Two-Faced Husband, Have Some Decency!

“Time to sleep. Goodnight Dad, goodnight Mom,” Qi Youxuan greeted sweetly out of exhilaration that night. That day was considered the first day of New Year after they returned home, and he felt the beginning of New Year went off to a good start.

“Goodnight,” Ruan Danchen replied softly. She would always respond to him whenever he called her “Mom”.

Qi Chenglin pursed his lips and spoke in a muffled voice, “Goodnight.”

...

...

Qi Youxuan remained in his deep slumber when Ruan Danchen woke up the next morning,

Ruan Danchen had turned to lie on her side throughout the night unconsciously. Qi Youxuan was sleeping in her embosom like a piglet while she had her back pressed against Qi Chenglin’s chest. His long arm extended to Qi Youxuan and pulled them into his embosom as though protecting them firmly.

Ruan Danchen smiled unwittingly as she stared at Qi Youxuan’s pinkish face in deep slumber. She then kissed her lightly on his cheek to avoid waking him up.

Even so, the kid woke up, rubbing his sleepy eyes with his small hands before opening his eyes slowly. He was still in a state of confusion at first but he snapped out of it as soon as he saw the person in front of him. A smile spread wide open on his face as he called out cheerfully, “Mom!”

“Shh. Keep your voice down, your Dad’s still asleep.” Ruan Danchen held her index finger in front of her mouth.

Qi Youxuan nodded happily in agreement and squeezed into her embosom like a piggy.

Ruan Danchen broke into laughter before looking at the time—way past eight o’clock now. It was time for them to get up from the bed and prepare themselves to visit the Qi family manor, so she whispered to Qi Youxuan, “Get up and go back to your room to tidy up yourself. It’s time for us to wake up too.”

It was not a day or two Qi Youxuan lived with Ruan Danchen but after realizing that Ruan Danchen was his biological mother, and for some reason, he felt that he should behave well and make her happy after realizing that she had a well-behaved son. He thus got out of bed without hesitation and with great care as he tiptoed out of the bedroom in fear of waking Qi Chenglin. He was even thoughtful enough to close the bedroom door as he exited the bedroom.

Ruan Danchen then turned to face Qi Chenglin carefully and noticed that he had not woken up yet. She thought he might be too exhausted.

His thick, long layer of eyelashes covered his closed-shut eyes. His lips touched each other gently in a natural way, and there were even beard stubbles growing on his chin. Ruan Danchen adored the ticklish itchiness feeling when she kissed his stubble-covered jawline. The feeling was something similar to an electric shock, which would induce tingling sensation and numbness in her.

All she could feel was joy when she stared at his face.

He was handsome and elegant even in slumber, even though his facial features appeared stern.

She was not one who would judge people by their appearances, but after being in a relationship with Qi Chenglin, she realized that his handsomeness remained undefeated. Her man had the most striking appearance in the world and she could not get enough of that sight.

“I’ve been waiting for a long time. Are you going to kiss me or not?” The man, whom she initially thought was slumbering, voiced out suddenly.

His voice remained sleepy and husky even though he was awake, which sounded especially attractive to Ruan Danchen’s ears and even made her aroused.

Ruan Danchen blushed as Qi Chenglin opened his eyes slowly, revealing a pair of deep eyes that radiated a tinge of joy. It made his expression appear bright and clean.

“When did you wake up?” Ruan Danchen asked with a smile on her face before feeling his embrace tightened.

“When Youxuan called you,” Qi Chenglin’s stern expression was softened by the joy in his eyes.

“You didn’t open your eyes,” mentioned Ruan Danchen before she kissed him on his stubble-covered jawline to satisfy him.

Qi Chenglin yanked her further into his embosom and get on top of her. “That brat acted as the third wheeler throughout the night. How else can he leave the room if I don’t pretend to sleep?”

“This was the first time the three of us sleeping together in bed, and it felt good. Just now when I woke up, my son was in my arms and both of us were in yours. I couldn’t be more blessed at the sight of this.” Ruan Danchen let out a smile that expressed how blessed she was now. She even took the initiative and pecked on his lips until Qi Chenglin stopped being mad at his son for being the third wheeler.

“Let’s wake up, we still need to head to the old mansion.” Ruan Danchen gave him a little nudge.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night, still feeling sleepy now.” Qi Chenglin remained on top of her and refused to leave.

“Your willy is quite energetic though.” Ruan Danchen obviously felt that his phallus was poking on her like a sword stabbing at her.

