Chapter 328: Chapter 321: The Unexpected Red Envelope Chapter 328: Chapter 321: The Unexpected Red Envelope On the first day of Chinese New Year early in the morning, Zheng Tan heard Old Sir Jiao and the old lady’s voices; the elderly always had a habit of waking up early, especially during the New Year period, they were even more diligent.

No one slept in today, Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan also got up very quickly, as there were many tasks to do today, and guests would come to the Jiao household to pay a new year’s visit. However, when Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan woke up, their vision was still blurry, half-asleep and yawning, they smelled the scent of braised pork.

Normally breakfast was quite light, so both children wondered, could it be that breakfast was changing to braised pork today? It was only while getting dressed that they found a red envelope placed beside their bed.

Upon picking it up, they saw that the red envelope was significantly thicker than the ones they usually received. On the back, there was a greasy paw print with a braised pork scent on it—without much thought, they knew to whom it belonged.

What surprised Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi even more was the 500 yuan inside the red envelope.

Zheng Tan had quite a bit of private money; both Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi knew this, and Jiao Yuan even borrowed money from Zheng Tan once, but borrowing money was one thing, receiving a New Year’s gift envelope was another. Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi felt this was very strange and complicated. After all, in their eyes, Zheng Tan was much younger than them in cat years, plus, there was 500 yuan inside! For students, this amount of money was quite a lot.

Jiao Yuan looked at the red envelope in his hand with a conflicted expression; he really wanted to shout “Damn” to relieve the shock brought on by the red envelope, but obviously, this was not acceptable. If he really did shout, he would definitely be scolded by the four elders at home, and on the first day of the New Year, he did not want to get a lecture.

The old grandfather and grandmother smiled with their eyes narrowed when they saw Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi coming out of their rooms. They hastily dug into their pockets and handed over the prepared New Year’s gift envelopes before the children could say anything.

Just as Zheng Tan had guessed, the elders gave out 100 yuan each; you could tell by the thickness. Zheng Tan couldn’t help feeling smug on the side, they gave less than what I gave.

“Ah, Heitan, here’s yours too.”

The old man and the old lady dug around again and, as with previous years, the red envelope for Zheng Tan contained pork jerky in one and dried fish slices in the other, but this year the old couple gave more. Where in the past a red envelope contained only one packet, now there were two packets, doubling the amount.

The reason for the doubling of the quantities in Zheng Tan’s red envelope was because of the events the day before yesterday, where Zheng Tan made the greatest contribution. Although many people attributed the credit to Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi, the old man and woman were aware that Zheng Tan played the key role. Moreover, because of this incident, several village cadres specially came to thank Old Sir Jiao, and even two officials from the town came to talk to Old Sir Jiao, which really gave Old Sir Jiao a lot of face. Old Sir Jiao always heard Mr. Gu brag during conversations, flaunting his important face and everything being done by leveraging his reputation. Now, Old Sir Jiao felt that the next time he saw Mr. Gu, he could brag a bit more himself.

Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi did not tell the two elderly people about receiving the “large sum” red envelope from Zheng Tan, afraid it might frighten them. Jiao Yuan took advantage of a moment when Mr. Jiao was free to pull him aside into a room, and with a face expressing “Damn”, he told Mr. Jiao about the red envelope from Zheng Tan.

Mr. Jiao pondered for a while and then said, “Well, accept it then. According to the age conversion between cats and humans, Heitan is already middle-aged, and you are still a teenager. It probably considers you a junior.”

Jiao Yuan: “…That’s not how it’s calculated.”

“It’s also Heitan’s goodwill. Besides, Heitan is considered a high-income earner after several years of work, and you are still just a middle school student. Its monthly salary can cover half a year of your living expenses. Oh, and the payment it received for that documentary at the end of the year was even more.”

Jiao Yuan: “…” That’s quite demoralizing.

In other families, cats also give gifts such as dead mice, damaged grasshoppers, or other “little trinkets” and so on, yet having their own cat give them New Year’s money is probably an experience only Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi could have, as well as the complex and conflicted feelings that come with it.

After returning from the graveyard visit in the morning, Zheng Tan noticed someone was sitting in the old house—Song Ting. Old Sir Jiao was all smiles, calling Song Ting “Expert Song” with enthusiastic warmth.

Compared to when he had been tied up, Song Ting looked much better now, the bruising at the corners of his eyes had also faded extensively. Fortunately, the robbers did not strip away their down jackets too; otherwise, they might not have been able to wait safely for rescue. Song Ting didn’t become disheartened due to the events he had experienced; on the contrary, he looked quite spirited and healthier in complexion.

Song Ting had arrived when Mr. Jiao had just left with Jiao Yuan and others. Since Old Sir Jiao said it wouldn’t be too long, Song Ting had been sitting there waiting. When he saw Mr. Jiao and the group return, Song Ting’s eyes flashed with a smile, his gaze first fell on Zheng Tan wearing a vest, then on Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi, and finally on Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma.

After the New Year’s greetings, Song Ting started to dig into his pockets.

Zheng Tan felt a sense of unease in his heart, sensing an ominous premonition.

Indeed, the next moment he saw Song Ting pulling out two exquisitely made red envelopes from his pocket, which were twice the size of Zheng Tan’s, and moreover, the red envelopes were thick.

Upon seeing this, Mr. Jiao and Old Sir Jiao immediately became restless, getting up to try and refuse the gift. In the end, they couldn’t resist Song Ting’s insistence and nodded, allowing the children to accept it.

“Alas, Expert Song, you are being too polite!” Old Sir Jiao felt the pressure was enormous—there had never been an instance in their village where New Year’s gift money went as high as 1,000 yuan.

