Outsider: The Fifth Young Master of the Kang Family

Chapter 44: New Year's Eve (Part )
"There is no New Year's Eve this year, only the 29th day of the lunar year. Today is New Year's Eve." The second sister-in-law said as she took down the calendar.

"Got it." The old maid was arranging the candy boxes and snack boxes on the sofa.

At this time, Sachiko came out of the room, took out a red envelope and handed it to the old lady, "Mom, here are 800 yuan, Qiyao and I are giving you two for the New Year."

"Thank you, dear." The old woman didn't hesitate and took it directly. Children give themselves money during festivals to show filial piety and hope that their elders can be healthy and safe in the coming year. Of course, I have to take it directly.

The second sister-in-law, who was pouring water at the back, saw that Sachiko had given the money, and she also took out a stack of money from her pocket and handed it to the old maid, "Grandma, here are two thousand yuan, which A Zong and I give to you and the master."

Kang Qirui, who had just woken up, came out of the living room after breakfast and saw his second sister-in-law giving money to the old woman. He was shocked. He remembered that his second sister-in-law seemed to have only given one thousand in his later life. It seems that his second sister-in-law and second brother really made more money than in the later life, and they were twice as generous to their family members. This made Kang Qirui very satisfied. At least he really started to change the fate of his family.

But Sachiko was not very happy. The second sister-in-law gave the two elders so much money in front of her. Isn't this a loss of face for her? The old woman didn't think so much. She was very happy that her son and daughter-in-law were filial to her. She took out two red envelopes and handed them to the second sister-in-law: "I have two red envelopes here, for Tianxiu, remember to put them under his pillow tonight."

The original purpose of lucky money was to ward off evil spirits. People believed that children were vulnerable to evil spirits, so they used lucky money to ward off evil spirits, help children spend the New Year safely, and wish them good health and good luck in the new year. This is also the reason why red envelopes for children should be placed under their pillows.

"Speaking of which, the customs in Guangzhou are somewhat similar to those in Shanghai. In Shanghai, we also put red envelopes next to children's pillows on New Year's Eve so that they can see them the next morning." Sachiko was no longer angry when she talked about her hometown. She said happily to her second sister-in-law, "Big cities are different. Even the customs are similar. I wonder what weird customs my eldest sister-in-law and her family have."

"What's so strange about that? We are all Chinese." The old lady didn't like them being like this and defended them directly.

As soon as she finished speaking, Xianglan came back from outside, holding a plate of daffodils in her hands, "Mom, I bought a pot of daffodils in Flower Street." After the eldest sister-in-law fried the daffodils in the refrigerator last time, she kept thinking about this matter. Today, she went out early in the morning to buy something in Flower Street. The clothing store arranged shifts today, Xianglan's turn to rest, and tomorrow, the first day of the new year, everyone will work, because most people spend New Year's Eve at home, and only go out to shop on the first day of the new year.

"It's very beautiful." The old woman took the daffodil and smelled the fragrance. She thought it was very beautiful.

Kang Qirui walked into the dining room while they were watching the narcissus, thinking of cooking some paste to paste up the couplets later. As soon as he entered the dining room, he saw Er Lao secretly eating fried dough sticks, "Wow, Er Lao, you're still young? You're actually eating secretly?"

"Do you want some?" Er Lao picked up a fried dumpling and handed it to Kang Qirui as soon as he saw him. "No, these are prepared by the maid for the worship later. If you want to eat, go to the living room." Kang Suorui shook his head.

"Those in the living room are from before, and these are just fried in the frying pan. These are more delicious, huh? Why is this one so big? Try it first." The second brother picked up a larger fried dough stick.

When Kang Qirui saw this fried dough stick, he remembered something, "Er Lao, wait a minute." Kang Qirui was about to call Er Lao, but Er Lao was really quick in taking a bite. Then he saw Er Lao trembled, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh" and then let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

"What's wrong?" The old maid, the eldest sister-in-law, the second sister-in-law and Sachiko heard the noise outside and came in.

"Honey, what's wrong with you?" the second sister-in-law asked anxiously.

Er Lao took out a coin from the oil corner and said with gritted teeth: "I don't know who is playing a prank on me. It hurts me so much."

"I put this there," the sister-in-law admitted embarrassedly.

"You put it there?" Everyone looked at the sister-in-law in surprise, not understanding why she put the coins in.

"Uncle, you will definitely go a long way this year." The sister-in-law pointed at the coin and nodded.

"Lucky? Sister-in-law, I am very lucky, and I am so lucky that I have come to Bigelon." The second brother said painfully.

"What is Bi Gelong?" the sister-in-law asked because she didn't understand.

"Why are you here again?" The second sister-in-law was somewhat bothered by Narcissus's affairs before, and now she is even more angry because of this.

"I saw that this fried dough stick looked similar to dumplings, so I specially made the biggest one for Qi Guang and also made a mark on it. Look." The eldest sister-in-law took the fried dough stick that the second brother had just spit onto the table and pointed at the mark on it.

"What mark did you make? I don't feel anything at all." Er Lao was still in pain.

"You too, you're such a grown-up and still cheating, you're even worse than your son." After scolding the second brother, the old woman slapped him, and it happened to be the aching tooth. The painful expression on the second brother's face made everyone laugh.

"How can you still laugh? Don't you have any compassion for women?" Er Lao held the coin and cried miserably, "Don't you have any sympathy at all?"

