Since the teaching staff for the family school had been decided, the school manager, Wenrou Niang, was now to take up her post!
Chen Lan said obsequiously to Wenrou Niang, "Mother, you're about to start your new job. You need to arrange a place for the teachers, schedule their daily lessons and lecture times, and tally the teaching materials each teacher needs to purchase... There's quite a lot to do!"
"Mother, once you've tallied the teaching materials needed by each teacher, give me the purchasing list so I can arrange for a unified purchase."
"Mother, it's the end of March now. Please arrange a month's worth of lessons first. How you arrange it will depend on your communication with the teachers, as Uncle De and Uncle Fu are busy with other matters."
Chen Lan suddenly remembered that when she bought milk powder for the two little babies a few days ago, she had changed it to a premium brand. She had completely forgotten that the twins had already reached their hundredth day.
Chen Lan hurriedly asked her mother-in-law, "Mother-in-law, should our Yao and Hui celebrate their hundredth day?"
Her mother-in-law exclaimed dramatically, "Of course, we must! Jia Yao and Jia Hui are the darlings of our family. Not only will we celebrate, but we'll have a grand celebration!"
Chen Lan continued to ask, "Mother-in-law, are there any specific customs for celebrating a baby's hundredth day in the capital?"
Her mother-in-law replied, "Oh, there are many!"
The mother-in-law continued in a boastful tone, "Don't you know? Old capital residents have many traditions for celebrating a baby's hundredth day. It's not so elaborate now, but in the past, if a family was well-off, they would hold a theatrical performance and invite friends and relatives to gather and pray for the baby. Friends and relatives would bring gifts, and there were specific rules for the baby's clothing. In the capital, the tradition was that the maternal aunt provided the fabric, and the paternal aunt made the clothes. The paternal aunt and maternal aunt would collaborate on a set of clothes for the baby, and they would intentionally make the sleeves or pant legs in different colors. This was passed down from the elders, and it was said that a baby wearing such clothes would be easier to raise."
"There's also the tradition of wearing a 'five-venom bib' for the baby. This is a bib worn next to the skin, embroidered with five venomous insects using colorful threads. In the upper left or upper right corner of the bib (upper left for boys, upper right for girls), a small gourd would be embroidered, with its spout facing the five venomous insects."
Chen Lan listened to her mother-in-law's chatter in a daze, with only one thought in her mind: this is too troublesome, can we not do it? But seeing her mother-in-law's excited expression, Chen Lan couldn't bring herself to say it!
Her mother-in-law continued, "Also, on this day, we must shave the baby's first hair. The shaved hair would be put into a sewn pocket and used later to ward off fright for the baby."
Chen Lan muttered to herself, "But our two babies don't have an aunt. Is it too late to prepare anything now?"
Her mother-in-law replied briskly, "That's easy to solve! We'll start preparing now and see how things go during the day. After dinner, we'll decide on the date for the hundredth-day celebration based on our progress."
The mother-in-law turned to Wenrou Niang and Liu Mama and said, "Sister-in-law Hu Yuzhen, how about letting her be the aunt for the two babies? This way, the babies will have both a maternal aunt and a paternal aunt. It's killing two birds with one stone, isn't it?"
Wenrou Niang and Liu Mama saw that their mother-in-law, as the grandmother, had gone to such lengths. Since she herself didn't mind, the maternal grandmother would certainly have no objections. They quickly nodded in agreement.
Everyone then began to busily prepare. At this point, Ming Wei felt awkward. The old rule was for the paternal aunt to make the clothes, but she didn't know how to do it.
At this moment, her mother, her mother-in-law, rescued her from distress. The mother-in-law instructed, "Ming Wei, you and Yuzhen, hurry to the storeroom and pick out some fabric. Yuzhen, teach Ming Wei how to use the sewing machine to make clothes. Find two pieces of celebratory fabric, and together make the 'five-venom bibs' for the two babies first. My mother-in-law and I will each embroider one. It's getting quite rushed."
