System: Master Your Life-Chapter 497 - 117: End of New Year, Return Journey
Just after three in the afternoon, in the room where Xu Lin would sleep tonight.
"Xu Lin, where’s your red packet?"
Rong Xiyi pulled out a stack of red packets from her coat pocket.
There were over thirty people on Xu Lin’s grandpa’s side, with twenty-nine of them older than the two of them. Even their youngest cousin, the fourth cousin, who had already started working, gave them red packets.
So, each of them received twenty-nine red packets.
"In my pocket."
"I want to open up the red packets, you open yours too!"
"Then go ahead."
Xu Lin took out the red packets from his pocket and let her open them.
There were fifty-eight red packets, and Rong Xiyi opened them one by one.
The red packets from Eastern Guangdong were not big, with the smallest containing ten or twenty yuan.
The red packets Xu Lin’s grandpa and others gave were considered big, with the smallest amount being forty yuan, and others ranging up to a hundred or even two hundred, but there were only three of those.
To Xu Lin and the others, red packets were mostly for the festive spirit.
So, after Rong Xiyi opened all the red packets, there was a pile of money on the bed, totaling over three thousand yuan. Because the denominations were different, with tens being the majority, the pile looked visually impactful.
In this era of mobile payments, many people had little concept of cash.
"Xu Lin, so much money!"
Rong Xiyi exclaimed, gathering the money into her hands, "Xu Lin, smell this."
"Why would I want to smell that? Aren’t you afraid of germs?"
"Humph."
"You better put it away in your bag."
"Xu Lin, how about I hold onto it for you!"
"Go ahead."
Rong Xiyi then neatly folded the money and put it into her small bag, along with the red packet envelopes, which she folded and also placed inside. Rong Xiyi felt that red packet envelopes had a special significance, much like when her mom was still alive and would give her red packets, which she never threw away.
"Let’s go, let’s take a walk outside."
"Where to?"
"Let’s just look around nearby, otherwise staying at home is boring, isn’t it?"
"Oh okay, let’s go out and have a look."
Rong Xiyi was also looking forward to it, having been here for a few hours and not knowing what the surroundings were like yet.
Xu Lin’s grandpa lived in town, but not in the market area, yet it was very close, just four or five hundred meters away, so it was convenient to go shopping.
Moreover, the rural construction here was quite decent, and the environment was good.
"Aunt, do you have an electric scooter?"
"Yes, but your fourth cousin took it."
Aunt said, "Just now she and your third cousin and fourth cousin went to town to buy groceries."
This aunt was the youngest among several aunts, with the highest education, and the best temperament.
The family with the highest level of education around here was Xu Lin’s grandpa’s family.
"I see."
"You want to go out and play?"
"Yeah, but walking is fine, just strolling around here."
"Should I call your third cousin to take you?"
"No need, we’ll just walk around here."
Then Xu Lin and Rong Xiyi went out.
Because it was in town, the houses were relatively dense, with several hundred households.
During the New Year, everyone was home, so it was lively.
But there wasn’t much to do in the rural town.
Xu Lin took Rong Xiyi around, and later Xu Lin, on a whim, bought four small boxes of sparklers at a small store.
These were children’s toys, matchbox-sized, containing one sparkler per box.
"Xu Lin, why did you buy matches?"
"These aren’t matches."
Xu Lin took one out, struck it on the side, and it ignited with a hiss, which he then quickly threw away.
With a pop, it exploded. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
"Ah!"
Rong Xiyi was startled.
She quickly asked, "What was that?"
"Just think of it as fireworks, for kids to play with. I used to play with them during New Year’s when I was a kid."
Saying this, Xu Lin lit up another one.
Rong Xiyi found it intriguing, "Xu Lin, I want to play too!"
"Let’s play together, but be careful. Once it lights up, throw it away immediately."
"Okay, okay!"
Following Xu Lin’s instructions, Rong Xiyi quickly learned how to play, having a great time with them.
"Xu Lin, this is so fun, give me another box!"
"Here you go."
With the series of popping sounds, the four boxes of sparklers were quickly used up by the two.
"Satisfied now?"
Xu Lin asked her.
Rong Xiyi nodded, though she clearly still wanted more.
"Xu Lin, let’s go anywhere else!"
"Okay."
Xu Lin also thought about exploring other places. The area seemed quite large, perhaps ten times bigger than his own village, and having an electric scooter would be convenient.
Soon, the two arrived at a field.
"Xu Lin, look, there’s a kid flying a kite over there!"
Rong Xiyi excitedly pointed, and Xu Lin saw four kids flying kites.
The field was open, perfect for kite flying.
Seeing Rong Xiyi excited, Xu Lin asked her, "Want to fly a kite?"
"I do!"
"But where can we buy one? Probably have to go to the market in town, and there’s no guarantee they’ll sell kites."
Rong Xiyi really wanted to fly a kite.
"Just ask the kids to buy it from them."
Xu Lin said, "Wait a minute, I’ll go ask."
Kids are generally easy to talk to, and Xu Lin happened to have some cash on him, given by Ms. Ren and his dad in red packets, totaling six hundred yuan.
Xu Lin went over, had a chat with the kid flying the prettiest kite, and gave him two hundred yuan. The kid happily handed over the kite to Xu Lin.
Two hundred yuan is a large amount for a rural town area, especially in Eastern Guangdong, where red packets given by elders to children are mostly ten or twenty yuan.
