Chapter 93

On the early morning of the Lunar New Year, the clever Xiaobao had already informed his friends to take their New Year’s money from under their pillows.

While the older kids had already received their New Year’s money in previous years, Xiao Doubao was getting his red envelope for the first time. He happily put the small red envelope his grandma had given him into the chicken-shaped backpack she had made for him.

The custom of the Su family is for the whole family to wake up early, and before having breakfast, the children would kowtow to their elders, offer New Year’s greetings, and ask for red envelopes.

Li Yufeng and Su Weimin prepared red envelopes early and sat in front of the chairs in the main hall, waiting for the younger generation to kowtow to them for the New Year.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao are already familiar with this scene, and they had been doing it in previous years. They taught Fantuan, Zhuzi, and Xiao Doubao how to do it last night.

When they saw the two elders sitting there, the young ones all kneeled down together, saying in unison, “Grandpa, Grandma, Happy New Year! Wishing you good health and all the best!”

Seeing these energetic youngsters, Li Yufeng and Su Weimin smiled broadly.

Li Yufeng: “Happy New Year to you all. Study hard, grow up quickly, and take care, don’t catch a cold. Now, please get up.”

Li Yufeng picked up Xiao Doubao, placed a small red envelope in his chick backpack, and said, “Xiao Doubao, may you be happy and grow up safely.”

Xiao Doubao patted his small backpack and said with a shy smile, “Thank you, Grandma~~~”

Su Weimin handed out red envelopes to the other children and, lastly, to Xiao Doubao.

Xiao Doubao, with a cheeky grin, said, “Thank you, Grandpa~~~”

Li Yufeng put down Xiao Doubao and hugged the other little cubs one by one, saying, “Big brothers, set a good example for your younger brother.”
The four “big brothers” spoke in unison, “Thank you, Grandma!”

The clever Xiao Fantuan ran to his parents and bowed, “Good morning, parents. Your Xiao Fantuan is here to wish you a Happy New Year!”

Su Xiaoxiao patted the kids on their heads, took out a small red envelope from her pocket, and handed it to them. “Thank you, Xiao Fantuan. Mom hopes that Xiao Fantuan will be a more obedient and happier Xiao Fantuan next year.”

Xiao Fantuan grinned and accepted the envelope. “Mom, I’m already a very obedient and happy Xiao Fantuan!”

The other children gathered around Su Xiaoxiao, and Xiao Bao spoke the loudest, “Auntie, I am also a very obedient and happy Xiao Bao. I wish Auntie becomes even more beautiful and gives birth to a beautiful little sister for me!”

Speaking of this, Xiao Doubao disagreed and repeated the same sentence: “Not a sister, it’s a brother, Xiao Doubao’s brother~~~”

Su Xiaoxiao patted their heads and said, “Brother or sister, it’s all good. Come on, line up, Comrade Su Xiaoxiao is giving out red envelopes!”

The cubs received Su Xiaoxiao’s red envelopes and went to pay New Year’s greetings to Han Cheng. In the tradition of Su village, it’s usually the female head of the household who gives out red envelopes, while men generally don’t. Fortunately, Su Xiaoxiao had prepared a stack of red envelopes for Han Cheng to give to the children, making them very happy.

In previous years, this was how things went in the old Su family, but this year, Su Weimin and Han Cheng set a precedent, and Su Zhenzhong and Su Zhenhua followed suit.

The cute cubs circled around the house, wishing all the adults a happy new year. Their pockets were filled with red envelopes and candies, thanks to the large pockets that Li Yufeng had sewn for them when making winter jackets. One side held snacks, and the other side held red envelopes, much to the delight of the kids.

Time flew by in Su village, and it felt like the year had passed in the blink of an eye.

The weather was too cold for the three kids to go bird hunting or catch snails in the fields, but they still had a great time playing with Xiao Bao and others every day.

Han Cheng’s initial plan was to take Li Yufeng, Dabao, and Xiaobao with them and return after the winter vacation, but Li Yufeng shook her head after careful consideration. She said, “In a few months, Xiaoxiao will be giving birth. I’ll go a bit earlier and won’t come for the winter break.”

Han Cheng agreed as he hadn’t anticipated Su Xiaoxiao’s pregnancy when he agreed to take Xiao Bao last year.

On the fourth day of the lunar new year, when Su Xiaoxiao’s family was about to leave, Xiao Bao knew he couldn’t go with his aunt and started crying on the spot. Li Yufeng tried to comfort him, promising to take him when Xiaoxiao gave birth to his little sister.

The relationship between the Su family and the Han family is very deep. How happy they are when they reunite, and how sad they are when they part.

Even though Su Xiaoxiao was about to become a mother, she was still a child in Li Yufeng’s heart. She repeatedly gave her various pieces of advice, told her not to be afraid, and promised her that she would go to their side early to accompany her.

Li Yufeng packed a lot of things for Su Xiaoxiao, including sweet potatoes, cassava, pumpkin, and taro grown in their own field, as well as dried sweet potato leaves, dried bamboo shoots, dried mushrooms, and Su Xiaoxiao’s favorite pickled radish and dried radish. The trunk of the car was filled to the brim. Su Xiaoxiao mentioned that she couldn’t finish eating the vegetables she had grown before, so Li Yufeng even went to the field early in the morning to pick fresh vegetables.

Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but shake her head and say, “Mom, it doesn’t cost much to buy these things in the town. You’ve given us all the coarse grains from home. What will you eat?”

Li Yufeng was still trying to stuff things in, and she said directly, “I’ve been there before. It’s the car that will carry it, not you. Our family doesn’t lack coarse grain, and there’s still plenty in the fields. These things are free for us here, but you have to buy everything in your place; your family is about to have another child. Everything costs money, right? Let’s save some money where we can.”

Isn’t it true that raising children is a hundred-year worry? Su Xiaoxiao looked at Han Cheng helplessly, unable to argue. What could she do?

Fantuan, Zhuzi, and Xiao Doubao love Su Village and their Grandma’s family so much, and they all don’t want to leave. When they bid farewell to Da Bao and Xiao Bao, everyone cried.

Xiao Doubao didn’t want to cry at first, but when he saw everyone crying, he followed suit. The nearby neighbors thought something had happened and ran out to see.

“Oh, Xiaoxiao is going back?”

Su Xiaoxiao was busy comforting Xiao Doubao and nodded, saying, “Yes, I have to go to work.”

Su Xiaoxiao hugged Xiao Doubao and said, “Xiao Doubao, don’t cry. We will come back for the New Year next year, okay?”

Xiao Doubao’s long eyelashes were covered in tears, and he nodded while hugging his mother. “Okay~~~”

The pitiful little appearance has left Su Xiaoxiao heartbroken.

Li Yufeng on this side comforted Fantuan and Zhuzi.

Han Cheng was talking to Da Bao and Xiao Bao on the other side. After comforting them, he discreetly pulled the two children to a spot where the others couldn’t see, took a red envelope from his pocket, squatted down, and handed it to Xiao Bao. He lowered his voice and said, “Da Bao, Xiao Bao, Uncle will give you a mission. After we leave, give this red envelope to Grandma and say it’s a red envelope from your uncle for buying meat, so Grandma can buy some meat to eat.”

Da Bao and Xiao Bao widened their eyes. Xiao Bao was about to speak when Han Cheng gestured to him to be quiet. “Shh, speak quietly.”
     
Xiao Bao also followed his uncle’s example and lowered his voice. “Uncle, are we supposed to give red envelopes for buying meat during the New Year?”

Han Cheng is not very good at deceiving children, so he can only say it awkwardly. “Red envelopes given by elders to younger ones are called lucky money, and red envelopes given by younger ones to elders are called meat-buying red envelopes, which are for buying meat to eat.”

Han Cheng also knew that he had come up with a not-very-clever excuse. After saying it, he didn’t care whether he had successfully deceived them or not. He simply stuffed the red envelope into Xiao Bao’s big pocket, cleared his throat, and stood up.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao glanced at each other, and for the first time, they had doubts about their tall and handsome uncle, whom they had admired so much.

They didn’t know if they should believe his words. Didn’t he just say that it was a meat-red envelope for them? Why is he now saying that red envelopes given by juniors to seniors are the real meat? Xiao Bao wanted to ask him why he didn’t give it directly to their grandmother, but their uncle had already turned and walked away.

Su Xiaoxiao and Li Yufeng both calmed down and after the children said goodbye, Han Cheng got into the driver’s seat and slowly drove the car onto the country road.

The three cubs turned around and looked at their relatives, who had been waving goodbye to them. They silently raised their hands and waved at them.

Zhuzi’s tears flowed down. He was clearly an outsider, but Aunt Su’s family treated him and Fantuan and Doubao as equals. Whatever they had, he had too. How lucky he was to have such a good family! If possible, he really wanted to be their family forever and never leave them.

Su Xiaoxiao hugged Xiao Doubao until they couldn’t see Li Yufeng around the corner. She then turned her head, just like the kids, kept her head down, and remained unusually silent.

The atmosphere inside the car was heavy. Han Cheng glanced at the rearview mirror and said to Su Xiaoxiao, “Don’t be sad. We’ll see them again in a few months.”

Su Xiaoxiao nodded. “I know, I’m not sad, just reluctant.” It wasn’t as heavy as the feeling she had when she got married, but it was still difficult to let go.

Only when Da Bao and Xiao Bao couldn’t see their uncle’s car anymore did Xiao Bao wipe away his tears and take out a red envelope from his cotton-padded jacket pocket, handing it to Li Yufeng. “Grandma, this is the meat red envelope that Uncle wants to give to you. He said it’s called a meat red envelope when juniors give it to seniors, but he also said it’s for you to buy us meat to eat. Anyway, he couldn’t explain it clearly, but it’s money for us to buy meat.”

Xiao Bao did his best, and his understanding was only enough to explain it to this extent.

Li Yufeng didn’t expect Han Cheng to pull this off. She took the red envelope, opened it, and found five large bills inside. This could buy fifty kilograms of meat. She couldn’t help but sigh and shake her head. “This Han Cheng is really… even my own son can’t do what he’s done.”

Liang Hongmei and Zhang Chunying took a sharp breath and exchanged glances. The things at home weren’t worth much, and moving them wouldn’t even cost five yuan. Their brother-in-law was really generous.

The men in the family also looked at each other. Su Zhenzhong and Su Zhenhua fell into silent shame. They couldn’t compare to Han Cheng, their brother-in-law.