Annual Gift
Chen Jin took another long nap and almost scared himself when he woke up. It was already past five o'clock. I looked at my phone again, oh no, I forgot to charge it. There is no telephone installed in this house...
Muttering “Oh no, oh no” to himself, he quickly got up and closed the curtains while looking for a charger. She walked around the house without a clue, then she remembered that she hadn't even bought the couplets. She looked at her watch and it was already this late...
After waiting impatiently for more than twenty minutes, I was finally able to call Shen Baichuan.
Shen Baichuan on the other end of the phone exclaimed softly and said with a smile: "Then let's go tomorrow. I called your second brother and he said you stayed in the hospital all night last night. I'm out now. Do you want me to bring you some food?"
Seeing that she didn't reply, he added, "I happened to pass by a lot of restaurants on the way back, so buying food is just a matter of convenience. I'm back at Hanlin Garden, you can come downstairs and get it."
Chen Jin looked at himself in the mirror outside and felt that he had no energy. He didn't want to go out, so he made a choice between drinking porridge and cooking noodles at home.
"Okay, thank you, Mr. Shen. Please call me when you get to the community."
Let’s choose to eat.
"Well, you're welcome. What would you like to eat? Something light or..."
"Just keep it light."
"good."
Chen Jin waited for him to hang up the phone, but after waiting for a long time, he could still hear breathing and the sound of the elevator door opening and closing. She thought that Shen Baichuan was about to leave the company, so she said "goodbye" and hung up the phone. Then go to the restaurant to boil water.
After staying up all night last night, she felt as if a demon had sucked away half of her energy and spirit, and she was very depressed. I couldn't make up for the sleep I received after sleeping for a whole morning and an entire afternoon. This shows how much damage staying up late at night can do to your spirit.
I was bored in the living room, watching TV, and occasionally standing up to stretch my arms and legs. Anyway, she is the only one at home, and no one will say she is crazy if she learns martial arts moves from people on TV.
Who hasn’t dreamed of becoming a martial arts hero? Knock down the madman with one punch, slap the madwoman away with one move, and then kick all the messy things up to the sky.
By the way, she had previously thought about enrolling in a martial arts school, the one near Xiuli Community, where Aunt Zhou's son had also taken classes. She is the kind of person who gets excited for only three minutes. When it comes to learning, she runs faster than anyone else.
As soon as the phone rang, she immediately went to answer it, thinking it was Shen Baichuan who returned to the community, but it turned out to be her second cousin, "Finally woke up? Teacher Shen couldn't find you and called me."
The second cousin asked her to install a telephone in her home in Hanlinyuan, otherwise it would be inconvenient to find someone sometimes.
"Oh, I see. I'll find someone to install it after the New Year." Chen Jin counted on his fingers the 456 things he had arranged to do after the New Year.
"I heard that you were so awesome in the hospital last night. What a pity that the time was wrong yesterday, otherwise I would have gone to see you beat up those people from the Gu family." The second cousin smiled and said, "My dad woke up today and said he was lucky to take you there."
Chen Jin chuckled and said, "I've been mentally prepared. Yesterday I asked my uncle if he was going to take me to have a fight. Or to have a fight."
After a three-second pause, Chen Jin said seriously, "But, second brother, I won't be involved in the affairs of my aunt's family next time. How can I, an outsider, always scold them in front of them? I've brought shame to the hospital... You should ask your uncle to stop interfering. Now that my aunt has given birth smoothly, it was her choice to have a son. She was such a strong person before, she shouldn't be unable to control the Gu family. There's no need for her to always ask us to go over and support her."
She didn't say anything unpleasant. Her aunt wanted to split the relocation money, wanted to cheat her of her money and people, and wanted to make money by relying on her uncle, but she always embarrassed these relatives. Relatives can only last long if they interact with each other. What's the point of always thinking about getting benefits from them? No matter how deep the affection is, it will eventually run out.
She also makes money with her uncle, but she doesn't push for a share of the profits. When her uncle is short of money, she can lend the money out even if she doesn't invest. She is not bragging, because even her uncle's biological children may not be as generous as her. Otherwise, would her uncle be able to take her with him to make money every time?
