Xue Rui hadn’t slept a wink on New Year’s Eve.
On the first day of the New Year, he had lunch at Lin Ruoxi’s house.
To his surprise, after the al, the old lady left two red envelopes on the table.
"There’s one for ?" Xue Rui was a little surprised.
The old lady didn’t answer, just rummaged around for sothing on the sofa.
In Xue Rui’s eyes, even though the envelope was thin and probably contained only a hundred or two hundred yuan at most, it held a different kind of aning.
A sign of acceptance from an elder.
Xue Rui grinned. "Old lady, can I start eating early? The food at your house slls too good; it’s been tempting ."
"No!" the old lady snapped.
Lin Ruoxi was clearing the table. Hearing the two of them start to bicker again, she said softly, "Let’s not fight during the New Year, okay?"
After speaking, she gave Xue Rui a pleading look.
Besides, she found their argunt strange. They had just eaten, so why were they talking about eating again?
The naive girl had no idea that the two of them were actually talking about her.
"Lin Ruoxi, I’m heading ho for the New Year. I probably won’t be back until school starts, so you’ll be in full charge of the software."
Xue Rui had already told Lin Ruoxi that his family’s relative-visiting would take a long ti.
"Okay. And here’s your phone." While sweeping, Lin Ruoxi found Xue Rui’s phone, which had fallen under the coffee table.
Xue Rui had celebrated her birthday with her and even spent New Year’s with her. She had never been this happy.
"Enjoy the holiday, and don’t work too hard," Xue Rui added, patting Lin Ruoxi’s head.
Lin Ruoxi stood by the window, watching Xue Rui walk away. Only when his figure had vanished from sight did she reluctantly turn back.
"Where’s the TV remote?" the old lady muttered, rembering she had left it on the sofa last night.
"Grandma, Xue Rui took the remote," Lin Ruoxi said.
She had seen Xue Rui slip the remote into his pocket when she got up that morning.
"What’s he doing with the remote?" The old lady felt like she was being personally targeted.
"I don’t know," Lin Ruoxi said, shaking her head.
’She didn’t know why Xue Rui did it, but if he wanted it, he could have it.’
"Xixi, what am I supposed to use, then?" the old lady sighed helplessly.
’This silly granddaughter of mine... she thinks everything Xue Rui does is right and never argues with him.’
Lin Ruoxi thought for a mont. She had bought a big pile of electronic components before, and an infrared remote wasn’t a complicated project.
"Grandma, just wait a bit. I’ll make another one."
「...」
It was already nightti when Xue Rui arrived back in his village. Faced with a large crowd of relatives, his mind went blank. He habitually greeted everyone and offered New Year’s wishes...
"Happy New Year, Grandpa..."
Seeing the dark circles under Xue Rui’s eyes, his grandfather joked, "Xiaorui, were you out stealing cattle last night?"
"I’m so, so sleepy..."
"Co, co, here’s so New Year’s money from your uncle."
「...」
Lin Ruoxi’s simple, sincere words had sent his imagination running wild, completely ssing up his internal clock.
It wasn’t until the morning of the second day of the New Year that Xue Rui was shaken awake by Xue Yao. "Bro, ti for breakfast."
"Not eating. I’m going back to sleep." Xue Rui impatiently kicked at Xue Yao.
Xue Yao dodged to the side, grabbed Xue Rui’s leg, and gave his inner thigh a sharp pinch.
"HISS! Yaoyao, are you asking for a beating?" Xue Rui cursed.
"Bro, be honest. What were you up to yesterday? And why do you have a TV remote in your pocket?"
Xue Yao pulled a remote control out of Xue Rui’s pocket. It looked incredibly familiar, as if she had seen it sowhere before.
Xue Rui rubbed his eyes and got a clear look at what was in Xue Yao’s hand.
’Did I take the remote from Lin Ruoxi’s house?’
His Nokia was long and thin, and the TV remote was also long and thin.
