The scene of the 11 children wearing red envelopes around their necks was quite impressive.

All the adults in the Lin family were watching these 11 children, from the youngest Sanbao at 3 years old to the eldest Lin Qingmei at 14.

They all had smiles on their faces, and they were carrying heavy cloth bags filled with food.

Lin’s father looked at his grandchildren and felt deeply moved.

These 11 children were fearless, even in fights.

What were people most afraid of in the countryside? They feared having a small family with few descendants.

Lin’s mother had given birth to three sons and one daughter, which wasn’t considered bad for that era; it was average.

But what was remarkable was that the Lin family had raised all four children well and could even afford to send one to college.

That was quite an achievement.

“Where did you all get these red envelope New Year’s gifts?” Qian Aifen asked first.

Seeing that all their red envelopes were the same, it was obvious they were from the same person.

Thinking of the New Year’s gifts Ning Shu had prepared for Lin’s parents, Qian Aifen guessed, “Could it be from Third Sister-in-law?”

“It was from Mom,” Erbao and Qian Aifen said simultaneously.

Just as they suspected.

“Qinglan, Qingju, Qingzhu, Haiquan, give your New Year’s money to Mom. Mom will keep it for you. What if the children lose their New Year’s money?” Zhang Qinfang wanted to know how much money was in the red envelopes, so she couldn’t wait to ask.

The children from the second family were not very brave, and although they were reluctant to part with their New Year’s money, they obediently took the red envelopes off their necks and handed them to their mother when they heard Zhang Qinfang’s words.

In fact, they all knew how much money was in the red envelopes; they had checked as soon as they got them.

What child isn’t curious about the amount of New Year’s money they receive? After checking, they re-tied the red envelopes around their necks.

“Mom…”

The four children from the second family handed the red envelopes to Zhang Qinfang and then stood by her, looking somewhat dejected.

Seeing this, Lin Qingmei also took off the red yarn from her neck and handed her red envelope to Qian Aifen. “Mom, here you go.”

Qian Aifen was about to accept it when she heard Ning Shu’s words, and she paused.

Then, Yibao followed the example of his older siblings and gave his New Year’s money to his mother. “Mom, here’s the money for you.”

Ning Shu didn’t accept it; instead, she said, “This is your New Year’s money, your own money. You can use it however you like. You can buy candy or save it for later when you need it.” It’s only 5 cents New Year’s money per year for each child, so Ning Shu didn’t take it.

“Mom, I understand. I’ll save it and buy meat for you when I have more money,” Yibao obediently replied.

“I’ll save it too. When I have more money, I’ll buy clothes for you, Mom,” Erbao chimed in opportunistically.

Hearing the two brothers’ words, Sanbao also confidently declared, “Mom, meat to eat!”

Ning Shu couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, Mom will be waiting.”

Qian Aifen heard this and didn’t insist.

She also added, “Qingmei, this is your New Year’s money from your Third Aunt. Keep it safe. Like your Third Aunt said, it’s your money, so you can decide how to spend it.” However, Qian Aifen was worried they might spend it recklessly, so she added, “You can save it to buy notebooks and pencils, or you can save it for when you need it.”

“Okay, thank you, Mom,” Lin Qingmei felt somewhat happy.

There was no tradition of giving New Year’s money at the old house, so Lin Qingmei was receiving New Year’s money for the first time.

She cherished it very much. Originally, when she handed it over to her mom, she felt a bit regretful, but now, hearing her mom’s words, she couldn’t help but smile.

She thought her mom was really nice, unlike her Second Aunt.

Lin Haiwen and the others were also happy to receive it.

Hai Cai looked at his brothers, then back at Yibao and Erbao.

He was also happy, thinking that when they went to the cooperative society, he could buy candy and share it with Yibao and Erbao.

Zhang Qinfang naturally heard Ning Shu and Qian Aifen’s words.

Regarding Ning Shu, she coldly snorted inwardly, thinking that Ning Shu had money, so she didn’t care how she raised her children.

As for Qian Aifen, she felt disdainful, considering her a person who cared too much about appearances and was trying to emulate Ning Shu just to save face.

She quickly opened one of the red envelopes, feeling disappointed when she saw the five cents inside.

She couldn’t believe that the Third Aunt and Uncle, who were supposed to be wealthy, only gave five cents.

