Reborn in the Millennium: Building a Fortune from Fishing

Chapter 148 New Year’s greetings
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people starting visiting to pay New Year's greetings start arriving around eight in the morning.

The first one was a silly kid, he was carrying two bags of cigarettes, alcohol and milk, one of which belonged to his master and he would take it over later. Qin's father and mother were very happy to see it.

"Grandpa, Auntie, Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Happy New Year, come and have some tea eggs." The mother smiled and asked him to sit down, then went to call Qin Dahe to get up.

I watched the Spring Festival Gala until twelve o'clock last night, and then set off firecrackers on time.

The sound of firecrackers never stopped throughout the entire night, and even now, it was still echoing around. Qin Dahe naturally didn't sleep well.

I woke up with sleepy eyes and a smile on my face when I saw the baby coming.

"Happy New Year, baby."

"Brother, Happy New Year, let me have a cigarette." The kid quickly took out the double happiness in his hand.

He took the cigarette with a smile, and without caring that he hadn't brushed his teeth or washed his face, he lit it and started smoking.

"Hurry up and smoke. You'll go run to your third uncle and second uncle's house later. Your eldest sister and the others should be here soon."

"Right away, I'll chat with the baby."

There are no specific rules for New Year's greetings here. As long as you visit before the Lantern Festival, it's fine. However, people usually go back to their parents' home on the second day of the New Year.

But my eldest sister has to go back to her parents' home, and Qin's mother also has to go back, so they stagger their visits every year, and my eldest sister and her family come on the first day of the new year.

"Kid, take the red envelope." Father Qin took out a red envelope and gave it to the silly kid, patting him on the shoulder. "Make more money this year so your aunt can find you a partner."

"Thank you, Grandpa." The silly kid said gratefully.

My uncle bought the rosewood box for 800 yuan and paid the old carpenter yuan for his labor. Both parties were happy.

"Well, we'll have lunch at home. Dahe's sister and the others will be coming too."

The silly kid was a little hesitant because he had to go to his master's house to pay New Year's greetings later.

"Grandpa, what about Master?"

"It's okay, let's wait and see." The old man didn't mind.

The silly kid is almost like one of our own children now, and it’s the same when we visit our in-laws.

Qin Dahe quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face, as he had to visit many houses.

I just had a tea egg and that was it. I'm sure I'll be able to eat my fill when I go to someone else's house later.

I rode a three-wheeled motorcycle to Liming Supermarket to buy three packs of cigarettes and alcohol. I agreed to take one first and keep the remaining two for later.

Then I rode my bike to the Third Uncle's house. His house was at the end of the village, so he definitely wouldn't look at the fish pond at this time.

I delivered some things to the house, had some food and drinks, and received a red envelope of twenty yuan.

Then I took two gifts of cigarettes and alcohol and went home first. At this time, my eldest sister and brother-in-law were already there.

"Sister, let's go to my second uncle's house to wish him a happy new year."

"Wait a minute, I'll divide the things." The eldest sister also had a lot of bags.

She even brought things for her trip to her grandfather's house tomorrow. She'll keep them here first and let my mom and the others take them with them when she goes there tomorrow.

Anyway, she didn't want to travel so far to visit her grandfather to wish him a happy new year. Wouldn't it be better to just stay at home and watch TV series?

"Binbin, call me uncle and I'll give you a red envelope." Qin Dahe smiled and pinched the little fat boy's chubby face.

"Uncle." "Happy New Year."

"Haha, Happy New Year." Unexpectedly, the little guy spoke very fluently and immediately took out a red envelope of fifty yuan from his pocket.

The eldest sister couldn't stop him and just stuffed it into the little guy's clothes.

"Buy some delicious food for Binbin, big sister, don't be polite."

"You and your parents haven't separated yet." Qin's mother had given the red envelope a long time ago.

"Even if we don't split up, there are still two shares. There's no need to be so formal. I can also make money now." He said with a smile.

My elder sister has to spend a lot of money on my wedding, so a red envelope of a few dozen yuan is nothing.

Then the three of them carried their things to their second uncle's house, and there was another commotion.

This is how the Chinese New Year goes. You come to my house to pay New Year’s greetings, and I go to your house to pay New Year’s greetings. In the end, every household has a lot of cigarettes, alcohol, gifts and other things left over.

Especially milk, which is a must-have for Chinese New Year greetings. Every Chinese New Year, children have endless milk to drink.

Some people whose families are not well off will return cigarettes and alcohol to supermarkets at a low price, but milk has a short shelf life and can only be consumed at home.

"Kid, take your things with you, we're going to your master's house to wish him a happy new year." Qin Dahe called out.

Silly kid packed all his things in the morning and just happened to come to the door with Qin Dahe.

