“Minglu, how can you talk to your brother like this? Is this how Dad and Mom usually teach you? You need to learn to accept others’ kindness. Give me your money gun. Mom has been away for half a year, and you’ve changed, my child! Please extend your hand willingly. Today is New Year’s Eve, and Mom didn’t want to discipline you, but your recent behavior was really over the line. Mom can only give you a little lesson to let you know that such behavior is not good!” An Meijun scolded, thinking that Yin Minglu was really lacking manners. If someone else comes to give him gifts later, and he sprays them in the face with a water gun, how much money would she lose!
Yin Minglu ignored her completely, lowered his head to play with his fingers, and even changed the position of his swinging legs.
Coincidentally, after entertaining a wave of guests, Yin Yunqiu rubbed his temples and came back to pick up his child. As soon as he entered, he saw the child’s usual habit of swinging his legs. Sometimes he’d cross his left leg over the right, and sometimes he’d cross his right leg over the left. Because his little legs were short, they appeared plump when he raised them, and it didn’t make him seem rude; on the contrary, he looked tender and chubby.
He walked over, pinched the other’s round and adorable little foot, and asked, “Why did you take off your socks? Aren’t you afraid of getting cold?” Even though there was heating in the room, and the floor was covered with a thick blanket, one should still take care of their body. With that, he picked up a pair of fuzzy socks from beside the child’s feet and skillfully put them on, ignoring the child’s pouting mouth.
When she saw her husband, An Meijun’s cold and stern expression immediately turned into soft and gentle words, even her reprimands were mild. “Minglu, how could you aim your money gun at your brother like that? He was trying to be kind and give you a gift. Even if you don’t like it, you should politely decline…”
Anyway, she was subtly implying that the child was impolite, had a bad temper, and a stubborn nature, making it very clear in front of Yin Yunqiu.
After listening for a moment, Yin Yunqiu quickly understood what was going on. However, he didn’t mind and rubbed his son’s soft hair. He spoke indulgently, “It’s okay. If the baby doesn’t like it, he doesn’t have to. There’s no rule that says siblings must have a good relationship, especially since they’re cousins with an extra layer of separation. The child’s feelings are the most important. It’s okay to be a bit spoiled.”
“Yunqiu, you can’t do this. You’ll spoil the child like this,” An Meijun was utterly speechless. With Yin Yunqiu’s way of pampering, as long as Yin Minglu wasn’t completely clueless, he would likely become a tyrant who took advantage of his dad’s wealth and power without any restraint. She wished he would self-destruct in this way, but there were pros and cons to everything. She couldn’t control someone like him.
In fact, she was overthinking it. Yin Minglu’s personality was the opposite. He responded better to kindness than coercion. Seeing Yin Yunqiu openly favoring him in this way made him feel embarrassed. He began to lower his little head and pondered whether he should acknowledge Yin Jiyu a bit on the surface. Otherwise, if others accused him of being ungrateful, he wouldn’t care. But he didn’t want Yin Yunqiu to bear the stigma of “spoiling, indulging, and harming his child” for his sake.
When brothers don’t get along, it’s the parents who have a hard time dealing with it. Moreover, at this point, Yin Yunqiu couldn’t see the future where he would be lovestruck to the point of madness due to love. When he was seventeen, he was approached by a girl three times, not only without suspecting her motives but also falling in love with her. At the time, bystanders thought it was a scene from a romantic drama, where the “rich young master falls in love with Cinderella.” However, it turned out to be a “heart-wrenching sibling romance” from a melodramatic Korean drama. What was even more astonishing was that this older brother even refused to marry for the sake of his younger sister, and the massive family fortune ultimately fell into the hands of the child his sister gave birth to, carrying someone else’s surname.
This self-sacrificing behavior to benefit others, if it weren’t for the original owner, Yin Minglu would have applauded it. However, he still regretted that Yin Yunqiu’s hard-earned empire had been handed over to him. The original owner had no right to inherit, and Yin Jiyu, who had the right, had followed suit and handed it over.
