On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Lin family of seven wore brand new cotton-padded jackets, trousers, and shoes. The four children also received lucky money from their parents. Each red envelope contained a dime.
The four children were so excited that they wanted to rush out with the money in their pockets, but Lin Guoqing grabbed the back of their collars and pulled them back one by one.
"New Year's money must be put under the pillow before it can be spent. If you take it out now, be careful that you won't have it in the future!"
Lin Shu opened his mouth and exclaimed, "...but we don't have pillows..."
This really choked Lin Guoqing. These children were still young and only had a bed and a quilt on the floor. He really prepared pillows. He coughed twice and said with a plain face to save his image as a father.
"Then put it under the quilt first. When your parents earn some money and save some tickets this year, they will re-fill your quilts and pillows." In fact, what is most needed is to build a house, but the two floor beds of the four children should indeed be renovated.
"Great!" The third child rushed into the room first, not forgetting to call out to his brother, "Second brother, come quickly! Where should we put the quilt?"
Little Shumei also pulled Lin Shuying's hand and wanted to go in, but her father said that if they didn't press it, there would be nothing left next year!
Chen Chunhua was still wrapping red paper bags by the drawer in the main room. She looked at a group of little radishes rushing around, and her eyes narrowed with laughter.
"Have you finished wrapping?" Lin Guoqing let the children mess around in the room. He walked over and sat down next to Shen Chunhua, craning his neck to look in the drawer. "How much is left after wrapping?"
Chen Chunhua counted the red envelopes in her hand. There were 11 in total, which was enough.
"Each package costs one cent, and after finishing the packages, there's exactly 88.88 yuan left!"
"Really? So lucky!" Lin Guoqing was stunned when he heard the number. "Looks like we're going to make a fortune this year!"
Chen Chunhua hummed complacently, "You are so lucky to have married a daughter-in-law who brings prosperity. What can I do?"
"That's not the case!" Lin Guoqing showed his big teeth and smiled foolishly.
After buying the tricycle, everything was back to the days before liberation. It’s only been two months and he has earned back 50 yuan. Without his wife’s guidance, how could he have done it?
"My Lin family's ancestors' graves are filled with smoke, and we married our eldest daughter, Chunhua. How can our family not be prosperous?"
Chen Chunhua reached out and slapped him, "You're the only one who can say that!"
…
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Yulan returned to her parents' home. The house was packed with people. Chen Chunhua and Lin Guoqing would go to the village canteen in advance every year to borrow a table, otherwise there would be no room for everyone to sit.
Chinese New Year is the time when parents exchange lucky money. Each of the nine daughters in the Ma family was given a red envelope. Even though the eldest and second daughters kept saying that they had grown up and were making money and couldn't ask for more, they were still forced to give one.
"Those who are not married must take it!" The uncle waved his hand arrogantly, and if he wanted to give it, he had to take it.
Ma Dexiang and Lin Yulan will also prepare four red paper packages to give to the British and American players.
The red envelopes given by Lin Guoqing and his wife were 10 cents each, and those given by Ma Dexiang and his wife were 20 cents each. Originally, they were even, but this year the Ma family got one more, so it's not even anymore.
In the past, Ma Dexiang and Lin Yulan always brought some sugar and fragrant cakes, but this year they specially brought a bottle of packaged rice wine.
"Oh, brother-in-law, why are you spending this money..."
Ma Dexiang rubbed his hands and laughed, "Actually, it should have been sent a long time ago. It's just that when Yulan just gave birth, our family really didn't have much money. Now it's the end of the year and the workers are getting their pay, so we have some money again, haha..."
Ma Dexiang himself found it a little funny, and he coughed twice before continuing.
"Wuni and Liuni's place... Oh, thank you so much and Chunhua. It's because we, as parents, are useless that things have turned out like this..."
Lin Guoqing waved his hand and told him to stop talking.
"Brother-in-law, I won't say much else. I know you're under a lot of pressure, but I won't say that during the New Year. I just have one suggestion, which I've mentioned many times, and I'll repeat it again today.
You two shouldn't have any more children, really shouldn't have any, just for the sake of these nine children."
Lin Guoqing actually wanted to say, do you know how much he wanted to slap Ma Dexiang and his wife when Wu Ni and Liu Ni’s first reaction to getting the money was that they could pay off their debts, and their second reaction was that they could still support their sister’s education.
But there were too many children in the house, and I couldn't argue in front of them. I had to give them some face. Now that things had come to this, the other little ones had to survive. I just hoped these two wouldn't have any more children.
Ma Dexiang nodded repeatedly. Lin Yulan, who was sitting next to him, held the swaddled Jiu Ni and whispered, "We've already told my parents-in-law that we won't have any more children, and they all agreed..."
Liang Shengdi's eyes almost rolled up to the sky when she heard this.
"So that old woman is using your belly to give birth to a child, and you need her consent if you don't want to have the baby anymore? How could I..." give birth to such a fool like you!
However, before Liang Shengdi could finish her words, Wu Ni and Liu Ni came running in hand in hand. As soon as they arrived at the Lin family, they went to the duck shed at the back to check on the ducks. They really didn't miss a single day. They remembered to pick up duck eggs and mix feed on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
"Grandma!" Wu Ni ran to Liang Shengdi and stopped. She rummaged through the pockets of her faded and patched cotton trousers for a long time and took out several packages of things and stuffed them into Liang Shengdi's pockets.
"Grandma! Happy New Year! We promised to treat you to something to eat!"
Liang Shengdi frowned and looked carefully at the black particles in the small bag that looked like rat droppings. "What is this?"
"Salted golden dates! They are said to be delicious! Three cents a pack!" Liu Ni quickly introduced that they bought 5 packs of salted golden dates, but she was reluctant to open any one pack, so she gave them all to the old lady.
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