The whole village pays New Year's greetings to a younger generation.
Not to mention Li Weidong, even Zhao Xiulian was frightened.
She'd lived most of her life, and she'd never seen anything like this before.
No matter what the mother and son said, everyone refused to get up, and instead kowtowed to Li Weidong, saying auspicious New Year's greetings.
Li Weidong was so anxious that he couldn't attend to anyone else while helping this one, and tears were welling up in his eyes. He had no choice but to ask Li Baotian for help.
"Second Grandfather, what exactly happened?!"
Li Baotian walked up to him with a smile, and actually knelt down, respectfully kowtowing and wishing him a Happy New Year!
This move stunned not only Li Weidong, but everyone else as well!
After all, it was understandable for others to kowtow and wish Li Weidong a Happy New Year, but Li Baotian was different.
Li Baotian is the village head of Taohuayu and has a high seniority in the clan. How could someone so respected and virtuous also wish Li Weidong a Happy New Year?!
Li Weidong was so anxious he was almost crying: "Second Grandfather, get up! How can an elder pay New Year's greetings to a junior like me?"
As he spoke, he simply knelt down in front of him and kowtowed heavily.
If he can't be helped up, then he should kneel down too!
After paying his New Year's respects, Li Baotian shakily tried to get up.
Zhao Xiulian snapped out of her daze and quickly said, "Lili, Xiaoye, quickly help your second grandfather up!"
The two men, one on each side, helped Li Baotian to his feet, both quite frightened.
Seeing that Li Weidong was still kneeling on the ground, Li Baotian finally spoke up, "Weidong, get up!"
Then he added, "Everyone, get up!"
After the others finished kowtowing, they all stood up.
Li Weidong dared not get up, and knelt on the ground, saying, "Second Grandfather, uncles and nephews, please tell me what exactly happened!"
As a junior member of the family, he used to have to go door-to-door to kowtow and offer New Year's greetings every year.
This year, I was unexpectedly greeted with New Year's wishes by everyone, which is frightening to think about.
Li Baotian laughed and forcefully pulled him to his feet: "Silly boy, everyone respects you!"
“You know what the situation was like in the village during the Spring Festival in previous years. Every household had a hard time even getting enough to eat, let alone eating meat. But this year is different.”
He let out a long breath, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out: "This year, everyone followed you to grow mushrooms, and they all have money in their hands. They've all put on new clothes, and they can eat as much meat as they want on the dinner table."
"This is all thanks to you!"
Others chimed in.
"Yes, yes, Weidong, you are our great benefactor!"
"I never imagined I could eat and drink to my heart's content during the Lunar New Year, but I did this year, all thanks to you!"
“My mother has been sick for several years but we didn’t have the money to go to the hospital, so we could only take medicine to get through the illness. This year, after selling some mushrooms, I took her to have surgery, and she won’t need to take medicine anymore. I’m just doing my duty to kowtow to you!”
“I’ve wanted to send my son and daughter to school for a long time, but I just didn’t have the money. Now that’s great, we have some income, and the kids can go to school. They’ll go to university and have a bright future. That would be something to be proud of. Weidong, you’ve done a really great thing!”
“We had already agreed that this year, when we pay New Year’s visits, the first place we’ll go is your house. We’ll kowtow to you, the great contributor to Taohuayu, and pay our respects. This is all you deserve.”
Everyone praised Li Weidong, their eyes overflowing with gratitude.
Li Weidong was stunned.
He led everyone to grow mushrooms, partly because he wanted to start a company and make a lot of money, and partly because he genuinely wanted to help everyone escape poverty and achieve a better life.
But I never expected that my small gesture would earn me so much gratitude!
Even the traditional New Year's greetings passed down through generations could be changed for him!
"Weidong, it's only right that everyone pays you a New Year's greeting today."
Li Baotian patted him on the shoulder: "Even this old man like me received an award from the higher-ups because life in the village is good!"
"You deserve the respect that everyone kowtowed to!"
The others chimed in unison, "Yes, you deserve to kneel like that!"
Li Weidong's nose felt a little sore.
Perhaps some people were cursing him behind his back not long ago, saying he was heartless for driving down the mushroom purchase price so low.
But their gratitude now is genuine and cannot be faked.
I only did a small thing, and my starting point was to make money, but I was able to receive such sincere gratitude in return.
These people are so kind and adorable!
Li Weidong sniffed and laughed: "Okay, thank you all for coming to wish us a Happy New Year. I, Li Weidong, also wish you all a Happy New Year!"
He then knelt down respectfully and kowtowed to everyone present: "Wei Dong wishes all my uncles, nephews, and relatives good health and a long life."
"From now on, let's work together to get rich and achieve a moderately prosperous life!"
Zhao Xiulian snapped out of her daze and quickly gestured for Li Xiaoli and Zhou Xiaoye to follow along and offer New Year's greetings.
Two young women, one on each side, followed Li Weidong in offering New Year's greetings.
In an instant, cheers erupted.
Li Baotian's eyes welled up with tears of excitement: "Great! Great! Let's all work hard and get rich together!"
Li Weidong got up and looked at Zhao Xiulian: "Mom, bring out the melon seeds and peanuts for the guests!"
Zhao Xiulian suddenly realized what was happening and slapped her forehead: "Look at my head, I forgot about that! Wait, wait!"
He then went inside.
When he came out again, he was carrying several large bags, which he put directly into the middle of the yard: "Come on, come on, everyone, have some food!"
It's fortunate that we bought a lot of New Year's goods this year, otherwise, with the whole village coming, there really wouldn't be enough to go around!
A group of kids loved this, and they all swarmed around it.
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