If they got along well as brothers in this lifetime, perhaps Yin Jiyu would be prevented from continuing to act irrationally. So, Yin Minglu hugged Yin Yunqiu’s neck and rubbed his little face against him, saying in a “understanding” manner, “Don’t worry, Dad, I won’t do it again in the future.”
He had indeed made the right judgment; Minglu was a well-behaved and sensible child. As long as everything went his way, he not only wouldn’t be spoiled but would also become more considerate and humble. Yin Yunqiu’s lips curled slightly. Over the past half year, he had clearly learned the art of parenting, and he would make the baby like him even more in the future.
He said, “Dad will take you to change your clothes.”
The little guy replied, “Dad, I’m not cold,” meaning he didn’t want to go.
However, Yin Yunqiu still carried him upstairs. When he came back downstairs, he had changed the child into a new outfit. It was also bright red but a traditional Tang suit for the New Year. It had a dark red mandarin collar with cloud-patterned edges and several small pendants hanging on the side. It was both festive and warm.
What was most special about it was that this outfit had many pockets. The whole outfit had four or five visible pockets on the surface, and there was even a small hidden pocket on the inside, seemingly containing the red envelope that Yin Yunqiu had given him. To be fair, he had given the same amount of money to all the younger relatives in front of everyone, but privately, he had given more to his own son.
With so many pockets, he probably wanted him to collect all the red envelopes he would receive during the family banquet later. Cunning! Really cunning! But he liked it!
In the following time, the little guy was all smiles, hugging his dad’s neck and rubbing his face against him. With each red envelope collected, he became a little rich man in an instant, and Yin Yunqiu signaled him to accept them without refusing. He was delighted and danced with joy.
During the New Year’s Eve dinner, it was evident that the Yin family had many relatives. Both the main and branch families gathered together, and at first glance, it seemed like a sea of heads, but there was no sign of favoritism.
Although Yin Jiyu’s seat happened to be next to him, making him somewhat displeased, the delicious dishes on the table soon dispelled his unhappiness. The dishes were even better than those prepared by the top chefs at the Intercontinental Hotel. Even his favorite noodles, such as Szechuan-style dumplings, flower rolls, and steamed buns, filled almost half the table. Yin Minglu took a bite of a dumpling and found that although the skin was a bit thicker, it had a satisfying chewiness to it, and each one looked like a round ingot, with not a single one broken.
He turned the table and sampled almost every dish on the table, but in the end, it was the dumplings that he found most delicious. Surprisingly, even those luxurious dishes like shark fin and abalone couldn’t compare to a single bite of the dumplings. So, in the end, he only ate dumplings.
He ate the dumplings one after another, not noticing that many people at the table were watching him with meaningful glances.
An Meijun was puzzled. After all, there were so many delicious dishes on the table, so why were the women at the neighboring table all eating buns? Weren’t these kinds of noodles readily available everywhere? These people were really strange; they seemed to like buns, but once they opened them and took a few bites of the filling, they put them down.
As she watched the pile of dumpling wrappers in front of her growing larger and almost encroaching into her space, An Meijun cursed silently in her heart. She thought the extended family members of the Yin family had no manners at all, piling their things onto her side of the table.
Seeing his little brother enjoying the dumplings, Yin Jiyu couldn’t help but give him a sweet smile. His delicate and focused eating style was incredibly cute, and Yin Jiyu couldn’t help but smile too. He attentively picked up a bunch of dumplings and placed them in his brother’s bowl.
Yin Minglu didn’t refuse and ate heartily. However, suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his mouth, as if he had bitten into something hard. He clutched his face in pain, tears welling up in his eyes. When he looked down, he found a one-cent coin, a coin that was not commonly used in circulation, inside the dumpling filling.
Staring at the coin and his brother’s watery eyes, Yin Jiyu’s smile froze, realizing that he might have done something wrong.
With Yin Minglu’s cries, the coin fell onto the table, causing a commotion.
A middle-aged man raised his thumb and said, “Congratulations, Minglu, you actually found a coin! The first lucky sign of the year. Such a young age, and you’re already so fortunate. You’ll definitely make a fortune next year.” Then, everyone at the table chimed in with blessings, and the crying little one was suddenly overwhelmed by a torrent of good wishes.