’Probably because I was sleep-deprived, my mind was foggy, and I grabbed it by mistake...’
However, Xue Rui had no intention of returning it. ’I’ll deal with it after the holidays,’ he thought.
Fortunately, he hadn’t left his phone at Lin Ruoxi’s house. That was the only good news.
He opened QQ on his phone and saw that Gu Muxue had sent him a lot of ssages, including many pictures.
His phone couldn’t display images, so he couldn’t understand the context and simply didn’t reply.
In truth, it wasn’t that he couldn’t have given a half-hearted reply. It was like when a friend sends a 60-second voice ssage on WeChat—many people don’t even listen, just firing back a perfunctory, "Hahaha," "Right, right," "That’s hilarious," or "Totally..."
Gu Muxue most likely didn’t know a Nokia couldn’t display pictures. To keep the girl from blaming herself, Xue Rui sent her a text ssage: "There’s no internet in the village, so QQ ssages won’t send."
Soon, Gu Muxue replied: "Then let’s chat over text."
Xue Rui was relieved that Gu Muxue was even busier than him during the New Year.
Not only did she have to visit relatives, but she also had to travel to another province.
Otherwise, he really wouldn’t have had enough ti.
The two of them chatted via text for a long ti, until China Mobile sent a notification reminding him that his balance was down to 5.8 yuan.
"Muxue, I have to go. My phone is almost out of credit."
Xue Rui put his phone away and saw his dad sunbathing at the door, greeting passersby from the village in the local dialect.
"Jianfeng, have you eaten?"
"Just ate. How was the harvest this year?"
"Sa crap every year. Can’t compare to you business folks."
「...」
When Xie Jianfeng was free, Xue Rui walked over. He handed all the red envelopes he’d received to his father. "Dad, here’s my New Year’s money for this year. I’ll leave it with you for safekeeping."
Xue Rui made a preemptive move, not giving Xie Jianfeng a chance to speak first.
He didn’t need this bit of money now. His bank account held about 200,000 yuan from the last few months of ga and software subscription revenue.
Xie Jianfeng froze. ’Those were his lines.’
"See that? What a sensible big brother! Now you let go!"
"No!" The little boy clutched the red envelopes in his hands for dear life.
A grand drama of confiscating New Year’s money was unfolding at the neighbor’s doorstep.
The parent was afraid the child would run around with the money and lose it.
But the little boy knew that once he handed over the money, he would never get it back.
Even though he would have to surrender the money eventually at ho, it was the New Year now, and there were many adults around. He was certain his mom wouldn’t hit him in front of outsiders.
"So you think you’re all high and mighty just because there are people watching!" the woman said through gritted teeth.
"I’m not giving it to you!"
The little boy ran far away, clutching his New Year’s money.
That’s how kids are. So what if they get a beating at ho later? At least for now, they could hold on to it a little longer.
Looking at the red envelopes Xue Rui was handing him, Xie Jianfeng felt increasingly uncomfortable. "I don’t want it. It’s all yours this year."
’It’s not much money anyway,’ he thought. ’At most, Xue Rui will just buy so snacks or go to an internet cafe.’
The corner of Xue Rui’s eye twitched. ’My own dad is so rebellious. When I actually needed the money, he always made ’hand it over.’ Now that I don’t need it, he’s suddenly being generous?’
"You’ll be in your third year of high school in the latter half of this year, and you have the college entrance exams next year, right?" Xie Jianfeng asked.
’There are still hundreds of days left. Why is Xie Jianfeng asking about this?’ Xue Rui wondered.
"I was chatting with Old Gu a few days ago," Xie Jianfeng said. "He said having a degree is still more convenient and suggested I send you to study abroad."
Thinking back, he realized Gu Qingshan was right.
Kids with poor grades, if their families could afford it, were all sent abroad to get a fancy degree.
