Rebirth and making money first

Every Chinese New Year, buying New Year's goods is always something people look forward to. This year, my mother-in-law has already carefully selected and purchased the New Year's goods, and touchingly, even Zhang Jing's share has not been left out.

Not only that, Zhang Xiaobing and Zhang Zhi also delivered the New Year gift packages distributed by their units to Zhang Jing's home. At the same time, Uncle Zhang and Zhang Yongle also sent a considerable amount of New Year's goods.

They had planned to drive back to their hometown to pay respects to their ancestors and celebrate the New Year there. Li Manyue also chose to return to her parents' home to celebrate this important festival.

As everyone was sitting together discussing New Year's matters, Zhang Zhi suddenly spoke up, "I have a suggestion. This year, let's not give red envelopes to our children! Giving them back and forth is really boring. So, I won't give red envelopes to your children, and you don't have to give any to my children either! We can all save ourselves the trouble."

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaobing responded, "Sure, whatever you want. I only have one child, and you all have two. If you really don't give it to me, I can actually save some money."

However, Zhang Jing, who was standing by, had a different opinion. She quickly said, "Hey, these red envelopes don't cost much. It's Chinese New Year, so how can we not make the children happy? If you don't want to give them, then forget it. I will give them one for each of the four children. However, the one in your belly that hasn't been born yet won't count for the time being!"

At this time, Zhang Zhi smiled and said, "Hey, sister, why don't you just give me the red envelope directly."

Zhang Jing immediately became serious when she heard this. "That won't do! How can you break the rules like this? Besides, since you said you won't be giving out red envelopes, you have no right to make such a request. This matter still has to be decided by me!"

Every Chinese New Year is a time for traditional eating and drinking. This year, Zhang Xiaobing had planned to enjoy a New Year's Eve dinner with Zhang Zhi's family. However, things didn't go as planned; Zhang Zhi's family unexpectedly returned to Hong Kong early.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jing brought her entire family to her grandfather's home to share this special New Year's Eve dinner. When they learned that Zhang Xiaobing was alone, they enthusiastically invited him over to share in the joy of reunion.

This New Year's Eve dinner was made extra lively and interesting by the two lovely children. Now, the children have begun to recognize their close relatives. Their innocent smiles and babbling added a lot of laughter to the whole dinner.

Zhang Jing was filled with joy as she accepted the red envelopes of blessings from the two children's elders. At the same time, she noticed that her parents-in-law treated the two children equally without any favoritism, and the weight of worry that had been hanging in her heart finally fell quietly.

During the meal, the topic of moving naturally came up. It turned out that Zhang Jing was renovating her new house, which she expected to be finished and ready for occupancy after the Lunar New Year. Her mother-in-law kindly suggested that she move as soon as possible. After all, the Lunar New Year is peak moving season, with heavy traffic and people, making it difficult to find a suitable vehicle.

However, Zhang Jing has her own considerations. She plans to wait until mid-March to move into her new home. The reason is simple: a newly renovated house inevitably retains some harmful gases. It's best to leave it vacant for at least three months to allow air to dissipate. Otherwise, it could have adverse effects on the health of young children.

She also heard from colleagues that some children had unfortunately developed leukemia because they moved into newly renovated houses too early. This made her mother-in-law and her family anxious, and they quickly asked, "Really? What should we do then?"

After a detailed discussion, everyone finally reached a consensus: my parents-in-law, my grandfather, and I would move into the old house first in early March. Zhang Jing planned to move in mid-March. Although the house was ready, the potential health risks of residual harmful gases from the renovations were a concern.

So they decided not to move into the new house for the time being. Zhang Jing's family of four planned to stay at her grandfather's house for about three months, waiting for the harmful gases from the renovation to dissipate before officially moving into the new home.

At this point, Zhang Jing came up with an idea: "Why don't we hire some professionals to test the indoor air quality? And if there are more effective ways to expedite the removal of these harmful gases, we'll be facing the same problem when we renovate our resettlement housing."

Zhang Jing's suggestion was approved by everyone. Zhang Xiaobing listened to his sister's suggestion silently and took it to heart, fearing that he would accidentally step into a minefield when handling such matters.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Zhi and her family returned home. They not only brought back exquisite souvenirs from the racecourse for Zhang Xiaobing and Zhang Jing, but also vividly described the bustling scene and grandeur of the scene.

This made the two siblings, who had never experienced it themselves, yearn for it, their faces full of longing. Zhang Zhi said temptingly, "Next year during the Spring Festival, we must go together to experience it! But before that, we have to get the passes in advance!" Hearing this, Zhang Xiaobing asked with some concern, "That will cost a lot of money, right?"

Zhang Zhi rolled her eyes at him and replied unhappily, "Xiaobing, you're no longer at the bottom of society. Can you please improve your way of thinking and your consciousness? After all, we're all millionaires now, so why do you still talk like a migrant worker?"

Zhang Xiaobing said, "One hundred thousand isn't considered rich; a million is the starting point. Your brother was originally poor, not just a migrant worker! He's a nouveau riche at best!"

Zhang Jing handed the red envelope to Naituanzi, who then gave it to Zhang Zhi. Zhang Jing deliberately asked Naituanzi, "Did your grandparents and uncle give you any red envelopes when you returned to Hong Kong this time?"

