After New Year’s Day, the countdown to the Spring Festival begins.

January 15, 2025, today is the day when the Happy Marriage Agency distributes year-end bonuses and announces holidays.

The matchmakers working at the Happy Marriage Agency all have incomes so high that their peers are astonished, but even with their incomes, they are very much looking forward to the year-end bonus, not to mention the receptionists and staff like Lan Zhihui, who have relatively lower incomes.

Nowadays, red envelopes are customized. Jiang Feng specially customized a batch of red envelopes. The red envelopes are big and small. The big ones can hold 200,000 or 300,000 yuan in cash, and the smallest ones can hold tens of thousands of cash.

Before handing out the year-end bonus, the boss Jiang Feng couldn't help but say a few words: "Our Xingfu Marriage Agency has been established for three years. In the first year of handing out year-end bonuses, the agency only has three old employees: Tang Anzhu, Liu Yiyi, and Lan Zhihui.

When year-end bonuses were distributed the following year, the matchmaking agency had fourteen more matchmakers.

This is the third year of giving out year-end bonuses. The number of employees in the matchmaking agency has exceeded 40, not counting the employees in the branches. It can be said that the agency is very prosperous.

Over the past year, thanks to everyone's hard work, the matchmaking agency's revenue has been growing rapidly. I have given corresponding year-end bonuses based on everyone's performance, and will distribute them to everyone now.

At the same time, the matchmaking agency will be closed from today onwards, and we will return to work after the 15th day of the first lunar month. You have worked hard for a year, so take advantage of this long Spring Festival holiday to have some fun!"

As soon as these words were spoken, thunderous applause broke out.

To be honest, it is really a blessing to work in the Happy Marriage Agency. Not only is the income high, the working atmosphere is also very good, and there is also a high degree of freedom at work, which basically all depends on self-consciousness.

However, since work is linked to income, no one is stupid enough to be lazy.

The most important thing is that the Spring Festival holiday is long. Anyone who works does not have many opportunities to go back to their hometown throughout the year. Who doesn’t want to go back to their hometown and have a good time during the Spring Festival?

The Spring Festival holiday given by the Happy Matchmaking Agency is really amazing. All the matchmakers feel that they are so lucky to be able to work in the Happy Matchmaking Agency.

Next, the year-end bonuses began to be distributed. Jiang Feng personally handed out customized red envelopes to all the employees. Although Tang Anzhu and Liu Yiyi, two old classmates, had big bellies now, they would naturally be present on this special day.

Jiang Feng gave them the highest year-end bonus of 188,800, while the others received between 80,000 and 150,000, basically depending on their business situation.

The year-end bonus is a pleasant surprise. No matter how much you get, everyone is happy.

After distributing the year-end bonuses to the matchmaking agency, Jiang Feng also distributed year-end bonuses to the two bodyguards and the nanny, all of which were 180,000 yuan, which made them all very happy.

After handing out the year-end bonuses, Jiang Feng said, "Sister Bingbing, Sister Wutong, you can take turns taking your annual leave now. The specific time can be decided between the two of you."

"Thank you, boss!" Guo Bingbing and Baili Wutong thanked in unison.

Jiang Feng looked at the two nannies again and said, "You can also take turns to rest before the New Year, but because the Spring Festival this year is a bit special, we can't give you a holiday. I'm sorry to bother you. You can continue to take turns to rest after the New Year."

Both nannies said that it was no problem. In previous years, the boss would go back to his hometown to celebrate the Spring Festival, but this year his son was born, so he definitely couldn't go back to celebrate the Spring Festival. This was the time when they were needed, so they naturally had to do their best. It was just that they couldn't go back to celebrate the Spring Festival with their family, which was a small matter.

When the Happy Marriage Agency gave its employees holidays, companies and factories across the country also began to give their employees holidays.

Thus, the Spring Festival travel rush, known as the largest and most periodic human migration in human history, gradually reached its peak.

…

5:30 pm.

A small town in Guizhou Province.

After dinner, Li Changsheng and his wife sat by the fire at the door, looking from afar at the children of their neighbors who were working outside and coming home with big bags to celebrate the New Year, feeling envious.

Once upon a time, when the neighbors celebrated the New Year, they were just like these neighbors, waiting for their daughter to come back to celebrate the New Year.

But ever since their only daughter chose to marry in Japan despite their strong opposition a few years ago, every year it has been just the two of them spending the New Year in loneliness.