Just now, after Jiao Yuan received the red envelope, he returned to his room to check it, then secretly gestured to Mr. Jiao and Old Sir Jiao to tell them how much was inside, so they could get the gist.

In fact, many of Song Ting’s relatives usually give large sums in their red envelopes to the children—amounts like 1,000 or 2,000 yuan were common, as if giving any less would appear stingy. However, this was also a process of reciprocation; whatever you gave to their child, they would return in kind to your child. Red envelopes were exchanged back and forth, and if you couldn’t reciprocate with New Year’s money, you’d make a note of it and return it in other ways, adding it into the money given at the next occasion.

Song Ting really disliked these so-called “exchanges of courtesies.” In the past, it was always his wife who prepared them. However, since she went abroad for her Ph.D. and the elderly were not nearby to advise, he ultimately decided to continue the tradition among the relatives and prepared a hefty red envelope, giving each child 1,000 yuan.

Song Ting originally wanted to give even more; he was truly grateful to these two children. It was the first time he encountered such an event in so many years, and luckily, the two children and the cat helped out, or else the outcome would have been unpredictable. He was willing to give even more in the red envelopes, but in the end, several friends from Song Ting’s side persuaded him not to. For village folks giving too much could be burdensome, and if he was grateful, other methods were acceptable. So, this 1,000 yuan was the result of a substantial reduction following the advice of his friends.

Over on Zheng Tan’s side, when Jiao Yuan went back to check the red envelope, he quickly followed along. After seeing the contents, countless “fuck” words thundered across his mind alongside alpacas, making his gaze at Song Ting somewhat unfriendly. He had planned to give the highest red envelopes this year, yet in less than two hours, his record was broken.

Zheng Tan felt so frustrated he wanted to flip the table, and at the same time, he was considering saving more cash for next year to give! Then he would also prepare a bigger, more delicately made, and prettier red envelope!

Someone came looking for Old Sir Jiao, and the old man asked Mr. Jiao to stay here and chat more with Expert Song. After Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi were called away by Jiao Ma, only Mr. Jiao and Song Ting remained. Both were professors of similar age. Although their fields of expertise differed, they still had some intersections and could engage in common topics, which even included academically profound subjects that made Zheng Tan feel sleepy.

When Zheng Tan awoke after a brief nap, Mr. Jiao and Song Ting had shifted the conversation to the losses in the orchards following the snow disaster, and they were also talking about making donations.

Zheng Tan, who was always carefree, had no interest in donating and didn’t feel the need to give his money to strangers he didn’t know. Moreover, he didn’t need to rely on donations to earn a reputation, preferring to give more to the Jiao family and friends he knew. Thus, as Mr. Jiao and Song Ting discussed the donations, Zheng Tan ran outside, planning to take a walk.

This year, the festive atmosphere in the village was not as strong as before, due to the snow disaster that perplexed many who lived off the land. Both those in agriculture and animal husbandry were in the same boat, bearing a pessimistic outlook and only hoping to salvage what they could of the losses.

There were also far fewer children outside playing with firecrackers, all busy helping out with their families. Their family’s income was directly tied to their future education and marriages, so they forwent playing with firecrackers in favor of working.

Zheng Tan squatted on a large rock beside the muddy road, watching the villagers darting around nearby.

Two elderly people walked past him on the muddy road, discussing something and not noticing Zheng Tan.

From their conversation, it seemed to be about the villagers pooling money together to donate to a family in dire straights. The family’s tiled house had already had many issues and was not very sturdy; half of it collapsed under the weight of the snowfall. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and with the help of others, they barely made it through New Year’s Eve without freezing or starving. Some villagers wanted to collect money quickly to help them repair their house, otherwise, they would have nowhere to live.

According to the two elderly men, their own families’ conditions were not very good, merely tolerable, and their children and daughters-in-law did not quite agree with donating money. However, the old folks thought that doing good deeds to accumulate virtues for their children and grandchildren would allow them to leave this world more peacefully.

Many people, as they grow older, begin to believe more and more in these mysteries, such as doing good and accumulating virtues.

It’s often said that good people will be rewarded, and the wicked will be punished by heaven. Zheng Tan used to scorn such ideas because he saw all sorts of scams, frauds, murders, thefts, and depravity in society, with these perpetrators living in mansions, driving luxury cars, and dating high-quality women, leading far better lives than anyone else—while some good people lived in misery instead.

The failure of education, the increasingly burdensome pressures of life, and the growing gap between the rich and the poor left people struggling to catch their breath. Doing good and accumulating virtue? No, they increasingly believed in the supremacy of money, and as for whether the process was good or bad, what did that matter?

However, Zheng Tan suddenly found himself in a quandary again—had he become a cat because he had done too many depraved things?

Across the muddy road was a vegetable garden where some of the crops had frozen to death, but close to a section of fence, some were still alive. The cauliflower, holding up its yellow flowers high, swayed gently with the wind, adding a touch of vitality and hope.

Zheng Tan stared at the cauliflower, becoming immersed in its tranquility until suddenly, a donkey’s face appeared with its startlingly abrupt brays that nearly made Zheng Tan jump. But the donkey simply turned its head, swished its tail, and followed “Fifth Grandpa” away.

Watching the man and his donkey move away, Zheng Tan stretched lazily and ran back to the old house.

After Mr. Jiao saw Song Ting out, he went inside for a drink, only to find Zheng Tan squatting on the table in a pose of “deep thought,” his cat paws pressing on a bank card. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com with your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep