the top leaders in the Celestial Empire are unaware of it.

After Xue Jinglan hung up the phone, she naturally became angry.

Margaret never sent any gifts when Chu Jingrong was born, when he was one month old, or when he was one year old. Now, she, the first wife who was married in a formal ceremony, is the one to send Margaret and Chu Jingxing gifts for the full month.

It would be weird not to be angry.

However, when receiving the gifts from her second and third uncles, Xue Jinglan subconsciously felt that she had to accept them.

When Xue Jinglan returned to the main hall, the master, the mistress, and Yi Xiantian could easily tell that their apprentice's wife looked unhappy.

As for Lao Jiang, he can't sit still.

At the same time, he also understood in his heart that it was only because of Gong Er's kindness that he could receive the same treatment as his master, his mistress, and Yi Xiantian, and could live with the Chu family in peace in his old age.

So usually the old man either does sewing and mending at home or goes out to work, which is good for his health and mood.

Anyway, the work that Chu Xiangqian arranged for him and Yi Xiantian was not tiring at all. Having something to do and playing chess with other old men was actually more beneficial to the health of the elderly.

I'm afraid of being alone, without anyone to talk to or have fun with, because that will make me age very quickly.

Maybe he will die in three to five years.

When the second and third uncles came home, the master's wife pulled Xue Jinglan aside to talk to her in private.

Xue Jinglan couldn't tell her mother and grandmother many things, but she could tell her master's wife almost everything.

When the master's wife heard this, she frowned at first, and then thought to herself that with her philandering disciple's mind, it made no sense for him to favor the daughter-in-law in London.

Otherwise, Chu Xiangqian should have lived in London in recent years.

Instead of spending more time in Hong Kong Island and Beijing.

After frowning and thinking for a while, the master's wife suddenly had an idea. She couldn't guess all of Chu Xiangqian's thoughts, but Xue Jinglan's gift clearly showed that Xue Jinglan was indeed wronged.

But if you think about it the other way around, this gift has a bit of a reward connotation.

When Xue Jinglan said this, the meaning was almost the same as what Chu Xiangqian hinted.

Xue Jinglan’s mentality is different.

After thinking about it for a while, he made up his mind to give Chu Jingxing a top-quality Hetian jade 'peace pendant'.

There are plenty of these things in the Siheyuan's treasure house, and you can easily pick out several of them, which are excellent Hetian jade "peace pendants".

But the master's wife shook her head and said, "If you want to give a gift, give me the jade ruyi."

After saying that, he mentioned that Gong Changqing had received a jade ruyi with bamboo, auspicious clouds, copper coins and gourd on it from an old man from the previous dynasty a few days ago.

Auspicious clouds represent good omens and good wishes for the future.
Bamboo peace bamboo, lucky bamboo, bamboo for peace or rising step by step
Ancient coins are named after the homophone "qian" (money) and "qian" (front). The copper coin is round with a hole in the middle, which means "in front of your eyes".

It symbolizes getting rich and becoming wealthy, which is right before your eyes.

The gourd represents fortune and luck.

Xue Jinglan gave this jade ruyi as a gift, just like only those in a higher position are qualified to give ruyi to their subordinates or people of lower status than themselves.

It is a metaphor that her status in the Chu family is higher than Margaret's.

After the master's wife finished explaining the meaning of these things, Xue Jinglan indeed smiled.

But if Chu Xiangqian was here, he would definitely roll his eyes at his wife, thinking that his silly wife was fooled by her master's wife.

Of course, these blessings and meanings are true, but the master's wife's main purpose is that she does not want to see her apprentice's two wives in conflict with each other, or even fighting each other.

Even the master's wife actually had some selfish motives. Since she was so nice to Margaret, her niece Hongsheng would have an easier time in the future whether giving birth to children or living her life.

When Chu Xiangqian received a call from Xue Jinglan, saying that she wanted to give a jade ruyi to Margaret and Chu Jingxing, he couldn't help feeling surprised.

Giving Ruyi as a gift was tantamount to implying that Margaret followed her wishes.

What Margaret wanted most, of course, was her man's love and money.

If Margaret knew this, she would be so happy.

Chu Xiangqian couldn't help but praise Xue Jinglan over and over on the phone, and at the same time, he used a series of free sweet words to make Xue Jinglan happy.

In the afternoon, Chu Xiangqian mentioned this to Margaret. The girl was indeed smiling and even called the capital in front of Chu Xiangqian.

The two of them whispered to each other for a long time, and the more they talked, the more they liked each other.

But neither of them mentioned inviting Dui to visit London or Hong Kong Island.

This is actually enough for Chu Xiangqian.

For many years to come, there should be no conflicts between the two women and their children.

The one who benefited was of course Chu Xiangqian.

(End of this chapter)