Volume 1 Chapter 0034 Red envelope
"Hello, my little princess, do you know who I am?"
"I know. You are my grandmother."
Although Nan Ruoyin was a stranger to Fang Mengyin, she did not feel afraid or timid when she saw the kind smile on Fang Mengyin's face.
"Yes, I am your great-grandmother. Come, I will give you a red envelope."
"Thank you, grandma."
Nan Ruoyin took the red envelope from Fang Mengyin, and turned to Nan Yi, holding up her hand, "Dad, this is for you."
"Keep it for yourself, and later secretly open it to see if there is much money in it. If it is less, you can use it to buy food. If it is more, Dad will make you a piggy bank, and you can save the money and buy whatever you want in the future."
"Uh-huh."
"You little monkey, you are discussing the size of the red envelope in front of me. Here, this is for you."
Fang Mengyin handed another red envelope to Nan Yi.
Nan Yi took it and rubbed it with his fingers. He didn't feel any banknotes inside. He glanced at the corner and saw two bulges. He rubbed it with his fingers and said, "Grandma, you are so generous. Just two five-cent coins?"
"Humph, this is already a lot. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. It's just a token of appreciation, not a red envelope."
"Interesting! You are so nice. Don't you think this is boring? Tell me, what do you mean?"
"You're telling me a tongue twister. Can you give me another one?"
"I dare not! As for you, the profit is so thin and you come here empty-handed, so you will be the one to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner."
"Earth stove?"
"if not?"
"No, I don't know how to light a clay stove, and I haven't cooked in a year. In Xianggang, I hired a cook. Her family is originally from Shanghai. She is good at cooking local dishes and cooks them quite well."
"Okay, Ruoyin, let's go cook. Your grandmother is a lady of high rank."
"Ruoyin, don't go. Stay and talk to grandma. Let your father do it himself."
Nan Ruoyin looked at Fang Mengyin first, then at Nan Yi, unable to make up her mind.
"You stay with grandma, I'll go by myself."
"Um."
On New Year's Eve, apart from the fact that Nan Yi used ten main ingredients to make sixteen dishes, there was not much novelty, and it was not much different from other families in the world.
It's just that the food might be slightly better, and the house might be slightly bigger.
Generally speaking, it is still an ordinary family.
On the first day of the first lunar month, I got up early to set off firecrackers, put in the pot, added some water to heat it up, and filled my stomach with the eight-treasure dish.
After breakfast, Nan Yi and the other two sat in the hall and cut red paper to make red envelopes.
"Is one hundred enough?"
"It should be enough. There are only a few dozen children in the team. There shouldn't be too many people coming to pay New Year's greetings today."
Nan Ruoyin was responsible for stuffing two-cent bills into the red envelopes, Nan Yi used glue to seal the envelopes, and Fang Mengyin inserted cypress leaves into each red envelope. The three of them worked together and moved quickly.
"Two cents is not too much, you are ruining the red envelope market."
"As an outsider, this is also my first time to celebrate the New Year here, so I'll seal off a larger area this year. Next year, I'll follow the same rules as others and go with the market."
After all the red envelopes were sealed, Nan Yi took Nan Ruoyin out.
The two of them went straight to the threshing ground of the brigade headquarters. The little monkeys who had gotten up early this morning to pick up firecrackers at the doorsteps of each household, as well as other kids were all here.
As soon as they saw Nan Yi, everyone's eyes lit up and they gathered around him.
"Uncle Nan Yi."
"Uncle Nan Yi..."
"Don't push, don't push, line up, everyone has a place."
In Guangdong Province, usually in the same team , when you see someone of lower seniority during the first month of the year, you have to give that person a red envelope to bring good luck.
This tradition has always existed, but in the past few years, everyone's life was tight, and parents who knew how to count would teach their children not to wander around the village during the first month of the year.
Over time, the children would gather in the threshing ground to play at this time and would not go anywhere else.
This way, embarrassment for adults can be avoided.
If you have money and can afford to give out interest rates, you can come here on your own initiative and give out some rice to the children. If you are short of money or don't want to give, then stay away from the threshing ground.
Because of this unwritten rule, when the children saw Nan Yi, they knew he was there to give out red envelopes, and they were naturally excited.
"Yours, yours...did you get them all?"
Nan Yi glanced around and saw that every child was holding a red envelope in their hands. Some of them were about to open it to see how much money was inside; Ang Ju was standing far away, looking over here.
"Weiqi, why don't you come over?"
"No, my mother said I'm too old." Angju shook his head and said.
"Oh." Nan Yi counted that the number of red envelopes distributed just now was less than fifty, so he said to Ang Ju, "Since you are older, you are the adult and should give red envelopes to everyone. You must have forgotten to prepare them. These are given to you first. You can distribute them to everyone."
Nan Yi stuffed the remaining red envelope into Ang Ju's hand without saying anything, then took Nan Ruoyin and left.
In the corner, Nan Yi watched Ang Ju giving red envelopes to the children. The children gathered around him, shouting, "Ang Ju, give me one, give me one."
Angju laughed the same as before and looked still as silly, but every angle of his face was filled with happiness.
I brought Nan Ruoyin to Xian Yaodong's house and saw Xian Yaodong had just come back from outside with a carrying pole on his shoulder. On both ends of the pole was a food box and a bamboo basket.
"Nan Yi, you're here so early?"
"I'm afraid I'll be too late and you won't have enough money to seal the red envelopes."
"Haha, how is that possible. Ruoyin, grandpa will give you a red envelope." Xian Yaodong chuckled and took out a red envelope from his pocket and handed it to Nan Ruoyin.
Nan Ruoyin took it and said, "Happy New Year, Grandpa Yaodong!"
"Okay, okay, be happy. Ruoyin, you should be happy too. It's different when you have culture. The daughters you raise are all well-educated and sensible."
"Uncle Xian, you spent the New Year's Eve at home alone?"
"No, I don't cook during the Chinese New Year. My uncles and brothers will take turns to invite me over to have the New Year's Eve dinner together. I'm a widower, and it's too lonely."
"It's been twenty years since Auntie passed away, right?"
"Exactly twenty years."
"Uncle Xian, twenty years is enough, let's get another one."
"I've thought about it, too. When Ah Yu left, I was only 25 years old, a strong young man. Sometimes, when it's late at night and everyone is asleep, I really miss a woman. Who doesn't want to have someone who understands you?
But I can't. Whenever I think about remarrying, Ayu's face will appear.
That year, no one had enough food to eat, and Ah Yu happened to be pregnant at that time. Pregnant women should eat something nutritious, but I had no choice, no choice..."
Xian Yaodong slammed his head with both hands, as if all his energy was drained away, and he squatted down powerlessly.
Nan Yi just stood there silently, waiting for Xian Yaodong to wake up from his sadness. He handed him a cigarette and lit it for him.
After taking a few puffs of his cigarette, Xian Yaodong continued speaking...
