Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family - Chapter 277
Chapter 277: Chapter 275: Sisi Teaching Money Management
“Xuan’er doesn’t remember what his mother… looked like,”
Di Xuan said in a low voice: “All Xuan’er can remember is her lying there, covered in blood with an obscure face.”
Di Yelei patted Di Xuan’s head gently and sighed, “Your mother and YingEr look very similar, she was a very gentle woman…” As he spoke, he fell into his memories.
“Dad, are you talking about YingEr’s biological mother? Is she the one who lies on the little hilltop? Did my mother treat me well?” YingEr tilted her head and looked at everyone.
“Fool! Your biological mother was naturally very good to you.”
Liu Sisi lightly patted YingEr’s shoulder, unable to resist recalling her vaguely remembered parents, she seemed to only remember the two smiling faces, while their features seemed to be clouded over.
“Any mother would love her own children, your mother loved you too, otherwise, after her passing, she wouldn’t have repeatedly asked your father to treat you well.”
“But… if she loved YingEr, why did she leave YingEr?” YingEr was full of confusion.
Liu Sisi was silent for a moment, carefully combing YingEr’s broken hair: “Because… Your biological mother was too tired, she wanted to rest. However, she accidentally fell asleep. But, not only your biological mother loves you, but also your brother, your father, your grandfather, and I. So, YingEr, you’re a very lucky child in our family.”
“Yeah! Mom…”
YingEr gave a strong jump and plunged into Liu Sisi’s arms, not saying a word.
The topic was too heavy. Di Yelei looked at Xuan’er, who had red eyes, and gently patted his back to shift the topic.
“Today, YingEr has received many guests and gifts for her engagement. Let’s count and see what we have.”
As Di Yelei said this, he took out the gift list for the engagement.
“After shopping, I have seven and a half taels of silver left. One tael is my monthly salary, six taels are dividends, and the remaining tael of silver is what was left at home. Apart from that, there are several dozen copper coins.”
Di Yelei took out the silver and placed it aside, then began to count the gift money on the table.
The Li family gave ten eggs, the Zhang Family gave three feet of cloth, the Wang family gave five pounds of rice flour… The little items were quickly picked out from the pile on the table.
The remaining silver gifts were grouped together, and after careful calculations, these gifts would be reciprocated at future village gatherings according to the records in the gift list.
The rest were the major engagement gifts received today.
“The gifts for the engagement from the Zhang Yun family are here, as well as the betrothal gifts from Heir Luo, Madam Gan Senior, County Magistrate Su, and… and Nan Tianzong.”
Opening the gift box from the siblings of Heir Luo, there was a jadeite fortune knot wrapped in yellow silk. The jadeite, slightly smaller than the palm of the hand, was carved into a blossoming peony flower, stunningly beautiful. Under the refraction of the light, the crystal-clear jadeite sparkled with colorful radiance, truly captivating everyone’s eyes.
The word ‘beautiful’ was not enough to describe its extreme beauty. Everyone had been speechless for quite a long time, as if a kitty had run off with their tongues.
After a while, Liu Sisi managed to pull her gaze back: “God! It’s so beautiful…”
“How… how much is this worth?”
Di Yelei was also awestruck, as he reached out to pick up the jadeite fortune knot, he quickly retracted his hand, afraid of damaging it.
“Let me see.”
Compared to the others, Liu Sisi was much calmer and directly reached out and took the jadeite in her hand.
The jadeite was cool to the touch, the color as green as crystal shifting in her hand, it was so beautiful that it seemed not like an inanimate object, but as if it had come to life in her hand.
She couldn’t help but admire it for a moment, then she threw it back into the box.
“This thing can’t be eaten or taken out to use, it’s just like a useless inanimate object. Put it away! Well, it might be useful for sending gifts in the future.”
Liu Sisi settled the final destination of the item with just a single phrase!
Di Yelei hurriedly collected it, then opened the gift box that Madam Gan Senior had brought. Inside were twelve eastern pearls of equal size but different colors lined up.
Though these eastern pearls were only the size of broad beans, they were indeed rare treasures. Each was worth at least a hundred and eighty taels of silver; such a generous gift!
The gift from County Magistrate Su was a small, delicate set of gold ornaments.
Although it was not a heavy gift, the sentiment was truly remarkable!
“As for County Magistrate Su here, you should present him with a gift equal in value to this one on his next birthday or some other occasion, plus a little extra. After all, he is the magistrate of the county.” Liu Sisi collected the gold ornaments and put them at the bottom of the box.
Di Yelei agreed: “Of course, I understand.”
The last gift to be opened was from Nan Tianzong. In comparison, his gift seemed much simpler, just a conventional silver ornament suitable for a little girl to wear. It seemed thoughtful.
With one look at Nan Tianzong’s gift, Di Yelei, without waiting for Liu Sisi to speak, rolled it up and put the gift box away.
“Put it away! Save it for those who come as guests.”
Liu Sisi looked at him, didn’t say much, and put the silver piece away directly.
Since Di Yelei didn’t like Nan Tianzong’s gift, there was no need to keep it around. It was not worth arguing about such insignificant things.
“By the way! Here are the congratulatory gifts from my colleagues. This jade pendant is from Constable Zuo. You keep it.”
Di Yelei happily handed over a hefty, modestly styled bracelet.
“Constable Zuo originally wanted to come, but there was a murder case at the governmental office, and he had to go after the murderer, so he couldn’t come in person. He specifically sent this bracelet.”
“Since he gave it to you, you should keep it.”
Liu Sisi frowned instinctively. She harbored a natural resentment against Zuo Xingyu.
After organizing the items, she thought for a moment, took out a tael of silver, and gave it to her father-in-law who was quietly sitting on the side, “Dad, this is your retirement salary for this month.”
She then took out half a tael of silver and handed it to Xuan’er, “This half a tael of silver is for you. Besides, if our household has enough in the future, mom will give you half a tael of silver as pocket money every month. Bear in mind, you mustn’t be wasteful.”
“This… isn’t half a tael of silver too much?”
Di Yelei was amazed. His monthly salary at the governmental office was only a tael of silver. Sisi directly gave Xuan’er half a tael of silver for pocket money, which was quite substantial.
Di Xuan also quickly nodded, “Mom, it’s indeed too much. Xuan’er can’t accept it.”
“It’s not too much! You may think there’s a lot of silver now, but once you go to the village school and suddenly need money for gathering with classmates, you’ll need more. By giving you this money, I hope you’ll develop the habit of managing your own money wisely.”
This was the result of her careful consideration.
Xuan’er was more mature than most children his age, and as he was soon to turn eight or nine, it was time to instill good habits in him.
“Mom, rest assured, Xuan’er will not let you down.” Di Xuan solemnly promised.
YingEr, who was sitting beside them, was not satisfied, “Mom, big brother has pocket money. YingEr wants some too!”
“You’re still young. Mom will buy anything you want. When you’re as old as your brother, mom will definitely give you pocket money, okay?”
YingEr grumbled a few words, causing everyone to laugh. They chatted casually for a while before they each went to sleep.