Even if it was from so no-na foreign university, they ca back as a "foreign-educated returnee." It sounded way more impressive than a degree from a Tier 1 or Tier 2 university at ho.
"I’m not going. I can get into a university here in China," Xue Rui refused flatly.
’Gu Qingshan has it all figured out, doesn’t he?’ he thought. ’Get shipped off abroad so Gu Muxue can stay and study in China?’
"A vocational college degree doesn’t sound good. It’s better to go abroad and get so polish," Xie Jianfeng pleaded earnestly.
"Dad, why are you looking down on ? Didn’t my aunt tell you about my academic improvent?"
Unexpectedly, Xie Jianfeng chuckled. "My grades weren’t bad when I was in school either. I copied off Old Gu. He was first in the class, and I sat behind him and copied my way into the top hundred."
Xie Jianfeng was judging his son by his own standards, subconsciously assuming his son was just like him.
Xue Rui was speechless. He knew it was pointless to say anything.
"You think I don’t know my own kid? You’re a chip off the old block. You can’t fool ."
Xie Jianfeng gave a sly grin, his gaze seemingly able to see through everything.
Xue Xiaying, who was in the courtyard, overheard their conversation. She was about to speak up and defend Xue Rui when she saw him smile and shake his head at her.
"Xiaorui, why don’t you explain?" Xue Xiaying asked, pulling him aside.
As a teacher, she could tell just by looking at an exam paper whether a student had earned their score through their own ability.
"The college entrance exams will prove everything for ," Xue Rui said calmly.
"Oh, this is your New Year’s money from Auntie."
Xue Xiaying took out a red envelope, but Xue Rui held up a hand to refuse it. She frowned. "Why are you being so formal with ?"
She had watched Xue Rui grow up and, in her heart, saw him as her own child.
But Xue Rui was so mature that, by contrast, he made her feel like the child.
She was truly grateful to Xue Rui. Lately, everything at school had been going smoothly for her.
Her class’s average score was first in the grade, and even the maintenance staff would greet her.
The last ti she went to get new teaching aids, the maintenance staff even enthusiastically poured her a cup of tea.
’I’m not an idiot. Why would a nobody like get this kind of treatnt? It must be Xue Rui’s doing.’
What she found strangest was that even Director Wang’s attitude toward her had beco very kind. He would even praise Xue Rui from ti to ti.
She felt she was benefiting from Xue Rui’s influence.
"Auntie, how much is your salary even? How can you give such a thick red envelope?"
Xue Rui would naturally accept red envelopes from outsiders because his dad also gave money out, so in the end, the accounts balanced.
But Xue Xiaying was different. She wasn’t married yet and had no children, so any money she gave out wouldn’t be reciprocated.
Besides, with Xue Xiaying’s ager salary, she had probably been pinching pennies for a long ti just to cover the expenses of New Year’s social obligations.
Xue Rui pulled out a red envelope with five hundred yuan inside and stuffed it into Xue Xiaying’s down jacket. "Auntie, I’m young, I don’t need my age ’pressed down.’ You’re the one who should be receiving it."
Xue Xiaying blinked, not imdiately understanding what Xue Rui ant.
But after thinking it over, it dawned on her.
Xue Rui was calling her old.
Xue Xiaying’s teeth ground together. "GRIND... Xiaorui! You’re doing this on purpose to piss off!"
"Grandma, save !"
Hearing Xue Rui call for reinforcents, Xue Xiaying ducked her head and quickly ran out the door.
With nothing else to do, Xue Rui idly opened his phone and found a text from Gu Muxue: "Xiaorui, here’s so New Year’s money for you."
Xue Rui was bewildered. WeChat Pay hadn’t even launched yet, so how could Gu Muxue give him New Year’s money?
He scrolled down and saw a pile of successful top-up notifications from China Mobile.
[Current account balance: 10,005.8 yuan...]
Xue Rui couldn’t help but shout, "Holy shit!"
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