Dinghui Company Finance Department, 2:30 p.m.

Wei Jiadong saw Chen Chanying sealing a red envelope and looked surprised: "No way, Chanying, you put 10 yuan in a red envelope, so little?"

Chen Chanying said: "Just put 10 yuan in a red envelope." As she spoke, she had already wrapped two red envelopes and put them in her bag.

Qiu Yuqing took out a box of red envelopes and said, "Yes, according to our local custom, giving a baby a small red envelope is called a lai see. Li lai see is fine. If you want red envelopes, come and get them yourself. Of course, handsome Wei, you can give Director Su's two babies large red envelopes. For example, Director He definitely didn't give a 10 yuan red envelope. Director He went to see Director Su a few days ago."

Yang Yuping, who was printing documents, said, "Mr. He gave me red envelopes of 1,000 yuan each, and asked me to prepare the 2,000 yuan in cash. But as far as I know, he also gave me a gift. It was prepared by his fiancée, Ms. Jiang, and I heard it was quite valuable."

Wei Jiadong took out 600 yuan and said, "Look, I prepared 600 yuan, intending to give each baby a 300 yuan red envelope. Fortunately, I saw that yours were 10 yuan each, so I saved money. If anyone has 10 yuan in change, please lend me 20 yuan." As he spoke, he walked over to Qiu Yuqing's desk, took out two red envelopes, and said, "Thank you, Yuqing, for the red envelopes."

Yang Yuping stapled together a document and said, "I have 20 10-yuan bills here. If you need them, come and get them. I asked Director Su what brand of diapers the baby uses. I bought two boxes of diapers, eight packs in total, and some apples. I won't send the bill to our Finance Department group, since Director Su is in the group, too. We'll split the bill, 97.5 yuan each."

Du Ruixing's right hand rapidly tapped on the calculator while his left hand flipped through documents, managing two tasks simultaneously: "97.5 yuan per person isn't expensive. I'll take two 10-yuan bills, Yuping. I'll transfer the money to you later. The customs here are still good; gifts aren't expensive. Last time, when Director Su's brother got married, he heard about our red envelopes, but he didn't even look at them. He touched them and returned them."

Shen Runan said: "Yes, when visiting friends and colleagues who have just given birth, you usually buy pig's trotters, chickens, eggs, small clothes, diapers, etc., and give them a small red envelope. I prepared the red envelope last night, Yuping, and I have transferred 97.5 yuan to you."

Qiu Yuqing shouted, "Yuping, I've also transferred 97.5 yuan to you."

Yang Yuping said, "Wait and see, there are still a few documents to be bound."

Wei Jiadong walked to Yang Yuping's desk and asked for 20 yuan, then said, "Sister Yuping, I've transferred the money to you." Then he returned to his seat and put the money in the red envelope.

Hu Cuihua first went to Qiu Yuqing's desk and took out two red envelopes. She then went to Yang Yuping's desk and asked for 20 yuan. She then said, "Sister Ping, I've transferred the money to you. Someone from the General Manager's Office went to Director Su's house yesterday and bought diapers, but no fruit. They did buy a bouquet of lilies. Lu Jingyao said Director Su's house is very big."

Chen Chanying put a few documents into a file bag and looked up. "It's a four-story villa, each floor is over 200 square meters. Do you think it's big? But the house seems to be more than ten years old, and the decoration is a bit old."

Du Ruixing stopped what he was doing and said with envy, "What? One floor has over 200 square meters? My apartment is only 125 square meters, and the usable area is even less."

Wei Jiadong said: "Brother Rui, it's great that you have a house. I still live in the company dormitory."

President Du Ruixing sighed and smiled bitterly: "When you talk about my house, all you can feel are tears?"

"Why?" Wei Jiadong asked curiously.

"Why?" Chen Chanying was also curious.

"A house of 125 square meters is already pretty good," said Hu Cuihua.

Du Ruixing leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and said helplessly, "I bought that house in 2020. It was priced at RMB 1,000 per square meter, with a total price of RMB 1,000. I paid a 30% down payment, which was 430,000 yuan. The remaining loan was for 30 years. The interest rate was high at the time, and I had to pay more than 5,000 yuan a month. In addition, the renovation cost more than 100,000 yuan, which my wife borrowed from her parents. Now the house price has dropped by 3,000 yuan per square meter. How can I not be sad? The house has depreciated by almost 400,000 yuan."

Chen Chanying said, "Brother Rui, you work in finance, so you should know that some numbers can't be calculated this way. First, you're buying a house out of necessity, so if you don't sell it, there's still a chance it will appreciate in value later. Second, if you don't buy a house, you'll have to rent one, and the rent for a few years will be quite a lot, right? Third, this is a house in a school district, so your children can save a lot of tuition by attending public school."

Qiu Yuqing echoed, "Chanying is right. Handsome Du, think about it. Private elementary schools here cost over 30,000 yuan a year, while the most expensive ones cost 70,000 or 80,000 yuan a year. How much money can you save by attending public elementary school for six years?"

Wei Jiadong nodded. "Besides, your house is close to the kindergarten and elementary school. It's convenient for pick-up and drop-off, and you can even walk there, which saves a lot of gas money."

Xian Enmei said: "Brother Rui, the house has already been bought, so don't think too much. Your own house is always better than renting one."

Du Ruixing smiled and said, "I've discovered that my colleagues in the Finance Department are really good at speaking. Okay, I'm not so sad anymore. I've paid off 250,000 yuan of my loan in advance over the past few years, and the interest rate has been lowered several times. Now my monthly payment is 3,000 yuan. Plus, my wife goes back to work, so the pressure isn't that great anymore."

Yang Yuping walked to the window, looked out and said, "It's raining. It was sunny this morning, but now it's raining so hard. I still have to go to the bank. I'll call and ask the driver when we can leave."

Du Ruixing said: "Yuping, I have transferred the money to you. I will wrap the red envelope first in case I forget it."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!