Qi Chenglin became happy upon hearing her statement and pressed down on her firmly. “So I want to get energetic too.”

Ruan Danchen actually felt regret the moment she blurted that statement. It must be due to her disorganized mind after waking up, and she blamed her mouth for talking too fast without thinking this through.

Qi Chenglin started his workout with Ruan Danchen in order to drive away the sleepiness quickly. Ruan Danchen was unable to escape since she was trapped beneath him, so she had no choice but to let him closed in on her shamelessly, kissing and caressing every inch of her body. Then, they stimulated each other’s blood circulation and stretching each and every muscle on their bodies during the exercise until all energy was drained from Ruan Danchen after the end of their workout.

Both of them went downstairs afterward, with Qi Chenglin feeling lively and energetic. Ruan Danchen, on the other hand, blushed and her pace was quite slow due to the muscle soreness.

“Dad, Mom, why did you come down late?” Qi Youxuan with a new outfit for New Year finished eating his breakfast and was sitting on the sofa in the living room, watching a replay of crosstalk and sketches of Chinese New Year’s Gala on his iPad.

He was getting used to calling Ruan Danchen “Mom” now, and would always put on a sweet smile whenever he greeted her.

Ruan Danchen felt exhausted after physically tortured by Qi Chenglin initially, but after hearing Qi Youxuan’s greet, her energy level reached a peak in an instant and she no longer felt tired.

“Your Dad was having a lie-in just now,” Ruan Danchen answered. The exercise that Qi Chenglin did was considered a type of lie-in too, so in a way, she was not accusing him.

Qi Youxuan immediately pursed his lips in detest and said, “You’re an adult now but poor in self-control.”

“...” Ruan Danchen was left speechless.

Son, did you know it brought an entirely different meaning if it was spoken by an adult?

It was a rare sight for Qi Chenglin to not argue with him and went to the kitchen with a good mood instead.

Ruan Danchen suddenly recalled that Aunt Zheng was on a holiday. Since no one would make breakfast for them, she asked Qi Youxuan, “What did you eat for breakfast just now?”

“Aren’t there bread and milk in the fridge? I have no idea when you guys will come down so I took that as my breakfast. One won’t be able to survive in this house without any capability,” Qi Youxuan even let out a heavy sigh after finishing his statement.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Qi Chenglin admonished before sitting at the dining table, waiting for breakfast to be served.

Ruan Danchen went straight to the refrigerator to retrieve bread, ham, and vegetables. She then pan-fried two eggs and made sandwiches with the ingredients hastily before gulping them down and getting ready to visit the Qi family manor.

Qi Youxuan got down from the sofa with the iPad in his hands and went to the kitchen, even though he was full after consuming breakfast. He paused the video and crawled up his chair, resting his chin on his hands while he watched Ruan Danchen busy as a beaver in the kitchen. The sight of her brought a different feeling from what he experienced before.

Initially, he was staring at a stepmother who was kind towards him. He adored her too and felt happy that she could join in this big, wonderful family.

Now, he was staring at his biological mother, which made him felt especially secure.

Ruan Danchen finished making sandwiches in a flash. She smiled and stroke Qi Youxuan’s head when she returned to the dining table for breakfast.

After that, the trio went to the Qi family manor.

The outfit Qi Youxuan wore was especially jubilant. His red, short down jacket accentuated his chubbiness and made him appear extremely cute; he looked like a little bear with a pair of snow boots on.

Qi Youxuan started demanding for Chinese Lucky Money 1 the moment he entered the old mansion. He returned momentarily with four thick red packets in his hand. They were from Grandfather Qi and Grandmother Qi, Qi Zhongliang and Xia Wenna, his grandparents, and finally Qi Chengzhi and Qi Chengyue.

Ruan Danchen guessed there were at least twenty thousand Yuan in total based on how thick the red packets were.

Qi Youxuan handed those red packets to Qi Chenglin and said, “Dad, help me make an investment or anything will do.”

Qi Chenglin accepted it silently. Qi Youxuan was born as a money-grubber and he would always give all his money—whether it was his usual savings or through blackmail—to Qi Chenglin for investment purposes.

One could only describe Qi Chenglin’s expression as interesting when Qi Youxuan gave his savings of approximately ten thousand Yuan to Qi Chenglin for the first time.

Qi Chenglin had never invested with only ten thousand Yuan as it was just like a drop of water in a vast ocean, so he threw the money into his bank account without hesitation. He would give the money back to Qi Youxuan based on the interest rate when the time came.