"Lao Li, Ah Xiu has been married in Japan for several years, and we have never been there once, not even when she gave birth. Isn't that a bit too much? She called us over the past few years and said she was doing well, but I don't know if that's true."

Listening to his wife's mumbling, Li Changsheng snorted, "Excessive? What's excessive about this? We made it very clear at the beginning that the Japanese have a blood feud with our Li family. We will never go to the Japanese in this life. If she marries there, don't expect us to go to the Japanese to see her.

Even though the words were so clear, she still chose to marry that little Japanese. No matter how well she lives now, it was her own choice. "

Chen Gufang took a fire stick and pricked the charcoal fire, sighing, "That's true, but she is our only daughter after all. Do you really plan to ignore her forever?"

Li Changsheng said with a sullen face, "She is no longer Li Shuixiu but Nakata Shuixiu. I can't control her even if I want to. Unless she comes to her senses and returns to her country to live, we will just pretend that we don't have this daughter in this life."

Chen Gufang heard his angry words and advised: "Old Li, it's been a few years, you should calm down. Don't get angry every time your daughter is mentioned. Love is blind, not to mention that she was too young back then!"

Li Changsheng remained silent!

Chen Gufang glanced at the lively scene at the neighbor's house across the street, and then compared it to her own home. She felt upset and continued to mutter, "It is said that the Japanese are not very good to their wives, but I heard from Ah Xiu on the phone that Nakata will hand over his monthly salary to her, and she does not have to go to work, but just do housework and take care of the children at home. If she is not lying, then she should be living well, right?"

Li Changsheng couldn't help but hum again: "Don't think I don't know, the way the Japanese hand in their wages is different from the way we Chinese hand in our wages. If we Chinese hand in our wages and want to get money from our wives, we have to look at their mood and expression.

But the Japanese hand over their wages, and they can take the money whenever they need it. It's just a matter of a word to decide how much to take. The most important thing is that once they hand over their wages, their wives have to be responsible for all the expenses in the family. It's none of their business whether the money is enough or not.

Therefore, it is useless to be in charge of the financial power of the family in Japan. You still have to serve the footbath water, and you will not be in a high position just because you are in charge of the money. "

Chen Gufang glanced at him and said, "How do you know so much?"

Li Changsheng had a dark face and didn't say anything. His daughter didn't listen to him and insisted on marrying that Japanese guy. Although he was angry, he also learned a lot about what he should know over the years.

After all, she is my only daughter. No matter how harshly I say things, I still hope she lives a good life.

The two had been married for many years, so Chen Gufang naturally understood him. Seeing that he didn't answer, she didn't intend to continue asking, but just said: "No matter what, being able to take charge of the family's finances means that at least when it comes to spending money, you don't have to beg others for help. This is already good!"

Li Changsheng did not deny this.

Just as the couple was chatting by the fire, a taxi slowly approached from afar and stopped in front of their house.

Then, a young woman holding a little girl got off the car. The young woman and the little girl were none other than Li Shuixiu and her daughter who had rushed back from Japan.

The moment Li Shuixiu got out of the car holding her daughter, Li Changsheng and Chen Gufang, who were warming themselves by the fire, stood up suddenly with expressions of disbelief on their faces.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back!"

Li Shuixiu greeted her parents and then said to her daughter, "Ling'er, call grandpa and grandma."

The little girl said in a soft voice: "Grandpa! Grandma!"

At this time, Chen Gufang had already reacted, and walked over with a look of surprise and said, "A Xiu, why didn't you say hello before you returned to China? We were not prepared at all."

As she spoke, Chen Gufang extended her hand to her granddaughter and said, "Come, Ling'er, it's cold now, come warm yourself up by the fire with grandma."

Li Ling'er was not afraid of strangers. She let her grandmother hold her over and asked crisply, "Grandma, what does warming the fire mean?"

Chen Gufang held her in one hand and pointed to the charcoal fire with the other hand and said, "Nuo, Ling'er, do you see the charcoal fire? We sit next to the charcoal fire to keep warm, which is called warming the fire."

"Oh, so this is what it means to roast a fire!"

Li Shuixiu smiled, then looked at her father who looked a little excited, and said, "Dad, come and help me with my luggage."

Li Changsheng nodded, then walked over and, together with the taxi driver, took out the luggage from the trunk one by one, and took the initiative to pay the taxi fare.