Before Naituanzi could say anything, Zhang Zhi said, "They're all given to her father. He said they're for her daughter to save. My husband and I have agreed that if the red envelope is in RMB, I'll keep it, and if it's in Hong Kong dollars, my husband will keep it. This time when I come back, I still have a lot of favors to repay, and I have to give out a lot of gifts."

Naituanzi chased Zhang Xiaobing and shouted, "Uncle, give me the red envelope to wish you prosperity!" Zhang Xiaobing said, "I asked your mother for a red envelope. If your mother won't give it to you, there's nothing I can do!"

Naituanzi was upset, so Zhang Zhi could only make excuses: "You're not allowed to randomly ask for red envelopes!" Naituanzi said: "My aunt gave it to me, and my uncle didn't give me any. I already said congratulations and good fortune!"

Zhang Xiaobing said, "Your uncle is poor! You said congratulations and good fortune, but let's see if your uncle can get rich this year. If he can, I'll give you a huge red envelope next year!"

When Milk Ball heard this, he immediately said, "Uncle, make a fortune this year!"

Zhang Xiaobing smiled when he heard this: "Thank you for your good wishes, I'll give you a red envelope right now. But I don't have any red envelopes."

Zhang Zhi said, "That's no big deal. I'll give you some empty bags right away."

Zhang Xiaobing said: "One of me is enough, there aren't that many people sending it."

Zhang Jing said, "You should still have a few on hand at work, maybe 10 or 20 yuan worth, just in case. If your boss comes with their kids, you can use them and avoid being scrambled. If you don't use them, you won't lose anything."

Zhang Xiaobing didn't take it seriously, but somehow he still put in a few 10-yuan red envelopes. When Naituanzi saw that the red envelopes only contained 10 yuan, he was very disappointed and called his uncle "stingy."

Zhang Xiaobing said to Naituanzi, "This is for your own good. Look, your uncle gave you 10 yuan. This money belongs to you and you don't have to give it to your mother. You can buy whatever you want, even ice cream. If I gave you 100 yuan, your mother would keep it and you wouldn't be able to spend it. In the end, the money would all belong to your mother. So, is it better for your uncle to give you 10 yuan or 100 yuan?"

The little boy's eyes turned and he immediately replied, "Then I want 10 yuan. I want to buy some ice cream."

Zhang Zhi stopped her: "Why buy ice cream? You are not allowed to run around alone."

Zhang Xiaobing said, "Uncle will take you to buy ice cream, but you have to treat uncle to one."

Milk ball immediately agreed: "Okay!"

Seeing the two of them about to leave, Zhang Zhi called out, "Buy a few more. Buy one each for me, your aunt, and your dad."

Zhang Xiaobing said, "I only have 10 yuan, why don't you add some?" Zhang Zhi said, "Why buy ice cream? Just eat the old popsicles." She was determined not to pay more.

After buying them, I realized that except for the milk ball, which had a small pudding with a little cream, Zhang Xiaobing was eating a regular popsicle. Holding a few small puddings in his hand, Zhang Xiaobing said, "Regular popsicles are one yuan each, and small puddings are 5 cents. I thought about it and bought you all small puddings, two for each of you. They have a lot more cream than one of my regular popsicles."

Milk ball said: "Uncle's old popsicle is hard to bite, it's not tasty!"

Zhang Zhi said, "Don't lie to my daughter all the time." She grabbed Milk Ball and asked, "How much money do you have left? Give it to me!"

The little girl covered her pocket with her hands. "This is the money my uncle gave me. You are not allowed to take it!"

Zhang Zhi's husband also said to her, "It's only a few dollars, and you want it too? I don't know what to say to you!" Zhang Zhi said, "I'm afraid she'll lose it, right?" Her husband said, "If she loses it, it's only a few dollars. Next time she'll remember to keep an eye on her wallet. Your parenting methods are not good. You have to give her the opportunity to make mistakes so she can grow. If you always control her, how will she grow up? She's over three years old, and she doesn't know the difference between big and small coins. There's something wrong with you as a mother! You've made your child stupid! 'One pregnancy makes a child stupid for three years' – that's what women like you are like."

"Bullshit! The child isn't mine alone, don't you have any responsibility?" Zhang Zhi was also annoyed. "I still don't believe it. I raised a fool!"

Zhang Zhi grabbed the little girl and helped her clean her mouth and paws. She then took out 100-yuan, 50-yuan, 20-yuan, 10-yuan, 5-yuan, and 1-yuan RMB notes and laid them out in order. She pointed at them and asked the little girl what they were and which was bigger and which was smaller. The little girl answered all the questions correctly. Zhang Zhi collected the money and gave the little girl a dollar as a reward. She then took out some Hong Kong dollars and repeated the same process, and the little girl answered each question correctly.

Seeing her husband's shock, Zhang Zhi raised her head proudly and said, "Don't you think she is stupid enough?" The little girl got angry and shouted, "I'm not a fool, huh! I know this is the money my grandparents use, and this is our family money!" In her fat paw was the one-yuan coin that Zhang Zhi gave her as a reward.