It is the apprentice's responsibility to pay New Year's greetings. The master teaches the skills that can support one's livelihood, and the three festivals a year cannot be missed.

The two of them rode a three-wheeled motorcycle to visit their father-in-law's house to pay New Year's greetings. Qin Dahe carried a lot of things.

There was also a big pork leg, which was ordered from Zhang Dazhu's house early. I went to his house to get the pork leg before returning to the center of the village.

"Grandpa, the pork leg is here."

"Haha, you kid are a pig's leg." The old carpenter laughed. This kid has no control over his mouth and says whatever he wants.

"I brought this pork leg for you. There will be more for you when Yanyan comes home."

Later, Silly Kid also came with some things in his hand. He brought quite a few things with him. Qin Dahe and the old carpenter were his benefactors, so he was willing to spend any amount of money.

"Master, Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year! I'll give you more work this year, so make sure you do it well."

The boy nodded gratefully. The master was very kind to him.

At this time, Yanyan's mother took out tea eggs and dried fruits as treats.

This is my father-in-law's house, so I have to stay a little longer. Yanyan came over after washing up, but she was also sleepy.

"Yan'er, did you not sleep well last night?"

"No, the firecrackers were ringing all night long." The little face looked at him pitifully.

"Did listening to MP3 delay your sleep?" he said with a smile.

"Brother, how do you know?"

"Haha, I don't know you yet. Eat first."

Like his master, he gave the little girl tea eggs and some of her favorite dried fruits.

"Thank you, brother." The little girl sat beside him and enjoyed being fed, giggling. Now she didn't even avoid her parents.

"It's so sticky." Yanyan's mother said with a smile and brought the porridge over.

"We're getting married soon, it's normal for my brother to feed me." She said unconvinced.

"I know, I know. You are not ashamed, little girl. Eat the porridge first."

"Hello, Mom too, hehe."

The old carpenter smiled as he looked at his son-in-law who was getting along well at home, as well as the honest and simple-minded child, which made him very happy.

He doesn't have many relatives here, and in previous years, no one even came to pay him New Year's greetings. This year it is finally a little more lively, and Qin Dahe and Hanwaer will have to come every year in the future.

"Kid, have lunch at my place. There's not enough room for everyone in your family."

Upon hearing this, the silly kid looked at Qin Dahe. Since his elder brother was there, it was naturally his decision.

"It's okay. The kid has to cook for himself when he goes back." Qin Dahe said with a smile.

On the way back after eating, he started burping.

This is how New Year's greetings are. When you go to someone's house, you must at least eat something and drink some tea. It's better not to go if you just drop off your things and leave.

There is no need to go to other families, including cousins, just say "Happy New Year" when you meet them. In rural areas, the relationship between cousins is the least close, and the relationship between cousins is better than that between cousins.

It was exactly eleven o'clock when he got home, and his mother asked him to start serving the dishes and eating.

The two puppies were lazily lying in the nest at the back door while Binbin was playing. They had good food during the Chinese New Year.

The leftover food contained a lot of meat, so I added some silver carp and bighead carp bait to feed them.

As for Feifei, he has consciously regarded the new house as his base camp and is probably basking in the sun in the attic now.

"Mom, where's Sang Biao?"

"He went out so early in the morning, I don't know where he went." My mother didn't care.

This is how it is when you raise a cat. The wilder ones stay at home less often. They can catch birds and mice to feed themselves, and the more ferocious ones can even catch rabbits.

The food we eat today is similar to that on New Year’s Eve. There will definitely be things like meatballs and glutinous rice balls, and a plate of braised beef.

Mother Qin took two bites and then went to get food for Binbin. The little fat boy ate so fast that he finished a glutinous rice ball in three bites.

"Brother-in-law, are you busy after the New Year?"

"You're not busy, what's wrong?"

"It seems that Xinba is planning to pump out the pond, and they're planning to contract it out to someone else. I'm thinking of taking some people out to fish for fun, otherwise it's too boring."

When the weather is cold, it is impossible to catch any fish except crucian carp. It is so fun to drain the pond to catch fish, which is much more exciting than gambling.

"Did Erhu's uncle say that?" the old man became interested.

"Yes."

"Sure, the water's deep over there, there are big black carp." Qin's father said excitedly, "I encountered one last year when I went electrofishing. There was a big turtle in it, as big as a washbasin, but I couldn't catch it."

"There are two gates, so the fish can swim back and forth."

"Tsk, you don't have enough experience." The old man looked at him with disdain.

"Big fish have their own familiar waters, and their activities and feeding patterns are relatively fixed. Besides, that's the deepest section of the river nearby, and there are a lot of snails there."

"I just don't know how much it would cost to contract the water pumping. If the price is too high, it won't be worth it."

