Rebirth and making money first

Seeing that the little boy stood straight with his hands behind his back, he said to her seriously, "Aunt, you have to pay me." Zhang Jing was very surprised by the sudden words. She couldn't help but widen her eyes and look at the little person in front of her curiously.

Zhang Jing squatted down and gently touched the little girl's head. Then she asked gently and patiently, "Baby, you received a lot of red envelopes during the Chinese New Year. There must be a lot of money in them, right? Why do you want more money? Tell your aunt what you want to buy?"

After hearing this, Naituanzi first sighed helplessly, then blinked his big watery eyes and answered seriously: "Aunt, I am not an ignorant child of one or two years old anymore! My parents are really poor. The family is almost out of money, and I can't go to school. So I have to work hard to make money to help mom and dad support my brother." After speaking, Naituanzi's face showed maturity and worry that was disproportionate to his age.

Hearing this, Zhang Jing suppressed her laughter and continued to tease Naituanzi, saying, "Oh, they are so poor! How about you become my daughter? I will support you in the future, pay your tuition, buy you beautiful clothes, and send you to a good school!" She thought Naituanzi would happily agree, but unexpectedly she disagreed.

She shook her head and said firmly, "No, Auntie, although you are very kind to me, you already have two lovely babies. And my mother only has me as her baby. If you give birth to a brother for me, that would be perfect. Each of you will have two babies."

"I still want to call my mom, Mom, and you should still be my aunt. Don't worry, I will love you the most!"

Zhang Jing covered her face and said, "Auntie is so sad! It turns out that you lied to me when you asked me to be your mother! I thought I would have three lovely babies, but now I can only live with two babies in this big and beautiful house I decorated. Alas, the fun slide downstairs can only be used by my younger siblings. Xuan'er, go make some money! Auntie can't hold you back."

When the little girl heard this, she immediately became anxious, blinking her big eyes and yelling with a red face: "Oh, Auntie, I want to go to that beautiful house and play on the slide too! It must be super fun there!"

Zhang Jing, who was standing by, couldn't help but laugh and teased the little guy deliberately: "That won't work. If you go to play on the slide, how are you going to make money?"

The little girl curled her lips, put her hands on her hips, and replied confidently, "Ah, Auntie, I'm still young. It won't be too late to make money when I grow up!"

Zhang Jing laughed inwardly after hearing this, but remained serious on the surface and said, "Well, in that case, you stay home and play with your brothers and sisters. I'm going to go out and make some money. When you get off work, if you do a good job, I'll give you a dollar as a reward."

When Milk Ball heard that there was a reward, he immediately danced with joy and couldn't wait to urge: "Okay, okay, auntie, go make some money and come back early!" After that, he turned around and ran towards his younger brothers and sisters who were playing.

The nanny couldn't help but giggle at this adorable scene. Zhang Jing, taking advantage of this opportunity, quietly slipped into the room and began typing intently. As she pounded away on the keyboard, she muttered softly, "Ah, these kids these days are getting harder and harder to fool!"

Zhang Zhi is about to go to Hong Kong for a prenatal check-up. She has made an appointment with the doctor in advance and decided to bring her baby girl with her. However, she will temporarily leave her at her grandmother's house after arriving.

When Zhang Zhi returned from Hong Kong, she immediately asked Naituanzi how her grandparents treated her. Naituanzi blinked her big eyes and answered without hesitation, "Grandpa is good, but grandma is not!" Zhang Zhi was a little surprised by this answer and couldn't help but say, "Don't talk nonsense, little one! Your grandma is so good to you. Every time she eats buns and dumplings, she always leaves the delicious meat filling for you, while she only eats the tasteless skin. How dare you say that grandma is not good? Humph, next time Mommy goes for a prenatal checkup, she won't take you with her!"

When Naituanzi heard this, she immediately started crying and hugged Zhang Zhi's legs tightly, shouting that she must go to Hong Kong with her mother again. At this time, Zhang Jing looked at Naituanzi who was gradually growing up and said to Zhang Zhi earnestly: "Look, this child has grown up a lot now and has become more and more attached to you. Have you ever thought about sending her to study in Hong Kong?"

Zhang Zhi sighed helplessly after hearing this, shook her head, and said, "Sister, it's not that I don't want her to study in Hong Kong, but the reality doesn't allow it. Think about it, my parents-in-law live in a low-rent public housing unit, so small that they don't even have a place to sleep. If the whole family wants to get together for a reunion dinner, they have to go to a restaurant. Besides, the two old people worked so hard to raise their grandson, and they have long since announced that they can no longer take care of the child."

"Besides, kindergartens here in Hong Kong only have half-day classes each day, so parents have to choose whether to send their children in the morning or afternoon. This means the child has to stay at home for most of the rest of the time, and we can't be with her all the time... Oh, it's really a headache!"

