Outsider: The Fifth Young Master of the Kang Family

Chapter 148 Gifts
"Ah Chen, my youngest son has given birth to a daughter. I'm so proud. Come over here and have some ginger vinegar and some red eggs."

The day after Zhu Wanling came back from the hospital, her father took the phone to tell relatives, friends, and neighbors and share his joy. In fact, this was also to please Mrs. Zhu. Only by making a big fuss about the birth of her granddaughter could he prove that he really did not favor boys over girls and that he was truly happy.

"Our old man is even more proud." The second brother said loudly beside him, and the old man quickly covered the microphone, fearing that the person on the other side would hear it. "Look at how happy your grandfather is, as if he had won the lottery." Mrs. Zhu was also joking while holding Kang Siqi. After observing for the past two days, she was a little relieved. Originally, Zhu Wanling was a few years older than Kang Qirui. She was already worried that her daughter would be disliked by the Kang family. As a result, Zhu Wanling gave birth to another daughter. She really didn't sleep well for several days.

Kang Qirui could only shake his head helplessly after knowing her thoughts. Mrs. Zhu is of this age. She has been taught the way of thinking of her generation since she was a child. It is already deeply rooted. It is impossible for you to change her mindset. Often, people who only have daughters are more patriarchal than those who have both sons and daughters.

"Ring, ring, ring." The phone rang again. "Hello, congratulations." My father picked up the phone and congratulated out of habit before he even knew who it was. "Ah? Collecting garbage fees, right?"

"Hahaha." Everyone was amused.

"Okay, I got it. I'll pay it right away." The whole family was so focused on Zhu Wanling's birth that no one remembered to pay the garbage fee. The street office called to urge them to pay. Dad replied awkwardly and hung up the phone.

"Akang, Akang." Uncle Liang came in with a big bag of things. "Congratulations. Your dream has finally come true this time. You finally have a granddaughter." As he spoke, he handed the things to Kang Qirui. Kang Qirui thanked him and took it to the dining room to give it to his second sister-in-law. The second sister-in-law's task for the next two days was to return the gifts brought by the guests one by one.

This is not an easy job. The Cantonese people, and even the whole of China, attach great importance to gifts. There are rules for giving gifts and for returning gifts. If you give the wrong gift or return the wrong gift, it will not only make you laugh, but also turn against each other. Among the family, only the mother and the second sister-in-law are familiar with the rules of returning gifts. The mother needs to help greet guests and take care of children, so this important task is given to the second sister-in-law.

After Uncle Liang drank a sip of tea and chatted with his father in the living room, Aunt Zhu came out holding the baby who had just gone back to breastfeed. Uncle Liang teased her for a while and asked, "By the way, Akang, have you named your granddaughter yet?"

"She has a name now, it's Siqi, doesn't it sound nice?" Tianxiu rushed to say. He had to go to school a few days ago and he hadn't seen his sister in the hospital. After his sister came home yesterday, he fell in love with her at first sight and has been hanging around her all day. Even when Kang Qirui teased him for being a sister-con, he was still happy. Of course, it is also possible that he didn't understand that Kang Qirui was making fun of him.

"Think of emulating others. When you see a virtuous person, think of emulating him. That sounds good." Uncle Liang praised him and quoted from classics.

"Master Rui, Master Rui." Sister Jiao ran in from outside carrying two baskets. Because she ran too fast and couldn't stop, the carrying pole almost stabbed Da Lao Guang. "Hey, hey, hey, oh, be careful. I almost died in your hands." Da Lao Guang complained after he dodged in time.

Sister Jiao apologized to Lao Guang first, who was not really angry and waved his hand to indicate that it was okay. Sister Jiao then said, "Mr. Rui, I brought some ginger. All of this ginger is grown by us. It is most suitable to make ginger vinegar for your wife during her confinement. The ginger peel can also be used for bathing."

"Thank you, Sister Jiao, it's so thoughtful. Thank you so much." Kang Qirui looked at the two large baskets of ginger that Sister Jiao brought and was very happy. This gift was really thoughtful, and it was a necessity. After Kang Qirui accepted it, he asked his second sister-in-law to give Sister Jiao a big red envelope in return, but Sister Jiao refused it resolutely: "Mr. Rui, you don't have to be so polite. When the full moon banquet comes, just invite us to eat, hahaha."

Sister Jiao was really grateful to Kang Qirui. Before she met Kang Qirui, she had to go to six households to cook in a day to feed five huagulongs. After she met Kang Qirui, he first provided food and lodging for the six of them, and later invited her to work as a chef in a tea restaurant. Her income increased several times compared to before. Some time ago, Kang Qirui also found someone to help her solve the problem of the five huagulongs studying in Guangzhou. So when she heard that Zhu Wanling had given birth a few days ago, she immediately went back to the countryside to dig up all the ginger she had planted before, and also asked the villagers to buy some, and gathered two large baskets to send to the Kang family. "Okay, okay, then I won't be polite with you. Don't worry, Sister Jiao will definitely have a place for your whole family at that time. You can sit in the first row, hahaha." Kang Qirui, in a good mood, patted his chest and said.

While they were talking, Brother Niu had been lingering at the door of Kang's house for a long time, but he was too embarrassed to go in. The second brother saw him when he was seeing Uncle Liang off, "Brother Niu, why are you standing at the door?" Then he said to Uncle Liang, "Take your time, Uncle Liang, and arrive early."

After Brother Niu and Brother Er walked into the Kang family, they saw that everyone was staring at him. He scratched his head and said, "Well, Brother Wu, congratulations on becoming a father. Um, I have to apologize to you. It's all my fault that I was too greedy and ate the pork trotter vinegar you prepared. But I've already suffered retribution. Look at my mouth, it's irritated."

Kang Qirui waved his hand at Brother Niu, whose mouth was covered with bubbles, and said, "Brother Niu, please sit down. You don't have to apologize to me. If you really want to apologize, go and apologize to Yumi." Brother Niu didn't understand, "Apologize to her? Why?"

"Didn't you give her money to buy ginger and vinegar to fool people? But my mother-in-law scolded her and made her cry. Don't you think you should apologize to her?" Kang Qirui poured Brother Niu a cup of tea.

"Oh, you have to apologize. I'll treat her to a meal next time I see her, haha." Brother Niu is also a straightforward person. He treats people to a meal after apologizing. Kang Qirui nodded. Yumi also loves to eat.

In the afternoon, Kang Qirui went out to handle household registration, but he was not going to handle Kang Siqi's household registration, but his own household registration. He had to transfer his household registration to the school first, and then he could handle Kang Siqi's. Because newborns need to apply for birth registration within one month after birth, so his time is still quite tight.

He didn't get home until the evening. As soon as he entered the door, his father asked, "How's it going?"

"Registration is done, it will be done in a few days." Kang Qirui said after putting down his things. His father nodded, as long as it goes smoothly. In fact, it can't be difficult. Kang Qirui himself is one of the youngest associate professors in the school, and his teacher, Mr. Huang, is the director of the Department of Literature. The administration will give him some face and will not make things difficult for Kang Qirui.

The old man thought for a moment and then asked, "What are you going to do about the full moon?"

"After thinking about it, I decided to make a big deal about the full moon party. Dad, you know my mother-in-law is always worried about this and that. If we don't hold the full moon party, I'm afraid she will feel uncomfortable even if she doesn't say it." Kang Qirui actually wanted to make a big deal himself, whether for his daughter, Zhu Wanling, or Zhu's grandmother.

It's like this a lot of times. No matter how many nice words you say, it's not as good as having a grand banquet. Just like when Kang Qirui and Zhu Wanling got married, why did they go through the three books and six ceremonies for a whole month? It was just for others to see. Didn't you say that there's a big age gap between us and you don't think it's a good thing? Then I'll make the wedding as grand as possible, and when others see this, they can only envy it and dare not say anything bad.

Because if they said anything more, Kang Qirui would be speechless with just one sentence: You two are such a perfect match, your wedding must have been very grand, right? What could they say? Aren't you in love? Aren't you a perfect match? Why is your wedding so shabby?
The same is true for Kang Siqi's full-month banquet. Aren't daughters bad? You guys are great for giving birth to sons? Why don't you hold a full-month banquet to compete? Are you reluctant? Then just keep silent.

(End of this chapter)