Kays Translations

Chapter 12: Tricking Away New Year’s Money

The ancestor-worship procedure was anything but simple. As it neared its end, Grand Uncle held the wine and recited: “To the spirit tablet of the honored forefather of the Zhu clan: shelter the Zhu family and let your benevolent grace nourish the household. As we respectfully sweep and tend the ancestral graves, our gratitude and remembrance know no bounds… We dare offer sweet wine and reverently present the year’s sacrifice to our honored forefathers and foremothers. May you partake of this offering.” Afterward, he bowed three times, poured the wine onto the ground, and burned paper money.

Great-aunt’s husband and Grandfather each repeated Grand Uncle’s actions, though there was no need to recite the prayer again. With that, the ancestor-worship ceremony finally came to an end, and everyone returned to the Zhu family courtyard.

The Zhu family courtyard had long since prepared a lavish lunch, with three large tables set out. The largest was for the men, while the other two were for the women and children, and the dishes were nearly the same at all three.

Large, deep bowls and plates covered the tables: stewed free-range chicken, braised pheasant, braised fish, chilled wood ear mushrooms, steamed rabbit, braised rabbit, and several plates of home-style greens. A few jars of well-aged wine completed the spread and made everyone’s mouths water.

It truly reflects the saying from an ancient poem: “Do not laugh at the murky wine of the farmer; during a bountiful year, there’s enough to host guests with chicken and pork.”

When the three branches of the family ate together, the differences were quite noticeable. Grand Uncle’s family and Great-aunt’s family clearly had better table manners than their own branch.

There was no need to look at the adults; the children alone made the contrast obvious. Zhu Pingjun from Eldest Uncle’s family ate with a runny nose, wolfing food down as if he had not eaten in days, smacking his lips loudly and even grabbing meat directly from the plates. The children from Grand Uncle’s family were much better behaved, especially the older girl cousins, who ate far more decorously.

After the meal, the adults discuss that since Great-uncle’s family will be moving south, it would be better to treat this gathering as a New Year reunion and also to give the children some New Year money for fun.

As for New Year money, Zhu Ping’an didn’t know how he got excited, perhaps due to feeling a bit childish himself because of his physical state.

After coming to this world, he had never even touched a single coin. Now that he could receive money, it would be strange not to feel excited. Having money in hand brings a sense of security.

“Happy New Year, Grandpa and Grandma.” Zhu Ping’an took advantage of his sweet-talking skills, clasping his little chubby hands to wish the elders a happy new year. Although he couldn’t escape the feudal custom of kneeling, after all, showing respect to elders is a beautiful tradition.

Because of his sweet words, Zhu Ping’an received a considerable amount of New Year money from Great-uncle and Auntie’s family, especially since each of them also gave him an extra silver ingot. Zhu Ping’an secretly observed that it seemed like Great-uncle and Auntie only gave him the silver ingots, while everyone else received a handful of copper coins; he was the only one who received this special treat.

Grandfather and Grandmother also showed favoritism; Zhu Ping’an saw with his own eyes that Grandmother gave Zhu Pingjun more New Year money than she gave him…

After making the rounds, Zhu Ping’an’s pockets were already heavy with New Year money.

At that moment, Mrs. Chen walked over with a smile resembling that of the Big Bad Wolf.

At this moment, Mrs. Chen was thinking: This little rascal, seeing that you just received a lot of New Year money and even a silver ingot, haha, my son is really great; come, give it to your mother.

“Zhi’er, come here, let me keep your New Year money for you. Money is safest with me, and when you want to buy candy, you can come to me for it,” Mrs. Chen said, rubbing Zhu Ping’an’s little head with a smile, extending her hand.

Looking at Mrs. Chen’s wolf-like smile, Zhu Ping’an felt a chill run down his spine.

It seems that the tradition of mothers tricking their children out of their New Year money has remained unchanged for centuries. The tactic employed by his mother, Mrs. Chen, is aptly named “creating something from nothing.” It’s simple yet highly effective. Just think about how many naive little kids fall for this trick from their moms every year! The genius of this tactic lies in the phrase “I’ll help you keep it safe.” This touch is like the finishing stroke of a painting, bringing the trick to life, as countless innocent children willingly hand over their New Year money to their mothers, cheerfully complying.

However, Zhu Ping’an clearly does not belong to that naive category of children.

His response was uniquely inventive and distinctively defiant: “No, I want to save it to marry a wife!”

Zhu Ping’an’s words immediately amused all the aunts and uncles present, who laughed at how this little one was already thinking about saving up for a wife at such a young age.

Mrs. Chen was left speechless; it made no sense! This little rascal had been fooled by her for so many years, so why wasn’t it working this time? Marrying a wife—how could he even think of that at such a young age? Who taught him this? She turned to glare at Zhu Shouyi.

Zhu Shouyi, who was drinking, ended up being caught in the crossfire; he nearly choked on his wine from the glare from his wife, repeatedly waving his hands to indicate that he hadn’t taught him that.

With the “creating something from nothing” tactic failing, Mrs. Chen switched to a more cunning approach, playing the concerned parent.

“Do you know how dangerous it is for a child to have so much money? It’s good behavior to voluntarily hand it over,” Mrs. Chen said, placing her hands on her hips and intentionally raising her voice.

If it were a typical naive child, at this point, they would probably tear up and admit their mistake, handing over their New Year money.

But unfortunately, Zhu Ping’an was not that kind of child.

“I’ll put away the money for marrying a wife right away; I won’t keep it on me,” Zhu Ping’an waved his chubby paw, indicating that he could manage it himself and that she needn’t worry.

Mrs. Chen was left in disappointment again.

Now, Auntie and others were intrigued and gathered around, as almost all the children’s New Year money had just been taken away by their parents through various means. Zhu Ping’an was the only one who hadn’t been tricked, so they were curious about him.

Zhu Ping’an also noticed that almost all the other children and cousins had had their New Year money coaxed away by their parents through one trick or another.

Just moments earlier, Zhu Pingjun had been coaxed by Eldest Aunt, his mother, with a single sentence: “Let Mother keep the money safe for you. Later I’ll use it to buy Jun’er new clothes.” Zhu Pingjun happily emptied his pockets and obediently handed over the New Year money still warm from his body.

Little Yu’er had likewise been coaxed by Third Aunt, her mother, with a bait-and-switch: “Yu’er, be good. How about Mother trades you two big handfuls of sunflower seeds and peanuts for one handful of your New Year money? Two handfuls for one—what a bargain!”

“Okay, thank you, Mommy!” Little Yu’er nodded adorably, looking like she had struck a good bargain.

Although Zhu Ping’an felt he should also be like the other kids and allow his parents to “trick” him out of his New Year money, money was very important to him. Whether for schooling or as a capital for making money, having some set aside for emergencies was necessary, so he couldn’t hand over his New Year money just yet.

With everyone watching, Chen was too embarrassed to keep pressuring Zhu Ping’an to hand over his New Year money. She decided to wait until the relatives had left and then make him surrender it properly.

“Okay then, you take care of it yourself. If you lose it, I’ll make sure to punish you,” Mrs. Chen said, smoothing things over before going to chat with her sisters-in-law.

However, this scene made many people remember Zhu Ping’an; this plucky little fellow was quite interesting.

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