It costs four or five thousand to pump water. If we add more money, we will suffer a loss if there are not so many fish in the forty or fifty mu wild river section.

He doesn't think about making sure he doesn't break even, it's good for everyone to have fun together.

After listening to what they said, my brother-in-law became interested. Pumping water to catch fish is more fun than fishing.

Especially on the Xinba side, the water is so deep, and we don’t know what kind of fish there are.

"As long as it's not too much, we'll rent it out for fun. Catching fish is so much fun."

"I thought so too, hehe."

A pond of forty or fifty mu can be drained in two days by borrowing some water pumps and diesel engines.

After dinner, he took Binbin to the attic to play and gave him a small model to take back.

"Bin, climb up with me. I can't carry you."

At the attic stairs, Binbin was waiting for him with open arms, and Qin Dahe felt a little helpless when he saw it.

"Hug, uncle."

"No, can you please go on your own?"

"Uncle, hug me."

The little fat boy hugged his thighs tightly. He didn't want to climb the stairs because he was so tired.

"I'm afraid of you."

There was no other way. He was my only nephew, so I had to focus on him. I could only carry him up with great difficulty.

On the other side, the mother and daughter were in the room, and the eldest sister took out a stack of money and handed it to the mother.

"Mom, we're relatively well off now. Dahe is getting 5000 yuan for his wedding. Don't think it's too little."

"You should take 2000, otherwise your in-laws will not be happy to hear your words." Qin's mother said happily.

My daughter definitely has to give money. My elder sister has to give at least 1,000 yuan for my younger brother's wedding, but she doesn't want so much. Anyway, the family has enough money.

"No, the fertilizer store has been collecting debts smoothly this year. Everyone has a good harvest, and our store is profitable."

"Does Ayong know?"

"I know. He was the one who asked for 5,000. Now Abao is very capable. My father-in-law said he could give more."

"That's good."

Mother Qin felt relieved after hearing this. Her family's financial situation would indeed be less after marriage, and only with money in hand could she feel at ease.

"How much did my uncle take?"

"It's also five thousand, but he has to hide this money from the old man, otherwise I won't be in a good mood when I go back."

The eldest sister felt sad when she heard this. Although her mother was partial to Abao, the whole family had never forgotten her.

She has been married and moved to the town for several years, and her family has never stopped sending her gifts, which is why she was willing to give out 5,000 yuan.

Five thousand yuan is not a small amount of money nowadays. Some families cannot even earn that much in a year.

"Where's my uncle? Did he get the money? I don't think he came back for the New Year."

"He didn't come home for the New Year. If you want money, I should go to the old man tomorrow and give it to him." Speaking of my younger brother, I felt a little uncomfortable.

My own son is getting married, but this younger brother hasn't come back yet, even though Hefei is only over a hundred kilometers away from home.

Rong Xiang was so far away, but he still took a plane to come back.

"My uncle is such a jerk. Abao doesn't even come back for the New Year." The eldest sister was also angry.

My younger brother doesn’t even come back when he has something important to do. I really don’t plan to have any contact with relatives in the countryside in the future?

"He must be busy too."

After all, he is her own brother and he has to live his own life. At most, she can blame him, but she can never say bad things to her daughter.

The old man was obviously biased, so she openly criticized him.

She definitely won't learn that. How can a girl get married and be alone without the support of her parents?

She sent gifts over every now and then to let her in-laws know that she was still thinking about her daughter.

Ignoring the topic of their uncle, the mother and son began to discuss marriage.

Things like cigarettes and alcohol had already been bought and stored in the storage room of the new house. They were worth at least five or six thousand yuan.

But there are still many things that have to be bought on the spur of the moment, such as ingredients, which have to wait for the head chef to come and confirm the menu before it can be opened.

The eldest daughter will definitely help with these things. After the third year of junior high school, the whole family will be busy.

"Mom, what kind of cigarettes and alcohol did Abao use for his wedding?"

"The cigarettes are Red Nanjing, and they're from Limin Supermarket, helping to sell the goods. The liquor is Luzhou Laojiao, the same as what Erhu uses at home."

"You are so willing to do that." The eldest sister was a little surprised.

Rural people are really willing to spend money on weddings, and there are few people in the town who celebrate double happiness.

"Erhu is also an only child, so his elders must have spent a lot of money on him." The mother said with a smile.

The four brothers have a very close relationship. They have discussed their marriages with everyone. Except for Hanwaer, the dishes, cigarettes and alcohol for the wedding banquets of the other three are the same.

Red Nanjing is indeed a bit expensive, but everyone gritted their teeth and endured it. If we don’t spend money on a son’s wedding, we will spend money when we are ready.

(End of this chapter)