My aunt is someone who never gets up early without profit, and she doesn't even think about getting along well with everyone......
Forget it, I’m too lazy to talk about aunt. Anyway, if this happens again next time, she really won't say a word.
She didn't feel it last night in the hospital, thinking that they were in the right, she talked a lot, but after coming back and sleeping for a morning, her mind was clearer and she regained her rationality: She is just my niece, why is she getting involved in that? In the future, her aunt might not remember her kindness, but Old Lady Gu would be the first to resent her for meddling in other people's affairs.
She is a big fool and a big fool!
"Yeah, I understand what you mean." The second cousin sighed, "I can ignore other things, but last night was a matter of life and death. I wanted my dad to just watch and do nothing, but he couldn't do it. He was also scolded by my mom at noon. Don't worry, in the future, unless it's a matter of life and death, my dad will be stopped by my mom if he wants to intervene."
"I..." Chen Jin felt that what he said was a bit unkind, and wanted to explain a few words, but was interrupted by his second cousin: "You have done very well. You can handle your own affairs well, but you are asked to help with many things at home. This is how relatives are. If you get along well, you should interact more. If you don't get along well, you should interact less in the future."
"I won't interfere in the affairs of my aunt's family anymore, and you don't have to feel embarrassed. They are so old now. If they still don't understand life, no matter how much we help, it will be useless."
Chen Jin finally felt relieved, after all, there were people at home who understood him.
"Okay, I won't talk to you anymore. Let's get ready to eat."
"Going out to eat? Come over to my house for dinner."
"No, no, I'll eat outside. Goodbye, second brother." Chen Jin quickly hung up the phone and ran back to the room to change clothes. Within two minutes, Shen Baichuan called.
Chen Jin went downstairs in his cotton slippers.
"Thank you, Mr. Shen. I'll treat you to dinner after the New Year." Chen Jin said quickly, stamped his feet that were chilled by the wind, and waved goodbye. "Come to the small western-style building at four o'clock tomorrow afternoon. I'll go buy couplets in the morning. By the way, have you bought the couplets for your family? No, I'll buy them together tomorrow morning. I'm leaving now. See you tomorrow."
There is one more thing to do after the New Year.
Shen Baichuan pursed his lips and sighed helplessly. He had just gone out to buy food and came back. When they met, he called out her name. She was the only one talking afterwards, not giving him a chance to speak. She ran away after she finished speaking.
Chen Jin not only has Hot Wheels on his car, but also on his feet.
Chen Jin glanced at the packed bag. There was no store name printed on it. The food here is pretty good. I have to ask Shen Baichuan where he found the store tomorrow.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen woke up this morning and drove to the Rose Garden to pick up his third uncle and aunt. He also took Aunt Zhou and Uncle Wenming with him and drove straight to the old market in the suburbs of Dongcheng District.
You can buy all kinds of New Year goods in this old market street. There is everything from snacks for entertaining guests during the Chinese New Year, couplets for pasting, paper money and incense for ancestor worship during the Chinese New Year, etc.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Today there are a lot of people in the old market, and it is crowded. Chen Jin was almost dragged forward by his third aunt and Aunt Zhou.
She didn't know what was wrong with her brain that made her come here to suffer. Otherwise, she could go to the largest supermarket in Xicheng District and buy basically everything she wanted. As for the remaining paper money and incense, she could find some gold paper shop on any old street to buy them.
While Chen Jin felt that the road ahead was long and difficult, he still had time to take pictures of this lively scene.
But after walking a while, the road became open. She looked back and saw that everyone was crowded in the two shops near the market gate, which made the road ahead extremely crowded.
Not to mention, seeing how lively those two stores were in terms of big sales, Chen Jin even wanted to go over and join in the fun. Fortunately, Aunt Zhou pulled me away and I avoided the hardship of squeezing through the crowd.
Aunt Zhou was shocked when she saw the thick stack of Spring Festival couplets and strips she had brought to post on the front door and the room doors. "Do you also post them on your rented house? I don't post them on my house. I let the tenants post them on their own."