The first time when Qi Youxuan gave his money to Qi Chenglin for investment purpose, he demanded a contract in fear that Qi Chenglin would take his money by force.

Qi Chenglin merely thought that he was playing around since he was just a kid, so he asked Qi Youxuan to write the contract himself and let him sign when the document was prepared. However, Qi Youxuan insisted on an official agreement contract made by Qilin’s lawyer.

Qi Chenglin ignored him straight away. One day, Qi Youxuan asked Grandmother Qi to let Xiao Fan fetched them to Qilin, and they really asked Lawyer Song to make a contract for Qi Youxuan to entrust Qi Chenglin as his financial advisor!

Qi Chenglin was so embarrassed at that time until he avoided direct eye contact with Lawyer Song. The contract and legal documents were finally made and Qi Chenglin had no choice but to stamp his personal seal onto the documents with a darkened expression under Grandmother Qi’s stern gaze.

Qi Youxuan even imitated the adults and stamped his thumbprint on the documents. From that time onward, he would gaze upon Qi Chenglin like he was an important customer and Qi Chenglin was merely a subordinate whenever he passed all his money to Qi Chenglin.

Qi Chenglin was too lazy to even argue with him so he simply passed all the red packets to Ruan Danchen for safe-keeping.

After a few moments, different families came to pay a New Year call one by one. This was the day where Qi Youxuan would feel the happiest since he would receive a lot of red packets from the adults.

Qi Chengzhi was brazen enough to hold Qi Youjin and appeared in front of the guests who came to visit without saying a word. His attitude made the guests speechless when they gave red packets to Qi Youjin. Then, Qi Youxuan, without any reservations, came to them and greeted, “May you have a prosperous New Year!” His greeting was without sincerity yet he reached out to them with his chubby hand, demanding red packets.

There was not much money inside those red packets and it was just to lighten the mood by giving them to children. However, the only people whom they would feel reluctant and unwilling to give red packets to were the children in the Qi family. Initially, there was only Qi Youxuan who made them feel this way, but now with the addition of Qi Chengzhi, it disgusted them greatly.

Qi Chenglin’s phone rang after sending off a family who came to visit. When he noticed that the caller was Yan Beicheng, he raised his eyebrows curiously and had a bad feeling about this.

“Yes?” Qi Chenglin asked lightly after picking up the call, feeling a little disgusted.

Yan Beicheng did not mind his tone at all on the other side of the phone and asked, “Are you guys at the old mansion right now?”

“Yes, we’re entertaining visitors in the morning and will pay them a New Year call in the evening later,” Qi Chenglin answered.

“Good. We’re on our way to the old mansion now, so don’t leave just yet,” Yan Beicheng said.

“We?” Qi Chenglin raised his eyebrows as he felt something odd and fishy about this.

“Yes, stay there and don’t leave,” Yan Beicheng hung up the call after finishing his statement. Qi Chenglin wanted to enquire more but he was too late.

Qi Chenglin was speechless at Yan Beicheng for acting as though advising a child.

They did not plan to leave the mansion in the morning anyway. They had reached a consensus after all these years that all men in the Qi family would stay at home in the morning. Thus, everyone who planned to visit the Qi family would rush to the old mansion in the morning.

The doorbell rang after a little more than half an hour later, and Qi Chengyue went to answer it. Then, Yan Beicheng entered the mansion momentarily, followed by Han Zhuoli, Chu Zhaoyang, Gui Zhiqian, Wei Ziqi and his family, and Wei Zilin.

The bunch of them entering the house brought joy to the atmosphere.

Yan Beicheng and the gang greeted the Qi family’s elders with extreme respect and courtesy. Then, Qi Youxuan and Qi Chengzhi who was carrying Qi Youjin sat in front of them.

“Uncle, may you have a prosperous New Year!” Qi Youxuan gave them a perfunctory greet one by one.

It was obvious that his greeting lacked sincerity, merely demanding for money. Yan Beicheng took out a red packet and gave Qi Chenglin a condemned stare.

Qi Chenglin pouted. “My son is saving up to marry his wife. A child who knows how to earn money like my son won’t let his wife down in the future. Ziqi, am I right?”

Qi Youxuan quickly nodded in agreement before Wei Ziqi could answer. “That’s right, that’s right!”

“...” Wei Ziqi was so disgusted until he planned not to pay a New Year call to the Qi family in the future.

It was Yan Beicheng who took the lead to cause trouble to Qi Chenglin; why did he even aim Wei Ziqi?