Although she was complaining internally, she wasted no time in collecting the money.

Four five-cent coins quickly found their way into her pocket.

It added up to twenty cents, which was now hers.

Lin’s mother looked at her second daughter-in-law’s behavior and felt speechless.

This second daughter-in-law was petty, but there was nothing she could do about it.

She was already grown up, and her personality was set.

As long as she treated the second family well, they would let her be.

It was just unfortunate for the second family’s children.

Well, not for Hai Quan; he wouldn’t suffer.

It was the three daughters of the second family who would.

It seemed like she needed to make separate arrangements regarding money when they split up.

“Hai Cai, come here. This is your New Year’s gift from your Third Aunt. She said you’ve been working hard with Yibao and Erbao to take care of Sanbao, so thank you,” Qian Aifen beckoned to the youngest son, showing him the cotton vest Ning Shu had given.

Seeing the big cotton jacket on the youngest son, she felt a pang of heartache.

Although it was common in rural areas for the older children to pass down their clothes to the younger ones, it still pained her as a mother.

Considering how Ning Shu casually gave away a cotton vest, while she couldn’t even afford to buy one for her youngest son, she realized that they needed to split up.

Once they split up, with the authority in her hands, she could afford to buy new clothes for her children each year, even if she couldn’t afford to buy for all at once.

Speaking of it, Zhang Qinfang’s mother did better than herself.

At least Haiquan doesn’t wear the clothes left by his brothers.

When Haiquan was born, Grandma wanted to dress him in the clothes worn by Haiwen and Haiwu, and Zhang Qinfang made a scene.

She said, “Why should my daughter have to wear the leftovers, while it’s Haiwen and Haiwu’s turn, what about my son?”

Because of this, later on, Grandma decided that if they were to make new clothes for the children, the eldest and the second would take turns.

However, it’s not that she wouldn’t fight for the children, but according to the rotation of one room at a time, it was considered fair.

What else could she do?

Several children heard Qian Aifen’s words and looked at the cotton vest in her hand.

Haicai ran to his mother, bouncing excitedly, “Mom, is it really for me? From Auntie Third?” Maybe compared to playing and eating, little boys prefer new clothes, but that doesn’t mean they don’t like them, do they?

“Yeah, try it on quickly.” Qian Aifen helped her son take off the old cotton jacket, the wool sweater inside was newly knitted, but the sweater was also old.

Wool is hard to come by these days, so she scrounged around to gather enough old wool to knit a sweater.

That’s why Hai Cai’s sweater has so many different colors.

Hai Cai carefully put on the cotton vest, which was a size too big.

When Hai Cai grows a little bigger next year, or if he wears another thick sweater inside, it’ll still fit.

“Mom…” Hai Cai spun around in front of everyone.

“Looks good,” Mother Lin praised first, “When you wear this new outfit, even Grandma won’t recognize you.”

Hai Cai blushed and smiled shyly.

He looked at his brothers and sisters again, Lin Qingmei also said, “Looks good, little brother, so handsome.”

Haicai’s smile grew wider as he looked at Ning Shu, “Thank you, Third Auntie.” He touched the cotton vest on his body, he liked it so much.

It was warmer and nicer than the old cotton clothes.

He really liked it.

“Don’t mention it. Haicai is such a good boy, he deserves to wear nice clothes.” Ning Shu also praised.

Haicai blushed and ran to Yibao and Erbao, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at them.

Naturally, Yibao and Erbao were happy that their good brother also had new clothes.

Yibao said, “We also have such clothes. Tomorrow we’ll wear them, we’ll all wear the same.”

“Then we’ll be quadruplets, me, you, Sanbao, and Haicai, we’ll all be the same.” Erbao also said happily.

Haha… Lin Haiwen laughed, “Silly Erbao, that’s not called quadruplets. Two people are called twins, three people are called triplets, and four people are called quadruplets.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Erbao also laughed, “Then if we wear the same clothes, we’ll be quadruplets.”

“But you have to look the same too,” Lin Haiwu said.

“Actually, some twins don’t look the same.” Ning Shu couldn’t bear to see her son confused by his two cousins’ words, so she spoke up.

Upon hearing Ning Shu’s words, everyone looked at her.

“Auntie San, aren’t twins supposed to look the same? How could they be different?” Lin Haiwen asked curiously.