An Meijun, who was still unclear about the situation, sat beside a woman eating dumplings. The woman had a regretful expression and whispered, “He ate so many for nothing. This year, it’s dumplings. What a pity, we missed out on a million.”
However, An Meijun picked up on a certain keyword and grabbed the woman’s sleeve, asking, “What’s a million? Is the coin worth a million?” She seemed to vaguely understand why the women and children at the table were all eating dumplings and buns when she was indulging in meat and fish earlier.
The woman glanced at her strangely, probably thinking that An Meijun, as a newlywed who had just joined the Yin family this year, didn’t understand the rules. She explained, “It’s just an ordinary one-cent coin, not worth a million. It symbolizes the lucky sign for the year, worth a million in blessings.”
An Meijun finally understood. It turned out that the Yin family had a long-standing tradition during their New Year’s Eve dinner. They would put ten coins into a particular type of dish, and when it was cooked and served, whoever found a coin would symbolize prosperity for the coming year and receive a reward from the family head. In recent years, as the Yin family became more prosperous, the reward had increased to one million.
Last year it was buns, the year before was rolls, the year before that was dumplings, and two years ago was rolls again. No one could predict what it would be this year, so each family member often ate different things in hopes of finding the good fortune.
“Isn’t this unhygienic?” An Meijun worried. The coins had been in circulation for who knew how long. Even if they were disinfected, it was still somewhat unsanitary.
The woman rolled her eyes at her and said, “If you don’t want the good fortune, you can choose not to participate. Don’t be so particular. Don’t underestimate a million. For the Yin family’s main branch, it might not be much, but for the extended branches, scattered as they are, a million can help them pay half the down payment for a house for their children or even change their destinies. Using the lucky sign as a reason is also a respectable way to do it. After all, which family doesn’t have a few poor relatives?”
Learning that this year’s lucky sign was hidden in the dumplings, everyone at the table quickly scrambled to eat dumplings. An Meijun also panicked and immediately cast aside her reservations. When no one was looking, she quickly scooped up a spoonful of dumplings into her bowl.
The little guy, still crying, clung to his father and held onto his suit. He cried so pitifully, his small back rising and falling with each sob. Yin Yunqiu comforted him, making sure to check his mouth carefully and even touch the gum to see if there were any signs of loose teeth. After confirming that it was just a baby tooth, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He comforted the child thoroughly.
Yin Shujin, Yin Yunqiu’s younger sister and Yin Minglu’s aunt, saw the small figure lying on her older brother and crying. His small back was moving up and down with his sobs, and his tears were falling incessantly. When she looked at her sister-in-law, An Meijun, she saw her burying her head and voraciously eating.
She couldn’t believe it and said to An Meijun, “The child is crying, why aren’t you consoling him? If it were my child, crying so pitifully, I would have hugged and comforted him a long time ago.”
What’s wrong with this sister-in-law? Does eating at this moment outweigh the importance of comforting the child? Yin Shujin came from a wealthy family and didn’t care about a mere one or two million, so she naturally didn’t understand why An Meijun was so concerned. Especially when she saw Yin Minglu having good luck and eating a coin, receiving numerous praises from everyone at the table, An Meijun felt even more jealous. What kind of nonsense “wealth-attracting boy” was he? Who was he to deserve it?
She wished there were more mouths right now, so she could eat desperately and get her own lucky sign. She regretted eating all that seafood earlier, which had expanded her stomach for no reason, making it hard for her to eat many dumplings now.
After his younger brother started crying, Yin Jiyu had been standing beside him the whole time. Naturally, he noticed An Meijun’s wolfish eating habits. For some reason, it reminded him of his cold and distant mother. For a moment, he felt a bit of empathy for his little brother, who had transformed from a playful little kitten into something else.
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Author’s Note: Today, I was outside and couldn’t update the chapters due to a lack of internet, so the update is ten minutes late, I apologize!
I’ve been a bit busy these days, so there have been fewer updates. If I have some free time tomorrow, I’ll try to update more.
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