"Second Brother, are you Xiang or Yu?" Kang Qirui also teased the Second Brother, who fell directly on the table to express his resistance.

"I don't want to bother with you, Xianglan," the old maid wanted to tell Xianglan to do something, but after thinking about it, she changed her mind and said, "No, Xingzi, go fry those two dace for me and bring them to the living room later."

Sachiko agreed and went into the kitchen to wash the fish. Kang Qirui saw that the second brother had gone back to rest and there was nothing to watch, so he also went into the kitchen to cook the paste.

Just as she saw Sachiko picking up a knife to chop off the fish head, Kang Qirui quickly called out to her, "Wait a minute, Third Sister-in-law, you can't chop off the fish head."

When Sachiko heard the sound, she stopped, but she didn't understand, "Why?" "During the Chinese New Year, you have to leave the head and tail of the fish when eating fish. It means having a beginning and an end, and having surplus every year. Auntie Dou pays a lot of attention to these meanings." Kang Qirui explained.

"So that's how it is. Thank you, Rui. It's a good thing you told me, otherwise I would be scolded by my parents." Sachiko breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Kang Qirui's explanation. She almost got into trouble. She turned around and saw Kang Qirui putting starch and water in the pot to cook. She asked curiously, "What are you cooking?"

"This is paste. I'm assigned to paste the couplets. So I'll just cook some paste." Kang Qirui said while stirring.

Sachiko nodded, not quite understanding.

Kang Qirui was teaching Sachiko about Chinese New Year in the kitchen, while the maid outside was teaching her sister-in-law about the Chinese New Year in Cantonese. "Putting sugarcane in the corner of the door means sweetness from the beginning to the end. Garlic means being able to write and calculate. Celery means children studying hard. Onions mean being smart. Lettuce means making money."

"Mom, what is this?" Xianglan asked, picking up something she didn't recognize.

“You haven’t seen it?”

"No."

"arrowhead."

"Cigu? What does that mean?"

"What does it look like to you?"

Xianglan looked at the water chestnut in her hand. The bulb was round with a pointed tip on it, which looked a bit like Xianglan blushing after she figured it out. There is a word in Cantonese called "cigu 椗". "椗" originally means something like a bud stalk. Cantonese people use it to refer to boys, symbolizing the addition of a child.

Kang Qirui cooked the paste and moved the table. He put the table at the door and prepared red paper and ink. He planned to write the couplets on the table and paste them up. It was simple and quick. As soon as he moved the table to the door, he saw Diana walking towards the Kang family. "Diana is here, come in and sit down."

There were guests at home, and everyone stopped what they were doing and came over to greet them. Diana was also very polite, "Hello, everyone. Do you welcome me?"

"Of course you're welcome. We can't even invite you." Xianglan poured a cup of tea.

"Mike said you guys are so welcoming and that it's so lively here, so I wanted to come over and spend the Spring Festival with you." Diana took a sip of tea.

"Welcome, welcome." The old maid knew that Diana and A-Zu were in love.

"You came at the right time. Our mother is a book on customs and culture." Sachiko said with a smile.

The old woman waved her hand and said, "People think I'm an old-fashioned antique."

"No, I don't mind. Is there anything I can do for you?" Diana was good at talking, and she made the old lady very happy. Hearing her asking for help, Kang Qirui quickly said, "It's just right. I want to write spring couplets. Can Diana help me hold the paper?" Spring couplets are written vertically. If you don't hold the paper, you have to wait for the ink to dry before you can continue writing after writing the first few words. This is too inefficient.

"Yeah."

Kang Qirui and Diana came outside. After they agreed on how to do it, he started writing and finished it in a short while. Diana read the couplet, "The cypress and cypress trees are flourishing, the sun and the moon shine together in the spring of Yaodao, and the joy is shining." But she didn't understand the meaning, "Teacher Kang, what does this mean?"

"Both parents are alive, which is called the chunxuan and xuan are flourishing. In the phrase sun and moon shine together, the sun refers to men and the moon refers to women. This couplet means that both parents in this family are happy and both men and women in the family have achieved success in their careers." Kang Qirui explained. He thought this couplet was the most suitable for the current state of the Kang family, with the two elders respecting each other and being in good health, and the five brothers also achieving success.

"So that's how it is." Diana suddenly realized, and then she saw Kang Qirui wrote another word "Fu" and pasted it on the door. Kang Qirui quickly corrected her, "The word "Fu" should be pasted upside down."

"Why?"

"Fudao, Fudao, means good fortune has arrived." After hearing Kang Qirui's explanation, Diana said that the trip was not in vain.

After pasting the couplets for Kang's family, Kang Qirui asked Diana to help post the couplets for Zhu's family. Zhu Wanling had to be on duty today, and Mrs. Zhu was too busy to handle it alone. Yesterday, Zhu Wanling asked her boyfriend to help post the couplets for her family, and naturally, Kang Qirui wrote them himself.

"The golden spring brings joy, the midsummer brings happiness, and the marriage lasts a hundred years. What does this mean?" Diana asked as she looked at the newly written couplet by Kang Qirui.

"This means that a happy event is coming. The lady from a noble family has found a good husband. Hahahaha." Kang Qirui boasted, "By the way, my fourth brother should have told you, right? Wanling and I are getting married on the 21st of the first lunar month. Remember to come to the wedding then."

"Congratulations. I'll definitely come." Diana nodded with a smile.

(End of this chapter)