Chapter 101: The Cabbage Wasn't Rooted, but the Pig Ran Off Happily

On the morning of the Lunar New Year, after the Yang Tianxing family finished their dumplings, Gao Meilan and Yang Jianjun each took out a red envelope.

"Tianxing, Happy New Year. I wish you health, happiness, and contentment in 2003."

This was Old Yang's earnest hope.

"Son, Happy New Year. I wish you'd make me a little less angry in 2003."

This was Gao Meilan's heartfelt expectation.

Yang Tianxing grinned as he accepted the two red envelopes, then, as if performing a magic trick, pulled out two red envelopes of his own.

"Old Yang, I hope you stay in good health in the new year. This family couldn't function without you."

"Old Mom, I hope in the new year you'll get angry less, hit me less, nag less, and go out for walks with Old Yang more."

Yang Jianjun and Gao Meilan hadn't expected Yang Tianxing to have red envelopes for them now that he was in college. The two exchanged a look, and Old Yang said, "We must accept our son's heartfelt blessings."

The couple assumed Yang Tianxing's red envelopes were just a token gesture, but once they held them and felt the thickness, they knew they had guessed wrong.

Back in their bedroom, they opened them: 1,000 each.

"Old Yang, our son is doing quite well at school. We only gave him 600, and he gave us 1,000," Gao Meilan said.

Yang Jianjun smiled as he tucked the red envelope into his pocket: "You aren't allowed to take this money back. It's my son's filial gift for me to buy cigarettes."

The auspicious snow from last night added a special flavor to this New Year. Starting from the second day of the Lunar New Year, the people of Jinzhou bundled up tightly to go out and pay New Year calls. At noon, Yang Tianxing's family was to go to his maternal grandmother's house for a meal.

After driving to the familiar little courtyard, many relatives were already there, chatting noisily in the room while blowing on an electric heater.

"Oh, the college student is here."

As soon as Yang Tianxing stepped through the door, his eldest aunt-in-law said.

That's how a group of people chatting goes; whenever a "newcomer" joins, the topic inevitably shifts to them.

Because he was busy, Yang Tianxing's eldest cousin hadn't returned for the holiday this time. He was the only other college student here, so everyone was even more interested.

"Tianxing, is the coursework in college tiring?"

"Tianxing, you can have a girlfriend now, right? We're all waiting for you to get married."

"Tianxing, have some time to look over your cousin's winter break homework?"

There were all sorts of questions. Yang Tianxing answered a few simple ones while warming himself by the electric heater.

The second aunt-in-law was a bit unhappy. Originally, the center of the conversation had been her son, but as soon as Yang Tianxing arrived, he stole the spotlight. Plus, she already had some friction with Gao Meilan, so she gave a cold snort and said, "There are more and more college students these days. I haven't seen the salaries of those college students at Xiaohai's factory being very high."

Xiaohai was the second aunt-in-law's son, Yang Tianxing's second cousin. He was currently working at a garment factory in Hucheng, which was quite far away, and hadn't come home this year.

Gao Meilan was very unconvinced and immediately retorted. It was perfectly normal for this sister-in-law pair to bicker when they met. Yang Tianxing didn't take it to heart, happily eating the sesame candy from the plate.

In the end, it was the maternal grandfather who felt his TV watching was being disturbed and knocked his pipe hard: "Can't you be quiet even on the second day of the New Year? How old are you both?"

Gao Meilan fell silent, but the second aunt-in-law just had to add one last remark: "Our Xiaohai makes 1,500 yuan a month now; he'll be able to buy a mobile phone soon."

It would have been better if she hadn't said that, because the next moment, Yang Tianxing's mobile phone rang.

The "ring-a-ling" sound drew everyone's attention. Yang Tianxing thought, *Oh no, I forgot to turn it off. *

The call was from Tan Zhizhi. She was just bored while visiting relatives and called to ask what Yang Tianxing was doing and to chat. Hearing that Yang Tianxing was also visiting relatives, the two exchanged a few casual words and hung up. The room was deathly quiet.

