When Xiaolong saw the red envelope, his eyes lit up immediately, and he quickly reached out to take it, saying, "Thank you, Auntie. Thank you, Uncle."
Taking this opportunity, Xiaojing handed the red envelope she had prepared to Xiaolong, who happily greeted her, "Thank you, Aunt Xiaojing."
Upon hearing Xiaolong's loud voice, Fang Xue, who was talking to someone, immediately perked up her ears and turned to look for her daughter Panpan so that she could go to Fang Qiao to ask for a red envelope.
After all, although Fang Qiao was stingy with his parents and brothers, he was generous to the younger generation.
After searching around but finding no one, he had no choice but to look away.
Xiao Long immediately opened the red envelopes. Fang Qiao's envelope contained two five-cent bills, and Xiao Jing's envelope contained one five-cent bill, for a total of 15 cents.
Wow! That's a lot of money! Enough to buy one, two, three, four, five... five pieces of roasted rice cake plus five pieces of lard candy!
Xiao Long counted on his fingers for a long time, then jumped up happily: "Auntie, Auntie, you're so good to me!"
He put the money in his pocket and ran excitedly into the house: "Grandpa and Grandma, come out and see! My aunt and uncle are back!"
Fang Lu seized the opportunity to come closer, grinning as she said, "Happy New Year, Second Sister! Did you give me any lucky money?"
Fang Qiao glanced at him and said irritably, "New Year's money is for children. How old are you? Why do you still need New Year's money?"
Fang Lu, with a shameless grin, said, "If you're not married, you're still a child, and you can still receive New Year's money."
Fang Qiao was speechless: "Then you should ask your parents for it. I don't have any here."
Fang Lu said in a high-pitched voice, "Second sister, it's the New Year, don't be so stingy!"
Just then, Xiaolong, who had gone inside to call for help, ran back. His eyes lit up when he saw Fang Lu, and he grabbed Fang Lu's sleeve, saying, "Uncle, Uncle, don't ask Auntie for it anymore. Where's the New Year's money you gave me?"
Fang Lu's pockets were emptier than his face; he hadn't prepared any New Year's money for the children.
He pretended to pat himself all over, "Hey, where did the red envelope I packed yesterday go?"
Fang Lu sighed and said, "Sigh, I don't have it on me. I guess I forgot to bring it. Xiao Long, I'll give it to you later. You can ask your aunt and uncle for it first."
"My aunt gave me my New Year's money as soon as she arrived," Xiaolong said disdainfully. "Uncle, do you not have any money at all?"
Fang Lu's hand, which was reaching into his pocket, froze. He then became angry, trying to cover it up, and said, "I already said I'd give it to you later. Why are you making so many excuses? Your uncle only makes twenty yuan a month. Do you think I'd shortchange you a single cent on your New Year's money?"
"Uncle, it's okay to be broke, it's not shameful. Why lie?" Xiaolong pouted. "Grandma already said you still owe fifteen yuan in debt."
"Shut up, kid! Don't talk nonsense!" Fang Lu said angrily, pushing Xiao Long's shoulder and shoving him aside. "Go away, kid, go play somewhere else."
"I'm not going to go play somewhere else! Hehehe!" Xiaolong stuck out his tongue, rolled his eyes, and made a face at him.
Fang Lu, in a fit of anger, pretended to take off his shoe and hit him.
Xiao Long immediately hid behind Fang Qiao: "Auntie, save me!"
Fang Qiao smiled and patted Xiao Long's head, saying, "Don't be afraid, he's just trying to scare you."
Just because he confronted Fang Lu, Fang Qiao was determined to protect him to the end.
At this moment, Yang Fengxia and Fang Yaozu arrived late from the house. After hearing only half a sentence, they asked with a smile, "Who's scaring whom?"
Fang Qiao patted Xiao Long on the shoulder and said, "It's nothing, my little brother was just joking around with Xiao Long."
Yang Fengxia responded, and Fang Yaozu greeted Cheng Baidong and Xiao Jing with a smile.
"Bai Dong is here."
"Xiao Jing is here too."
After exchanging pleasantries, Yang Fengxia reached out to hug the twin brothers sitting in the stroller.
"Chuan Chuan and Yue Yue, come let Grandma hug you." She clapped her hands and bent down as if to hug them.
To everyone's surprise, neither of the two brothers wanted to be with her. After reluctantly getting her to do it, they pouted and looked like they were about to cry.
Fang Qiao said, "Mom, Chuan Chuan and Yue Yue are shy around strangers and don't want others to hold them. Please don't make them cry."
Yang Fengxia had no choice but to give up. She chuckled twice and turned to hug An'an again: "Come here, An'an, come to Grandma."
Two-year-old An'an resisted even more than Chuan Chuan and Yue Yue, clinging to Fang Qiao's leg and refusing to let go.
Seeing this, Fang Qiao pointed to the rooster with its feet tied on the ground and changed the subject, saying, "Mom, Bai Dong and I brought a live rooster. What do you think? Should we find a cage to keep it in? Or should we just kill it and eat it?"
The rooster Fang Qiao brought had bright feathers, a red comb on its head that looked like a saw, and a tall and strong body. Yang Fengxia liked it at first sight and thought that she would keep this rooster for breeding, and the survival rate of the chicks hatched would definitely be much higher.
She was reluctant to kill it, saying, "Let's raise it first, and then kill it after we've bred the hens at home in the spring."
A family can raise two or three chickens. If they breed them well, they won't have to spend money to buy chicks. They can even sell the hatched chicks on the black market. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?
"What kind of breeding? You're kidding me. Do you think it's easy for a hen to brood? What if the chicks don't hatch and all those good eggs are wasted?" Fang Yaozu waved his hand and said, "Besides, raising a rooster to the spring takes a lot of effort. Why bother? We might as well just kill it and eat it."
"Alright then, I'll go boil some water to scald the chicken feathers later." Yang Fengxia always listened to Fang Yaozu. Since Fang Yaozu said so, although she was a little reluctant, she nodded and prepared to go to the kitchen to boil water in preparation for killing the chicken.
Yang Fengxia turned and went into the kitchen. Fang Xue didn't want to deal with Fang Qiao, so she said, "Mom, I'll help you," and followed her into the kitchen.
Fang Qiao said to Fang Yaozu, who remained where he was, "Dad, let's go inside and talk. It's cold in the yard."
"Alright, alright, come inside, come inside."
The family members entered the house one after another.
The main room was quiet, and there was no movement from the inner room either. Fang Qiao asked, "Aren't my elder brother and sister-in-law home?"
Fang Yaozu shook his head: "No."
Fang Lu interrupted, "Second sister, don't even mention it. Our eldest brother and sister-in-law didn't even come home for the New Year."
"I see." Fang Qiao asked, "How is your sister-in-law?"
"What's wrong? I think he's fine, he can talk and laugh, I just don't know why he has to stay in the hospital and doesn't even come home for the New Year."
Fang Lu's tone was somewhat sarcastic, and his eyes held a hint of resentment.
Fang Qiao pretended not to see it.
She couldn't be bothered with the conflicts between her brothers.
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