After the taxi driver drove away, the alarmed neighbors came over.

"Hey, it's Xiu who's back!"

"A Xiu, I heard from your parents that you married a foreigner. I wonder which country she married to?"

"The child is already this big. The foreigners on TV all have blond hair. Your child looks just like us Chinese. Ah Xiu, which country did you marry?"

“…”

For the neighbors, marrying a foreigner was really big news. When we asked Li's parents before, we didn't get the answers they wanted. We only knew that they were extremely dissatisfied with their daughter's marriage and didn't even want to mention it.

Now that several years have passed, it is rare to see the owner come back, and all the neighbors couldn't help but ask about him. They may not have any bad intentions, they just wanted to satisfy their curiosity.

Li Shuixiu had no intention of hiding it, but she had been married in Japan for several years and her neighbors still didn't know the news. It was obvious that her parents were too embarrassed to tell the neighbors.

In response to this, Li Shuixiu smiled bitterly in her heart. She was unwilling to disobey her parents' wishes anymore, so she dealt with these neighbors vaguely.

After all the neighbors went back, Li's mother looked at her daughter and said, "You didn't even tell me you were back. Have you had dinner yet? I'll go get you and your daughter something to eat."

Li Shuixiu smiled and said, "Mom, there should be noodles at home, right? Just cook us a bowl of noodles!"

Mother Li said, "Then I will cook you a bowl of noodles and steam some of your favorite Chinese sausages."

Li Shuixiu felt a little sad: "Thank you, Mom. I haven't eaten the sausages at home for so many years. I am really craving for them!"

Li Changsheng didn't ask the Japanese boy why he didn't come along. He looked at his granddaughter who looked exactly like his daughter when she was little, and asked, "Did you teach Ling'er Mandarin?"

Li Shuixiu sat next to her father and nodded, "Well, I originally wanted to teach her to speak our dialect, but now she needs to learn English, Japanese and Mandarin, which is already a heavy burden, so I didn't teach her anymore."

Li Changsheng said: "I see Ling'er speaks Mandarin quite well. Is her English also that good?"

As for Japanese, it is their mother tongue, so there is no need to ask more questions.

Li Shuixiu smiled proudly and said, "Well, she speaks English very well too. I don't know if it's because she's talented or because children learn languages ​​quickly, but now she has mastered all three languages ​​very well."

Li Changsheng said: "If you have talent, cultivate it well. Even if your academic performance is not good in the future, you will not be afraid of not finding a good job if you are proficient in these three languages."

Li Shuixiu nodded and said, "I think so too."

Because the father and daughter were speaking in dialect, Li Linger couldn't understand them, so she asked, "Mom, what are you talking to Grandpa about? Why can't I understand?"

Li Shuixiu smiled and said, "Ling'er, I speak my hometown dialect to my grandfather, which is also called Chinese dialect, a type of Chinese language."

Li Ling'er said "oh" in confusion, and then asked, "Then why don't you teach me to speak this dialect?"

Li Shuixiu said: "Ling'er has to learn English, Japanese and Mandarin now. You have learned enough. Mom doesn't want you to be distracted anymore. Try to learn those three languages ​​first. Mom will teach you when you want to learn more in the future!"

Li Linger said "oh" again, and stopped worrying about it. She pointed at the charcoal fire in front of her and said with a smile: "Mom, this fire is so fun. Can we use this charcoal fire to make barbecue?"

Li Shuixiu said: "You can bake things with this, such as baked glutinous rice cakes, baked sweet potatoes, baked sausages, etc.!"

Li Changsheng sat there and listened quietly to the conversation between mother and daughter.

In the past, he would occasionally see the children of his neighbors who worked outside coming back home, and every household was bustling during the New Year, but his own home was always deserted every year, which made Li Changsheng feel really depressed.

But who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, his daughter gave him a surprise and brought his granddaughter back to spend the New Year with them. This made Li Changsheng feel better!

Just as my husband said, they only have this one daughter. No matter how angry they are, they are always thinking about her. In the past few years, their daughter has been staying in Japan and not coming back, and their New Year celebrations have been boring.

Now, we can have a decent new year this year!

Li Changsheng even thought about it. He would go to his neighbors tomorrow to order some bacon, sausage, blood tofu and the like. Although his family also made some, his daughter has not been back in the past few years, so the two of them could not make much.