The two scurried off to pick out fabric!
The mother-in-law continued to instruct, "Cui Qiao, you and Zhao Xiaoyue, one of you will make tiger-head shoes, and the other will make the children's hats."
These two readily agreed and also hurried out!
The mother-in-law continued with her instructions.
"Deshun, you and Chen Fu are responsible for the purchasing. Considering our family members, how many tables do you think we'll need? The feast should be quite sumptuous."
Uncle Fu and Uncle De accepted the orders and went aside to discuss.
The mother-in-law saw Chen Lan still standing there blankly and instructed, "Xiao Lan, hurry and tell your father-in-law to buy two gold collars for the babies' hundredth-day celebration."
Chen Lan quickly agreed and also hurried out!
When Chen Lan returned to her bedroom, she saw both her younger brothers there. Chen Lan was a bit surprised and asked them if something was wrong.
Her second younger brother, Wen Kai, said, "Eldest sister, since Jia Hui and Jia Yao are celebrating their hundredth day, shouldn't we, as uncles, also give gifts?"
Chen Lan thought for a moment and said, "Logically speaking, when your nephew celebrates his hundredth day, you, as the uncle, should give a gift. However, you are both children and have not yet grown up. You have no income of your own, so there's no need to give a gift. I don't think Jia Hui and Jia Yao will mind."
At this moment, her youngest brother, Wen Qi, murmured, "But Eldest sister, we want to give gifts." As he spoke, he extended his small hand to Chen Lan, then opened it. In his small palm lay two silver dollars. Wen Kai also handed two silver dollars to Chen Lan from his palm.
Chen Lan did not take them. She closed her younger brothers' small hands and said to them, "I accept your kind intentions. Keep these for yourselves for emergencies. If you two want to buy anything for your nephew and niece, tell Eldest sister, and Eldest sister will buy it for you."
The two brothers repeatedly shook their heads and objected, "Eldest sister, how can that be? No, no!"
Chen Lan held her brothers' hands and said, "Wen Kai, Wen Qi, aren't we a family?"
The two brothers nodded and said, "Of course, we are. We and Eldest sister are always a family. We are siblings."
Chen Lan said, "Then what's the difference between sister buying it and you buying it?"
The two brothers were instantly dumbfounded.
Chen Lan said to her brothers, "Go ahead! What do you want to buy for your niece and nephew?"
Wen Kai said, "I want to buy two rattle drums, one for each of them."
Wen Qi said, "I want to buy hairpins for Jia Hui and a small wooden gun for Jia Yao."
Chen Lan asked her brothers, "Anything else?"
The two brothers simultaneously shook their heads and said, "No more, Eldest sister."
Chen Lan affectionately stroked her brothers' heads and said, "Sister wants to give you gifts, but she doesn't know what you want. Sister is troubled about it. You're here now, can you help Sister out?"
The two brothers eagerly nodded in unison and replied, "Okay! Sister, we'll help you."
Wen Kai thought for a moment and said, "I want a Rubik's Cube, the one drawn in the book you showed us."
Wen Qi said, "I want a set of checkers, the ones drawn in the book we looked at."
Chen Lan replied, "Alright, wait a moment. Sister will go buy them now. Will you come to Sister's place to get your gifts before dinner?"
The brothers happily nodded in agreement.
After sending off her brothers, Chen Lan hurried back to her bedroom and opened the system with her mind to place orders. First were the two small gold collars her mother-in-law wanted.
She also looked at two pairs of small gold bracelets for Wenrou Niang to give to her grandson and granddaughter.
Then there were the Rubik's Cube and checkers for her brothers.
Finally, there were the gifts she wanted to buy for the twins. For the boy, she ordered a Tang suit with large red floral patterns and a hat. For the girl, a pink Song Dynasty style small ruqun. Chen Lan quickly placed the order. When Chen Lan took out the small ruqun from the system warehouse, she immediately fell in love with it. She liked it so much that she immediately placed another order for a plum-red small ruqun.