Wei Ziqi rolled his eyes in response to Qi Chenglin’s question petulantly and answered coldly, “Ha ha. My maiden daughter caught a gun during the one-year-old-catch 1, and she even told me that she wanted to learn martial arts. I initially thought that it was unwise for a lady to play with these sorts of activities which involved punching and beating around, but come to think of it, at least she won’t receive any unjust treatment from his future husband. I’ll have to research it further when I get home.”

“...” Qi Chenglin was dumbfounded.

Ruan Danchen felt hilarious watching the arguments between the duo. It would be hectic when the two children grew up and truly marry each other, but the duo remained persistent in their bickering.

She could even imagine the duo remained vindictive and their expressions of not yielding to each other when these two families sit together in the future.

Qi Youxuan was the litigant in this issue but he was not bothered at all. Instead, he brought Little Muran away from the bickering, followed by Little Muche who acted like he was their tail.

They could even hear Qi Youxuan’s voice from afar. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you angry in the future and certainly won’t retaliate if you scold or even hit me. You don’t need to learn martial arts, I’ll be your punching bag.”

Qi Chenglin smiled. “My son is fully aware of his situation now.”

Wei Ziqi nodded with great satisfaction too. “You’re fully conscious too to raise your son as a punching bag for other family’s maiden daughter.”

Ruan Danchen did not take this to heart since they were just joking. On the other hand, Wei Ran looked at her apologetically, which Ruan Danchen smiled and shook her head to indicate that she did not mind at all. Then, Song Yu and her pulled Wei Ran to one side and started chatting.

“Mom! Mom!” Qi Youxuan ran out after a while.

Ruan Danchen felt that he would show off publicly regarding the fact that he finally had a mother now based on his style. Well, here he came.

“There’s a box of Potato Farm chips[3] in the cabinet. Can I share it with Muran and Muche?” Qi Youxuan asked. It was obvious that it was just an excuse and he was just finding a chance to show off that he had a mother now.

Ruan Danchen did not expose his intentions and instead, she stood up happily and grabbed his little hand. “Come, I’ll take it for you.”

Ruan Danchen went to the kitchen and took the Japan Three Brothers French Fries down from the cabinet. Then, she found a small but beautiful plate and put some sweets and desserts for the kids. Qi Youxuan walked away happily after that.

Ruan Danchen saw Qi Chenglin waving towards her when she returned to the living room. She guessed that it was because Qi Youxuan referred her as his mother, so she walked towards him obediently and slipped her hand in his habitually.

Then, she noticed the gang winking at her. Wei Ziqi was married so he remained calm and steady. The other older bachelors were calm and steady too when they were working outside, but when they were gathered with their friends, they would lose their calmness and started to behave playfully.

“Good, he already referred her as his mother now. When’s your wedding dinner?” Han Zhuoli asked with a smile on his face.

“Wedding dinner will be held soon, but Danchen is his actual mother. Biological mother,” Qi Chenglin answered.

Ruan Danchen did not bother about his first statement anymore. Qi Chenglin was not one who knew nothing about romance and they had reached a consensus that they would get married together in the future. She just felt slightly annoyed at his confidence and without proposing officially.

She fought the urge to stomp on his foot and asked, “Who will you marry soon?”

However, it was obvious that Yan Beicheng and the rest were shocked by Qi Chenglin’s last statement. Their eyes widened as they stared at Ruan Danchen, which embarrassed her.

“Aiyoh, what in the world happened? You’re really cunning!” said Han Zhuoli.

“This is between the two of us so don’t need to inquire further. Just know that Danchen is Youxuan’s biological mother and that’s it.” Qi Chenglin did not plan on explaining the past incident to them. Even though they were like his brothers, it would still be embarrassing for them to know the truth, so only the Qi family knew what had actually happened.

Yan Beicheng and the gang did not mind too and stopped their inquiries.

“Since this is a huge joyous matter, how about we gather at the Red Roof? Tonight’s on me,” Yan Beicheng suggested. It was boring recently and besides, they had not had a gathering for such a long time.

Qi Chenglin remained silent and turned his head to Ruan Danchen instead to ask for her permission.

“Damn! You’re not married yet but acting like a hen-pecked husband now!” Gui Zhiqian mentioned it like he was watching a show while eating sunflower seeds.

Qi Chenglin ignored him straight away but Ruan Danchen felt embarrassed after listening to his statement. Qi Chenglin was the head of the family and no matter what happened, she had to protect his reputation whenever they were outside. “I’m fine with it. Since we have nothing to do, I’ll follow your decision.”

