Chapter 53: Dividing the Money

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"Look at all these candies! Such beautiful candies! I want to keep all the candy wrappers."

"And these snacks, this sugar cake, these sesame candies, and these milk candies. Oh, and this one, what's this?"

"Wow, this bag has so much preserved meat. It smells so good."

"Hey, what's this?"

"You silly, this is sausages. I heard from Xiao Hua that Dad used to buy them. Finally, we have sausages too, and there are so many of them."

"This bag is full of glutinous rice. We haven't had glutinous rice dishes in a long time."

"Silly, this isn't regular rice; it's glutinous rice for making zongzi and rice cakes."

"What's this, roasted duck?"

"No, this is roast duck, quite expensive."

"..."

Not only the children but even Mr. and Mrs. Tang were excited. They had never had so many good New Year goods before.

Tang Erlong finally came out. He had seen the backs of Bai Laotou and Xiao Zhong but was immediately drawn to the four large sacks on the ground. Were these New Year goods for their family?

Mr. Tang gave orders to the family, "Don't tell anyone about this. Let's bring these things inside first."

The goods in the four large sacks were quickly brought into the house. In the living room, Mrs. Tang began to unpack and count the items. Tang Xiaoyue made a list as they went along.

Three bags of 50-pound rice,

Three bags of 50-pound high-quality flour,

Three bags of 5-pound sausages,

Ten pieces of 2-pound preserved meat,

Two roast ducks,

Two wax chickens,

Ten pounds of various wrapped candies,

Six pounds of white sugar,

Six pounds of brown sugar,

Two pounds of dried shiitake mushrooms,

Two pounds of dried black fungus,

One pound of dried daylilies,

Two tins of malted milk,

...

Lastly, four sets of children's clothing, but all of them were suitable for Tang Ailian's size. Tang Erlong glared at Tang Ailian, knowing that she had bought these clothes for herself.

When Tang Xiaoyue finished the list, Tang Erlong asked, "Who did you help today? You came back with all these goods."

Tang Ailian tilted her head and thought for a moment before replying, "I helped the relative of the person who came to Dad for money today. Dad lost some money in gambling and borrowed 200 yuan with high interest. To repay the debt, I had to save the son of the person who borrowed the money. He said that as long as I saved his friend's son, he would help Dad repay the 200 yuan gambling debt. So, I went and saved him, and he gave me all of this."

Mrs. Tang's face darkened when she heard this, "So, does that mean your reward for saving the person includes paying off your father's 200 yuan gambling debt?"

Tang Erlong was less subtle and said directly, "Does that mean you included Dad's 200 yuan debt in your reward? When you went into the room earlier, you didn't give Mom the money, did you hide it?"

Tang Xiaoyue had no guilt in her heart anymore. This was the money her daughter had earned, and there was no reason to give it away. She tried to explain, "These goods are worth a lot of money—"

Tang Ailian quickly took out a neatly wrapped bundle of money from her pocket, "There's also 100 yuan here, all neatly bundled. I haven't even opened it. Grandma, you can count to see if it's short."

Tang Erlong seemed unsatisfied, but when he saw the well-packaged bundle of banknotes, he couldn't say anything. He wanted to say, "Who knows if you gave half to your mom?" but he couldn't say it when he saw the neat bundle of money.

Mrs. Tang took the money and checked it carefully. It was indeed a complete 100 yuan. She believed Tang Ailian didn't keep any for herself. Her face finally showed a satisfied smile, "Ailian, you're such a good child, helping with the household expenses."

However, she didn't know that Tang Ailian had brought back 1,000 yuan in cash. She had given 500 yuan to her mother earlier and kept 400 yuan for herself, only giving away 100 yuan now.

Even though it was only 100 yuan, the Tang family was quite satisfied. Tang Erlong, who worked outside, only brought back ten or twenty yuan each month, so he could only contribute a couple of hundred yuan a year. But Tang Ailian had earned 100 yuan in just one day.

Furthermore, in addition to the 100 yuan, there was this huge pile of New Year goods. In previous years, these New Year goods would have been worth just one or two hundred yuan, but this year's skyrocketing food prices made these four big sacks of New Year goods worth at least a thousand yuan.

Mr. Tang looked at Tang Ailian with great satisfaction, "Ailian, you've made a great contribution to our family. Who did you help with today? Is it someone's gratitude?"

Tang Ailian tilted her head, trying to think, and said, "It was the relative of the person who came to ask Dad for money today. Dad lost 200 yuan in gambling and borrowed 200 yuan at high interest. He needed to repay the debt, so he asked me to save his friend's son. He said that as long as I saved his friend's son, he would help Dad repay the 200 yuan gambling debt. So, I went and saved him, and he gave me all of this."

Mrs. Tang's expression darkened upon hearing this. "So, you mean that the reward for saving the person includes paying off your father's 200 yuan gambling debt?"

Tang Erlong was less subtle and asked directly, "Does that mean you included Dad's 200 yuan debt in your reward? You didn't give Mom the money when you went into the room earlier. Did you hide it?"

Tang Xiaoyue, no longer feeling guilty, explained, "These goods are worth a lot of money—"

Tang Ailian quickly took out a neatly wrapped bundle of money from her pocket. "There's also 100 yuan here, all neatly bundled. I haven't even opened it. Grandma, you can count it to see if it's short."

Although Tang Erlong appeared dissatisfied, he couldn't say anything when he saw the neatly bundled banknotes. He wanted to suggest that maybe she had given half to her mom, but he couldn't say it in front of the neatly wrapped money.

Mrs. Tang carefully counted the money and confirmed that it was indeed 100 yuan. She believed that Tang Ailian hadn't kept any for herself. Her face finally showed a satisfied smile, "Ailian, you're such a good child, helping with the household expenses."

However, she didn't know that Tang Ailian had brought back 1,

000 yuan in cash. She had given 500 yuan to her mother earlier and kept 400 yuan for herself, only giving away 100 yuan now.

Even though it was only 100 yuan, the Tang family was quite satisfied. Tang Erlong, who worked outside, only brought back ten or twenty yuan each month, so he could only contribute a couple of hundred yuan a year. But Tang Ailian had earned 100 yuan in just one day.

Furthermore, in addition to the 100 yuan, there was this huge pile of New Year goods. In previous years, these New Year goods would have been worth just one or two hundred yuan, but this year's skyrocketing food prices made these four big sacks of New Year goods worth at least a thousand yuan.

Mr. Tang looked at Tang Ailian with great satisfaction, "Ailian, you've made a great contribution to our family. Who did you help with today? Is it someone's gratitude?"

(End of this chapter)