“Yeah, Yibao and Erbao look the same.” Lin Haiwu chimed in.

“Are there twins who don’t look the same?” Qian Aifen was also curious. “Speaking of it, I’ve only seen Yibao and Erbao as twins. If you don’t look closely, you can’t tell the difference.”

Yibao and Erbao were considered quite similar among twins.

Their features resembled Lin Guodong, but their facial expressions were different.

This difference could only be noticed by those who were very familiar with them.

Yibao’s facial features resemble Lin Guodong, while Erbao’s facial features resemble Ning Shu.

However, ignoring this point, in the eyes of everyone, they are identical twins.

“Mom, why do twins look different? Me and my brother look the same.” Erbao also asked curiously.

Everyone waited for Ning Shu’s answer.

Lin Guodong raised an eyebrow, curious about how Ning Shu would respond.

From the scientific perspective of sperm and egg, these people wouldn’t understand.

Ning Shu said, “You and your brother look the same because when you were in my belly, you lived in the same room.”

Everyone: “…”

“Eh?” Yibao was curious, “Mom, does your belly have rooms too?”

“It’s strange, Mom’s belly is so small, how can it fit a room inside?” Erbao muttered.

Ning Shu chuckled.

It was amusing to tease the children. “Because when you were in my belly, you were very, very small. You’ve seen how small Sanbao was when he was just born, right?”

Yibao and Erbao nodded.

They knew how tiny Sanbao was when he was born.

Actually, Sanbao was well-nourished in Ning Shu’s womb.

After all, Ning Shu took good care of herself, so Sanbao didn’t lack nutrition inside the belly.

“Mom, then twins look different because they don’t live in the same room in your belly?” Yibao cleverly drew a parallel.

“Yes.” Ning Shu gave Yibao a thumbs up. “Our Yibao is really smart.”

Yibao smirked, feeling very pleased with himself.

Of course, Ning Shu’s words were just to entertain the children.

Naturally, adults wouldn’t believe them.

“Your words about Third Sister-in-law reminded me of something…” Qian Aifen brought up some gossip, “I heard from my mother that when she was young, there was a woman in the neighborhood who also gave birth to twins, but found that the two children didn’t look alike. So, the man suspected that the child who didn’t resemble him wasn’t his, suspecting that the woman had cheated, and treated that child and the woman very badly.

As a result, the woman was eventually driven insane.

But whether the woman did give birth to twins, my mother doesn’t know.

Now, hearing Third Sister talk about it, I think that woman must have really given birth to twins, but they just didn’t look alike.”

Ning Shu was stunned, “Is there really such a thing?”

Qian Aifen’s mother’s story was from before the liberation, a time even more chaotic and tumultuous, with limited knowledge among the common people. But it shouldn’t have been that extreme.

Qian Aifen nodded, “When I used to visit my grandmother’s house, I saw that woman. Everyone in my grandmother’s neighborhood knew about the woman going insane. Once when I visited my grandmother’s house, my cousin asked me if I wanted to go see the crazy woman next door.

I was curious at the time and had never seen a crazy person before, so I secretly went to see with my cousin. We hid by the window of that house and peeked inside. The room was empty, with some straw spread on the floor, and there was a disheveled woman singing in the corner.

Just as we were watching intently, she suddenly looked up at us, and we got scared and ran away. When I asked my mother later, that’s when she mentioned the story about the twins not looking alike.”

“Big Sis, you used to run off to see crazy people when you were young?” Zhang Qinfang looked disgusted, “What’s so interesting about crazy people?”

Qian Aifen was speechless, “At that time, I was young and curious about everything. And I had never seen a crazy person before, so of course, I wanted to go see. It’s like how you always gather around to listen to gossip in the village.”

Zhang Qinfang retorted, “Is gathering to listen to gossip the same as going to see crazy people? It’s so dangerous to see crazy people.”

Qian Aifen ignored her.

She wasn’t going to deal with this killjoy.

Ning Shu sat in the old house for a while and then went back to prepare lunch. Seeing this, Lin Guodong followed suit.

After lunch, when the sun was blazing in the afternoon, Meihua and Xiaoshan came to Ning Shu’s house and sat for a while.

Ning Shu brought out a piece of sugarcane and some snacks to entertain them. After they left, there were no more guests at their house.

So the first day of the lunar new year passed like this, with children going around the village in the morning.