Qi Chenglin then agreed to his suggestion. Since Qi Chengzhi and his family were free too, they agreed to join the party tonight.

“Oh, that’s right, I nearly forgot about the true intentions of my visit. I’m going to share a video link in the group. Go ahead and have a look,” Yan Beicheng said and took out his phone.

Grandmother Qi and the rest of the family were listening to their conversation while munching through the sunflower seeds. Yan Beicheng’s statement raised their curiosities and Grandmother Qi asked immediately, “What link?”

“Granny, I’ll send it to you too, don’t worry,” Yan Beicheng said while his fingers kept poking on his phone’s screen repeatedly.

All the elders in their families followed the trend and knew how to use WeChat so Yan Beicheng and the gang registered these elders as friends. After a while, Grandfather Qi and Grandmother Qi, Qi Zhongliang and Xia Wenna, and Qi Zhongxun and Guan Liya received the video sent by Yan Beicheng.

They saw a Mercedes-Benz shaking while being surrounded by cars in front of the traffic light in the video. Grandmother Qi criticized, “Young men nowadays are really outrageous. They can’t contain themselves even when they’re waiting for the traffic light to turn green. This brings such a bad impression on them.”

Ruan Danchen glanced at Qi Chenglin amid the embarrassment.

Grandmother Qi put on her spectacles with presbyopia lenses to take a clearer view of the number plate, which was quite familiar to her. “Chenglin, is this your car?”

Yan Beicheng grinned at Qi Chenglin, whose expression paled with anger, and said, “This video was shared like crazy in my friends’ list. They said the people in this car were bold and untrammeled. They couldn’t even contain themselves when the traffic light turned red. Then, I noticed that the number plate was quite familiar so I took a closer look. Yo, wasn’t that your car?”

Han Zhuoli stared at Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen ambiguously. Ruan Danchen’s face went as red as a beetroot now and the elders in the Qi family were still sitting together with them. It would be disastrous if they misunderstood the situation.

“Youxuan and I were playing around in the back of the car last night, that was the reason why the car was so...” Ruan Danchen was unable to mutter the word “bouncy” anyhow.

“Lao Chu, what are you doing?” Yan Beicheng took a glance at Chu Zhaoyang who was sitting beside him quietly, but his fingers were busy poking at his phone.

“Downloading the video, perhaps it may come in handy when they’re getting married,” Chu Zhaoyang said lightly.

“...” Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen were dumbfounded.

“All of you came here together just for this?” Qi Chenglin felt especially speechless as he thought they were too silly.

Gui Zhiqian gave him a magnanimous nod. “It’s hectic during the New Year festival, and you should be honored that we paid you a visit.”

It was afternoon after they were done messing around with him, so Grandmother Qi made them stay for lunch in the old mansion.

Then, the Qi family realized that Yan Beicheng and the gang came here straight after their assemblage and had not paid other families a New Year call yet. Thus, Qi Chengzhi and Qi Chenglin brought their wives and children and followed them to pay a visit to each family.

They had decided to visit the Han family manor first since it was the nearest to the Qi family manor.

Wei Ziqi carried Little Muran in his embosom after the women served lunch and started eating and feeding Little Muran at the same time, ignoring his son completely.

Ruan Danchen served a small bowl of noodles to Wei Ran, who was carrying Little Muche, so that she could feed her daughter.

Wei Ziqi was extremely patient in taking care of Little Muran meticulously.

Little Muran took a bite of the food she disliked and spat it out, and Wei Ziqi then ate it without feeling disgusted even though there was some unknown object in the meat he just ate.

Little Muran felt bored after eating for quite some time, so she started misbehaving and did not want to continue her lunch in peace. Wei Ziqi then coaxed her with a good temper. “Alright, alright. Come and have a bite again. We’ll stop eating after ten bites, alright? I’ll count for you.”

Little Muran finally started eating again after endless coaxing, but she held the food in her mouth instead of chewing it. Wei Ziqi then grabbed a piece of stewed beef and said, “Look at how I chew. One, Two, Three... That’s right.”

The other bachelors were on the brink of vomiting at the sight of Wei Ziqi tolerating his daughter’s wilfulness. Wei Ziqi would not have such a good temper before he had a daughter. If anyone dared to act capricious towards him, he would kick the person’s buttocks without hesitation, and even the person’s death would not be able to resolve his anger.

Little Muche, who was sitting beside them, misbehaved too. He did not want to eat the noodles Wei Ran fed, and he would turn his head away when the spoon was near his mouth. When Wei Ran found a good opportunity after cajoling him for a while and forced a spoonful of noodles into his mouth, he would spit it out without hesitation.