My third aunt also looked over, frowned, and said, "Yes, you don't have to put it up in a rented house. If you put it up, some tenants may not be happy."
"No, I brought some for my neighbors. Professor Song and Dean Xi are spending the New Year in Hainan this year, and they gave me the key to their front door and asked me to help put up Spring Festival couplets. I have to put them up on both my small Western-style building and the houses on both sides of Hanlin Garden, and I need a lot." She chose two sets of exactly the same Spring Festival couplets and strips that she wanted to put up at home. Anyway, Shen Baichuan and she had the same small Western-style building and Hanlin Garden.
If he has another house, he can only buy it himself.
"Oh, so you're carrying it for your neighbors." Aunt Zhou and the third aunt no longer paid attention to her. They packed the goods separately, but got together to bargain with the stall owner. For one dollar, Aunt Zhou and the third aunt could haggle with the stall owner for more than ten minutes, going back and forth.
When it came time to buy other New Year goods, the two of them bargained even more fiercely. Chen Jin felt like a mute, it was not her turn to speak at all. She was just responsible for picking out what her family wanted to buy and then putting them together. After they had bargained for a good price, they each calculated the money.
Gradually, Chen Jin began to feel the fun of it. She also began to join Aunt Zhou and the third aunt, from the beginning, "Yes, yes, it's cheaper, it's New Year's Day", to later "We really bought a lot, look, we bought so much, and this is the number, round off, sixty-six, sixty-six is auspicious!"
There were so many things to buy that after they finished their shopping, they went back to the car, put the things in the trunk, and then continued to go into the market, looking for what they needed in all the crowded and dazzling small shops, and they had to compare prices from different stores.
Chen Jin didn't have that many things to buy, and she only had enough to visit relatives, so basically no relatives came to visit her. There are only a few relatives, so there is no need to be overly polite. They all live nearby, so she can just go over when it's time for dinner. Her home in Hanlin Garden was really not suitable for entertaining guests.
A lot of snacks are also prepared. The elders don’t go to her place, but it’s hard to say about the peers.
Her third aunt helped her prepare all the things needed for burning incense at the ancestral temple in the village during the New Year. There were some particular things that she didn't really understand, so her third aunt explained them to her while she was buying them.
At 11:30 in the morning, my third uncle and Uncle Wenming also came out of the market. They all bought chicken, duck, fish, beef and mutton. My third uncle bought a lot, so this year, several families celebrated the New Year together as usual, and we also agreed to have dinner at my third uncle's house.
Both families have refrigerators. If they buy some today and freeze them in the refrigerator tonight, they won’t have to go to the market again to buy vegetables on New Year’s Eve tomorrow. There is still a lot to do tomorrow.
The trunk was moved again and again and finally put away. Those boxes of fruit alone would take up enough space.
In the afternoon, Chen Jin took the Spring Festival couplets and spring strips she bought in the morning and went straight to the small western-style building. Just as she arrived, Shen Baichuan's car drove over.
Chen Jin glanced at the time and said, "First, do the general cleaning for an hour, and then put up the couplets. Or, you can put up the couplets first."
“Let’s do some general cleaning first.” Shen Baichuan said as he rolled up his sleeves.
Fortunately, he didn't bring the aunt from the villa with him. It's not impossible for him to do this small thing by himself.
Chen Jin felt that time was tight, so he didn't chat with him for long. He just entered the house and started cleaning the house. She usually cleans the house a lot. Now she just mops the floor and wipes the cabinets, tables and chairs in the house. Although most of them are not dusty, it is a thorough cleaning and she cannot just wipe some and miss some.
After finishing the work, I still exceeded the time limit and spent an hour and a half.
Then we started to divide the couplets. Shen Baichuan brought a stool out from home, and it was enough for him to stand on the stool to paste the couplets on the main door, mainly the horizontal scroll above the door.
Chen Jin stepped back and stood in the middle of the yard to instruct him to adjust the position. "The left side is off, the right side is not aligned, move it down a little bit, hey hey hey, it's OK, just like that!"
Shen Baichuan took on the task of pasting couplets on the main doors of the three houses, and also hung lanterns on the main doors.