The second aunt-in-law couldn't save face and coughed: "Gao Meilan, what you're doing isn't right. How old is Tianxing? You bought him a mobile phone; this will give the child vanity."

Gao Meilan couldn't have felt more satisfied, though she kept a calm expression on her face as she replied: "He bought that himself with money from part-time jobs while in college. Old Yang and I are still using Little Lingtong phones."

The second aunt-in-law didn't believe her and went to ask Yang Tianxing.

Yang Tianxing just grinned and stayed silent, helping his cousin check her homework.

This cousin in middle school was quite a character. She was the one who added him on QQ and said, "Brother, it's your little sister." Yang Tianxing thought to himself, *Why not just state your name instead of beating around the bush? *

Of course, Yang Tianxing couldn't understand the math, so he could only flip to the Chinese section to check for typos. He stopped when he saw the essay.

The essay topic was "Hardship Makes People Stronger." This was a common middle school topic to cultivate a student's values of endurance and hard work, but this little sister had done something else entirely.

"My father was in a car accident last year and had both legs amputated."

Yang Tianxing looked up at his second uncle, who had all four limbs intact.

"Because of this, my mother cried until she went blind."

Yang Tianxing glanced at his second aunt-in-law, who had 5.0 vision.

"Impressive, my dear cousin. You really went all out to write this essay."

Yang Tianxing silently flipped further and actually saw himself.

"My cousin Yang Tianxing, because his family is poor, is 26 years old and still can't find a wife, but he remains very optimistic..."

Yang Tianxing didn't say a word; he moved the winter break workbook over and pointed at his own name.

The little cousin understood and took an eraser, changed the name "Yang Tianxing" to "Brother Xiaohai," then blinked and asked Yang Tianxing if that was okay.

Yang Tianxing nodded. The homework check was considered complete.

After eating at the grandparents' house and Yang Jianjun's family left, the second aunt-in-law was still indignant: "Third sister-in-law relies on having a little money at home to buy the kid a phone. So vain."

After hearing this, the grandfather was very unhappy: "The phone wasn't bought by the third one, can't you tell?"

"Tianxing didn't want to say much because he was afraid of making an elder lose face on New Year's, but you just keep nitpicking. Aren't you afraid that if he hardens his heart, he won't help Xiaohai in the future?"

Yang Tianxing was his daughter's son, while Cousin Xiaohai was his son's son; the grandfather still favored his direct grandson a bit more.

The second aunt-in-law didn't believe it and stubbornly said: "Xiaohai doesn't need anyone's help."

The grandfather shook his head: "If your son had even half of Yang Tianxing's slickness and tact, I wouldn't have to worry when I'm gone."

On the way home, Yang Tianxing asked Gao Meilan for permission: "Old Mom, I'm going back to school in a couple of days."

Gao Meilan was stunned: "Don't you all start school after the Lantern Festival?"

"Yes, the official start is after the Lantern Festival."

Yang Tianxing explained: "But I have to go to Chuan-Yu to pick up Xiao Liu first. I've already bought the tickets. After I drop her off at her dorm, I'll return to Jinzhou and go to school with Xiao Zhi."

"Son, how come you aren't this thoughtful toward your mother? Isn't it tiring to go through all this trouble?"

Gao Meilan looked at her son carefully: "In 2003, can you settle on one of those two girls?"

"Mom, look at what you're saying; we're just classmates, there's no such thing as 'certain' or 'not certain'."

Yang Tianxing pretended not to understand the sarcasm in Gao Meilan's words, thinking to himself that being certain about one was already impossible, he only hoped not to add another.

After dawdling at home until the eighth day of the lunar new year, Yang Tianxing indeed went to Chuanyu.

Looking at the empty bedroom, Gao Meilan shook her head and said to Yang Jianjun, "Old Yang, let's look after our health and have a second child; the cabbage didn't get arched, but the pig is running off quite happily."