Wei Ziqi noticed it from the corner of his eye and glared at Little Muche with a stern gaze.

Little Muche went stiff and made a crying expression, looking especially pitiful. Wei Ziqi then raised his eyebrows and gave him a condescending sneer.

Little Muche was about to cry initially, but after noticing his father’s gaze, he pursed his lips and widened his teary eyes, trying desperately to hold the tears that threatened to leave his eyes. He thus kept the tears and snot at bay before eating the noodles Wei Ran fed obediently, peeking at him from time to time vigilantly.

Wei Ziqi continued cajoling his daughter to eat her lunch patiently.

“Wei Ziqi, did your son come with the package when you top up your phone charges?” Yan Beicheng shifted his gaze between Little Muche and Little Muran, noticing a huge difference between their treatment.

“What are you talking about? He’s a product of me and my wife’s hard work.” Wei Ziqi glared Yan Beicheng with a little annoyance from being misunderstood.

“...” Wei Ran was dumbfounded.

Wei Ziqi’s sleeves were being encumbrances so Wei Ran helped him to roll up his sleeves, which revealed a washable tattoo of SpongeBob SquarePants on his arm.

“Yo, Wei Ziqi, are you still childish?” Han Zhuoli laughed at the sight of the SpongeBob SquarePants tattoo on Wei Ziqi’s arm; he was an adult man but with a cartoon tattoo on him.

“Muran liked it and insisted on sticking it on him,” Wei Ran explained with a smile on her face.

She recalled Little Muran was chewing bubble gum when she came back from kindergarten on one day. There was a washable tattoo sticker inside the packet so she insisted on sticking it on Wei Ziqi’s back of the hand.

It was unwise for his subordinates and clients to notice the cartoon tattoo during his work, but he could not bear the sight of his daughter’s disappointed expression. Nonetheless, Little Muran was persistent in her demand on sticking the tattoo on a conspicuous location.

Feeling helpless, Wei Ziqi persuaded Little Muran to place the tattoo on his arm. However, it was still noticeable if he did not hide it carefully.

“The status difference between your son and daughter is huge, don’t you think so?” Gui Zhiqian winked and took a closer look at Little Muche again. Even though his eyes, nose, and mouth were the absolute spitting images of Wei Ziqi and Wei Ran, Wei Ziqi treated him as if he was picked up from the roadside.

Wei Ziqi rolled his eyes and said, “A daughter has to be doted delicately, whereas a son must be treated harshly so that he won’t suffer in the future.”

Little Muran was full after Wei Ziqi finished his sentence, and her father then advised before putting her down on the ground, “My daughter, if there’s any man who tries to court you in the future, don’t promise him if he didn’t treat you better than I did. Don’t marry if that happens. Stay home and I’ll take care of you.”

Xiao Muran nodded prudently before going to play with the others.

Footnotes:

Ch 386 Footnote 1

[1] Lucky money is prepared for children by adults and the elderly and given after the reunion dinner. There are no clear literary sources from which to trace the origin of the red envelope tradition. In China, during the Qin Dynasty, the elderly would thread coins with a red string. The money was called yasui qian (yā suì qián 压岁钱) meaning “money warding off evil spirits”, and was believed to protect the elderly from sickness and death. The lucky money was replaced by red envelopes when printing presses became more common and is now found written using the homophone for suì that means ‘old age’ instead of ‘evil spirits’. In folk culture, the children will live safe and sound for the whole year if they get lucky money. This custom still remains and the amount of money is increasing. Children use their money to buy books or other school supplies. Some families also save money for future use or use it to help cultivate in their children the habit of saving.

Ch 386 Footnote 2

[2] One-Year-Old Catch (zhuā zhōu 抓周) is a tradition with a long history in China. It was recorded even when it was in the Song Dynasty (sòng cháo 宋朝). One-Year-Old Catch is usually held before eating the long-life noodles when it is on the day when a baby is one year old. The family will lay out sutras, brush pens, ink sticks, paper, ink slabs, abacus, copper coins, account books, pieces of jewelry, flowers, rouge, foods, toys, etc. For girls, scoops, scissors, rulers, thread, scissor-cut will be added. Then the parents put the baby in front of these articles and make it sit up. Nobody will give any instruction or cue to the baby so that it is left free to choose. Watching the baby catch the articles it likes, the family can then make predictions about its potential interests, future career and development.