This year's lanterns are very different. Chen Jin found a lantern shop in the huge market, which sold many red lanterns of various shapes, such as the cute pig lantern that she chose for her family.
This year is the Year of the Pig, so it fits the occasion.
The lanterns chosen for Shen Baichuan and Professor Song's family were relatively normal, but they were also better looking than those cookie-cutter round lanterns outside.
Shen Baichuan looked at the lanterns in her house, then looked at his own. I thought to myself: I bought the same things as everything else, why is the lantern special?
As for the rest, Chen Jin didn't need him. He could just carry a small stool and put up spring strips on the door of his house, all with the words "good health", "wish you good fortune", "everything goes well"...
"Teacher Chen! Your lanterns are so pretty!"
Chen Jin took a look and saw that it was the same group of little brats from last time. It seemed that they had forgotten what she said about setting up a class for them in the community.
Faced with the sweet-talking child, Chen Jin was very patient. After rummaging in the trunk for a while, he finally found something in a black plastic bag.
"I'm sending you some foreign pictures."
Transformers, Calabash Brothers, Captain Black Cat, Doraemon... When she was shopping in the market, she saw a store selling these, so she went in and bought some. I'm going to use it to entertain Junjun. But if they buy a lot, I’ll give one to each of these little idiots.
Then Chen Jin was surrounded by a circle of children, and they all screamed "Wow" in surprise.
After receiving the "New Year's gift" from Teacher Chen in advance, the group of children thanked him and then ran off to play happily.
Chen Jin smiled and turned around, and found that Shen Baichuan was looking at the foreign picture cards in her hand, raised her eyebrows, and handed them over, "Would you like to choose a few too?"
Curious: "Do kids in Hong Kong play this, too?"
Shen Baichuan said: “I saw my classmates playing with it, and they called it paper dolls.”
Chen Jin exclaimed in amazement: "How did this thing become so popular across the country? I haven't even seen any advertisements."
It's amazing. If it's something like Sun God Oral Liquid or Ginseng Wine, which we hear about every day on TV, newspapers, and radio, it's not surprising that the whole country knows about it, but how come foreign pictures are everywhere...
After finishing his work, Chen Jin checked the doors and windows of the house again and locked them before coming out. The two drove back to Hanlin Garden together.
"New Year's gift." Shen Baichuan took out a very exquisite-looking bag from the back seat of the car. Chen Jin couldn't tell what was inside. If it was something too expensive, she wouldn't be able to accept it. Until Shen Baichuan said that this was a vase he made himself in Jingdezhen, and he thought it was very suitable to be placed on the chest of drawers in her living room, so he brought it over to give to her.
He is going back to Hong Kong tomorrow to celebrate the New Year with his mother, and will not be back until a few days after the New Year, so the gifts can only be given in advance.
"It's not a valuable thing, just a token of my appreciation."
It's the thought that counts!
Chen Jin sighed in her heart, Shen Baichuan was really good at controlling people, pressing forward step by step, and if she took a step back, he would immediately take a step forward, without making a sound and with legitimate reasons, so she couldn't get the upper hand even if she wanted to refuse him sternly.
"Teacher Shen, I'm not rich enough now." Chen Jin said regretfully. She couldn't buy him a luxury car with her current wealth.
Her inexplicable sigh... Shen Baichuan smiled and said, "Then wait until you have money." He added, "I am the same as you now. I can't get what my grandfather has, and I don't have much money. The company is burning money now."
Chen Jin was about to speak, and then heard Shen Baichuan say: “I can’t sell the car for cash for the time being. If I sell it, with my grandfather’s temper, he won’t buy it for me in the future.”
Ah, this... Chen Jin sighed again, and she didn’t know what to say.
"Take it, don't feel burdened. I also prepared New Year gifts for Professor Song and Dean Xi. They are more valuable than the ones I gave you." Shen Baichuan found the last explanation inexplicably funny.
But when he received Chen Jin's return gift, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Sun God Oral Liquid?"
Chen Jin nodded, "It's for brain nourishment. Work is hard, drink some to replenish your brain."
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