Chapter 28: Those New Year's Greetings

  The New Year's Eve dinner party was a great success, and that night, the old father, the old mother, uncles, aunts, younger brothers and sisters all had a wonderful time. After eating a New Year's Eve dinner of dumplings or wontons, the whole east house was filled with people sleeping in every direction.

  That night, Yang Heng didn't notice that his memory had improved a lot. He was able to recite the entire first chapter of "The Investiture of the Gods" without making a single mistake. Of course, this also included some of his own understanding. Another thing was that Xiaoniang's memory was surprisingly good. Yang Heng only said it once, and she remembered everything. When he taught her the Thousand Character Classic earlier, Yang Heng didn't pay much attention because he hadn't taught her many characters, so Xiaoniang's memory wasn't revealed at that time.

  "Ah... good sleep, Uncle Happy New Year, Happy New Year." Yang Heng opened his eyes to see that Little Uncle was also sitting up. "Ah, you too Happy New Year, Happy New Year." Little Uncle responded with a puzzled tone, but what was Yang Heng doing with his outstretched hand?

  "Nephew, what's this?" "What is it? Come on, give me the red envelope!" "Red envelope? What red envelope." The young uncle was a bit confused. Ah, right, there wasn't such a thing as a red envelope at that time. "Do you have any money for the New Year then?" "Money for the New Year? That's a pretty new-fangled phrase. This is just a local custom." Wait, I made another mistake. It seems like this era didn't even have the concept of giving money during the New Year, and it wasn't until after Emperor Li Er that the phrase 'giving New Year's greetings' appeared.

  "Hey kiddo, what's the meaning of 'ya sui qian'?" Yang Heng seemed to understand now. His old man wasn't being unfriendly towards him, but rather didn't know how to express himself, or was influenced by that so-called "hugging grandsons not hugging sons" thing, and even didn't know what to call Yang Heng's name, so he just kept calling him "kiddo", even every time he called him "kiddo" with a stern face. If this were the original Yang Heng, he definitely wouldn't have noticed this, and would have been at odds with his old man for life. But wasn't this the new-and-improved Yang Heng? If it didn't work out, he could just pretend to be an outsider. So, slowly but surely, he picked up on the cues. When his old man was angry or happy, the tone of voice when calling him "kiddo" was still different.

  "Grandpa, it's time for the red envelope money, isn't it New Year? We kids have grown a year older, and you've also grown a year older. But while we're getting bigger, you're getting older. So shouldn't we be happy about growing a year older? I think you should take out some money to give us as a gift for the new year. Do you think that way we kids will be better taken care of in the coming year?"

  Nature, Yang Heng was a bit cheeky, because his father always had a stern face, who let you scare me? Don't you know I'm still a kid? "Ah, yes, good suggestion, young one." And indeed, Father actually acknowledged Yang Heng's words, although Father and Mother only had him as their child, but the other uncles and aunts had several children who had died prematurely.

  "Hey kiddo, how much should one give as a gift for the Lunar New Year?" Inside, only Old Man had some money left. When he went to buy things, he would naturally exchange his gold for cash first. There were also some silk fabrics inside, which Yang Heng specially studied for several days and found that they could no longer be used, only serving as currency. It was unknown whose family had not stored them properly, as the silks had been eaten by insects. However, there was no other choice - in this era, what was considered money had to be a combination of silk and copper coins, perhaps similar to some kind of grain or fabric coupons from later generations, but also somewhat different. In short, financial relationships were really hard to understand.

  "It's just a matter of giving each child a copper coin, and that's it. After this period is over, you can collect the coins from the children again, right? Since Old Father wants to be generous, Yang Heng naturally also offered to take back the coins later. To be honest, these children don't have anywhere to spend money, and if they hold onto it for too long, they might lose it. You know that one copper coin has quite some purchasing power."

  In the grateful eyes of the uncles, Old Dad put a copper plate in the hands of the children who were still sleeping. Although they had never heard of "压岁钱" (a tradition where adults give red envelopes with money to children during Chinese New Year), now that they have children of their own, they are naturally grateful. If it were up to them, they wouldn't even have anything in their hands. This year has been tough for them; they've had to rely heavily on wild vegetables just to avoid starving. Maybe soon, they'll move away from this mountain valley. But now that the Yang family has arrived, perhaps there will be big changes ahead.

  "Grandfather, what is this in my hand?" The little girl was the first to wake up. She dazedly discovered that she had grasped something in her hand, which was something she had never seen before.

  "This is the lucky money your great aunt gave you, it's for you to grow up healthy and strong. Don't you thank your great aunt and wish her a happy new year?" This good thing was easily learned, and uncle directly learned how to pay New Year's greetings.

  "Thank you, Grandpa. Grandpa, have a good New Year," the little girl gave her old father a big smile. "Mmm, good, good, good, little girl also have a good New Year." Perhaps the old man and the little girl's voices were a bit loud, so the children woke up one after another. They didn't understand what was going on, but they explained it to each other, while those who understood were busy wishing their father a happy new year. These kids learned fast.

  "Grandfather, look, shouldn't we go back and pay our respects to Grandmother now?" This familial affection is unavoidable on the road to improving one's status after Father's passing, regardless of whether it's genuine or feigned. Yang Heng must maintain this familial affection well, otherwise it will be a major stumbling block for Father. Yang Heng's thoughts are not to let Father become a third-rank official or higher, and that would also make his transmigration in vain.

  "Ah, good, good, let's all go together." Old Dad naturally wasn't thinking the same way as when Yang Heng had just arrived. He had been a soldier in the imperial guard for some time and understood some things, even having big ambitions in his heart. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been promoted to be a Huo Zhang in the first month. Although being a Huo Zhang wasn't an important position, it was no different from ordinary soldiers in the imperial guard. But if you want to develop in the military camp, this is an unavoidable step, right? Unless you are directly promoted by the emperor or some high-ranking generals, that doesn't count.