"And then there's my mother-in-law's temper. Oh my God, if my daughter fell into her hands, she would scold her to death! She always speaks rudely to me when I'm there, calling me a 'Northern girl' and other unpleasant things. Humph, that old woman thinks I don't understand, how ridiculous!"

"And that old woman always complains that I'm fat and asks me to lose weight. When she doesn't listen, she goes to talk to my husband, and my husband is annoyed. He argues with her, 'Why lose weight? Can I become a 20-year-old pretty girl if I lose more weight?' She won't bother. I've made up my mind that when they are old and can't walk, don't expect me to take care of them!" Zhang Jing said angrily.

The nanny couldn't help but say, "Is it really that exaggerated?"

When Zhang Zhi heard this, she felt like she had found a kindred spirit. She immediately came over and took over the topic, starting to talk non-stop about her parents-in-law:

"You may not know this, but when my father-in-law was young, he and his brother stowed away to Hong Kong. Something went wrong along the way, and his brother accidentally fell into the water and drowned. My father-in-law was the only one who luckily made it to Hong Kong alive. After arriving there, he could only make a living by repairing sewers for others, a dirty and tiring job. It wasn't until he was in his forties that he saved some money and returned to Dongguan to marry my mother-in-law."

"Then, they gave birth to three sons and a daughter in a row. My husband was the unlucky eldest son."

At this point, Zhang Zhi paused and continued, "There's something even more bizarre. Every year when his family worships their ancestors, they don't worship the graves of his own grandparents, but his uncle's cenotaph. His grandparents' graves are well-buried in Dongguan, but my father-in-law said that if his eldest brother hadn't given him the chance to survive, he wouldn't be alive today. So, even though his eldest brother's cenotaph is all that's left, they still worship him every year. Sigh, I really don't understand the thinking of these older generations!"

I didn't know this before, but I would accompany his family to worship every year, and every time I went, I would specially bring drinks and barbecued suckling pig to worship their uncle together. Later I found out, I couldn't help myself.

You don't know, it was a lively group picnic! They weren't even allowed to burn a single piece of paper money. What kind of traditional custom is that? So, I always tell my husband, "Your brothers are doing worse than the other. Maybe the problem lies with the ancestral grave. Are we worshipping in the wrong place?"

I didn’t expect that my husband also thought so. It’s a pity that he was too timid to tell this to his father.

At this time, Zhang Jing interrupted and said, "After all, this matter concerns the fortunes of future generations. We still have to pay some attention and take it seriously!"

Zhang Zhi continued, "That's right! When I was at the temple, I performed many rituals for their family, and I donated so much money that I can't even count it. Just last time I went to Hong Kong, my father-in-law was quite considerate of me and gave me some money. He kept saying how hard I worked and how difficult it was. He also said his eldest son was a bit of a worry, and told me not to bother with him and just live a good life with him."

Hearing this, Zhang Jing responded with a smile: "In that case, then you must be content with what you have!"

Zhang Zhi said angrily, "I'm not content at all! My father-in-law just told me that when my husband was young, he was quite wealthy and even ran his own company. Who would have thought that he would later develop a gambling habit and squander all the family wealth! And his older brother, who used to be an upright Hong Kong police officer, even gave up such a stable job to help him start a company. And what a result! Not only did the company eventually go bankrupt, but he also owed a huge amount of foreign debt, causing his brother to lose his job as well. Since then, a deep grudge has developed between the two brothers. His brother resents him and even now doesn't talk to him much!"

Zhang Zhi grew increasingly angry as she spoke, and continued complaining, "A good civil servant was ruined by him just like that. If it were me, I would definitely ignore someone like him. But then again, don't you think his brother is pretty stupid?"

At this time, Zhang Jing responded, "Whether his brother is stupid or not is another matter for now. The key is you. You knew he was in such a state of poverty, but you still chose to marry him. I'm afraid you can't say you're smart! If you asked for a little bit of a betrothal gift when you got married, you would have immediately noticed his poor family background."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhi retorted disapprovingly, "Hey, stop making sarcastic remarks! To tell you the truth, even a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse! Even if they pluck out a single hair, their lives are much better than those of us inlanders!"

After listening to this, Zhang Jing nodded in agreement: "Well, I believe this point without a doubt. But since you have already purchased properties, you may not be able to apply for public housing in Hong Kong in the future!" She frowned slightly, revealing a hint of regret.

At this time, Zhang Zhi took over the conversation and said, "It is not easy to apply for public housing in Hong Kong. The regulations are very strict! Only low-income people with a monthly income of less than 65 yuan are eligible to apply. If it exceeds this range, there is no hope. The man in my family does not meet the standard income. He has to wait until he retires at the age of and can get a pension of more than yuan. Then he can apply. Now that we have bought a house, we automatically lose the qualification to apply for public housing!" As she said, she shook her head helplessly, her face full of regret.

"In short, we are the poor people of Hong Kong. We can't get richer, and we can't get poorer. We have no place to go, and it's hard to get by!"